PUBLIC HEARING – February 1, 2010
Mayor Grenier opened and called to order the duly advertised and scheduled public hearing to accept public comments on the below noted resolutions at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Resolution 2010-03R Energy Grant: No comments
Resolution 2010-04 to Enter Primex3Health 1% Extra Discount Program: No Comments
There being no one wishing to speak for or against the above noted resolutions, Mayor Grenier closed the public hearing at approximately 7:32 p.m.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING – FEBRUARY 1, 2010
Mayor Grenier called the regular City Council Meeting to order at approximately 7:32 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.~ The pledge of allegiance to the flag preceded roll call. Present: Councilors Remillard, Landry, McCue, Danderson, Evans, Rozek, Cayer and Poulin. Also present: City Manager MacQueen, Susan Tremblay, Corinne Cascadden, BHS Civics Class students, FCCLA Advisors and students, citizens and the press.
Minutes, Previous Meetings
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept the minutes of the 1/18/10 WS & Regular Meeting; 1/25/10 WS. So moved, the motion carried.
Disbursements:
It was recommended by the Committee on Accounts/Claims to pay all bills dated 1/21/10–2/03/2010 for a total cash disbursement of $1,584,107.06 Draft #1609.~ 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:
Warren Horsfield, School Street, said that the decision to change the city seal is cavalier. He reminded the Council that the people spoke at last election and he would like to return to the old seal. He added that the best way to move forward is to take the money not yet spent and to give it to the school board who reported they had a hard time with money.
Walter Hansen, 57 Sweden Street, asked if it was determined that an exemption was already granted to Laidlaw prior to ownership. The Mayor replied it is for a different use and there is a significant DES exemption for boiler classifications.
Mr. Hansen then asked if the City Clerk had received any invoices for work done by Seventh Street Graphics. The City Clerk replied that she did not receive an invoice but a quote for future orders.
Mr. Hansen would like the City Council to adopt a policy to support all vendors equally and have a neutral position to view them on a level playing field. Council should not support any one business coming to town.
Joe LaPuma, 71 Wood St, spoke about the city seal. He heard many people talk while he was running for office in Ward Four and they were all against changing the seal since the older generation grew up with that seal. If a change is necessary, it should be put out to bid locally and not go outside the community. People here pay high taxes and we need the services. He added that Council is here for us and many have slanted views.
Richard Lafleur, 400 High Street, welcomed new Mayor Grenier and Councilors Danderson and Rozek. He thanked the Mayor for acknowledging the Civics Class Students. He hopes all make sure there is an ongoing movement to make youth more community oriented. It was nice to see old faces.
Holly Legere, 57 Charron Avenue, commented on the seal issue. She is a Senior at BHS and doesn’t think tax dollars should be spent on vanity but should be spent on something else that really matters.
OLD BUSINESS:
1. Council Committee Reports. No Reports
2. Resolution 2010-03R Authorizing the City Manager to apply to the Office of Energy and Planning for the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant Program for funding up to Four Hundred Thousand Dollars ($400,000) for the energy efficiency projects related to municipal buildings. (tabled 1/18/10)
Resolved by the City Council of the City of Berlin as Follows:
Whereas, the City Council recognizes, in order for energy efficiency projects for municipal buildings to be funded by the Office of Energy & Planning, they must be applied for through the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block (EECBG) Program; and
Whereas, the City is currently having its energy usage benchmarked in its municipal buildings by Cool Air-Clean Planet through the Municipal Energy Assistance Program; and
Whereas, the majority of our municipal buildings were not built to be energy efficient and the City could recognize a savings in correcting some of these deficiencies; and.
Whereas the City can apply for assistance for the purpose of full building energy audits to benchmark what needs to be corrected; and
Whereas, the State of New Hampshire would fund the entire cost of this project with available Federal funds; and
Whereas, the City Council recognizes it can apply for up to Four Hundred Thousand Dollars ($400,000.00) to complete both building audits and to make physical modifications to increase energy efficiency. Now therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Berlin, that the City Manager is authorized to apply to the Office of Energy and Planning for the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant Program for funding up to Four Hundred Thousand Dollars ($400,000.00) for the energy efficiency projects related to municipal buildings and is authorized to do all things necessary to effectuate the grant and further
that funds are hereby appropriated for the intended use. This Resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after passage.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor McCue to remove the resolution from the table at this time. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Danderson to amend the resolution, second paragraph, first line to add the word “benchmarked” after the word usage and to delete the s at the end of the word municipal. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor McCue to have the resolution, as amended, read a second time by title only. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor McCue to have the resolution, as amended, read a third time by title only. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor Evans to pass the resolution, as amended. So moved, the motion carried and Mayor Grenier declared the resolution, as amended, passed.
