City Council Work Session
May 24, 2010
Councilors Present: Mayor Grenier, Councilors Poulin, McCue, Remillard, Danderson, Rozek, Evans, and Cayer
Others Present: Mike Caron, BIDPA Chairperson; Tammie Lavoie, AVRRDD; Pat MacQueen, City Manager; Pam Laflamme, City Planner; Jay Poulin, Dick Huot, Dave Poirier, Max Makaitis, Blandine Shallow, Comptroller; Diana Nelson, Sharon Gauthier, AVRRDD; Paul Schmidt, CMA Engineers
Economic Development Grant: Max Makaitis from AVER addressed the Council regarding a letter of support for an Economic Development Grant application AVER is interested in applying for. This is a planning grant related to how future development is performed after brownfield sites are cleaned up in the commercial district area of Berlin. The specific geographic area included in their application is located along the Route 16 corridor including Hutchins Street to the east and Second Avenue to the west.
Mayor Grenier indicated he had read through the documents sent to the Council by Mr. Makaitis and that he supported the initiative. Councilor Cayer asked about whether buildings had been identified for review. Mr. Makaitis indicated the sites will be vetted by a group of partners who work together on the planning grant if it is funded.
Councilor Evans made a motion to send a support letter signed by the City Manager and Mayor Grenier for the application, seconded by Councilor Danderson. All councilors voted in favor of the motion.
BIDPA Update of Bickford Place Building Project: Chair Caron thanked the Council for allowing the board members present to update the Council about the progress of the work that has been done since the board acquired the building and property at 145 Main Street.
Board Member Jay Poulin gave the Council an overview of the property and the history of the work that has been completed in the last 10 months. Mr. Poulin told the Council that the board has been working with local architect Tim Sappington and a landscape architect John Wacker. Mr. Poulin explained the lighting and landscaping features and the covered canopy area. He told the Council that the BIDPA board has consulted with local companies such as Isaacson Structural Steel and Couture Construction to help with the design work and estimating. The park will be a gathering place in downtown.
Board members chimed in with supporting comments about how this project will change the dynamic of downtown. Councilor Danderson asked about the type of tenants that BIDPA will be seeking. Mr. Poulin indicated a lot of interior work has been completed at this point and the next step is to find the end tenant. Mr. Poulin stated the board is very open to any number of tenants and has a few prospects.
Councilor Danderson expressed concern about loitering and littering in the park area and told the board that it will be essential to have a plan to address these two concerns. Mr. Poulin stated that it is the board’s desire to keep the area as nice as possible, which is why the board would like the City to retain ownership of the park property. Councilor Danderson urged the board to be vigilant about keeping the exterior clean.
Councilor McCue stated he hoped the lighting plan was in sync with the lighting in downtown. He also brought up concerns about the long term maintenance. He told the board to talk about the walk way upkeep with Public Works. Councilor McCue stated the costs are troubling to him as well. He supports Main Street and new ideas but cautions the amount of funding that will go into the property while the properties are deteriorating around this building.
Mayor Grenier injected and told the Council he would like to see the board move forward with the plans that they have presented and think that a lot of hard work has gone into this project. Councilors Rozek and Remillard both came out in strong support of the project. All three Councilors spoke to the benefits of the project and what it could do for downtown.
Chair Caron addressed the Council and told them that BIDPA recognizes the cost concerns, but the board feels very strongly about the project and feels that this project will give a boost to the downtown and inspire more development. Board member Max Makaitis told the Council that this project will spark the potential of making Berlin’s downtown a tourist destination.
There was a brief discussion about snow removal, snow loads on the canopies, and other maintenance items. It was also mentioned that the park will be provided its own power and water supply. There will be an irrigation system for the landscaping. Councilor Danderson cautioned the board to protect against vandalism to prevent the same problems that happened at the PSNH Park.
Mayor Grenier restated his support for the project as well as his support for the City taking over the maintenance of the park long term. He complimented the current BIDPA board for their work for the good of the downtown.
Councilor Danderson made a motion to support the BIDPA project in downtown, seconded by Councilor Poulin. The vote was unanimous.
IRS Tax Audit Payment: Mr. MacQueen reviewed the status of the IRS tax audit that the City has gone through over the last eight months. Originally, the IRS had found nearly $48,000 worth of penalties which were really taxes not paid by the vendors the City does business with. That payment has been reduced to about $8400.00 which needs to be paid by June 7 to avoid paying further penalties.
Mayor Grenier stated it was important to avoid these penalties in the future. Ms. Shallow told the Council that W-9 forms are requested for every new vendor moving forward. Mr. MacQueen stated that Ms. Shallow has spent a lot of time with the IRS reducing the monies owed by obtaining several W-9 forms from vendors the City has had services from over the years. The Council had a brief discussion about being diligent moving forward to give and get the proper forms when acquiring services.
