Who's Running for Council Seats?

When we think of January, we automatically think of the new year.
Some of us are in football play-off mode. With the Patriots playing perfect so far. it is quite the change of football team I watched as a young kid back in the seventies. ( I'm sure many can relate.)
This January is New Hampshire's month to pick a Presidential Candidate. With all the TV ads and the phone calls and attention from nationally recognized politicians, it will be a welcome and strange feeling to see them move on to other states.
and then.... Hopefully we can understand the importance of electing our local government body.
January is the time for anyone willing to commit to helping the town and the taxpayers with governing of our town. This is time of year when citizens come up and say they are willing to spend time helping our town "get it right."
We have two council seats and two school board seats that are up for election in March.
Lets talk about the council seats right now.
The two councilors whom their terms expire are: Councilor Craig Bulkley and Councilor Bev Ferrante. Bulkley is a councilor at large and Ferrante is District #3 councilor.
At this time, I can tell you that Councilor Bulkley has decided not to run. After 14 years in local politics and being a town administrator, Councilor Bulkley has given of his time, knowledge and expertise for many years and I wish to thank him and his family for the sacrifice of many years for the benefit of the town. This speaks volumes of the kind of person Mr Bulkley is and I am glad I had a chance to serve with him as town councilor.
Running for his seat of Councilor at Large will be someone who has just as much passion and knowledge of this town.
Mr.Brad Benson owner of Benson's Hardware.
And in District 3 at this point only one name as surfaced and the rumor has it that Doug Newell will run in this district. ( this rumor has been known as soon as the ADT proposal for Elderly Exemptions came out.)
Stay tuned for more on the candidates emerging to take a run at local politics.
Should be a good one!

Perfect Storm II

This topic has so many posts comments that it will be easier to continue on this new thread. Lots of good discussion is posted here and would like your comments.

Another Tight Budget Upcoming!

New preliminary numbers are getting noticed for Derry's upcoming 09 budget. As most are aware of the Town's tax cap, which is tied into the CPI ( consumer price index ) and are allowed to be raised up to that determined number.

It looks like that number will be 2.7%. meaning on town side only, Councilors will be only allowed to raise town side taxes by 2.7% maximum.

Last year it was 3.3% however the council choose to raise only by 1.9%.

My understanding is that in dollar terms, we are allowed to increase by $765,000 or so however with the town being 80-85% personal driven and with Cost of living increases, health insurance costs and everything else for projects, we have a bill of about $800,000 coming. Meaning....

Another tight tight budget and as it stands right now....

a shortfall of about $35,000.

It will be interesting to see how things get played out this year in budget time.

Some Questions like how will the largest Elderly exemption be paid for? How much will others have to pay for this potential give away? How much money will the bike path people want? $80,000? $100,000?

When will we have contracts with our seven unions?

How much will we be billed for the retirement funds this year?

How much will our taxes go up if we don't get the state ed money we got last year

( rumor has it we will have to make up $2Mil locally. That's .80Cent to $1.00 increase)

How does kindergarten affect our tax rate- How does Pinkertons new freshman wing effect us?

Stayed tuned everyone. Stay informed and enjoy the tax decrease you got this year ( as small as that was)

Things are going to get interesting in the town of Derry!

Yes Derry, There is a Santa!

Yes Derry, There is a Santa!

...and her name is Ms Hanna Rutter Martin and boy oh boy did she leave a special gift under the tree for all of Derry!

Ms. Martin has given the town an easement on 44 acres of some of the finest land in all of Derry. That's right she GAVE this gift to all of us and we thank her very much.

In a time where the all mighty dollar is king and people are buying and selling as is the American way. Every once in a great while you read stories about people who do these types of things for the benefit, for the love of community.

And to know we have those type of special people living right with us in our own town means even more about who we are as a community.

Thank-You Thank-you Thank-you! -Santa!

Perfect Storm Brewing

Nobody has a crystal ball and can fortell the future. However from what I see, we have a perfect storm brewing and it ain't pretty.
Taxpayers-Hold on! you are about to go on the ride of your life!- No I'm not talking about some new ride a your favorite amusement park either.
Taxes are about to skyrocket for the next few years.
Lets take a look into the crystal ball and see what is going on right now to foretell of this horrible situation.
The ADT ( alliance of Derry taxpayers group), and three councilors who are heavily aligned with this group- Councilors Coyle, Fairbanks, and Carney are proposing an increase in Elderly Tax exemptions. Introduced at the last council meeting , a public hearing will be scheduled in January for this very topic.
First, I want to say that this is a political ploy and pandering to the elderly voters. Why do I say this? Simple, The group of councilors know that this discussion is taken up during budget time ( March) of every year. In fact this year it was mentioned by this councilor and fell on deaf ears. Where was the voice from these councilors then- No where! so now that election time is coming they are making their pandering obvious.
Now their proposal increases every single number in the elderly exemptions making it much easier for many more people to qualify. Take a look: On allowed income we go from $28k single and 35K married to 35K single and 45K married.
The allowed income assets now are 100K ( not counting primary home) and they propose to raise it to $200k
And the amount of value in their plans increases dramatically topping out at allowing a deduction of $200K if 80 or older.
Now, allow me to make a bold statement here:
I AM IN FAVOR OF ELDERLY EXEMPTIONS AND HAVE PUBLICLY SUPPORTED THEM.
however, the program is set up for people on fixed incomes and are in need! Say it again. ARE IN NEED.
Do you think that a couple making 44K a year income and have almost a quarter of a million dollars in the bank should get a tax break? Do you have 199K in the bank?
Now make sure you understand this statement because it is very important. When you give tax breaks to some groups- others pay the difference. That's called a tax shift. Overall taxes did not go down so the savings this group proposes will be borne to the others- Called a tax increase!
Now hear me out, I don't mind paying a little extra for someone who can't make it financially but I am opposed to paying lots extra for some who may have 200K in the bank.
I say keep the exemptions that we just increased 2 years ago- it works to help the truly needy elderly. The ADT and Coyle Fairbanks, Carney proposal is a pandering tax break that raises taxes on everyone else- families, low income people that are not elderly and 94% of the rest of us taxpayers.
Also- Coyle Fairbanks and Carney are spearheading a bike path proposal which we learn the taxpayers will be asked for between 80K-100K in the next upcoming budget.
Well I'm here to tell you that may be one of every three dollars allowed for next years increase of town side taxes. What happen to needs before wants. And on top of all of these shenanigans we can anticipate that we will have to make up for shortfall of state ed dollars to the tune of at least .80 cent tax increase before we even talk kindergarten, or Pinkerton academy's new freshman experiment.
Hold on! the perfect storm is coming. Please take notice! And let me be the first one to tell you to be prepared for very rough times coming unless we get back to being frugal and spending on our true needs and not "luxury items" and/or pandering for votes.

Can you live tax free in New Hampshire?

Is it really possible to live tax free in New Hampshire? In the state that touts third overall lowest tax burden in the country, you would have to have no phone service, can not purchase gasoline, can't smoke or drink or eat out at restaurants for that matter. However most of us granite staters are not overly concerned about those taxes as much as we are about the "biggie" tax bills- our property taxes!
Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we need to pay for services such as education, police/fire, public works because money doesn't just fall off of the trees you know.
But, can anyone live in this state without paying a huge amount in taxes!
The answer is YES!
Now before you get all excited about saving loads of money, there are requirements that need to be met. After all, This little secret should be for some one on limited income right!
How about someone who has paid into the tax system for many years and now may need help- Of course.
Look lets be real for a minute. Most of us at any given times in our lives don't get all the services that our taxes pay for. It will never happen. In fact, many of us that move into the towns that we inhabit don't shop the tax rate and see what services we could use and which ones we won't need. ( neat concept though)
OK, lets see how someone could live property tax free in Derry!
1) Must be at least 65 years old
2) Must be a NH resident for at least 3 years
3) Can Not make more than 28K as a single person or 35K married in SALARY
4) NOT including your home- you may not have more than 100K in funds
If you meet these above requirements- you are allowed a tax exemption.
That exemption will depend on your actual age.
65-74 yrs of age- you get to deduct $82,300 of value off of your assessed value on your home
74-79 yrs of age- you get to deduct $122,000
80 or older- you get to deduct $163,300 off of assessed value.
Not bad.
In todays market there are plenty of 2 bedroom, single floor condos that one could purchase for under $163300. And therefore! You can live tax free in the Granite State!

Bring on Big Box Stores!

The results of our on-line polling revealed that readers want the town to bring in Big Box stores into town. The poll results were up for 3 weeks and here's how the readers responded.

Q: Does Derry want Big Box Stores?

Yes votes=23

No Votes=15

Unsure=3

I believe we should bring some into town. We will never compete with the Salems, Nashuas, Manchesters in the retail business, however we should have some good cross mix of big box right here at home. Thanks to all the participated!

