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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 The primary
descends on Goffstown
Schools
to review freezing incident
Kindergarten
top item on school district warrant
Charter
commission to be deliberated at Feb. 4 session
Proposed
school budget is $8.7 million in Weare
Budget
would hike rate by 46 cents per $1,000
Goffstown
The primary
descends on Goffstown
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By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
When Sully's newest bagboy stepped up and
served his first customer, you could tell there was something
different about him.
For starters most bagboys aren't followed by a pack of
two dozen photographers, cameramen, boom-mike operators and media
advisors.
And most bagboys' short-term career plans usually involve a $1
an hour raise and that coveted cashier's job.
This one, however, wanted more. He wanted your vote and
the title "Mr. President."
Gen. Wesley Clark, contender for the Democratic presidential
nomination, swept into Sully's last Thursday, Jan. 22, bringing
with him a media horde that watched his every move and listened
to his every word.
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CENTER OF ATTENTION: Attracting
more of a crowd than the usual guy, Democratic presidential candidate
Gen. Wesley Clark chats with a customer during his stint as a
bagboy at Sully's in Goffstown. In the Feb. 27 primary, Clark
tied for third place with South Carolina Sen. John Edwards and
Connecticut Sen. Joseph Leiberman. (R. Choma Photo)
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"General Clark, was it hard to make
the move from four-star general to bagger?" asked one television
reporter. All the shuffling and elbowing stopped for a moment
and the crowd of microphones inched closer to Wes Clark's face.
"Not at all I'm here to serve!" he replied earnestly,
before turning to his customer to ask, "Paper or plastic?"
As the cameras flashed, the knot of media surged closer to get
the best shot.
Standing a few feet back, a handful of bemused shoppers looked
on.
"Look!" says one, his voice dripping with sarcasm,
"An 'authentic' New Hampshire moment!"
Like clockwork, every four years America's political movers and
shakers show up at authentic hometown locales like Sully's in
a mad rush in search of that authentic New Hampshire moment.
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Sully's
manager Michael Ducharme said it was not the market's idea for
Clark to take the bagging gig. Instead, he said, the store had
been approached by the campaign staff.
And although Clark worked at an achingly slow pace, taking plenty
of time to chat with each of the three or four customers he helped
during his 20-minute stint, Ducharme had little to complain about.
Or at least nothing about his new bagger.
"It went well," Ducharme said, pausing before
listing his sole complaint, "Except for the reporters.
They could've given more respect to the customers. I know they're
looking for their photo shots, but they could've been better
with how they took the pictures.
"They were crowding up the front end and standing on registers," Ducharme
added. |
Putting Goffstown in the
spotlight for a day, more than 600 credentialed journalists converged
on Saint Anselm College for the final debate before the primary.
(R. Choma Photo)
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Despite the mob atmosphere the unruly herd of journalists brought
into the store, Ducharme said he personally enjoyed the visit,
especially how the candidate stopped and talked with Goffstown
residents.
"I thought it was impressive," he said. "It
was very nice that a candidate came into the store to see what
we do. He talked to some of the employees and listened to the
customers."
Debate at Saint Anselm
To a certain degree, this year's primary season was no different
than any other.
Clark's visit to Sully's might have been a first in recent memory,
but it is a scene that has been played out time and again over
the years. If they don't go to a local market like Sully's, then
they turn up at chicken dinners in church basements or on the
sidelines of your kid's hockey game.
This year's election cycle, however, brought Goffstown more than
its usual flood of attention.
When Saint Anselm College hosted a nationally televised debate
on Jan. 22, almost 2,000 people flooded onto the small Benedictine
college's campus.
Some, like Saint Anselm freshman Melissa Jenkins, welcomed
the influx of candidates, campaign staffers and national media.
In fact, the 18-year-old Jenkins said many of her peers were
ready and willing to be courted by the campaigns.
"We're the most impressionable group," she said. "If
you hook us now, we'll stay with you. And we're looking for people
to reach out to us."
During the debate, Jenkins was in the Carr Activities Center
working as a student volunteer. The cavernous fieldhouse in Carr
was turned into a media filing center complete with dozens
of televisions showing the candidates, telephone lines and wireless
Internet connections to serve the small army of journalists
who had arrived for the event.
Jenkins and a number of other students had volunteered through
the college's New Hampshire Institute of Politics to serve
as runners for the event.
