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BERLIN — The city council Monday night had its first reading of the fiscal 2022 budget and tabled it for a public hearing and passage at the June 21 council
City Manager James Wheeler estimated the average residential customer would pay about $10 more per year. Wheeler had recommended a rate of $9.07 for an increase of 4.7 percent from the current rate of $8.66. To achieve that rate, he recommended using $1.15 million from the sewer user fund balance, leaving $3.8 million in that account. Wheeler said the average sewer bill is still below the state average. He said small increases avoid draining the fund balance, allowing the city to be able to keep the rate down. The council split on the sewer rate. Councilor Russell Otis argued for following Wh...
BERLIN â The city is asking residents to continue wearing masks voluntarily to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The city council Monday night chose not to renew the cityâs mask mandate, which expired last Friday with the statewide mandate. Berlin will still require masks to be wore inside municipal buildings. Mayor Paul Grenier said only one city in the state, Portsmouth, now has a mask ordinance. Grenier said the mayors of Claremont, Concord, Dover, Franklin, Keene, Laconia, Lebanon, Manchester, Nashua, Rochester and Somersworth as well as Berlin have followed the stateâ...
BERLIN â The city continues to comply with the N.H. Board of Tax and Land Appeals order and expects the case will soon be closed. At the April 12 city council meeting, City Manager James Wheeler reviewed the city attorneyâs update to the state board. The letter reports that the three members of the Berlin Board of Assessors agreed to step down after Mayor Paul Grenier requested their resignations. Per the Board of Tax and Land Appeals order, the city has billed the three assessors for the property assessment abatements they granted each other and a family member for tax years 2018 a...
City Council discusses Airbnb regulations February 17, 2021BERLIN — On Feb. 8, the Berlin City Council began the work session with Mayor Paul Grenier asking that HB623 and SB135 be added to the agenda as the bills were to be heard the following day. The motion carried and was approved unanimously. City Manager James Wheeler discussed the Capital Improvement Plan. He reported that an annual update to the City's Capital Improvement Plan for the next six years was ready to be reviewed and accepted by the Council. He explained how it works, stating that the information in the plan is gathere...