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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 Board
scrambles to OK school plan
Church's
parish house ready for occupancy
Community
profile forum creates buzz about future
Helen
Piper remembered as a busy and friendly soul
Truancy
is a line item of the past
New
Boston
SPRING FLING: Some of the
best bonnets come out with the Easter Bunny. In photo above (from
left) are Daniel Comeau, Olivia Dematteis, 2, and Lisa Vickery,
2. Each got a fuzzy spring lamb for having the best bonnets in
the 2- to 3-year-old's category at New Boston's Easter Bonnet
Parade on Sunday, April 4. The event had to move inside to the
school gymnasium because of persistent rain, and the chance that
the bonnets would wilt in the wet weather.
(Lara Skinner Photos)
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Goffstown
Board scrambles
to OK school plan
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Despite working late into the night last
week, the planning board did not fully approve the plan to put
a public kindergarten on Tibbetts Hill Road.
At their Thursday, April 1, meeting, planning board members worked
until almost midnight ironing out kinks in the plan to construct
a public kindergarten on the site.
On March 9, voters passed a warrant article approving the $3.3
million proposal, of which Goffstown taxpayers will pay a one-time
bill of $250,000 to fund the construction. The rest of the funds
will come from state funds and money previously set aside.
Contributing to the low total cost of the school is the fact
that a local developer, Timberstone Realty, agreed to donate
a 10-acre lot where the school will be built. The property is
within a larger 24-lot subdivision being proposed by Timberstone.
However, to make the development profitable enough for Timberstone
to take on, the developer needs the planning board to grant a
number of waivers to exempt it from certain town codes.
Some of the potential problems needing to be resolved, include
road location, steepness of roadside terrain and overlapping
of required well radiuses.
The planning board has spent time at the last two consecutive
meetings and was able to hammer out agreements on six issues
at the April 1 meeting.
School Board Chairman Scott Gross said he believes all issues
will be worked out, but acknowledges time is running out to do
so.
"I think the only real issue is time," he said.
The school district had secured the rights to the 10-acre plot
buy purchasing an option on the land for $1.
Complicating the matter, however, is the fact that the April
1 meeting was the deadline for that option to expire.
According to Tony Marts, a principal in Timberstone Realty, that
deadline was tentatively extended to April 15, but if issues
are not resolved by then, the district could lose the opportunity
to use the property.
"If it looks like the school's not going to fit, something
else has to be done," Marts said.
The land itself is owned by the August family, but Timberstone
has a purchase agreement to develop the land.
Although that agreement will not expire anytime soon, Marts said
if the kindergarten plan is not approved by April 15, they will
have to begin examining other options.
"(Our agreement) ends later, but if we can't make the school
work, we've got to make something else work," he said.
The planning board will meet again on April 8 to consider the
final issues on the table. The proposal is also on the board's
April 15 agenda, where supporters hope it will get the final
OK.
Both Gross and Marts agreed that people on all sides are pulling
to get the work done by the deadline.
"The only reason (the project is) moving faster is because
we have been working day and night to address all the issues
that have been raised," Marts said.
Gross said the school board is appreciative of the extra hours
being put in, and said all the scrutiny is simply a result of
the planning board doing its job.
"We certainly appreciate the planning board's interest in
this particular development, (and) the fact that they're taking
the time and giving it the expedited process," he said.
"By the same token, they're doing what's expected of the
planning board (by raising all the issues.)"
Peter Osiecki, chairman of the public kindergarten planning committee,
said he was confident the proposal would eventually make it through.
"I personally think all projects have their own characteristics
and their own restraints and constraints," he said. "And
I think they just have to go through all of them like any project
and see how it all works out."
Goffstown
Church's parish
house ready for occupancy
By LAURA M. RUSSO
Staff Writer
lrusso@yourneighborhoodnews.com
On Palm Sunday, St. Matthew's Episcopal
Church celebrated the blessing of its new parish mission house
under Bishop Gene Robinson.
The mission house is newly rebuilt, replacing the previous structure
which was lost to a fire in 2002.
The Palm Sunday procession route, which normally travels
around the church, stopped in front of the mission house for
the blessing.
"The way (Bishop Robinson) did it was kind of neat,"
said parishioner and Goffstown resident Rick Simons. "Instead
of a canter, he used palms from the altar and dipped them in
holy water for the blessing."