Jenkins and several other student volunteers said it was a bit
overwhelming to return to campus only several days before the
debate and see all of the campaigns and media at their school.
Walking up the icy path toward the filing center, it was easy
to see why Saint Anselm students might feel overwhelmed.
Loosely contained by temporary fencing and the watchful eye of
dozens of local police officers, hundreds of campaign staffers,
volunteers and supporters rallied to show support for their preferred
candidate.
Students going to and from dinner before the debate carefully
weaved their way through the circus-like scene.
Some stopped to watch the rally, others stood laughing and took
pictures, while some simply shook their heads and walked away.
Faced with the constant racket of each group of supporters trying
to out-shout each other, not to mention a large drum circle formed
by the Kucinich contingent, the mixed response seemed understandable.
Back inside the media center, student volunteer Talia Hallet,
18, of North Straham, said there were some on campus who weren't
all that enthusiastic about the political hoopla.
"There are probably some who don't care about it,"
she said. "There are probably some who are just like, 'Get
these people off campus.' But there's a group who is really interested
and wants to take part."
That included some students who said that if the campaigns had
not come to campus, they may not have taken an interest in the
primary at all.
Student volunteer Jason Landri, 18, of New Canaan Conn., who
was helping out with security in the media center, said his group
of friends were not interested in the primary.
However, when he had the opportunity to volunteer, Landri said
he took the chance.
"My friends aren't really interested and they asked me why
I was even interested," he said. "But I saw it
as a helpful learning experience."
One aspect which the student volunteers said they did not like
was that despite being on their campus, only a handful of students
and faculty were allowed to attend the debate.
John Bozicas, a senior sociology major, said it was disappointing.
But the fact that his college was being featured so prominently
across the nation made up for it.
"It was somewhat frustrating, because (the debate and the
primaries are) such a big thing," he said. "But
these past couple weeks were so overwhelming knowing all eyes
are on us."
Fellow student Hallet agreed.
"It's bringing a lot of attention to the school," she
said. "Just seeing all the TV crews and everybody come on
campus, people are starting to realize the potential for greatness
here."
Barbara LeBlanc, director of news and information at the college,
said whatever attention hosting the debate had brought to the
college was worth it.
"I don't know what lasting effect something like this has,"
she said. "But it certainly brings Saint Anselm College
to the attention of people who might not have ever heard of it."
LeBlanc also said the debate was a victory for the college's
four-year-old Institute of Politics, proving that it was a "true
venue for political debate and expression."
"I think we've proven to the world at large that we can
pull this off," LeBlanc said.
Goffstown
Schools to
review freezing incident
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
School administrators say they are working
on a plan to prevent a recurrence of last week's incident at
Mountain View Middle School in which a fire alarm forced the
evacuation of students who stood outside in freezing temperatures
without their coats on.
A fire alarm on Jan. 23 left more than 1,200 students and staff
standing outside in temeratures in the teens.
The alarm, caused by a power surge, forced the entire building
to evacuate, and many students left the building without warm
clothing.
At the time the evacuation occurred, around 9:30 a.m., temperatures
were around 15 degrees, with a windchill of 11 below zero.
It is estimated that some students had to stay outside for about
13 minutes until the fire department could arrive to secure the
building. After returning inside, 60 students were evaluated
for hypothermia and eight were treated at the hospital.
Rose Colby, principal, said that in terms of the school's actual
response to the alarm, the evacuation went flawlessly. Unfortunately,
she said, not all the students were prepared for the cold.
Colby and SAU 19 Superintendent Darrell Lock-wood, both said
the situation raised a number of issues which are currently being
dealt with.
Colby said school officials have discussed with the staff what
occurred, and are currently in the process of developing an appropriate
response to similar incidents in the future.
She said the school's safety committee will meet next week to
work on some recommendations.
Lockwood stressed that any recommendations will not be final
because the district and its schools are constantly updating
their safety plans.
"We'll continue to brainstorm and hopefully come up with
some ideas," he said. "But I don't know if a safety
plan is ever final. You have to create contingencies for many
what-ifs."
Colby said even though school officials are working on developing
a more permanent solution to this type of situation, some strategies
have already been developed.
One major focus, Colby said, is that if a similar situation were
to arise the first priority will be to determine the type of
emergency as quickly as possible. Once it is established
whether certain areas of the building are secure, students could
quickly be moved into that area.
