Work Session
March 25, 2013
Present were: Mayor Grenier, Councilors Otis, Remillard, Benski, Morgan Allain, Higbee, Rozek, Nelson and Theberge.
Others present included: Patrick MacQueen, Patty Chase, Linda White, Randall Trull, Assistant Chief Soltys, Joe Martin, Firefighters Ray Dube, Roland Berthiaume, Justin Jacques, and Gary Peters, Barbara Tetreault, Berlin Daily Sun
Mayor Grenier opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Reverse 911 Appointments
Mr. MacQueen explained that the City received a letter from Bruce Cheney, the Director of the Division of Emergency Services and Communications, advising that the State now has the ability to offer Reverse 911 to communities. In an emergency situation, a telephone call would go out to all land lines in the city advising of the situation. The service is not required; however it is offered by the State at no cost to the City. Mr. MacQueen’s recommendation is to opt in and have Chief Trull as the contact since he is the Emergency Management Director. Another option would be to have Chief Morency or the new manager as a second contact. Mayor Grenier commented that the second designee should be the new manager.
Councilor Rozek moved with a second from Councilor Theberge to appoint Randall Trull in his capacity as the City Emergency Management Director to be the designated local official with the ability to access the Reverse 911 system in an emergency situation. So moved, with motion carried.
Proposed Contract Approval for Better Buildings Marketing
Ms. Laflamme reported to the Council that she has been working with the Department of Energy to repurpose $100,000 remaining in the Better Buildings grant to CAP to be allocated to weatherization. This allocation would service a critical area of the population that did not get to participate in the Better Buildings Program. The grant deadline of July 31 still has to be met for spending down the funds.
Mayor Grenier asked if these federal funds would be strictly for Berlin or if they would be used county-wide and Ms. Laflamme clarified that the contract limits service with these funds to Berlin. She established that the City has a reporting mechanism and will be checking for Davis Bacon wages.
Councilor Nelson expressed concern about making the program available to the most people. Councilor Higbee stated that “low/moderate” income guideline is HUD terminology based on median income; however the Federal poverty guidelines are different. This funding will help those who were unable to get funding from Better Buildings
Councilor Remillard moved that the City Council hereby approves the proposed contract agreement with Tri County Community Action Weatherization Program for the purpose of completing more energy retrofits for Berlin residents in the amount of $100,000.00 and authorizes the City Manager to sign the contract agreement and any and all documents necessary to effectuate the agreement; Councilor Rozek seconded and the motion carried. Councilor Higbee abstained.
Fire Department Budget
Chief Trull and Assistant Chief Soltys presented the Fire Department budget request. Chief Trull commented that his budget proposes to add two firefighter positions and most of the increases shown reflect the costs of those added positions. There were 13 fires this year and last year at this time, there had been seven. Firefighters having to multi task is resulting in injuries and increase worker’s compensation rates. Chief Trull stated that the average age of firefighters is 40.5. Legislation has passed that will have firefighters who are not vested in the retirement system working 25 years and achieving age 50 rather than working the current 20 years.
Reviewing statistics, Chief Trull stated that ideally he would like to arrive at a fire with five personnel, but they currently arrive with at least four. In 2012, there were 399 calls with a total of 16 building fires.
Two state certification classes were held in Berlin and that brought 20 to 40 firefighters to the city for the classes and each call member participated in the classes. There are currently 13 on the call roster with 3 applications pending. Chief Trull reported that the Department received $18,000 in grant money that paid for time and benefits for specialty training including water rescue, and heights rescue.
Assistant Chief Soltys stated that he has been working on identifying the shortcomings of the inspection program and with better tracking, gaining more fees. An updated list of multi-family buildings is projected to bring in revenues of $15,000. Councilor Higbee questioned whether the inspection process is voluntary and Chief Trull clarified that inspections are mandated by the State. In a situation of non-compliance, the State will derive the fees generated; whereas if a building owner complies and gets inspected by the City inspector, the fees go to the City. Councilor Nelson confirmed that there is a better tracking tool for inspections and fees since the Fire Department’s last visit.
Chief Trull addressed false alarms saying that 15% of calls are false alarms; 5% of those are to municipal buildings. Charges will be implemented for false alarms with the first offense being a warning; second offence, a fee of $150 and subsequent offenses at $300 per occurrence.
Chief Trull established that he has taken on emergency management duties and successfully applied for and received $5,000 of grant money to update the Emergency Management Plan. He did the administrative work to obtain money from FEMA for reimbursement of expenses during Hurricane Sandy. The Department will be purchasing HP tablets through grants; one will be used for inspections and the other will be used in the event that sheltering is needed.
Councilor Theberge commended the Chief on the improvement of revenues since the last meeting. Councilor Rozek asked for information regarding how many staff members have 20 years of service now; how many are eligible for retirement. He also asked for the dollar amount of grants applied for and how many were received.
Councilor Rozek asked if the information on the National Fire Standards is applicable to Berlin and Chief Trull commented that the fire standards recommend having a full coverage within 8 minutes. Councilor Rozek asked how many, from the existing fire department staff, cannot get to the fire department within 8 minutes.
Mayor Grenier stated that the Manager’s budget eliminates two positions in the Fire Department and in past years the Council was able to restore the positions; however it will take six votes to bring the positions back and in this economy, he did not think it likely.
Councilor Rozek asked how much it costs to train a new firefighter. Chief Trull responded that there is approximately $6,000 for overtime and 6 months in recruit school amounting to another $2,000. He said that he would get back to the Council with those amounts.
Assistant Chief Soltys stated that a firefighter comes to the city with Firefighter 1 & 2 training and apparatus certification is done in house during regular shifts. Councilor Theberge mentioned furloughs to save jobs. Mayor Grenier noted that once health insurance, and retirement are calculated, it is cheaper to pay overtime than to have additional firefighters. Group 2 is not affordable to the communities.
Fire Department CIP includes the Fire building repair program at $13,000 and that is to continue with brick pointing. Fire Department personnel and Joe Martin left the meeting at this time.
Housing
Linda White presented an overview of home and property sales as well as demolitions done since last year. Thus far 107 units and 58 properties have been torn down; 52 units and 18 buildings rehabbed.
The Council reviewed the demo plan for 2014. Ms. White said that most of the grant funds have been spent down; she is proposing the use of municipal funds to take down additional buildings. In 2012, 104 properties were cited for tax deed and this year 88 have been cited which is a downward trend.
Mayor Grenier observed that $281,448 will fully fund the demo of some of Berlin’s worst buildings. This is the key to revitalizing Berlin. Ms. White attributed the mechanism in place for taking down building to her predecessor Andre Caron stating that Berlin has a reputation for having a very efficient process for demolition.
In the Capital Improvement budget, the manager cut the Housing Initiative from the $200,000 request to $150,000. Ms. White said that she will work with whatever amount to get as much blighted housing down as possible.
Non-Public Session
Councilor Theberge moved to go into non-public session per RSA 91-A:3 II (d) Consideration of the acquisition, sale or lease of real or personal property; Councilor Nelson seconded and the motion carried unanimously by roll call.
Councilor Nelson moved with a second from Councilor Higbee to come out of non-public session. So moved the motion carried unanimously by roll call.
Councilor Rozek moved with a second from Councilor Theberge to seal the minutes of the non-public session until the building discussed is sold as releasing them would render the action taken ineffective. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Nelson moved with a second from Councilor Higbee to adjourn. So moved, the motion carried. The meeting ended at 8:35 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
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