PUBLIC HEARING – December 7, 2009
Resolution 2009-44 Berlin Police Department First Line Supervisor Training.
Mayor Bertrand opened and called to order the duly advertised and scheduled public hearing to accept public comments on the above noted resolution at approximately 8:03 p.m.
There being no one wishing to speak for or against the above noted resolution, Mayor Bertrand closed the public hearing at approximately 8:03 p.m.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING – DECEMBER 7, 2009
Mayor Bertrand called the regular City Council Meeting to order at approximately 8:07 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.~ The pledge of allegiance to the flag preceded roll call. Present: Councilors Remillard, Landry, McCue, Lafleur, Evans and Poulin. Councilors Goudreau and Cayer were absent. Also present: City Manager MacQueen, Susan Tremblay, Andre Caron, Paul Grenier, Michael Rozek, Steve Binette, Corinne Cascadden, citizens and the press.
Minutes, Previous Meetings
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Poulin accept the minutes of the 11/23/09 WS & Special Meeting and the 11/30/09 WS. So moved, the motion carried.
Disbursements:
It was recommended by the Committee on Accounts/Claims to pay all bills dated 11/19/09–12/09/2009 for a total cash disbursement of $4,301,346.97 Draft #1605.~ Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept the disbursement summary and pay all bills as recommended by the Committee on Accounts/Claims. So moved, the motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Corinne Cascadden, 1785 Hutchins Street, School Superintendant informed Council that the School Board has already begun their budget discussions and are working on a 0% increase. She is not new to the budget process and reported that they have already laid-off four local people and eliminated one central office position. The School Board scheduled a budget meeting for January 13 and invited the Mayor and Council to attend.
Barbara Tetreault, 404 Church Street, is having trouble getting information about the 21/21 initiative regarding the member committee. She wants to know who the task force members are. At last week’s Master Plan Meeting, she was informed it was a private, non-profit task force and she wants to know if this is true or not. Ms. Tetreault asked to have her name added to the mailing so she can participate if they meet by internet and she wants the process to be open.
Incoming Mayor Paul Grenier, 492 Champlain Street, stated that although he is good friends with Steve Binette, it would be short sighted to sell Bartlett School. It is a bad idea due to the possible influx of young families with the Federal Prison opening in the area. We may need that building since the facility will hire new employees thirty-seven years old and under. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports that 60% of their personnel are expected to move to Berlin which is 90-100 families or at least 100 new kids attending our schools. If we sell the Bartlett building, we will need to build a new school and where in the City could that happen? After the deed is signed, the clock starts ticking. There is a moratorium for funding new schools so the full price tag would fall on the taxpayers. He
suggests keeping the building and mothballing it for 2 years then proceed with a deal if there is a need or not.
He went on to talk about the City Seal which represents more than pollution and smoke. He said we are all here due to that stack. Goebel Street is where the first Germans moved into town. Berlin was one of the first communities to have street lights and the Ski Jump on the East Milan Road was significant also. The stack represents more than pollution, it represents the melting pot that Berlin is throughout each portion of the City. Ward 3 has the Scandinavians, Ward 4 has the French Canadians, Ward 2 has the Irish and Ward 1 has the Russians. The smoke stack is more than pollution, it is something that says we are proud of who we were and who we are. He asked the people in the room to wait to decide what to do with the seal and not to denigrate the city.
Mayor-Elect Grenier brought up the fact that during budget discussions two weeks ago, Councilor Poulin stated departments had to “pony up or face layoffs.” Mr. Grenier asserted that Municipal employees provide services to our taxpayers. He asked the present Council if they ever brought union leaders in to discuss how to work together to better lead the City? Once he is sworn in, he wants to meet with union leaders and membership to see where we can cut costs to move together as partners not as adversaries. The “do or else” strategy results are not good. People know we are hurting right now and we need to bring them in as partners to work together and reach a hand out but without a stick.
