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
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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!
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!
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!
Friday, June 15, 2007
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!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
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.
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.
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