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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 Kindergarten
plans on hold
New Main
Street Program leader has regional vision
Police
contracts show great differences
Just
what does New Boston want?
Charter
school planners want community input
Goffstown
Kindergarten
plans on hold
By TIM RYAN
Staff Writer
Concerns about runoff into neighboring
wells and whether a school fits into open-space plans have led
the Goffstown Planning Board to continue a hearing on plans to
create a kindergarten building and 23 single-family homes.
The conservation commission walked the site on Saturday, March
27, and will discuss its findings with the planning board on
April 1. The public hearing on the issue was continued to April
15.
School board chairman Scott Gross said while both the district
and the developer of the site, Pro Con, would like the plan to
move along quickly to meet their respective deadlines, he understands
the planning board's process. Pro Con donated 10 acres for the
kindergarten building.
"They're just going through normal due diligence,"
he said.
Superintendent Darrell Lockwood said the district is hoping to
open the school in September of 2005.
At the Thursday, March 25, Goffstown Planning Board meeting,
Gross said other properties that were investigated as possible
kindergarten sites had many more problems, including higher cost
or substantially greater impacts to their respective areas.
Gross said the public/private partnership on 10 acres of the
80-acre plot was the only option for the school.
"There is no plan B," he said. "We looked high
and low over the last two years, and this is it. It lives and
dies here."
Still, with a number of waiver requests of town ordinances on
the residential side of the property, some board members said
they want to make sure the site doesn't set a dubious precedent
for future development, and that the site will still work with
the waivers.
"If the waivers are too numerous, maybe we have to question
whether this is a good plan," said planning board member
William Wynne.
One of the more prominent waivers is well radius. By keeping
wells a certain distance apart, runoff from streets will not
flow into the path of area wells and contaminate the water of
several properties.
However, Public Works Director Carl Quiram said some of the properties
would utilize a closed pipe system for water from the road. Quiram
said he prefers the system.
"We're protecting the well radii with the piping,"
he said.
However, attorney Michael Ryan, representing property owners
in the area, said there are concerns that the configuration of
both the housing units and the school would not be conducive
to open space development regulations.
"We have significant problems with this development
whether a school can be part of an open space development,"
he said.
Weare
New Main Street
Program leader has regional vision
By TIM RYAN
Staff Writer
Cathy Ewing has assumed the lead of the
Goffstown Main Street Program, a position she said she had her
eyes on ever since relocating from Colorado last fall.
"This is the job I wanted," she said. "It looked
perfect."
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Ewing is replacing Robbie Grady, who left
as director of the program in February. Ewing has been on the
job since March 15, and said the position of program director
is in line with her philosophy of cultivating existing assets
in an area.
"I've always been a believer in revitalizing what you have,
not tearing it down," she said. "When one person fixes
something, it spurs others to do something as well."
Ewing came to the area in September of 2003 from Colorado when
her husband, Brent, moved to New Hampshire for work with Tyson
in Manchester. The family decided to settle in Dunbarton, but
Ewing was immediately attracted to Goffstown.
"What I was looking for was a town
that had everything, someplace where you go to the supermarket,
or find entertainment, that you could get to on your bike,"
she said.
In assuming the role as head of the Main Street Program, Ewing
said she was interested in continuing the successes of such events
as Old Home Day and the Giant Pumpkin Regatta, while increasing
marketing efforts to create wider appeal beyond the region.
Before coming to New Hampshire, Ewing headed
the Colorado Software Internet Association, and had worked in
attracting business to the state. She also helped to organize
the Great American Beer Festival. In other words, she said, she
is familiar with the rigors of staging large-scale events and
promoting them.
"My goal is to make the programs more
visible, and attract more people who wouldn't normally come here,"
she said.
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THINKING BIG Cathy Ewing sees
events like Goffstown's Pumpkin Regatta growing into the kind
of attraction the entire region participates in, not just the
town. (Tim Ryan Photo)
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"(We have) programs that are unique, that take a unique
angle, that have the chance to become regional, not just local."
Still, thinking globally is nothing without acting locally; Ewing
said maintaining interest in the area among local businesses
is essential to the sustained health of Main Street.
"We have to find a way to keep the mix of businesses, so
we're still a working village," she said.
And maintaining the Main Street area has a way of fostering greater
community, Ewing said.
