Allenstown News : Suncook River

Municipal services to continue – for now – on Riverside Drive

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:22:00 GMT

Residents of Riverside Drive, the pothole-plagued dirt road near the Suncook River where town officials discussed ceasing trash pickup and other municipal services, can temporarily breathe a sigh of relief.

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Aug. 24 to continue to grade the dirt road until the end of 2009. The same motion also requires selectmen to establish whether Riverside Drive is a public or a private road – a question no town official can answer with certainty.

The board members implied it would take up the snowplowing and trash pickup issue once the town can determine whether Riverside Drive is a public or private road.

The Suncook postmaster, Kathleen Hayes, spoke at the meeting and told residents she would not discontinue mail service on Riverside.

The town’s administrative assistant received a letter from Hayes in late July questioning whether she could continue service due to the road’s poor condition.

At the July 27 selectmen’s meeting, selectmen discussed terminating trash pickup, snowplowing and grading of the dirt road because they considered it a private road that the town is not required to care for.

In a previous interview, resident Paul Bernard, 66, called the idea “a slap in the face” because the town had maintained the services on Riverside Drive for more than 15 years.

It’s also the same road where most of the 38 homes on it were severely damaged in the massive flooding of 2006 and 2007. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with the town to purchase many of the damaged homes for demolition, but many residents whose homes were less severely damaged are stuck living in a flood zone because it’s next to impossible to sell their houses.

The meeting had to be moved from its usual Town Hall location to St. John’s Parish Hall on School Street to accommodate a crowd of about 200 people.

Among the several speakers during the public hearing was Hiedi Sevigny, 36, a mother of a 3-year-old son. She became a quadriplegic about the time he was born.

“I have a handicapped van that is low to the ground,” Sevigny said. “If my van can’t get out how can a fire truck, ambulance or police car get down there? … Is it more cost-effective to take care of the road or is it more cost-effective to pay for a new police or fire vehicle that gets damaged?”

Selectman Roger Lefleur said at one point during the July 27 meeting a discussion centered on bids for contractors to grade the dirt road. The quotes were for $2,300, $2,500 and $2,800.

The selectmen decided on Aug. 24 to use a contractor whose bid did not exceed $2,500.

The public hearing portion of the meeting became heated at times, with several members of the audience speaking out of turn.

A central issue of discussion was whether Riverside Drive is a public or private road. Numerous residents obtained public documents before the meeting showing that in 1980, selectmen voted to make Riverside Drive a public way. For reasons unclear, the town treated it as a private way until another vote in 1995, when selectmen again voted in favor of making the road a public way. The current selectmen voted as part of their motion to seek the town counsel’s opinion on the issue before moving forward with trash pickup and snowplowing.

Chairman Tom Gilligan said, “Whether or not the town owns it, I don’t care. I think we should do what we’ve been doing all these years … and maintain the same level of service.”

Buyout plan fails to please everyone

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:39:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Town officials have jumped the first hurdle in buying up homes in the Suncook River floodplain in Allenstown, getting $2.1 million in federal assistance, but there is still a way to go before the town can purchase the homes.

“People are going to be lucky if they can make it to the buyout before they’re foreclosed on,” said Marcia Abbott, whose Riverside Drive home was included on a list of 14 homes the town hopes to purchase in what they are calling “phase one” of the buyout project.

Of the 14 homes the town intends to buy, 11 are on Riverside Drive, one is on JillErik Road and two are on Albin Avenue. The federal grant is for 75 percent of the total amount of the cost to purchase the 14 homes. The town is charged with coming up with the rest, and officials hope to secure state funding in the amount of $650,000 through a special appropriation bill currently going through the state Legislature.

Selectman Tom Gilligan said the hope is to get a draft of the bill before the special appropriations committee at their October meeting.

“We’re confident that it has the support it’s going to need,” said Gilligan.

During a public informational meeting on the buyout program on Thursday, Sept. 11, many residents in areas affected by the flooding of 2006 and 2007 expressed concerns that their homes were not included in this round of buyouts.

Police Chief Shaun Mulholland said the town will pursue more grants in the coming years to buy more homes in the flood plain. Getting this federal assistance and following through with the buyouts will help their cause in the future, he said. “Every year, we have a stronger and stronger argument to get to phase two and phase three. We want to see if there’s enough people interested in doing that,” Mulholland said. “We’re not going to stop helping our citizens out.”

