Public Hearing – February 22, 2011
Mayor Grenier opened and called to order the duly advertised and scheduled public hearing to accept public comments on the below noted resolution at approximately 7:32 p.m.
-Resolution 2011-04 Conway Bypass Support.
Rene Boutin ATV Club President lives in Gorham and said he wants to see it come through.
There being no one else wishing to speak for or against the above noted resolution, Mayor Grenier closed the public hearing portion of the meeting at approximately 7:33 p.m.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING – TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Mayor Grenier called the regular City Council Meeting to order at approximately 7:33 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. The pledge of allegiance to the flag preceded roll call. Present: Councilors Remillard, McCue, Danderson, Evans, Rozek and Poulin. Councilor Landry was absent. Also present: Pat MacQueen, Lefty Theberge, Rene Boutin, Bobby Haggart and the press.
Minutes, Previous Meetings
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Evans to accept the minutes of the February 7 Work Session/Regular Meeting and February 14 Work Session. Councilor McCue said that under the regular meeting minutes for February 7 under Disbursements it stated that he seconded the motion to accept the report. Since he is on the committee on Accounts and Claims he makes it a point to never move on that motion. He thinks it was Councilor Landry who seconded. The City Clerk noted the correction. So moved, the motion carried.
Disbursements: It was recommended by the Committee on Accounts/Claims to pay all bills dated 2/10/11–2/23/2011 for a total cash disbursement of $1,683,188.04 Draft #1634. 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: No Comments.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
- Council Committee Reports – No reports
- Resolution 2011-04 Supporting the Restoration of the Central and Northern Segments of the Conway Bypass to the New Hampshire Ten Year Transportation Improvement Program. (tabled 2/07/2011) Resolved by the City Council of the City of Berlin as follows:
WHEREAS, the Conway Bypass is essential to restoring the North Country’s economic vitality and has been a top priority project in the North Country for at least forty (40) years both as a means to break the traffic log jam which has existed in Conway and also as an additional means to better move traffic to and from the region north of Conway which currently has very limited transportation access; and
WHEREAS, the even flow of traffic over Route 16 is critical for this region, and the North Country has long expressed its support for the Conway Bypass as being critical to its social and economic well-being; and
WHEREAS, the NHDOT has expended over $26 million dollars since 1995 in the planning, preparation and construction of 5 phases of this project in preparation for the three (Southern, Northern and Central) main bypass segments; and
WHEREAS, because the preliminary improvements already have changed the traffic situation in Conway proper, economic times are difficult, and Conway while still supporting the project, has understandable concerns that the completion of one segment of the bypass with no assurance of the completion of the other two segments may leave it with another traffic bottleneck in the middle of its commercial area. Now therefore, be it resolved that the undersigned municipality of the North Country supports the restoration of the Central and Northern segments of the Conway Bypass to the New Hampshire Ten Year Transportation Improvement Program. Their removal from the Plan would appear to undercut much of the prior effort toward the successful completion of this critical project and ignore the essential needs of the entire North Country
region. Be it further resolved that the undersigned municipality respectfully urges the Governor and Executive Council and the State Legislature and the NHDOT to take all actions necessary to get this long awaited and overdue project back on track and again fully funded in the New Hampshire Ten Year Highway Plan and finally built under an expeditious time schedule. This resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after passage.
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Danderson to remove the resolution from the table at this time. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor McCue to have the resolution read a second time by title only. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor McCue to have the resolution read a third time by title only. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to pass the resolution. So moved, the motion carried by a unanimous vote of Council.
NEW BUSINESS
DRA Assessing Follow-up
Attached is a copy of the latest DRA review of our revaluation assessments. This is basically a review of the approach that was used in the Avitar revaluation and whether that approach met all of the standards that it should which are called the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) standards. Based on the fact that our revaluation was given of score of 61 out of a possible score of 61, it appears that our revaluation met the USPAP standards in every way possible.
Fire Department Revenue
The Fire Department has its new fee schedule in place and operating and has taken in its first revenue. This quite appropriately was a check for $45 from the NH DHHS for a place of assembly inspection in their new building.
Waste District Discussions on Leachate
Several conference calls between City and District staff and both party's engineers and attorney's have been held to refine the Agreement between the AVRRDD and the City regarding the City's taking and treating the District leachate. About the only thing that is still being talked about are coming up with the definitions for the District's leachate. When the Agreement is finalized, it will be brought back to the Council for approval.
