Allenstown News

Hooksett, Allenstown added to schools in need of improvement

2008-05-14T22:03:00Z

Hooksett Memorial School and Allenstown Elementary School have joined the list of schools in need of improvement following state testing results.

Several local schools were either added to or maintained their positions on the New Hampshire Department of Education’s “school in need of improvement” list after failing to make adequate yearly progress in either math or reading based on statewide testing.

To be on the list, a school must fail to meet adequate yearly progress, measured by state testing results in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11, in the same content area, reading or math, for two years in a row. To exit the “school in need of improvement” (SINI) designation, schools must meet adequate yearly progress standards in the same content area for two years in a row.

The Department of Education’s 2008-09 adequate yearly progress (AYP) results were compiled based on the state assessments New Hampshire students took in October 2007.

Doing well

Auburn Village School and Epsom Central School made AYP in both content areas this year in all subgroups. Auburn Village School also surpassed the state’s benchmarks for 2007- 08.

After failing to meet AYP for the 2007-08 year, Epsom Central students rose to the performance level of Auburn Village and attained AYP in both reading and math for the 2008-09 year.

“They put a lot of work into trying to emulate the benchmarks in state standards and to match themselves with what the state indicates they should be doing in areas of curriculum,” SAU 53 Superintendent Thomas Haley said.

Dropping down

Test results showed Hooksett Memorial School students missed AYP standards for the second year in a row, getting them a spot on the preliminary 2008-09 SINI list for math.

Memorial students also scored below AYP in reading, and will earn a SINI designation in that subject if they do not show improvement in reading after the next round of testing.

Cawley students missed AYP in math this year, but it was their first year doing so. They are not on the list yet, said Superintendent Phil Littlefield.

Candia Moore School missed AYP in reading but made it in math based on the testing. Having been on the SINI list last year for math, the school must maintain its scores in math in the next testing round to exit that status.

Littlefield said the poor results of the special education subgroup brought the overall schools’ scores down to below AYP standards at both Moore and Memorial.

“As a school, each did fine. In both cases, the issue that they have is the performance of a subgroup and in both cases that is youngsters with an educational disability,” Littlefield said.

After missing AYP in math and reading for the 2007-08 year, Allenstown Elementary students made AYP in reading for 2008-09 and missed it again in math, earning them the designation of a new SINI in math for the 2008-09 year.

Armand Dupont School went into the October testing with a 2007-08 designation of SINI in reading and also having missed AYP in math. After the latest test results showed they missed AYP in math this time around but made it in reading, Dupont is now listed as a SINI in both content areas for 2008-09, and will exit their SINI status for reading if they meet AYP next time.

Three Rivers School in Pembroke missed AYP in math and reading, and will go into the third year of its SINI designation for 2008-09.

Pembroke Hill School made AYP in reading and missed it in math for the 2008-09 year, but is not on the SINI list. The results for Pembroke Village are not yet available because, being designated by the state as a small school, it is subject to a different review of the results.

Haley said the educationally disabled subgroup hurt Pembroke and Allenstown schools, and said those districts might consider appealing the SINI designation after looking more closely at the results.

“The good news is that we made AYP in both areas of the full school and in every subset except for educationally disabled,” Haley said. “We don’t know if we missed AYP in educationally disabled by eight or 10 students, or if we missed by one.”

High schools struggle

Pembroke Academy will enter its third year as a SINI in math and also missed AYP in reading this year. If Pembroke Academy students miss AYP in reading during the next testing cycle, they will go onto the SINI list for reading as well.

Both Manchester Memorial and Central high schools are entering their fourth years on the SINI list for both content areas for 2008-09.

West High School attained AYP in math based on the October testing results, but remains on the SINI list until the next round. Making AYP in math next time will get them off the list for that subject.

West students missed AYP for reading and the school will enter its fourth year on the SINI list for that subject.

According to statewide statistics from the Department of Education, 282 schools in the state failed to make AYP in either reading or math. A total of 175 made AYP in both content areas, based on the October test results.

Native American ‘reservation’ proposed

2008-05-07T18:38:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

A Southern New Hampshire University professor and former minister wants to turn the 36 acres of land he bought on Route 28 adjacent to the Suncook Business Park into a Native American “reservation.”

Dan Stauffacher, who spent millions on the land, said the park would include an open air pavilion for outdoor concerts, a meetinghouse, a church, retail shops, affordable housing for seniors 55 and older, a town square and a village green.

“It’s an early 1800s vintage environment that’s going to be educational, recreational and a whole lot of fun,” said Stauffacher.

The development, called “Meetinghouse Park,” is still in the conceptual phases and has not had official review from the town’s Planning Board or Board of Selectmen, but Stauffacher said the town’s boards have showed support for the development.

Stauffacher said he envisions class field trips, concerts, town meetings and day trips for the development, which would include Civil War and Native American re-enactments with hired actors.

Stauffacher added he will donate land to the town for the purpose of building a new town hall and library in case they choose to do so in the future. “The real feature to this that I’m excited about is we’re going to recreate the village green,” Stauffacher said.

Stauffacher, a professor of Native American history, enlisted the help of several SNHU students to film and edit an infomercial promoting the development, he said.

The infomercial would be aired on the project’s Web site, meetinghousepark.net, and on other sites such as YouTube, Stauffacher said.

He added he is talking with Pembroke Academy’s horticulture department to see whether students would be able to design, install and maintain the landscape for the development.