Others expressed a need to get out from under their mortgages before foreclosure strikes.

Russell Mailhot of 14 Riverside Drive said the town needs to buy his home before Oct. 14, when his bank has said they will foreclose on his mortgage. “I’m this far from losing everything I ever had because of these floods. I’m a single parent trying to survive,” said Mailhot, whose home was on the list.

Mailhot had to take out thousands in loans to pay for home improvements after the floods. The town, he said after speaking one-on-one with town and state officials after the meeting, is willing to offer him $154,000 for his home.

At that rate, Mailhot said, he’s not sure if he can even afford to take the buyout. Mailhot said he had to take all of the money out of his 401k to fund his home improvements. “I’m 47 years old and I don’t have a retirement fund anymore. I don’t have anything anymore,” Mailhot said.

Keith Donovan’s 24 Riverside home was not included on the list, but the homes on either side of him were.

“Eighteen houses on Riverside applied for that grant, and 12 were accepted. Why were the other six not accepted?” Donovan asked.

Donovan said he had to redo the first floor of his home after the floods, and said that wasn’t the case with some of the other homes who were being bought. “I got eliminated from this and I don’t understand why I got eliminated,” Donovan said. “Granted, everybody deserves it who applied for (the grant), and the houses that didn’t get it, I just don’t understand why two-thirds get it and the other third did not.”

Richard Verville, preparedness planner for the New Hampshire Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the homes on the list had to meet a cost-benefit ratio to qualify.

“The benefits of purchasing that home have to outweigh the costs,” said Verville, adding each home was considered on a caseby- case basis.

Those who were not included on the list can apply for grants in the future, or sell their homes on their own, something that isn’t a likely scenario, given the frequency of the flooding in the area.

The 26 Riverside Drive home of Paul and Evelyn Bernard was also not included on the list, although their home was raised 10 years ago, they said.

Paul, 66, and Evelyn, 60, are both retired and are on a fixed income. They’re paying about $1,300 per year for flood insurance, they said.

“We can’t put it on the market. No one’s going to buy it,” said Paul Bernard. “So if we don’t get bought out, we’re stuck.”

Kurt St. Germain of 7 Albin Ave. said he and his family had a purchase and sale agreement on their home in place before moving out to Kansas. The deal fell through when the bank would not give the buyers a loan after learning about the floods, Germain said.

The town plans to start the purchasing process next summer, after meeting with each homeowner individually. The purchase prices are based on the April 2007 tax assessment, Mulholland said. “This is going to be new to us,” said Mulholland. “I’m a police chief, not a hazard mitigation expert, but we’re going to do the best we can here.”

Allenstown homes flooded in 2006 get aid

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:24:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

For many families whose homes were ravaged by the flooding of the past two years, there is finally a ray of hope. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded $2.1 million in grants to the town for the purpose of buying out 14 homes along the Suncook River affected by the floods.

The town now has to secure the rest of the funding through state or other sources, as the grants will cover 75 percent of the total costs.

Most of those homes are not inhabited at this time and some are condemned, said Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland, also the deputy emergency management director for the town.

Mulholland sent letters out to the owners of the 14 worst properties, 11 of them on Riverside Drive, two on Alban Avenue, and one on JillErik Road. There are other properties considered in the grant, but those properties did not make the cut after a cost/benefit analysis for the buyout project.

Some owners of the properties approved may not want to have their homes bought out at this time, Mulholland said in the letter. He is looking into whether other properties can be added to replace those not being bought out.

“We are presently working with our legislators to draft a supplemental appropriations bill to receive the matching funds from the state of New Hampshire that will be necessary to complete the project.

The grant provides $2.1 million in federal funds. The state portion is approximately $650,000. The town’s portion is already accounted for,” said Mulholland in the letter.

Hazard Mitigation Officer for the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Richard Verville said the grants will cover 75 percent of the total cost to buy out the homes.

“Approval of these flood mitigation assistance grants is a significant step forward for these projects,” Verville said in a press release. “All of these properties have been flooded several times. The only way to protect the residents is to help them move out of harm’s way.”

A public meeting on the buyout is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m., in the Allenstown Elementary School gym.