byte&chew

Best wishes to all

                 Happy Holidays

Must reading for Laidlaw Energy junkies

As much as I've had some negative comments about our locals newspapers in the past, I have to say that The Berlin Reporter has improved its contents within the past couple months. This past Wednesday (Dec.15) an opinion piece by Jamie Sayen of Stratford is not only well written, but the subject matter was well researched and is well presented. (If it wasn't for the length of the article I would have posted the page A5 article here on this blog)  All of you who have been regular readers of this blog need to go and buy this weeks The Berlin Reporter and read this article. The article will expand your understanding of wood issues here in Coos County. Those of you who support the Laidlaw biomass plant in downtown Berlin also need to read this article, you may then understand why some of us "natives" are resisting your proposed investment in our community. Jamie explains how unregulated and aggressive logging practices of the past few years has degraded our forests to producing mostly low grade wood/junk wood. Reading the article will help you better understand that a biomass plant such as the proposed Laidlaw project dooms the prospects for producing high quality timber in our forests in the long term. In a way, the quality of our forest is a reflection of how we the natives see ourselves. This past week Jon, a regular on this blog, expressed the opinion that many of us in Berlin suffer from having an inferiority complex, well then, so does our forests. The article in The Berlin Reporter opens by saying that, the fate of the North Country forests is in the hands of Wall Street Investors, a very scary situation in light of what these same investors have just done to our national economy. Guess where Mr. Bartoszek the CEO of Laidlaw Energy has his roots and connections?  I suggest you whisper the answer while holding your nose!

Needed, your voices!

A week or so ago, a regular visitor to this blog "Tim", thanked me for starting byte&chew and I think that an explanation as to the origin of this blog might be in order. If we look back to April 2007 and the previous administration in City Hall, an unhealthy silence was the rule on the issue of Laidlaw Energy. Although former Mayor Danderson eventually came out and fully supported the Laidlaw project, in early 2007 City Hall's mantra was "it's private property and we don't have any say over private property". Some of us saw this as a false statement since Local, State and Federal Governments intervene in private business on a regular basis.(Zoning, taxes, codes etc.) (This topic has taken a new meaning over the past few months with the bailout of Wall Street and now the automobile industry.) Looking back two years, I believe that a case can be made that the City's future would not be held hostage by the Laidlaw project as is it is today, if City Hall had seized the moment/opportunity when North American Dismantling first purchased the mill property.  Mr. Marciki of NADC had made it very clear at that time that, they were not developers and that they did not have any plans for the mill property and that "everything would be gone in a year". (What a difference it would have made if our voices had been heard back then and, that gave rise to this blog)  I believe that the "hands off" attitude is still influencing events in City Hall and we can see occasional debates erupting during Council meetings over the issue. I also believe that we all suffer from the attitude of taking the easy out/hands off position on issues and to prove my point, look at the numbers to my last post on the Success land. That post was up for four days and only three comments were posted! This issue is as crucial to our future as is the re-use of the mill property, yet we sit back and wait for I don't know what, to voice our opinions. How many people have showed up at council meetings to speak about Success?  I believe that collectively we believe that changing administrations locally or nationally will solve all of our problems as if by magic. This feeling gives rise to a false sense of accomplishment.  Guess what folks, the very serious issues we were facing two years ago are still with us and need our attention and participation!

Missles & Mushrooms

Of the many issues that we should be concerned about, few are more important than the issue of what happens to the land that makes-up the township of Success. I was quite pleased to read in the Berlin Reporter last Wednesday, the front page article by Edith Tucker reporting that the County Commissioners seem to be in favor of supporting a conservation plan for the 20,000 acres now owned by Dillon Logging. Although I've written about Success in the past, I believe those who visit this blog on a regular basis need to become involved in the process that will see this important natural resource change hands within the next two to three years. Other than the fact that Dillon Logging has desecrated the resource, there's no bigger threat to the traditional use of Success than the notion of turning that area into a National Guard training facility. If Berlin and the region is to develop a world class outdoor recreation effort as a viable economic engine, Success needs to remain available as an area open to the general public 24/7 and year round. We also need to recognize that after the 15,000 acres have recovered from the Dillon's ravages and if the land was to be managed as a community forest, Berlin could benefit financially from the sale of timber in perpetuity. I hope that the political leadership in Berlin can understand the importance of investing in this real estate, that this investment will become more and more valuable as time goes by, not only as a wood basket for the region, but for the potential it holds for the outdoor recreation industry. The lame explanation by the National Guard that it would allow the public to co-exist with their activities challenges common sense. I have personal experience with activities that take place on military training areas and I can attest to the fact that it's not compatible with the traditional uses we've enjoyed at Success. Been there, done that with both experiences!

Hold on to your hats!

Even in these difficult economic times, it appears that we have a lot of “things” in progress. In yesterday’s The Berlin Reporter, a story by Sally Manakian reports that Clean Power Development is in negotiations with Fraser Papers to provide steam and hot water to the Cascade Mill from their proposed biomass plant in Berlin. I believe that this is good news for both parties and good news for Berlin/Gorham. However, it does bring into question the previously announced statement from Laidlaw Energy that they had an “agreement” (of sorts, since nobody ever saw it), to do the same thing that Clean Power is proposing. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but is the whole Laidlaw house of cards about to fall?  Next to that front page article in the Reporter is the story about the Berlin Industrial Development and Park Authority (BIDPA) and, what role that organization might/should play in a new economy that includes tourism. I think that BIDPA would do well in reconsidering its narrow industrial focus to a broader mission that includes tourism. When we look at what’s happened to manufacturing in this country over the past ten years, you see where we’ve shipped industrial type jobs out of the country by the thousands every month. You have to ask yourself, what opportunities are left for areas like Berlin and Coos County ? I challenge you to go to Wall Mart and try to find something that hasn’t been manufactured in China! I’m also of the opinion that one of these days we’ll regret supporting the Chinese Government in exploiting cheap/slave labor by buying cheap products at places like Wall Mart. The reality is that we’re dismantling our industrial base and Berlin/BIDPA better focus on something else than the traditional industrial development strategies of the past. Our economic development efforts need to go in the direction of what we have that’s unique to our region and where we stand the best chance of succeeding.