Railway Consultant, Jan Zicha, recently purchased 255 Pleasant Street, not only as a good skiing location but also as a strategic location for possible rail development. He said that President Obama intends to do more with railroads. An important factor is that rails should be treated as highways. He has seen dozens of promising proposals that failed due to not proving profitable. When President Eisenhower began building the nation’s highways, he didn’t ask about profit, just a network. The same can be expected through the country. This would be a good way to get the City of Berlin on the map. It would take an active community to make it known we have the intention of railroad development and how we can contribute to it. We have skilled labor and are located very close to southern
corridors. It is a grass roots organization to try to get more business in the area.
Ward Three Councilor-Elect Mike Rozek reminded Council he previously was a two-term School Board Member. Although he likes the plan for Bartlett, he strongly suggests that Council move very slow. Twelve years ago they had a similar problem with Marston School and totally shut it down. All of a sudden, they needed more class space and didn’t have a school building. They brought in trailers and back then paid $7,500 per month to either heat or cool the spaces. Those fees would be even higher today. He asked the Superintendent what the maximum student capacity is for Brown School and can they handle any expansion? To replace a building like that would cost Twenty Five Million Dollars. We will soon find out what our needs are once the federal prison opens.
Regarding the City Seal, he is not impassioned about it but what Mayor-Elect Grenier said about the stack is true. Mr. Rozek’s perspective is more about being thrifty. He wants the City Clerk, in doing cost accounting, to bring all charges to their current costs. Seals need to be put on vehicles but did we include labor too? That needs to be incurred in costs. The intentions are good but he is concerned about dollars here.
Mayor Bertrand asked Superintendent Cascadden to bring figures regarding Brown School to the Council. He then asked the City Clerk to have a cost report on today’s current prices for letterhead and envelopes.
Warren Horsfield, moved to Berlin in 2002. He would be interested in purchasing old city decals to save them from being lost or destroyed. He left his phone number with the Clerk.
Mayor Bertrand stressed it should be understood that any city seals being sold are for collection or historic purposes only and could not be used as official city business.
Steve Binette, proposed buyer of the Bartlett School Building, said that by closing the building with no heat, the roof would be compromised in no time at all. His family has been in business over 52 years and he owns Valley Creek Eatery. He feels there is a need for student housing for our college students. The building would be supervised with security cameras and they would not neglect anything. The building has good potential now but if closed for a period of time, mold issues might deter sales. He concluded “we have enough closed properties.”
OLD BUSINESS:
1. Council Committee Reports. No reports.
2. Resolution 2009-44 Authorizing the Berlin Police Commission to apply for and accept One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) in training grant funds from the NH Police Standards and Training Council (NHPSTC) for the Command Training Series, First Line Supervisor Course. (tabled 11/23/09) Resolved by the City Council of the City of Berlin as Follows:
Whereas, First Line Supervisor Training provides relevant concepts of management and leadership appropriate to the role responsibilities of first line supervisors; and
Whereas, ranking officers are required to attend First Line Supervisor Command Training, as mandated by NHPSTC; and
Whereas, the NHPSTC recognizes Roger Williams University as a leader in the field of law enforcement supervisory training; and
Whereas, the NHPSTC currently has funding available to offset the expense of said training. Now therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Berlin, NH, that the Berlin Police Commission is authorized to apply for and accept One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) in grant funds from the NHPSTC for First Line Supervisor Training courses. Further, that One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) be appropriated to the Berlin Police Department for the purpose of effectuating said grant. This Resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after passage.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Evans to remove the resolution from the table at this time. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Evans to have the resolution read a second time by title only. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Evans to pass the resolution. Roll call resulted in unanimous affirmative votes including Mayor Bertrand who declared the resolution now passed.
NEW BUSINESS
3. Resolution 2009-46 Appropriating $8.5 Million Dollars ($8,500,000.00) in Federal Bureau of Prison funds to the City’s Sewer Fund Budget. (1st read)
Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor Remillard to table the resolution and schedule a public hearing on December 21, 2009. So moved, the motion carried.
