Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc.(fka LLEG)

[rich sears]

I could not say it any better.

Today's The Berlin Daily Sun's front page article "Council hires legal counsel to fight Laidlaw plant" I believe is a bit misleading. Yes, the City did hire legal counsel, but I'm not sure it's to "fight" Laidlaw as much as it is to make sure that the various issues that would impact the City if the Laidlaw project moves forward, receives the attention it deserves. When the State in its infinite wisdom decided to take the right of self determination away from communities if a power plant was over 30MW, it put in place a committee and a process (Site Evaluation Committee) to scrutinize the developers and their large projects. The lawyer hired by the City will be the person representing Berlin during this permitting process/hearings. I'm of the opinion that the decision to seek professional representation was the responsible thing to do and that the choice of lawyer was the result of a long debate by Mayor & Council. If Berlin really wanted to "fight" Laidlaw it could have followed a very different path, including taking the property by eminent domain. Of course, we could have avoided all of these unpleasant and costly actions if the previous administration had become involved early on when Fraser announced the sale or, when NADC purchased the mill property with no intention of doing anything with it, except demolition. But no, City Hall sat on its collective hands and ignorantly pronounced that, it was "private property". I hope that the citizens of Berlin remember this fact come November, when some members of the former administration make a grand move to be elected to office in the name of "saving Berlin" by supporting Laidlaw. ...Another action that didn't receive as much headline as the lawyer hire by the City but that might have an equally sobering impact on Laidlaw was the announcement by Clean Power Development that it had retained the services of the Dupont Group. The Dupont Group is one of New Hampshire's premiere government affairs and business consulting firms. The Dupont Group has a proven track record representing energy companies and of having considerable political clout in Concord. If push comes to shove between the Laidlaw and Clean Power projects, I see the Dupont Group neutralizing whatever political advantage Laidlaw may have with Charlie Bass as a "has been politician". Both the move by the City and by Clean Power puts even more doubt in my mind that the Laidlaw project will ever become reality. For the first time in a long time I feel optimistic that the best interest of Berlin may be served after all.

My thanks to the author.

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