Councilor Danderson made a motion to pay the IRS $8489.76, the final remaining amount owed, seconded by Councilor McCue, all members voted in favor of the motion.
AVRRDD Waste Water Treatment Discussion: Mr. Schmidt from CMA Engineering, the engineer of record for AVRRDD was present to discuss the feasibility of the City accepting and treating leachate from the Mount Carberry Landfill. Mayor Grenier shared the history of the project with the Council. He then turned the discussion over to CMA to review with the Council. Sharon Gauthier and Tammie Lavoie from AVRRDD were also present to answer questions.
Mr. Schmidt told the Council that AVRRDD explained that the new data that has been collected over the last several months has shown that the strength and quantity of leachate from the landfill has decreased dramatically. The concentrations are now typical of wastewater that the City currently treats. Councilor Danderson asked about what protections there will be to prevent the strength and quantity increasing. Clarifying that the City and AVRRDD are looking to come to an agreement about the treatment of leachate, Councilor Danderson stated there should be some protections in place to deal with changes in the leachate. Mr. Schmidt told the Council that those protections would be built into an agreement. He also to the Council that it is likely the leachate characteristics
will change, but the agreement can be structured as such to be reviewed every five or ten years.
Ms. Gauthier told the Council that there are plans in place for safeguarding the agreement with the City. She stated five or ten years is a good litmus test for seeing how the leachate treatment is working out between the two parties. There was a discussion about the landfill, treatment options, and varying flows of the leachate. The Council asked several questions of Ms. Gauthier and Mr. Schmidt which were answered.
Mr. MacQueen stated that he recommended that the Mayor and Council support the proposed taking of landfill leachate from the AVRRDD. However, he said that are a number of variables and issues which the City does not necessarily control which the Council and the District need to be aware of. First, he said that the WWTF must be operated under and comply with the NPDES permit which is issued by the USEPA. Also, the NHDES has informed the City that the current plant is at 80% of design capacity and all new discharge to the WWTP have to be approved by NHDES. This includes the BOP, Laidlaw, CPD, the District and any other proposed connections. A third issue is I & I (inflow & infiltration) which needs to be dramatically reduced and will take a significant time money and effort.
Another issue is the need to proceed with the so-called Phase II which would make various improvements to the WWTP itself. Phase I was done in 2004 and made various improvements to the Plant and Watson Street Pump Station. The Phase II improvements are needed to keep a 32 year old plant in proper operating condition and to enable it to serve the BOP and developments like CPD and Laidlaw and to allow for expected growth. Based on the analysis just completed certain aspect of Phase II will be needed in order to treat the District's leachate. The Phase II project is basically an 18 month construction project. Unfortunately, the City has been waiting since September for word on USDA RD funding for this Phase II project. This delay has delayed the design for Phase II because without the
RD funding the design would likely have to be scaled back.
Finally, there is also the overall issue of timing which is critical to the City and the District. Mr. MacQueen drew a possible time line of where things might fall based on what we know now. He said the East Milan Road contract was just awarded and that the pre-construction meeting for that would be this Friday. We are looking with that contract to get the BOP temporarily connected for utility purposes only by September of 2010. Realistically, at this point, it is likely that the design for Phase II, will not be ready for bidding until probably the late winter or spring of 2011. The BOP is likely to start bringing in employees during late 2010 and early 2011. They will probably start bringing in prisoners in mid 2011. The AVRRDD will likely want to be able to contribute its flows in late
2011 when it is not likely that all Phase II will yet be complete.
Adding 18 months from the bidding of Phase II takes one to early to mid-summer of 2012 for the completion of Phase II. This is also around the time that Laidlaw is likely to start its flows.
Questions were asked and answered.
Councilor Danderson made a motion to move forward with negotiations between the City and AVRRDD for this project, seconded by Councilor Remillard, all Councilors voted in favor of the motion.
Communication from Ward IV Citizen regarding Intersections Concerns: Councilor Remillard made a motion, seconded by Councilor McCue to send the communication to the Council Traffic Safety Committee
Environmental Consultant Contract: After a thorough review of environmental consultants for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Andre Caron, Housing Coordinator is recommending awarding the contract to Acadia Contractors.
Councilor Danderson made a motion to hire Acadia Contractors as the environmental consultant for the NSP project. The motion was seconded by Councilor Evans and all Councilors voted in favor of the motion.
Other: None
Councilor Evans made a motion to adjourn at 8:05PM, seconded by Councilor Danderson, all Councilors voted in favor of the motion.
Mayor Grenier reminded the Council that the Public Hearing for the budget is Wednesday May 26 at 6:30PM in the auditorium.
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