4. Resolution 2009-47 Authorizing the sale of the Bartlett School Building located at 56 Mt. Forist Street to Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Binette, Sr; Mr. Steven Binette; and Mr. Dennis Binette for the sum of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) to revitalize said property into living units. (1st read)
Councilor Remillard is not convinced yet. The best use for apartments as student housing might not happen. She is not convinced we need more apartment buildings.
Councilor Landry agrees with incoming Mayor Grenier. Mr. Binette brought up concerns about cold storage which could be a problem. Superintendent Cascadden previously said there is not space available in schools. We could sell to the Binettes but can’t take the risk that it will always be owned by them. So he cannot support the resolution at this time. Capacity is the main issue here.
Councilor McCue, agrees with Mr. Binette that the building would quickly deteriorate if not in use. It would be worth paying to maintain to keep it going. He brought up the point that last year, the School Board determined the Bartlett School building was not necessary and made the decision to give it back to the City. He understands there may be more students in the school system with the opening of the Federal Prison. The statement was made that people thirty-seven years old or younger will be hired for the Federal Prison. That does not mean all personnel will be less than thirty seven years old. The mandatory retirement age dictates that they will not hire anyone older than thirty seven but existing personnel can transfer to the new facility. He thinks the experienced personnel at the end of their
careers will transfer here so they can retire in northern New Hampshire. The idea of more students may not be right.
Councilor Poulin agrees with Councilor McCue that we must move forward. The School Board said they do not need it and we will have a building on tax roll. He thinks it would be great to get college student housing and what it would do for Main Street. We could get businesses to cater to these students. It might not create jobs right away but these things happen slowly. This would be a good opportunity for Berlin.
Councilor Landry reiterated economically he agrees with selling the Bartlett building but is concerned about capacity issues. He agrees they should let it go to the Public Hearing.
Councilor Lafleur was on the committee along with citizens and teachers who reviewed the first proposal about school closure. They went through schools to check out space and the consensus of the committee was to close Bartlett. The Federal Prison was taken into consideration. He reminded everyone that Berlin High School was designed to hold 1100 students and presently we are not even close to that. The Junior High School could be located there. Students were in the cellar at Bartlett and that was not acceptable. Marston can re-open available space there by building an enclosed catwalk. Due diligence did take place before the decision to close Bartlett was made.
Mayor Bertrand stated we will have a public hearing and see what comes up.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Evans to table the resolution and schedule a public hearing on December 21, 2009. So moved, the motion carried.
5. Resolution 2009-48 Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Deed for Wastewater Treatment Land to Clean Power Development (1st read)
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to table the resolution and schedule a public hearing on December 21. So moved, the motion carried.
6. Letter of Resignation from Water Works Commissioner Richard Fournier
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept Mr. Fournier’s letter of resignation with regret. So moved, the motion carried.
7. City Manager’s Report
Master Plan Completion
The final community participation meeting regarding the development of the new City Master Plan was completed last Wednesday evening. Now the final document will be pulled together and presented to the Planning Board (which must approve it by State law) and the City Council which must approve it in order for it to mean anything. This will likely be presented to the Council some time in January.
Assessing RFP
Last week we issued a 'Request for Proposals' for providing the City with professional assessing services for the next five years. The Agreement the City currently has with Avitar for assessing services will be up June 30, 2010 although because they are doing a revaluation update, it may extend until September. Basically, the agreement asks for professional assessing services for a period of five years breaking it down into the three major areas of General Assessing Services, Data Verification and Revaluation Updates. Proposals are due back the first week in January. Proposals will be reviewed by staff and the Board of Assessors and then a recommendation will be made to the City Council regarding which firm an agreement should be entered into with for the next five years for assessing services.
H1N1 Clinics
Attached hereto is the flier for some three upcoming H1N1 Clinics where vaccinations for the virus will be provided to certain categories of the population. These are slate for December 9th and 16th at the Berlin Health Department, Dec. 7th and 17th at Coos County Family Health Services on Pleasant Street and Dec 16th at WMCC.
