Not Enough Space

The entire city of Berlin should have come to the council meeting tonight. It didn’t clear up as much as it should have, but it posed so many interesting discussions I could write an entire paper out of it.

George Sansoucy, the utility appraiser that assesses the city’s big, hard to assess properties, gave an hour and a half presentation. That alone could have been four stories (I had 400 to 500 words, and I had to squeeze everything else in too). It’s too bad there weren’t more people there to hear it.

He recommended the city get a payment in lieu of taxes, or a PILT, from the utility companies proposing projects in the city. His rational was that it provides a consistent revenue, and that the city could get good revenues for years, even after the assets have sunk in value. The city may start out getting a little less, but in thirty years the city winds up getting more than they would from the assessed value of a worn out biomass plant. Long term planning; that sounds exactly like what Berlin ought to be doing.

He also said there is no hope for district heating unless oil goes up three fold, but some of his comments about plant efficiency didn’t make much sense. Bill Gabler, from Clean Power, was there, and they were geeking out on technical specks (in addition to being an assessor, Mr. Sansoucy is a professional engineer) but their figures weren’t lining up. There was talk of efficiency, and how some plants are efficient at 60 percent, and others at 20 percent, but the engineers in the room couldn’t agree. So while that conversation was interesting it certainly wasn’t helpful in determining the possibility of such development.

And then there was the race, which isn’t even going to make it into the paper. After the fire department troubles hiring an assistant fire chief and Mr. Sansoucy, I didn’t have room to spare, but it appears a reality show is coming to Berlin to run a road rally, thanks to the efforts of representative Paul Ingersol. You can check out the organization here. The council had a few questions, but they seemed enthusiastic, because the event would get people into the city.

I was just having a discussion about how the city and the county need events, both on LPJ and recently in Berlin. This is perfect, but it needs more. Berlin has multiple petro-fueled events, from an ATV rally to a motorcycle rally to a rally race to an old car show. Sometimes I wonder if the North Country is trying to prop up some Emir in Kuwait. The events are key, but somebody has to start proposing something different. Or, to put it better, let’s have all these events, but let’s also try branching out. What about a film festival? Or multi-stage bicycle race? These aren’t things Berlin is familiar with, but maybe the city needs to look beyond the low-hanging fruit.

But I digress. The police department also stopped by to talk about replacing a telephone line to a radio tower that connects their dispatch center with their patrol cars. They pay $500 a month for the connection, which has gone out three times since December. It is antiquated, the police chief said, and the department needs council approval to shift funds around their capital improvement budget to pay for an upgrade. Again, that won’t make it in the paper because of space issues.

I look at the agenda each Monday and tell my editor how long I think my story will be for the council meeting. I am invariably wrong. There is always more going on at council than I can cover, and I often only get small parts and pieces. It’s a shame, but luckily residents have multiple sources from with to get their news.

But recently I’ve begun to doubt the ability of any paper, mine or otherwise, to truly do justice to these meetings. There is just too much going on for me to cover in 500, or even 5,000 words. I try my best, but there is no substitute for being there.

The turnout, however, is always low. I spoke to one man this weekend who is often there, and he said he doesn’t think the council values resident input. I disagree. I’ve seen councilors change their minds after hearing strong words during the public comments. What Berlin needs is engaged citizens, particularly those willing to share their views with their representatives.

It becomes like a soap opera, or maybe like “Desperate Housewives,” when you go week to week, and I don’t mean that pejoratively. I have grown to know and like the characters, to enjoy their personal quirks and to watch their interactions. They are nine people struggling together and against one another to right the listing ship that is Berlin. To pop in on one episode might seem boring, and some days things never pick up, but overall Monday nights are entertaining as well as informative at city hall. It surprises me that people would prefer to watch television, when real drama that affects them is going on so nearby.

So this is my impassioned plea: give it a few shots. Make it out to council, and not just for one episode. I know people who read LPJ care about politics, the city, and raising the bar on the debate, but most Monday nights no one is there. If even just for a few weeks the auditorium was packed, what a difference it would make.

Incidentally, that makes for the best sunshine. The press’ first obligation is to the people, but here is an opportunity for the people to bypass the media. Even if I could always get it right I don’t have room for it all. Instead, just show up. If you miss a week, grab the paper, and I’ll fill you in on what you missed. But unless you know the characters, the plot twists and the progression, my explanation will never be enough. It takes more investment than that. So come on out and enjoy your public officials. You are their bosses, come make sure they’re doing what you require.