The original parish house was turned into administrative, educational
and outreach space six years ago, after housing the church's
clergy and their families for approximately 80 years. The Feb.
9, 2002, electrical fire rendered the building "so far gone,
it had to be torn down," Simons said.
The new building offers more storage space and accessibility
for the Goffstown Network Food Pantry, and will be home to the
parish nurse program, which provides free nursing care with the
Catholic Medical Center. St. Matthew's currently runs the program
from the church basement.
Expanded Christian Edu-cation programs will be held in the mission
house as well, including youth groups, Sunday school and adult
education.
A library will be furnished with resources on life issues "from
a faith perspective," according to Reverend William Exner.
"Our parish continues to grow in leaps and bounds, especially
with young families, so it's really great" the Rev. William
Exner said. "It will be a positive influence in the community."
Architect David White actively listened to the suggestions and
concerns of church members over six months, leading to a design
with architectural integrity that fit in with the look of the
church from the outside and which was able to accommodate many
community services on the inside.
"He and Gary Chicoine Builders bent over backwards doing
a good job and helping to create what we wanted to achieve,"
Rev. Exner said. "We were delighted to work with builders
from the community on something that will be long-lasting and
serving beyond itself."
The parish house will soon be made fully handicapped accessible.
After that, there will be a final celebration party held by St.
Matthew's.
New Boston
Community profile
forum creates buzz about future
By LARA SKINNER
Staff Writer
lskinner@yourneighborhoodnews.com
One night of talking about how citizens
can improve their town wasn't enough for the 180 people who showed
up last weekend.
The community profile forum called "New Boston Speaks"
was scheduled for Friday, April 2, and Saturday, April 3, and
was packed on both days.
"We were so excited about it after coming (Friday) night
we didn't want to leave mid-process," said Lynn Wawrzyniak,
who attended with her husband.
Wawrzyniak has taught first grade at the New Boston Central School
for the past eight years but moved to town only a year ago.
She was far from the only newcomer at the forum, and there was
a good mix of long-time residents in the eight focus groups.
When Lynette and Ken Lombard joined the steering committee for
New Boston Speaks over a year ago, there were only four people
in the group. They stuck with the idea, though, and the steering
committee grew to 14 people.
"We've got to get a feeling of what the town wants,"
Lynette said before the forum.
Organizing the community profile wasn't something the committee
did on its own. It worked with the University of New Hampshire
Cooperative Extension, which is managing the Community Profile
Project.
The project was started by former Gov. Judd Gregg's administration
in the early 1990s as a way to help towns strengthen their civic
infrastructure, according to the UNH extension Web site.
When the staff at the extension office helps a town with a profile,
they let the locals do the talking.
UNH Program Coordinator Michele Gagne said any community profile
starts with 11 components of a healthy community. People who
attend the profile narrow down the components, such as lifelong
education and effective community leadership, into theme groups
that are important to their particular town.
Everyone is assigned to a different theme group, although it's
not necessarily the one they might choose. Then the groups brainstorm
some potential projects they think could benefit the community.
Finally, all of the groups come back together and everyone votes
on the projects they think will benefit the community the most.
New Boston residents whittled the 11 components down to six projects
during the two days they met.
Committees to work on improving the village center, improving
foot traffic and road safety downtown, planning and zoning for
growth, establishing a multi-use conference center, assessing
the needs of the middle school and finding a community coordinator
should start work soon.
"It depends really on what the groups' goals are,"
Gagne said.
Hopefully, people will volunteer to join action groups that will
work each project, Gagne said
The role of the cooperative extension will move from organization
to support for the people in the action groups, Gagne said, by
helping to connect the people in town with local and state resources
related to their goals.
The final six projects will also help people decide if they want
to volunteer or not.
"It depends on what the committees are and what direction
they head in," New Boston Central School teacher Gary Filiault
said on Saturday during the lunch break.
Whatever action results from the community profile, Lynette Lombard
said it was worth organizing the event.
She tried to attend a few different groups to hear what people
had to say, and said communication was a common thread between
the groups.
In the group focusing on lifelong education, there was a consensus
among people that a program to help students with the transition
between New Boston Central School and Goffstown's Mountain View
Middle School is a necessary program.
What they found out from talking about the idea was that there
is already a group in town that runs a program for precisely
that purpose.