3. Resolution 2010-04 to enter Primex3Health 1% extra discount program July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. (tabled 1/18/10) Resolved by the City Council of the City of Berlin as follows:
Whereas, the City of Berlin and Primex3Health wish to promote employee wellness in recognition of the fact that small changes in employee lifestyle and health care decision-making can have a dramatic effect on employee health, productivity and quality of life; and
Whereas, Primex3Health wishes to achieve benefit for the health coverage program and risk management pool through securing long-term membership and employee wellness commitments; and
Whereas, the City of Berlin agrees to promote employee wellness by participating in Primex3Health’s Engaged Together for Results and Awareness (Extra) Program and agrees to extend their Primex3Health Participation Agreement for one (1) year through June 30, 2011; and
Whereas, the City of Berlin further agrees to the following conditions as part of the Extra Program:
- During the remainder of the current plan year (now through June 20, 2010), shall fulfill the obligation of the current Extra Agreement, if applicable;
- During the July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 plan year, to allow Primex3Health to conduct workshops on the following topics for employees:
- Fall, 2010 – Nutrition;
- Spring, 2011 – Fit for Life; a look at weight management strategies and easy ways to include exercise and healthful living into our hectic schedules to stay fit for life.
- The Fall Session shall be scheduled with the Primex3Wellness Consultant no later than September 1, 2010 and completed no later than December 31, 2010;
- The Spring Session shall be scheduled with the Primex3Wellness Consultant no later than March 1, 2011 and completed no later than June 30, 2011; and
- A minimum of seventy-five percent (75%) participation of all Primex3Health insured employees will be required at each workshop provided. Primex3 will make every effort possible to schedule workshop dates and times to accommodate employee shift schedules.
Whereas, the City of Berlin further acknowledges that by extending its Health Participation Agreement for the July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 plan year, the provisions of Paragraph Twenty (20) of the Primex3Health Participation Agreement, entitled “Termination Rights of Employer,” are suspended during the July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 plan year of this Agreement, and shall be reinstated for the end of the July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 plan year. The City of Berlin agrees that failure to provide notice in strict accordance with the provisions of Paragraph Twenty (20) of the Primex3Health Participation Agreement shall result in automatic renewal and continuation in the Primex3Health pool. Now therefore, be it resolved to hereby accept the offer of the New Hampshire
Public Risk Management Exchange (Primex3) to reduce the City of Berlin’s final Primex3Health renewal by 1% through participation in the Primex3Health Extra Program as of the date of the adoption of this resolution, and to be contractually bound to all of the terms and conditions of Primex3 risk management pool membership during the term of the Primex3Health Extra Program. The coverage provided by Primex3Health in each year of membership shall be as then set forth in the Coverage Documents of Primex3. This resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after passage.
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Landry to remove the resolution from the table at this time. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Landry to have the resolution read a second time by title only. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Landry to have the resolution read a third time by title only. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Landry to pass the resolution. So moved, the motion carried and Mayor Grenier declared the resolution passed.
NEW BUSINESS
4. City Manager’s Report
CIP Bond Issue Closing
The CIP $5M bond issue has been closed and the City will be drawing down the funds for the projects as needed. There seems to be a good deal of flexibility in how we do this which should make it easier to comply with all the IRS timing requirements which are intended to be sure that municipalities don't make money on bond issues through arbitrage (the investing of borrowed funds at a higher rate than the rate of the borrowing). Projects like the Hutchins Street Project and the City's match for the Rt 110 Phase II project are probably the two most difficult projects to time because there are so many questions about when the projects can actually move forward.
