Dunbarton news : gas pump

Pump decision delayed again

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:21:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

After a lengthy public hearing, Dunbarton’s Zoning Board of Adjustment has yet to take action on a special exception permit request to put gas pumps in at Page’s Country Store and Deli.

The store’s owner, David Barkie, has been trying to get the special exception permit for years.

The issue is hotly debated in town, as Barkie must show that the pumps would pose no threat to abutters of the property.

In order to get permission, Barkie must show the added pumps would not hurt abutters’ property values, would pose no health or safety threats, would not interrupt traffic flow, would not bleed municipal services and would sustain the current surface and groundwater quality.

The original plan submitted called for three islands with gas pumps that would be supplied through underground storage tanks. Those parameters were turned down in 2002 and previously in 1992 under different ownership.

The store property, located at the intersection of Old Fort Lane and Route 77, is not zoned for gas pumps, and is part of the town’s low density district. Barkie revised and re-submitted a plan including aboveground gasoline storage tanks, but abutters still worry about the possible effects on property values, health, safety and traffic issues.

According to real estate studies presented by Amy Manzelli, the attorney representing the abutters, at the public hearing during the Monday, March 10, Zoning Board meeting, the gas pumps would negatively affect property values.

The study, conducted by Amoskeag Appraisal Company LLC, compared other similar sites in surrounding towns to Page’s Store, but Barkie’s attorney, Richard Uchida, argued the comparisons were too vague and included too many variables to determine whether gas pumps affected property values.

Many abutters and residents in the immediate area of the store spoke out against the project, citing concerns about property values, the possibility of explosion of fire and ground water pollution.

Pam Werner, of 16 Old Fort Lane, who, in addition to living by the store, works for the state’s Department of Environmental Services inspecting gas stations, pointed out that there are only 10 gas stations in the state currently with above-ground storage tanks.

During a prior phone conversation, Werner said putting gas pumps at Page’s could entice larger gas companies to come into town, further driving property values down.

Others spoke in favor of the project, including Jay Davis of 8 Jacqueline Drive, who said he would like the convenience of a gas station in town.

The gas pumps at Page’s Country Store and Deli would be the only ones in town should the permit be issued.

Residents from Weare and Hopkinton showed up as well to speak in favor of the gas station.

Pump debate at Page’s continues

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:07:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A final decision on whether Page’s Country Store and Deli will be able to sell gasoline may come out of an upcoming Zoning Board meeting.

Currently, there are no gas stations in Dunbarton. The closest is about 7 miles away at the Bow Junction of I93.

The Dunbarton Country Store, just down the road from Page’s, owned the only gas pumps in town and closed earlier this month.

The issue has been hotly contested in town for the past few years, the current revisions of the plans being before the Zoning Board in continued public hearings.

“There’s the home team and there’s the away team,” said Zoning Board Vice Chairman John Herlihy about the split at recent Zoning Board hearings in residents both for and against having a gas station in Dunbarton.

Page’s Country Store and Deli owner David Barkie is trying to get the board to grant him a special exception to the town’s zoning ordinance to install the pumps and an above-ground storage unit for the gas.

In order to get permission, according to the ordinance, Barkie must show the added pumps would not hurt abutters’ property values, would pose no health or safety threats, would not interrupt traffic flow, would not bleed municipal services, and would sustain the current surface and groundwater quality.

The original plan submitted called for three islands with gas pumps that would be supplied through underground storage tanks, which the town turned down twice in the past.

This time, Barkie submitted a plan with a 20,000 gallon double- walled above-ground storage tank to the state’s Department of Environmental Services in November 2006 which was approved, but it lapsed after one year.

In December, Barkie submitted another plan which DES turned down citing 18 revisions including a requirement that the 20,000-gallon storage tank intitially proposed be split into two smaller tanks to comply with updated fire codes.

The plans also include a bioretention pond for run-off, double- layered pipes underground, automatic shut-off valves, an alarm system, extra capacity to bar against spills, and a storm water interceptor.

