City Council Work Session
October 12, 2015
Present were: Mayor Grenier, Councilors Otis, Gentili, Remillard, Theberge, Rozek , Nelson, and Morgan-Allain; Councilor Higbee was absent
Others present: City Manager James Wheeler, Paul Ramsay VP of Eversource NH, Scott Mason and James Wagner representing Northern Pass and Barbara Tetreault from the Berlin Daily Sun
Mayor Grenier opened the meeting at 6:35 p.m.
He asked to put a request from the Notre Dame Arena on the agenda. The Arena is applying for a license to sell beer and the Liquor Commission wants to hear that there is no objection from the community. Councilor Rozek moved to add the item to the agenda; Councilor Morgan Allain seconded and the motion carried. Mayor Grenier abstained.
Code Enforcement Clerk
Mr. Wheeler explained that the Code Enforcement Clerk accepted a position in assessing. This is a request to fill the position. Councilors Rozek and Nelson encouraged making the position as efficient as possible. Councilor Rozek moved to go forward with replacing the code enforcement clerk; Councilor Morgan Allain seconded and the motion carried.
Notre Dame Arena
Mayor Grenier reported that the Arena would sell beer during specific non-scholastic activities such as Monday night hockey and River Drivers home games. Councilor Nelson moved with a second from Councilor Theberge to send letter of “no objection” for Notre Dame Arena to obtain a license to sell beer. The motion carried; Mayor Grenier abstained.
Northern Pass
Mayor Grenier stated that he wanted the Council to get a detailed review of the project and he invited Paul Ramsay, a native of Berlin now Eversource NH VP, Jim Wagner and Scott Mason representing Northern Pass.
Mr. Ramsey updated the Council on Northern Pass, saying that the company acknowledged the impact the project will have on NH’s landscape and views and the need for NH to receive unique benefits for hosting the project. To address the view issues, the amount of power going through the line was reduced and a new route was created adding an additional 52 miles of underground cable through the White Mountain National Forest, Appalachian Trail and Franconia Notch. Reducing the amount of power going through the line allows for smaller towers.
Councilor Remillard asked why not bury the whole line? Mr. Ramsey replied that it would be cost prohibitive increasing the project cost by about $1 billion dollars. The new route lowers the affected population from 8230 to 2477. The old route had 186 pieces of property, the new route has 31. Forty miles of right of way has been reduced to 32.25.
Proposed taxes coming in for Coos County will be $4 to $6.4 million the first year. Councilor Theberge asked if the line will follow the low lands or will it go over mountainous areas. Mr. Ramsey said they will try to remain low but it is not a guarantee; however the height of the towers will be less. Councilor Otis asked if existing power lines from the windmills be used. Mr. Ramsey indicated that Northern Pass will be parallel in some areas but in its own right of way. Mayor Grenier confirmed that 20 to 25 miles of cable will be within Wagner Forest Lands.
Mr. Ramsay reported that the project will bring $30 million annually in new tax payments and will create 2400 jobs during construction. There is a commitment to hire NH workers first. Councilor Nelson asked how NH workers would be hired first in a labor union environment that works on a seniority basis. Mr. Mason said that there is a project labor agreement that gives priorities if a member of the union is a NH resident. He said that logging will done locally. Mr. Ramsey indicated that there will be a $7.5 million North Country jobs creation fund that will provide the money to create jobs.
The project will pay an estimated $340 million in Coos Country taxes saving Berlin approximately $150,000 yearly on County taxes. Councilor Theberge affirmed that the Wagner land will be leased. Mr. Ramsey stated that there will be a $200 million fund to support community betterment, economic development, clean energy and tourism initiatives in NH with emphasis on North Country. There is also 5000 acres of land that can be used for preservation, or recreation.
Councilor Remillard questioned the concept that if Eversource took the time to educate people about time factors on the use of power we would not need Northern Pass nor would we jeopardize the amount of power on the grid. Mr. Ramsay explained that this would work if the power company charged different rates at different times of the day and if people were to change their use habits to accommodate buying power at the time when it is cheaper. A study was done by CT Light and Power about three years ago and it found that people do not change their habits.
Mayor Grenier asked about supply issues that ISO New England will be dealing with. Mr. Ramsay reported that New England uses 31000 megawatts of power and within 5 years, power plants amounting to 10,000 megawats will retire. That is 1/3 of generation and it is unclear where the replacement will come from. Northern Pass will help the situation but there is still a gap.
Mr. Wheeler asked about the 5000 acres of North Country land and Mr. Ramsey clarified that the land was acquired from the old route and there are some oversized parcels in the new route that will be up for discussion.
With the Northern Pass project, the Coos loop would be upgraded to a bigger wire to allow more power out. The loop was created to supply power to the mills and with that need gone, the power could go to the grid.
It is anticipated that the project will go to the Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) this month and they have 60 days to accept the filing, then it will take about 12 months to decide. There will be public hearings and a comment period. It is expected that all permits will be in hand by January, 2017; construction will be over 2 years until 4/2019.
Barbara Tetreault asked if there will be a PILT agreement. Mr. Mason indicated that is against NH Law.
Mayor Grenier stated that he wanted a clear presentation from the developer. The price of power has a significant effect on attracting business. NH is losing jobs and manufacturing because of the cost of power.
In closing Mr. Ramsey said that he is pleased at how the Community Street project worked out. Mayor Grenier agreed saying that the community benefited immensely.
There being no further business in the work session, Councilor Rozek moved with a second from Councilor Nelson to adjourn the meeting. So moved, the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
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