Tax Savings!

What to do with your tax savings this year should be an easy question to answer. Believe it or not, some do not even know that we have a tax break this year. Did I say tax break? Can you image those two words together? Tax break and Derry. What is wrong with this world anyway. We all know that Derry residents never get a tax break. Well it happened folks! Spend it wisely too.
I know what your going to say next.
Tax break, I don't see a tax break or even better I don't feel a tax break.
Well that's because it is .10Cents /per 1000 valuation on a home.
Average $250,000 home will get tax relief of $25.00 and lets remember that the taxpayers have paid upfront their April to July bill at 22.15/1000 and so we get a rebate for those 3 months so add an additional $8.00 to the $25 and
Whamo! you get an additional $33 dollars to spend on whatever your little heart desires.
Spend on extra food. Great I can get a couple more boxes of cereal. How about putting an extra 12 gallons of gasoline in my vehicle- Nice a trip to Boston and Back should cover that.
Maybe put it in my retirement plan and watch it take off. with the way the dollar is going right now who knows it may grow 10 fold in 20 years or so. Good think social security will have my back!
But seriously folks, at least it did not go up- our taxes that is.
And with all the talk about bike paths at 400K and a in house attorney fees possibly going up and additions to Pinkerton and the bus drivers joining the teamsters union and health care increases and well you get it!
Enjoy your tax break this years and lets hope to see more in our lifetimes!

Turkey and Football!

Here we are again. Thanksgiving time. Hope everyone has a very happy one.
And what would Thanksgiving be without football?
The Pinkerton Astros have done it again. Its a three-peat!!
Congtats to all !

Last nights town council meeting

Last nights town council meeting was certainly an interesting one to say the least. The issues that were discussed were funding the remaining monies for CLD in making progress for exit 4A. Also we discussed future contracts from the fire dept dealing with surrounding communities coming before the town council for their review and last about the possibilities of bringing on a police prosecutor and making that position an attorney instead of a police officer that does this work for us presently.
Like I said earlier,interesting meeting and interesting outcomes.
I will post the video when it becomes available
In the meantime, if you had a chance to see this meeting. What were your thoughts?

Where have all the bargains gone?

Can the news get any more depressing? Today I have read where oil has reached an all time record high coming close to $100 a barrel! Not good.
Food prices seem to be getting way out of hand. Each week it seems to go up higher and higher and rumor has it that gas in our area will be over $3 before Christmas.
We all have heard of the real estate market with limited buyers and overstock of 10-12 months supply and even with the limited buyers out there the banks are tightening their credit lines and only lending to a small group with impeccable credit.
Times are tough right now. Even the food banks are empty and winter has not even officially started.
Right now my concerns are for the elderly and single parent homes who live on fixed or limited income. What choices must they have to make. Lets hope things change for the best soon.
In the meantime, I would like readers to chime in and let us know when you find a bargain out there- you know- like a gas station that has the best prices, maybe restaurants that are giving senior discounts or maybe special prices on food staples such as milk, bread, eggs.
Where do you find your bargains. What are some ideas to help people save money. If we can all share, maybe it will help even a little bit.
In your responses if you can put the date in, location and prices that would help.
PS- All of us know of elderly neighbors or neighbors that live paycheck to paycheck. Lets make it a point to check in with some of these people and make sure they are doing OK this winter. it looks to be a tough one coming.

What does the future hold?

Lots of talk about economic development in Derry and the kinds of businesses we would like to have and cultivate in our town so that we may begin to turn the tax ratio of residential/business mix in line to a more reasonable shift of tax burden off of an already high residential taxing.
Simply put- We need more business in town if we want taxes to go down.
Right now the town is in round table discussions about what we would like to see.
Some say the answer is Bio-tech companies coming in, others say medical jobs is where we need to concentrate and others simply say the town should not go after "big box retail stores"
Its very easy to say we want the best and we want the highest paid jobs here in Derry and we want medical jobs when we see that surrounding towns are going after these very same medical jobs.
Londonderry now has Elliot Hospital facilities and they want these jobs, Manchester announced major medical planned business for the old Jac Pac area and so it goes that Derry again will be competing for these jobs
But what about retail- There is a big movement in Derry to discourage big box- watch and see how they come out slamming against it.
Don't we realize that we should go after all of it-what ever we feel that will bring in jobs and commercial tax base.
Should we focus on future forecasts of what opportunities await the New Hampshire economies? If such a report was out there, should we not look at it and prepare?
Here it is folks http://www.nhes.state.nh.us/elmi/pdfzip/econanalys/Look_forward/lookingforward.pdf
Take a look and see what the experts have to say. You will be surprise to learn that retail business is a high growth area. And if we rule it out and concentrate on bio-tech, other towns will beat us to the punch and we'll have nothing. nothing but high taxes.

Poll Results are in.

For the latest poll results the question asked was
Do you believe the town needs an animal control ordinance?

The voting went this way

yes=22

no=19

not sure=5

This was a very close one. It seems to me that by looking at this vote, some requirments may be needed however the less government restrictions the better. It sends a clear message that it must be well thought out and make sense.

your thoughts?

Grade your councilors

Time again to grade your councilors for the second quarter of this year. How do you think the current council is doing?
How can the council do better?
What issues do you want your councilors to deal with and are you more apt to participate in your town government.

With two council seats coming up in March, who do you think will step up to the plate and put their names in the "ring"

Also I would like to know what the current council has done that you consider to be a good thing for the community.
Lets hear it!

Downtown Hauntings?

Folks, On Saturday Oct 27th from 12:30-3:30 is a chance to come out and walk the downtown with the kids and visit our local businesses for the annual "trick or treat" in the downtown. The kids will have fun! You get to see the many different businesses we have and get a first hand opportunity to support our local businesses for the up-coming holidays.

The businesses in the downtown and up Crystal Ave to Hood Commons have treats ready for the visiting goblins.

If this is your first time walking the downtown, you will be pleasantly surprised at the different kinds of stores and the different kinds of products they sell. You may even get some future gift ideas that will save you time, money and gasoline and hopefully the weather will be great as well.

PS.... tell all your friends, bring all your friends. Get out and visit our downtown!!

91A skinny

Alright, Here's what i have found out about the 91A requests.

Since July 1st 2007. There have been six requests. Staff time to comply with these requests has totaled more than 50 hours, including 14 hours for the most recent.

Another request involving the sale of the former town hall is at 30 hours and still open.

What could someone possibly want with information from over 7 years ago? We will probably find out in some media outlet I guess.

And we find out we are averaging more than 1 per month.

80 hours of research at what cost per/hr?

Maybe the law should also consider charging the cost of the man-hours it takes to fulfill these requests.

After all it is your tax payers monies that are being used here.

Now, I'm not saying that citizens do not have a right to get information- they certainly do.
However you would probably agree that this could also be mis-used as some political posturing.

What are your thoughts?

Lets go Red Sox!

Council and Patrolman's Union come to agreement!

A very light meeting on the 16th. where we had 1 item on the agenda. The agreement between the patrolman's union and the town. I would first like to say thanks to both sides for working diligently to keep the talks going. It's one thing to "draw a line in the sand" and another to carefully listen to each other's positions and to come to an agreement.

The patrolman will get an increase of 2.5%

They will have to pay in contributions for their heath care from 12% to 14%

These are the major components to the agreement.

The rest of the meeting? Click on the council link on the top right to get a viewing of the meeting.

Derry's 2007 tax rate set!

Well we have some good news to report. The Towns 2007 tax rate has been set by the state of New Hampshire's DRA (dept of revenue administration) and it's LOWER than the previous years! Last year the rate was $22.15 and this year it will be $22.05. 11 cents less/per 1000 of assessed value on our homes.

I know, Once you do the math you realise that it does not add up to "tons of money" however just the facts that we see the words lower taxes and Derry together is something we are not use to.

Some of the contributing factors are:

1) The town did not spend up to the allowed amount that is determined by the town side tax cap. The town council choose to leave .10cents which could of been used, back in the hands of the taxpayers. Not bad considering that we ( town side) is mostly personal costs and have increases in salaries, heath care costs and retirement funds that increase on a yearly basis.
It will be $7.64 and last year was $7.50. ( an increase of 1.9%)

2) The school rate went down .24 cents to 11.08 from 11.32. The reduction was due to the application of additional funds of 2.5 million to actually reduce that rate. Bonds from capital projects were closed out, lower enrollments and lower special ed costs at PA. higher budget interest and rental income and the work of school board to make cuts.

3) The state Ed tax actually went up 3 cents from 2.41 to 2.44

4) County Rate went down 4 cents to .89 from .93.

So, even though it is not a huge difference than last years, WE are going in the right direction!!

Derry loses a town treasure.

