Category: economy

Budgeting Berlin

The council passed a budget last night that laid off six city employees, all of them teachers. The police department, fire department and public works department all avoided layoffs.

It was a close finish to the most important part of the council’s year. If the council’s goals are the same next year they will face an even more challenging scenario, but they pulled it off this year.

A representative from one of the city employee’s unions told me last night they could have found an additional $300,000 in savings, but after the council rejected the teachers’ proposal no one else wanted to be next. That might be ingredient that enables the city to keep the tax rate flat next year.

$200,000 made it in to take down dilapidated properties the city got through tax deeding, and $200,000 more for street repair. While those are minuscule amounts compared to what the city needs the council is clearly committed to upgrading the city’s aging infrastructure, though it has limited resources.

So if you live in Berlin, your taxes shouldn’t go up and your services shouldn’t go way down. The battles may have left some bad blood (a firefighter spoke last night with some strong words for the council) and class sizes are going to go up, but the fire department isn’t getting any smaller.

Now the city just has to expand its tax base. Easier said than done.

On another note, if you’re looking for an update on the CPD/PSNH dispute listen to NHPR tonight. My story about how some people feel PSNH is deciding Berlin’s future through its control of the energy markets should air around 5:45 p.m. It will have the latest on the easement issue. I talked to a number of councilors about this, but I tried to restrict the voices to those of people in the middle, instead of ardent CPD supporters or opponents. I only had four minutes to explain years, but I think it came out well. Let me know what you think.

Egg…

So I went to a couple businesses locally to see how the ATV trail did on opening weekend and over the long weekend, and I realized I misconstrued something in my last post. Every outdoor recreation-focused business in Berlin is in the same chicken or the egg situation, not just those doing “green” activities.

Even the “low hanging fruit” in Berlin is in need of infrastructure. The businesses that cater to ATV riders and snowmobiles are fighting to raise awareness of the opportunities and to expand the number of participants in their markets. Their challenge, like those of every other outdoor-centric business, is that Coös County isn’t known for recreation. They need that reputation to grow in order to be successful.

They are further along, however, with an event coming up and some regional press, but they are early in the process. Everything else is even further behind, but in the last post I made it sound like ATVing was already a sure bet in Berlin. It’s not. It’s still growing and hoping to become an established industry.

But it is growing. It has a future. Now the rest of “outdoor recreation” needs to catch up.

Chicken…

Or egg? That’s where Coös is stuck.

After the Symposium, my wife and I went to Bar Harbor, Maine, to visit friends for the long weekend. There I got to talk with Jeff Butterfield, one of the local innovators in their outdoor economy.

He was there in the 1980s, when visitors to Bar Harbor were more likely to drive the park loop road than to rent a sea kayak or go hiking. When he first got there, he said, he nearly starved because people didn’t think of the area as a place for outdoor sports. Recently, he said, a sea kayaking operation sold for more than $1 million, but the process of launching an outdoor industry was painfully slow.

Coös will undoubtedly have the same challenge. Right now the effort is on the “low hanging fruit,” i.e. ATVs and snowmobiles. But there are entrepreneurs slogging their way through other types of outdoor recreation, like North Woods Rafting.

How much time, money and energy can the region invest in making itself into an outdoor destination? There is the potential, considering all the nearby destinations are crowded because of their reputation for solitude. Surely Coös can do the same thing; the question is can it do it in time?

iSymposium

I cut out early at the end of day two of the Coös Symposium to race south on Route 16 to Berlin for the budget hearing. I felt I was leaving an abstraction of Coös County to go to Coös County, the real thing. I have to admit what I have missed most while at the Coös Symposium is the people that make up Coös County.

That may seem like a strange description, but the Symposium has been more a place to talk about solutions and strategies for remaking Coös than an opportunity to connect with the region. The makeup, I would estimate, is roughly one-half Coös residents and one-half outsiders like me. The conference lacks enough influence of the most important asset that makes the region special: its people. There is more creative energy and positivity than I usually encounter working in Berlin, but outsiders don’t have the uniquely Coös perspective that sets the region apart. It takes a critical mass of North Country residents to make the environment truly northern, and right now it’s still got the taste of southern.

I would love to see the symposium happen next time in Lancaster or Colebrook or Berlin, with the discussions held at restaurants and businesses and schools. I’d love to see this group interacting more with the residents of Coös, bringing their ideas, enthusiasm and solutions to the people who need them instead of keeping them cooped up inside grand hotels.

Let me make make myself clear: I love the discussions. But when I went to Berlin and spoke with a city councilor who had to turn down his invitation it became clear the glaring deficit in this model. He would have loved to have taken part, but he couldn’t make it because three days away is more than most people can manage. Like many enthusiastic Berlin residents, he has passion for the region, but he lacks the broad understanding of the issues that would enable him to better govern and promote the region. The conversations that have been happening at the Balsams would be perfect for him, but with a job, family and obligations he couldn’t manage it.

How many people could make that same argument? How easily does this model shed the participation of those who need to be most engaged: the next generation of leaders who are too busy living their lives to go for a vacation/workshop in the mountains.

