City Manager's Report 05-19-2008
All-Hazard Pandemic Meeting
On Thursday May 15th, an all-hazard pandemic table-top drill meeting for the North Country was held at City Hall. Laura Viger has been heading up this effort to prepare the region for this type of emergency. The meeting was well attended with representatives from all over the North Country. A representative from the State of New Hampshire Emergency Management Office was also present to assist in the drill.
Goebel Street Demolition
Pursuant to a 155-B court order, demolition began today of the burnt out property on Goebel Street owned by Heinrich Kandel and others. A&D Excavating was the low bidder and is carrying out the work to get this eyesore nuisance removed from the neighborhood. This is the last major burnt out property we have in the City.
North Country Council Workshops
Attached are two fliers of upcoming NCC workshops. The first is a presentation of Solid Waste and Recycling in New Hampshire which will be held at the NCC offices in Bethlehem on June 5th from 4-6pm. The presenter is the Supervisor for the Solid Waste Technical Assistance section of the DES.
The other one which is on Historic Preservation is on May 28th at the Franconia Town Hall from 5:30-7:30pm.
Legislation
It appears that the battle over the Retirement reform Bill HB 1645 will continue between the House and the Senate. The approach of the Senate thus far has been "head in the sand" and pretend there is no problem. The Senate did pass a bill SB 463 which changed the NHRS committee structure but not its make up. The House, to its credit, passed SB 463 and tacked on as amendments all the provisions from HB 1645. That now goes back to the Senate for a non-concur vote or a committee of conference.
The Senate has also overturned the House Commerce, Labor and Consumer Protection Committee's recommendation of Inexpedient to Legislate on HB 1463 (the "evergreen" bill) and instead has voted 13-11 to pass the bill. Never mind that no one understands what it really means. Our representatives need to be urged to non-concur with this bill which would kill it.
On a more positive note, the Senate has passed HB 1408 clarifying the Right-to-Know law with respect to electronic records. It is expected that the Governor will sign it.
Thank You's
Attached are some Thank You notes to the Mayor and Council. The first is from the Berlin-Gorham Lion's Club acknowledging the City's contribution in memory of Robert Morin. The second is from the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests acknowledging the City's contribution in support of the amicus brief defending the Forest Plan in US District Court.