"You have to think about the people who are funding it,
who are impacted," she said. "You have to consider
how (an area) is better as a result."
Ewing will be on hand for a meet-and-greet at the "Spirit
of Goffstown Volunteer Appreciation Awards Night" Tuesday,
April 6, at St. Lawrence Church on Main Street at 5:30 p.m.
Weare
Police contracts
show great differences
By TIM RYAN
Staff Writer
While the debate about whether the police
chief's post should be an elected position continues, and Chief
Myles Rigney has said he stands on what he calls a life contract,
the Weare model differs from the way other communities handle
the police chief's job in contractual terms.
Dunbarton has a specific time period and process for the chief,
and New Boston, while it does not have contracts for many of
its town officials, has a set list of procedures for handling
the jobs.
In the agreement between the town of Dunbarton and Police Chief
Jeffrey Nelson, there is a five-year contract beginning March
1, 2001. The chief is accountable to the board of selectmen.
In Dunbarton, the chief is subject to being fired or suspended
under the provisions of RSA 105:2-a in New Hampshire state law
"only for cause, and after he has been presented with a
written specification of the reasons." Under the law, if
a chief is suspended or fired, he or she is entitled to a hearing
in the local superior court if the chief petitions for such a
hearing within 10 days after the penalty. The issue is then handled
in court.
In Dunbarton, however, the matter is handled not in court but
by an arbiter; if the town and the chief can't agree on a single
arbiter, they can each choose one, and a third arbiter will be
chosen by the first two; the panel of arbiters will then hear
evidence and render a decision.
There are no contracts for major town officials in New Boston,
including Police Chief Gregory or Town Administrator Burton Reynolds.
However, such officials' duties and terms are spelled out in
the town's policies and procedures manual, which ensures the
rights of the employees, Reynolds said.
"That gives you your rights," he said. "It reduces
the need for a contract."
The manual also spells out how the town can deal with employees
who have problems.
"It's a procedure where you have to write the problem, and
give a period of time to rectify the problem," he said.
"At the end of the timeframe, you say where you are."
In a memorandum of understanding between the board of selectmen
and Chief Rigney, there are a number of differences between the
other towns' handling of the position.
There is a non-interference section, that does not allow any
"elected or appointed official" of the town to be "authorized
to issue orders to, direct, or interfere with the performance
of duties" of the department. However, it does state that
the selectmen can set overall policy and direction.
The memorandum also states that if the chief is fired, and the
termination is overturned in court, the town will assume the
cost of "all attorney, court, and miscellaneous fees encumbered
by the chief." The memorandum also states that any audits
or evaluations "will only be conducted through the direction
of Peace Officers Standards and Training, state of New Hampshire,
or his/her designee" and that "no private contracted
"hired gun" management companies will be used."
The memorandum of understanding that outlines Rigney's employment
conditions is the document the town produced when asked for a
contract. The memorandum notes that a full contract was to follow
the agreement.
Voters approved a warrant article in March to have the police
chief be an elected position. Rigney has said he has a life term
and may take legal action if there is a push to remove him from
his post.
New Boston
Just what does
New Boston want?
Library trustees, planners hope residents
will attend forum
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By LARA SKINNER
Staff Writer
lskinner@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Goals for the annual Friends of the Library
Auction are usually fairly small. One year they bought tables
and a computer for the Whipple Free Library. Money raised through
the auction helps to pay for programs, but library trustee Timothy
Cady joked on Saturday, March 27, that their goal was much larger.
"We need to raise $150,000," he said to the crowd.
His comment was answered by applause from the library crowd,
but it is an example of one of many issues the town is facing.
The big questions are: What do the people in town want to have,
and what do the people in town think they need?
A year ago, Lynette and Ken Lombard started working with a small
group of people to organize a community profile.
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SCRUTINY Items for
the silent auction sponsored by the Friends of the Whipple Free
Library are given careful consideration before anyone places
a bid. Kathy Bradfield reads the description on one of the many
gift baskets available. (Lara Skinner Photo)
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The small group has grown into a steering
committee of 14 people. The New Boston Speaks forum is scheduled
for Friday, April 2, from 6 to 9:30 p.m., and Saturday, April
3, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Voting results from the March ballot seem to show that residents
are willing to pay only for what is necessary. Things such as
a new library building or a skateboard park are at the bottom
of the list for taxpayer expenses. Out of the total turnout for
voting day, Cady said, the library building vote only got 50
percent of the total. They needed at least 60 percent, or a three-fifths
vote, for the article to pass.