"It's our goal that if the kids go out, we get them back
in quickly," she said.
Colby said her staff had also been made aware of cold-specific
issues.
"We continue to look at the availability of coats and coats
that can go outside," she said. "And we've made (the
teachers) more aware of the first-aid issues with cold."
Other strategies that have been discussed included putting smaller
kids in the center of a barrier of people wearing coats.
Overall, both Colby and Lockwood said they were pleased with
the way the actual evacuation was carried out. Now, they both
said, the goal is to establish a reliable way to address an unexpected
circumstance like extreme cold.
"I think we've learned from what we did," Colby said.
"And we're going to formalize that feedback so we don't
end up saying, 'Yeah, we're going to do (this plan),' and then
find out it didn't really work."
Goffstown
Kindergarten
top item on school district warrant
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Approval of a new kindergarten for next
year is among the four articles on this year's school warrant.
Voters will have the op-portunity to propose amendments to the
articles at the deliberative session. At that session, any registered
voter can propose an amendment to the warrants, and if a simple
majority of voters approves it, the changes will be made.
The meeting will be held at Goffstown AREA High School at 7 p.m.
on Feb. 2.
The four warrants which will be presented are:
Article 1: Election of new school board members. There are three
members up for re-election.
Article 2: Approval of a new kindergarten. This is an idea
which has been discussed for almost 20 years, and last year was
defeated by only 15 votes.
This year's proposal, developed by a committee of town residents,
parents and school administrators, would cost taxpayers significantly
less than last year's kindegarten proposal.
The entire project will cost $3.3 million, but through the use
of state aid, impact fees and money from the unreserved fund,
the actual cost to taxpayers will be $256,202. This money will
be raised in one year and not bonded.
"Because the project now nets out in the $200,000 range,
it makes it more affordable to the town and also allows us to
do it in one year," said Kindergarten Committee Chairman
Peter Oseicki.
If approved by voters, the impact on the tax rate would be 21
cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. This means the owner
of a $250,000 house would pay approximately $52 this year to
fund the construction.
Article 3: Approval of the AREA Plan. This article asks voters
to approve modifications made to the AREA agreement that were
made during renegotiations this past year.
Article 4: District Operating Budget. On Article 4, voters are
asked to approve the district's operating budget for the upcoming
year, which totals $27.1 million.
This budget is significantly lower than what the school board
originally proposed after the budget committee cut significant
sums.
Funding for the high school's football program, which the budget
committee originally cut, has been returned to this budget.
This budget is recommended by both the budget committee and the
school board.
Goffstown
Charter commission
to be deliberated at Feb. 4 session
By KATE BENWAY
Staff Writer
kbenway@yourneighborhoodnews.com
A cost-saving recycling program, upped
elderly tax exemptions, a measure to create a charter commission
and the third year of the road improvement plan are among the
proposed warrant articles up for voter approval at the Wednes-day,
Feb. 4., deliberative session of the Town Meeting.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Goffstown AREA High School.
Voters will encounter 19 warrant articles, a handful of them
zoning amendments, and will cast ballots on the measures on Tuesday,
March 9, at Goffstown AREA High School.
Recycling proposal could affect proposed budget
Article 7 asks voters for $578,541 to initiate a curbside recycling
program, and for authorization to issue a $533,800 bond from
that funding for the capital expenses associated with starting
the program.
The bond will cover a truck, a new building and barrels, while
the $44,741 in operating costs will be generated through property
taxes.
The idea, said town officials, is to encourage greater recycling,
which could generate a sizable savings in trash disposal. The
more residents recycling, the less trash they throw out
and the less the town pays for disposal, they said.
In fact, officials anticipate the savings generated from the
program will cover the cost of the bond. And for the years after
the repayment of the bond, officials said the town could save
an extra $100,000 annually.
"Financially, it makes sense," said town administrator
Sue Desruisseaux. "This year's proposal is different from
last year's in that people don't need to sort their recyclables."
Residents will be given a 65-gallon blue barrel in which to pile
unsorted recycling. A town truck will pick up the barrels.
"Hopefully, if recycling is easier, people will do it more
and it will cost us less to dispose of trash," said Desruisseaux.
If the article passes, the town's operating budget will be reduced
by $69,475, which is equivalent to about four months of the recycling
contract.
