Berwick's Future is Now

BERWICK – The Downtown Vision Committee (DVC) met Monday, June 24, to discuss the results of their second charrette, which was held on Saturday, June 22.

The word “charrette” refers to a collaborative session where designers or architects work together to find solutions to a design problem or project. The French translation means “cart” or “chariot”. In 19^th century Paris, student architects worked in groups on design projects. A charrette would be wheeled through the group of students to collect their work. Often times the students could be found putting the finishing touches on their work on the charrette and would be said to be working “en charrette” or “in the cart”.

This is very much the same scene that is currently taking place in Berwick, except there seems to be a desperate shortage of “student architects” working on the project.

The biggest challenge that the committee faces is not getting enough input from Berwick residents on the endless possibilities that the town has in front of them, said DVC member Serena Galleshaw.

The committee holds a meeting the first Monday of every month, open to the public, to discuss the proposed ideas for Berwick’s future. They have sent out a survey to every Berwick resident asking for input. They have also hosted two “charrettes” asking Berwick residents what they would like to see in their downtown district now that Prime Tanning is no longer in operation, and consequently no longer polluting the town’s greatest asset: Salmon Falls River.

Only six people participated in the June 22^nd charrette. Senior project manager, Arek Galle, who works as a landscape architect at GLA was present at the June 24 DVC meeting to discuss the results.

“The biggest idea that came out of Saturday’s charrette is taking Main Street out of the equation,” said Galle.

When the bridge between Somersworth and Berwick is under construction next summer, the section of Main Street that runs in front of Berwick town hall will be closed to traffic. It will be a perfect dry run for the idea, said DVC co-chair Frank Underwood.

There are currently three base models for the downtown vision project that reflect the opinions expressed by residents. These drafts are separated by how much “green space”, meaning recreational land area, the town would like to incorporate into the downtown space formerly occupied by Prime Tanning.

Arek Galle from GLA reviews current drafts for Prime Tanning space

The first model reflects 10 percent green area with 45 percent residential, and 45 percent business. The second draft reflects 40 percent green wrapped in business with virtually no residential. The final draft reflects 75 green with a mix of residential and business. 

 

Galle explained when a town creates an outdoor destination, it also creates a place for businesses to thrive. It all about finding the right balance, said Galle.

One potential project that showed big promise was bringing in a micro-brewery because the there is already an existing water treatment tank on the proposed site, said Galle.

“When I cross the bridge from New Hampshire into Berwick I want to see the riverfront, I want to see businesses, but most of all I want to see people,” said Galleshaw.

Little known to most Berwick residents there is an underground river that runs beneath the Prime Tanning site. Although, there has been some talk of bringing it up to land level, the general consensus is currently against the idea based on concern of flooding and maintenance costs. However, Galleshaw suggested creating a pedestrian trail that runs along its path.

DVC member Judy Haley stressed the importance of bringing taxable revenue into Berwick.

“Berwick residents vote ‘no’ for the new visions they hear about because they are taxed up to here,” said Haley indicating eyebrow level. “We need to bring new tax space into town because voters need to know that these things [recreational ideas] are going to be supported.”

Planning Board member Niles Schore, pointed out that Berwick resident who took the survey that was sent out in April don’t know the results. Schore suggested a brochure including those results be sent out to Berwick residents. This is the next project that the DVC plans to tackle.

The goal of the DVC is to wrap up the vision process by fall and present the gathered information to the selectmen so the town can move into action.

“This is a big project with big horizons,” said Galle. “The future is now.” 

What do you see in Bewick's future?

Grants or Ghost Town?

BERWICK - The sky is the limit where Berwick's grant possibilities for downtown revitalization is concerned. On Tuesday, June 18, guest speaker, Chuck Morgan from Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission, spoke to Berwick residents on the subject of potential grants that Berwick may want to consider for its downtown district.

Morgan presented an extensive amount of information on various grants that were available through the state of Maine for residential, municipal and business development. He outlined which loans were relatively easy to obtain and which were more difficult. According to Morgan, more and more grants are requiring matching funds from businesses and municipalities.

"It's typical that businesses will supply matching funds," said Morgan. "Typically, the matching funds do not come from municipalities." 

Town officials were already aware that Berwick qualified for the Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfield grant program, which would apply to sites like Prime Tanning that present an environmental risk factor. However, there were several other possible grant programs that were brought to light at the June 18, meeting.

Many of the grants Morgan spoke about were part of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. 

One such program was the Maine Economical Development (MED) program, which invests in Maine's high-growth businesses. This program starts around $30,000 in possible grant funds. These grants are used to established venture capital funds that have a plan to retain or create jobs in Maine. At least 51% of the jobs created under this program must be filled by low to moderate income persons.

"With all the towns that I have worked with, filling that quota has never been a problem," said Morgan. 

Morgan used Kennebunk as an example of a Maine town that benefited from the MED program. Kennebunk used this program to extend water and sewer lines to new businesses. 

Other CDGB programs Morgan spoke about included the Micro-enterprise Assistance (MEA), and the Workforce Development Grant (WDG) program. The MEA grant offers a maximum of $25,000 to assist small businesses. The WDG program will award up to $100,000 to any business that creates a job training program which addresses the skill shortage faced by Maine employers. 

"The beauty about the CDBG is almost every community in Maine is eligible for one of these programs," said Morgan. "However, most of these grants are very competitive and they have limited resources."

