Wednesday, August 27, 2008
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State needs new women's prison but has no site identified
Barbara Tetreault
BERLIN — A new women’s prison is the top priority for N.H. Corrections but Commissioner William Wrenn told the city council Monday night that a site for the facility has not been selected.
“The woman’s prison is our number one priority,” Wrenn said.
The women’s prison is located in Goffstown in a building the state leases from Hillsborough County. There are currently 121 inmates at Goffstown which has a capacity of 105. Wrenn said most of the facility is taken up for dorm space and there is not much room for programs.
The state also has women incarcerated at Shea Farm halfway house and a contract with Strafford County to house 25 female inmates. The total female inmate population is 193.
The department’s fiscal capital budget request contains $37 million for a new women’s prison. The facility would have a capacity of 325 beds to accommodate future growth. Wrenn acknowledged that getting the money approved by the legislature will likely to be a long and tough project.
He said he expects a location for the women’s prison will be decided by the legislature and the governor’s office. Wrenn said his office has not identified a location.
Wrenn met with Berlin officials at the request of State Senator John Gallus (R-Berlin) who said he wanted to give Berlin officials an opportunity to consider if the city wants to make a bid to host the facility. Berlin already has a state medium security prison and a federal prison is under construction.
Wrenn said his department still plans to complete the expansion of the Northern Correctional Facility in Berlin. The 500-bed men’s prison was built with the infrastructure to handle an additional 500 beds. Funding for that is in the department’s 2012-14 capital budget request.
Councilor Ronald Goudreau said the state prison has been a good corporate citizen. But he said he has received a lot of calls from citizens who want the council to focus on diversifying the local job base beyond prisons.
But Councilor David Poulin said he has received the opposite reaction. He said a lot of local business people are excited about the possibility of additional jobs. He asked how many people are employed at the women’s prison.
Wrenn said there are about 50 but said that number might be reduced slightly with a more modern facility.
City Manager Patrick MacQueen asked if the women’s prison could go on the same 114-acre site as the men’s facility. Wrenn said he did not know how much of the land is buildable. He said there would have to be a barrier between the two facilities.
Mayor David Bertrand said there may be economies of scale in locating the women’s prison in Berlin since the men’s facility is here. But he said if the women’s prison is not able to go on the same property, it may be tough to find another site in the city with the necessary acreage. He asked what the minimum acreage requirements is for the women’s facility.
Wrenn said he could not remember but it is in the new master plan for the department which should be released within the next month.
Wrenn said the total prison population, including both men and women inmates, is 2,825. He said the total grew four percent last year.
Councilor Tom McCue asked what is driving the growing inmate population. Wrenn said a lot of it is the current get tough on crime attitude and truth in sentencing laws. New Hampshire also has put in place a new law that allows for civil commitment for sexually violent predators.
Wrenn thanked city officials for the great relationship he said the department enjoys with Berlin.
Community college collaborates on green roof project
Craig Lyons
BRETTON WOODS— A group of students and faculty from the White Mountains Community College spent last week installing a green roof at the Mt. Washington Resort.
Two faculty members and a group of students spent several days last week helping to install the plants on the resort’s new green roof. The community college was brought into the mix by the contractors for the project, and the work was treated as an academic exercise.
Faculty members Sheldon Towne and Margaret Heaney led the group from the community college.
The green roof is basically a rooftop garden. Donnell said the plants selected for the garden represent a selection of the plants found as someone ascends Mt. Washington. She added the plants were also selected specifically for the green roof project.
The green roof was installed on the new presidential wing of the resort. The new wing will house a conference center and spa.
The roof was designed with to principals in mind, said Donnell. First, the construction could not block the the view from the resort’s verandah, and secondly, the hotel was looking to make the development as energy efficient as possible, added Donnell.
The green roof will act as another layer of insulation for the addition.
“It will keep it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter,” said Donnell.
The resort broke ground for the new wing last July, and it is still under construction, the structure was prepared to have the green roof installed last week. Donnell said it was installed on Tuesday and Wednesday, after the plants arrived earlier in the week.
Donnell said it is a great example of different groups working together.
“It represents a pretty neat collaboration,” said Donnell.
Beyond the green roof project, Donnell said the resort will be working with the community college’s culinary program this coming year.
