New Boston News : floods

Flood plan - Regulations could prevent damage

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:59:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Planning Board has approved changes to the subdivision regulations that specify clearly the requirements for drainage facilities, in an effort to help prevent future flooding.

The changes solidify the responsibility of developers to make sure their drainage facilities are in keeping with the town’s specifications. It also includes language that clearly states developers must re-submit their site plans if any part of the amendment is not being complied.

After severe flooding the past couple of years, the town wants to be more concrete about what they want to see in terms of flood prevention measures.

“The changes that were just made were an amendment to existing subdivision regulations to tighten up some controls from an engineering standpoint to that when the town engineer reviews the plans, it is more clear that these procedures have to be followed,” said Planning Coordinator Nic Strong, adding that many of these practices included in the amendment are already being implemented.

The amendment requires that all drainage facilities are built for a 10-year flood rather than a 2-year flood.

The language added to the subdivision regulations encourages practices such as designing road-crossing culverts to specifications for a 50-year storm; improving run-off slowing systems; and placing drains under the ground at every 300 feet and requiring that such drains lead into a culvert.

The Planning Board voted unanimously to adopt the amendments on May 27 after several meetings spent discussing the changes and a public hearing during their meeting on May 13.

If any changes are made to a site plan after it has already been approved, Strong said, the Planning Board has the authority to ask the developer to submit revised plans for review and approval.

One piece of the amendment spells out plainly that the Planning Board can ask for new plans if the approved ones are not being held to.

One example of that is when developers end up cutting down significantly more trees than they originally planned to cut, which would allow more storm water to run off the site and onto neighboring ones.

“We don’t want to be in a position that more water could leave the site,” Strong said.

Before that language was there, the Planning Board could require a developer to submit plans again, but the amendment just firmly states it.

“Because we had all that flooding over the past three years, we wanted to start being more clear,” Strong said.

New Boston Year in review 2007

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

BY MICHELLE KIM

For many residents in Goffstown, Weare and New Boston, 2007 had a strong a sense of deja vu. Few would have thought a 100-year flood would happen two years in a row. But it did.

Here’s a look at a few events in New Boston:
Rose Meadow Farm, a residential care facility for clients 18 and older with brain and spinal cord injuries, opened up a second facility on Bedford Road, called Rose Meadow Gardens, with 13 more openings.

A fire broke out in January at 114 Pine Road, the home of Kelsiey Nippe and Jerrod Poliquin, who were awakened by the sound of their smoke detector. The Fire Department was able to locate and put out the fire before any significant structural damage was caused.

At the March Town Meeting elections, voters accepted the $3.4 million operating budget, a 9 percent increase over the previous year’s operating budget, and approved almost all the warrant articles, except for an article seeking money for a footbridge connecting the central village to the south commercial district, despite a heated campaign by the article’s proponents.

The article would have required $30,000 from the town and acquired the other $120,000 through state grants.

Voters returned six-year incumbent selectman and board Chairman Dave Woodbury over challenger Kim DiPetro.

The school operating budget of $9.4 million, which was close to the default level, easily passed, as did articles for a new teacher contract requiring about $120,000 in new spending. A $33,000 article to conduct a study on expanding the New Boston Central School that had sparked discussion at the deliberative session also passed.

Also during March, New Boston part-time resident Richard Hawes, 65, of Friendly Beaver Campground, who pled guilty to trafficking pornographic photos of his 2-year-old granddaughter, was sentenced in Concord District Court to 10 years in prison.

The floods from the April 15 and 16 nor’easter brought worse damage to local roads than 2006’s Mother’s Day floods, according to Police Chief Chris Krajenka. The main thoroughfares of Route 13, Route 136, Route 77 and Bedford Road were all closed, and several families were displaced from their homes, with about five staying overnight at the emergency shelter set up by the Greater Manchester Red Cross at the Central school.

Small brooks and streams became raging torrents that overflowed their banks and destroyed the pavement, and clear cutting 40 acres of forest for construction off of Bedford Road caused rushing waters to undermine a 12-foot section of the road. Gov. John Lynch visited the police station April 17. In all, there was about $400,000 worth of damage, according to Town Administrator Burton Reynolds.