OEP Meeting
Staff met with representatives from the Beacon Community Project Committee last Wednesday.~ This is a subcommittee of the Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy (EESE) Board which was created by the legislature last year which allows New Hampshire to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”), a 10-state effort to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric generating plants.~ During the past year the EESE Board has developed a list of priorities to advise the Public Utilities Commission on the distribution of RGGI funds which are under the PUC’s jurisdiction.~ One of the priorities is the concept of Beacon Communities.~ The EESE Board wants to create replicable models of diverse communities’ capacity to tackle energy issues and to share these successes through a mentorship process.~
Berlin was selected to be one of the first Beacon communities along with Nashua and Plymouth.
One of the first activities for the Beacon Communities is application to the Retrofit Ramp-up Program, part of the Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant program.~ This application will be submitted by the State next week on behalf of the three Beacon Communities.~ Staff has spent the last few days preparing Berlin’s submission and will be working with a grant writer to bring the information together along with the other two communities. I have attached some material on the Beacon Communities Program for your information. I also have materials on the EESE Board and how it operates if anyone would like to see this.
Budget Inn Sign Hearing
Last Thursday I attended an appeal hearing of the NH Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) which was convened to hear the appeal of the Budget Inn on their sign which is located on City Park land at the corner of Glen Ave. and Diana Street. A State DOT hearing was held in February of 2008. The Budget Inn did not appear for that hearing and submitted no application as required to renew its expiring permit from the State DOT. Four months later in May, the State Hearing Officer wrote the decision from that hearing denying the Budget Inn's permit for the sign and ordering it removed. The Budget Inn appealed that decision and it has taken the State from to last week some 19 months after the original hearing to convene this appeals board.
The Manager of the Budget Inn did appear for this hearing last Thursday arguing that the sign was important to them and they couldn't understand why the City didn't want it there. The State Bureau of Traffic testified that the Budget Inn had not met the requirements of the State DOT for the sign to be there and that they had been informed by the City repeatedly that the City wanted the sign removed. I testified as well that this property was a City Park and a gateway for all people coming up Glen Avenue into Berlin. I said that even if the sign was properly maintained which it has not been, it is not an appropriate location for a commercial sign. The TAB wanted to know the history of the sign and whether the Inn had an agreement or lease with the City for the sign and was receiving revenue for it. I replied that there was no agreement that
we were aware of and that the City was receiving no revenue for it.
Presumably the TAB will render its decision in about 30 days and the appeal from it is to the State Supreme Court.
155B Orders and FAQ's
The work for the demolition of the Kandel property is ongoing by AD Drouin and his subcontractor for the carpentry work Brian Lang. The work on the wall has been slow and involved because the wall is a joint wall with the property to the north of it. It was decided last week to take the brick wall down to a level of about two feet above the ground. We had originally thought in terms of taking it down only to the roof line of the northern building. This change is both for appearance sake and in order to better to deal with problems and potential problems in the north joint wall.
The demolition of the 'Boulet' block on Third Avenue is complete and the site is fully cleaned up.
In September of 2007, in response to questions and concerns similar to those we are receiving today, we issued a piece on "Frequently Asked Questions" which were regularly being asked with respect to Burnt Out and Dilapidated Properties in Berlin at that time. A copy of it is attached. The piece, although a little bit out of date now, still provides a good background into why and how the City handles the many dilapidated and burnt out properties it has been dealing with and why it takes time to deal with them.
AVRRDD Audit and Budget
We have copies in the office of the Waste District's most recent audit and its proposed annual budget for anyone who would like to see them. The Public Hearing for the AVRRDD budget was held last Thursday.
Public Works Monthly Report Attached; Manager's Time-Keeping Attached.
Councilor McCue inquired if there were additional costs on the Main Street demolition. The City Manager replied that there were additional costs but they were paid through grants.
Mayor Bertrand commented that whoever did the demolition of 844 Third Avenue did a great job.
Councilor Evans asked the City Manager where the funding for the H1N1 vaccine came from. The City Manager replied it probably came from the state.