The project would be completed in phases, the first one including going through the planning approval process, installing the infrastructure and building the church, function hall, open air pavilion and village area.

Phase two would add the town square and retail portion, which two retailers have already expressed some interest in it, according to Stauffacher, along with the over-55 housing units. A third possible phase would be to construct an all-Native American cuisine restaurant, Stauffacher said.

Architect Claude P. Gentilhomme signed on with Stauffacher to achieve the vision. Gentilhomme said the development would incorporate 1800s architecture with cuttingedge technology.

“My goal at the end of this project is the people will pull into the village and wonder, ‘Has this been around a long time or is this new?’” Gentilhomme said, adding the streetlights would be the only visible modern addition to the park.

Roland Martel, chairman of the Conservation Committee, president of the Allenstown Revitalization Association and president of the town’s Historical Society, showed his support for the project by participating in the infomercial.

“I’m a hundred percent behind it. All of it is a win-win for the town,” Martel said.

Hunter’s body found in park

2008-04-30T18:52:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

Almost five months after he disappeared into the thick forest and freshly fallen snow of Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, the remains of Russell Bussiere of Hooksett were found.

“It’s huge closure,” said Michael Bussiere, son of the 70- year-old hunter who went into the woods on Dec. 2 and never came out.

A family friend discovered the body on Sunday, April 27, at around 10 a.m. For the past few weeks since the snow melted, the family has organized weekend searches to comb the woods.

The father and son Bussieres were hunting in Bear Brook in separate locations, using global positioning satellite (GPS) devices and planning to meet at noon back at their parking spot.

When Russell Bussiere failed to show a few hours after that, the search began, led by New Hampshire Fish and Game and lasting for about a week straight when daylight would allow.

More than 200 searchers volunteered to brave the freezing temperatures and deep snow, including the Allenstown Police Department, Army National Guard and canine search teams.

The search was suspended when temperatures began to further chill the New England area and all areas of ground in the state park had been covered. Fish and Game also conducted several searches over the winter months.

Authorities used line sweeps and GPS mapping to make sure they’d hit all of those areas.

Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland said the remains were put through DNA testing and fingerprint comparison. His remains were positively identified on Monday, April 28.

The remains were found in clothes fitting the description, and his rifle was found with him. Also found on the body were Russell Bussiere’s wallet, cell phone and GPS unit.

The body was found about a mile from where the search’s command post was set up on Dodge Road, which is also where the Bussieres had parked, about 45 feet off the trail, Mulholland said.

The night Russell Bussiere, who’d been hunting at Bear Brook for 50 years according to family members, disappeared, the area was hit with about a foot of snow. More fell in the following days, creating a very thick snow cover which may have completely concealed Bussiere, Mulholland said.

He added search teams had been through the area where the remains were found.

“As ironic as it sounds, yesterday was the best day of my life,” said Michael Bussiere during a phone call on Monday, April 28 about the discovery of his father’s remains the previous day.

Michael Bussiere said he wanted to thank all of the agencies and volunteers involved in the search, particularly New Hampshire Fish and Game.

“Thanks for the people who went out looking on their free time. Their efforts were truly appreciated,” Michael Bussiere said.

Mulholland said there will be a standard post-mortem autopsy on the body, but authorities believe it was a natural death. “We suspect it was a medical condition. There is no evidence of foul play or accidents,” Mulholland said.

Michael Bussiere said the family is holding off on services until family members who live in other areas of the country can make the trip.

Two die in head-on collision

2008-04-23T19:50:00Z

BY JENN MCDOWELL

Two Concord residents died in a head-on collision with a car containing two Allenstown residents on Route 28, according to police.

According to Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland, the two Concord residents were traveling south in a Kia Spectra when they crossed the center line and collided head on with a Plymouth Neon in the northbound lane at 9:39 p.m. on Friday, April 19.

The Judith Wright, 44, of 15 Academy St., Concord, in the Kia died at the scene. The driver of that vehicle, Russell Wright, 50, also of 15 Academy St., Concord, was flown to Dartmouth- Hitchcock Medical Center.

Police were still working the accident scene when the call came that he had succumbed to his injuries, Mulholland said.

The two occupants of the Neon survived, although the driver, 46, was still in the hospital at press time with head and leg injuries and was in and out of consciousness, Mulholland said.

The Neon’s passenger, whom Mulholland described as a juvenile, suffered the least extensive injuries, including some small bone breaks in her legs, even though her side of the car took the brunt of the impact.

That’s because she was the only one out of the four people wearing a seatbelt, Mulholland said.

“I think it would be a far different outcome if they were wearing seatbelts. Normally, we can’t say that with certainty, but in this case we can,” Mulholland said.

An officer, whom Mulholland said would remain unnamed, witnessed the accident just south of the Suncook Business Park on Route 28 when he went there to remove a radar trailer from the area.

At the section of Route 28 where the crash occurred, the speed limit changes from 50 mph to 35 mph.

Mulholland said speed was not a factor in the collision, as indicated by the radar trailer’s readings on the vehicles, but police are investigating whether alcohol or drugs were involved in any way.

“That’s being investigated very closely right now,” Mulholland said, adding investigators were waiting for the opportunity to speak with the Neon’s driver.

An accident reconstruction team was heading out to the accidents site, just north of the intersection of River Road and Route 28, on Monday, April 21, to try to recreate the collision and determine a cause.

