In an attempt to give the citizens of Derry ample time to follow the town council in its budget meetings, I will post the schedule below so that you may have an opportunity to make comments or contact your councilors with concerns or input. Here is one of many chances to "have a voice" in your local government!
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses can be had by going to the town web-site link on this home page! I look forward to hearing from you!!
April 10Th Tues night starting at 7:30( this was scheduled for 6:30 however it has been bumped so that council can go into non-public on the town admin search! We will be going over the following departments:
Police Animal Control Finance Assessing Tax Collector Town Clerk Elections
April 11Th Wed: Fire Prevention & Emergency Svcs Dispatch Emergency Management
April 14Th Sat: Starts at 8:30 Am -3pm Executive Administration Information Technology Planning Public Works Highway Buildings & Grounds Cemetery Code Enforcement Parks Recreation Vehicle Maintenance Transfer Station Waste water Water
April 19Th 6:30 Executive Health Cable Derry Public Library Taylor Library Human Services Other Municipal Obligations
April 24Th 7:00Pm PUBLIC HEARING- Budget and CIP
MAY 3RD 6:30 If needed- Final Budget workshop
May 15Th: Adoption of Budget & CIP by council
Notes: All workshop/hearings/meetings will be in the Derry Municipal Center 3rd floor meeting room. EXCEPT FOR 4/11 workshop which will be held in the cable studio room on the lower level of the DMC.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
TC meeting 4/3
Quite the interesting meeting last night for the town council. Our first meeting after our organizational meeting was nothing short of bizzare. It started off well with a new tradition from our council chairman to select someone from the audience to start everyone off with the pledge of alliegence. Then we went to the much anticiapted public interviews of potential board appointments.
The conservation commission was first up- Interviewing 4 candidiates took about 45-50 minutes in which candidiates were allowed to say why they were interested in the appointment. Here we had 2 members with multiple years experience and 4 new people that wanted a seat in this important board. I will say that the candidates all impressed me with their backrounds and will to serve.
One experienced member Bill Hoyt did not make the final cut however I did support him in his effort to continue being an active member. I would like to thank Bill for all of his hard work and effort for the town of Derry and hope that he continues to volunteer his time! Thanks Bill
Next up was Planning Board. After another round of 30-45 minutes each candidiate spoke and again I was impressed with everyone. The way it all finalized though was not what I had in mind. Mr Nelson ( whom with very strong experience) only got the one year seat. I would of recommended the 3 year seat. Ginny Roach got a 3 year seat and Dave Granese got a three year seat. Now I do like Mr Granese, however I would of keep him on as an alternate with one year under his belt. I believe Mr Tripp should of gotten a chance at a regular seat as he has been waiting for 3 years as an alternate.
Zoning Board was my biggest surprise as the council decided to give a 3 year seat to a one year alternate vs re-appointing a very good member who has experience. I was truly shocked that Mr Virr did not get re-appointed
Then we had Public hearings on Yield signs at peabody road annex
We tabled a request to release Public Servatude on a paper road because I wanted to make sure the abbuter ( whom was in Fla) knew exactly what he was in for. We had an e-mailed copy from the neighbor but no clear indication of the possible ramifactions and I also wanted a notarized sealed copy signed by these people so that the town is protected.
Last we spoke of the congrgal care and assisted living to be added to allowed uses in the OMD district. A very small district that is close by to the hospital. Most in the public spoke in favor and a very small amount against. We will finalize our voting at the next regular meeting in two weeks
All in all we spent about 4 1/2 hours in session, and got little done.
The conservation commission was first up- Interviewing 4 candidiates took about 45-50 minutes in which candidiates were allowed to say why they were interested in the appointment. Here we had 2 members with multiple years experience and 4 new people that wanted a seat in this important board. I will say that the candidates all impressed me with their backrounds and will to serve.
One experienced member Bill Hoyt did not make the final cut however I did support him in his effort to continue being an active member. I would like to thank Bill for all of his hard work and effort for the town of Derry and hope that he continues to volunteer his time! Thanks Bill
Next up was Planning Board. After another round of 30-45 minutes each candidiate spoke and again I was impressed with everyone. The way it all finalized though was not what I had in mind. Mr Nelson ( whom with very strong experience) only got the one year seat. I would of recommended the 3 year seat. Ginny Roach got a 3 year seat and Dave Granese got a three year seat. Now I do like Mr Granese, however I would of keep him on as an alternate with one year under his belt. I believe Mr Tripp should of gotten a chance at a regular seat as he has been waiting for 3 years as an alternate.
Zoning Board was my biggest surprise as the council decided to give a 3 year seat to a one year alternate vs re-appointing a very good member who has experience. I was truly shocked that Mr Virr did not get re-appointed
Then we had Public hearings on Yield signs at peabody road annex
We tabled a request to release Public Servatude on a paper road because I wanted to make sure the abbuter ( whom was in Fla) knew exactly what he was in for. We had an e-mailed copy from the neighbor but no clear indication of the possible ramifactions and I also wanted a notarized sealed copy signed by these people so that the town is protected.