It is with great sadness that we learn that a great town treasure has passed. Mr Albert Doolittle has passed away. At age 93, Mr Doolittle has taught many of us some of life lessons. His commitment and dedication to the town was very inspiring and he will be missed by many.

if anyone has any great stories to share about Albert- Please share!

Blogging gaining popularity!

Many thanks to all of the Derry NH Politics blog readers out there. It has been 7 months of Postings and comments from a lot of you readers and I do appreciate all the comments, input, feedback and constructive criticism.
I hope to make this better as time goes on and really like the fact the people are talking about the issues that effect them most

Just some stats to share with you

Since last March, This blog has had 7,606 visits
This blog averages 61 visitors a day
and the average time reading the posts is 4:24 while on this blog.

Please spread the word about the blog and have more people make comments and share views. The success is because of you! I remain committed to bringing another avenue for people to speak their minds and share ideas.
Keep up the input and..
Thank you for caring.

Is it time for an Animal Control Ordinance?

Discussions will be underway tomorrow evening about the possibilities of creating an Animal Control Ordinance for the town of Derry.
Other towns have such laws that regulate the amount of land a land owner must have in order to own such animals as horses, goats, pigs, and chickens.
The questions will be just how much land is needed to own lets say a horse? Is it 1 acre, 2 or 3 acres? What should that requirement be and should the same land threshold apply to chickens that horses should require? These can be some complicated matters to "iron out"
We have heard stories of multiple horses on a 3/4 acre parcel- heck I've even seen horse on properties right off By-Pass 28. Is this cruel or unusual? Good questions! Who will determine the laws? what will the penalties be? Will we be meddling with Land owners rights? Will the town be challenged?
I certainly understand that anyone that would treat animals in a cruel way should be prosecuted to the fullest under the state laws we have today. The story a couple weeks back of the Salem women that had hundreds of dogs living in squalid conditions is a very sick and cruel person who should be taken to court and prosecuted! No doubts.
I will see what the discussion brings, however my first thoughts are with land owner rights and unless arguments are shown that Derry needs new laws to protect animals is necessary,I will side on proceeding slowly. After all we do have state laws in place already, do we need more stringent laws locally? Stay tuned- It will be a very interesting discussion. What are your thoughts???

More Downtown Activity

Things are really starting to take shape in the downtown. As I take my evening walk around the downtown, I have noticed some additional activity in the downtown area. First, I see more and more people walking the downtown area and going into the stores more than I have seen in a long time! This is a good thing!
I noticed that Sabatinos is now open and in fact the last two evenings it has been "packed". with patrons and the owners did a great job on the decor. What a difference a good looking store can make.
Speaking of nice looking new stores in the downtown-Bachmans Florist as well as done a great job in their new location ( across from Jake D's). This really goes a long way in making the downtown appealing! The Met has been saved and will be a destination spot for many in the downtown. I congratulate them for doing a great job in raising the needed money to keep the museum alive and well.
On a not so good note, we lost the Fire Hall Pub recently and the restaurant is up for sale. I'm hoping it won't be long before a new business comes along and makes a go of it.
The next big improvements will be the Rte 102 & Crystal/Birch intersection being upgraded in the summer of '08. Look for some big improvements for not only traffic patterns but the look and feel of the intersection.
Please support our local merchants and if you have not been to the downtown in a while- get out of your car and walk the downtown- You will see these improvements and you will have an opportunity to make the downtown a thriving and exciting place to be as well as seeing more businesses wanting to do business here. Thank you for your support Derry!

Last poll results

From our last poll question: who will be the next president of the United States

Clinton 5 votes
Obama 5 votes
Edwards 6 votes
Romney 1 vote
McCain 3 votes
Thompson 5 votes

Edwards takes this poll voting!
* Sorry I did forget Gulliani and could not edit this poll.

4A or Not to 4A!

4A or not to 4A That is the question.

The answer is not an easy one to answer. Lets first look at what happens if the 4A project goes away. What will be the ramifications that Derry will face? This is the very point I had made at our council meeting Tuesday night. We all know that projections for residential population growth in East Derry, Chester, Sandown, Raymond will continue to grow. Now add to the populace once the I93 widening goes according to plan. We start to see major gridlock on Rte 102 in Derry getting to Exit 4 on Interstate 93. Without mitigation, expect to see business choked off and once this happens no business will want to locate in the downtown. So from this standpoint, we should get this done.

Next, by building exit 4A will have economic impact in a positive manner. Businesses will want to locate close-by to easy access points on and off I 93 which presently speaking we don't have today. This is one reason why we lose business to Londonderry. From this standpoint we should get it done.

Now lets look at some important issues that keep coming up.
Most important- Where's the beef? or where's the money coming from. We know the longer this goes on the more costly it becomes. We now have a figure of about 20-30 million to complete the project with 5 million committed by each Londonderry and Derry and 3 million from the state.
This is where we must be careful in making sure all accurate information can be received by the public. The people against are assuming that because we have a price tag on project, that the towns will have to pay. Again that is an assumption by these people. We are only obligated to the 5Million. So when we hear the horror stories of having to attract 24 Walmarts to make this thing work- remember that they assume that we will not get any fed funds or additional state funds. I don't think there is a politician alive that would support only local support.
I will say however that it will be of utmost importance that the local politicians, state politicians, county and NH fed politicians will need to use our collective powers to demand to be heard on this issue. After all we are the 4Th largest community! We must demand action and we must do it together!

The special 4 A meeting was interesting. I do understand that some people will be affected by this project and are not happy about it. no doubt. However, what i found interesting was that the Londonderry residents said they are not happy because Derry benefits from this. And I heard that the Derry residents aren't happy because Londonderry benefits from this. Each side thinks the other will make out.- I think everyone wins myself.
I'm sure that this discussion will be a major discussion point in upcoming elections.
Lets look at facts and separate the assumptions and not be scared by these tactics, on the other hand we need to make sure everything is looked at, discussed and reviewed under a microscope. Which leads me to say that we need to finish the EIS study and then we can hold the politicians accountable for getting us fed and state money.

I know, i know you are saying that the state and feds keep saying they have none. and if you choose to believe this and do nothing-we get what we deserve in the end, however i notice as the feds and state say they have no money- Manchester keeps getting projects done- Why, They know together they have the power. They keep saying 93 has no money to complete and that all state projects are pushed out, yet i see on a daily basis the airport access road which benefits Bedford, Merrimack and Manchester being worked on, money being spent again why?, They collectively demand to be heard and what about Derry and Londonderry? Will we be heard or are we going to debate hypothetical with each other while other communities laugh and get their projects done. Think about it folks. We need to start demanding! Now Today!

Open Forum

Whats on your mind? Lets see what people want to talk about.
If your a new reader-click on the comment section below and you may post a comment and stay anonymous if you choose.

Town Council Meeting 9/5

I apologize to the Derry NH Politic blog readers in that this post is a little later than the normal times I post. However here is a recap of the last town council meeting.
The meeting started with the congratulations of councilor Carney becoming a new father. We wish the Carneys well in the new chapter of their lives.
Public Hearing on Parking ban on Mt Pleasent St passed by a 5-2 vote.
I basically voted against because i wanted to have limited parking on a time schedule vs an all out ban of parking. The other vote against was councilor Fairbanks.
and then the next public hearings were the discussions on purchasing conservation land and development rights. The hearings got ugly at times, the chairman shut the meeting down for 5 minutes and the rest of the meeting was just plain ugly.
Just when we think that the East /West Derry dividing line is eliminated ( fire dist) now comes the new separatists who say that the Derry Conservation members only deal with East Derry and not with anything on the West side. ( how much do you want to bet these same people will not say a word about the Manning st issues next week)
Its all a show! Some people want to show division, want to cause dis-course and want to show anger. I don't know about you, I'm getting very tired of the shenanigans for the couple of years.
At the end of the meeting, it is a shame that when some members of the council noticed that Ms Ives was the last person to approach the podium to speak and a motion was made to extend the meeting another 10 minutes that these champions of the people prevented a member of the public from speaking. That's about as low as councilors I have ever seen. And if it were a member of their peanut gallery instead of Ms Ives and they got shut down and prevented from speaking you would of heard the world come to an end.
Shame shame on those council members-you know who you are!

Latest Poll Results

The latest poll results are in...

The question was: What do you feel is the most important thing we should accomplish in Derry.

The answers: Acquire more conservation land - 6 votes 25%
Build a recreational facility - 3 votes 12%
Build a senior citizen facility - 1 vote 4%
Lower property taxes - 6 votes 25%
Pass Open Space ordinance - 8 votes 33%

Thank-you all who voted! Interesting results. Please vote on the newest poll!

Positive Downtown News!