Mulholland said it is unlikely that charges would be filed in the case.

“The only person who could be charged is now dead,” he said.

Mulholland said Allenstown has not had a fatal accident on Route 28, which heads into Pembroke and then into Epsom, since 2004.

Before 2004, the town averaged two fatal car accidents per year on that stretch of road in town, Mulholland said.

“The reason why they’re so bad is because the speed limit is 50. You’ve got a closing speed of a 100 mph,” Mulholland said, referring to the total impact speed of two cars crashing together. “You’re going to have injuries with that.”

Mulholland said Route 28 was closed down for about four hours while Allenstown, Pembroke and Epsom police and firefighters cleared the accident scene.

Banner editorial and letters for April 10, 2008

2008-04-11T16:05:00Z

Editorial

Landlords rent to people, not credit scores

While we can certainly understand a landlord’s need to make sure a tenant has the ability to pay rent, we think denying someone a place to live simply because of a foreclosure on their credit report is taking things too far.
The Kruczinski family of Allenstown is the perfect example. While Ed Kruczinski takes responsibility for the foreclosure, he still needs a place for his family to live. He had adequate income to pay his rent, but landlord after landlord denied him an apartment based on his credit record. He did finally find a place to live, but not until days before losing the apartment he was in. Just where are people supposed to live if they not only can’t buy a home, they can’t even rent one?
With foreclosures on the rise, this is not going to be an isolated incident. Banks and loan companies made it possible for people to buy homes they really couldn’t afford, pushing prices for real estate to unrealistic levels, and now that bubble has burst. Crashing down to the ground with that bubble are not only the speculators hoping to make a fast buck, but regular people just trying to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Landlords have to bear in mind that it is not a credit score trying to rent their property, it’s people. And people need a place to live.

Letters

Candia Lancers basketball team impress state Senate

To the Editor:
On Thursday, March 20, I had the distinct honor to host the Candia Lancers basketball team from the Henry Moore School. It was a privilege to meet these fine young men.
First, I must commend them for their accomplishments as the Class S Champions. There’s no doubt that this title came as a result of hard work and dedication to their sport, their teammates, their coaches and their school. A heartfelt congratulations!
Second, I must praise this group of young men on their manner. They came dressed in suits and ties, were polite, courteous and patient. Assistant coach E-Mac (student and team member Evan MacDonald) spoke with such eloquence about his team and truly captivated his Senate audience; a pin drop could have been heard in the Senate during those moments.
Throughout the day, my colleagues in the Senate commented on the fine group of men from Candia that had graced our presence.
The Candia Lancer basketball team are wonderful ambassadors of the Henry Moore School and for the town of Candia. You make us proud!
Again, congratulation and GO LANCERS!
Theodore L. Gatsas
State Senate, District 16
District 16 comprises Manchester Wards 1,2 and 12, Bow, Candia, Dunbarton and Hooksett

Hooksett students made state representative proud

To the Editor:
Recently the fourth- and fifth-graders from Hooksett Memorial School visited the State House in Concord as part of their New Hampshire government studies. It was my privilege to join the dedicated teachers and enthusiastic students on their group tours. Meeting with the school groups is a highlight of the session year.
The children were well-prepared by their teachers, as evidenced by their solid knowledge of the legislative process. Some jotted notes on small pads of paper; some snapped photographs in the Hall of Flags. They asked relevant questions and offered reasoned opinions. The students looked quite at home sitting in Representatives Hall, pushing the voting buttons. Whether interacting with the governor or viewing the portraits, the students were attentive, inquisitive and appreciative of their time under the Gold Dome.
Parents, please know that your energetic youngsters are the pride of Hooksett. They are cooperative and friendly, respectful and bright.
I hope you will bring them back to the visitors’ gallery to observe the House in session. They would enjoy showing you around the State House!

Rep. Eileen Ehlers
Hooksett

Cable TV franchise fees are thievery and should end

To the Editor:
It’s like driving on a road that everyone uses, but only some have to pay the toll. Or paying half of your neighbor’s bills. It’s not even a rich-poor thing, it’s cable customers being taxed more than all others. This theft should stop or the money should be used for the promised purpose; community access TV.
Shaking down the cable company for “franchise fees” (a.k.a. protection money) for the privilege of doing business in our town (a.k.a. survival), is a common practice and as old as bleep. It’s even more obscene when the truth is plain to see; this money is not being spent the way it was purported. It is wrong, unfair and downright stealing, in my opinion.
When you take money from one person and apply it to the account of another, that is theft, in my book. Collecting (a.k.a. stealing) money from cable customers to offset the tax bills of satellite customers and everyone else is government-sponsored racketeering, much like the state lottery, but that’s another letter.
The last article on the ballot this year is one that citizens created by petition. Petitioned articles should be first because latter articles on long ballots often go unchecked or blindly marked NO due to “ballot fatigue.” Please vote from the back to the front this year and vote “yes” on 26. Maybe it could be a movement, where the last ones pass and the first ones get hammered. Some should.
Community access TV is something all taxpayers can benefit from at the cost to some. As one of the “some,” I would prefer that my money benefit the taxpayers in the way it is supposed to; to inform, instead of being another covert tax. If you allow this to continue, you may be a member of the next target group to be shaken down by the new racketeers. I still won’t be happy having your money offset my tax bill and will still call it thievery, because it is.
David Ross
Hooksett
P.S. I was tempted to fund the line item at Town Meeting with a motion and some friends. It would have been easy, considering the minimal attendance, but that would be as fraudulent as the current situation is.

