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Hooksett Town Meeting takes place April 4

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:58:00 GMT

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

Hooksett voters will give their yay or nay to 18 warrant articles to be presented at the deliberative session of Town Meeting on Saturday, April 4. The meeting starts at 1 p.m. at Cawley Middle School.

Once the wording of the articles is approved, a secret ballot vote will take place on May 12, along with the elections of town candidates. The filing period for those interested in running for town council and other offices ends Friday, April 3, at 5 p.m.

Here’s a rundown of the articles up for discussion: Article 3 – In order for Hooksett to receive federal stimulus package money, this article will need to be approved. It asks for $6,224,375 in bonds for construction, replacement and expansion of the wastewater treatment plant. If the article receives the necessary three-fifths majority vote, half would be paid by the state and the other half would be paid by the federal stimulus package funds. Should the federal money not come through, the article would be null and void.

Article 4 – This article asks for a town operating budget of $15,878,857. This amount is lower than the default budget number of $15,937,590.

“The budget being lower than default was the work of the Budget Committee, mostly from cuts in the Police Department,” said Town Councilor David Ross.

The Hooksett Police Commission’s request to the town was for a police budget of $4,192,073, said Chief Stephen Agrafiotis. The Town Council suggested $4,119,849 to fully fund 29 positions, which citizens had approved in 2004.

The Budget Committee recommended $3,913,308, decrease of $206,541 from council.

Should the recommended operating budget pass, said Agrafiotis, he can’t fund two positions that are currently open now anyway, so there would be no layoffs. He would also still have to make up $36,000 from other line items. If voters say no to the proposed budget, the Police Department would have a budget of $4,206,588.

Article 5 – A collective bargaining agreement between the town and the Hooksett Permanent Firefighters Association outlines increases for the next two years.

Article 6 – If Article 5 is defeated, approval of Article 6 would allow for a special meeting to reconsider the vote.

Article 7 – This article asks for $75,918 for salaries and raises for nonunion town personnel.

Article 8 – This article asks for $130,000 for the Town Building Maintenance Capital Reserve Fund. This does not raise taxes as it comes from the general fund balance.

Article 9 – In order to complete repairs to the northeast retaining wall at the corner of Martin’s Ferry Road and North River Road, this article asks for $64,000. This does not raise taxes, as the money would come from the general fund balance.

Article 10 – This article asks for $10,000 to be placed in the Town-Wide Computer Development Capital Reserve Fund.

Article 11 – This article asks for $40,000 to be placed in the Town Revaluation Capital Reserve Fund.

Article 12 – This article asks for $10,000 to establish a capital reserve fund to update the town’s master plan.

Article 13 – This article asks for $34,000 to establish a capital reserve fund for a road impact fee traffic study.

Article 14 – This article asks for $10,000 to be placed in the Fire Cistern Capital Reserve Fund.

Article 15 – This article asks for $10,000 to be placed in the Parks and Recreation Facilities Development Capital Reserve Fund.

Article 16 – This article asks for $10,000 to be placed in the Emergency Radio Communications Development Capital Reserve Fund.

Article 17 – This article asks for $140,000 to purchase a plow dump truck for the Highway Department.

Article 18 – The Hooksett Public Library would hire a fulltime children’s librarian if this article is approved. It asks for $31,955 for six months’ worth of salary and benefits for the new librarian.

Article 19 – This article asks for $20,000 to be placed in the Fire Air Packs and Bottles Capital Reserve Fund.

Article 20 – This petitioned warrant article asks to take the franchise fees currently charged to Comcast customers in Hooksett and direct the money to establish and operate a public access television service for Hooksett instead of placing the money in the general fund.

Hooksett Budget Committee approves most warrants

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:48:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

The Hookett Budget Committee finalized its municipal budget proposal, officially recommending more than $200,000 be cut from the proposed Police Department budget.

The final budget figure, which includes revenues and expenditures of the Sewer Department, is $15.8 million – also the dollar figure townspeople will mull over at the deliberative session of Town Meeting on April 4. It brings the total recommended operating budget under the default budget by almost $60,000.