Spring into Action

I’m approaching one year of working in Berlin, and one thing I’ve noticed is transitions take time. The talk about what it takes to reinvigorate the city has been going on for far longer than I’ve been there, but the changes have been slow to come.

Or have they? The transition will not come with a splash, in a way that people will recognize and point to. It will come in fits and starts, with small-scale development followed by larger development.

SaVoir Flair and Rumorz, for example, are recent additions to Main Street. They are surviving, and as more development comes (read: federal prison) they will do even better. They are the first seeds; signs that could be missed or ignored by the careless. They are harbingers of better things.

The fire department just inspected Fagin’s Pub to allow them to reopen—another business opens its doors. There are positive things happening, but it is difficult to determine when changes are really happening. When are things truly improving, and when is it just window dressing?

Berlin has things to offer. I was speaking to the city’s contract development director today (who acknowledges his days as such are numbered) and he commented on the city’s potential. I would say the same is true of all of Coös County, of everything north of the notches. The only thing missing a realization by the rest of the Northeast of what is there.

I don’t know how it starts. I think its with one person. Or two people. Or five. I think if a half dozen people who have never seen northern New Hampshire’s beauty are exposed to it, at least one of them will decide to come back.

I love to rock climb and ice climb—both of those activities are there. My wife loves to ski—that’s available too. Fishing, canoeing, camping, hunting, whitewater rafting—it’s all there, just waiting to be discovered.

But how do you get those five people, those 10 people, up for the first time?

My idea for free housing for college graduates got shot down, but maybe people will like this: a bluegrass festival at Northern Forest Heritage Park.

Berlin is an incredible place, and it is in need of great art, great culture and great creativity. Those sorts of things draw people, and those people spend money. People in the North Country often equate tourism with North Conway, and all the outlets, strip malls and big box stores that characterize it. I grew up on the coast of Maine, however, where there are towns like Bar Harbor and Rockport, not just Freeport. Brunswick, Maine, is on the Androscoggin as well, and its old mill buildings have been turned into movie theaters and photography studios. I see that in Berlin in another dozen years, because the prices and the pristine location are prime for it.

But how do you get from A to B? And won’t people be scared away?

Easy, and no. People will be scared away, sure, but not the ones willing to invest. Just like entrepreneurs see opportunity where others don’t, some of the people introduced to Berlin will see the opportunity there. It has already happened and is still happening. Each non-native who lives there is an example of this. Tim Cayer, Katie Paine, Racheal Stuart, Tom McCue—these are all people who picked up to move to Berlin, not to move away. They may be the first drops of rain, but there are surely going to be more people out there like them. Berlin needs to find them. Every one of them saw Berlin’s flaws when they moved there, and it didn’t scare them away. There are more people out there who would feel the same way—they just haven’t had the opportunity to find out that they do.

So if one out of five, or one out of 10, 20 or 30, will look through Berlin’s rough exterior to appreciate it’s core, how do you get those individuals up there?

Events. Berlin, and all of Coös County, is essentially Vacationland. It may be on Maine’s license plates, but it is true in the Androscoggin Valley and elsewhere. Berlin residents must realize the astounding beauty that surrounds them. I know they’ve had it all their lives, but they must. Northern New Hampshire is the kind of place the rest of the world would love to spend their vacations, but as far as Boston knows New Hampshire stops in Jackson.

Berlin has mountains, rivers, woods and cliffs. It offers so much, and yet it is always so quiet. I look at the events that happen in the region over the course of the year, and I realize how insulated the community is. Riverfire, and Thunder in the Mountains, and the Northern Forest Rally Race, and Drive in to the 50s are all great, but they appeal to Berlin. This is a premier location for other things, events that appeal to larger audiences. Where are those events? Where are the things that might pull in people from around the region, not necessarily of the type the region is intimately familiar?

I want a bluegrass festival. Or a jazz festival. Or blues. They do it in Rockland; why not in Berlin?

Or multi-stage adventure race, that traverses the Killkenny range and rafts the Magalloway? A multi-stage bike race from Grand Hotel to Grand Hotel? Or an art show along the Androscoggin?

