The Berlin Daily Sun, Thursday, March 17, 2011

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THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011 VOL. 20 NO. 1

BERLIN, N.H.

752-

5858

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Mayor urges council voice support for Laidlaw project BY CRAIG LYONS THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

BERLIN— A request seeking support from the Berlin City Council for a change to the renewable portfolio standards law shifted to an urging from the mayor to start showing stronger support for the Laidlaw project. After Mayor Paul Grenier Monday night discussed the proposed change to the renewable portfolio law, contained in SB 118, Councilor Tom McCue said he’s hesitant to lend support for the change because there could be wider implications than a simple wording change. McCue’s hesitancy to support the legislative change frustrated Mayor Paul Grenier.

Grenier said the council shouldn’t stand in the way of the project because it’s now about more than just the Laidlaw project, but also the future of the mill in Gorham. “The Laidlaw folks made it very clear, no power plant, no Cascade mill,” said Grenier. He said it doesn’t make sense to invest $60 million in the area without synergy. Cate Street Capital, the prospective buyers of the mill, is also an investor in the Laidlaw project. Councilor Diana Nelson said she could confirm Grenier’s assessment of the situation. The Berlin Daily Sun contacted Cate Street Capital to clarify the relationship between the two proj-

ects. Richard Cyr, senior vice president for Cate Street Capital, said the projects are currently working independently of each other. The time table for closing on the project is different, said Cyr. Cyr said the company wants to close on the mill deal as soon as possible so the customers and sales staff will still be available. He added the longer that deal lingers, the less viable the project becomes. On the other hand, the Laidlaw project only awaits a decision from the Public Utilities Commission. He added that project is ready to go once the decision see MAYOR page 8

City councilors question fire chief about dept. staffing BY CRAIG LYONS THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

BERLIN— The fire chief was questioned Monday night by the City Council regarding concerns about leaving a firefighter at the station when others respond to a fire. Chief Randall Trull met with the council to respond to a inquiry from Councilor Michael Rozek about why the department would leave fully trained

firefighters behind to handle the phones when they should be responding to a fire. Rozek raised this question after Trull stayed behind to handle the phones while the rest of the crew responded to a fire at P&L Auto, in January. Rozek questioned why, if the department is so short staffed, it can have someone stay behind when a call comes in, rather than simply switching the phones over to the police department.

Trull explained to the council what unfolded during the P&L Fire When the call came in, he said he and the assistant fire chief were in a meeting, the trucks rolled out of the station, he sent the assistant chief to the scene and he stayed behind to send out another tone for extra help. When he went to strike the alarm, Trull said the see COUNCILORS page 8

Council reviews school budget BY CRAIG LYONS THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

There’s still plenty of snow on the snowmobile trails as here on the Dolly Copp Road (Pinkham B) in Gorham but with the warmer weather, snow days may be numbered. (GAIL SCOTT PHOTO)

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BERLIN— A review of the proposed school budget by the City Council revolved around questions about salaries and staff-related costs. The council Monday night met with the Berlin Board of Education to go over the proposed school budget. The school is seeking $16,684,988 for 20112012 and even though it’s an increase over the prior year, the school board believes it’s a budget that preserves the current school programming and staffing. “I want to stress the importance of not going backwards and not taking away,” said Nicole Plourde, chair of the school board. The budget issue that interested the city councilors were items relating to staff. Councilor Bob Danderson started off the discussion on the topic of class sizes and whether the teachers are being underutilized. Danderson said in Berlin the average student to teacher ration is 11 students to one teacher. He added see BUDGET page 15

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