The last week in the news has shed some major positive developments for the Downtown that will make positive strides in bringing a vibrant downtown that will keep momentum moving forward for years to come.
It was reported that the old building that was once D&J Auto and is now owned by the Benson's will become a new building that will be something like the Bolio building across the street. The Bensons are looking to make this building a mixed use building with retail on lower level, office space on mid- level and apartment/housing on top level. This should be in front of planning soon.
Speaking about the Bolio building the DEDC has received a loan from the Executive council (state) for this building.
There is a new business coming in across from Jake D's. I should say it is not a new business but they have relocated to the downtown from Crystal Ave. Welcome Bachman's Florist! I walked by a few ago and saw the owners hanging up a nice sign. They told me they are moving in for Labor Day! We wish them the very best in their new home.
Anthony's Cusina is up and running. I had a chance to get in and taste the special of the day. Nice atmosphere and very friendly employees!
Sambitno's awning looks incredible! Can't wait to sample this North End Italian food.
And we are still ready to go with the big intersection of Rte 102 and Crystal/Birch intersection improvements for 2008. Take the utility lines underground, re-align the intersection, add additional turning lanes. This will be a major improvement!
I have not seen this much movement in the downtown for a long time.
We must keep the positive things going! and keep supporting the business owners!

Desperate Times

The "John Burtis" project (aka the lets get Ann Evans a new street project so that bad truck drivers who make deliveries to her store don't have to make tight right hand turns project )keeps getting distorted as the voting comes near. His latest letter to the Derry News certainly shows how desperate these project participants have become.

Yes, this post is about Manning St proposed roadway!

Two Months ago it was Mr. Burtis himself who claimed that there were no traffic studies done in the area and that I was simply making this up because he wants to paint a picture of a councilman who should not vote because of a "perceived" benefit. ( What that benefit is I would like to know? The claim is I don't want extra traffic in my pristine neighborhood)
After I located the study and posted it on this blog did the Burtis team start to create new reasons for putting in the road. reasons that don't focus on facts from the study. Stay tuned as the reasons are getting more and more outrageous

I stated from the very beginning that I do not want this project because it is an absolute waste of taxpayers money. Did I know about this study? Yes. I had read it the first time around when it was first discussed. Did I read it? Absolutely and this is how I knew it would have NO IMPACT on traffic flow in the area. Did I come to the conclusion that it makes no sense building the road because no traffic flow improvements would be had and that spending 80K is a waste come from reading the report?
The answer is YES. However the "burtis project" members want you to think otherwise.
Mr Burtis wants the street to alleviate Rte 102 traffic which he compares to the Sana Monica freeway in California
Mr.Cooper wants the street so that downtown air pollution will just dis-appear
Mr Dimmock wants it because he's tired of having only two additional choices to get to town hall instead of three from his home around the corner.
and finally Ms Evans wants it so that her delivery drivers are happy- she even used that old tried and true tactic of she already knows how the vote will come out and that she holds out no hope of getting what she wants.

Lets all recap the facts:
1) Study makes no recommendation to do this road from a traffic alleviation standpoint
2) It will cost 80K to pave this extension and additional costs every year thereafter for maintenance
3) The bike path runs down this proposed street and there is not room for both. The feds gave us fed funds and they must approve this or will have to give back funds possibly
4) It is not an approved street via RSA law. Its an old rail way corridor and was never officially laid out according to law.

Now I ask you the readers- do you want facts or do you want smoke and mirrors? For the Burtis project members new mantra " desperate times deserves desperate measures and that last letter to the Derry News takes the cake!

Town Council Meeting 8/14

What an interesting town council meeting we had the other night. Could make a Hollywood movie out of this last meeting.

First we had our consent agenda: On it was a public hearing pertaining to an EIS study and Exit 4A. Seems we need to have some additional funding to make sure we are ready for the new exit.
Mr Carney raised an objection and wanted this postponed because of the uncertainty about the Rte 93 expansion that has been in the news recently. As many are aware, The state says it has limited money and may decide to widen from Salem to Windham for now. ( This would be a huge mistake as most of the motorists using 93 are from Manch, Derry Londonderry)

Mr Carney in my opinion is wrong about this because it will cost more money if postponed. The money is for the study to be ready for 4A when it comes- Postponing will cost taxpayers more money in the long run.
Next up is the public hearing for the never ending saga of conservation land. The last few weeks has been interesting to say the least about the WEST DERRY vs EAST DERRY treatment of land conservation ( This story has had a life of its own and continues with public hearings coming up)
An emergency preamble got shot down about parking ban along side Mt Pleasant street. It seems most of the highway safety committee believe it will be an issue with buses when school starts. Carney, Coyle,Fairbanks voted down the emergency and because it needed 2/3rd vote it failed. Lets see how the buses fair if any issues come up. And if they do- you may go to the town's web page and look up those councilors numbers and let them know how you feel.

The municipal center will now have an ATM in it so that you can have options when paying your bills.

And then the what everyone waits for all night: Public forum. The same cast that comes most meetings were there and then The Police Union head Mike Houle approached and spoke to the full council about the Morale issues. Twenty officers in street clothing came to support Houle and show a united front. Stay tuned for the next episode:

Of yes, almost forgot. We know know the real reason that there is a push for Manning street to go in and its for the pleasure of one business. She said it herself. Even when studies are against it, even when spending 80K for a wasted project is spoken about. This small groups wants it for that one business. This issue will be discussed next month.
What are your thoughts?

Poll Results

Last poll results are in:
Q: Is the downtown important for Derry's economic image?

Yes=32 votes

No=18 votes

Unsure=9 votes

Who cares=1 vote
According to the poll results it looks like Derry does want a clean vibrant and busy downtown. This is important to note that we want to make sure that as "outsiders" come into Derry-that we put the very best image out for them to see. Thanks for all who participated.

Derry in the news

Seems like in the last few weeks Derry has had a few lead stories coming from town.
First, we all heard about our police officer being hit by a DWI and then the next thing you know more officers are being hit by vehicles. Then we hear about the lady who decides to give guns to her teenage kids and the kids think its OK to start shooting as a warning to other teens. Where do the judgement of these people come from?
Two days ago we hear the tragic death of a pregnant woman who got ran over by the truck she was traveling in and the fact that they delivered the baby alive right here in Derry.
We are not alone though as we see stories coming from Chester- Whoa now Chester has got some big issues to deal with.
Londonderry has the re-zoning petition controversy going.
Hooksett has the the famous four- the gossip ladies who got fired and have now sued to get their jobs back.
So you see Derry citizens, we are not alone- just when you think the stories can't get any more bizarre- just sit back and read the newspapers.
What other interesting stories have been reported that are interesting?

Welcome Anthony's Cusina

A new downtown business has opened last week and people are already giving Anthony's Cusina a glowing review. The new Italian Restaurant will be serving breakfast and lunch with daily specials and deserts. They also do catering for those small to large gatherings. I have to get over and try them out and hope readers of this blog go on over and say hello and try the menu. One of my friends said that she had tasted the best ever shrimp scampi and it was the best she has ever tasted! Looking over the menu it looks like great prices as well.

Anthony's Cucina is located at 43 East Broadway Derry New Hampshire
Phone number is 603-421-0130

Tell them we sent you over!

Lets show our support to the Derry downtown businesses and tell family and friends to come on down to the downtown too.

Open Forum

As promised! It's Open Forum time. Whats on your mind Derry?
I'm also curious to get responses from outsiders of what you think about Derry ( after reading some of these posts on my blog)

If your new and not sure how to respond. Look below to the comments button below. Click on with your mouse and follow the simple directions.

Also, what do you want to see in new items on this blog?

Unacceptable!

I 've seen this same story over and over, many times in newspapers and on television about someone with multiple DWI charges being caught once again Driving while under the influence. I'm always saying to myself when are the laws going to be tough enough before someone goes out and kills someone. Well today we learn that both the drunk driver and the person who almost got killed were both from Derry.
How in the world, in this day and age do we as a society give people who have lose their licence, a licence to go out and act irresponsibly and maybe kill a person today, or maybe a family enjoying a vacation. This is ludicrous.
One of our boys in blue is very lucky to be alive today! We pray for his quick and speedy recovery.
Officer Robert Moore was on special detail in windham were he was directing traffic on Rte 28 close by to Rte 111 when he was struck. The reports say he slipped in and out of conscioness and he was med-flighted to a Boston hospital were he is recovering.
As for the fate of the drunk driver- we must make sure she is not able to get behind the wheel of a vehicle again. Remember driving is not a right it is a privileged and when you abuse the privilege and endangers other lives, the laws should be strengthened to make sure this kind of thing does not happen again.
What are your thoughts?