Thanks for scholarship

To the Editor:
Epsom Central School support staff and teachers would like to thank everyone who participated in the Michael Briggs Scholarship spaghetti supper on Tuesday, March 11.
The event was a great success – 106 dinners were served. We also received several donations, bringing the total to $748.
This fund was established for any Epsom graduating senior who wishes to pursue a career in public service.
Also, special thanks to everyone who came out and voted for our support staff contract.
Epsom Central School
support staff and teachers

Exxon Mobil profit sets record again

To the Editor:
The New York Times and other sources (in so many words) have told us that we don’t stand a chance in the battle of Americans vs. oil companies. I’m tempted to call it the battle of the bulge. The bulge, in this case, is referenced by the oversized and deep pockets of these excessively greedy conglomerates.
If you don’t have a strong stomach you had better stop reading at this point. This company reported Friday, Feb. 1, that it beat its own record for the highest profits ever recorded by any company, with a net income of $40.6 billion. Their public thank you was extended to the surging oil prices. How thoughtful of them.
This company’s sales, more than $404 billion, exceeded the gross domestic product of 120 countries.
If that didn’t get you, this will. Exxon Mobil earned more than $1,287 of profit for every second of 2007. Congress has not rescinded the tax breaks awarded two years ago to encourage companies to boost their investments in the United States and increase domestic production.
Congratulations to Exxon Mobil and Chevron ---- for reminding Americans why they cringe every time they pull into a gas station. Your day will come.
Jim Breagy
Epsom

Allenstown town audit spurs concern

2008-04-09T19:33:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

Several residents showed up at the Allenstown Board of Selectmen’s meeting Monday, April 7, hoping to discuss accounting errors found in the town’s 2006 audit, as well more recent errors detected by an independent consulting firm.

Selectmen decided to reserve the discussion on the accounting discrepancies for nonpublic session after reviewing the administrative assistant’s plan to correct t he errors.

According to the 2006 audit report dated Jan. 31, 2008, from t he town’s auditor, Plodzik and Sanderson, several errors had been made in balance transfers, some accounts had not been reconciled correctly, and the town’s preparation and review of financial statements was not in accordance with widely accepted accounting practices.

“The government-wide statement of net assets does not include all of the Town’s capital assets nor the accumulated depreciation on those assets; and the government-wide statement of activities does not include depreciation expense related to those assets. These amounts have not been determined because the Town has not inventoried all of its capital assets at historical cost,” the report states.

“Therefore, in our opinion, the financial statements referred to above (included in the report) do not present fairly the financial position of the government activities of the Town of Allenstown at December 31, 2006, and the changes in financial position thereof for the year then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America,” the report goes on to say.

Kelley Collins, administrative assistant for the town since 2005, was on medical leave for more than three months following a skiing accident. During that time, said Selectman Tom Gilligan, other town employees took over her day-to-day duties.

It is still unclear who made the mistakes, Gilligan said, but Collins has developed a timeline to fix them and is updating the Board of Selectmen weekly on her progress.

An outside accounting firm, Municipal Resources, Inc., is working with the town to correct some of the mistakes after meeting with selectmen at their meeting March 17.

Municipal Resources Inc. made several recommendations which included setting up funds that were voted in the 2006 election that mistakenly slipped in under the radar, correcting errors in recording encumbrances and expenditures, and regularly reconciling the accounts.

Allenstown resident Pauline Boutin said she’s not sure whether Collins should remain in her position while the errors are still being looked at. “I came to find out whether they’ve taken any action,” Boutin said at the Town Hall on Monday, April 7.

The group of residents, including former Selectman Sandra McKenney, prepared a statement to present to the Board of Selectmen, outlining concerns surrounding the errors and the board’s disclosure of them.

“Because of these inadequacies, in 2007-2008 Allenstown has incurred additional expenses by hiring consultants from MRI, grant writing purposes and possibly legal services,” the statement reads, going on to say those costs should be deducted from Collins’ salary.

“We’ve never had a report like that,” said McKenney.

Allenstown town audit reveals errors

2008-04-02T19:40:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

A recent review by an outside accountant uncovered errors in the town’s accounts, according to town officials.

After deficiencies were found in the fiscal year-end audits for 2005 and 2006, said Selectman Tom Gilligan, and the town’s administrative assistant being on medical leave for 14 weeks, the Board of Selectmen brought in CPA Carrol Coppola on March 13 to review the town’s accounts.

What she found were mistakes in data entry, typographical errors and several revolving funds from 2006 that were mistakenly never set up, Gilligan said.

The town’s administrative assistant, Kelly Collins, was on leave for 14 weeks after a skiing accident, and Gilligan said there were several people helping to fill her shoes, including a retired municipal worker from Hooksett, a secretary at the town hall and at least one town official.

“Those people all tried their best to help us, and we’re finding out in some cases they actually made several mistakes,” Gilligan said, adding he wants to ensure residents that none of the individuals involved are suspected of stealing at this point.

Town officials have come under fire before for financial manipulations, including the former police chief, James McGonigle, who embezzled thousands of dollars from the Allenstown Police Association.

