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Hooksett to consider sewer plant expansion

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:52:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Among the items Hooksett voters will discuss at Town Meeting on Saturday, April 5, are a $1.5 million bond for sewer plant upgrades, two new trucks for the Highway Department, raises for nonunionized town employees, additional staff for the Highway and Fire Departments, and starting up a public access TV station.

They will also weigh in on a proposed budget of $15,786,795, more than $400,000 higher than the default budget, which would project the tax rate at around $6.60 per $1,000 of assessed value. For a home assessed at $300,000, the proposed town budget alone would comprise $1,980 on the tax bill.

Sewer expansion According to Sewer Commissioner Sid Baines, the $14 million plant expansion needs the $1.5 million from voters to add to $6 million the plant has already raised to fund the second phase of the project, which would add a second clarifier and increase the plant’s capacity by 10 percent.

About half of the $6 million raised came from a state revolving loan fund and the other half through developers. Sewer rates increased in the past year to help pay back the loan, Baines said.

The $1.5 million was originally built into the plans for Cabela’s, which have been put on hold due to reduced profits. The bond would increase the tax rate by about 15 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. For a Hooksett home assessed at $300,000, that’s an increase of between $45 and $51 on the tax bill.

At the Budget Committee’s public hearing on the warrant, the idea of comitting 30 percent of the plant’s flow to commercial business to foster growth was discussed.

“I think it would be much more appealing and guarantee it to pass,” said Budget Committee member Gerald Kearney about including such a promise in the warrant article.

Town Administrator David Jodoin said the idea was discussed with town attorney Bart Mayer, who said that would only “murky up” the language. Baines agrees with that advice. “Anything more that you put in an article muddies it up when it goes to the bond bank,” he said.

Town Council Chairman Paul Loiselle said the town cannot continue to say “no” to prospective developers because there is no more sewer capacity. “I definitely am adamant about the voters getting behind this 100 percent,” he said.

More firefighters
While the Town Council and Budget Committee were in agreement on the majority of warrant items, they differed when it came to Article 24, which asks for $129,548 to fund two additional firefighter/EMT positions in the Fire Department.

While the Town Council voted 6-1 to recommend the article, the Budget Committee voted 2-6 against recommending it. Passing this article would reduce the operating budget by $99,672 in overtime, leaving the town with a net increase for the coming year of $29,876 should voters pass the article.

Assistant Fire Chief Dean Jore said the department has saved the town money by doing its own vehicle maintenance and repairs, and plowing out the town’s hydrants and cisterns. “I don’t think firefighters should be plowing cisterns,” said Budget Committee member John Pieroni.

The two additional employees would also bring the department closer to state standards for staffing levels, Jore said. Currently, at least one officer and two firefighter/EMTs staff both the Central Station at the Hooksett Safety Center and Station 1 by the Town Hall 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

More highway workers and trucks
The Highway Department is asking voters to approve a total of $324,294 to purchase two trucks and hire two more employees.

Passing Article 16 would grant the Highway Department permission to enter into a 5-year lease for $151,000 for a plowdump truck, and would further collect $30,205 from Hooksett taxpayers for the first year’s payment.

Article 17 seeks $55,000 for a one-time purchase of a backhoe for the Highway Department.

Unlike the Fire Department’s endeavors to get two more firefighters, the Highway Department’s request for $118,294 to hire two full-time truck drivers went to the warrant with recommendations from both the Town Council and Budget Committee.

Public access cable TV At the public hearing, the Budget Committee also heard from resident David Pearl on a petitioned warrant article to bring public access television to Hooksett.

The program would be paid for through franchise fees the town currently collects from Comcast customers, which is currently about three percent of the total bill.

Right now, the money collected from those fees goes into the town’s general fund, and it would more than cover the estimated start-up costs for the station.

The total amount needed for the first year could approach $100,000, which would pay for a typical set up for the station and fiber optic cables.

Hooksett Town Meeting takes place Saturday, April 5, at 1 p.m., at Cawley Middle School.

Hooksett seeks $1.5M to upgrade sewer

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:29:00 GMT

BY GRETA CUYLER

Without $1.5 million from voters, commercial and industrial development, even some major residential subdivisions, will come to a halt, say Hooksett Sewer Department representatives.

All of the town’s sewer capacity is either being used or has been pre-sold to developers for upcoming projects, said Sewer Commissioner Sid Baines.

In May, voters will be asked to fund $1.5 million of a $14 million expansion project to double capacity to 2.2 million gallons – the first time in 38 years tax dollars will pay for plant upgrades, said Superintendent Bruce Kudrick.

“For what that $1.5 million will give them, there should not even be a question,” said Baines. “If the (voters) refuse us, we’ll close our doors.”

This is the third time the warrant article will appear on the ballot and needs a three-fifths majority to pass. If approved, it’s expected to add 15 cents to 17 cents to the tax rate, or $45 to $51 to the tax bill for a $300,000 home.

Planning Board Chairman *** Marshall said that without the sewer expansion, single-family homes using septic and well will drive the town’s growth, putting strain on town services, especially schools.

Commercial and industrial projects can help to offset the residential tax rate.

Already the Sewer Department has started turning down some proposed projects in town, including two over-55 housing developments and a self-storage facility, making it impossible for those developers to bring their proposals to the Planning Board.

The Sewer Department has raised more than $6 million for the expansion, which was once enough to complete the work, Baines said. But delays and statemandated changes have driven up costs.

The Sewer Commission has agreed to a number of statemandated changes, including rerouting a small stream by cutting down trees, re-sloping the area and replanting trees. That change alone increased the project’s cost from $10,000 to $250,000, Baines said.