Councilor Remillard asked if the demolition of the 360 High Street was done by a private owner or was it the City. The City Manager will look into it and get that information to Councilor Remillard.
Councilor Evans moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept the City Manager’s Report and place it on file. So moved, the motion carried.
8. Public Comments No comments
9. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilor Landry stated that Council should bite the bullet and get the new seal done the right way. Councilor Poulin has the right idea and it is not an insult to look to the future.
Regarding the sale of the Bartlett School building, he would rather have college students than what we have now. Events like the one on November 23rd are due to absentee owners and they are killing us while not doing anything for the city. One of the assailants that were shot fled to a building owned by Joe Dimauro. Councilor Landry received a letter from a concerned citizen accusing Joe Dimauro of stealing heat assistance money and falsifying records. We need to get serious about these absentee landlords. He is willing to work with Council and go after these guys.
Councilor Poulin, added that Joe Martin is doing good job with that. Some of these people are a full time job for Joe. Regarding the Bartlett School being used to house college students, once that building is full of students it could trickle down to the buildings next door. It would be a good way to clean up that neighborhood.
On another matter, he pursued the matter of getting the City Council Meetings broadcast on our local TV station. He recently spoke with a Warner Cable representative and they let him know if we wanted to film this meeting, they could have it on the air at 2:00 and 4:00 tomorrow. Warner Cable wants the City to take over Channel 12. If we could get the prompter, it technically belongs to the City. It is ours all we need to do is go for it. If anyone wants to get on board, it could be good and would be easy to do. People just don’t understand what the Mayor and Council do.
Regarding the seal, he said you don’t see a cruise line featuring The Titanic on their seal and Foxwoods does not feature slaughtered Indians. No one else sees it like that. We should see the seal for what reason it represents and it should sell an instant image. What Mr. Grenier said is true but is not where we are going at this point in time.
What he meant in last week’s budget comment about City employees is that his goal is to avoid layoffs, engage and sit down to see how to work together to get a dialogue going. He would prefer to save jobs and not layoff.
The Ward Four Councilor is intrigued by the public comment made by the gentleman regarding railroads. He suggested that the gentleman be invited to meet with the Mayor and Council for further discussion.
The City Manager commented that he met the man and tapped into him for two hours or so today.
Councilor McCue thanked the City Clerk for putting together the letterhead information and wants to keep moving forward with that. He then thanked Superintendent Cascadden for coming tonight to talk about the School Budget. He encouraged Council to attend the School Board Budget Meeting.
Regarding the 21/21 Initiative that was mentioned at the Master Plan Meeting, it was only stated that a group of private individuals and not city staff was involved. On a historic note, he mentioned that today is the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack and Councilor McCue thanked our Veterans at this time. He knows that the schools/college do not have a camera to use for TV broadcasting meetings.
10. Mayor’s Report.
Appointment: Terry Block Ward Three, Water Works Commission to fill Richard Fournier’s unexpired term for a term to end May, 2010.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept the Mayor’s nomination of to fill Richard Fournier’s unexpired term set to expire May, 2010. So moved, the motion carried.
The Mayor understands what Mr. Grenier said about the seal and it is not a question of being proud of our heritage. Changing seal does not denigrate the city. A philosophical approach and our heritage will be preserved. Councilor Poulin touched upon what we are trying to change and that is outside the image of what used to be associated with the city. He added that changing the seal was not an attempt to belittle our heritage. We should move on and get it done. The Mayor appreciates Mr. Grenier’s concerns. He expanded on how few World War II Veterans there are left and we can be proud and thank them for our freedom.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept the Mayor’s report and place it on file. So moved, the motion carried.
11. Adjournment:
There being no further business before the Mayor and Council at this time, Councilor Landry moved with a second by Councilor McCue to adjourn the regular meeting. So moved, Mayor Bertrand declared the Regular Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:35 p.m.
A True Record, Attest:
Debra A. Patrick, CMC
City Clerk
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