Last we spoke of the congrgal care and assisted living to be added to allowed uses in the OMD district. A very small district that is close by to the hospital. Most in the public spoke in favor and a very small amount against. We will finalize our voting at the next regular meeting in two weeks
All in all we spent about 4 1/2 hours in session, and got little done.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Shop the Downtown!
Derry residents need to come on down to our downtown and do some shopping while your there. With many shops,restaurants and the Arts-our downtown needs you more than ever!
We are fortunate enough in this town to have a wonderful downtown and we collectively need to make sure its a vibrant and exciting downtown to be in. As the weather gets nicer and we shake off the winter cabin fever. I ask each and everyone that resides in Derry to please come down and do some shopping. We have some really nice shops here as well that will amaze you.
Today, as I do my daily walk around the block I happened to stop at POLES APART on 5 West Broadway to speak with the owners Marylee and Tom. Two very nice people with quite the unique shop. If you are looking for a unique gift for that special someone-definitely get yourself down to this store! All kinds of American Crafts, Home Accessories, Furniture, Jewelry and gifts that you will not find anywhere else around here.
Marylee and Tom tell me that they get customers from Londonderry, Chester and Windham but very little from the Derry residents! Marylee who grew up in this town says she wishes more Derry residents would find her shop. She has very fond memories of when many residents came to shop the downtown quite a bit. Today there are many big box stores and shopping malls where one can shop, however I will tell you right now that Poles Apart has that niche product that no mall has. Please come down and support the businesses and families that live and work right here in Derry.
Check out thier website: www.PolesApartGifts.com
Poles Apart hours are Mon-Wed 10am-5pm, Thurs & Fri 10am-6pm Sat 10-5 and Sun 9-2pm
I spoke with both owners to find out if they would be interested in forming a group of owners that will brainstorm in making our downtown work. They both said they would very much like to participate.
If Manchester can do wonders for their Downtown
If Nashua can do wonders for their Downtown
If Concord can do wonders for their Downtown
Then Derry CAN DO WONDERS FOR OUR DOWNTOWN! It starts with us! Support Our Downtown Businesses and lets begin today!
If anyone has any feedback please leave a comment
We are fortunate enough in this town to have a wonderful downtown and we collectively need to make sure its a vibrant and exciting downtown to be in. As the weather gets nicer and we shake off the winter cabin fever. I ask each and everyone that resides in Derry to please come down and do some shopping. We have some really nice shops here as well that will amaze you.
Today, as I do my daily walk around the block I happened to stop at POLES APART on 5 West Broadway to speak with the owners Marylee and Tom. Two very nice people with quite the unique shop. If you are looking for a unique gift for that special someone-definitely get yourself down to this store! All kinds of American Crafts, Home Accessories, Furniture, Jewelry and gifts that you will not find anywhere else around here.
Marylee and Tom tell me that they get customers from Londonderry, Chester and Windham but very little from the Derry residents! Marylee who grew up in this town says she wishes more Derry residents would find her shop. She has very fond memories of when many residents came to shop the downtown quite a bit. Today there are many big box stores and shopping malls where one can shop, however I will tell you right now that Poles Apart has that niche product that no mall has. Please come down and support the businesses and families that live and work right here in Derry.
Check out thier website: www.PolesApartGifts.com
Poles Apart hours are Mon-Wed 10am-5pm, Thurs & Fri 10am-6pm Sat 10-5 and Sun 9-2pm
I spoke with both owners to find out if they would be interested in forming a group of owners that will brainstorm in making our downtown work. They both said they would very much like to participate.
If Manchester can do wonders for their Downtown
If Nashua can do wonders for their Downtown
If Concord can do wonders for their Downtown
Then Derry CAN DO WONDERS FOR OUR DOWNTOWN! It starts with us! Support Our Downtown Businesses and lets begin today!
If anyone has any feedback please leave a comment
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
This weeks buzz
While we wait to begin the budget meetings and the selection process of the next town administrator, I have read some interesting articles in the last week. The first article was interesting and was about Councilor Coyle wanting to bring up the subject of an amendment to our charter.
Kevin's point being that he believes that because of the three components to the charter commissions failed revision was because it had three parts to it
1) The bonding part, which would of been subject to voter approval of bonds more than $1M ( i rounded here)
2) The budget at its bottom line with NO adjustments for obligated costs.
3) Change of election day from March to May
According to this article, Mr Coyle suspects that the budget portion had doomed this revision and he maybe right. Why the commissioners choose to include #2 and #3 without any public input is the real question. In fact many stated that the commissioners originally put this question on the ballot for the bonding question only. This has been denied by some members, however it is interesting that now Mr Coyle wants a second bite of the apple.
Only one commissioner voted only on bonding issue as promised and it was Mr Carney. In a previous discussion with Mr Coyle, I thought he was not in favor of the budget portion but later changed his mind to agree with the rest of the commissioners ( except Carney ).
However, The citizens of Derry have spoken and they want to continue with their form of government we have in place.
Also this week, I find out via newspaper that we have about 35 applicants so far for the town administrators job. That's a Good Thing!!! Can't wait to get that process rolling forward as well.