I know it seems far fetched, but people who are introduced to Berlin seem to love it. Those who have preconceived notions often aren’t willing to hear about it, but when they see it for themselves their minds change. Berlin, and all of Coös County, has to get better at changing those minds. It has to get people there, show them around, and let them make their own decisions. It won’t require a four-lane highway; it will require making something worth coming for. That’s the challenge, and it’s something the region can handle. Berlin, I think, as the only city in the county, should take a leading role in the effort. It should show just what can happen with some action.

Slow Motion Train Wreck

Like most things, my words can’t do actual events justice. I’ve now seen a number of things at council I’m thankful I didn’t miss. This is a brief account of the most recent one.

The city Housing Coordinator Andre Caron is a “rock star.” He has been instrumental in removing dilapidated properties from Berlin streets, he has been aggressive in going after federal and state funds, and partnered with Joe Martin, the code enforcement officer, he has been making noticeable changes throughout the city. Phenomenal changes, in fact, the kind of changes Berlin has to increase exponentially to build a viable future.

At the council meeting on Monday Councilor Michael Rozak brought out a list of properties TKB Properties, the city’s private partner in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, bought on the East Side since the program began. He had a number of concerns: about the targeted approach of the company, about the properties they were buying, and about the mortgage amounts. I had put my notebook away because it was the end of the night and the next item was adjournment, so I missed direct quotes of his comments, but suffice to say he didn’t sound impressed with the NSP. He said TKB seemed like it had something else going on here, beyond just rehabilitating properties.

It was a direct attack on the NSP, with a spreadsheet and allegations of cooking books. Mr. Caron’s face got pretty red as Councilor Rozak spoke, and it was clear he didn’t like what he was hearing.

And then Councilor Remillard stepped in.

Councilor Remillard is what I would call the swing-vote on the council. She does not seem to be standing on one side of the fence or the other on most issues: she was the only councilor who voted on the city seal willing to revisit the discussion, and she doesn’t seem vehemently in favor of Laidlaw or opposed. She is as close to a middle ground member as the council has, I suppose, and I’ve become accustomed to her rather accommodating manner.

But on Monday she acted with passion, something I don’t think I’ve ever seen her do. She jumped to Mr. Caron’s defense, listing off the benefits of the work he has done and what this project will do for the city. The renovated buildings will bring up the values of every property in the neighborhood, she said, and no one else would touch these eyesores without federal assistance. The idea that this is anything but a positive is wrong, she said, and any moves that could possibly derail the effort would be against the city’s interest. She championed his efforts for five minutes, and she scolded Councilor Rozak for bringing these issues up in such a way that could possibly scare the public. It seemed he found the issue she is passionate about.

Mr. Caron said he was supposed to sign the paperwork for the program tomorrow, but after comments from the mayor and several councilors he was concerned the program didn’t have their support.

I sat at the press table with the reporter for the daily paper and we kept looking at each other. I’ve been reporting on this program for a year, and she’s been doing it for even longer. This program is a godsend for Berlin, and if the city could get four more programs like it it wouldn’t be too much.

The city received $4.3 million, mostly to rehabilitate properties no one wants. The renovations will occur in targeted areas, and they will take place through a public/private partnership with TKB Properties. Eventually these properties will go back on the tax roles, somewhere most of them haven’t been for years. I’ve been writing and writing about this, and after every story I am blown away by how much Mr. Caron has been able to leverage for the city.

Mr. Caron was visibly agitated as he responded to the pointed questions, but luckily there were more voices in support of his efforts than in opposition. The mayor, Councilor Rozak and Councilor Ryan Landry pushed him, but Councilors Robert Danderson, David Poulin and Tom McCue sang his praises and defended the program. The rock star quote is direct from Councilor Poulin.

But it was Councilor Remillard who made the real impression. She wasn’t going to stand by to watch the council dismantle the NSP. She was ready to fight, and she stepped up the moment it looked like Mr. Caron’s years of work were about to evaporate. She made a plea that rallied the council, and though there were only three people in the audience (Mr. Caron being one of them, and Bobby Haggart being another) she turned the tide of rhetoric from opposition to support for Mr. Caron. Before she spoke it was like watching a train wreck. I could see Mr. Caron getting flustered, and it seemed his work was about to get ripped apart.

