WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 20
BERLIN, N.H.
752-5858
Parties reviewing PUC decision BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN – Both parties yesterday were withholding comment on the N.H. Public Utilities Commission’s decision on the power purchase agreement for the proposed Laidlaw Berlin BioPower/Berlin Station biomass plant. Public Service Company of N.H. and Laidlaw said their organizations were reviewing the 117-page decision issued late Monday afternoon. In its decision, the PUC said it found the agreement as filed not to be in the public’s interest. It noted the PPA could cost as much at $2 billion over its 20-year term. But the agency said it would approve a modified PPA that would reduce total payments to approximately $1.3 billion
over the term of the agreement. PSNH has 30 days to file a revised PPA complying with the terms set out in the decision PSNH yesterday said it was still reviewing the decision and would withhold any comment until the review is complete. Richard Cyr, senior vice president for Cate Street Capital, said he expected his company would be spending a couple of days reviewing the document. He said the company will also have to meet with their lenders. “It’s obviously a complex deal. There are a lot of ins and outs,” said Cyr. Cyr said Cate Street is committed to the deal and said see PUC page 9
No agreement yet on mill purchase BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
GORHAM – Counsel RB Capital last night said it has not signed an agreement to sell the Gorham mill to Patriarch Partners. “We do not have a signed agreement with Patriarch. We are continuing to keep the mill in a “hot idle” state in the hopes of closing a deal with an operator who could quickly restart, but there is no signed agreement with any party at this point,” wrote Counsel R.B. Capital Vice President Gregory Schain in an e-mail last night.
Sources yesterday were reporting that Lynn Tilton, founder and CEO of Patriarch Partners, had signed or was close to signing a committal letter to purchase the mill. Tilton toured the Gorham mill last week with state, local, and union officials. She said she expected to make a decision on purchasing the mill by early this week. Once the decision to purchase was made, Tilton said it would take up to four weeks to finalize the sale. She estimated it would be another month to get the first machine up and running and people back to work. see NO AGREEMENT page 9
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City council approves new BEA contract BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN – The city council Monday night approved a new two year contract between the school district and the Berlin teachers union that will save the city $180,929. The contract with the Berlin Education Association calls for no wage increases in either year of the contract which runs from the 2011-12 to 2012-2013 school years. In the first year, there are no step or longevity increases as well. The BEA agreed to a change in health insurance from a point-of-service plan to an HMO. The union also agreed to a reduction in the health insurance waiver (for those not taking insurance) from $5,302 to $2,000. Costs savings in the first year of the contract come to $277,660. In the second year of the contract, teachers will receive step and longevity increases. Offsetting some of the see BEA page 5
Conserved land in county doubles since 1988 BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
Volunteer Don Bisson was one of many handing out food Saturday. Good Shepherd and Holy Family Parishes of Berlin/Gorham gave out thousands of dollars of free food Saturday. Money to purchase the food came from other parishes in the Diocese of Manchester. Story page 7. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO).
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COOS COUNTY – The amount of land in Coos County protected as conservation land has doubled since 1988. The vast majority of that land, however, has remained in active timber production according to Appalachian Mountain Club Senior Staff Scientist David Publicover. Publicover outlined his figures at last week’s Coos County planning board discussion on the county’s interest in a community/county forest. After the meeting, at the board’s request, Publicover provided a written copy of his findings. Prior to 1988, Publicover said 281,415 acres or about 24 percent of Coos County was in some form of land conservation. Today that number has increased by 50 percent to 581,312 see CONSERVED page 15
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