He was also asked to allow a 125-foot buffer zone between the public water supply well on the property and the gasoline tanks Barkie said the well is private, but the amount of coffee purchased at the store qualifies the water supply as public.

Amy Manzelli of the Concord- based law firm Sulloway and Hollis said Barkie is not meeting some of the five criteria points outlined in the special exception rule.

Manzelli, who is representing some of the property’s abutters, said Barkie has not provided sufficient proof that a gas station would not hurt property values and could not guarantee the tank would not spill any gas in the future.

In a town such as Dunbarton where groundwater comprises the drinking supply, Manzelli said, there is virtually no way to prevent a spill or guarantee that one won’t occur that would affect the drinking water.

“The primary concern is the groundwater, which is their drinking water,” Manzelli said.

The abutters also worry about traffic issues, particularly where the location is heavily used by recreational vehicle enthusiasts, Manzelli said.

While Barkie currently has the state’s permission to build the pumps and storage tanks, he still has to go through the town to get an operating permit.

Barkie said he feels the Zoning Board has been fair in reviewing his plans and to the abutters’ concerns, adding he wishes for the issue to be resolved at the board’s next meeting on Monday, March 10.

He said he has spent a lot of time and money on professionals perfecting the design and attorney’s fees.

Pam Werner of 16 Old Fort Lane lives a couple of houses back from Page’s Country Store and Deli, and said she is against installing the gas pumps largely because of the potential commercial sprawl that could result.

Equipping the store with gas would open the door to larger gas-oriented corporations looking to buy property in the small town that is already capable of handling and storing gas. It could also entice those same corporations to plant stores nearby Page’s to compete for sales.

“It’s a scary thought to have a Cumby’s or a Citgo or a 7-11 right outside your back door,” Werner said.

Abutters are also concerned about preserving the historical charm of the area, accented by the more than 250-yearold Molly Stark house at the intersection of Routes 13 and 77, a New Hampshire historical marker.

“Who wants to buy a historical home next to a gas station?” asked Werner rhetorically.

Jay Gonyer has lived in town for his entire 32-year life, and says he is for the gas pump installation at Page’s because he believes Barkie is going about the process the safe and healthy way.

“He’s going above and beyond state requirements,” Gonyer said of Barkie’s plans, citing the bioretention pond for run-off water and the double-layered, aboveground storage tank.

Like Werner, he said he doesn’t want to see large gas companies taking over Dunbarton, but that Barkie’s pump station concept is in keeping with the town’s rural character and would prevent such companies from buying up the available land further down the road. Werner, on the other hand, said she fears a gas station at Barkie’s would spark more development in the area, particularly among competing gas companies.

Gonyer added a gas station in town was inevitable, be it local or corporate. “If they shut Dave down, so then Exxon- Mobil comes in,” he said.

Dunbarton Year in review 2007

Goffstown Editor — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 01:04:00 GMT

BY MICHELLE KIM
Dunbarton saw some of the same themes reemerge from 2006 – issues such as the SB2 ballot, gas pumps at Page’s Corner, the completion of the hearse housing. But 2007 also saw a number of changes particularly in the police department with the departure of Police Chief Jeff Nelson and promotion of executive officer Chris Connelly, and the completion of the long awaited town commons bandstand.

Dunbarton saw some of the same themes reemerge from 2006 – issues such as the SB2 ballot, gas pumps at Page’s Corner, the completion of the hearse housing. But 2007 also saw a number of changes particularly in the police department with the departure of Police Chief Jeff Nelson and promotion of executive officer Chris Connelly, and the completion of the long awaited town commons bandstand.

At the March elections, voters rejected for the second year in a row a warrant article to change elections from the traditional town hall meeting to SB2, or official ballot referendum- style voting, by 419-154 at the town meeting and 415-152 at the school meeting.

