City Council Work Session
November 22, 2010
Opening of Meeting/Roll Call
Mayor Grenier opened the meeting at 7:12 p.m. Councilors Landry, Remillard, Danderson, and McCue were present at roll call; Councilors Evans, Rozek, Cayer and Poulin were absent. Others present included, Andre Caron, Patrick MacQueen, Barney Valliere, Corinne Cascadden, media and public
Resolution 2010-46 Amending 2010-07 by Increasing the Grant Amount to $400,000
Councilor Danderson moved with a second from Councilor Landry to table the resolution and have a public hearing December 6, 2010.
Recess to Work Session
Councilor McCue moved to recess the meeting to Work Session; Councilor Danderson seconded and the motion carried.
Disorderly Actions Ordinance
Mr. MacQueen explained that the Council has seen this ordinance before and asked for further review by staff. Lt. Valliere explained that he and Andre met with the City Manager to go over having the ordinance cover owner occupied dwellings as suggested by the Council. Adding owner occupied would bring the proposed ordinance to a different level and it was thought that owner occupied could be dealt with through the existing ordinance. Mr. Caron added that this is not perfect but the alternative is to subject all multis including two families to inspections. Lt. Valliere agreed saying that they were presented with a problem and they went forward with solving the problem as the focus. This is in line with other ordinances in the State and there is a severability clause as well as language that
satisfies some of the concerns of the last meeting.
Mayor Grenier noted that he felt staff members did a fantastic job with this. It addresses the problem in a fashion that impacts the least amount of people. This gives us additional tools to combat the problem of buildings that are rotated from bankruptcy to tax deed and receive no attention from their owners.
Councilor Remillard stated that she is not convinced that the ordinance should not cover all multi-families; however she felt that this is a food start. Mr. Caron added that more can be developed and added to the ordinance in the new year.
Councilor McCue thanked staff members for their efforts and added that he is pleased with the severability clause. He asked if the appeals are triggered with the third write-up and he was concerned about whether the appeal of the third warning is when one can appeal the first and second warnings.
Mr. Caron said that the intent is that appeals are to the third write up and that was done in consideration of the Police Commission. Mayor Grenier confirmed that the ordinance will be introduced 12/6 and public hearing and final passage will be 12/20 if there are no complications.
Councilor Landry questioned whether some owners will simply move their tenants from one building to another. Mr. Caron noted that eventually they will run out of buildings. Councilor McCue asked if the ordinance has been reviewed by the City Attorney. Mr. MacQueen indicated that it has and the City Attorney said that it is clearly novel and we have to recognize that going in.
Other
Mayor Grenier noted that there are three items under “other”: Mitch Couture’s resignation, approval of a letter appointing Betty Domino as the municipal agent and a report on a finance consultant.
Registration Agent
Councilor Danderson moved to appoint Elizabeth Domino the registration agent for the City of Berlin and to allow State work on City time; Councilor Remillard seconded and the motion carried.
Mitch Couture Resignation
Mayor Grenier acknowledged the resignation effective immediately. He stated that a special election would be costly. The consensus of the Council was to accept letters of interest until December 10 at 4:00 p.m. with interviews to be held 12/13 to select a candidate to fill Mr. Couture ‘s unexpired term.
Finance Consultants
Mr. MacQueen reported that he has received two declinations from companies: Plodsak and Sanderson and Capola/Rockburn. Don Jutton will get a proposal from Maura Halkiotis and Betty is working with IT companies to get a proposal to review processes in the Finance Department. Mayor Grenier noted that the consensus of the Council was that the City may not be maximizing the electronic tools that exist and by doing that it could realize a savings.
Bartlett School
Councilor Danderson commented that he was surprised at hearing that Bartlett School would be sold for $30,000 rather than $100,000. He thought it would be worth going out to bid one more time. Councilor Remillard agreed that it should be put back out to bid. Mayor Grenier stated that the Council is half way through a process and going back sends a jaded message to developers in the community. Though he respects the positions of the Councilors, he said that ethically it’s sending the wrong message. It is a motion that is in process and unless presented with a realistic circumstance, it will continue on its path.
Councilor Remillard commented that she is not convinced that the property will be enhanced by this project and she felt we owe it to the community to put the project out to bid. Councilor McCue stated that he has concerns that this has been voted on and there is a process for public hearing which is the opportunity for the public to offer their comments. Councilor Danderson offered that this building may be a good place to house the Police Department. Councilor McCue indicated that other uses for the building were thoroughly vetted and this project has merits.
Councilor Landry voiced that he was convinced by Council members that the Binette’s were the way to go to bring students in the downtown with this student housing project. They are the ones who got the ball rolling and he said he does not want to pull it out from under them. A decision was made and this Council needs to keep moving forward. Councilor Danderson added that he wants the public to know that all of this is above board and there were no special deals.
At 8:00 p.m. Councilor Danderson moved to adjourn to non-meeting per RSA 91-A:2,I(b) Collective Bargaining; Councilor McCue seconded and the motion carried unanimously by roll call.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
| 