How can the symposium better engage with Coös and those it purports to want to support? How can the event be made more accessible?

My pitch for next year: hold it in town. The conversations, connections and contributions this event can make are invaluable, but it would be better served if those conversations occured where the problems lie. Invite everyone, and try to connect with those least likely to see eye to eye. The energy from the conference is palpable, and that enthusiasm shouldn’t live just at the Balsams. What Coös really needs is a symposium infused into its being, something that can push the ball fast enough that Coös momentum starts to overtake itself.

Crisp Days, Level Nights

If you’ve been just looking at the photos in the recent blog posts without clicking on them, click on them now. I’ve been getting some great shots lately that I’m just disappointed I can’t tie in to anything to get them into the paper. The colors look dull in posts, but when they pop open they look great.

It was a crisp, cold day today, and the council finished the budget. Everyone got level funded, from the police and schools on down. There will be two fewer firefighters and two fewer public works employees. I get an interesting picture, because at the police department they complain about the council, and at council they complain about the police department. To hear each side tell it the other is railroading them.

Budgets are quirky. This one is thin. I’m scheduled to be at the Balsams for the Coös Symposium during the May 26th public hearing, but I may have to make a trip to Berlin for that. This has been hot lately, and I don’t want to miss where it goes. I wonder what cuts are going to matter to residents and how their comments will affect the council. I have a hard time believing support for expanded policing would cause many changes, but the school, fire and recreation departments may find themselves with some friends. It promises to be eventful from now until July first.

Long Days

There is a lot going on lately in Berlin. Yesterday I spent 10 hours in city hall, between the SEC technical session and the city budget meeting. It was interesting to watch Laidlaw and CPD face off yesterday. The technical session is really just a chance to ask the applicant for more data and for clarification about any points they made, but it did get a little heated toward the end. The two competitors are coming up with close time lines, and their consensus seems to be there is only room for one project. The next few months should be interesting.

And of course the email between Mel Liston of CPD and Jon Edwards has been making it’s way around the web. I’m supposed to talk to Mr. Liston later today, and I’ve still got to get in touch with Mr. Edwards to set up a time to talk to him. I’m hoping to get their side of the story for the story that will be in the paper next week. The email clearly raises questions.

Today is more of the same, with a 10 or 12 hour Berlin day. The focus, however, will be the budget rather than the SEC. Swing by city hall at 6 p.m. tonight if you want to watch the council in action working on the most important thing they do all year. The police department’s budget will be the opening topic, which should be interesting. It’ll be a good time to be watching.

More Projects…

I’ve been a little quiet recently, because in addition to my Reporter work I’ve been working on two NHPR pieces and two other side projects. All of them have connections to or roots in the North Country (well, not one of the NHPR pieces) and I’m am super excited about them. It is interesting the possibilities available around here to people with the right set of skills and the right level of enthusiasm. I’m hoping they all come to fruition, because every one of them will tell a little part of the story of the North Country.

Also, I’m heading to the Coös Symposium in a couple weeks. It’s right at the wrong time, in some respects, as I have to figure out if I want to miss the budget hearing in Berlin or if I’ll be commuting. But I’m excited to hear what people in Coös have to say and what sort of solutions come out of the event. What do people think of it, I wonder? Do you look at it as a worthwhile exercise? I don’t really know what to expect, but I’d love to hear people’s opinions, both from people who have gone and those who have watched it happen for the past few years.

The City That Just Won’t Quit

The spring was a little depressing, with both Rumorz and J.C. Penney announcing they would be closing. It hits hard when two faces on Main Street, one a new upstart and the other an old standard, move on. It had me back on my heels a bit, though Berlin is accustomed to such setbacks.

Today, however, I did the downtown tour, and I got to see another half-dozen reasons why Berlin with eventually survive. Three of them will be in next week’s paper, I hope, so I won’t ruin them, but suffice it to say they are there. One is the impending opening of Tea Birds. The paper is off the windows now, and it’s clear the owners have done a ton of work to get the building up to speed. Soon that’ll be one more busy storefront on Main Street.

WREN is moving into the old Gill Building, where SaVoir Flare is now, and they are moving to the larger space next door. That’s one more window filled and one taking up more real estate.

I keep hearing about “green shoots” in reference to the economic downturn. It may even apply to Berlin. For so long this region felt left behind by the economic success of the rest of the state and the country; now it may be catching up.

There are significant challenges still, however. City councilor Mark Evans showed me a letter from a realtor who said many of the people looking to move to the region for the federal prison were looking at property in surrounding communities. But if Berlin can sprout success in this economic climate, what will it do once millions of federal payroll dollars are headed its way?

The challenge now is to address the short-term budget problems the city faces to build a foundation for long-term success. Prison employees choose Berlin if the schools and housing prices are good. One of those variables is secure — there is certainly inexpensive property in Berlin. The other, however, is in a tough spot, and the budget guidelines set by the council may hurt the city more than help it.

No one wants to lay off 10 teachers. Every councilor knows that’s 10 good citizens the city risks loosing. But more importantly, those ten teachers hurt the student/teacher ratio and reduces the city’s appeal as a place to move. The short-term gain of a $1 million in reductions may result in a long-term loss if it keeps federal employees from settling here.