New Boston was one of nine counties declared federal disaster areas, making it eligible for FEMA aid. FEMA representatives toured the area in June.

Reynolds said the town would apply for FEMA and state aid, which should reimburse about 88 percent of the damage. The Mother’s Day floods made the town much more familiar with applying for aid, he said.

The school district applied for a waiver for the time it missed because of flood-damaged roads that prevented school buses from getting to Central or to the Goffstown schools.

In May, builder Aaron Fielder was arrested in Londonderry and charged with felony forgery after he allegedly forged the certificate of occupancy for a $365,000 Hutchinson Lane home after it failed to pass inspection by the town building inspector. The Hutchinson Lane subdivision was being built by Front Line construction in New Boston.

Water from River Road Spring, a popular local landmark on Route 13, was declared unsafe after detection of an abnormal level of coliform bacteria, a naturally occurring organism that probably came from the flooding run-off water, according to health officer Shannon Silver.

Selectmen hosted information sessions on the transfer station April 30 and in July. The town achieved its goal of 40 percent recycling in May and discussed ways to increase that rate, such as an incentive program for haulers.

The Board of Selectmen adopted a new energy conservation policy in July to look for practical ways to save energy within the town’s means.

The Fourth of July celebration introduced rock climbing, in addition to the traditional favorites of mud volleyball, fiddler’s contest, chicken barbecue, parade and fireworks.

In September, the 50th anniversary Hillsborough County Fair went on despite heat and rain that reduced its attendance by half. The fireworks were canceled, but everything else continued as planned. Peter Carter of Goffstown won the giant pumpkin contest with a gourd weighing 1,101 pounds. The same pumpkin had won the grand prize at the Rochester Fair.

In August, Dave Woodbury donated a 100-year-old railroad passenger car he had been renovating for the last 15 years to the Contoocook Riverway Association to put on display.

The New Boston Police Department saw staff changes with the resignation of officer Josh Woehl and, after a long search, the hiring of a new candidate to be sent to the police academy.

A study conducted by the former police chief concluded the department needed 10 officers to function at full capacity; the department currently has four full-time officers, including the chief, and one part-time officer.

Chief Chris Krajenka put in a request for an additional officer for the 2008 budget, which would bring the number of spots for sworn officers to eight. The budget proposal also included a request for eight Tasers.

A delegation of teachers from Iceland visited the New Boston Central School in October to observe the Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) program as part of a three-day trip to New Hampshire. The teachers swapped ideas with New Boston teachers and presented the Central School with a book and a flag from their school.

The New Boston Climate and Energy Committee organized a fair in November to promote awareness of climate change and energy efficiency in conjunction with a nationwide series of events called “Step It Up.” In the second half of the event, local politicians answered residents questions in a forum on policy, incentives and ideas on climate change.

The property tax rate for 2007 decreased 8.4 percent, despite a doubling of the town portion of the tax, mostly because of a larger than expected adequacy education grant that lowered the school portion of the tax. The overall rate was $14.02 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Also in November, an enormous barn fire on a Bunker Hill Road barn killed 125 goats trapped inside, many of which were pregnant and due soon. The property and goats were owned by Steve Caggiano.

At one point, up to 75 firefighters from 10 different communities were fighting the barn fire, side house fire and spot brush fires. The cause of the fire is unknown but not suspicious.

A survey and architectural study concluded expanding the New Boston Central School to possibly bring back grades 7 and 8 would take up too much parking and playground space.

Only $3,000 of the $33,000 granted in the warrant article was used and the rest will be returned to the town, according to Principal Rick Matthews.

Town plans to apply for FEMA aid

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 09 May 2007 19:32:00 GMT

BY ROD HANSEN

After suffering damage in the nor’easter of April 16 rivaling that of last year’s Mother’s Day floods, the town will likely file for federal disaster assistance, according to Town Manager Burton Reynolds.

“At the height of the storm we probably had more roads closed than open,” said Reynolds.

He said preliminary estimstates reported to the state office of emergency management put the town’s damages at $400,000.

That estimate may have been high because three town bridges were all damaged at the time of the assessment, Reynolds said. Lyndeboro Road Bridge, Gregg Mill Road Bridge and Howe Bridge all suffered extensive damage due to the storm, Reynolds said.