In separate action, committee members voted on recommendations for over a dozen proposed warrant articles. Most of the votes were unanimously in favor of recommendation.

Only two articles were not recommended by the committee, including an article that would have raised $10,000 toward the Police Department’s existing emergency radio capital reserve fund. Financial records indicate the current balance of that account is at approximately $165,000.

The only other warrant article that was not recommended by the committee was one that would have raised $10,000 towards the Parks and Recreation Department’s reserve facility fund.

The balance of this existing account is in excess of $80,000.

Budget Committee member Marc Miville, who participated in the discussion via intercom telephone from Oklahoma, said economic times dictate the committee must draw a hard line on some of these “wish-list” items.

“Not this year,” Miville said after casting his vote against the proposed Parks and Recreation warrant article.

The committee voted in favor of recommending the majority of the proposed warrant articles including one that will hire a children’s librarian in December for about $32,000. The salary and benefits of the full-time employee would be absorbed in the following year’s operating budget should this article pass during Town Meeting voting.

The committee also voted to endorse raises for town firefighters as well as an article that will create a $75,000 merit wage pool for raises for nonunion town employees.

The deliberative session of Town meeting for the Hooksett is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 4, at Cawley Middle School, on Whitehall Road.

Hooksett Town Meeting vote, elections are May 13

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:29:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Hooksett voters will decide on May 13 whether to spend $15.7 million on the town operating budget, a $1.5 million sewer bond and whether to add two new firefighters to the Fire Department.

A citizen’s petition to establish a public access cable television station is also on the ballot.

It would use Comcast franchise fees the town currently collects and uses to offset taxes.

Voters will also choose two new town councilors. Incumbent Jason Hyde and newcomer Nancy VanScoy are vying for the District 2 Town Council seat.

Carl J. Hebert Sr. and Michael Pischetola are both challenging incumbent Stu Werksman for his councilor-at-large seat, also up for grabs this year.

Should voters pass all the warrant articles, the town’s portion of the tax rate would increase by about 99 cents to $7.19 per $1,000 of assessed property value, said Town Administrator David Jodoin. If voters said no to everything and left the town with a default budget, the rate would increase by about 25 cents to $6.45.

The polls will be open at Cawley Middle School on Tuesday, May 13, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Article 2 contains all of the proposed zoning amendments.

Amendment 13, intensely discussed by the Hooksett Planning Board, would add a development phasing ordinance to the current zoning regulations that is designed to sustain but control growth by compelling developers to outline specific phases of their development and limiting the number of units built.

The first money articles voters will see is a $1.5 million bond to complete the second phase of the town’s sewer plant expansion.

Since only $230,000 of the bond would be paid this year, Article 3 would increase the tax rate by 17 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, adding $51 to the tax bill for a $300,000 home.

Article 4 on the ballot contains the proposed 2008-09 town operating budget, amounting to $15,786,795, representing $6.60 per $1,000 of assessed value on the tax bill. For a home assessed at $300,000, the proposed budget would comprise $1,980 on the tax bill. If defeated, a default budget of $15,325,417 will result.

Article 24 asks voters to spend $129,548 to hire two new firefighters, which would decrease the overtime line by $99,762 and leave the taxpayers with a net cost of $29,876 for the coming year. The Highway Department also seeks two new hires in Article 21 to the tune of $118,294, an estimated 9 cent per $1,000 increase on the tax rate.

The long discussed and awaited public access question, asking to use the fees to set up the TV station or otherwise remove the fees from the Comcast bills, appears in Article 26.

Other monetary warrant articles include the purchase of a new $55,000 truck for the Highway Department; $113,975 in raises for non-union town employees; $33,000 for a study to prioritize how impact fees will be spent on construction projects; and $10,400 to hire a part-time Assistant Building/ Zoning Inspector.

Hooksett zoning warrant would phase growth

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:37:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

In addition to the financial items already discussed at Hooksett’s deliberative session of Town Meeting and electing town officials, voters will also weigh in on several zoning amendments when the polls open on Tuesday, May 13.