Every councilor needs to weigh these factors carefully. While they disagree on one project or another, they all agree they want Berlin to succeed. They also all agree that the city’s taxes are too high. Efforts to cut taxes in the short run, however, can raise them over the long-term. In the flurry to keep people here today it is important not to alienate those who might be here tomorrow.

But city government isn’t the city. I can’t imagine the city ever failing because the strength of conviction of its residents. Berlin pride will remain, I imagine, long after these discussions have been forgotten. Main Street is resurgent regardless of city officials, not because of them. The city, in many ways, just needs to stay out of the way. It’s amazing to see these efforts, which have kept the city moving despite decades of disappointing setbacks. It is convincing evidence that the city won’t ever quit. I am happy to sit by and watch to see what it can become.

Gaining on a year

I’m two weeks away from being with the Reporter for a year. In that time I’ve met a US senator, sat through numerous city council sessions and watched a city change and grow. It introduced me to the North Country, the landscape and its people, which I’ve come to feel connected to because of their willingness to let me in.

I have also come to feel very strongly that this region is ripe for rebirth. It has so much to offer, so much potential, and I feel it isn’t destined to be trapped in the economic condition it is currently.

My wife and I got invited to the Coös Symposium. It will be interesting to visit and talk with other people interested in kick-starting something positive. I don’t really know what to expect, but it should be interesting no matter what.

I’m also working on a side project to raise the profile and the perspective of the region as a destination. I don’t know how it’ll go, but I’m hoping to turn my enthusiasm for the region into tangible economic benefits.

Working in a small city is tough, because the paper is both a critic and a champion of what happens. I am supposed to look over the decisions of the local government and municipality, but I’m also supposed to provide a positive view of the are. It’s a tough balance to strike in a city so small. The year of working has made me feel even more strongly that the time is right for a real push toward change, but at the same time I am trying to watch that change with a critical eye, ready to point out problems so residents can make informed decisions about their self-governance.

I know there are people who read LPJ just for the Laidlaw/CPD debate. That’s only a fraction of the future of this place. In the past year I’ve watched, heard and taken part in hundreds of discussions about the future of the region. There are more forces pushing for success right now than bonds tying the region to failure. Hopefully the last year of LPJ and the Reporter has made more of those positive developments and possibilities clear to residents, who sometimes have more trouble seeing the good than those from away do.

So although it’s a bit premature, thank you for a year, Berlin and Coös County; I don’t see us slowing down anytime soon.

Hopeful Signs and Pigeon Holes

I went up to Milan Village School to check in about their positive outcomes with state testing. They got off the schools in need of improvement list after years on it. Principal David Backler credited technology and good use of data with their success. You’ll be able to read more about the school’s success in next week’s Berlin Reporter.

He also said something else that was intriguing. He said he was preparing students to go to the best colleges in the country, but making sure to instill in them a connection with Milan and the surrounding region. They need to be successful, he said, but some of them hopefully will want to come home afterward to make their lives here.

It’s such a great idea, and I’m not sure it has been employed well enough. I know Berlin residents have a deep-seated pride for their city, but it almost seems in spite of where they come from rather than rooted in it. The Berlin type of pride seems to me more akin to people who leave New Jersey: they’ll fight you if you say something bad about it, but they sure don’t want to live there anymore.

Principal Backler made the point that this area has so much to offer, from hunting to hiking and skiing to snowmobiling. There is something for everyone, he said, and the kids need to be made aware of those opportunities.

Unfortunately, the region has been pigeon-holed. People look to Berlin as a place to go if you like ATVs and sleds, but not if you want cross-country ski trails and road biking. The mountains in Coös County are as spectacular as those in Carroll or Grafton (some would say more), and the opportunity for diverse recreation abounds.

But then I look at a study released a couple months ago by the UNH Carsey Institute that said Coös County youth aren’t engaged enough outside the classroom. They are left idle, the report said, particularly males, which leads to trouble.

Why? Why are kids in northern New Hampshire idle? There is so much here, so much to root them to this place, to make them want to come back, to occupy their time and lead them down the road toward becoming successful young adults. And it doesn’t cost a ton of money; compare buying hiking boots to the cost of a pair of hockey skates.

What the North Country has, most places can’t offer. The region hasn’t figured out how to connect itself to the those assets, and it has trouble connecting others as well.

Coös is selling what it knows, not what it has. It’s assets are greater than just ATV trails, wood and prisons, but those are the economic foundations the region is familiar with. I drive past mountains, trails, cliffs and rivers that if they were in North Conway would be swarmed every weekend. They are almost always empty. And what’s more, I see assets for rooting the region’s youth in their home while teaching them the skills to grow up and be creative, driven, inspired adults. Parents spend thousands to send their children on Outward Bound expeditions just across the border in Newry, Maine. Why is there no capitalization on the exact same assets here in Coös?

Because it’s been pigeon-holed. The region sees itself in one way, and it has hard time seeing anything else. The assets are there, waiting to be plucked. A few people are starting to use them to their advantage, like Principal Backler. He makes for hopeful signs, despite the pigeon holes.