It was a tough tax year, he said, and that is part of what hurt
the vote.
"I think it comes down to dollars," Cady said. "Plain
and simple."
Plans for a new library building will be put on hold for a while,
he said, and the trustees and library staff will concentrate
on working with the space and needs they have now.
Cady is encouraging "library people" to attend New
Boston Speaks. The Lombards said they have worked to get a mix
of people signed up for the forum.
Many people in town are commuters, Lynette said, or trying to
raise a family. Their personal focus isn't necessarily on the
town's needs. People also move to New Boston because they love
the small-town feeling and want to keep it. Without the town
meeting, many of the people who live in New Boston might not
meet each other at all, she said.
Invitations to the forum were sent to everyone in town, Lynette
Lombard said. Then she and Ken reviewed the list and tried to
find people who could help with the smaller subcommittees which
will get started at the forum.
Small communities across southern New Hampshire organize similar
town efforts all the time. Dunbarton used the resources available
through the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission
to update the master plan.
In New Boston, the master plan was updated about five years ago,
but Ken Lombard said the town needs a brainstorming session to
see what the people want beyond the master plan.
"We've been working real hard to keep this completely open
and not have an agenda to start with," he said.
Instead of working with a state planning commission, they are
working with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
in Goffstown.
Dan Reidy is a community development educator with the extension,
and described the Community Profile Project as a way to set priorities.
The project was started by Gov. Judd Gregg in the early 1990s,
and a record of the profiles is on the UNH Web site at www.ceinfo.unh.edu.
"This can be a real help to the leaders in the community,"
Reidy said.
When a citizens' group decides on a direction, he said, the people
involved can really help the community grow.
Trustees from the library and people on the recreation commission
tried to combine efforts two years ago when they presented the
town with plans for a building with a large community room. People
in town voted against the proposal, and Librarian Sarah Chapman
said she was just left to wonder what the people want instead
of what they don't want.
"We did everything we thought everybody asked us to,"
she said. "But in the end, it didn't make any difference."
She and the library staff are going to try to reorganize the
space again, she said, and make do with what they have. The land
the library owns is still going to be used for a new building,
Cady said. But now it's a matter of how they can raise the funds.
The trustees plan to ask for an additional $50,000 for the capital
reserve plan next year, he said.
Cady said he hopes New Boston Speaks will help give the trustees
a better sense of what to do next.
For more information about New Boston Speaks, visit the Web site
at www.newboston
speaks.org, or call Lynette and Ken Lombard at 487-5114.
People are welcome to register for the forum on the day of the
event, but a lunch is planned for Saturday so Lynette Lombard
requested that people try to register ahead of time so organizers
can plan ahead for food amounts.
Goffstown
Charter school
planners want community input
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
The plan to bring a charter school to Goffstown
is finally up and running and the planners are seeking input.
The staff at SAU 19 received a $19,600 preplanning grant from
the state to fund the preliminary exploration of a charter school
for Goffstown.
Meeting on Tuesday, March 23, a core group of participants, made
up of administrators, teachers and parents, laid out the basic
definition for a business and technology academy. The general
concept supported by the group calls for a non-traditional school
format and would focus on "curriculum for life." Planners
say the school would encourage students to make real-world applications
of technology skills and knowledge.
SAU 19 Assistant Superintendent Gail Kushner, who is
overseeing the development process, said the March 23 meeting
went well, but the group is looking to expand its base.
"We basically have a core group that knows the mission," she
said. "But we decided what we really want to do is bring
in outside community members and bring in students."
The group's next meeting will be 3 p.m., April 12, at Goffstown
AREA High School. This will be followed by an April 14 student
forum with current GAHS students.
"There have been some forums around the state that are just
starting to talk about what is real-world learning," Kushner
said. "So, we're asking the students, 'What do they want
to see?' If they could design their own education what would
it look like?"
The grant will last until early fall, and over the course of
that period, Kushner said, the group's primary goal will be developing
a mission statement and writing a preliminary charter.
Charter schools are public schools, but they accept students,
sometimes from multiple communities, for tuition.
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