Being Criticized

Going into my fourth year as a town councilor, I realize that you can not make everyone happy. I have taken my fair share of criticism and tried to learn from it. Could I have done things better or should I have voted a different way on some votes, perhaps.
Ah but politics are not always easy and many times hard decisions must be made. I knew this running for re-election and accepted the fact that people will disagree or not like the way I vote or the way I handle some issues.
Recently, I have been criticized for my comments about the "MET" closing it's door. The "MET" as many know is the children's museum that is located in the downtown.
It has been reported that lack of funds has set them back and they are unable to pay their rent and bills and are forced to close their doors.
I want to first say that I wish that they could stay and they are an asset to the downtown and community, in fact when they first started in Londonderry, my oldest daughter at the age of six enjoyed the many activities they had to offer. When we first learned that were moving to Derry, everyone embraced them and helped support them in their new surroundings. This is what a community should do.
Now, I first learned that they were closing their doors from a news reporter just last week. I had no idea what they were paying for rent, if they were late paying rent or anything like that-nor did i expect to know the private details between the private non-profit or the private holding LLC company.
Now I get criticized because my comments when asked about the MET closing was it would have a ripple effect- some businesses come and some go. And so I get slammed by two letters for being insensitive and one for not being pro-active in trying to save the museum. In fact, a comparison to Dover and Dover's mayor was made and naming me the past chairman for the previous year as the bad guy.
At no time, when i was chairman or even the last six months as a councilor had anyone from the MET come to me or any councilor and ask for any help ( we just finished budgets and no one came looking for town dollars) I am not saying I would of voted or not to give taxpayer money, I am saying I knew nothing till the very last minute. My comments were also taken out of context. I merely stated i felt bad, however I choose to look at the bright side of things and said something else would come in. Just because i choose not to start pointing fingers or using the closing to bad mouth the DEDC doesn't mean I'm disappointed they are leaving!
In fact, being a business owner myself and growing up in a small family business, I know full well that its tough being a small business owner and many times venture fail. That's America! The beauty of it is that people can start all over again. That's what i meant from my comments in the paper, not that I don't care I do. But just like in nature, the fit survive.
Also I do not believe that government is here to subsidy private businesses.
And to compare Derry to Dover is two different entities. I think before anyone starts talking about using taxpayers money to help private businesses we need to see Derry's tax rates come down!
What are your thoughts about the MET closing?

Poll results

The poll results are in.
The Question: should the town build a new recreation facility?

Blog readers voted this way

NO=28 votes
Yes=12 Votes
Thank you for those who participated.

The DOT Band-aid approach

I just don't understand the logic behind the DOT's massive scale down of the highway project on Rte 93. We have collectively been strategizing regionally for the widening of I93 from 2 lanes to 4 lanes in both the North and South bound traffic. For years, we have heard that it is important to do for many reasons and mostly because of safety reasons. How many times and how many stories have we heard about traffic deaths on Rte 93. Year after year, the stories get worse. Commuters are jammed in on a daily basis moving from job to home and talk about bumper to bumper, Its not difficult to see how the next set of accidents will be multi-car accidents. 5,10,15 cars at at time. Could you not see in the future a deer running out and someone hitting the brakes during commuter times, Yikes!

Now comes the DOT in their infinitive wisdom, saying we just don't have the money to do the I93 project completely. They want to stop at Windham. So from Salem to Windham they will fix and postpone From Derry/Londonderry and Manchester. Folks does it make sense to postpone the project from the communities with the most populace? Are not the most accidents between Exits 5 and 4 already?
Band-Aid approaches are not the way to go here- We are talking about peoples lives, and livelihood's. The "gateway into NH" if you will. The DOT should stay the course of doing the whole 93 project, today and lets find a way to make it a priority!
What are your thoughts??

Londonderry wants new weapons?

Alright, I know I'll catch some flack for this however it's just too funny to pass up on. In todays UL the Londonderry police are asking for Tazer guns. Why? It'll be kinder and gentler to use on anymore escaped goats! and with less fall-out too...

Council Meeting 7/11

It's been about three weeks from the last meeting and It has been a very nice little break after the March elections and April May budgets and workshops that we had. However the peoples' work never stops and so we had a interesting meeting last Tuesday night.
I will point out that it was interesting to see many of the "frequent attendees" in the audience. especially when it was our new town administrator's first night. A kind of meet and greet the regulars you may say.
The big topic of the evening was the extension of the sewer to shutes corner for the new development ( Gas station, bank, and pharmacy ). In doing so, there will be about 8-10 home owners affected. 4 of them MUST tie into the system because of the age of their present private septic systems. A betterment fee of $5000 was proposed of the cost per homeowner for this service. We did have a homeowner who did not like the fact that he would have to tie in at that cost and was concerned about how to pay for this improvement.
In my question, I asked Tom Carrier how much a replacement leach field/septic system would be without this public sewer improvement. Answer-$7500-$12,000
My thinking was why complain about public sewer at 5K vs replacement private at a larger cost? The homeowner would no doubt improve his home value.
Don't get me wrong I do understand that it can be hard to come up with an extra 5K however the town will do payments ( with interest) but the improvement in home value will be almost instant.
However we get into this subsidy thing the last time we did sewer improvements and swore we would stop this practice- Well not that night- this CAN NOT keep going on like this ( a motion was made to cut the fee to 4K with the rest being subsidised by the rate payers) and I basically caved because i didn't want to jeopardize the commercial project for short money. I won't do it any more though you may hear in the future " YOU DID IT FOR THEM WHY NOT FOR THESE" and quite frankly that will lead us down a very slippery slope.
Also the Well ordinance was re-vamped- I voted for no changes because i believe that buyers of new homes should have the right to test for whatever they want to. why should government tell builders what they must test for. it just adds another layer of bureaucracy. we don't need that do we?
The Police dept was awarded a grant which they will purchase equipment with- That's a good thing.
And then the always entertaining public forum. Mr Benson started the night off with the never ending battle of Manning St. seems like this goes like the energizer bunny it keeps going and going and going. Not to be the only voice on that subject Mr Dimmock spoke in favor of it and then Mr Cooper. Mr Cooper wants all to know that the air quality in the downtown will be gone away once we put Manning st in. Folks, this is the most laughable thing i have seen since being a councilor. If you believe this, I got some great buildable land to sell you in the everglades.. cheap....and who of us thinks that Albert Dimmock is the expert on this subject please speak now.. I mean, who writes this stuff? Funny.
One new face had asked for us to look into a noise ordinance for the town. We will look into that as she has good points as well as others on the subject.
And then council requests- When I brought up the fact that the town could sweep the side walks in the downtown of the trash and cigarette butts, Mr Metts immediately looked at me and said " what about my business, is anyone coming to sweep over at Clam Haven" in a facetious manner.
NO RICK your business is a private business that you need to sweep yourself- the sidewalks of downtown is OWNED BY THE TOWN!- yes it would be nice if the business owners would help out i agree, however by turning the other cheek the sidewalks stay dirty and I for one think using a couple of seasonal workers to sweep for a couple hours is a good investment in our trying to get a vibrant downtown being more attractive. Just my thoughts, what do you think?

Readers Speak.

The latest poll was. Should the town hire an in house attorney?
And the responses came back 17 NO and 6 Yes. Over a 2-1 margin.
Thanks for voting. Please make sure you vote on this weeks Poll.

Thank-you Dr Moody

It's been a quiet last couple of weeks in Derry Politics. I must admit the "spotlight" has been off of Derry and onto our neighbors instead- reading about the town issues in Londonderry and Chester have kept the newspapers looking over there a little bit more.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Moody for filling in as acting town administrator for the last 5 mos or so. He did a great job in my opinion. First he stepped up to the plate and said he would fill the temporary position because he quite simply wants to do whatever he could to help his community! Because he cares about his community.
Why else would someone put off his retirement to come into a "bees nest" in dealing with a town council who at the time was fighting with each other on every opportunity it could. ( It is getting better and Dr. Moody helped it to be so ).
And who else would of went without the benefits, health care, car stipend and all other benefits. You may say he did not need them and I say you may be right but I'm saying any one other than Dr. Moody would of wanted extra money in exchange for those benefits- wouldn't you agree?
Dr Moody also had no background in Town side government but handle the job quickly and efficiently and did a great job at that. Yes, we still are negotiating contracts with the unions and have no agreements as of this post- But Dr. Moody got the parties to come to the table and have a dialog.
The budget was no easy task either but he came through it with no problem.
The reason for his success i believe is that Dr Moody is simply a "people person"
meaning he enjoys people- talking with people-finding solutions with people and that in itself is a great trait to have.
Dr. Moody simply gave his time, effort,and Knowledge for the betterment of his town. And for that I thank him for being someone who cares about his town, the people who live and work here. THANKS JOHN.
PS THANKS JUDY MOODY as well. As she supported John and didn't talk him out of coming in. ( at least to my knowledge anyway.)
Derry has certainly benefited by John stepping up and helping out our town.
When you see him around- make sure you thank him as well.

