Allenstown News : Hooksett

Voting glitch found at Hooksett primary

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:44:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

Something went wrong during the state primary in Hooksett Sept. 9, and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office is determined to get to the bottom of it.

According to three complaints received by the Attorney General’s Office, a number of Hooksett voters who thought they were unaffiliated with a political party were in fact declared as either Republican or Democratic. The computer system used by election officials during the state primary selected the designation based on the political ticket these undeclared voters chose to support during the presidential primary in January.

According to state law, undeclared voters are required to choose either a Republican or a Democratic ballot on primary election days. After indicating which ballot they select, those undeclared voters are also given the opportunity to fill out a short form expressing their desire to revert back to an undeclared status.

Although those forms were apparently filled out by about 150 Hooksett voters on Jan. 15 – the day of the New Hampshire presidential primary – the forms were not processed in the computer system correctly.

As a result, those voters were legally able to cast a ballot on Sept. 9, but they were only allowed to do so with the party they were affiliated with on the presidential primary day. Assistant Attorney General Jim Kennedy said he is not sure exactly how the problems may have occurred, but that his office will follow up with the complaints.

“It’s clear there were some problems,” Kennedy said. “We’ll be looking into it.”

Frank Gray is the local elected official responsible for overseeing the checklist of the registered voters in Hooksett. He processed the change-of-status forms in January and said he believes it was likely a computer error that failed to actually change the status of those voters. “Whether it was human error or computer error, it doesn’t really matter,” Gray said. “What matters is that we fix it.”

Gray said he would be looking carefully at the list of registered voters to make sure there will be no hiccups on Election Day in November, when the voter turnout is expected to be much higher than it was during the state primary.

Hooksett Town Clerk Leslie Nepvue, who officially sends Hooksett primary results to the state officials, said at the Hooksett Town Council meeting on Sept. 10 that she doubts it was a computer error that caused the multiple mistakes.

“It is not a software issue,” Nepvue said. “A reasonable person would have tested a few records to make sure.”

For voters who consider themselves independent, the glitch – computer generated or otherwise – threw them for a loop.

Hooksett resident Mary Farwell was one of those independent voters. She asked the town council to address what went wrong.

“I want to know what the town is going to do about the problem,” Farwell said. “I’m just looking for clarification.”

$4 million earmark to expand Route 3

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:27:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

If there were any doubts about the suggestion that Route 3 in Hooksett -- between Benton Road and Martins Ferry Road -- needs repairing, the weekend’s storm cleared those up.

The many stores flooded in the Kmart plaza prove something underground isn’t working right.

That’s why state officials addressed the Hooksett Planning Board on Monday, Sept. 8, about ways to improve the highway.

“(The road improvements and the drainage concerns) go hand in hand,” said Michael Dugas, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s chief of preliminary design. State officials have secured a $4 million federal earmark to address the traffic and drainage issues, and yet that sum will not be enough to cover the full scope of the project. With the chance of receiving any additional funding for road work being slim, the state Department of Transportation and local Hooksett officials are in the process of determining which problems need urgent attention.

Dugas said no matter what type of improvement project they decide to pursue, installing two box culverts under Route 3, to replace two small pipes, is on the ticket.

“The culverts will have a much greater capacity,” he said. In this latest flash flood at the Kmart plaza, sections of the road had to be shut down, something that is happening more often as the weather changes.

Because floodwater was so deep from the storm, power had to be cut for the entire strip mall and only certain businesses had re-opened even as late Monday, Sept. 8.

David Katz of R.K. Associates, which owns the Kmart plaza in Hooksett, said the need for drainage improvement is dire. “We have been very actively involved in the process with the town, with the NHDOT and with some of our abutters to create some long-term drainage solutions,” Katz said. “We also need the DOT to execute the drainage improvement on Route 3. We’re extremely concerned about it.”

That state and local officials are in the midst of moving forward with improvement plans is a good sign, Katz said. “It’s all very timely, and we’re hoping to see some progress as a result,” Katz said.

On Aug. 27, state officials brought a plan to widen Route 3 to the Hooksett Town Council. The plan to ease traffic and drainage problems, if approved, would cost nearly $7 million, but the federal government has approved a $4 million earmark. Local and state officials are having a tough time trying to figure out the best way to spend that money.

There are several alternative options to consider, including narrowing the scope of the project or attempting to secure more funds. State officials said at the Aug. 27 meeting that their plan was meant more to address traffic than drainage issues.

Hooksett Town Planner JoAnn Duffy said it is important for everyone to understand the issues at stake.

“I think that the Planning Board has decided they would like to open up the lines of communication with the DOT so there are more cooperative efforts,” Duffy said. “I thought it would be beneficial for the planning board to be aware of some of the options.”

