We told you so ..

It was disheartening but not surprising to learn that Cate Street Capital is already starting to walk away from the commitments it had with the town.  We knew going in that the economics didn't work, and that is was just a matter of time before corners were cut and promises program. 

This week we learned that there will be no River Walk, and I'm sure soon we'll learn that landscaping is too expensive and that since nothing matters but profit,  the plant will continue to be a massive eyesore in the middle of our town. 

And, by the way, the alleged difficulties in creating the River Walk are pure and utter BS. I run around that exact territory 
regularly and there is absolutly no reason why, with some imagination and engineering you couldn't put a River Walk in.  Pretty funny that a company that says it "provides innovative green technologies" doesn't have the green technology to create a Riverwalk in Berlin.Cate Street Capital is just  too cheap, and our City Council too much in their pocket, to enforce the agreement.

Comments

[walkerny]

So the company can't or won't fund some things you would like. They are in the business of making electricity and making money. If the economics have changed, so be it. They are creating jobs in a DEAD town. How about civic groups come together and do some landscaping, one plot at a time, instead of bellaching about what others are not doing for YOU?

["My Little Town"]

Govenor Lynch visits two economic success stories

BY BARBARA TETREAULT

THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

GORHAM-BERLIN – Gov. John Lynch made a victory lap of sorts through the Androscoggin Valley Friday, visiting two major economic success stories that he played a significant role in achieving.
He stopped first at the Gorham Paper and Tissue where a sign thanked him for his help in getting the shuttered mill re-opened last year. The sign noted there were 213 people employed there on Friday compared to 30 people a year ago.
From there, Lynch went to tour construction underway at the Burgess Biopower biomass plant in Berlin. Cate Street Capital officials reported there are currently 225 workers on-site and that figure is
expected to increase to about 300 next month.
Gorham Paper and Tissue
In his first visit to Gorham Paper and Tissue since last year’s ceremony marking the sale and re-opening of the mill under the ownership of Patriarch Partners, Lynch marveled at the new tissue machine building. Plant Manager Willis Blevins reported the tissue machine is still under construction with containers of parts and equipment arriving regularly by ship into Portland, Maine. In total, Blevins said between 40 to 60 containers will be required to deliver the new machine. The biggest component, described as the guts of the machine, was the 75-ton Yankee Dryer that arrived last month and lowered into the building with use of a special crane.
Blevins said the tissue machine is scheduled to begin operating the end of September. It is projected to produce 36,000 tons of premium virgin parent rolls of bath tissue, towel, and napkin annually.
The mill has called back all the employees laid off when Fraser Papers closed the mill in 2010 and the mill is advertising for production workers to replace those who will move up to operate the new machine. Blevins told Lynch the company has received 325 applications for the approximately 15 new positions.
“Did you get mine,” Lynch joked, a reference to the fact he will be out of a job at the beginning of next year when he steps down after eight years as governor.
Blevins, who was joined in escorting Lynch by Mark Olsen, CFO of the Gorham and Old Town Fuel and Fiber operations, reported both the No 9 towel machine and the No 4 printing and writing machines were running with the No 1 paper machine slated to resume running this week. He said the company has a two-week backlog of orders for the towel machine.
Lynch spent over an hour walking through the mill, greeting and talking to workers. To an employee, they all expressed appreciation for his efforts to re-open the mill. Many had met the governor on previous visits and several wished him well in the future.
“To be here today is just heartwarming. There is a sense of vibrancy, optimism, and excitement not just about the plant today but about the future,” Lynch said.
He said the success of the plant was driven partly by the work ethic of the workers. Lynch also gave a great deal of credit to Blevins who he said provided the glue that helped keep the mill together.
“If it hadn’t been for Willis, this place would not be operational today. I know that for a fact,” Lynch said.
Burgess Biopower
Lynch took his first tour of the construction of the 75-megawatt Burgess Station biomass plant since participating in groundbreaking ceremonies last fall. Joining him on the tour were Cate Street Capital President John Halle and Government and Community Relations Director Alexandra Ritchie, Site Manager Carl Belanger, Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier, and local businessman Barry Kelley. David Forbes of Waldron Engineering and Construction conducted the tour.
Belanger reported there are 12 different contractors on site with 225 people currently employed. He said employment is expected to increase to about 300 next month as construction reaches its peak on the $275 million project.
Belanger noted the project is a union job but added that a lot of local people have been hired.
When completed, the 75-megawatt biomass plant will be the second largest in the country. Halle said 10 megawatts will be retained and used on-site. The remaining 65 megawatts will be sold to Public Service of N.H. under a long-term power purchase agreement. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in late 2013. It will create about 40 full-time positions.
Halle said the plant will consume 750,000 tons of low-grade wood annually, averaging out to about 70 to 75 truckloads per day. He said most wood would come from a 70-mile radius. Kelley, the owner of White Mountain Lumber, said some wood will also come from southern New England as ‘back-hauls’ on trucks delivering products there. He said the plant will save hundreds of jobs in the wood industry, which in turn will help the local economy.
“It’s a great multiplier effect,” Kelley said.
Halle said Cate Street plans to install a compressed natural gas filling station at the facility for trucks. He said his company will also offer financing to truck owners to convert their trucks to compressed natural gas, which he said is cheaper and emits less pollution.
He said the project will also provide $2.75 million in New Markets Tax Credits for local economic development efforts.
Grenier thanked Lynch for helping to negotiate an agreement when a dispute between Public Service Company and the independent biomass producers threatened to derail the project.
“Without your direct intervention we wouldn’t be here today,” the mayor said.
He said the re-opening of the Gorham Paper and Tissue mill and the construction of the biomass plant have spurred a revitalization of the
valley.
“There’s a lot going on in the Berlin-Gorham area,” he said.
Grenier revealed that city officials are negotiating with a developer to build a hotel on the vacant Rite Aid lot in the downtown.
Kelley noted the close of the pulp mill has eliminated the strong odor formerly associated with the city. He said that has opened the door to tourism. He said the Jericho Mountain ATV Park is attracting riders to the region.
For his part, Lynch thanked Halle for sticking with the project through the permitting process and when the IPPS sought to delay it to it to force PSNH to negotiate new agreements with them.
“There were a lot of times you could have walked,” Lynch said.

[?]

The premise behind this post is pure and utter bs. ( If you read the news, you would know that Cate St. WANTED the Money to go to the Riverwalk ) Cate St. is not at fault, but Berlin - which needs the roughly $400k that is left over from the $650k, after $100k goes to Main St. to ... "Shut Up", and some Lawyer gets paid off - all to help with It's Budjet. However, This cancellation is not a done deal yet as Berlin will have to Answer to the SEC to alter the Permit conditions.
BTW, YOU Promised to Pack up and Leave if the Biomass Plant went forward ... I guess that was more of Your Blarney/ BS.