“The Board of Selectmen does not suspect any wrongdoing or malice from any town employee. Everything is traceable, it’s just a matter of realigning expenditures,” Gilligan said.

“With the history we have in town, we take these matters extremely seriously. That’s always our first thought is to make sure there’s no improprieties,” he added.

Collins is now back at work, and has worked out a schedule and time line for when the problems that she can fix will be addressed and has listed the issues she will need outside help for, Gilligan said.

At this point, the town has not finished validating all the errors, Gilligan said, and has not determined whether any of the them were Collins’ fault.

The town is also working with the Local Government Center to institute better controls on the data entry, including more stringent password protection.

The town is under a spending freeze, Gilligan said, until all the numbers are cleared up.

Allenstown cuts town positions, hours

2008-04-02T19:33:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Allenstown Board of Selectmen has decided to cut more than needed to create a buffer for possible upcoming costs which would include paying for the outside accounting help needed as well as possible spring flooding of the Suncook.

There was a $191,996 difference between the default and proposed budgets, but in two meetings held on March 17 and 18, selectmen decided to cut an extra $43,000 from the budget.

The town’s operating budget will now be $4,822,968.

Following the March 11 vote, hours for the town clerk/tax collector, assessing clerk and secretary have been cut, forcing the Town Hall to close on Fridays.

The Highway Department took the largest blow, losing $71,100 from what its proposed budget, including two part-time landfill attendants. The remaining Highway Department employees will have to rework their schedules for landfill coverage on Saturdays. That includes the road agent, Chris Roy, who is on salary with the town.

The town will also delay the repaving of Library Street for another year to realize savings in the highway and sewer department budgets.

The Police Department’s budget was cut by $20,407, forcing the layoff of the department’s evening help.

Police Chief Shaun Mulholland said he has laid off his evening secretary, cutting the administrative hours of the department to between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., something that he said will eventually cost more to the town in Bow Dispatch service costs.

He has also considered cutting an officer from the force, but is waiting until after the town’s accounting issues are cleared up before making that decision.

The department got a federal grant to fund three officer positions in the 1990s, Mulholland said, and removing an officer from the force could jeopardize the department’s chances for receiving grants in the future. “This is a painful process,” Mulholland said.

The Fire Department is in no better shape, having to shave more than $24,000 off its proposed operating budget.

The school district budget was also turned down at the polls, leaving a default of $9,838,008.

The School Board has yet to discuss what will come out of the operating budget for Allenstown Elementary and the Dupont School, according to School District Administrator Peter Warburton, to make up for the $116,845 difference from the proposed budget.

According to statistics from the 2006-07 school year, Warburton said, Allenstown spends about $11,609.34, slightly more than the statewide average.

Sewer stalls development

2008-03-26T19:34:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

After Allenstown voters shot down the Suncook Wastewater Treatment Plant’s $15 million expansion for the second year in a row, sewer commissioners and the plant’s operator said they are back at square one.

Sewer Commissioner James Rodger said harsh economic times led to tighter wallets this year, which led to the town’s “no” vote for not just the expansion but every single cost item on the warrant this year.

“When the ship sank, our warrant was on it,” Rodger said.

Amendment caused failure Rodger also said a stipulation added to the warrant article at the town’s deliberative session on Feb. 2 made the article worthless.

An amendment passed at that meeting added wording that would not allow the project to go forward unless 50 percent matching grants were secured. The problem with that, Rodger said, is the town needed to say it will pay the project costs up front in order to secure such grants that would reimburse the town.

A Feb. 12 e-mail from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Department, one of the agencies being largely considered as a source of grant funding for the project, said the 50 percent contingency added to the article would hurt Allenstown’s chances for funding.

The e-mail, addressed to Michael Trainque of Hoyle, Tanner and Associates, the engineering firm spearheading the expansion project, states limits on the availability of funds may prevent them from providing 50 percent in grants to the project and would compel USDA Rural Development to give it to another project instead.

“Fifteen million (dollars) is a large improvement project,” Rural Development Specialist Scott Johnson wrote in the email. “Rural Development looks forward to being involved if possible.

If Allenstown anticipates securing any grant funds from Rural Development, placing limits on how much of the total project is loan or grant could box them in a corner, rendering them unable to accept monies that may be available.

“Our advice to communities is to vote to borrow the RD portion of the project costs so that they are able to accept grant funds that may be offered to them. Too many times we have seen projects come to a halt due to an inadequate bond vote,” Johnson said.

Grant money can’t come in for the project until construction is done and the town is ready to make payments, said plant operator Dana Clement.

“You can’t put the cart before the horse,” Clement said. “You can’t even make an application to them until the project is complete. You have to spend the money and then they reimburse you.”

Pembroke’s side
A brief discussion on how the failed article would affect Pembroke, where most voters want the expansion to go through, came out of discussion on Pembroke’s sewer rates for the coming year at their Town Meeting on Saturday, March 15.

Pembroke Sewer Commissioner Harold Thompson said he could not comment at this time on what “Plan B” is for Pembroke, but said his commission is working with Allenstown to set up a public meeting with the two sewer commissions, the Department of Environmental Services and Allenstown selectmen.

More stringent rules Forthcoming studies on the Merrimack River may compel the plant’s upgrades in order to comply with possibly more stringent water cleansing standards, Clement said.

The state is also looking at tightening the standards for phosphorous and nitrogen concentrations in the Merrimack.