"The Berlin Daily Sun" could not reach the other parties for their comments.
Results of district heating analysis for Groveton to be presented to community
GROVETON— The Advisory Committee for the Groveton Distributed Energy/District Heating Project and the Groveton Regional Economic Action Team (GREAT) announced Tuesday that a public presentation of the results of a feasibility study to supply heat within the village of Groveton, using wood biomass fuels will be made on Thursday, September 11, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Groveton High School gymnasium.
The study, which began last January, was made possible through a grant from the Economic Development Administration and a corporate donation from the Suez Energy Generation, NA. The North Country Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Area has been coordinating the creation of the study along with North Country Council, the Economic Development District administrator for northern New Hampshire.
An advisory committee made up of Groveton residents, regional economic development agencies and experts in the field of district heating, oversaw the commissioning of the study and have been providing overview and feedback to the consulting team throughout the development of the study.
Horizons Engineering PLLC out of Littleton, and Ramboll A/S of Copenhagen, Denmark, were hired to conduct the study. Stephen LaFrance of Horizons Engineering will be on hand at the public presentation, as will members of the Advisory Committee.
The study has concluded there to be significant cost savings over a 10 to 30 year payback period and also offers the potential for attracting new business to Groveton by having a readily available and cost effective heat supply.
The public information session will begin with an introduction to the basic concepts of district heating, followed by a summary of the highlights of the study, concluding with a question and answer period.
The results of this study, which focuses on Groveton, can be useful to other communities interested in learning more about district heating. Local officials, agency representatives and the public across the north country are encouraged to attend.
Local businesess unhappy with tree plantings on Green and Unity Streets
Barbara Tetreault
BERLIN — Two business owners met with the city council Monday night to express concerns about the trees planted on Union and Green Street as part of the Route 110 upgrade.
Mike Caron of Caron Building Center and Butch Munce of Munce’s Konvenience both said they were disappointed they were not contacted by the city before the plantings were done. Caron noted he had met with the council a year ago to ask if he could purchase the Union Street property because the sidewalk configuration made it hard for his business to plow and remove snow. The state ruled his company would have to reimburse all the money expended for the design, right-of-way, and construction of that section, which would come to over $200,000.
“We want to be good neighbors,” Caron said.
Munce said he has been involved with the project for about six years. He said he has talked to city officials and project engineers at different times over that period.
“I think the communication someplace along the line broke down,” he said.
City Planner Pamela Laflamme apologized that the two owners were not notified of the final design for the tree plantings. She noted the design had changed a number of times over the course of the project. She said the city has no option on the snow removal issue because Berlin signed an agreement with the state Department of Transportation.
Caron said he is concerned the cedar trees will grow to be 15 to 20 feet high and unless the city maintains them as a hedge. Laflamme said the city’s intention is to keep the shrubs at their current height. She said the company that planted them will maintain them until next fall and then the city will take over the maintenance.
Councilor Ron Goudreau questioned whether the city has the staff to maintain the plantings. He said the row of 22 trees on Union Street appeared to be bunched up a bit.
Councilor Dick Lafleur said the city has done a good job of maintaining the trees on Unity Street.
Goudreau called Caron’s one of the nicest commercial buildings in the downtown and said he would like to satisfy one of the city’s larger taxpayers.
Mayor David Bertrand said he believed the tree planting issue could be resolved quickly. He said Councilor Lucie Remillard, who represents the ward in question, had offered to meet with all the parties and facilitate a compromise that all parties could accept. The council accepted Remillard’s offer and she will report back.
In the course of the discussion, Councilor David Poulin unleashed an angry tirade at Laflamme. He said she was wrong not to go back and discuss the changes with Caron and Munce.
“This is bull,” he said, complaining that the two businessman “had to waste their evening for trees.”
Poulin said he ran for council again because of what he called the city’s stupidity in dealing with the business community.
Poulin has a history with the city’s planning department. When he built his new office building on Glen Avenue, he did not apply for a building permit until after he started work on the building. Last year, the city took him to court when he put up a sign in the city’s right-of-way without getting a sign permit. The city dropped the suit when Poulin agreed to move the sign and apply for a permit. The council voted to let him keep his sign in the city’s right-of-way after he met with the body.