Positive Happenings in the Downtown

Things are looking up in the downtown.
I have heard that we have at least 4 new businesses coming to the downtown area and that is some great news.
2 of those businesses are "food businesses" and are located on East Broadway. The dividing line is the center crosswalk area near the Depot Steak House.
1 of those businesses will be serving breakfast and lunch and is located next to the friendship center ( same building )
The other will be Italian food and will locate in the building which was once the home of the BAGEL BOY.
My opinion of why Bagel Boy went out was because he specialized in morning and lunch but was not open at night. Lets remember that most in Derry are out working jobs in other areas and that could be a reason for "lack of business".
We also live in a technology world and websites and looking for patrons is also necessary until the downtown becomes more pedestrian friendly, companies will need to drive business to them.
The other two businesses are in West Broadway and the rumblings are a flower shop and the other I'm not sure as of yet but they are coming!
Also I have seen the new owners of the building that housed the hunting shop ( across from friendship center) painting their building and possibly getting it ready for a new business.
All in all-things are looking up in the downtown.
What kind of business would you like to see in the Downtown! leave a comment or two

Grading of council 1Q

Poll results are in and heres how you rank the council in the 1st quater

A=2 votes

B=9 votes

C=13 votes

D=7 votes

F=3 votes

It looks as though we ranked as average to most with a close B right behind. Now here is your chance to say why you think we were so good or Bad or average. Tell us why you voted the way you did and how you think we could do a better job!

Council Meeting 6/19

Last nights town council meeting was a short meeting compared to most. After we meet very briefly in non-public- We came out to begin our meeting promptly at 7:30. On the Agenda was our Consent agenda which we will schedule a public hearing on a justice Assistance Grant that will be awarded to our Police Dept. Date to be heard will be JULY 10Th.
We then moved onto the approval of the new town administrators contract. As you are aware this has been the center of some controversy between councilors Coyle and Bulkley over the last month.... anyway we as a council body took up the final vote for approval last evening bringing our New Administrator Gary Stenhouse to Derry starting July 9th. Final vote 6-1-0 with Fairbanks the lone "NO" vote. Fairbanks explains her no vote as not a vote against the individual but because she did not like an aspect of the contract ( no further explanation was given ) so..
Welcome aboard Gary. Lets get Derry moving in a positive manner.

next up was the July schedule. 1 meeting and 1 workshop- July 10th will be the reg meeting and then the 17th for workshop. In the workshop we will discuss PRIVATE ROADS

From there we went to Admin report which Dr Moody recommended under charter 8.8 his pick for legal council Boutin & Alteri and Devine Millimet. No change from previous legal and the only reason we did this was the previous meeting Fairbanks brought this matter up. Now it is decided although Carney put a time line on this for 3 mos and in a vote it passed. I voted No because I feel this will be brought up again in the near future and may hamstring the new administrator as he will be still very fresh in office and I believe this shouldn't detour the big things we need to accomplish.

next we passed an arrangement to bring sewer and water in conjunction with the Shutes corner development. You will re-call that we will have.. yes i know... another gas station, a Rite-aid, and a bank on the west corner. This agreement lets the developer contribute to the cost of bringing sewer and water and driving it towards land that the town wants developed for commercial/office space. WE passed this last night
and we also decided to bring sewer down UPSTONE LANE and Birchwood AVE at a significant cost ( from water/sewer fund balance ) and although depletes that fund balance it will complete these two areas ahead of CIP and thus saving the town money in the long haul.
We then did some year end moving of monies before the new fiscal year begins..

What did you think of tonight's meeting? leave some comments!

Pinkerton Class of 2007

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Pinkerton class of 2007! This class had over 700 seniors in it and was awarded a record 7 Million dollars in scholarships. That's impressive! It also was a moving moment for me personally. My youngest daughter AMY was a member of this class! WAY TO GO AMY! awesome job and I'm very proud of you.
Also my nephew Zachary Pierog, whom was in the ROTC program graduated and was awarded with 3 scholarships. Great Job Zach!
It only seemed liked yesterday that these kids were entering elementary school and as many of us older people always say " Time goes by very quickly" and it's been 27years since I graduated from Salem High. Wow! time sure does fly.
Anyway great job grads and thank you teachers for giving our children a quality education! It is much appreciated!

Derry Town Council Meeting 6/5/07

Another interesting council meeting last night. We started in non-public under RSA 91-A:3 II (b)(d) to discuss personnel decisions. Interestedly enough the newspapers somehow, someway received "privileged information" beforehand. After reading the E.T.'s headlines today-you will read the different interpretations of what is not supposed to be released and what is perceived to be information that was made public on a technicality. Whatever corner you agree with doesn't really matter right now. We must be able to do the towns business in confidence and without second guessing every councilors motives or decisions. The process gets "bogged down" and very time consuming and costly.

I'm sure more will be discussed about this situation later.

lets recap the meeting:

Under the administrators report we were updated on 3rd Quarter financial report for the town. Frank Childs and Janice Mosby reported that the town of Derry continues to maintain a strong financial position.

The summer meeting schedule was discussed. prior councils usually have one meeting each month however we lots of issues to discuss, the chairman decided to have one meeting and one workshop for July and August. Topics on workshop will be Private roads, economic development director and Manning St project.

We then had two public hearings dealing with definitions in zoning on street, access drives and changing the independent adult community Overlay district.

No public comment on either hearing.

The definitions were straight forward and had little or no comments from Council, however on the adult overlay it was reported that density changes in 3 acre zoning would change and that it basically pushed extra densities in sewer and water districts. Also it dictated what kind of home could be built- Single detached triplexes and buildings with no more than six homes per building but left out duplexes. This I believe was not necessary. Duplexes today are very tastefully built and to single them out is "odd". Anyway I voted NO because of this reason.
Councilor Fairbanks Voted NO as well because she felt it was snob zoning. I will not put words in her mouth but she realised that because neighborhoods in East Derry do not want to see extra houses in their neighborhoods, that the Planning Board decided to make changes. It could be possibly perceived that way and after we were told by staff that the reason for the changes were because of neighbors making complaints.
PS We await a lawsuit from the developers of the Drew Rd parcel when Water became an issue for neighbors and the developers water expert said it would not be an issue. The planning board then asked for another opinion from a hydrologist and HE said it would not be an issue and Still the Planning board denied the plan based on "possible water issues. The developer immediately Sued the town. Stay Tuned!!

Then we were in discussions on septic disposal agreement with AllensTown. Mr Carrier said we will be now sending our "product" to this town. ( private companies will truck haul the "product" to keep us in DES compliance and it helps Allenstown with funding issues

And then the finally...

Councilor Fairbanks read her interpretation of Towns attorney according to council rules and Councilor Coyle brought up the Police prosecutor position and that he knew plenty of lawyers that want to work for the town.

Another interesting meeting in Derry. What are your thoughts on the issues.

Favorite Part of Fav Movie!

The don't make movies like they use to! Here is a great message from one of my all time favorite movies!

Mass toll bill is a joke!

After reading this article in Saturdays UL headlined " Mass bill calls for tolls at NH border I thought to myself this must be a joke of some sort.
This was actually debated by Mass lawmakers to put up toll booths at Rtes' 93, 95 and 3 along the borders of NH and Rhode Island to help pay for crumbling roads and bridges.
Are they serious? Do they really think that we in NH use the roadways in Mass but don't pay for them?
In the article, they state " When we cross over the border to New Hampshire, we have to pay thier tolls, so it makes sense to do the same thing for folks coming over and using our roads and bridges" the bill sponsor Sen. Karen Spilka D-Ashland said.
First Sen Spilka, when you come to NH you come for vacations and or to save money shopping because unlike your state we have no sales tax. We see all those Mass plates coming crossing the borders to shop. First I want to thank the Mass citizens who do come over to buy tax free items. You don't see NH trying to figure out a way to put the squeeze on them do you.
And what about those NH residents that go into Mass. I'm willing to bet that most do because of high paying jobs in the Boston area.
These NH people with jobs in Mass already pay 5% Mass income tax to your state coffers but have no representaion. Yes you remember the term " Taxation without Representation don't you? They can't vote for anyone or have a say in how that money is spent but they pay it. Some will say well they use our roads to get to work.
I say you are correct and don't you think you already have the highest paying tolls in place already?
Please Sen- Give us a break and while you are at it your own residents deserve one as well. What are you doing with that money already!
If you want to be serious about it. here is my suggestion.Use the money NH or RI residents who work in Mass pay into the system- Make that money targeted only for roadways and bridges. I think you'll have plenty of money then.

Mystery of the missing traffic study.

I have said once before and I will say it again. The CLD traffic study, which was a paid study in 2001 and focused specifically on Downtown traffic patterns states that by putting in a connector road from Manning St to Rollins is basically useless!

Now, I know that the proponents of this have said that there is no traffic study, and that they have gone to town hall to ask and were told there was none.

Well as Gomer once said "surprise, surprise, surprise. Not only am I looking at this study as I write, I will let you, The Derry citizens see this via a link on this blog. ( see the link section on the right side.) *note that this could take some time to download as it is 22 pages long

It is important that you see this for yourself, without any bias whatsoever and to then come to your own conclusions.