Should both of these scenarios come to pass in the next several years, the current plant is incapable of handling the new standards, Clement said. The expansion plans already drawn up would have accommodated such changes, he said.

Rodger said the Sewer Commission will continue its efforts to pass the expansion by continuing the public information sessions on the issue and creating a packet of information to go door-to-door with.

Development held up Both towns have commercial and residential developers waiting for sewer hook-ups, according to Rodger and Thompson.

The U.S. Army wants to put a training facility at a large parcel off of Route 106, Thompson said.

“I’ve got probably about $10 million worth of buildings wanting to go in Pembroke,” he said.

Rodger said several projects, including a retirement community and the possible expansion of the strip mall at 48 Allenstown Road, which includes a Family Dollar, Kutter’s Korner and Curves for Women, have been shelved in the past few years because of a lack of sewer capacity.

If the state steps in to mandate upgrades to comply with the new cleaner water standards, sewer users rates are going to go up, and there won’t be added capacity, Rodger said.

“We’re going to have to do it on the backs of sewer users, and we won’t get any flow out of it,” Rodger said. “To upgrade the plant just to satisfy new requirements, how much is that going to cost us? We might as well get some capacity out of it.”

Sewer bond fails in Allenstown

2008-03-12T19:39:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

Voters in Allenstown said no to all the proposed monetary issues brought forth on this year’s ballot for the town and school district.

In a to 388-264 vote, Allenstown voters again nixed a $15 million expansion for the Suncook Wastewater Treatement Facility, serving both Allenstown and Pembroke.

At the town’s deliberative session, voters changed the original warrant article to stipulate the expansion would only go through if at least half of the total cost could be defrayed with matching state and federal grants the project qualifies for.

The state Department of Environmental Services put a moratorium on sewer hook-ups in 2002 after several instances in which the plant’s flow exceeded it’s allowed capacity. Since then, development in Pembroke and Allenstown has slowed.

The plans included installing secondary clarifiers which would relieve the exisiting clarifiers of their current capacity and flow problems. Overall sewage capacity would increase from 1 million to 2.1 million gallons per day.

Under the terms of the 20- year bond, Pembroke would pay 52 percent of the total costs and Allenstown 48 percent, based on flow. According to the plans, the new additions to the plant would not be up and running for about 10 years.

Mike Trainque of Hoyle, Tanner and Associates, the engineering firm spearheading the project plans, said the expansion qualifies for a number of grants at various public informations sessions on the issue.

The Allenstown Board of Selectmen would have taken out the bond as soon as 50 percent matching grants are secured. The grant money would decrease Allenstown’s share of the cost to about $3.6 million.

Sewer commissioners have said money from the plant’s septage process, which takes in septage from other towns in a process separate from the plant’s sewage process, would also go toward the expansion.

That fund is also being used for odor control and engineering costs, so commissioners have said they cannot commit to a specific amount that would be devoted to the expansion costs.

The town will go to a default budget for 2008-09 of $4,865,968. A total of 272 voters approved the proposed budget of $5,057,964. The remaining 264 thought it best to take the default.

In the hotly contested race for one open Board of Selectmen seat, Roger Lafleur won with a total of 132 votes, unseating incumbent Selectman Sandy

McKenney.

Chris Roy, the current Road Agent, will go into his second term having gained 369 votes for his seat, more than the other two candidates, James Rodger and David Bouffard, combined.

Hooksett schools set sex offender policy

2008-02-27T20:21:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Hooksett School Board has adopted new policies that would provide better notification of and protection against sex offenders living in the town.

School faculty and staff will now be told where sex offenders reside. While they will not be able to disseminate the information to parents, they will be able to use it for security.

Changes were made to existing policies regarding visitors, volunteers and early release of students from school to protect students against predators.

A team of school officials, teachers and community members worked on the policy changes over the past year, prompted by a citizen’s concern that a registered sex offender was bringing some Underhill students to school.

The third and final reading into the record, which is required in the adoption process, took place at the School Board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Any volunteers having unsupervised contact with students already undergo criminal background checks, but wording was added into the volunteer policy to extend it to unsupervised access to the school as a whole. It is also now clearly states in the policy that no registered sex offenders can volunteer at schools.

“This is just to make sure that it’s very explicit,” said School Board Chairman Joanne McHugh. “Sometimes things are not stated and people think that they’re obvious,” adding the change doesn’t mean sex offenders were permitted to be school volunteers previously.

Visitors to any Hooksett schools will now be required to say why they’re visiting, in addition to the old policy’s requirements, which were to sign and out and be identified as visitors.

They will not be required to have background checks, McHugh said, unless they have direct interaction with students.

The committee working on the policy changes sought advice from the Hooksett Police Department and state Rep. David Hess to make sure the changes go as far as possible without compromising any state laws.

The changes also include the district’s promise to release a newsletter at the beginning of each school year notifying parents of any updates in sex offender laws and policies, and directing them to the state’s sex offender Web site: www.egov. nh.gov/nsor.

According to the Web site, 12 people convicted of sex offenses against children reported living in Hooksett.

Police dispatch costs to rise

2008-02-27T20:17:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

After the Bow Dispatch Center increased its fees for the four other towns it covers, Allenstown, Epsom and Pembroke are faced with payments that more than double the prior year’s payments for Bow’s services.

Despite having to bite the bullet on the fee spike, law enforcement officials from all three towns say the increases are fair and equitable to the quality of service they get from Bow Dispatch.