At that meeting, state Sen. Ted Gatsas said a decision regarding the road repairs should be made. Unless the federal money is spent in a timely manner, the earmark will disappear, he said. “(The money) will go away in a few years if it’s not spent,” Gatsas said. “I think it’s important that we move as quickly as we can with the project because floods will come and then the traffic really stops.”

Hooksett, Allenstown added to schools in need of improvement

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:03:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

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.

Hooksett schools set sex offender policy

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:21:00 GMT

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.

Students create music in honor of civil rights

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:01:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Students at Armand Dupont Middle School made beautiful music as part of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day presentation for the entire school.

T.J. Wheeler, a celebrated New Hampshire jazz and blues musician and activist, also known in the state as Dr. Jazz, worked with students on what he called “salvation songs” in appreciation of the trials of slavery and the victories of the Civil Rights movement.

As part of the school’s enrichment program, the 15-student band, which Wheeler dubbed The Dr. Jazz Freedom Singers, performed spirituals including “We Shall Overcome” and “Wade in the Water,” with improvised instruments and combined voices.

Sixth-grader Alyshalyn Perron, 11, even wrote a song titled “Only You and Me,” celebrating unity, which the group played and sang.

Perron, who played the keyboard with a fellow student, said she only knew how to play the Titanic theme song before working with Wheeler, adding she’d like to continue with piano lessons.

Dustin Pieberl, 13, recorded the group’s songs with his Apple laptop, using the Garage Band program.

“It’s actually a very cool experience,” the seventh-grader said about working with the local jazz legend and learning more about music.

Wheeler did a few songs on his own before the kids got up to perform, explaining that slaves used to disguise their plans to escape in spirituals they sang as they worked.

“These songs have always been freedom songs,” he said. In between songs, Wheeler spoke about everything from the plight of thousands of slaves in the South to King’s movement of passive resistance to inequality and racism.

Family and School Coordinator Judith Howe and Gifted and Talented Coordinator for the school district Maurine Egan brought the program to the school.

Four videos of the performances can be viewed on NewHampshire.com. Click “Highlights” for the links.

Storm wreaks havoc … again - 5 arrested in Allenstown

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:31:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Roads closed, bridges washed away and hundreds of residents were forced to abandon their homes to find safer ground once again as a spring nor’easter ravaged the state.

And in Allenstown, in a low-lying neighborhood that’s been perpetually abused by flooding, five people were arrested by press time for disorderly conduct.

For many people in southern New Hampshire, the recent floods – which peaked on Monday, April 16 and Tuesday, April 17 – were eerily similar to last May’s Mother’s Day floods.

“It’s an instant replay of last year,” said Auburn fire Lt. Linda Wilking.

Wildlife biologist Eric Orff, who lives on the banks of the Suncook River in Epsom, said, “It’s another 100- year flood. It’s probably the fourth 100-year flood we’ve had in a year-and-a-half.”

Just like last year, one of the hardest-hit communities in the state was Allenstown, where more than 60 homes, mainly in low-lying areas near the Suncook, were subjected to mandatory evacuations. People in 40 other apartments and homes also heeded a voluntary evacuation.

Several residents in the Riverside Park Drive area, which was largely submerged by the Suncook River, defied orders to evacuate, police said.

First arrested was Evelyn Bernard, who police said refused to abandon her home.

“She was asked to leave numerous times and refused,” said Police Chief Shaun Mulholland.

Around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 17, police arrested Arthur Gelinas and David Leach, who, with a dog, were surrounded in their car by rushing floodwaters.

Safety officials spent several hours rescuing the pair and the pup, and crews from Hooksett and Pembroke were called in after the motor on Allenstown’s water rescue boat burned out while fighting the current, said Town Administrator Kelley Collins.

Edward Faye was arrested after he was rescued from his family’s home, which he got to on Tuesday afternoon launching a canoe from upriver, said Collins.

The canoe was lost in the currents, and a rescue boat was again summoned.

As of press time, Noreen Lockwood, who police contend drove around an Army National Guard barrier in the Riverside Park Drive area, represented the last flood-related arrest.

All five of those arrested will go to Hooksett District Court, Mulholland said.

Collins said many people had tried to pass through barricaded roadways including Mount Delight Road, Jasper Drive and Riverside Park Drive.

Town officials condemned a home on Hillside Drive after a 12-foot section of a tree cut through the home, Collins said.

In Hooksett, a town-wide emergency was declared on Monday, and 20 Army National Guard troops assisted by keeping traffic out of flooded areas.

“We had, at one time, 13 roads closed,” said Murray.

“That’s 26 barriers.”

Two roadways, including Pleasant Street, where surging waters from a brook washed out a section of a bridge, were still closed at press time.

“There’s some major damage down there,” Murray said. “That’s going to be closed for a while.”

Hooksett Highway Department head Dale Hemeon summed up the damage to the town’s roadways.