A program that came very strongly recommended by Morgan was the Pine Tree Development Zone program. This program works by greatly reducing state taxes for up to ten years for new businesses in Maine. In year 2011, there were over 300 Maine businesses that were part of this program. Eligible sectors included but were not limited to manufacturing technology, environmental technology, information technology and financial services. 

"My personal feeling is every manufacturing business in Maine should be a part of this program," said Morgan. "It is available anywhere in the state and it's not a hard application." 


However, not all the programs Morgan presented were grant programs. He also spoke about loan and bond programs from the Finance Authority of Maine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

"There is not as much activity in these programs because they are loan programs," explained Morgan. 

The suggestion of Berwick taking on grants or loans to improve the downtown area, met serious opposition by planning board member Ken Poirier. 

"Be careful about grants," said Poirier. "There is a town in Indiana that is in debt over the same thing Berwick is trying to do here."

Jessica Sheldon of the Downtown Vision Committee (DVC) was interested in exploring the idea of grants further and asked Morgan what steps needed to be taken to apply for these grants. 

Morgan suggested that Sheldon and the other committee members obtain samples of applications to aid them in the process. Morgan offered to review any applications before they were submitted. He also advised the committee to do their home work, have data available and make sure of eligibility before going through the application process.

"These things take a lot of work," said Morgan. "So make sure you're eligible." 

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  Do you think Berwick faces this question?

Berwick Residents Vote Today

BERWICK – The town of Berwick, is scheduled to vote on the town warrant tonight, June 11, and Wednesday, June 12. Tonight’s vote will be by secret ballot on articles 1 – 29. Tomorrow’s vote will be an open vote on articles 29 – 39. 

By week’s end, Berwick will have voted in one Selectman and one School Board Member for a three year term.

The only article which was not unanimously recommended by selectmen is Article 14, asking voters to raise and appropriate the sum of $541,731 for the fire department account. In addition to this amount, the town is also asking for $182,356 for fire protection costs, $137,235 for the fire department capital reserve account and $12,000 for the training of two new call members for the fire department. 

Some residents in town feel that the fire department has an unreasonably excessive budget. 

“I think everyone knows that the fire department asks for an enormous amount of money,” said Berwick resident Toni Lang. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the services that the fire department provides to this town. However, I also have a lot of respect for the selectmen, and if they all could not agree on the fire department’s account, that sends up a red flag for me.”  

Another article which has met some resistance with Berwick residents is Article 27, which proposes the town charge an interest rate of 7.00 percent per annum on unpaid taxes. 

“I don’t like the idea of a seven percent interest charge on late taxes,” said Berwick resident Dawn Milbury. “If people are late paying, that usually means they are struggling. If the town imposes a seven percent interest rate on that, it will just get struggling citizens deeper in the hole. I can see a late fee or maybe even a lower interest rate, but seven percent is way too high.” 

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What do you think about the proposed warrant articles? 

Would you approve an article that wasn’t unanimously approved by the selectmen in your town? 

How would you feel if there was a seven percent interest rate applied to late tax payers in your town?

New Vision from Old Roots

Like many towns in Maine, Berwick is undergoing somewhat of an identity crisis. With the recent closing of Prime Tanning, Berwick is shedding its former façade of “factory town” and looking to adopt a new identity. 

New committees are forming and the community is pulling together to reshape the town of Berwick into a destination that people will want to visit, rather than a place people go to work. 

Already the town is experiencing new occurrences as a result of a great need within the community. The younger generation has taken up partnership with the older generation to form a new vision for the town. The committee, Downtown Vision Committee (DVC), was formed several months ago in September of 2012. The co-chairs are 33 year old Jessica Sheldon and senior Frank Underwood. Together, they are forming new visions from old roots. 

“The final project goal of the committee is to achieve a report to supply to the selectman in which they can use as a master plan in 2014,” said Frank Underwood at the June 3 committee meeting. 

Achieving a report has involved a lot of research and community outreach. The town generated a survey that was given to every citizen, asking what they would like to see happen in Berwick. Out of the 3,200 surveys that were sent out, the committee obtained 500 responses. However, most of the people that chose to take part in the survey were over 60 years in age.

“We were very happy with the results,” said Frank Underwood. “However, we are trying to get everyone to understand that their opinion counts.” 

According to the committee, the Prime Tanning site has been classified as a Brownfield site, which means it may qualify for funding through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to Underwood, the town could receive up to $400,000 for each parcel of land that qualifies. Currently, it is believed that the Prime Tanning property could be divided into three separate parcels, accumulating up to $1,200,000 in funds.

“The site is very developable,” said Underwood. “Its condition is not insurmountable.”

The current owner of Prime Tanning is undergoing bankruptcy procedures, which are expected to reach completion by year's end. The future for the site is still very much undetermined. It is possible that a developer, or a non-profit agency, or even the town could acquire the property. Whatever the case, the DVC has already taken an important step in its redevelopment by obtaining a clear definition of what the townspeople would like to see in their hometown.

Although, its main focus is defining a future for the Prime Tanning site, the DVC is also exploring other options for enhancing downtown Berwick. There has also been a significant amount of time and energy spent into the possibility of developing a trail system that would run along the Salmon Falls River. This would allow for recreational activities such as hiking, camping and canoeing to become part Berwick’s new identity.  

“There are so many hidden gems that we have turned our backs on because we were a factory town for so long,” said committee member Serena Galleshaw. “We really have a blank slate here and that’s a great opportunity to have.” 

What would you like to see drawn on an empty slate like this?

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