While the majority of the amendments are what Planning Board Chairman *** Marshall termed “housekeeping items,” needed for clarity in the current ordinances, one is of particular importance to voters concerned about the town’s growth.

Amendment 13 asks voters to approve adding a development phasing requirement to the current zoning ordinance. The Planning Board has been working on developing a way to control Hooksett’s growth for several months now, having worked with planning consultant Phillip Herr on the town’s growth buildout.

Herr said at a presentation at the library on Jan. 29 that unchecked growth could bring Hooksett’s population up to as much as 44,000 over the next few years. Hooksett currently has a population of about 13,000, according to the 2007 Town Report.

If either a growth management or phasing ordinance were adopted, that population growth could be curbed to around 20,000 in the same time period, according to Herr.

Growth phasing regulates the rate at which individual developments are built. A growth management ordinance, on the other hand, determines how the entire town will be developed over the years.

Marshall said the Planning Board decided on phasing rather than a growth management ordinance to level the playing field among developers and distribute the growth more evenly over a longer period of time. Such a plan is also less likely to end up in court, he said.

The previous growth management ordinance Hooksett voters adopted in 2005 ended up coming before a Merrimack Superior Court judge, who ruled it was not legally binding.

A developer who went before the Planning Board shortly after the ordinance passed with an application to build on 20 lots in town took it to court.

The ordinance included a limit on building permits issued each year to 2 percent of the total dwelling units in town, a quarter of those being reserved for people building their own homes, and a limit of five for any one individual or entity.

Budget Committee member Mike Sorel, who started the petition that got the ordinance on the 2005 ballot, said the result of that vote shows the town’s desire to have something in place to control growth.

Under the development phasing proposal, any development including more than 12 lots or units would require the developer to submit a gradual phasing plan that would restrict the construction to one-eighth of the total lots per year.

For high and medium residential districts, the cut-off number is 24 dwelling units per year.; for developments using sewer capacity, the cut-off is 18 units per year; and for all other types of developments only 12 units can be built each year.

Affordable housing and elderly housing, renovated units that don’t provide additional dwelling spaces, and those units already approved in the planning process would be exempt from the terms of the phasing ordinance.

“It’s very important. Failure to pass this puts us right back where we were, trying to find another way to do it,” Marshall said, saying the board would revisit the growth management issue.

Sorel said he supports the proposed development phasing amendment, calling it a step in the right direction for the town. “It’s more than what we have now, which is nothing,” Sorel said of the proposal. “The town needs to move ahead, and I think they will.

Town Meeting debates sewer, cable TV needs

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:37:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

The 60 or so voters who showed up at the deliberative session of Hooksett Town Meeting on Saturday, April 5, sent all monetary warrant articles to the May 13 ballot virtually unchanged, except for a few clarifying amendments.

Articles including a $1.5 million sewer expansion bond, hiring two additional firefighters and establishing a public access television program absorbed the most discussion.

The town’s proposed operating budget, totaling $15,786,795, was sent to the ballot with little discussion. The proposed budget would comprise an estimated $6.60 per $1,000 of assessed value. If the proposed budget and all warrant articles are approved, it would result in a tax rate increase of $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, a tax bill increase of $300 on a $300,000 home.

According to Town Administrator David Jodoin, Hooksett’s taxes did not increase at all in 2007, and in 2006 only increased about 2 percent.

Sewer bond
The sewer bond, which represents an increase in taxes of 17 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, would pay for the second phase of a $14 million construction project. The expansion would double the plant’s capacity, bringing it up to 2.2 million gallons per day.

The tax bill for a $300,000 home would increase by $51, should voters approve the bond.

The $1.5 million for phase two of the project was included as part of the Cabela’s package, but with the sporting goods giant delaying the construction of its Hooksett store after a drop in profits at the end of 2007, Sewer Commissioner Sid Baines said the expansion needs to happen sooner rather than later.

The total cost of phase two of the project amounts to about $8 million, and Baines said the bond would bring the total funds available for the construction to around $6 million.