"Somehow, we need to get the word out there to people about
what's going on in the community," Lynette said.
A follow-up meeting to review the voting results is scheduled
for Wednesday, April 14, at 7 p.m. in the library at New Boston
Central School.
Goffstown
Helen Piper
remembered as a busy and friendly soul
GOFFSTOWN Helen A. Piper, who learned
just about everything there is to learn about community journalism
back when her husband, the late Norm Piper, owned The Goffstown
News, was a "friendly soul" who rarely slowed down.
"She wasn't loud and boisterous," said Carlene Hartshore.
"She was just everywhere at once."
Piper died March 30 in the Brigham Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation
Center in Newburyport, Mass. She was 94.
"She was a familiar sight when they were operating"
The Goffstown News said Doug Gove, a local historian who remembers
Helen and Norm giving him copies of the newspaper because of
his interest in the town's past.
She was active in the community, he said, describing her as a
"nice lady."
When Norm owned the newspaper, Helen worked by his side learning
every aspect of the business. Prior to her time at The Goffstown
News, she helped her husband operate The Meredith News, which
her husband also owned and operated.
Many of the friends she made in Goffstown came from her association
with the Goffstown Congregational Church, where she was an active
member.
Virginia Parkinson of Goffstown remembers serving with Piper
on several church committees and boards, describing her as a
"pleasant person" and fairly well-known in the community.
Eleanor Porritt of the Goffstown Historical Society knew Piper
as an active member of the women's sewing circle at the church.
One of her favorite hobbies was knitting afgans for her family.
In addition to living in Goffstown, she also lived in Meredith
and South Weare.
More information on the life of Helen Piper can be found on this
week's obituary page.
Dunbarton
Truancy is
a line item of the past
By LARA SKINNER
Staff Writer
lskinner@yourneighborhoodnews.com
A line item that for years has been a regular
fixture in the school budget is disappearing.
Between summer programs and funding for the guidance office,
the $10 annual stipend for a truant officer has occupied a space
in the books for longer than anyone can seem to remember.
From 1991 to 2000, Tim Locke was the only police officer in town,
so he would have been the person to receive the $10 a year payment.
"It was a ridiculous amount," he said. "I never
collected that money."
The line item for a truant officer is still in this year's school
budget request, but there isn't an amount attached to it.
Last year's budget showed the $10, but Dunbarton Elementary Principal
Charles Gaides said the amount was never paid out.
In order to get the line item out of the budget completely, the
school board has to show a zero expense for at least three years
before it can take the line item off the books, he said.
Voiding the expense doesn't mean there isn't a truant officer
anymore, though.
Police Chief Jeff Nelson said that every officer in town is trained
to handle truants.
"I don't know of too many agencies that have an assigned
truancy officer," he said.
Manchester has an officer right in the school, Nelson said. But
for other departments, it depends on their resources.
Eric Blow, who was recently hired to work part-time in town,
is also a juvenile probation parole officer for Goffstown. He
won't be the only officer to work with truancy issues, though,
Nelson said.
Because Dunbarton students start attending Goffstown schools
in the sixth grade, Nelson said many of the truancy cases he
deals with are for Dunbarton students in the Goffstown schools.
Which police department handles a case depends on where a child
lives.
"It can be complex or it can be very simple," he said.
Sometimes, it's only a matter of sitting down with the child
and the parents for a talk about not skipping school. It is what
Nelson calls a counsel and release, and it's the most common
approach he takes.
If the child is skipping school on a regular basis, Nelson said
they may have to look further into the situation.
He works with staff at the Goffstown schools and with juvenile
court liaison Jill Girolimon from the School Administrative Unit
for Dunbarton, Goffstown and New Boston if they need to involve
the court system in a truancy situation.
It is a good system, Nelson said, but not all town police departments
can run the same way.
"Sometimes, it's easier to have a juvenile parole officer,"
he said.
Dunbarton might have had a specific truant officer when the only
form of law enforcement in town was a constable. Locke said he
considered working with students and truancy as part of his everyday
job.
"Truancy has been going on for decades," he said.
As the only town officer, Locke said he would get calls from
the school when the principal thought a child was beyond control.
As for the $10 stipend that he never collected, Locke said it's
good to clean the little line items out of the budget.
"It probably should have been done a long time ago,"
he said.
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