Work Session
August 1, 2011
Present were: Councilors Otis, Remillard, Ducharme, McCue, Evans, Nelson and Théberge; absent were Mayor Grenier and Councilor Rozek
Others present included: Housing Coordinator Linda White, Andre Caron, Pat MacQueen media and public
In the absence of Mayor Grenier, Councilor McCue called the work session to order at 6:30 p.m.
Mr. MacQueen introduced Linda White, the new Housing Coordinator to the Council. Andre Caron explained that in the transition, Ms. White will be taking care of new grants and projects and he will take care of historical and existing projects.
Property Sale Recommendations
Mr. MacQueen made the point that there are two councilors who have expressed interest in one or more of the properties being discussed. Mr. Caron said that this meeting is for the Council to determine how best to dispose of land that the City has acquired through tax deed or by having demolished the buildings on the land. He noted that some of these demolitions have cost the City up to $40,000 and it is obvious the City will not recoup its investment. Some of the land is buildable and some unbuildable and there is an assessed value of $8,000 on most buildable lots on the tax card.
For a piece of flat buildable land, staff is recommending that the minimum bid be 2/3 of tax card value; if it is a steep slope or land that is not buildable, the minimum bid would be 1/3 of the tax card value. It is further recommended that parcels be sold to direct abutters which would allow accessory buildings but no house.
Councilor Remillard confirmed that if the minimum bid is not met, the parcels can be put up for bid to the public. She asked what the harm would be if someone from out of town were to buy one of these properties. Mr. Caron responded that the goal of the demolitions was to de-densify the neighborhoods and the unbuildable lots only have value to the abutters. Councilor Remillard confirmed that if these properties do not sell to the abutters, the issue will come back to the council to find a way to sell.
Mr. MacQueen commented that the easiest method to dispose of these properties would be to put them out to bid; however there is some question about whether that would give us the best result. Councilor Evans asked if the City can require the abutter to do a lot line adjustment once the property is purchased. Mr. Caron indicated that it’s been done before. Councilor Evans acknowledged that Berlin will lose money by going to the abutters; however de-densifying will make the city look better.
Councilor Nelson asked if all the land being sold is buildable and Mr. Caron replied that some parcels are and some are not. Council members discussed each parcel and consented to the recommendations; however Councilor Evans noted that he wants to see a mandatory lot line adjustment written into the deed. He added that if the mandate is a problem, it could be brought back to the Council. Mayor Pro Tem McCue commented that most people merge properties to save on taxes. He added that State Law was recently changed to say that a City cannot merge lots in common ownership but that would not apply here because the owners would be merging the lots.
Mr. MacQueen commented that in a typical bid there is an item that prevents collusion and he confirmed that ideally the City would not want abutters to get together and collude to acquire a property. If collusion were allowed there would be no competitive bidding. Mr. Caron added that a bidder still has to be current on taxes, and sewer. Mayor Pro Tem McCue affirmed that Councilors Théberge and Remillard will recuse themselves from voting.
Councilor Evans moved with a second from Councilor Ducharme that the City Manager is hereby authorized, indefinitely until rescinded, to offer for sale at the earliest appropriate opportunity, the properties listed below by sealed bid with conditions as indicated for each property. An additional condition shall be a mandatory lot line adjustment lot merger (see amendment 8/15/11) on properties sold to abutters.
Map/Lot 119-0468.0000, formerly 818 Fourth Avenue: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 2/3 of its current taxable valuation of $6,000 ($4,000).