Court Move
District Court has moved out of the Courthouse building into the new State Office Building on Riverside Drive. The State, which called to see if they could get out of their lease, will pay rent on the District Court Building through April when their lease expires. Attached is a Thank You note from the State thanking the PD and PW for assisting them in the move.
Assessing
We received four proposals for contract assessing beginning in July of 2010. Our contract with Avitar runs out at that time. The next contract will likely be for a five year period beginning in July of 2010. The proposals are being reviewed by the Board of Assessors which will make a recommendation to the Mayor and Council. Attached is a letter sent out by Avitar to a random sampling of properties in the City as part of the assessing data verification process. The letter asks the citizen to call the contract assessor to set up an appointment to view the interior of the property in order for them to obtain the information necessary to do quality assessments. The process of seeing the inside of properties does lead to more equitable higher quality assessments. However, the letter is not as clear or as 'user friendly' as it might be
and is one of the types of things we would hope to improve on in the next assessing contract.
Great Lakes Hydro Tax Case Withdrawal
I have attached the BTLA Order which confirms the withdrawal of the tax abatement case that Great Lakes Hydro had filed.
NSP Program
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program has gotten off to a solid start with far more interest from contractors than what was expected. Andre Caron explained the program to more than 100 contractors who showed up at the January 14th session at which he explained to them how they might participate in the program which is aimed at rehabilitating distressed housing and demolish blighted buildings.
AVRRDD Meeting
Last Thursday, the AVRRDD Waste District reviewed a proposal in which its excess methane gas generated at the landfill could be mixed with natural gas from the PNG pipeline and then delivered to the Fraser Paper plant in Gorham as a far more economical and efficient energy provider to the mill than the oil it currently uses. The District Board passed a series of motions indicating its willingness to pursue this type of project which makes a productive use of the methane at the landfill which is currently being simply burned off and will help to keep the paper mill a more efficient and viable manufacturer of paper. Several potential buyers are seriously looking at the purchase of the mill currently in bankruptcy reorganization. This potential project should make the mill purchase that much more attractive to them.
Attached is the Annual Report of the District.
Cable TV
Attached is a letter and information packet from Time Warner regarding transitioning to a new operating platform which they say will provide "the most advanced video services available in the country in Berlin”. This transition will require customers with set top boxes to exchange them. The materials that customers will be receiving this week are attached for the Council's information.
SEC CPD Hearing
The SEC Hearing on the citizen petition to require Clean Power Development to go through the EFSEC process even though they have already been through the City processes was heard this past Friday. The hearing took up the full day. The City was represented at the hearing by Mayor Grenier, Councilor McCue and Councilor Rozek. City Planner also attended primarily to answer any questions about the City processes that CPD actually went through. The SEC will be meeting on Wednesday of this week to deliberate and presumably make a decision.
LGC Elected Official Workshop
The Local Government Center has scheduled a workshop for Elected Officials for this Saturday February 6, 2010 from 9am to 1:30pm at the Local Government Center in Concord. The registration deadline is Friday, but if anyone would still like to go, it should still be possible for you still to register by email tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. A copy of the workshop flier is attached.
Animal Spaying Clinics
The Rozzie May Animal Alliance from Conway has received grant money specifically to underwrite much of the cost of neutering cats and dogs in Berlin. As we know from past attempts to deal with it, we have a very large uncontrolled cat population in Berlin. The next such clinic in Berlin is scheduled for Monday March 8th at St. Anne's Hall on School Street. These clinics are a great opportunity for Berliners to get their animals neutered at very low cost and local residents should be encouraged to take full advantage of them. Attached is the organization flier and a web site and phone # if more information is needed.
Public Works Monthly Report; Manager's Time Keeping available for review in City Manager’s Office.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor Remillard to accept the City Manager’s Report and place it on file. So moved, the motion carried.
Mayor Grenier added that the Chair of the Assessor Board also attended the SEC CPD Hearing. He asked the City Manager to add that to his report.
Councilor McCue questioned if the new state office building address was still considered Main Street. He also noted that when the Ming House had their fire, Laura Viger called the Pollution Control Department to ask how to dispose of the remaining bottles of alcohol they had. She was advised that the bottles could be brought to the facility and they would dump them into their Septic Tank for controlled admittance into their Process. The Pollution Control Facility reported that they never saw anything for this incident in either the sewer or septic tank. Councilor McCue wants to know what happened. The City Manager replied that he will look into the matter.