After, you give it a read- Answer these questions

1) Should the town of Derry spend 10-15K on a new traffic study
2) Should the town of Derry spend 80K to connect Manning St to Rollins

Results of this weeks poll 5/25

I have heard back from some of you about the weekly ( or so ) poll. And so I will post the results so that there can be a record to go back to. The question was

Q: Do you support spending 1.5M to make private roads public?

Only 1 person said yes

The clear majority said NO at 20 votes

and 1 was unsure

Thanks to all who participated and although this is definitely not scientific it will make the issue all the more interesting when it comes up to the council.

Update on Retirement issues

The new newsletter from LGC came in and reported some success on the two bills facing the Senate this week. HB653 and HB876 passed with amendments. HB 876 deals with a study commission bill while HB 653 deals with the issue of funding methodology which places investments into the pension fund until it is at 85% instead of siphoning monies into a special account. It also places a local government management rep onto the Board of Trustees ( this is an important step ) and provided a one-time 2.5% cola for retirees.
Thanks goes out to Senator Letourneau and his colleagues for the unanimous vote and for listening to concerns from everyone.
As is stated in the newsletter, these are not easy issues to deal with and everyone knows that we all must work together to fix these issues.

Taxpayer Alert!

What you are about to read should act as a taxpayers warning! If you choose to ignore this warning, I would recommend you hide your wallets, pocketbooks, bank accounts or anything else of value. THIS IS NOT A TEST!

On Friday afternoon, I had received by e-mail, my weekly copy of a newsletter from the Local Goverment Center. Derry is a member of this organization and they keep track of bills that come before the House and Senate on many issues facing municipalities. " a watchdog group that puts the towns and cities best interests foward"

This weeks the headlines were about the retirement funding issues facing all of us and the system that needs to be fixed. In this issue it had been reported that the Senate has been bombarded by the "alliance" ( Police and Fire Unions ) which put the brakes on a earlier compramise between the Alliance and the working group to help fix a big problem in the system.
Apparently the Alliance did not like where this was heading and have requested some changes which according to the LGC would end up costing cities and towns MORE money than was originally planned.
When the Senate decided to wait a week to get additional information- again according to LGC the Senate was bombarded by the special interests groups to put some heavy pressure on our Senators.
The LGC issues a strong warning to all to call thier senators and to make sure that there is some give and take with any solutions that come out of revamping the retirement funding plans.
And so I decided to call Senator Letourneau to voice my concern for the Derry taxpayers. I spoke to him briefly and he had to go and couldn't talk any longer, however he did say he would keep me informed as to what comes out of it.
Quite frankly, I don't want to learn what gets done after the fact or before I know how certain amendments will effect the Derry taxpayers. And so I decided to e-mail and call Councilor Coyle ( who was acting chairman because Mr Bulkley was out of state) and requested that he call a special meeting, invite the Senator to the meeting, ask the questions about the admendments and what they will mean for us and to do so before the Senate meets next Thursday.
Councilor Coyle said he would call and e-mail the Senator to find out about the amendments.
The next day, I picked up the Union Leader and read a front page article about the happinings on this retirement plan and it basically brought up the same points LGC stated in the newsletter. At this time, I had not heard back from Councilor Coyle and so I e-mailed my fellow councilors and asked them if they were as concerned as I about this issue. And that I ( according to town charter ) would call a special meeting ( need two additional councilors to call special meeting)if anyone else wanted to. Bev was the only person to respond as of this post!
I did get back an e-mail from Councilor Coyle who said he did not think this was important enough to call a special meeting, that councilor Bulkley would be back Sunday and that at that time if 3 or more councilors wanted a meeting they could call one to order.
My problem with that is that we would need 48 hours to post a public notice, and that it would not give us time before the Senate meets Thurs 5/24.
So will Derry taxpayers have a voice on Thursday? Stay tuned.
Did i think it was important enough to the taxpayers of this town to get some answers? Yes! Why other councilors did not think it important enough? I don't know.

Budget wrap up FY08

Well folks, another budget is finalized and completed for the next fiscal year. This was my 4Th budget series and it tied in with the hiring of our next town administrator- More on that subject a little later.

At this final budget hearing, councilors could bring up anything, any line item they wanted to discuss. All the work we have done previously brought the tax increase up to adding an additional .20 Cents which was .03 cents UNDER the maximum allowed under the tax cap of .23 cents. Lets recap. Town side tax rate is $7.50 and this year the council could add up to a total of $7.73 MAX.

Councilor Fairbanks started by asking the fire dept to cut $50,000 from anywhere in the budget the chief wanted with the stipulation that it could not effect services, however she did not offer any specifics. Why she singled out the fire dept and why she choose $50K is unknown and no explanation was offered.
"watch me pull a rabbit out of the hat"
"but that trick never works"
"this time for sure".......
In a 4-3 vote it passed with Fairbanks Coyle Carney Metts voting to make the cut.

Then Janet wanted to replace capital reserve fund money with the money being raised via taxation for a new ( future ) recreation building with 55k earmarked for senior center. The full number $100k was not to be raised by taxation in this years budget
Vote was 6-1 with Bulkley the only no vote.

That was basically it for determining budget coming in at adding 16 cents to the tax rate instead of 20. A savings of .04 cents per 1000.

Final Vote on overall budget 5-2 Budget Approved with Chirichiello and Carney voting NO.
Carney's reasoning- I don't know and haven't had a chance to ask he's reasoning
For me- We didn't cut enough. I think we could of cut an additional 145K and in fact I offered by motion to cut this money but didn't get the votes in an earlier workshop.
I think we should of cut $80K Manning St and $45K sidewalks near upper room.
And at that the time i brought up these cuts I said we needed to make sure we had money for additional vet credits and look at elderly exemptions. I was told there would be plenty of time for that. Didn't happen. This is why I voted NO. My first time doing so.

Next we voted 5-2 to bring in Gary Stenhouse as our next administrator.
Coyle and Fairbanks voting NO. They liked none of the people we interviewed and wanted to keep looking. Interesting...

I will admit that Gary was not my first choice, but i found myself trying to separate whether i personally could click with the next administrator or not and I had to focus on what was best for the town and not whether i had the warm and fuzzies over any candidate. Gary has great experience and a wealth of knowledge. he has worked running Rochester and they had about 30K people. I will let his professionalism and experience speak for themselves.

I'm hoping on welcoming Gary to Derry and look forward to working with him on making Derry a great place to be.

What are your thoughts on the Budget process???

Give Back the Taxpayers Money!

It was reported that the now defunct East Derry fire departments' Chief Nadeau lost his appeal in superior court a couple of days ago. You may all remember the "sweetheart deal" he received after he lined up a job in Massachusetts and then conveniently got "let go" to the tune of about $90,000 of hard earned taxpayers dollars. The problem was that he was not entitled to that money.
But in a backroom deal, he was somehow placed above the taxpayers best interests and given the money as a token of appreciation of leading the charge in a very costly battle in which the East Derry fire dept sued the town many times over and wasted thousands of dollars in frivolous lawsuits.

That's now history, however we can not completely close the books until we get the money back from Nadeau.

Give him credit, he tried to hold onto the money for as long as he could by stalling via the court system. ( gee i couldn't imagine that ) but Justice has prevailed and he lost his last two cases.

Now it's time for the Town Council to make a statement and go after this money and give it back to The Taxpayers where it belongs

Private to Public Roads=$$$

Last Mondays nights meeting was on one and only one topic. Private roads. This issue has a very long history in Derry and not all solutions or problems are the same. Each Private road is unique and has its own interesting history. I think it is safe to say that all of these roads that we spoke about started out as Private roads meaning that none of them stared as a class V or public road at the beginning.

The arguments vary about how or why citizens on these roads want or do not want these roads to become public and we heard of some at the meeting on Monday night. I will not go into whether or not the arguments are wrong, right or something else here only because we will be further discussing these issues and of course I will keep an open mind and dive into each road issue on a more detailed history.
This post is just to get some comments from the citizens on their views and specifically this blog is to let all know that any private road we accept as public from here on in WILL cost the taxpayers additional hard to find tax dollars.

We did receive a list of roads and a dollar amount of roughly 1.5Million dollars to get these roads to minimum standards and we still have not seen what the annual up keep costs will calculate out to.

Everyone knows that we have tough numbers to crunch even before we spend $1 on these road issues. To spend more is not going to be an easy task.

What are your thoughts on Private road issues in Derry??

Town Council Meeting 5/1

Town council meeting went fairly quickly last evening and at times got a little heated. At the beginning of the meeting it was reported that the annual "trash pick-up" day was successful. Lots of volunteers picked up litter along side roadways through-out the town.

