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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 Fluoride
vote in question
Overcrowded
school at 'end of useful life'
Compromise
in the works over trucks on Back Road
The
new Miss Goffstown
Weare
Safety first
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At the Weare Police Department, Kids Camp
officer Paul Moller shows one of the campers the inside of a
9mm pistol barrel. (Courtesy Photo)
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Goffstown
Fluoride vote in question
By DEVON CORMIER
Staff Writer
dcormier@yourneighborhoodnews.com
The Sept. 14 vote on continuing to fluoridate
Goffstown water may be held up, now that two towns which receive
Manchester water have filed a lawsuit asking they be included
in the vote.
Auburn and Derry have fewer than 100 hookups to the city water
system and, by law, are currently excluded from the vote.
Attorney Jed Z. Callen is representing Auburn residents Thomas
Upham and David Lariviere; Derry residents Fred W. DeJong, and
Kim and Charles Statler; and Manchester state Rep. Barbara J.
Hagan.
The lawsuit has been filed in both Rockingham and Hillsborough
counties. Auburn and Derry are in Rockingham County, while Manchester,
the owner of the water system, is in Hillsborough County. It
is expected that the lawsuits will be consolidated to the Hillsborough
County court.
Hagan said there are two parts to the lawsuit.
"Voters of Auburn and Derry are again being denied a vote
on this issue," Hagan said. Hagan suggests that this is
unconstitutional and a denial of due process.
Also, Hagan said the lawsuit will address the wording of the
ballot question. Hydrofluorosilic acid is the actual material
being added to the water, whereas the ballot question apparently
reads simply "fluoride."
"The stuff they are adding to the water is making a health
claim," Hagan said. "But they are using the generic
word, fluoride, which is not the actual term. It is hydrofluorosilic
acid. That does not give people a clear idea of what they are
voting for."
Hagan hopes the suit will be put on a fast track to curb the
Sept. 14 referendum. Under law, the vote does not need to be
tallied until June 2005.
"The court has scheduled a hearing on my request for a preliminary
injunction for the first week of September," Callen said.
"The court could order Auburn and Derry to vote or that
the vote be delayed or any number of things."
Upham declined comment and Lariviere could not be contacted for
comment.
Debates take place
Although Hagan said she hopes the vote will be put on hold, hearings
and forums are marching forward at full force. On Monday, Aug.
23, two forums took place, one in Goffstown and one in Manchester.
While Hagan spoke with others in Manchester against fluoridated
water, Manchester Public Health Director Fred Rusczek and others
were scheduled to speak in favor of fluoridating the water in
Goffstown.
Goffstown selectmen hosted the public hearing, where they scheduled
Rusczek along with Assistant Director of Manchester Water Works
Bob Beaurivage.
Beaurivage spoke about the technicalities of administering fluoride
to the water. He said Goffstown has 1,300 service connections
and that one part per million of the hydrofluorosilic acid is
being added to the water currently.
Rusczek spoke about the health benefits of fluoride.
"I am in support of community water fluoridation,"
Rusczek said. "Fluoride had been found by the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention to be one of the top 10 public
health achievements of the century. Today, over two thirds of
the public water supply is fluoridated. Over 170 million people
who live on the public water supply benefit."
After the two spoke, selectmen permitted audience member and
researcher Michael Connett to speak against fluoridated water,
and then allowed questions.
"Fluoride chemicals are cheap," Connett said. "Why?
Because they are industrial waste products. There is an elegant
solution to this. If people want fluoride, go to the store and
buy fluoridated toothpaste."
About 20 audience members had gathered for the occasion, and
although the questions were few, statements ran rampant throughout
the meeting for those against fluoridated water, who were in
the majority.
Hagan said about 30 people came to listen to the forum in Manchester
on the same night. There were no pro-fluoridation speakers, since
most of them were in Goffstown at Saint Anselm College to speak.
Changing laws
Manchester voted to fluoridate its water in 1999. Manchester
followed the process of similar communities that voted to fluoridate
their water by leaving out other towns that receive city water.
Following other towns' examples, only the city that owned the
water system voted.
In 2001, a lawsuit was filed in Superior Court asking that Manchester
be barred from fluoridating the water because customers in Goffstown,
Hooksett, Bedford, Londonderry, Derry and Auburn did not get
to vote.
The court ruled that all affected communities should vote, but
because the law was unclear, it gave the city of Manchester until
June 2005 to remedy the situation with new legislation.
Manchester filed Senate Bill 449 in response, which would have
established that only the community that owns the public water
supply gets to vote. The Senate amended the bill, adding that
everyone in any outlying community which receives water from
Manchester gets to vote.
The House further amended the bill to say that communities with
fewer than 100 direct connections to the water supply do not
get to vote. Auburn is one of those communities. The recently
filed lawsuit by Auburn and Derry residents is taking this decision
into question.
Weare
Overcrowded school at 'end of useful life'
New middle school to cost about $21M
By JENNIFER CLAISE
Staff Writer
jclaise@yourneighborhoodnews.com
School officials are reviewing a proposal
for a new middle school that would be built on Route 114 across
from the town's safety complex at a preliminary cost of about
$20 million.
SAU 24 Superintendent Christine Tyrie said the current middle
school is badly overcrowded. As of Oct. 1, 2003, there were 606
students in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 enrolled in the school
over 100 more students than the school's official capacity, she
said.
Additionally, the school lacks science labs, locker rooms, and
the heating system does not function properly, Tyrie said.