PSNH Tax Abatement Filing
We had previously received a notice of intent to file for a tax abatement from PSNH. Attached is the actual PSNH abatement filing.
North Country Council Survey
We mailed in the two surveys we received from the Council to the North Country Council on the Northern Pass project. If any additional Councilors would like to complete the survey, we will mail them along as well as we receive them.
Pollution Control Exemptions
HB 293 and now SB 131-FN sponsored by Senator Gallus are both still under consideration in the General Court. These bills would do away with the pollution exemptions enjoyed by many industries in various municipalities throughout the state for no good reason.
The Mayor and Council have long supported the elimination of these exemptions which effectively are a state mandate that certain local governments will forego property tax revenue on behalf of the state. I made a point to try to testify on HB 293 but the hearing was cancelled. The hearing on SB 131-FN sponsored by Senator Gallus was today (if it wasn't cancelled) but I wasn't about to chance wasting the better part of a day to make that hearing so I wrote the attached letter instead.
Other Legislative Matters
The legislature has its hands full and any time that happens, it is time to be wary if you are local government. This is certainly again very true this year. The Governor has delivered his budget address to a joint House and Senate session. As you have probably heard, it provides for no new taxes at the State level, but plenty of additional property taxes at the local level. It is not enough that the State has managed to let the retirement system which it created get ridiculously in the hole and that municipalities are paying very large retirement increases each year as a result. Now, the Governor would withdraw the State commitment to pay for part of the local share of the retirement system that the State created and required municipalities to participate in. According to the LGC this would amount to an additional 54%
increase in retirement rates on top of the dramatically increased rates we are already paying.
Further, the Revenue Sharing cut two years ago and was supposed to be restored will not (surprise) be restored. Additionally, not surprisingly, water and waste water grants are again being cut. While the Governor's budget would hold level the revenue sharing from the Rooms and Meals Tax and actually increase it in 2013 as well as increase highway block grants significantly, overall LGC figures that the level of State Funding to municipalities is around 79% of what it is currently.
SB 133 Restoring The Pole Tax Exemption:
Last year the pole tax exemption for telecommunication companies was finally removed in part by the Legislature. However, SB133 which would restore this exemption which municipalities have spent decades trying to get rid of has been introduced this year to restore the exemption so that everyone in the state can pay higher property taxes in order that the telecommunications companies can have lower taxes.
Retirement Reform:
A number of bills have been introduced this year purporting to provide needed reforms to the State badly broken but required retirement system that municipalities must participate in. These House bills variously change the calculation of the average final compensation (HB 456), redefine earnable compensation (HB 265), limit the maximum annual retirement benefit (HB 463) and establish a defined contribution plan for all new employees. SB 3 in the Senate is a package of retirement reforms. Even though several years have gone by, very little has been done (except increase local employer contributions) to reform the State broken system.
HB 457 Interest Rate on Delinquent Taxes:
HB 457 is another bill which would reduce the interest rate on delinquent taxes for 12 and 18% respectively to 6 and 9%. Apparently, there are some legislators who need to come to Berlin to see that we have a number of landlords who are only to happy to receive local credit at the 12 and 18% in order not to pay their taxes. No doubt, there will be many more if the rate is lowered.
HB 362 Binding Arbitration
If people think that the so-called Evergreen legislation that legislature recently passed is a problem for municipalities, it is a spec on the wall compared to what Binding Interest Arbitration would do. It in effect turns over the decisions made about local government expenditures and services to a 3rd party "neutral" who makes a binding decision about what the final "settlement" will be and that is imposed on the municipality to fund. Such bills are put into the legislative hopper in most years and so far they haven't gotten very far. However, the danger that they will always exists which is the reason they are submitted every year. HB 362 is just such a bill.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept the City Manager’s Report and place it on file. So moved, the motion carried
- Mayor’s Report – Resignation: Board of Assessors. Paul Croteau informed the Mayor and Council that he would not be seeking another term. He has served twelve years and feels it is time to step down. Mayor Grenier affirmed he will appoint a new member on March 21.