Map/Lot 110-0143.0000, formerly 767 Sixth Avenue: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 1/3 of its current taxable valuation of $4,200 due to steep slopes. ($1,400)
Map/Lot 119-0405.0000, formerly 761 Second Avenue: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 2/3 of its current taxable valuation of $8,500. ($5,666)
Map/Lot 119-0449.0000, formerly 692 Second Avenue: This parcel, which also includes a garage, will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 2/3 of its current taxable valuation of $8,600 due to the narrow right of way and difficult access to the property. ($5,733)
Map/Lot 120-273.0000, formerly 360 High Street: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 2/3 of its current taxable valuation of $9,300. ($6,200)
Map/Lot 128-177.0000, formerly 522 School Street: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 1/3 of its current taxable valuation of $4,700 due to not meeting the minimum lot size required by our zoning ordinance. ($1,566)
Map/Lot 131-0064.0000, formerly 288 Burgess Street: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 1/3 of its current taxable valuation of $6,400 due to steep slopes. ($2,133)
Map/Lot 131-0045.0000, Hillsboro Street affiliated with the property formerly know as 288 Burgess Street: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 1/3 of its current taxable valuation of $8,300 due to steep slopes. ($2,766)
Map/Lot 131-0044.0000, Hillsboro Street: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being its current taxable valuation of $8,700 due to steep slopes. ($2,900)
Map/Lot 130-391.0000, formerly 450 Goebel Street: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 2/3 of its current taxable valuation of $4,700. ($3,133)
Map/Lot 130-0353.0000, formerly 407 Champlain Street: This parcel will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being its current taxable valuation of $8,300. ($5,333)
Map/Lot 130-0325.0000, formerly 508 Champlain Street: This parcel, which is considered unbuildable, will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 1/3 of its current taxable valuation of $8800 due to not meeting the minimum lot size required by our zoning ordinance. ($2,933)
Map/Lot 130-0374.0000, formerly 575 Champlain Street: This parcel, which is considered unbuildable, will be offered for sale by sealed bid to the direct abutters with the minimum bid being 1/3 of its current taxable valuation of $7,300 due to not meeting the minimum lot size required by our zoning ordinance. ($2,433)
So moved, the motion carried.
Additional Agenda Item
Mayor Pro Tem McCue asked to add this item to the agenda as item 4.a. Councilor Evans so moved; Councilor Remillard seconded and the motion carried.
Public Works Laborer Position Review
Mr. MacQueen explained that the decision to hire can be put off until Mr. Perreault is present. The position became available when a Public Works laborer was hired to fill a WWT open position.
Councilor Nelson moved to hire the public works position as recommended; Councilor Otis seconded. In discussion Councilor Evans commented that the city manager said during budget meetings that rather than cutting from critical positions, he would go to Public Works. Councilor Evans said that it seems like we should look at the situation more closely and he would be interested in hearing from the Public Works Director.
Councilor Nelson determined that the Council worked very hard during budget meetings to see that positions would not be lost. By holding back on hiring this position, we are losing a critical work time season to get work done. Councilor Théberge agreed saying that PWD is at a bare minimum as it is. Mr. MacQueen clarified his statement during budget, saying that he is not recommending reducing staff further. There is no question that the department has been cut significantly over the years and that can result in not getting the work done. The more staff is reduced, the worse it will get. Councilor Ducharme asked if Mr. Perreault will have more information and Mr. MacQueen stated that he could give more detail. Councilor Evans asked if Councilor Nelson would amend her motion and she declined. Councilor Evans moved to table the motion and there was no second.
In the vote that followed, the motion carried with all Councilors voting affirmatively with the exception of Councilor Evans.
Other
Resolution 2011-28
Mr. MacQueen explained that the City clerk obtained grant funds to preserve records and a resolution to accept those funds into the budget is being introduced this evening. The grant will allow the public to be able to use the records once preserved. The funding source is the moose license plates. Councilor Ducharme confirmed that there is no match required.
Master Plan
Councilor Evans asked if the Master Plan has been adopted by the Council and Mr. MacQueen stated that it was his intent to have the Council adopt it but he was not sure that it’s been done. He will report back.
12th Street Bridge Work
Councilor Evans asked about the bridge work at 12th Street that appeared to not be holding the way it was supposed to. Mr. MacQueen said that he noticed that the concrete was wearing more than it should and a meeting was held with the engineers. The alternatives go from removing all sections where deck wear is at the west end to an aggressive maintenance plan with sealers. The problem seems to be that the ridges in the deck may get caught on city plow blades. The plowing procedure will be reviewed and a rubber blade may be added to the plow that does the route. The hope is to figure out a way to reduce the wear significantly. The advantage to having a concrete deck is that one can see if damage is being done; once pavement is over the top, you cannot see what is going on. At this
time the rebar is not compromised and there is no threat to the structure but we want to address the mechanical wear.
There being no further business in the work session, Mayor Pro Tem McCue closed the work session.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
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