Incumbent Selectman Mert Mann, the only contested seat up for election, defeated challenger David Pellenz for another three-year term. Incumbent positions that ran unopposed include Tax Collector Martha Rae, Bryan Clark on the Board of Assessors, Ethics Committee member Brigitte Cook, Library Trustee Tiffany Dodd, Richard Schaeffer as cemetery trustee, Kristen Petretta as library trustee, and Janice VandeBogart as a trustee of the trust funds. On the School Board, Carl Metzger ran unopposed as did incumbent Rene Ouellet.

Voters overwhelmingly approved expanding Town Clerk Linda Peters’ part-time position from 10 hours a week at to a full-time position, despite lack of endorsement by the selectmen, increasing her salary from $23,800 to about $50,000 with benefits.

They also approved a town operating budget of $1,825,744, a 3.2 percent increase over the 2006 operating budget.

The School Board managed to bring in a school operating budget about $38,000 lower than the previous fiscal year, due in part to lower than expected middle and high school enrollments.

Because of the level school budget, the 2007 property tax rate was set in October at $14.56, or 11.5 percent lower than the previous year. The town portion increased by 40 cents, or about 20 percent, but was offset by the school portion drop of $2.39, or about 23.7 percent.

Police Chief Jeff Nelson retired in March, after six years of serving as Dunbarton’s first full-time police chief, for a position with the New Hampshire Juvenile Justice Services as bureau chief in charge of administration.

Previously he had been commander of investigative services with Goffstown police. Under Nelson, the Dunbarton Police Department was recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), the first department with part-time officers in New Hampshire to achieve this.

Chris Connelly, who had been brought in by Nelson in 2003 as an executive officer and potential successor, was promoted to chief in March. Connelly served 10 years at the Goffstown Police Department and for seven years before that with the Hillsborough Police Department as deputy sheriff/sergeant. His main goals include seeking CALEA accreditation and renovation of the police station.

In May, Dunbarton hired master patrol officer Jacqueline Pelletier, previously of the Bow Police Department, as full-time executive officer to fill the position left vacant by Connelly’s promotion. Pelletier began her career at Goffstown in 1999 as a part-time officer and full-time communications specialist. She was recently recognized with an award for her outstanding patrol work with Bow.

John Levasseur was sworn in as Dunbarton’s third full-time officer in July. Levasseur, a Goffstown native and graduate of Goffstown High School, came to the department with four years of experience with the New Hampshire Department of Corrections.

Dunbarton resident Lori Davis sued the town in January under the Right-to-Know Law after allegedly being denied access to financial documents at a budget workshop where $100,000 was transferred from surplus to operating funds. Justice Philip P. Mangones agreed with Davis that the selectmen should have addressed the issue at a public meeting, but ruled that no laws had been broken.

A former Dunbarton Fire Department volunteer, Derek Milioto, turned himself in to the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office in May and was was arrested and charged with stealing fuel from the town fuel pumps, a Class A misdemeanor.

Discrepancies in fuel consumption were discovered by Fire Chief Jon Wiggin in October 2006, and surveillance cameras installed at the facility helped obtain evidence.

There may be up to a year and a half or about $3,000 to $4,000 of missing gas, but proof for only about $600, according to Selectman Les Hammond.

After receiving word that there might be fewer spots available for Dunbarton kids at the New Boston Central and Glen Lake’s preschool programs, a Preschool Committee was formed in the spring to explore the option of bringing a preschool program to Dunbarton, which currently sends only special needs children to preschool.

The School Board, after considering a short list of options generated by the committee, decided to remain with the current arrangement until more specific information could be gathered on the costs of an inhouse preschool program.

The Fire Department received $10,400 in the last year from memorial contributions made after the passing of Vera Fogg, Nancy Graybill, and former selectmen and Fire Department volunteers Peter Montgomery and John Swindelhurst II. Fire Chief Jon Wiggin said the money would go to purchase equipment the department didn’t have the funds for in the town budget.

A storage building to house the historic refurbished and rebuilt hearse was constructed by state prison inmates at Page’s cemetery. The dedication ceremony in August saw about 100 residents and volunteers, many in period costumes.