“Even if the $1.5 million does pass, we’re still going to be about $700,000 short,” Baines said at the deliberative session. “If the money isn’t approved, we’ll upgrade as much as we can, but won’t look for any more capacity,” he said.

Currently, according to Baines, the plant has no more capacity to sell to commercial or residential developments, which would bring in more money for the project.

Baines added that Cabela’s representatives have assured the Sewer Commission that they would still be good for the $1.5 million after they’ve completed the planning process, but there’s no time line on when that would happen.

“It might not come in until 2012, when they break ground,” Baines said.

He added the Sewer Commission hopes to get to a point where the state would allow a 10 percent increase in the plant’s capacity so they could sell gallonage and make more money to complete the project.

Fire Department
Article 24 from the Fire Departments asks the town to approve $129,548 for the salaries, taxes and benefits to hire two firefighter/EMTs.

Approval of this article would reduce the Fire Department’s overtime budget by $99,672, setting the net cost to taxpayers at $29,876.

This article was amended at the deliberative session because the warrant listed a tax increase of 10 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, which was representative of the total $129,548. The tax information was changed to 2 cents per $1,000, which accurately reflects the $29,876 the taxpayers would actually spend.

The Town Council put its stamp of approval on the article, but the town’s Budget Committee voted 3-7 not to recommend the article.

“Right now, we don’t think people can afford this extra burden on their taxes,” said acting Budget Committee Chairman Tom Keach, adding the two new employees would add costs down the road for training and certifications.

Public access TV
Peter Farwell of the town’s newly formed Public Access Committee spoke to a citizen’s petitioned warrant article asking voters’ permission to earmark Comcast franchise fees to set up and maintain a public access channel.

“This is just the first step in getting public access. We just see this as an unlimited possibility,” Farwell said.

The Town Council already voted to add a line item for the public access station into the budget with an initial appropriation of $1, allowing the Budget Committee to add money into the budget for that purpose at a later date.

Currently, Jodoin said, about $100,000 per year in Comcast franchise fees goes into the town’s general fund to help offset taxes. The fee is about 3 percent of each Comcast bill.

The proposal has been a contentious issue in town, with some residents supporting the station, others wanting the money to continue going into the town coffers and still others saying the fees should be removed from the Comcast bills altogether.

Deputy Emergency Management Director Harold Murray spoke as a resident against the article at the deliberative session, saying he’d rather see the money go toward tax relief.

“This is being presented as no cost to the town. That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Murray said. “That hundred thousand has got to come from somewhere.”

He added public access channels often repeat content, run old programming and often have low viewership.

Resident Frank Gray agreed, saying the town and school appropriations plus the county and state school tax rates would result in an estimated tax increase of $3 per $1,000 of assessed value.

“I have no problem with public television. However, we have to look at priorities,” Gray said. “This is nice to have, but I don’t think we can afford it. It’s only a small amount, but by God we have to stop spending someplace.”

David Pearl, also involved in the public access committee, said there is a growing constituent of Hooksett residents – including himself – who would like to see the fees removed from their cable bills because it is an unfair tax, with Comcast users essentially contributing more money to offset taxes than the rest of the town’s residents.

Other articles
Other monetary warrant articles include the purchase of a new $55,000 backhoe/loader for the highway department; $113,975 in raises for non-union town employees; $33,000 for a traffic impact study to prioritize how impact fees will be spent on construction projects; $118,294 to hire two new highway workers; and $10,400 to hire a parttime Assistant Building/Zoning Inspector.

Residents will vote on the entire ballot on Tuesday, May 13, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Cawley Middle School.

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.

$16 million reduction in Cabela’s bond needs vote

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:23:00 GMT

BY JENN MCDOWELL

Hooksett residents will be able to reduce their risk on the Cabela’s TIF bond by $16 million with a special Town Meeting vote next month.

Hooksett Town Councilors said there will be a special election on Tuesday, Oct. 23, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Cawley Middle School to approve a warrant article reducing the TIF (tax increment financing) bond approved more than a year ago for the Cabela’s sporting goods project from $18 million to just $2 million.

Voters will be able to discuss details of the plan at a deliberative session on Saturday, Sept. 22, at 1 p.m., at the Cawley School.

