City Council Work Session
July 6, 2010
Present were: Mayor Grenier, Councilors, Remillard, Danderson, McCue, Evans, Rozek, Cayer and Poulin; absent was Councilors Landry
Also present were: Andre Caron, Patrick MacQueen
Mayor Grenier opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. and confirmed items for non-public session for land matters and non-meeting regarding Collective Bargaining.
White Mountain Ridge Runners’ Request for the City to be Fiscal Agent for a Grant
The White Mountain Ridge Runners propose to build a warming hut at the Jericho Mountain State Park and they want the City to be their fiscal agent for a Tillotson grant. Their proposal is well outlined in their packet including pictures of the planned building. The City Manager indicated that he did not anticipate any problems with the proposal.
Councilor Rozek moved to authorize the City to act as fiscal agent on behalf of the White Mountain Ridge Runners for the grant warming hut; Councilor Danderson seconded and the motion carried.
Update on Tax Deeded Properties
Andre Caron reported that three years of back taxes were collected on some properties and a 15% assessment penalty yielded over $49,000 of assessment fees collected. He will come to the Council for direction on the disposition of the properties.
Mr. Caron explained that some of the deals involving these properties are very complicated with loans and sub-loans. When a lien holder is missed, he gets the opportunity to re-purchase by paying one year of back taxes. Mayor Grenier asked how many properties will be torn down.
Mr. Caron went through the list presented and noted that 407 Champlain; 796 Western Ave; 761 Second Ave.; 796 Western Ave; 216 Grafton St; 246 Grafton Street; 702 Glen Avenue would all be demolished. All of these properties will come back to the City Council for final decisions.
Mayor Grenier affirmed that the money budgeted will be sufficient for the planned demolitions and Mr. Caron stated that the last bids recently opened were very competitive. He added that the demolitions will occur by priority.
Mr. Caron extended an invitation from TKB Properties to walk through their project as a Council or individually.
Mayor Grenier asked about the gray building on Mason Street. Mr. Caron indicated that it will be rehabilitated and workers are now excavating to have the roof drains go into the storm drain system rather than the sanitary sewer system. He stated that this is one of four houses that have been deemed truly historically significant by the Division of Historical Recourses (DHR). The NSP money has to be all locked down by September 9 or the City will lose some of the funding. Council members were interested in viewing the buildings.
Mr. Caron acknowledged that the disciplined approach and constant pressures of Code Enforcement are working to give the neighborhoods better structure.
Proposed Non-Conforming Lots Zoning Change
Mayor Grenier commented that Councilor McCue asked for this topic to be put on the agenda. Councilor McCue stated that the Council was handed the ordinance on June 21 and it occurred to him that the Planning Board has not seen the ordinance yet nor has the ZBA. His recommendation would be to leave the ordinance on the table and allow the Planning Board to deal with it at their meeting tomorrow night. If the ZBA wants to weigh in as well, it could take a few more weeks until after their meeting. Mayor Grenier stressed that he would want the ordinance disposed of on July 19. He added that the ZBA should not have anything to say about the ordinance because it is their job to interpret what is in front of them; however the Planning Board has a legitimate role and should review and recommend changes if appropriate.
Councilor McCue mentioned one matter that went through Superior Court and there is a second case as well. He expressed concern about cases going through the courts and wants to check on them before amending the ordinance.
Councilor Remillard commented that the City is discouraging business and we are not in any position to do that. If an area is zoned business, then people should be allowed to put in a business in. The City has functioned with small lots and small business for a long time. If it’s in the downtown, it should be a conforming lot. Mayor Grenier established that he supports the change once the Planning Board has reviewed. He expressed concern about parking in front of people’s houses for long periods of time. The Planning Board could review how to deal with parking to minimize the effect on surrounding homes.
Mr. MacQueen agreed with the Planning Board review. He added that the Zone on Riverside Drive allows for commercial properties. City Council and Planning Board will need to realize that the area will become commercialized. There will be parking and commercial use near the houses. The existing ordinance is very confusing. Section 17.34 b) of the proposed ordinance looks like something is missing. Overall the issue becomes a government taking of private property if property owners are not allowed to use a property they own for anything.
Councilor McCue invited the Council to the Planning Board meeting tomorrow night. He added that the bigger project is to review the current zoning ordinance where there are some areas that need to be changed. There are situations with mixed use problems and they need to be looked at. One question is, should the northern end of Main St be commercial or should it go back to residential? There are areas in the city that are zoned industrial that may no longer be appropriate. Mayor Grenier mentioned that the Planning Board could discuss tying parking to frontage.
Non-Public Session
Councilor Evans made a motion to enter into non-meeting which he subsequently withdrew. Councilor Evans moved to enter into non public session per RSA 91-A:3 (d) Consideration of the acquisition, sale or lease of real or personal property which, if discussed in public, would likely benefit a party or parties whose interests are adverse to those of the general community; Councilor McCue seconded and the motion carried unanimously by roll call.
Mr. Caron remained in the meeting. Councilors discussed the courthouse.
In further discussion it was noted that an additional property may be eligible for the NSP program. No votes were taken.
Councilor Evans moved to come out of non-public session; Councilor McCue seconded and the motion carried unanimously by roll call.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
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