The crash, however, was narrowly averted. Thank you, Conductor Remillard.

Solitary Shacks on the Ice

Winter is back. I had to pull a tree off U.S. Route 16 on my way to Errol today, and a van was off the road in Milan. The slop on the road is likely to increase over the next few days too.

My energy is split between town meeting day coverage and Laidlaw developments. The SEC hearings are likely going to dominate the coverage for the next eight months at least. If things go longer (as they can if the committee wishes) I’ll have to look at renting an apartment in Concord. That’s a monster drive, and I have a feeling I’ll be doing it quite a bit soon.

I did a fair bit of driving today, between Glen, Berlin, Errol and back. I’ve got a bit more scheduled as well before this day is over. But the only parts of it that have more than two lanes are a short stretch up to Pinkham Notch and Route 16 north of U.S. Route 2 into Berlin. I have heard the constant commentary that if Berlin were on a major thoroughfare, such as a spur from Interstate 93, the economic conditions would be different. Undoubtedly so, but I would certainly be less interested in driving around for hours. The character of the area, which local residents care about more than their property taxes, would be devastated if that happened.

I realized it the last time I went to Concord for the CPD pre-hearing—every town is slathered in sprawl. The highway attracts it, and while it is development, I am skeptical it is the type Berlin needs.

The Gorham Wal-Mart provided jobs and taxes, but people also blame it for driving the Shaw’s Supermarket out of business. Now residents make a 45 minute trek for a real grocery store. And while finding tenants to fill a storefront on Main Street may be tough, it’s a breeze compared to filling the empty Shaw’s plaza.

Berlin is different, and it needs to stay that way. There is an Irving gas station, a Rite Aid pharmacy, a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Family Dollar; other than that, all the development is local. Further south the local hardware stores have been driven to bankruptcy by Lowe’s and Home Depot. Not in Berlin: Caron Building Center and White Mountain Lumber are still in business. Chain gas stations are the rule, not the exception in the rest of the country; in Berlin you can still buy from Munce’s. And what’s critical is that these companies are owned by families with roots in the community. They are willing to invest here, even when times are tough.

It is important to determine how Berlin and the rest of Coös County want to develop.

“If we want to have commercial development in the community it’s going to have to come from within,” Mayor Paul Grenier said at Monday’s council meeting. He was speaking in reference to the Binette family’s efforts to renovate the Bartlett school and turn it into dormitories, but the sentiment is true beyond this one case.

Would resident celebrate the opening of a Lowe’s? They would bring jobs, but at what cost? Berlin is in a tough spot—it needs development, but only of a certain kind. The economy is fragile in Coös County, but it hasn’t been eliminated. The prospect of development has to be balanced with the specter of routing what business have survived.

Two of the candidates running for the open Gorham selectman seat said they would like to see increased development on the Berlin/Gorham Road. That is a mixed blessing, and it could mean Berlin suffers. It might also mean Gorham suffers. The Wal-Mart in Gorham has doubtlessly affected area businesses. The impact is mixed because lower prices that are good for consumers hurt competitors. But such large developments requires a long range view, and a view that looks beyond one town.

When I travel around the north county I am struck by how spectacular the landscape is, how rooted the communities are, and how passionate the resident are. But I am also surprise at how disconnected it all seems. For a “region,” Lancaster seems a long way from Berlin. Randolph is a light-years away from Pittsburg. But these issues are Coös’, not just one towns. Pave a highway to Berlin? It’ll destroy not just Berlin, but every community it crosses. Line the streets of Coös with big box stores and McRestaurants and it will extinguish the untapped draw sits just below the region’s surface.

The region needs to think like a region, act like a region, and respond like a region. Whether it is branding, economic development or education, the North Country communities are on footing too tenuous to disregard one another. While efforts to herd cats pale compared to New Hampshirites, the region can’t affort to all pull in different directions. I think of the dispute between the commissioners and the branding initiative—personalities and egos almost derailed efforts to build a new future. The region has assets, which, when all joined together, are capable of standing on their own. But the infrastructure isn’t there yet for any community to go it alone. In the end, people have to admit this is a region, and one community’s rash decisions can’t be allowed to pave under the assets everyone in Coös County is counting on for their future. One economic base for the region has already disappeared. No one wants to see another one go before it has even had its heyday.