Mayor Grenier informed Council that this Friday the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce will hold their annual dinner. If any Councilor has decided to go they should let the City Clerk know so she can inform the Master of Ceremonies to include their names. It is good to have the city governing body represented at events like this. This is the only black tie function that the Mayor will attend since he usually is a blue collar person. It is an important event and Council should make a special effort to attend.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept/file the Mayor’s report. So moved, the motion carried.
- Public Comments - No comments
- COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilor Danderson requested staff to provide Council with a survey of all full-time City employee wages for the budget process to know where our City employees are at. He is tired of the derogatory comments in cartoons about Council taking books and food out of children’s mouths. They are not doing that. Councilor Danderson said that the school salaries are higher than the state average. We pay them well and he has seen positive things in the new administration and hopefully they will be able to make the cuts needed. Where we are as a city is that right now we have the lowest property evaluations in the state and our unemployment rate is 222 out of 234 so we are at 10.3% which is 12th from the bottom. Our median household income is $29,647. The percentage of taxes on the median
household income is 22% which means that 22% of people’s income is going toward property taxes on a $200,000 home. When he looks at those facts his concern is what straw will break the camel’s back. When you look at what goes on in the state, we can’t count on the state to save us. The sad thing is that Council will have to make hard decisions in the next few months and he wants everyone to be fully aware of that. If they are doing the right thing, at some point something has to break. He hopes our city employees look at contract situations since it is impossible to negotiate with them to give back, not like the private sector. In the public sector you can keep a contract existing as it is. What we ought to do is take a hard look at every department and not take away people’s income but there are many kickers that should not be there like paying for education courses for teachers which is a double whammy.
Another thing he would like to see eliminated is if a husband and wife both work for the city and they opt out of insurance, we should not give them a payout for that. It is little things like this that Council can find and decide what can be eliminated. People are not working in the mill and things are tough. Council will ask the employees and administrators to see what they can do. He doesn’t want people to turn Council into demons while they are working to make the community solid so we can progress.
Councilor McCue attended a meeting with the Municipal Association where Commissioner Campbell from the DOT distributed a pamphlet that showed the impact of towns who received reduced funding levels and the impact on the DOT. Many local projects would be dropped. Commissioner Campbell’s report showed the budget cuts as proposed and the impact it would have at all levels.
Councilor McCue then discussed the bill in legislature promoted by the Automobile Association to register vehicles that they sell and roll registration fees into financing. The auto dealers also want to renew those registrations as an added service. What troubles him is the potential work and revenues that will be lost from city and town clerks and municipalities. He knows there has been lots of behind-the-scenes negotiation and was disappointed to hear that the public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 8 which is town election day. We will see where it comes out and will follow through. Rather than being heard under the Municipal and County Government it was assigned to the Ways and Means Committee. We should oppose this.
Councilor McCue then discussed the bill in legislature to lower the Rooms & Meals Tax down to 8%. In that same bill they are working with the formulas to see which communities get revenues from that. The Municipal Association decided not to lobby one way or the other on this bill.
He is one of the two who responded to the Northern Pass Transmission Survey and advocates that the City steer clear of that whole project. He noted that in their mail boxes was a communication from US Senator Kelly Ayotte who provided information about the public hearings in the North Country locations. He encouraged all to turn out to one of the hearings because it does have an impact on the North Country, not so much Berlin but it already is a divisive and difficult issue.
Councilor Rozek had two issues to discuss. The first is in reference to full-time employees. The report shows we have 250 full-time employees within a city government which is, if we are not the largest employer, we are close to it. For a city that is the poorest city in the entire State of NH which is subsidized by taxpayers, he cannot see longevity for the City. You can’t have the City be the largest employer and expect long term survivability for the taxpayers that fund it. It just doesn’t make any sense. The second factor is: what is a librarian? We had this discussion with another Councilor on how important is a Librarian? He thinks a Librarian is important but if you work for the school system you earn between $56,000 to $66,000 but if you work for City Government you earn $20,000. Councilor Rozek asked how much discrepancy could there be when doing the same type of work? He does not understand some of the figures that he knows are accurate showing that the City
Head Librarian makes $43,000 and the School Head Librarian makes $66,000. He is thinking who works more hours? He knows the Public Library is open more than the School Library so how can the numbers be so twisted?
There being no further business before the Mayor and Council at this time, Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to adjourn the meeting. So moved, Mayor Grenier declared the Regular Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:07 p.m.
A True Record, Attest:
Debra A. Patrick, CMC
City Clerk
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