The uniform of deceased World War II hero Frank Dow Merrill of Hopkinton was on display Memorial Day at the Dunbarton Community Center.

Dunbarton American Legion head Gary MacCubbin helped it find a home with the New Hampshire Historical Society.

In August, Marine Sgt. Justin Somers was presented the Combat Action Ribbon by Sen. John Sununu in a ceremony on the Dunbarton town commons and accepted on behalf of his unit, the 2nd Military Police Battalion, which had deployed to Iraq in June.

The Dunbarton Garden Club offered the Hadley Heritage bulb for 2007, a late-blooming white daffodil with a yellow-pink cup, in commemoration of late Dunbarton historian Alice Hadley.

The Garden Club planted 2,500 bulbs around Page’s Corner in October in the third year of the “Daffodils for Dunbarton” program.

In late September, a fouralarm blaze consumed the barn of Sheri Nuanez and Keith Bernard, but miraculously the couple managed to save all of their 11 horses. However, they discovered their insurance covered the replacement barn but not the cost of temporarily sheltering the horses through the winter, as they had originally been told. They filed a claim with the New Hampshire Bureau of Insurance.

The Zoning Board hearing for a special exception for gas pumps at Page’s Country Store finally got underway in November with more than 120 attendees, after being rescheduled from September due to lack of space.

Experts hired by store owner David Barkie presented his state-of- the-art plan for a six-pump aboveground storage tank facility and studies on the traffic, real estate and environmental effects of the gas pumps. Abutters also hired a legal council and experts to address Barkie’s studies and the special exception criteria. The December continuation of the hearing, with 40 to 50 attendees, saw testimony and public imput from residents and abutters, mostly opposed to the plan, although a few spoke in favor of it. The hearing has been continued to Jan. 14.

After seven years of fundraising, the town commons bandstand project was mostly completed by December and dedicated with a Christmas tree lighting.

Experts wrangle over Page’s pumps

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:56:00 GMT

BY MICHELLE KIM

More than 120 people turned out Monday, Nov. 19, for the first of what might be a series of Zoning Board hearings on a special exception application for gas pumps at Page’s Country Store and Deli.

The air was thick from the heat of so many bodies as supporters, opponents, residents, abutters, business owners and interested observers packed into the double classroom to hear the plan presented by Page’s Country Store owner Dave Barkie’s team of experts.

Owners of the property have twice been turned down for gas pumps using underground storage facilities, in 1992 and 2002, due to water contamination concerns.

At the hearing, engineer Jennifer McCourt outlined the plans for the canopy-covered three-island gas pumps and the 20,000 gallon above-ground storage tank system that would hold the gas. Some of the precautions against gas spillage, that McCourt described as far exceeding state standards, included a doublewalled tank, extra holding capacity to prevent overfill, a concrete dike for the tank, double layers on the flexible pipes that run underground, sensors with alarms to detect a breach of the walls, automatic shutoff valves, a storm water interceptor, and a bioretention pond to filter runoff water with organic materials and sediments.

Environmental engineer Jim Elliott described a review of 12 reported cases of spills involving above-ground storage systems in New Hampshire from 2005 to 2006 and found many involved old facilities, human error or motor vehicles accidents. There was some impact to soil but there was no groundwater contamination.

Real estate appraiser Ken Currier testified that gas pumps would not bring property values down, citing the sales of homes in Dunbarton before and after the construction of the Country Store, as well as construction of an Irving gas station in Goffstown and another gas station in Holderness as case studies.

Traffic engineer Stephen Pernaw estimated the majority of gas station business would come from “pass-by” trips and would bring 10 more trips during peak travel hours, increasing net traffic volume on Route 77 by 1 percent.

Attorney Amy Manzelli, representing the abutters, presented her response in regards to the five main criteria for a special exception.

Manzelli said the property value report used case studies that weren’t comparable to this situation and didn’t address the effect on a neighborhood with historic homes such as the Molly Stark House.