Preamble to Gamble

There will be a meeting about what expanded gambling would mean to the community on Saturday, March 6. It will be all day at White Mountains Community College. It requires an RSVP, so make sure to download the flyer and let them know if you intend to go. These are the types of community conversations worth having before making a decision in either direction, so I hope to see a lot of people there. (I’ll be there covering it as long as I don’t get dragged into work. I guide ice climbing when I can in winter, and Saturdays are usually the busiest days. The old trust fund is running low, after all.)

Click below to download a PDF of the flyer with all the information:

Casino Flyer

Positivity Projects and Researching Stories

I’ve been deep in Northern New Hampshire lately. Deep enough I almost got lost.

I love covering Berlin and the surrounding communities. It is such a switch from working in other communities, where people barely recognize you the third time you meet them and pedestrians walk down the street with a thousand mile stare.

Coös County deserves better—that’s what a candidate for Gorham selectman told me the other day. I agree, but I’m not sure there is someone to blame for its failings. The industry that supported the community went into decline 40 years ago, and what’s left is the shell that is there now.

But it isn’t just a shell. Berlin and Coös are down, but they aren’t out. My reporting has worked to do two things: inform residents about critical issues and highlight the positive. But there are so many critical issues sometimes it overwhelms my reporting. As I’ve said before, there ought to be a dozen reporters covering just Berlin/Gorham, and then maybe all the news that’s fit to print would get out there.

I’m looking into a side project that might get a bit more of that positive coverage out there. It sounds great to me if I can get it together, and it would create a bit more of the type of stories people always say are missing from the paper. (Honestly, they aren’t missing, but people notice the negative stories and glance over the positive ones. Oh well.)

The future of Berlin, and maybe the region in its entirety, are at a crossroads. What happens if the Fraser mill shuts down? If Groveton doesn’t find something to subsist on? If the economy continues to decline throughout the region? What happens then?

I don’t see that as Coös’ future, however. There are more good developments around the region than bad ones, and the attitude is changing to one of progress. I will admit there are divides in how to move forward, but there is no one who doesn’t look at the current situation and see it as untenable. So what’s next? How can the region stop talking and start moving.

I first thought Roger Brooks was selling a monorail in Springfield (check your Simpson’s trivia if you missed the reference). After listening to him, however, it is clear he knows what he’s talking about. He said the business community needs to take its future into its own hands instead of relying on politicians to do something. After watching the pitched battle that was Berlin’s municipal election, and as I prepare for town meeting day, I couldn’t agree more. Coös residents have to create their own solutions, not just complain about their problems.

And they are. Steve Binette and his family are buying the former Bartlett School to turn into student housing. Talk about members of the community pitching in to resurrect the city. This is exactly the effort the city needs.

I’m working on a project of a similar scale. It will lock me into the region for quite a while, if it happens, and point my energy more directly at changing people’s minds about the county. It would be aimed outside the region, however, rather than in.

If you’re concerned that means I might be leaving the Reporter don’t worry; I have no intention of giving up my fabulous job. I have yet to figure out how this will all work (if it can), but I love the reporting I am currently doing. Think of the project as an expanded, targeted LPJ blog, but with only the good and none of the bad. Normally I would call such a thing Public Relations (shutter), but when the goal is community revitalization and development I can relax the rhetoric. It would basically be finding all the stories I can that are the gems of Coös County, and pooling them in one place. I’m not sure how it will work, but it’s an interesting idea.

In the meantime, there is a lot of political maneuvering and such going on, particularly in reference to energy. There are stories there that aren’t positive or negative but certainly need to be told. I don’t intend to slack off my reporting of those issues. The PSNH/FERC story was a great find, one for which I got several compliments, but that type of reporting is HARD TO SUPPORT. There aren’t the resources around the North Country to consistently do it. Heck, there aren’t the resources around the state or even country to consistently do it. I like that type of research, but I also have to cover every other thing going on in the community, and it takes time. The daily paper runs into the same problems. When it comes to the failures in reporting around the region it isn’t the fault of the reporters; it has more to do with the economic model newspapers are predicated on. Paper just isn’t made in the U.S. anymore, and newspapers just can’t sustain a real staff anymore. Luckily the reporters around Berlin care as much as they do, and they have the support they do from their editors, because otherwise the outlook would be incredibly bleak. Until there is a new model discovered/created/invented it isn’t going to get much better. For now, however, I know the people doing the work up there are doing the best they can with inadequate resources. Sounds like the rest of the region, huh? But like everything else up there, what people get for the money spent is pretty remarkable. Berlin and Coös County aren’t broken; they have a future yet. The papers, both the daily and the Reporter, are going to be more than part of that future—they will be critical drivers of it.

