Improving Pembroke’s downtown debated

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:34:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

Pembroke selectmen want downtown spruced up, but are not convinced residents will want to pick up the $1.3 million cost at Town Meeting next spring. The specific project in question is the reconstruction of Broadway Street. Initial engineering plans advise drainage work, paving and sidewalk improvements. The board has already spent $35,000 on these engineering fees to draft the prospective plans. It can’t decide if it wants to spend $40,000 more to really flesh those plans out.

Selectman Larry Preston said he is not opposed to the needed improvements, but he is not comfortable spending even more money on engineering fees if the board is not sure about moving forward with the actual road project.

“For me, it’s a budgetary thing,” Preston said. “I would love to see the downtown fixed up. I just don’t want to put all of our capital into this and not have it go anywhere.”

Selectman Tina Courtemanche said the price tag for the actual work will cause town residents to balk at the next Town Meeting.

“I think it’s going to be a hard sell. I really do,” Courtemanche said.

James Boisvert, director of the Pembroke Public Works Department, proposed to selectmen that the road project be split between two budget years: $700,000 in 2010 and $600,000 in 2011. He said the town would save an estimated $700,000 – bringing the total project estimate closer to $2 million – by doing some of the suggested improvements directly through his department.

The urgent problem with Broadway Street is that the storm drainage lines are too small, Boisvert said. The runoff is spilling into residents’ yards.

Selectmen David Sheldon and Cindy Lewis were absent from the discussion. Chairman Fred Kline agreed to table the discussion on whether to move forward with engineering estimates until more members were present.

In other business, the board discussed the possibility of lifting the downtown parking ban during certain times of the year. Currently, no parking is allowed outside of designated spots on downtown streets to reserve enough road space for snow plows in winter. No action was taken on this item.

Pembroke News : downtown

Improving Pembroke’s downtown debated