“Where do you put a price on someone’s life? And that’s the way I look at it,” Epsom Police Chief Wayne Preve said, adding the dispatch services are imperative to officer safety.

Under the new fee agreement, Allenstown would pay just more than $40,000, Epsom would pay $43,000 and Pembroke would pay $59,000, based on 2006 call volume figures plus a $10,000 base fee for all the towns. Dunbarton, which accounts for the least percentage of overall call volume, would pay almost $23,000.

Those payments will add up to around $165,000 in revenue for Bow Dispatch, more than double the $79,000 they collected from the four towns for the 2007-08 year.

The need to increase fees arose from a need to create more revenue for Bow after a budget season that left the town, like all of the four remaining towns, with a tighter belt.

Bow Police Chief Jeff Jaran said it’s going to cost Bow taxpayers about $400,000 to run the dispatch center for the coming year, and, after collecting the fees, they’ll be left with about $235,000 to pay.

This is consistent with the call volume devoted to Bow service calls, which account for about half of the total.

In 2006, Bow Dispatch handled a total of 44,534 calls. Bow service calls counted for about 42 percent of that total. Allenstown and Epsom each made up about 15 percent of the total, Pembroke comprised about 22 percent and Dunbarton about 6 percent.

Preve said the increase was hard to swallow as the town works its way through the third year on a default budget, saying he budgeted $50,000 to prepare for the extra costs.

Preve said the costs were fair, given the workload at Bow Dispatch, the employees’ familiarity with all five towns and the lack of facilities to fold their dispatch service into Merrimack County which serves 13 communities.

He added moving to Merrimack County’s dispatch service would require better facilities and adding frequencies to the radio waves that would be specific to Epsom and possibly surrounding towns willing to get involved, namely Pembroke and Allenstown.

Pembroke Police Chief Scott Lane said he favors a regionally based dispatch service at some point, but agreed with Preve that would not be possible in the next few years.

Lane said he explored Merrimack County as well as the dispatch centers for Concord and Hooksett as options upon hearing about the fee increases for Bow’s service, but found there were spacial and technical issues that would not be worth the money saved at this point.

“No one’s happy about it, but it’s the cost of doing business,” said Lane about Bow’s new fees. “I can certainly understand where the residents of Bow would want to make sure everyone’s paying their fair share. We’ve been fortunate that fees were as low as they were for so long,” he said.

Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland said his department looked at folding into Merrimack County as well as running their own dispatch center, which would cost the town at least $350,000. He added the increases were fair, pointing out Bow is still paying the majority of the costs to run the dispatch center.

Police departments in Allenstown and Epsom have paid secretaries that filter out some of the less pressing calls that would otherwise go straight to dispatch, but both Preve and Mulholland said they still feel they are paying their for their weight of the overall call volume.

Mulholland added that Allenstown’s costs for Bow Dispatch services would likely increase in 2009 if voters pass a default budget at the election in March, which would force the department to lay off their nights and weekends secretary.

Vintage snowmobiles on display at Bear Brook Park

2008-02-14T00:51:00Z

BY LEWELLYN HALLET

If the smell of gasoline and roar of a motor on the cold air are part of what you love about a New England winter, check out the vintage snowmobile sat Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown. The New Hampshire Snowmobile Museum Association (NHSMA) hosts its 23rd Annual Winter Show on Sunday, Feb. 17, at the park’s Museum Complex.

Snowmobile collectors, restorers, riders and vintage enthusiasts will gather to display and view snow-traveling machines, meet committed collectors, and hear special presentations on this year’s featured line, Scorpion Snowmobiles.

Weather and conditions permitting, there will also be a parade of vintage machines through the park trails.

Mike Wheeler of Dunbarton Center Road in Bow, and his wife, Sue Wheeler, will don matching Scorpion snowmobile suits and display Mike’s 1969 Scorpion sled. He has half a dozen other vintage machines in the garage.

Last year he took his Arctic Cat when that line was featured, though any make and model can be displayed. Mike has never owned newer snowmobiles. All winter he “runs around” on his old sleds and likes it that way. His sister-in-law and neighbor, Carol Bailey, has served on NHSMA’s board as treasurer for almost 12 years.

“I like the old sleds,” Bailey said. “I like to watch them, see people using them, and I like to be part of it. The old sleds are fun.”

New Hampshire played a key role in the development of snowmobiling, and in 1985, the New Hampshire Snowmobile Museum Association was founded to preserve its history.

Space was provided by the Division of Parks and Recreation in one of the Civilian Conservation Corps buildings at Bear Brook State Park. Over 80 donated machines are displayed on rotation, along with a collection of memorabilia. Winter hours are Saturdays, 1 to 3 p.m., and in the summer by request to the staff at the Camping Museum, also housed in Bear Brook’s Museum Complex.

The 23rd annual winter show starts at 9 a.m. Sunday and continues into the afternoon. Awards are presented at 2 p.m. To display snowmobiles, pre-registration is encouraged or register on the day of the show from 9 to10 a.m. only. The show is free and open to the public. For more details on this event and the New Hampshire Snowmobile Museum Association, visit www.nhsnowmobilemuseum.com.

Allenstown school warrants left unchanged

2008-02-06T20:13:00Z

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

With few articles to consider and only 32 registered voters in attendance, the deliberative session of the Allenstown School District Meeting wrapped up in just a half hour.