Before that possible reduction, residents will see a proposed
$14.8 million operating budget, with a default budget set at
$14.3 million.
Road repair up again
Also up for consideration is the third year installment of the
20-year road improvement plan. Article 9 asks voters to devote
$1.8 million to the plan, which is designed to get the town's
roads up to par and set for consistent maintenance.
With that kind of attention, officials have said, the town will
have to devote less money to major road repairs in the long-run.
The town's budget committee requested the appropriation be broken
out into a separate warrant article, rather than remain as a
budget line item.
Elderly and veterans exemptions upped
Meanwhile, town officials want to increase the elderly tax exemptions
to even out the burden seniors felt after last year's revaluation.
"This will bring us up to the same levels as Bedford,"
said Desruisseaux.
The exemptions allow seniors a deduction on their assessed property
values; as a result, they are taxed on less.
There are a number of qualifying factors, including a comprehensive
analysis of a senior's assets.
If the article passes,the exemptions, broken out into age categories,
would be as follows: those 65 to 75 may take $25,000 (up from
$10,000) off their property value; those 75 to 80 may take $30,000
(up from $15,000) off; and those 80 or older may shave $40,000
(up from $20,000) off their assessments.
There are a handful of other petitioned warrant articles intended
to bring the town in line with newly expanded state veterans
tax credits.
Two of the credits, each granting $1,400 to veterans or their
surviving spouse, would be raised to $2,000 if the articles pass.
Another, used by over 700 households in town, would bring the
existing $100 tax credit on veterans' residential property up
to $500.
Creating a charter commission
Asking voters to establish a charter commission, article 13 will
be presented by selectmen, rather than by petition, as originally
planned.
The move will save the town from paying for two special elections.
If the article had continued as a petition, the town would have
needed to hold a special election asking whether or not voters
want to create the commission. And, upon passage, another election
would be needed to elect commissioners.
With the current presentation, if the articles passes, the town
will spend about $5,000 to hold a special charter commission
election.
The commission would then consider proposing revision to the
town's charter, which could result in a change in Goffstown's
governing system.
Other requests
Among other articles: a request to devote $80,000 to the conservation
capital reserve fund and a pitch to funnel $15,000 into the Goffstown
Main Street Program.
Weare
Proposed school
budget is $8.7 million in Weare
By KATE BENWAY
Staff Writer
kbenway@yourneighborhoodnews.com
An $8.7 million budget proposal and 13
additional warrant articles will be up for voter consideration
at the Tuesday, Feb. 3, deliberative session of the annual School
District Meeting, as school officials hope voters will break
the default budget streak.
The meeting will be at the Center Woods Elementary School beginning
at 7 p.m. After the chance to amend and consider the warrant
articles, voters will determine whether the proposals pass or
fail at the Tuesday, March 9, ballot voting session at the school.
The warrant articles reflect the trials of the town's schools
particularly the Weare Middle School, plagued by a failing
facility and overcrowding. Many of the additional articles ask
voters for more personnel, space and support.
Meanwhile, should voters shoot down the proposed $8.7 budget,
the Weare School District would work with an $8.5 million default
spending package.
Only one of the school board's proposed budgets has made it past
voters in the last five years.
Weare School Board Chairman Matthew Thomas said the warrant articles
are designed to give voters an easy, comprehensive view of what
the schools need.
"The Weare voters are an educated group, and the whole idea
behind the laundry list is to explain what we need as quickly
and easily as possible at the polls," he said.
Middle school in need
On behalf of the middle school, officials want voters to devote
$48,228 to the hiring of a guidance counselor, $40,000 toward
a portable classroom, $8,300 for the hiring of a band director
and $49,770 to bring a dean of students on board.
"We have one (guidance counselor) now and for middle school
state standards, they say there should be one guidance counselor
for every 300 students," said middle school Principal James
Spadaro. "We have 615 students right now. This is the third
year I'm asking for another counselor. The kids in the middle
school have more issues to discuss."
And the dean of students position is a creative solution to a
personnel need, said SAU 24 Superintendent Dr. Christine Tyrie.
With Spadaro and his assistant, Meeta Brown, focused on special
education, curriculum and administrative duties, the dean of
students could focus on the children, she said.