If the voters pass the warrant article, the Town Council will be authorized to officially enter into a financial agreement with Feldco Development to construct the Cabela’s facility by Exit 11 off of I-93 near Hackett Hill Road.

Also at the Sept. 5 meeting, the council got public comments on reducing the TIF boundaries surrounding the proposed Cabela’s development area from 300 to 100 acres.

At a previous meeting on Aug. 22, the council voted to support a reduction in the TIF boundaries. The revised TIF district would exclude the area west of I-93, which several councilors pointed out would increase tax revenue to the town in the coming years.

Councilor George Longfellow pointed out that the area could be reinstated into the TIF boundaries if future developers become interested in the area being excluded from the current TIF district.

Chairman Paul Loiselle was the only council member not in favor of reducing the TIF size. He argued that keeping the boundaries larger would entice future developers into the area.

$100,000 question - Council debates Town Meeting decision

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:36:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Vincent Lembo wants to make sure the Hooksett Town Council doesn’t lose track of $100,000.

Lembo, a Budget Committee member, amended the budget up by the $100,000 at the floor of the deliberative session of Town Meeting. The reason, he said, is to offset the planned 10 percent increase, effective July 1, of employee contributions to their health insurance.

Now that voters have approved that amended budget, Lembo is urging the council to ensure that $100,000 is getting back to the employees, who were also asked to chip in 10 percent more for health insurance last year.

“The voters said to give these people the money,” said Lembo, at a Wednesday, May 9, council meeting. “Are you going to listen to the voters or not?”

At least 14 town employees – many from the town’s highway and parks departments and the recycling and transfer department – came to the town hall during the meeting, but were largely silent during the proceedings.

Fifty-eight employees – representing nearly all the town’s non-unionized personnel – signed a petition in January asking the council to reconsider its previous decision to again raise employee contributions to health premiums.

Highway and Parks Departments head Dale Hemeon said then that the change would have meant some of his employees would have had more than $200 a month taken from their paycheck within a period of 13 months.

The council – members of which have said the increased employee contributions are a way to battle the ever-increasing cost of health insurance – then decided to delay the newest change in employee contributions to July 1, the first day of the town’s fiscal year.

Councilors told Lembo that it may not be their place to ensure the $100,000 gets back to the employees, since a new council – which will have two new members – will begin oversight of the budget in July.

“I think they’re the ones who should decide how to handle it,” said council Chairman George Longfellow, who was re-elected in March.

Said returning Councilor David Ross, “It would be a very difficult thing to do and I don’t see a real benefit in it.”

But town employees present didn’t necessarily agree. Lee Ann Moynihan, who works in the Family Services Department, said the current council should put its stamp on the 2007-08 budget.

“This budget is this council’s budget,” she said.

The council ultimately decided to hold off the discussion until it can determine the financial breakdown of the July 1 change, and whether $100,000 will be enough money to cover the difference.

The meeting came just a day after the annual election day, during which voters showed town employees some resounding support.

Voters approved the upped town operating budget, raises for the town’s police officers and its other nonunion personnel, and approved all but one of the town’s financial requests. The vote also came as four town hall employees are appealing their recent firings, which the council has steadfastly declined to discuss publicly.

In defense of the town’s employees, Lembo said, “There’s enough stress in these people’s lives already.”

Money added at Town Meeting

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:58:00 GMT

BY STEVEN ANDREWS

The operating budget facing voters will be $100,000 higher than the one initially proposed, thanks to an amendment which received overwhelming support by town employees and most of the crowd at the deliberative session of Town Meeting on Saturday, April 7.

Budget committee member Vincent Lembo proposed the amendment, which would make the proposed operating budget $15,101,889, with the extra money earmarked to reduce employees’ health insurance costs.

However, merely adding the money to the budget in Article 4 does not guarantee it will be used for that specific purpose. Since four new council members will be elected in May, the money could end up going to other needs.

Town Councilor Jason Hyde acknowledged that Hooksett is “locked into a bad contract” for health insurance, but is hopeful a new one can be negotiated that would lower costs in the future.

