Pembroke News : selectmen

National Guard closer to buying property

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:12:00 GMT

Business owners along Sheep Davis Road in Pembroke can’t make heads or tails of a proposed $38 million National Guard training facility slated for a 214-acre tract on Riverwood Drive.

Some have not even heard of the project; others are indifferent.

A few think the proposal will stimulate the local economy; others are citing potential drawbacks.

Holly Manning, owner of Serendipity Day Spa, whose business is located less than a mile from the proposed facility, has concerns about potential noise problems, but said she has not done enough research on the project to develop a firm opinion. Mike Gove of Pembroke Automotive, also on Route 106 near the proposed training facility is not familiar with the project but can foresee one potential negative impact.

“The only thing I could see happening is it’s a sizeable tax base we’re going to be losing,” Gove said.

That’s the same concern that the Pembroke Board of Selectmen share, said Town Administrator David Jodoin.

“With all the cuts they’re looking at making toward the towns … the selectmen wonder where the state can come up with $3 million,” Jodoin said.

The state government will cover the cost to purchase the privately owned property, approximately $3 million, later this year through a capital appropriation. The cost to build the facility, which will include about 107,000 square feet of instructional space, administrative offices and student barracks, is estimated at $38 million and will be paid for by the federal government.

There is at least one Pembroke business owner who is all for the project – Bert Whittemore of Riverwood Properties, who owns the property the National Guard is seeking to purchase.

“I think it’s a great use for the property,” said Whittemore, also a Pembroke resident. “I can’t think of a town that wouldn’t want an Army facility, but I recognize I’m only one citizen and other people have other views.”

Whittemore’s father first begin purchasing tracts of the parcel over 60 years ago, he said.

“This (project) has been studied to beat the band,” he said, recognizing the business transaction is not a done deal. “This is a tumultuous time and I don’t count my chickens when they’re not even in the yard.”

The New Hampshire National Guard recently published an environmental impact study and opened a period of public comment on the proposal for the Pembroke training facility.

Normand Provencher, the business manager of Pembroke Water Works, said any concerns the Water Department had about the project were eased in that report.

“We have a well which will abut their property, as well as two other wells downstream from them,” Provencher said. “At the time, originally, they were going to have artillery that was going to be used at the site. They were going to be using hand grenades which would emit carcinogens in the ground. We also didn’t want them tearing up the terrain, which would also alter the protection of the groundwater.”

But after a meeting with town officials and representatives from the Guard, Provencher said those fears have been addressed.

An environmental impact study, released earlier this month, indicates that the proposed building will have “no significant environmental effects.”

Col. Jeff Vorce, project manager for the National Guard facility, said no artillery will be used on the training site.

“There is a misnomer that we were going to have a live fire range out there,” Vorce said. “That was never planned; this land is too small for a live fire range.”

To further ease concerns, the town’s wastewater department has allocated adequate capacity for the proposed training facility, which will allow the new facility to tie into the town’s sewer system, preventing the necessity of building an on-site septic system, which could have also compromised groundwater resources, Provencher said.

Vorce said he hopes the property can be purchased by October in order to proceed with design plans. Construction will begin in spring 2011, he said.

National Guard thwarts plans

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:56:00 GMT

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

Pembroke’s forward-looking plans to bring more tax revenue to the town through planned commercial growth and infrastructure improvements could take a hit if the National Guard goes through with a plan to buy a $3 million property along routes 3 and 106 for a new training facility.

Selectman Fred Kline said there has been talk between the town and the Guard since 2006, but selectmen made an effort last January to stop the project. Their concern was that if the National Guard buys this 190- acre parcel of land, it would take away the potential for Pembroke to earn between $27,000 and $71,000 in tax revenue as the land comes out of current use and is developed into commercial land.

Last January, Kline said, selectmen wrote wrote letters to everyone they could think of to stop the process.

“We told them our concern was not that they’re coming to Pembroke,” he said, “but that area, commercial 106 area, is one we’ve been working on for decades to make more conducive for business. For them to come in and buy land and drive the tax bill to zero would be a huge problem for Pembroke.”

Aside from the tax revenue concerns, the Pembroke Water Commission also had concerns with contaminating the aquifer below that land due to ammunition. The National Guard apparently took this concern seriously and agreed to eliminate munitions use on that land, said Kline.

“It’s nip and tuck right now,” he said. “The new budget for the state should be finalized Feb. 15. We won’t know for sure until then if project is even still in the budget. Opinion says it will be in the budget. State reps want to know why we’re concerned so late in the process. It might be too far down the decision chain to stop it.”

Kline also pointed out that there will be environmental impact studies to be done before approval.

Nevertheless, right now the land is privately owned by Riverwood Commercial Property, according to town records, and there’s little to stop anyone from selling their land to whomever they want to.

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 searches for new town administrator

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:14:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Pembroke Town Administrator Geoff Ruggles is leaving his post for a different municipal job in Gilford.

The town is currently taking applications for the soon-to-be-empty position.

Ruggles, who lives in Gilford, said he took the finance director job in Gilford to be closer to home and family, adding the pay is about the same as he is currently making in Pembroke.

“It’s a hop, skip and a jump to Town Hall” from his home, said Ruggles.

Ruggles called selectmen on June 27, he said, to notify them of his resignation. It was made official at a special meeting the selectmen called on Monday, June 30.

Ruggles has been working as Pembroke’s permanent town administrator since December, having spent three months on an interim basis before that, taking over for the prior town administrator, Troy Brown.