"It's a creative way to get some help without adding a third
administrator so we can offer more help with the kids,"
she said. "It's like an assistant to an assistant
more focused on working with the kids and their particular issues."
Spadaro said he and Brown are swamped and, while most schools
have a special education coordinator, the middle school does
not.
"Meeta has taken over a great deal of the special ed issues
and at the same time, we're trying to improve our instruction
with staff and curiculum development. She's taken on that as
well," said Spadaro. "We can't get it all done."
The dean of students would be the person students would go to
for both the good and the bad. Assemblies, suspensions,
parent concerns and in-class observations are just a few of the
items on a dean's to-do list.
"We're struggling getting to students as fast as we need
to," he said. "But we think this is critical work."
The appropriations are additional expenses, tacked on to the
proposed $8.7 million budget.
Up for consideration on behalf of the Center Woods Elementary
School is a $48,228 proposal to hire an additional third grade
teacher, an article devoting $15,000 toward the hiring of a custodian,
$24,115 for a half-time reading specialist and $15,905 for a
receptionist.
Weare
Budget would
hike rate by 46 cents per $1,000
By LARA SKINNER
Staff Writer
lskinner@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Town Administrator Burton Reynolds was
up late on Monday, Jan. 26, so he could post the final budget
proposal and warrants for the town meeting.
Selectmen met for their regular meeting on the same night to
approve the requests, and recommend a 1.7 percent increase in
the budget for a total of $2.74 million. This would raise the
property tax rate approximately 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed
value, or $115 dollars on a house valued at $250,000.
The operating budget is up 17 cents, and Reynolds said that is
mostly taken up with wage and health insurance increases for
town employees.
Warrant articles would add another 29 cents to the total budget
if voters approve all of the funding requests. There are 39 warrants
scheduled for the town meeting, and 21 are funding requests.
Operations at the transfer station would get the most significant
change with voter approval. Director Gerry Cornett has requested
$40,000 for new scales for the station so he can begin to measure
solid waste by the ton instead of by the cubic yard. Reynolds
said the town is charged by the ton when solid waste is hauled
from the station, and when they charge developers by the cubic
yard for construction and demolition waste the fees aren't meeting
the cost of disposal.
"(Construction and demolition waste isn't) just stuff we
can put in the hopper and send on its way," Reynolds said.
The total solid waste budget request is $353,530, up $63,389
from last year. Funds earned through the new fee system should
pay for the majority of the increase, Reynolds said. As the town
starts to recycle more, it should decrease the total tons of
solid waste that come in and hopefully reduce how much the town
pays every year for disposal.
The transfer station budget didn't increase the total town budget
partly because of last year's decision to create a revolving
fund for the recreation department. By allowing the department
to fund its programs through the fees charged for them it took
a line item out of the budget total.
Program funds aren't used to pay for building improvements though,
and the recreation department is requesting $50,000 to establish
a capital reserve fund for a new recreation building.
School officials and the recreation department have agreed to
replace the "white buildings" beside New Boston Central
School with a new center which would double as program and extra
school space.
Money in the capital reserve fund is used for a variety of purposes,
such as the skate board park or new library building proposal.
CRF helps to keep the total budget steady by planning ahead for
capital improvement projects that will cost the town over $20,000,
Reynolds said. Property taxes fund a little bit of on going town
improvements every year.
The library trustees have scaled down the plans for a new library
and are requesting $1.26 million total in the CRF for the building.
Private donations and accumulated interest in the CRF for the
library will cover $372,121 of the cost. A bond for $889,779
would cover the balance, and is less than the bond amount requested
last year.
New to the CRF is the skate board park request for $40,000 from
Leo Joy and his sons, Thomas and Alex. Reynolds said he would
like Joy to request $50,000, and he plans to seek an amendment
to the request during the Town Meeting.
Joy and his sons are hoping to raise money through fund raising
to help pay for the park.
Other warrant questions on the ballot are:
· Purchase a new "Jaws of Life" for the fire
department- $20,500.
· Purchase a replacement sedan for the police department
$31,200, with $10,000 in grant money.
· A traffic monitoring unit for $14,000.
· Funds for the State Bridge Aid program $$20,000.
· Funds toward the master plan revision $15,000.
· Repairs to the town hall roof $35,000.
· To change the tax collector's position from an elected
post to an appointed post.
· To appoint a building code board of appeals with five
members to be appointed by the selectmen.
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