“A lot of the roads we had problems with last year are some of the same roads we’re having problems with now,” he said.

The Route 3 RK Plaza, anchored by a 94,500-squarefoot Kmart store, was one of the first areas to flood in town.

The plaza’s owners, RK Associates of Dedham, Massachusetts, are putting up the money to temporarily fix a Benton Road drainage problem that has perpetually caused flooding to the Route 3 commercial plaza for decades. Construction was underway at press time.

Auburn’s Wilking said virtually all the roads that closed last year were submerged by floodwaters again this year. Adding to the trouble is that 566 homes lost power on the first day of the flooding.

Hooksett Road, Raymond Road, Manchester Road and Spofford Road all closed for a time, she said. And bridges on Tower Hill Road and Depot Road that were either shored up or rebuilt after last year’s flooding were again washed away by powerful floodwaters, said Wilking.

“Basically all of our low-lying areas are underwater,” Wilking said during the worst of the deluge.

Candia Fire Chief Rudy Cartier said the town was hit hard by the floods after faring well compared to surrounding towns last year.

“In Candia, it was absolutely worse than last year,” he said.

“We’ve had a lot more damage.” Sporadic losses of power and phone services only augmented problems caused by closed roadways and bridges.

A large tree fell on a power line, knocking out power to residents in spots near North Road.

A Raymond switching station, which provides phone service to hundreds of Candia, was at one point submerged in four feet of water, Cartier said.

“There’s still little to no phone service in parts of Candia, even right now,” Cartier said late Tuesday morning.

For some safety officials, late-season snow and pounding rain are making for a long spring season.

“The only thing I like about ice and snow is that I can eventually put my boat in it,” said Murray.

Crowd protests state plan for fueling station

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 18:14:00 GMT

By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Area residents flooded the Pembroke Academy cafeteria in opposition to a building plan they worry could permanently contaminate the water source that feeds Pembroke, Allenstown and parts of Hooksett and Concord.

The gathering was a public informational session on Monday, Oct. 30, during which representatives from the state Department of Transportation presented plans for what would be the department’s largest fleet fueling center, currently proposed for Route 106 just north of the Pembroke town line.

About 75 people attended.

Residents and some local legislators questioned the effects spills from the facility proposed to sit atop the second largest aquifer on the state might have on the water source. While the location is compliant with state environmental standards, DOT representatives said, it is about 300 feet from wellhead protection areas in Concord and Pembroke, and 2,000 to 3,000 feet from a Pembroke well.

“I think you’re taking a terrible chance with a natural resource that can’t be replaced,” said Pembroke resident Joyce Heinrich. “Why can’t that (facility) be placed somewhere else?”

DOT Contamination Program Manager Dale O’Connell said the department has been eyeing the site next to the DOT’s new highway garage to replace its current Stickney Avenue, Concord, fueling location for years.

“Our fleet is there,” said O’Connell, “so it makes sense to have our fleet fueling center there.”

Preliminary plans include three 10,000-gallon tanks, two for gasoline and one for diesel. The fueling facility, which would be self-service, 24 hours a day, could serve the DOT fleet, along with a host of other state and local government agencies, O’Connell said.

Project engineer Ronald Laurence, from Portsmouth’s Jaques Witford, said the proposal, whereby each fuel tank would have two fiberglass walls surrounded by a concrete vault, well exceeds state environmental standards. Laurence also outlined a number of mitigating tools, like elaborate alarm systems, that could be taken to protect the water supply in the event of leakage from the tanks, or fuel runoff from the site.

The DOT, which has scores of fueling tanks statewide, is in the process of updating all its single-walled tanks to meet double-wall standards. The Stickney Avenue, said O’Connell, meets current regulations, but has been slated for replacement for years.

“The major reason we’re moving it is because we want it to be by the highway garage,” said O’Connell.

Funding for the proposed Route 106 facility, estimated to cost about $750,000 to build, was actually scheduled for next year, said O’Connell, but the timing of the project has been pushed back.

Some state legislators, several of which showed at the recent meeting, have been lobbying for a change in location for months, and the DOT held a similar informational meeting with the Concord Planning Board recently after a directive from the governor’s office.

DOT representatives also expect to meet with Allenstown residents on the subject, said O’Connell.

“This is not a done deal,” he said of the facility. “We’re willing to hear you out.”

O’Connell suggested a fueling facility on any new site is a tough sell.

“No matter where we put this, we’re going to impact something,” he said.

Some area residents, however, testified to the specific value of water as a resource.

“If there’s anything more precious in the United States today than water, I don’t know what it is,” said Pembroke resident Bob Sala.

Allenstown resident Armand Verville asked, “If contamination occurs, how will my family be safe?”

“This is something you’ve got to be thinking about,” he said. “There’s got to be a better place for that.”

O’Connell said a time has not yet been scheduled for the Allenstown public informational meeting.