More PSNH, PUC, CPD

and now… FERC!

So I’ve got an exciting piece on PSNH and their efforts at the federal level that CPD claims are intended to circumvent their responsibilities in purchasing power from small independent producers.

It’s all gray area and well worth the read. It gets pretty deep into the nuances of electricity regulation in the US, but it could wind up being rather important to Berlin.

How can a 29 megawatt plant be less than a 20 megawatt plant? When it only generates 17 megawatts. Does that make it a 17 megawatt plant? CPD says yes (sort of), PSNH says no—now let’s see what the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee says.

This was a tough piece, and just the kind I like. It took some digging, and as far as I’ve seen it hasn’t been out anywhere. Both CPD and PSNH were surprised to be talking to me about it and weren’t exactly prepared. It isn’t enough to shake any big apples loose, but it’s the sort of thing the region needs to follow. Informed voters might care about this one.

So what news matters most to you? What is there not enough coverage of? I was talking with some friends about reporting in the region, and we were trying to decide what was lacking most. I said in depth coverage of energy issues would be ideal, from a group with the skill and the knowledge to do it. From transmission issues to taxation, wind farms to biomass—all these issues are going to grow over the coming decades. The two local papers work hard, but they are also covering ice golf stories and the latest Tri-County CAP generous donation drive, with only three reporters between the two of them. What falls through the cracks?

Lots, I’d say, and I imagine most LPJ readers would agree with me. But what is the most important?

I’ve been sick for the entire week, and I’m still trying to pull out of it. I did a fair bit of my work last week, but I’ve still got a story or two to finish before I can go to bed, but I wanted to get the word out that there was something cool worth reading in this week’s paper.

I wish these stories were here every week. I don’t think they aren’t in Berlin; I think the skill to tease them out takes time to develop. I’ve been able to pull together a few of them, but it isn’t a weekly thing. Berlin needs more of this, but to get more of it it needs more reporters. That means a staff that hasn’t been with either paper for years. If there were some other way to get reporters up there to spend time digging around it’d be a gift.

Think about this—imagine you run a 24 hour convenience store, and it’s only you and a partner. Now remember, you need to be there all the time to cover anything that should happen. How do you think that would work?

Doesn’t sound like it’d work great, but that’s what the daily is working with—two reporters. My paper has one, so I’ve got all shifts. Inevitably things fall through the cracks.

With a city as dynamic as Berlin, really it needs more. It isn’t LL Bean, with tons of area to cover, but even a 7-11 requires more than two or three people to ensure the counter is covered all the time.

But the newspaper business isn’t growing, it’s shrinking, and the counter is empty more and more. It’s too bad, because when someones steals a soda, a candy bar, or even the register, it’s hard to stop when you’re alone. In fact sometimes no one even realizes it happened.

I’m ranting. Time to get back to writing for money, not pleasure. Support quality journalism—it makes you pay for your candy bar. And happy Valentine’s Day.

Not Alone

Berlin isn’t the only community trying to figure out how to move forward from an industrial past; check out this report from NPR‘s Morning Edition. There is some discussion about what other towns have done with former industrial sites, but they are all considerably larger than Berlin. The problem of mill sites occurrings nationwide, as does the split in residents’ opinions on the best way to deal with it.

At least the stack in Berlin isn’t 800 feet tall. The mayor’s perspective in El Paso reminds me of the city seal argument in Berlin.

Let me know of your thoughts on El Paso’s challenge. Maybe Berlin can learn from their struggles.

NH SEC

Mayor Grenier made a point last night I thought was intriguing. He went to the SEC hearing about the CPD plan, and he said he wouldn’t want to be a developer going in front of that process. He’s right about that.