Hooksett’s treatment plant has undergone five expansions since 1970, but the only time taxpayers contributed was in 1970, to the tune of $125,000, 5 percent of the project’s cost, said Kudrick. In the early 1980s, the Sewer Commission started charging users a system development fee, paid upfront per user. That money is used to upgrade the plant as necessary. But with no more capacity to sell, the Sewer Department is stuck.

Even the 428-unit Head’s Pond development has sewer capacity for only 130 units, said developer David Campbell. He bought that capacity three years ago and won’t need to buy any additional for at least four more years.

If taxpayers approve the warrant article in May, the Sewer Department can do enough upgrades to convince the state to expand capacity by 10 percent, and then they can sell capacity to fund the remaining upgrades.

There is a possibility that the Cabela’s developer will pay for the $1.5 million upgrades if all goes well with the planning process this spring. But the money wouldn’t come to the town until the store’s possible opening in early 2010 and then the taxpayers’ debt would be repaid, said developer Gene Beaudoin.

State delays decision on Hooksett culvert

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:48:00 GMT

BY JENN MCDOWELL

The state Wetlands Bureau inspector in charge of the Hooksett Sewer Commission’s application to culvert a small stream next to the town’s sewage plant for expansion said the application has not been officially reviewed yet.

Jocelyn Degler, the wetlands inspector assigned to the site, said they have until the end of the month to make a final decision and send out their response to the Hooksett Sewer Commission.

Degler said she and Melissa Coppola of the Natural Heritage Bureau visited the site on Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 9 a.m.

At a Hooksett Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 22, Bruce Kudrick of the Sewer Commission expressed concern the Wetlands Bureau would not allow them to culvert the stream to install a second clarifier, but would instead require them to redirect the entire stream.

Installing a culvert requires putting a pipeline in to redirect the water. The Wetlands Bureau would prefer a trench to redirect the stream.

Kudrick said this was not feasible because it would require moving part of the stream onto their neighboring property, Brox Sand and Gravel.

He also pointed out the stream had been culverted before for the plant’s opening in 1969 and for an expansion in 1974.

Kudrick said the sewer commission sent in the application in mid-June, but Degler said they did not recieve all of the information to make the application complete until July 12.

A notice of administrative completeness was sent out on July 16, Degler said.

Kudrick told the Town Council it could take 75 days to get a response per the Wetland Bureau’s regulations.

Degler said that 75-day period started on July 16, which gives the bureau until Saturday, Sept. 29.

Degler said that while the application has not been thoroughly examined, the bureau does frown upon culverting the stream.

She said the site in question has “an exemplary natural community on it ... a system that is pretty rare in the state of New Hampshire.”

Degler would not comment on the specifics that make the site rare, but said she was working with Coppola, and added that Coppola would know more about the nature of the site.

A phone call was placed to Coppola, who said information about the natural significance of the stream in question was private.

Degler said the Wetlands Bureau is trying to ensure that the impact on the wetlands near the sewage plant is minimal and necessary.

She added, “Recently in the town of Hooksett, to be consistent, we required that they reconstruct the stream channel for the Lowe’s and Wal-Mart. We’re just trying to be consistent from one project to the next.”

Small stream, big question – Hooksett Sewer Commission plans for expansion due to Cabela’s

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:14:00 GMT

BY JENNIFER MCDOWELL

According to the Hooksett Sewer Commission, the state Wetlands Bureau is holding out on making a decision on whether the town can redirect a tiny brook next to the sewer plant to install a second clarifier.

Upon discussion of the problem at a Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 22, the council decided to have Town Administrator David Jodoin write a letter to the head of the Department of Environmental Services to try and work through the problem.

At the meeting, Bruce Kudrick of the sewer commission explained the findings of a study done in 1974, which called for major sewer modifications for future developments in the town.

For the Cabela’s development, Kudrick said, the sewer pipe in front of the Fire Department must be enlarged to compensate for the 40,000 extra gallons of sewage Cabela’s will pump into the town’s system.

Kudrick said they pipe’s diameter needs to increase from 8 inches to 10 inches, and that the pump station on Merrimack Street will also need some work.

These modifications for Cabela’s, he said, will cost about $500,000.

But if the town expects future developers to come in to the town, the sewer plant will need to improve the sewage capacity in the areas west of I-93 and around University Heights and Head’s Pond.

There is no estimate for the amount of money it will cost for those additional improvements, he said.

According to Kudrick, the plant will handle the extra sewage from Cabela’s, but, in order to handle that of future developments, the plant will need to install a second clarifier, a state and EPA requirement.

A small brook, no more than 2 feet wide and just inches deep, stands in their way.

In June, the sewer commission put in an application to the Wetlands Bureau asking permission to culvert the brook.

According to Kudrick, the bureau wants them to completely re-route the brook, digging a ditch to take the water in another direction.

“It’s an open stream. They want us to move that stream over,” Kudrick said.

Kudrick said this option is much more disruptive than a simple culvert pipe would be.

“We’re going to disturb more land, plus we’re going to run over onto our neighbor’s property,” he said.

The town’s sewage plant sits right next to Brox Sand and Gravel.

Kudrick said he is not sure, specifically, why the Wetlands Bureau will not let them culvert the stream.

“We’ve got streams all over the place that are culverted, and that same stream has been culverted before,” Kudrick claims, referring to the culvert installed into the stream in 1969 when the plant opened and another that went in for the plant’s expansion in 1974.

Jocelyn Degler, the Wetlands Bureau inspector in charge of handling the case, was not available for comment on the issue.