Of the roughly 50 attendants at Town Meeting, more than 60 percent supported the amendment to add $100,000 to the operating budget. If Article 4 fails, the default budget will be $14,820,388.

A proposal to add another $30,000 to the budget for legal fees by resident Mary Farwell failed. She was hoping to add the money so that the town’s boards could have more resources at their disposal when facing outside lawyers.

Hyde became concerned if the second amendment passed that the operating budget would become too high for voters to approve, since the council had tried specifically for a “zero increase” budget with just a few necessary increases.

“We’re making this a lot harder than it has to be,” he said. “We could be shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Article 14, which is to set aside money for non-union town employees, was the only other article which was amended. Originally, $45,000 in salaries and $15,000 in taxes and retirement was to be raised, but the new amounts will be $69,800 and $14,000, respectively.

The fund will allow department heads to distribute raises as they see fit, not with a standardized percent for all employees.

Hyde again disagreed with the amendment.

“The more you increase the numbers, the harder it will be to pass,” he said.

The only other article that caused any debate was Article 3, which would raise $1.5 million to upgrade the town’s wastewater treatment facility.

Resident Tom Young argued the entire town should not have to pay for the facility if only certain residents would receive benefits from it.

Several council members disagreed with that assessment, saying that doubling capacity at the facility will allow more businesses to be built.

“We will run into a situation where construction will have to stop, our septic system is at its limit,” said Councilor Dave Ross.

Even if Article 3 is approved by 60 percent of the voters, it will not go into effect if the $18 million Cabela’s bond is issued.

Voting takes place Tuesday, May 8, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Cawley Middle School.

Hooksett readies for Town Meeting - Sewer work, police contract, new park to be discussed April 7

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:37:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Following a year in which an $18 million bond proposal drew hordes of people to the polls, Hooksett’s 2007 town warrant – up for discussion at the Saturday, April 7, deliberative session of Town Meeting – is remarkably tame.

The town council agreed to shoot for a “zero increase” town budget this year, and stripped several town department requests from the ballot over the last few months.

Residents will have the chance to weigh in on requests including $1.5 million to finish the upgrade of the wastewater treatment facility, a new contract for unionized police officers and a $50,000 request that could bring the first town park to the town’s west side.

Also proposed is a $15,010,889 municipal operating budget, which marks about a 2.7 percent increase over the current default budget, said Town Administrator David Jodoin.

The proposal is about $190,000 above the default budget, and Jodoin said the gap largely comes from increased costs for things like fuel and health insurance.

“There are some obligations that we had little or no control over,” said Jodoin.

The budget committee unanimously supported the budget proposal.

Article 3 asks for $1.5 million to complete the renovations and capacity upgrades to Hooksett’s sewer plant. The work was sparked several years ago by a multimillion bond. If voters approve the request, and the $18 million bond approved by voters last year is sold, voters would have the chance to rescind this year’s vote at a future Town Meeting, Jodoin said.

Article 11 asks voters for about $166,000 over the next three years for a new contract for Hooksett’s unionized police officers, who’ve been without a new contract for the last year.

Voters will also see a request to put $50,000 into the parks and recreation facilities fund.

Parks officials have said the money would go to build a park on 6.3 acres of Hackett Hill Road and Corriveau Drive that could include tennis courts, playground equipment, offstreet parking and possibly a basketball hoop.

Parks officials have said the new recreation facilities will help reduce the town’s deficit in recreational facilities, a deficit that’s preventing the department from accessing impact fees, collected when developers pull new building permits.

The fees must be used by the department within six years or they’re returned to the developers.

The deliberative session of Town Meeting is at Cawley Middle School, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 7. Voting day is Tuesday, May 8.

Teacher contract passes

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:49:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

HOOKSETT – Voters enthusiastically backed the town’s teachers on election day, Tuesday, March 13, by approving a new three-year contract 1,206- 315.

Voters nixed a teacher contract proposal last year, and school officials have said the town’s underpaid teaching force would have suffered if left without a contract for another year.

