Things are happening in Coos County!

Things are definitely happening in Coos County, NH!  From biomass proposals - such as in Groveton and perhaps Berlin, new businesses like KD Paine & Partners in Berlin and the new French bakery in Colebrook to high speed internet access in Colebrook as well as the ATV Park off Route 110 in Berlin..., there is a change in the wind and it is blowing through the county.  To see a great show that was put together by New Hampshire Public Television, click here!

Comments

[A.W.Walters]

Good job on drive in the fifties to everyone that participated.

The elderly housing project, on Main st, cornerstone project, is coming along excellent!!!
The new firehouse project looks nice, even though it violates the zoning by creating a nonconforming situation, the city does not have to conform to the rules they create. I can't wait for the public visioning session for the new firehouse, it is ours and we should be consulted (or will we just find out in the paper when all the decisions are made?). Remember zero setbacks in the Downtown zone and what about front parking lots?

Is there a timber management plan for the ATV park, no, too bad all that will be left is lowgrade wood and I know a special little biomass project that could use that.

When is that movie theater going to open?

Beautifull new flower shop on upper Main street, what a nice tastefull renovation.

The park on the Androscoggin river, East side, is so beautifull, if you have not visited it you should! Hard to believe how many politicos and their do-ers fight against those projects.

In Afghanistan we are fighting the terrorist organization Al-Quada and the Taliban, in Iraq we are an occupying army fighting the residents who want one thing and some want something else and we are their enemy. Who is the enemy at home? Who is fighting for the very best for Americas future, this is not our country, we are borrowing it from our children and we need to act and make decisions in that mindset. If, as a politician you act in a manner that serves your interest, you are an enemy of the state and you disrespect those fighting for their country. Soon, God willing, they will be home soon, to see what you have done with their City, their valley.

It does not matter if your heart is in the right place but your not listening because your narrow, simple mind is up a lobbyists ass.

[R. Brown]

I have been very succesfull in life focusing on worst case scenarios, real world scenarios and planning to avoid or minimalise negative impacts. In the military I was an invaluable asset, in my community I am simply seen as a negative person. The truth is if someone says the lighting from this prison will ruin the night sky, you do not laugh at them, you listen and make an effort to minimilize that impact. When someone says we need a tunnel under the new route 110 project, that is visionary, but we laugh, even when the truth is we would be better off atleast exploring that idea. Berlin has turned its back on those that are critical and cautious as if they were the enemy. Bob Danderson telling K.D. Paine "she doesn't know what she is talking about" when she says a factory downtown will deter new residents and certain types of businesses. The fact is both of thems is right, but he thinks only he is right and it turns its' backs on the real truth, which is they are both right and both have something important to say. Our hands are tied to collectively welcome Laidlaw because we are making no real effort to minimise the real negative imacts of siting this project in our downtown. Wheather the stacks will pollute or not, they look like they pollute and people looking for a good place to live (not just cheap rent and taxs like indigents and Bob) will probabley be detered by those stacks, that is the truth. How do you minimalise that, you educate folks on the quality of the product, make a real effort to improve/shield the appearance of the site. Groves of trees not rows of trees. And Berlin needs direct, adequate incentives for Federal prison employees (and other divers demographic groups) to relocate to this, existing, troubled subdivision (the city of Berlin). Offering $12,000 grants to poor people only, is an excellent start, but making larger grants available to wealthier, diverse groups of people is wisdom. The more you ponder the bad things that may happen, regionally and locally the better prepared you will be to offset those negative impacts.

[R. Brown]

Regionally a lot is happening. Locally, within Berlin, the deterioration of our roads and buildings is outpacing our (well intended) minimal efforts to rebuild eithier. For every derelict building that is repaired or burned, two others revert to derelict nonsense. Regionally we will see a growth in new housing stocks in Milan, Gorham, Dummer (areas that would almost be better off the way they are). We will see the fragmentation of forest lands, for new subdivisions from Errol to, to Milan, to Head pond. Berlin city will look the same, her demographics will remain the same, the roads will stay the same. And what do we worry about, lets keep taxs down, keep taxs down and then we will triple taxs on single family homes and then focus on keeping taxs down lets keep taxs down. Taxs will alwas go up, it is called inflation and our taxs have to keep up with inflation and when they don't a city will fall behind on repairs, reinvestment and growth. Is all we care about is low taxs? Sounds like we are all here for the cheap rent, not to build a better city. The mayor was first in line looking for a tax break during the last single family home tax hike, what an indigent, all he cares about is cheap rent! The city needs to raise revenues, maybe apartment buildings can pay their share and the city needs to reinvest in itself. The city needs a massive reinvestment to comlement this Federal Prison project, to encourage diverse demographic occupancy, or the only effect of this federal prison will be housing growth in Milan, Dummer, Gorham, etc. Too bad the people opposing the prison project and the supporters of the project could not have gotten together, we all would have benefitted. Listening to and learning about the negative impacts of the Prison and other large projects helps you plan to offset the negative impacts and capitilize on the positive. The folks mounting this horse are only focusing on the benefits, we need to always focus on offsetting and appreciating the negative even when you support a project. The region has a really bright future for those that could care less about environmental integrity, Who could care less about the appearance of the city, those that call openly for sprawl (spoon fed Massachusetts boys) and fight against land protection and planning efforts that do not benefit themselves. Pitty those that work, hunt, recreate, appreciate and depend on the vast woodlands that make this area special and really, more than anything else want to see Berlin reinvested in. If sustainable, smart growth is important to you this is the wrong place to be, if a diverse progressive city is what you are looking for, a city that will see massive reinvestment in its commercial and residential stock and infrastructure than this is the wrong place to be. If you want better roads, greenscapes and reinvestment that will facilitate diverse growth and eventually keep taxs in check this is the wrong place to be. Berlin is an industrial town and the details of how she looks do not matter, Berlin will stay focused on industrial taxs, to keep taxs down and those taxs will continue to climb out of control. Building this prison was an opportunity but it is also an burden, there are real negative, environmental impacts that we could have asked for assistance in mitigating. The trouble is the folks wanting the prison turned a blind eye to those negative impacts in a rush to secure the project. We could have asked for employees to be drug tested (my neighbour is a guard at the state prison and a crack addict, good combo), we could have asked for real lighting minimalization, we could have asked that prisoners not be released in our community, we could have asked for funds to reinvest in Berlin, the things we could have asked for! But those supporting the prison focused on the jobs and sunny gumdrops and ridiculed those folks that braught up the negative impacts. So many of those negative impacts could have been averted but will not be.