WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 148
BERLIN, N.H.
Christmas Parade transforms Main Street
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BY GAIL SCOTT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
Amyra Robertson, of Milan, was one of the young skiers who waved from the Nansen Ski Club float in the 2011 Berlin Christmas Parade Friday. (GAIL SCOTT PHOTO)
BERLIN—Berlin’s 2011 Christmas Parade turned Main Street into a festival of bright lights and fantasy Friday. From Theatre North’s engaging store window scenes with live mannequins in Christmas tableaux, to the colorful parade floats, to the long and spectacular fireworks display, Main Street seemed like a new world. Thanks to relatively warm weather, good humored crowds emerged before 7 p.m. to line Main Street and admire all the displays. By six p.m. the Theatre North window tableaux were in place. At Morin’s/Hidden Glimpse, Tyler see PARADE page 3
City council wants more recycling BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN -- The city council next spring will unroll a major initiative to increase recycling by residents as a way to save money and help the environment. Mayor Paul Grenier raised the issue at Monday’s council meeting during a discussion with Public Works Director Michael Perreault. Grenier, who sits on the Androscoggin Valley Regional Refuse Disposal District board, said it is apparent that some residents are not recycling. He said it is time for the city to re-educate residents on the need to separate recyclable items from the garbage that is sent to the Mount Carberry landfill. Berlin pays a $67 a ton tipping fee to AVRRDD for municipal solid waste that it takes to the Mount Carberry landfill. Recyclable items, such as glass, aluminum cans, newspapers, go to the district’s recycling center on Route 110 where there is no tipping fee. Instead, the district generates revenue by marketing the recyclables and uses that revenue to help defray operating costs for member communities. Grenier said the city can save money by increasing recycling and reducing the amount of solid waste it deposits at the landfill. AVRRDD Executive Director Sharon Gauthier yesterday said between Nov. 1, 2010 and Oct. 31, 2011, Berlin delivered 5,132 tons of solid waste to
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Mount Carberry at a cost to the city of $343,886 in tipping fees. Reducing that volume by 10 percent could save the city $34,000. During that same time, the district generated almost $175,000 in revenue from selling recyclables from its member communities. Increasing the volume of recyclables also increases revenues to the district. Councilor Roland Theberge said last week he watched as Public Works crew struggled with a garbage bag filled with bits of insulation material. He said the bag had a hole and the insulation dust got all over the city employees. Theberge said the construction debris did not belong in the regular garbage. Grenier said he has noticed some large tenement buildings in his ward where the tenants do not recycle. Grenier said the city needs to consider some way to force landlords to make their tenants recycle. He said one solution may be to make landlords pay to have a commercial hauler take their garbage if tenants do not recycle. Councilor Lucie Remillard said sometimes the landlord is not at fault. She said it is hard for a landlord to make a tenant recycle if the tenant refuses. She suggested the city consider levying a fine on people who do not recycle. Remillard said the city could require all fines to be paid before the city would allow violators to register their motor see RECYCLING page 14
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Theatre North actor Desmond Bradford, 11, contemplates a twig Christmas tree with one decoration, while surrounded by Charley Brown toys during the 2011 Berlin Christmas Parade Friday. (GAIL SCOTT PHOTO)
Presidential hopeful Gov. Jon Huntsman greets a voter following his “town meeting” in the Berlin High School library Sunday. (GAIL SCOTT PHOTO)
Huntsman visits Berlin BY GAIL SCOTT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN—Press and Huntsman staff outnumbered the voters at presidential candidate Jon Huntsman’s “town meeting” in the Berlin High School library Sunday, but those voters who came had a chance to hear a version of Huntsman’s rapid-fire stump speech, his wife’s (Mary Kay) positive opinion of her husband, and to ask some questions. Huntsman’s points: * The U.S. needs a manufacturing renaissance and, see HUNTSMAN page 3
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