According to a facility deficiency study conducted by Team Design
Inc., the architectural firm in charge of the proposed new school,
the current school has a number of other flaws some areas
are in violation of building and life safety codes; the electric
wiring is fragile and not expected to last much longer; 21 out
of 24 classrooms do not meet state guidelines for minimum square
feet; there is no stage for student performances; and the library
is below state standards.
Renovation of the current school is not seen as a viable alternative,
Tyrie said, because the facility is deteriorating, and not enough
can be salvaged to make renovation a cost-effective option.
"The current middle school has basically come to the end
of its useful life as a school," Tyrie said. "It's
just generally in very bad shape."
And the time to build a new school is now, according to school
board Chairman Matt Thomas.
"The costs of a project like this are only bound to go up
the longer we wait," he said.
According to preliminary plans from Team Design, the new school
would occupy between 145,000 and 151,000 square feet across from
the town's safety complex on a 43-acre parcel of land that is
owned by the town.
Enrollment capacity would range from 800 to 1,000, depending
on the final size of the school, Tyrie said.
While the preliminary cost of the new school is pegged at between
$20 and $21 million, Tyrie said that she will meet with lead
architect Dan Bisson on Tuesday, Aug. 24, to discuss whether
the current plans meet the town's needs, and whether an adequate
facility can be built for less money.
"We are trying to do this in a way that is fiscally responsible,"
Tyrie said.
A final cost for the new school will need to be presented to
voters by Nov. 1, Tyrie said, and then the issue will be voted
on during Town Meeting in March.
But if approved, the new middle school would not be ready for
at least another two years, Tyrie said.
As for the current middle school, Tyrie said the town has expressed
interest in buying the property from the school, but plans have
not yet been finalized.
And while Tyrie said no other proposals for a new middle school
have been presented to voters in recent years, people in town
are aware of the conditions at the current middle school.
"People seem to understand the situation there, but they
haven't gotten a lot of information about the new proposal yet,"
Tyrie said.
"I've been getting fewer questions about why can't we just
stay in our current space now it's more a matter of people
making sure that we're spending money wisely," Thomas added.
To remedy that problem, Tyrie said, there will be a series of
meetings held to discuss the proposal before the bond vote in
March.
The next Team Design meeting will take place Tuesday, Sept. 14,
at the middle school, at 6 p.m. The meeting is open to the public,
and all residents are welcome to attend, Tyrie said.
Goffstown
Compromise in the works
over trucks on Back Road
By JENNIFER CLAISE
Staff Writer
jclaise@yourneighborhoodnews.com
A potential standoff between
the town and the city of Manchester over traffic conditions near
a proposed industrial park on the border of the two communities
may have been diffused, at least for now, according to officials
from both parties.
Selectmen Chairman Bob Wheeler said he just recently reached
an agreement with Manchester Alderman Armand Forest about how
to deal with trucking on Goffstown Back Road, where town planners
approved plans for two buildings and a small industrial park
in May.
Forest originally threatened to propose the prohibition of commercial
truck traffic on a section of the Manchester portion of the road,
which could hinder traffic in and out of the park.
But the Department of Transportation informed Forest he was not
allowed to shut off the road in that way, he said.
Either way, Forest said that the main purpose of his proposal
was to get the attention of the Goffstown Planning Board, which
he said was not adequately listening to the complaints of the
town's citizens, or keeping them informed of future plans for
the park.
"The only reason I did this is because I was getting 20
calls a week, many from people in Goffstown, who said they weren't
being notified and that they weren't allowed to speak at the
town's hearing," Forest said. "It was all I could do."
But, after meeting with Wheeler, Forest said he would agree to
amend his proposal, and instead call for an extension of the
hours when commercial trucking is currently prohibited on the
road.
As it stands, Manchester already restricts commercial truck traffic
on the road from 9:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.
And at Manchester's traffic safety committee meeting on Wednesday,
Sept. 15, Forest said he intends to submit an amended proposal
that would prohibit commercial truck traffic starting at 8:30
p.m., one hour earlier.
And while he said he knows that his amended proposal will not
restrict trucking as much as some Goffstown residents or his
own constituents would like, it will make a dent in the overall
traffic.
"The people who are against the park are still bound to
be upset, but this will help to slow truck traffic down at night,"
Forest said.
This is especially true, he said, given his understanding that
future plans for the park could call for 24-hour truck traffic
in and out of the facility.
However, Town Planner Stephen Griffen said no tenants have been
announced for the area, but that the town has approved plans
for a subdivision and for two buildings there. The area is slated
for light industrial use and has been for many years, he added.
Members of the Manchester Goffstown Back Road Citizens Group,
which opposes the industrial park, did not return repeated calls
for comment.
Forest said he believes that other aldermen on the traffic committee
will approve of his amended proposal.
"There were other aldermen who were in favor of closing
the road, but I believe I can get support for this," Forest
said.
Wheeler added that Goffstown is working to keep good working
relations with the city of Manchester relations that were
somewhat strained by Forest's recent threat.
"It was never our intention to not cooperate with one another,"
Wheeler said. "Goffstown and Manchester have a long history
working together to solve issues like this."
Goffstown
The new Miss Goffstown
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Kyle Polichronopoulos of Hooksett was
crowned Miss Goffstown by reigning Miss New Hampshire Alyssa
Spellman on Sunday, Aug. 22. Polichronopoulos is a member of
the Manchester Wolves Dance Team. The Miss Goffstown Scholarship
Pageant is sponsored by the Optimist Club of Pinardville, which
supports youth activities in the Goffstown/Pinardville area.
Polichronopoulos will now go on to the Miss New Hampshire Scholarship
Program Pageant.
(De-J Cejka Photo)
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