I went down to cover the hearing, and the story will appear in this week’s Reporter. I used 1,000 words to describe the hearing, but it went on for more than six hours so I easily could have written more. The petitioners made a poor case about the deficiencies in the CPD plan, at least from the point of view of residents. They were harping on the road and the traffic, which were dealt with by the planning board, while they ignored financial questions about the project.

The SEC dove in anyway, though. They looked beyond the questions of petitioners, delving into issues of transmission, financials and more. CPD had answers, with documentation and diagrams, but the questions certainly weren’t softballs.

The SEC has jurisdiction beyond the controls of the planning and zoning board. The major issue such boards don’t address is financing. The legislature put the cut off for review at 30 megawatts, and they didn’t set up any alternative method for communities to verify finances of projects less than 30 megawatts, other than petitioning the SEC to review it. That makes it seem the legislature didn’t put a high value on ensuring smaller projects are financially viable. CPD’s attorney made that point several times. What the difference is between 25 and 35 megawatts I don’t know, but it is apparently big enough for the legislature to exempt some from financial review and not others.

But watching the SEC in action was impressive, and I have to agree with Mr. Grenier that it was tough. If Laidlaw’s experience is anything like CPD’s, the project will undergo considerable scrutiny as it moves through review. The members on the committee didn’t seem to pull their punches, and sitting in the hot seat at times looked uncomfortable.

Councilor Cayer said at last night’s meeting that the state often misses when it comes to living up to its responsibilities concerning municipalities. Just a few minutes earlier the council was discussing some upcoming legislation that proved his point—the state was offering a tax break that would come out of the municipalities revenues. But unless the SEC has a reason to treat Laidlaw differently than CPD they will get a lot of scrutiny—instead of one day they get 240.

I intend to be in Concord for those hearings as well, and I will see first hand whether they act softer. If they do it will indeed indicate a bias within the committee, but I don’t expect such things. It will be easy to tell: if the committee is asking questions I wouldn’t want to have to answer you will know they are still doing their job.

The committee has greater authority than the local boards, and therefore is the right place for a controversial 70 megawatt project. Any question about the project will have to be answered, and its viability will certainly be determined. The SEC is a far better entity that the planning and zoning to address concerns about Laidlaw, its investors and its plans, and there is no mechanism for the city to look into its finances. If the idea of a plant in the center of the city is your problem, SEC review provides no solution, but if it’s in Laidlaw the company that your concerns lie, they won’t move an inch if they can’t prove they are legitimate.

I admit, I came into this halfway, and I don’t live in Berlin, but it seems to me if you were looking for a hard look at Laidlaw from an unbiased source the SEC is the place. It should allay some fears that the company will stomp on Berlin, or that local politicians are going to shoe them in the door. This process, if its like what I saw last Friday, is going to hurt, particularly if they aren’t for real. Honestly, it looks like it will hurt no matter what—nobody wants to be under the magnifying glass that long. But the state seems to have done a good job setting up a knowledgeable committee to ensure the project is good for the community.

The caveat being that if your big issue with the project is its location such a reassuring process doesn’t help. The process will, however, address concerns about Laidlaw. Residents will likely raise the issues that are often brought up LPJ before the SEC, which will undoubtedly conduct a thorough review. Skeptics should go watch—if they grill Laidlaw the way they grilled CPD all the answers will come out.

And if they don’t I’ll be sure to tell you; I’ll be sitting in the front row.

BHM@WMCC

I recorded this at WMCC today. Storyteller Abigail Jefferson and drummer Abdul Mateen came and gave exactly the kind of show the area needed, and this is a quick snippet I caught. It’s the story of Elizabeth Eckford, an African-American student who fought an unknowingly-solitary battle for integration in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957. She was supposed to be one of nine students going to the school, but the other eight students canceled and failed to reach her. It was a great story, and since I couldn’t put it on the Berlin Reporter Facebook page I thought I’d post it here. I didn’t catch the very start, but I got enough to showcase the story’s power. Enjoy.

Click here to play, right click to download.

I’ve got some video of other parts of the performance celebrating Black History Month that I’ll be putting on the Facebook page. Check it out if you get the chance.

This program was really spectacular. I hadn’t planned on going, but then my day freed up so I made it. I’m glad I did.

Update: Video too.

ErikEisele.com

Category: Berlin NH