He has been working in different positions for municipalities for 15 years, he said. His last day is Friday, July 18.

“It’s a great place to work. The people have been very supportive and very easy to get along with and work with, and it’s really just been a great experience,” said Ruggles about Pembroke’s Town Hall employees as well as its residents. “I know that sounds so (trite), but it’s true.”

The town has posted ads in newspapers, at Local Government Center and other places online to advertise for the job, said Selectman Larry Preston. Preston acknowledged that, in his five years on the Board of Selectmen, he has seen a tremendous turnover in town office employees.

This is the first time he feels such a profound sense of loss of one, he said.

“He’s going to be sorely missed by everybody,” said Preston. “The selectmen did everything but break his legs to get him to stay,” he half-joked. Preston added Ruggles put in long hours at the town offices, was extremely organized and knowledgeable and spent a long time learning the ins and outs of the community.

The town looked to the Local Government Center for help in covering Ruggles’ duties. Through LGC’s back-up service, the town was able to secure a temporary replacement, Carroll Murray, to “step in and keep the ship together,” Preston said. “We wish him luck,” Preston said.

Does Pembroke want a roundabout?

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:29:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A proposal for a traffic roundabout at Route 3 and Pembroke Hill Road will be up for discussion later this month.

Pembroke selectmen will hold a public forum for input on the state’s plan on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m., in the Paulsen Meeting Room at Pembroke Town Hall.

Interim Town Administrator Geoff Ruggles said the state Department of Transportation is currently in the planning stages of the project.

On Aug. 9, a public forum on the issue took place at Pembroke Academy.

“My understanding is that (the DOT) got mixed reviews,” Ruggles said.

Selectmen decided to have another public input session after Ruggles received a call from Donald Lyford, the state’s project manager for the proposed roundabout, asking for a submission of the town’s formal position, either for or against the project.

“The selectmen said they wanted to get more input from the public before they made any kind of comment to the state about it,” Ruggles said.

Lyford said that the proposal was met with generally negative outcry at the last meeting at Pembroke Academy.

While the proposal sprang originally from a town request to improve the intersection due to accidents, including one fatality, Lyford said he thinks Pembroke residents were turned off at the idea of a roundabout.

“They’re not opposed to making the improvements, assuming that’s what they end up doing, they just seem to be opposed to the roundabout,” Lyford said.

He added truck drivers at the meeting offered many of the opposing views on the roundabout. Most of their arguments, Lyford said, were based on the performance of a roundabout in Meredith, which was opened during construction. Apparently, large semi trucks had a difficult time navigating that roundabout while it was still being constructed.

Others at the public session, he said, believed the Pembroke intersection did not need improvements at all.

Lyford said the project will cost the state around $1.2 million, including construction, engineering, and right-of-way acquisition costs.

The construction of the roundabout will not cost the town directly, Ruggles said, but there has been some discussion that the town may have to move some utility poles and wires, the expense of which will fall on the town.

Lyford said a manhole cover will need to be adjusted and a fire hydrant moved in preparation of construction, plus modifications to any sewer pipes below ground. He explained these changes during discussion at Pembroke Academy, he said, but added that they would be fairly inexpensive.

“I would guess it wouldn’t be more than $10,000,” Lyford said, referring to potential costs to the town.

Lyford said the state decided on a roundabout at that location because the intersection did not meet national standards to put in traffic signals instead.

Selectman Fred Kline said he thinks the town will ultimately be opposed to the project.

“If the town needs to pick between a roundabout or nothing, they’ll pick nothing,” he said at the selectmen’s meeting.

Lyford said the state will not go ahead with plans for the proposed roundabout if Pembroke residents decide against it.

“We don’t want to build something if they’re not going to support it,” Lyford said. “We’re not going to force something into a community.”

Feedback wanted on waste disposal

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:49:00 GMT

BY SUSAN WARE

Town Administrator Troy Brown thought that residents would get fired up over changes to solid waste disposal, but only one resident turned up for a public hearing.

The Board of Selectmen are in the process of debating a fee and usage changes, and they are looking for public input. They held a public hearing on Wednesday, July 25, and one resident, who also owns a business in town, attended, said Brown.

While the cost of disposing a tire jumping from $2 to $5 may not spark interest in residents, the proposal to start charging fees and putting tight reins on the disposal of home construction materials is likely to cause a stir.

Currently Pembroke absorbs the $80,000 tab for disposing construction debris every year by adding it to the tax bill.

But the board is considering charging fees for dumping construction debris and making strict guidelines, such as allowing only two dump runs a day and prohibiting vehicles that weigh one ton or larger.

This, said Brown, is sure to get residents riled up.

“Right now, if you have a building permit you are allowed to dump construction debris, but that may all change,” said Brown.

The board hesitates to prohibit construction debris, because they figure it will just end up in the woods around town, if people don’t have a disposal outlet.

Non-burnable construction debris, like insulation, pressure-treated wood, sheet rock and roof shingles may be eliminated, leaving residents to find a private disposal company. Burnable materials will be restricted to a size of four feet.

“The board really wants public feedback on this. It is an important issue to the town, and once the decision has been made, it is done,” said Brown.

Other proposed changes include the acceptance of electronic equipment in order to come into state compliance. Monitors 18 inches or smaller will cost $10 each to dispose of, while those greater than 18 inches will cost $20, and a microwave will be $10.

Under the proposal, the town will no longer accept tires larger than 19 inches, commercial or any tire with a rim.

The board is also leaning toward eliminating all commercial construction debris.