The Berlin Daily Sun, Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Page 1

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012

VOL. 20 NO. 184

BERLIN, N.H.

Retired co-owner of Hall of Greetings Sylvia Poulin talks with WMUR N.H. Chronicle Producer Jen Crompton while WMUR cameraman Chris Shepherd films the interview at the Hall of Greetings. Poulin has been nominated as the first person to star in N.H. Chronicle’s new feature: Heart of the City. (GAIL SCOTT PHOTO)

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Retired co-owner of Hall of Greetings Sylvia Poulin talks with WMUR N.H. Chronicle Producer Jen Crompton while WMUR cameraman Chris Shepherd films the interview just outside Bickford Place. Poulin has been nominated as the first person to star in N.H. Chronicle’s new feature: Heart of the City. (GAIL SCOTT PHOTO)

Poulin is first nominee for WMUR’s ‘Heart of Your City’ BY GAIL SCOTT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

BERLIN—Sylvia Poulin has been chosen to be the first star of WMUR’s new magazine feature, Heart of Your City. The program featuring Poulin will air on Valentine’s day, Feb. 14. The N.H. Chronicle, WMUR’s nightly magazine program about people and places that make New Hampshire special, recently inaugurated a new feature to be shown monthly called The Heart of Your City. The station has been asking viewers for nominees for the program. As they say, “New Hampshire has thirteen cities. From Berlin to Nashua, each one has a citizen who goes the extra mile to make

a difference in that community. It might be someone everyone knows, or a person who quietly carries the banner to make good things happen. Who is the ‘Heart of Your City,’? Poulin—founder of Hall of Greetings and Greetings Jewelers, initiator of Berlin’s Main Street Program, and tireless worker to promote the best for the city in many, many ways—was nominated with resounding recommendations from city residents. With WMUR cameraman Chris Shepherd shooting throughout, for several hours Wednesday, N.H. Chronicle Producer Jen Crompton talked with Poulin in Berlin, meeting with her and daughterin-law and current co-owner of the Hall of Greetings Kelli with her husband, Jay Poulin, and Berlin City Planner Pam Laflamme, strolling snowy Main

Street from Rumorz to City Hall, and winding up at Tea Birds for lunch, where Crompton had a chance for brief interviews with Tea Birds proprietor Scott Gregory, former Berlin Housing Coordinator, Andre Caron, Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce Office Manager Paula Kinney, Poulin’s husband Gerry, and former Main Street Director Stacia Roberge. If Crompton went away with just two words about Poulin, they would have been ‘energetic’ and ‘passionate,’ as virtually all those with whom Crompton spoke described Poulin. “She is a ball of energy,” said Caron, who was one of four partners with Poulin in purchasing the old Gill’s Florist building and transforming it into a see POULIN page 10

Selectmen ask for clarification on vote Isaacson Steel sold to Presby BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

GORHAM -- The budget committee was questioned on a prior vote at their Jan. 26 meeting, with the selectmen asking how the town would handle tax appeals if the voters followed the committee’s recommendations. Selectman David Graham asked for clarification on the committee’s prior vote to regarding $60,000 to pay a professional assessor to defend the town’s position on tax abatements. Budget committee chair Bruce Lary confirmed only that the board had not recommended the funding in their votes leading up to the public hearing. Graham asserted that the money was needed since it is “money that we use to fight ‘the big guys.’” He pointed out that the appro-

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priation is what has been used in recent years to fund a professional defense of the town’s tax assessments against Wal-Mmart, Portland Pipeline, and other commercial and utility property owners who have challenged the town. He explained that those cases are heard by the Board of Tax and Land Appeals, whose members are appointed by supreme court and business oriented. That $60,000 pays for legal counsel, expert witness and expert appraisal, Graham said. “If there’s nothing in there what are we going to do?” He pointed to the Wal-Mart case, recently settled by the town with the help of such professionals, where millions of dollars were at stake and no effort on the part of the town see SELECTMEN page 10

BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

MANCHESTER – The sale of the assets of Isaacson Steel to Presby Steel LLC was finalized yesterday after U.S. Bankruptcy Court Justice J. William Deasy approved the asset purchase agreement. The purchase price was $250,000 for the assets, customer list, and good will of the warehouse business. Following the hearing, David Presby, owner of Presby Steel, told attorneys for the city and the Isaacson estate that he wanted to close the deal to

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allow him to assume control of the business today. The parties, which included City Manager Patrick MacQueen and Berlin Industrial Development and Park Authority Chairman Mike Caron, left the courthouse to complete the final details. In a press release issued last night, Presby said he had purchased a lot of steel from Isaacson Steel. He noted Issacson sold steel and other metals to loggers and contractors and said he did not want to see the business liquidated. see PRESBY page 11

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