She pointed out that no amount of state-of-the-art equipment could guarantee against human error in spilling toxic materials, and that the applicant hadn’t addressed the use of municipal services in the case of a leak.

She also cited the expiration of the above-ground storage permit as evidence for doubting Barkie’s ability to fufill maintainence and safety requirements.

The board also heard from environmental engineering consultant John Gilbert, hired by the abutters, who cut short his presentation due to time constraints but submitted a list of responses to Barkie’s findings. Gilbert highlighted that the ethanol that had replaced MTBEs in gasoline was even more water soluble and that the state even has a cleanup fund in anticipation that spills will occur, despite the best of equipment and practices.

Abutter Karen Cusano, of 10 Old Fort Lane, said that the town already had a gas station and that the Page’s Country Store would end up servicing out-oftowners more than Dunbarton residents.

“We’re not anti-commercial. We run businesses, too,” she said. “But that goal cannot supersede the health and safety of the people that live around the area.”

Chairman John Trottier announced the meeting would be cut off at 10 p.m. but that everyone who wanted to would eventually have an opportunity to speak.

Resident George Halt said he was neutral on the issue but was generally interested in town politics and came, he joked, “to see the fur fly.”

However, despite a few under-the-breath mutterings by audience members, the proceedings were largely civil.

“Everyone did a good job staying levelheaded and sticking to the five criteria,” said Manzelli. “Everybody’s been very patient.”

Barkie’s attorney Richard Uchida said their goal had been to make as thorough a presentation as possible. “I think we achieved that goal,” he said.

They hope to be able to respond to the abutters’ criticism sometime by December or January. The hearing was continued to Dec. 10, 7 p.m., at the Dunbarton Elementary School.

Gas pumps talks delayed

Bow Editor — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 19:55:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR
The owners of Page’s Country Store in Dunbarton have once again delayed their meeting with the zoning board of adjustment for approval to install gas pumps on the property.
The owners of Page’s Country Store in Dunbarton have once again delayed their meeting with the zoning board of adjustment for approval to install gas pumps on the property.

According to owner David Barkie, who also canceled a meeting in November, he is still working out site plan details and a storm water pollution containment and control plan.

The new tentative date to meet with zoners is Monday, Jan. 8, said Barkie, who hopes to have everything in order by then.

Opponents to placing gas pumps at the store have been outspoken against gas service in the past, but Barkie hasn’t heard much dissention lately.

“I know people are meeting, but it seems to have quieted down for the most part,” said Barkie. “I’m sure that will change though.”

While opponents have formed a petition against the gas pumps, Barkie said his counterpetition has more than 1,000 signatures of local residents who want to see gas service offered at Page’s Country Store.

Gas pump talks delayed a month

Bow Editor — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:19:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Those who want to voice opposition or support for gas pumps at Page’s Country Store in Dunbarton will have to wait another month.

Owner David Barkie canceled his meeting with the zoning board of adjustment on Monday, Nov. 13, to sew up some loose ends.

“There were a few more things that we felt were pertinent to our project, so we decided to delay it for a month and resolve every issue; that’s all,” Barkie said. “It’s the same concerns and issues as before, but we just wanted to make sure we covered all the angles and bases that we can.

“Basically a couple of things got delayed and we just didn’t want to walk in there with an incomplete presentation.”

The new meeting is set for Monday, Dec. 11, and Barkie said he hopes residents will reserve judgement for now.

“We’re trying to provide a safe service for this town and we’re kind of getting shot at from all angles,” he said. “The good news is we’ve had tons of supporters coming in here from Dunbarton and other local towns, and have had over 800 people sign our petition.”

Barkie started a counterpetition after hearing about a petition from other people trying to keep gas service off his property.

“We are a big supporter in this town. We support every kid that walks in here needing donations for softball or a trip to England or anything else, and it’s just a little disheartening when you start to hear that stuff,” he said. “I respect everyone’s opinion, but I just wish they would talk to me and hear me out before they start throwing darts.”