The contract will add about $1.2 million in district expenses over the next three years. Voters also approved a three-year deal for the district’s support staff that will cost about $108,000 over the next two years.

“I’m ecstatic, very pleased about the contracts,” said Hooksett School Board Chairman Joanne McHugh. “It’s a tribute to the whole community, the way they pulled together for this.”

Voters stayed positive, approving the district’s proposed operating budget, which was boosted by $345,000 at last month’s deliberative session of School District Meeting. After the 888-595 vote, the year’s budget will be $23,189,176.

“I think that was the one where I was surprised the most,” McHugh said.

The boosted budget proposal had been criticized by budget committee members, several of whom have said they wanted to trim the budget in order to support the contract for Hooksett’s teachers.

Residents also gave a vote of confidence to the SAU 15 withdrawal committee, formed last year after a citizen petition asked whether Hooksett should look into leaving the SAU, the main administrative office it shares with Auburn and Candia. By a 891-592 vote, residents said they support continuing the work of the committee for another year.

The extension was requested after the committee twice unsuccessfully pitched its withdrawal proposal to the state board of education earlier this year. The state board said the committee’s withdrawal study didn’t give enough consideration to the impact Hooksett’s potential withdrawal might have on the two smaller school districts.

Hooksett school budget upped at deliberative session

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 22:34:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Hooksett residents boosted the proposed school district budget by nearly $345,000, though some worry the change could jeopardize a new contract proposed for teachers this year.

About 100 people came out to Cawley Middle School for the deliberative session of the School District Meeting – which was the last chance annual school proposals could be modified before next month’s townwide vote – on Friday, Feb. 9.

Hooksett parent Ray Miclette introduced the motion to increase the district’s proposed operating budget to $23,533,641, up from $23,189,176, a number school officials have said could mean cuts to education programs including Read 180, and the English for Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL program.

More than two-thirds of those in attendance supported the increase.

The original budget number was supported by the budget committee, which told the school board the budget cuts were needed in order for the influential panel to put its stamp on a new teacher contract that would add nearly $1.2 million in expenses to the district over the next three years.

All sides agreed Hooksett’s teachers are underpaid compared to teachers in similar districts. Voters rejected a new contract for teachers last year. Budget committee members said they wanted to keep the budget down to make clear that the year’s priority was the teacher’s contract.

“It’s tough, it’s restricted, but we think it’s viable,” budget committee Chairman Gerald Kearney said of his group’s budget proposal, which was about $300,000 less than the proposed default budget.

“We wanted to give a signal that the teachers contract was the most important thing,” he said.

Kearney and other budget committee members said they’ve been focused on overall spending both from the school district and the town. Kearney said if all the school board’s original proposals – including contracts for teachers and support staff – passed this year, the result would be a one-year spending increase of $1.7 million, which former Hooksett Finance Department Director Diane Savoie estimated would have caused a $1.26 spike in the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The budget committee’s recommendations on each of the school district’s money proposals will be listed next to the school board’s on next month’s ballot. Following the School District Meeting, the budget committee unanimously reversed its decision to support the operating budget. The committee can’t alter its official recommendation of the teacher contract.

Several residents said they worried the boost in the budget could negate the weeks of productive budget wrangling between the budget committee and the school board, and could dissuade voters from approving the teachers contract. Other residents questioned why the two separate proposals – the operating budget and the contract – now seem tied together.

Resident Alex Wilson said the budget committee seemed to be using its recommendations as a tool for “blackmail.”

SAU withdrawal

Residents didn’t make any changes to a request to continue the work of a committee studying the potential effects of Hooksett’s withdrawal from SAU 15, the administrative branch the district now shares with Auburn and Candia.

The committee was formed after a citizen’s petition passed last year, but twice was told by the state Board of Education that its withdrawal study didn’t fully consider the impacts Hooksett’s withdrawal would have on the two smaller districts.

The withdrawal question has divided the school board, and school board member Jim Sullivan has said the board’s decision to put the “continuation” question to voters this year gives the impression that the school board favors the withdrawal. Voting on all school proposals and elections is Tuesday, March 13, at Cawley Middle School.