City Manager's Report 12/3/2007
Public Works Projects
Winter is upon us which pretty much closes down the summer construction. All of our equipment was out this morning. The sand barrels are all out as well.
We have had 3 salting events already including this morning. These cost about $2,000 each. The bulldozer has been transported to the snow dump at the WWTF in anticipation of its use there. In addition we plan to also re-open a snow dump we used to use on the Dummer Yard property just north of Success Pond Road. This snow dump was discontinued at American Tissue's request when they owned the property. The property has since been abandoned.
Fortunately, we have been able to pretty button up our paving projects including a 300' drainage line on Enman Hill Road and a 60' drain line project on McGee Street. Speaking of paving, PW has already received notice from Pike Industries that their hot-top price is going from $55/ton to $59/ton next year.
A replacement sidewalk tractor is ordered and should be delivered shortly. Also, as it turns out, the new army surplus we are purchasing from the State Surplus depot is in pristine condition. In addition, the PW Director was able to talk the price down from $15K to $12K.
Clean Power Option Signing
The agreement with Clean Power for an option on some of the City WWTF land has been signed and the initial option check for $5,000 received.
CIP
The Six Year Capital Improvement Program will be issued this week for consideration by the Mayor and Council and the Planning Board. The Six Year CIP is a planning document which is intended to list the major Capital Improvements proposed by all the City's Departments including the Schools. All the projects listed in the first year of the CIP will automatically be included as requests in Annual Operating Budget which the Council will receive and consider in the New Year.
Court Lease
The terms of a new lease with the District Court have been finalized which include a 4.5% increase in rent and a year long lease. This will be signed as soon as they get us the paper work. As the Council is aware, the District Court is actively seeking other locations to rent in the Berlin area because they feel that the current facility is not adequate from a security and accessibility perspective.
Time Warner Cable Communications Rate Increase and Response
Attached is a notice from TWC giving notice of cable TV rate increases. Also included are some responses we received to the letter from the Mayor and Council complaining about the poor reception on Channel 4 recently. According to Melinda Poore of TW, the problem was a faulty piece of equipment and they feel the problem has been corrected. Also attached is a response from the State PUC saying that they don't have jurisdiction over cable TV. We also received a phone response from the FCC saying they also don't have jurisdiction over cable TV alone, but that they do have jurisdiction over complaints from people who have a bundled package (cable TV bundled with phone services). This gentleman provided the following web site where he said that people with type of service or just telephone complaints can go to easily file complaints with the FCC.
Fairpoint Communications Meetings
Attached is a flier from Fairpoint Communications inviting people to attend one of a series of meetings they are holding in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. The meetings are part of Fairpoint's efforts to convince the public that its purchase of the Verizon system in these states will be beneficial to the public. So far based on the reactions of the PUC staffs in Maine and New Hampshire which have found this proposed sale not to be in the public interest, it would appear that they have some convincing to do.
National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan
The National Fish and Wildlife Service is in the process of planning for its conservation areas. The attached fliers review some of the meetings it has had in this regard as well as meetings it plans to hold in the future. The two closest meetings will be in Colebrook on December 17th and in Jefferson on December 19th. They are looking for more input from the public on developing alternative approaches to manage this conservation land.