As a side note- Community for a better Derry had done a great job co-ordinating a pick-up party for the Windham road area. My understanding is that about 50 Bags of trash were collected along with tires and other large trash items. Kudos to that group for getting people together for a better Derry.

We ( council) postponed a public hearing on restricting public parking along A and B street until May 15th. Anyone wishing to speak on those issues can come and discuss them at that time.

Then Council Chair Bulkley made an announcement that basically chastised Councilor Coyle for making accusations in the press about violating the charter by our acting town administrator and the fire chief by signing a contract without council knowledge. The chairman said he thought Coyle owed an apology to them both since according to towns attorney NO violation had taken place and everything was done properly.

Councilor Coyle said he was sticking to what he had said and refused to apologize. He then blamed the fire chief by saying that he knew all along that the contract should of been reviewed before it was signed by the council.

The meeting went back and forth on this issue and Councilor Carney had said that he had asked that we bring this issue up at a separate meeting and to agendize the issue. The chairman said he would.

I had said in the past that what was done was done and next time it should be at least reviewed by the chairman. I did not see this as a big issue and that I was ready to move onto bigger and better things. Then the press needed to take Kevin and his comments about being "sandbagged", as a front page story with all the negative comments ( you know the ones that sell papers).

Come on now- Does Kevin think that the Acting town admin and the fire chief DO NOT have the best interest of Derry here? Maybe he thinks he knows better then they, I don't know his reasons here.

All I can say is now we have to have a future meeting to discuss an issue that will be nothing but pure politics and I'm sure that meeting will have plenty of bashing and unnecessary waste of everyone time. I mean, the contract is signed- It is legal and was done legally so what can come out of this future meeting? We will not be changing a thing here.( just another bash party for some. )

Now I'm not saying Kevin is wrong by saying maybe councilors should of reviewed this contract and chime in however the way that he blew this way out of proportion is uncalled for in my opinion. What is yours???

Public hearing on FY08 Budget & CIP

Last evening the Derry town council held it's Public Hearing on the FY08 Budget and CIP ( Capital Improvement Plan ). After many workshops, televised repeatedly on the budgets for this year I was expecting a large turnout of citizens to express the pleasures or displeasure with this upcoming budget.

After last years charter revision proposal- I expected to see the people who wanted to have a say on the budget to be at last nights meeting in force. I was wrong!!

We had maybe 6 people. SIX at the public hearing. And with those six, I heard from 2 of them actual questions on the budget. Very good questions mind you and well thought out. These two did follow what was going on and I felt really had some input.

The other 4 people were the regular nay-Sayers- You know the ones who no matter what you do or say they will find some complaint. Some of these people seem to be regulars and as far as I can remember were always doing what they do best. Did it contribute? Well I leave that up to the people whom have watched over the many years chime in on that one.

Yes, I have been an elected official long enough to know that I'll be hearing from some that will say the reason they stay at home is because we don't listen to anyone or we will hear that people stayed home because they are satisfied with the way things are.

Well, I say that it is called " Copping OUT ". People will use any excuse that will fit and that is troublesome. I will say one thing though. people elected the people they want to do the homework and to make sure things are running smoothly. Time will tell though, how we do during the year.

One interesting comment from a citizen. We should measure our accomplished goals from the previous year. Did we do what we said we were going to do? That's a great idea and one we should follow.

How do you think the council is doing with this years budget??? Comments are appreciated.

Sanmina coming home to Derry!

After reading the article about Sanmina coming back to Derry, I was extremely happy to hear the news had been public. I was fortunate enough to play a small role in bringing them back here to Derry.

It was about 2 years ago, that I was called by a local Sanmina rep about this situation to see what if any interest we would have in bringing the company back. You see the reason he called me was because I was the District 4 councilor. I then had a meeting with the rep and a big named realtor from the Salem NH area. Both men wanted to make sure that any information they gave me would be held in the strictest confidence and I assured them that I would not say a word to the public that would jeopardize such a great opportunity.

After hearing the plans and being asked what the town of Derry could do to either help or assist swaying the " big wigs" that Derry was the place to do business, I immediately told them both that this was such a big issue that we needed to get George Sioris,Russ Marcoux and the DEDC involved.
I wanted to know how serious they were in considering us and was assured that it was indeed serious, so serious that they flew out an upper manager from San Jose to meet with Myself, George, Russ and Joel Olbreicht and David Bulk from the DEDC. we also invited state officials to this meeting.

At the meeting, we were told that Derry as well as a few other locations ( South Carolina and cities in Canada) would be considered for a new facility that would be a state of the art building. They were going to close the Woburn facility and move it here to Derry. Also, their Manchester Sanmina business was expanding but did not have the facilities to expand the building itself because of land constraints. Moving to Derry and any "over spill" from Manchester could be handled in Derry.

However, they were also looking at South Carolina and Nova Scotia and told us that Carolina was willing to give all kinds of incentives like tax breaks and millions in assistance. The corporate manager then turned to us and said " what can New Hampshire and Derry do for them"

Mike Bergeron, director of Economic Development for New Hampshire said as far as give aways are concerned, New Hampshire had nothing to give as far as money, however he did a tremendous job in selling New Hampshire as a state by selling its strenghts like no income tax, low crime, educated citizens, dedicated workforce and ranking as #1 in the last few years as a place to live, work and raise a family.

The big man from San Jose thanked us and went on his way. We did not get any commitment from them and we were left to wonder if we did enough to convince him.

A year later we finally learn that Sanmina is coming back to Derry. Closing their Woburn facility and bringing to Derry. We learn that they also have plans to add jobs over the next few years and they want their facility here to be a showplace!!

This is awesome news for the town. It can and should bring additional business into the area and with the town ready to invest in Manchester Road and Big Box retailers looking at coming to Derry.- it can only get better from here.

I would like to stress that without the team work of Town officials, The DEDC, and State officials ( I'm probably leaving someone out. ) and the Sanmina official who also pushed for us to his corparate office-This would not of happened. It's all of us who will determine Derry's fate including you! Keep your eyes and ears open and pass the word on if you know of other companies looking to make a move!

Happy Anniversary!

I want to take this time to tell my wife that I love her very much. We just had our 22nd wedding anniversary and I can't believe how quickly time passes. My wife puts up with alot from me and over the last few years seeing me spending time doing my civic duties as an elected official has not always been easy for her. So, Trish here's to you and me and 22 years of a wonderful marriage.
I hope the next 22 will be just as wonderful!
Love
Brian

Big Brother and Water don't mix!

Tuesday's 4/17 council meeting was an interesting meeting. First we approved congregate care and assisted living facilities in the OMB zone. Parcels that are close to Parkland Hospital. This makes sense as the facilities will have water and sewer and be close-by to the hospital. This will also bring in additional tax revenues that should help relieve some tax burden on us single family home owners who shoulder much of this burden now. The final vote for approval was 5-2 with Councilors Coyle and Fairbanks voting in the negative.

Next up was the interesting part of the evening as on the agenda we had a proposed ordinance for well water. The idea that was presented by staff was to create stricter guidelines that would apply to developers of new sub-divisions. The reasoning was that some parts of the town have had water problems and well problems and that by creating more housing in the general area- it may in fact draw down less water for surrounding, already established neighborhoods.

In the new regulations, you must show a 4 gallon a minute flow.
You must also follow EPA standards for drinkable water and show test results complying to such standards ie.. bacteria levels, coliform, arsenic, these are primary testing qualities however tests for Radon and MBTE as such would be a very costly test and would for sure bring up the cost to the developer and then obviously to the buyers. I had some concerns about this and expressed them at the meeting.

Next to question was Kevin- He had some concerns but then made the statement that it would not be fair to make developers alone follow this rule and he thought everyone with a well should need to follow the new rules as well - including anyone who needed to drill for a new well to replace an older well or to upgrade to a better type well.

I thought about what Kevin was saying and said to myself- He is being sarcastic and was trying to make a point. He did not like this ordinance as well, but from here it got even crazier.

Brent (newest councilor) and Janet both agreed that everyone with a well should follow the new rules and they thought Kevin's idea was the way to go.

At this time, I started to cringe and thought to myself this is Big Brother trying to tell citizens when and how and how much water they should have. ( A very dangerous proposition) Sort of like the new seatbelt law or helmet law. We should educate not mandate!!!

Lets remember a few things here #1- Land owners have rights in this country including Derry#2- Adding more government bureaucracy is NOT a good thing! #3 EPA standards are for more than 10 people on any one water system. individual well owners have NO regulations on them - But some councilors want that to happen!! Can you say LAWSUIT!!!

I'm 100% against this because it simply does not make sense and smacks completely against property owners rights and is an insult to citizens everywhere.

Can you imagine being told you can not live in your home because the town says you don't produce enough water- Is your requirement of water the same as your neighbors?
I recommend you call your councilors and tell them to stop this silliness today!!

For more info on EPA water issues check out this link below
www.epa.gov/safewater/