No changes were made to the wording of any articles, so it will now go to residents to decide whether to follow the recommendations of the School Board or force them to make cuts under a default budget when voting takes place March 11.

The school district operating budget, warrant article 1, asks taxpayers for $9,954,853. If approved, it’s expected to raise the tax rate by $3.20 per $1,000 of property value. Voting no will result in a default budget of $9,838,008, which will still raise the tax rate, but by about $280 per $1,000 of property value.

School Board Chairman Tom Irzyk presented an explanation of the budget figures, pointing out that special education, certified staff, health insurance and other budget lines increased by $781,342.

Warrant Article 2 asks for approval by voters of a collective bargaining agreement between the Allenstown School Board and the Allenstown Paraprofessional Association for a four year-contract. Approval would raise the tax rate by about 20 cents.

Warrant Article 3 asks for $10,000 to be taken from surplus for a building maintenance fund, and Warrant Article 4 asks for $10,000 to be taken from surplus for the Facilities Acquisition Capital Reserve Fund. Neither would affect the tax rate since the money comes from surplus.

Voting will take place on these articles on Tuesday, March 11, at Allenstown Elementary School, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Allenstown tries to avoid default budget

2008-01-23T21:24:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

Allenstown voters will decide whether to accept a 11.4 percent increase in the town’s operating budget after being on a default budget this year.

“It’s a big increase, but it’s like we lost a year,” said Selectman Sandy McKenney, explaining the current year’s default budget was likely a result of the sliding economy. She said the community needs to understand the budget before they can make an informed decision to pass the increase and absorb the extra taxes.

Budget Committee Chairman David Eaton said the increases in department budgets are realistic, bringing the town’s total proposed operating budget to $5,055,264 from last year’s $4,541,936.

Voters will be able to weigh in on the budget and warrant articles at the deliberative session of Town Meeting on Thursday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m., at Allenstown Elementary School.

The Board of Selectmen and Budget Committee agreed on everything in the town operating budget aside from $2,500 the budget committee added to the fire department’s fuel line and salaries, bringing it to $335,019, about 12 percent higher than last year.

The Parks and Recreation Department accounts for one of the largest increases in the proposed budget, an almost 75 percent jump from last year’s default amount of $21,650 to the coming year’s proposed $37,811, which includes a summer program for the Concord Boys and Girls Club and improvements.

The proposed Tri-Town Ambulance service budget is a 70 percent jump over the default to $56,500 in preparation for Hooksett’s potential pullout from the intermunicipal agreement with Allenstown and Pembroke.

That increase reflects the costs associated with splitting the current service between just the two remaining towns.

Health insurance costs for 2008-09 also jumped 21 percent from the current year’s $44,000 to $53,500, an issue towns across the state are dealing with.

Both the selectmen and Budget Committee recommended a 17.8 percent increase over last year’s default Police Department budget, the proposed 2008-09 appropriation being $778,155.

The library, which recently went wireless and is in need of maintenance and repairs, got a 15 percent increase to $55,817 from this year’s $48,572.

Highways and streets, one of the larger appropriations in the overall budget, got a 19.7 percent increase in the wake of the second hundred-year flood in two years that washed out many of the streets in Allenstown and surrounding towns. Other costs included street signs and extra equipment.

Warrant articles The Budget Committee and selectmen were in accord on the majority of warrant article recommendations, with the only difference in the budget committee’s addition of $15,000 warrant article for the library facility fund.

The first warrant article voters will see is the most expensive, wordiest and arguably the most important, needing a 60 percent majority vote.

Allenstown sewer commissioners are once again going to voters for a $15 million bond to expand the Suncook Wastewater Treatment Facility. The state Department of Environmental Services issued a moratorium in 2001 preventing any future hook-ups in Allenstown and Pembroke.

Based on flow, Pembroke, the plant’s largest user, would pay 52 percent or $7.8 million and Allenstown the remaining $7.2 million. The article also asks to use $250,000 in fund balance to help offset the costs.

Presentations on the issue by Mike Trainque of Hoyle, Tanner and Associates, the engineering firm looking into the project, have explained the upgrades, which include two new clarifiers.

According to Trainque, the project qualifies for several federal and state grants the Sewer Commission will pursue should the bond pass, which could fund half of total project costs. This year, both the selectman and the Budget Committee recommended the warrant article.

The Fire Department seeks approval for a new 2,500-gallon pumper/tanker truck, a warrant article asking for $450,000 which both the Budget Committee and selectman recommended. The new truck would replace three of the town’s older trucks, the newest of which was made in 1981.

Warrant article 6, from the Police Department, asks voters to raise $47,750 for the town’s share of $191,000 in engineering and rebuilding costs for the culvert on Mount Delight Road that burst during the 2007 floods. The other 75 percent, or $143,250, would be funded through the state Department of Homeland Security’s Hazard Mitigation grant.

Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland said road closings in Epsom worsened the situation, and more than 130 residents were trapped in their homes – 50 in Epsom, nine in Allenstown and 74 in Deerfield. The town would seek state grants to help with the town’s portion of the costs, Mulholland said.

Another article from the Board of Selectmen asks to change the method of choosing a road agent from election to appointment.

McKenney said the position is more suited to appointment because the most qualified person might not get the job in an election. It was something the town didn’t worry about before because Road Agent James Boisvert was qualified and stayed in the position for 20 years.