5. Mayor’s Report
a) Proclamation: FCCLA week February 8-14, 2010. Holly Legere, FCCLA State VP accepted the signed Proclamation
Mayor Grenier reported that he invited George Sansoucy for a March 8 meeting and will have staff send a letter to the Board of Assessors to invite them as well. It is imperative that as the two boiler projects get to the permitting process, the City needs to discuss a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT). It may be conjured as a tax discount but that is not Mayor Grenier’s intent. His intent is to arrive at revenue certainty for the City with a long term goal line to send to banks and businesses. We should protect the City and maximize our potential to collect taxes. The Coos County Commissioners recently agreed to a PILT with Nobile Environmental Power. In doing so, they maximized taxes for a period of twenty years. This process kept the lawyers and professional assessors out of the picture.
To sign a ten-twenty year PILT would protect taxpayers and avoid litigation to determine value of these projects which is mandated by the state every few years. The Mayor concluded that the best long term interest for the City is a PILT.
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.
6. Public Comments
Jon Edwards, School Street, cautioned Council that if they open up a payment in lieu of taxes to new industries and existing industries pay a sizeable amount of taxes, we don’t want to upset current tax payers. That would send the wrong message. He appreciates that the City attended the meeting with Site Evaluation Committee. He said we need to be proactive to encourage companies to help Fraser. Mr. Edwards noticed individuals belittling Clean Power. In talks about Fraser when the subject came up, it was said that they plan to stay for two years. He doesn’t believe the City had the right to let the State know that Fraser’s fate will be known within two weeks. He wants the City to send a letter to straighten that out.
Corinne Cascadden, invited the Mayor and Council to attend the School Budget Meeting Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. to give them a clearer picture of what they are faced with since they have been hit hard with new Federal Laws which will impact programs.
7. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilor Danderson responded to the email from David Bertrand and said that Clean Power first talked about thirty-five megawatt short stacks. When he last checked with the City Planner, they had doubled in height and he suspects that is due to pollution control requirements. Clean Power now is twenty-nine megawatts. Per the FCC, a twenty-nine megawatt process causes as much pollution as a thirty-five megawatt process or more. He has a lot of respect for the members of the Planning and Zoning Boards but they are not power plant engineers. We need to get technical explanation there from experts. He respects Council’s decision in reference to Clean Power. For the record, he supports both Clean Power and Laidlaw but does not want either to take advantage of the City.
Councilor Landry commented that Laidlaw could choose to lessen their plant. The more he reads about the process he agrees we need to protect the City of Berlin’s best interest. Clean Power did work as part of their business plan and worked with the City for two years.
Councilor McCue attended the SEC meeting on Friday and learned a lot. He said it was a good move on the City’s part to hire counsel with special knowledge on these proceedings. As Councilor Danderson said, this will be resolved by Wednesday. People, by now, know Councilor McCue’s position. When petitioners spoke, they said the community needs to be protected from itself and he has some concerns with that. He wonders what the mindset is behind petitions.
Councilor Cayer remarked that he wishes he could trust the state but they don’t usually think about Berlin. What they say is taken with a grain of salt. It is our responsibility to make sure that they do their job. Their motivation is questioned with the EFSEC process.
Councilor Evans drove to Brattleboro Vermont and got a parking citation for overnight parking. He wonders if people coming to Berlin might not know we have parking violations for overnight parking.
Councilor McCue added that our Police Department is lenient the first week of Berlin’s overnight parking ban.
Mayor Grenier thanked City Planner, Pam Laflamme, for attending the EFSEC hearing Friday. She represented the City well and answered tough questions by the PUC on processes in Berlin and handled herself with class. He does not envy any new developer since this is not an easy process.
Councilor Landry thanked the public for showing up tonight. It was good to see concerned citizens attend the meeting.
8. Adjournment:
There being no further business before the Mayor and Council at this time, Councilor Landry moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to adjourn the regular meeting. So moved, Mayor Grenier declared the Regular Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:31 p.m.
A True Record, Attest:
Debra A. Patrick, CMC
City Clerk
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