The town is currently recording all expenses associated with flood repair in one account, Reynolds said. If the town qualifies for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said he expects FEMA to reimburse 75 percent in infrastructure repair, while the state will reimburse 12.5 percent and New Boston is expected to pay the remaining 12.5 percent.

New Boston officials expected to collect paperwork from FEMA at a special meeting at the Bedford town offices on Tuesday, May 8, Reynolds said. After putting itself on a list of towns requesting assistance, New Boston would then receive a FEMA contact person, followed by a tour of New Boston by the federal agency to assess damages.

Immediately after the flood, Police Chief Chris Krajenka said all major thoroughfares leading into town were closed at the height of the storm.

The town faced severe weather challenges due to small brooks and streams that turned into raging torrents during the most intense periods of the storm, Reynolds said.

“Here you’ve got these little streams that are dry most of the year, and they just went crazy during the storm and overflowed their banks and destroyed pavement,” he said.

The town was lucky to have local contractors who specialize in excavation offering assistance during the storm, Reynolds said.

However, he said repairs were often delayed due to the gushing waters.

“We had people who were all ready to get started on road repairs, but Mother Nature wouldn’t let us in,” Reynolds said.

New Boston could qualify for flood relief, because it sits in one of nine New Hampshire counties declared to be federal disaster areas due to the storm.

FEMA is also operating a disaster recovery center at the Pinardville Fire Station at 656 Mast Road in Goffstown.

Residents can register for federal and state through the FEMA Web site at www.fema.gov or by calling (800) 621-3362.

Police: Damage much more substantial than 2006

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:29:00 GMT

BY ROD HANSEN

The storms of April 15 and 16 caused worse damage to local roads than last year’s Mother’s Day floods, according to the local police chief.

“The damage was much more substantial than last year, and we’ve lost areas where we never, ever had a problem before,” said Police Chief Chris Krajenka.

His remarks came after a period when rushing waters wrought severe damage to several local roadways. During the evening commute of Monday, April 16, Krajenka said all major thoroughfares leading into town were closed.

“It is true that for a time there we were like an island,” Krajenka said.

Major road closures at the time included Route 13, Route 136, Route 77 and Bedford Road, as well as several local roads, Krajenka said.

Some families were also displaced from their homes, with three staying at an emergency shelter the Greater Manchester Red Cross established at New Boston Central School, Krajenka said.

He commended the staff at the town’s emergency operations center in the police station, which included personnel from the police, fire and public works departments, as well as community volunteers helping answer phones and assisting with traffic points.

At the height of the emergency, the majority of calls into the operations center involved residents calling to find out how they could get home, Krajenka said.

Board of selectmen Chairman Christine Quirk manned the emergency operations center during the emergency, while Selectman Gordon Carlstrom spent the day with Road Agent John Riendeau, the chief said.

Gov. John Lynch visited the police station on April 17, and Krajenka spoke of the need for the state to revisit its storm water runoff regulations.

Some of the most severe damage of the storm could be traced to the clear-cutting of 40 acres of forest to make way for construction off of Bedford Road, Krajenka said.

Loose branches and other forest debris clogged a culvert in the area of town known as Foxbury Run, ultimately causing the rushing water to undermine a 12-foot section of Bedford Road.

“When something like that happens, you can say that clear-cutting is affecting the operations of this town,” Krajenka said.

On the morning of Wednesday, April 18, roads remaining closed included River Road north into Goffstown, Gregg Mill Road, Hooper Hill Road and sections of Bunker Hill Road, Thornton Road Bog Road, Tucker Mill Road, Butterfield Mill, while McCollum and Dennison roads are passable only by four-wheel drive, according to Police Sgt. Frank Kochanek.

About two dozen roads were closed in neighboring Weare on April 16, although all of them had been opened by the following afternoon.

Major roads closed during the storm included River Road, South Stark Highway, Twin Bridge Road and Deering Center Road, said Police Chief Greg Begin.

The town’s schools closed early on Monday, with Center Woods Elementary School and Weare Middle School opening the following day after a two-hour delay, and John Stark Regional High School remaining closed.

“For us, it was a lot like it was last year, because we had problems in the same places as we did last year,” Begin said.