Weare News : Board of Selectmen

FEMA grant raises questions in Weare

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:19:00 GMT

The federal government is offering money, but the town isn’t sure it wants the dough.

That’s because a handful of residents say there’s no such thing as a free lunch -- or a free hand-out from the federal government.

More than one person spoke out against a $22,372.50 federal grant at a Weare Board of Selectmen meeting recently. It is a second installment of federal money the town has qualified to cover cleanup costs associated with last December’s ice storm.

But Jim Leary, a local business owner, said the cleanup is over and the town shouldn’t accept the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“If we don’t need to go to the FEMA well … then we shouldn’t have our hands out for it,” Leary said. “I see a lot of money being wasted. It’s all coming out of our pockets. We pay into the FEMA fund, too. It doesn’t just magically appear.”

Selectmen delayed action on the item because Chairman Tom Clow said Selectman Keith Lacasse, who was not present, requested to postpone the vote until he could lay out his opposition to the grant.

Public Works Director Carl Knapp argued the selectmen should vote to accept the money because the government is merely reimbursing the town for dollars already spent.

He said the separate $38,000 FEMA grant the town accepted earlier this year was used to cover the costs of a wood chipper that aided his department with tree cleanup after the storm.

Chairman Clow explained that the second grant, if accepted by the board, could not be spent arbitrarily and likely would be used to help offset the local tax rate later this year. “It will be treated as revenue,” Clow said. “It’s not money that we can just spend, but it’s there (in the general fund).”

Johnna Grzywacz, also a Weare resident, asked questions about how the money would be used if the grant is accepted. She said she is not convinced it’s money the town needs.

“We need to protect our tax money and we need to ask questions,” Grzywacz said. “I used to be a person who took for granted the authority of the government was the authority. But we are the authority. I want to give some thought to what it means to accept this grant.”

The federal government is offering money, but the town isn’t sure it wants the dough.

That’s because a handful of residents say there’s no such thing as a free lunch -- or a free hand-out from the federal government.

But Jim Leary, a local business owner, said the cleanup is over and the town shouldn’t accept the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Selectmen delayed action on the item because Chairman Tom Clow said Selectman Keith Lacasse, who was not present, requested to postpone the vote until he could lay out his opposition to the grant.

Public Works Director Carl Knapp argued the selectmen should vote to accept the money because the government is merely reimbursing the town for dollars already spent.

He said the separate $38,000 FEMA grant the town accepted earlier this year was used to cover the costs of a wood chipper that aided his department with tree cleanup after the storm.

Johnna Grzywacz, also a Weare resident, asked questions about how the money would be used if the grant is accepted. She said she is not convinced it’s money the town needs.

Weare Fire Department seeks assistance from selectmen, state fire marshal

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:18:00 GMT

BY SARAH LEBRUN

After a Weare Board of Fire Wards meeting in which interim Fire Chief Bill Tiffany refused to resign and department animosity was brought to light, members of Weare Fire Rescue decided to bring their case to the Board of Selectmen.

“I went to the Board of Selectmen after last Monday’s (Jan. 12) meeting,” said Victor Thibeault, a 12-year member of the Weare Fire Department. “With the animosity going on in the department and rumors of people wanting to leave, I felt the Board of Selectmen and residents should know, due to the safety concerns for the town.”

Thibeault said during this closed session meeting on Monday, Jan. 19, many members requested a leave of absence from the department, to which they were asked to postpone for the moment.

“I, as well as the other (Fire Department) members, want to rectify the situations going on within the department so we can better serve our residents,” said Thibeault.

According to Thibeault, a state fire marshal told him that fire marshals are in place to oversee boards of fire wards, but won’t step in there is a safety concern for the town.

After being told this, he delivered a letter to state Fire Marshal Bill Degnan on Friday, Jan. 16, about the issues within the department, citing departmental issues as a safety concern, as mutual aid has needed to respond to many calls, as Weare Fire Rescue has not responded.

Weare selectmen declined to comment on the issue, and Degnan could not be reached as of press time.

Gas prices fuel town increases

Goffstown Editor — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:59:00 GMT

BY JENN MCDOWELL

Corrected 3:30pm 3/8/08

After being on a default budget, Weare town officials hope voters will pass the proposed $4.6 million operating budget for the coming year, particularly for department budget increases related to fuel costs.

“They’re almost entirely fuel related,” said Fred Ventresco, Weare town administrator, about the highway, police and fire department budgets.

A line-by-line comparison of the town’s proposed budget and default budget show a $39,081 spread for the Highway Department, a $54,955 difference for the Police Department and a $14,451 difference for the Fire Department.

Should the $4,658,578 proposed budget fail with voters, a default budget of $4,529,870 will take effect.

Ventresco said the town’s Board of Selectmen has not yet contemplated what they would cut from the budget to account for the $128,708 difference between the proposed and default budgets.

The proposed budget would result in a projected tax rate of $2.29 for the town portion. For Weare residents owning a $300,000 home, this amounts to a $45 increase over last year’s budget, with a total tax bill of $687 from the town.

The passing of all monetary warrant articles would add another $1.52 to the town’s tax rate on top of the operating budget, whether it be passed or defaulted, or another $456 to the tax bill of a $300,000 home.

Ventresco said the town would want all the articles to pass, but particularly a $900,000 bond for a new public works garage.

“That building is in really bad shape,” he said.

There are also a couple of articles related to building maintenance, passed without debate to the ballot at the town’s deliberative session on Saturday, Feb. 2. Ventresco said the town municipal building and several others in town are in poor repair due to putting improvements off in prior years of default budgets.

“We’re hoping that’s a good indication that people can see the real necessity in those items,” Ventresco said, adding the town hall in particular has a leaky roof and is in violation of numerous fire and safety codes.

Also at the deliberative session, voters shaved $815,000 off an article that would authorize the Board of Selectmen to enter into a bond to improve the Bolton Field Memorial Complex. The proposed bond amount, originally set at $1.25 million, was cut down to just $435,000, the cost of the first phase of necessary improvements, after lengthy debate at the deliberative session.

This article has no effect on the tax rate as it only gives selectmen the go-ahead to negotiate and sell the bond.

Several articles involve increases in payroll funding, including $57,000 in raises for town employees; $92,000 to hire, train, equip and pay two full-time police officers for nine months; $80,085 for two new firefighter/EMTs for six months; and $23,023 in pay for the ambulance department to have weekend and holiday coverage. Several more ask to put land into conservation, one of those asking the town to raise $200,000 to purchase 175 acres-worth of easements in Melvin Valley.