And Last, The DEDC along with other various organizations are holding a summit meeting on the topic of Economic Development on Friday March 30th at DMC. I'll be there to see all the happenings.
Have any thoughts? hit the comment button and share your views!
Kevin's point being that he believes that because of the three components to the charter commissions failed revision was because it had three parts to it
1) The bonding part, which would of been subject to voter approval of bonds more than $1M ( i rounded here)
2) The budget at its bottom line with NO adjustments for obligated costs.
3) Change of election day from March to May
According to this article, Mr Coyle suspects that the budget portion had doomed this revision and he maybe right. Why the commissioners choose to include #2 and #3 without any public input is the real question. In fact many stated that the commissioners originally put this question on the ballot for the bonding question only. This has been denied by some members, however it is interesting that now Mr Coyle wants a second bite of the apple.
Only one commissioner voted only on bonding issue as promised and it was Mr Carney. In a previous discussion with Mr Coyle, I thought he was not in favor of the budget portion but later changed his mind to agree with the rest of the commissioners ( except Carney ).
However, The citizens of Derry have spoken and they want to continue with their form of government we have in place.
Also this week, I find out via newspaper that we have about 35 applicants so far for the town administrators job. That's a Good Thing!!! Can't wait to get that process rolling forward as well.
And Last, The DEDC along with other various organizations are holding a summit meeting on the topic of Economic Development on Friday March 30th at DMC. I'll be there to see all the happenings.
Have any thoughts? hit the comment button and share your views!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Help Honor our local troops!
Fundraising efforts have begun and it is very important that we all contribute as much as we can for the newest and "first in the nation" memorial to our Afghanistan and Iraq veterans who have served our country and are working to bring democracy to the middle east.
The first way to make a donation to the monument fund by mailing a check to:
Derry parks & Recreation
31 West Broadway
Derry, NH 03038
or you may drop it off at the same address. ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE!
The second way to help out is to attend a pancake breakfast at APPLEBEE's from 8-10am on SAT 3/24 and for $5.00 you can eat breakfast and make a contribution as all proceeds go to the fund.
And then on 3/28 at the Flagstone cinemas- Check out the movie Flag of my fathers directed by Clint Eastwood. about WWII and Iowa gima. again donations going to the fund.
The committee is trying to reach a goal of $50,000 and looking at completing the monument by Memorial Day.
This is a great project and one for all of Derry residents to be proud of. Please consider donating any way you can and also please tell at least 5 friends about this.
The first way to make a donation to the monument fund by mailing a check to:
Derry parks & Recreation
31 West Broadway
Derry, NH 03038
or you may drop it off at the same address. ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE!
The second way to help out is to attend a pancake breakfast at APPLEBEE's from 8-10am on SAT 3/24 and for $5.00 you can eat breakfast and make a contribution as all proceeds go to the fund.
And then on 3/28 at the Flagstone cinemas- Check out the movie Flag of my fathers directed by Clint Eastwood. about WWII and Iowa gima. again donations going to the fund.
The committee is trying to reach a goal of $50,000 and looking at completing the monument by Memorial Day.
This is a great project and one for all of Derry residents to be proud of. Please consider donating any way you can and also please tell at least 5 friends about this.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
1st Council Meeting
The first new council meeting of the year was our organizational meeting. This is the meeting were we choose officers and liaisons to boards.
I nominated councilor Bev Ferrante,who was the chairperson pro-tem last year and deserved to become chairperson. Councilor Ferrante decline the chairmanship because of the time commitment and family reasons.
Councilor Coyle and Councilor Bulkley had expressed an interest in becoming chairman and both had 1 minute to persuade votes from other councilors. In a 4-3 vote, Councilor Bulkley was nominated as this years chairman.
My reasons for voting for councilor Bulkley was the fact that he had 14 years experience and I believe he will keep a very structured meeting on point and as we get into the very difficult decisions to be made, will keep us focused on the issues.
I think Kevin did a very good job on the charter commission as he led them through their meetings and ran those meeting efficiently and fairly, however it was mostly a one-sided group without much opposition. Also Kevin has had only 1 year experience on the council. I think he could of done a decent job, however Craigs experience out-weight and that is why I voted for him.
Councilor Coyle will now have a chance to gain some additional experience as he was nominated a Chairman pro-tem.
Also discussed last night was the time line for choosing our next town administrator. Three years ago we had over 40 applicants and we established a committee of citizens to pick out the 5 best candidates. I believe this is a good way to go because it gets citizens involved in helping select the new administrator. Having said that, This process would not make sense if we have under 10 applicants this time and we will know very soon as the dead line is 4/6.
The time line calls for a selection near the beginning of May.
The discussion then turned to the residency requirement. Mr Coyle pointed out correctly that the charter does not mandate that the administrator must live in Derry, However we can make it part of the contract. I believe Councilor Coyle was trying to bring as many applicants to the table which is good, however I believe we should mandate that the administrator should live in town as they will have a vested interest in decision being made and recommendations to the town. ( Council voted to keep this a part of the contract)
Private roads now has a date for workshop/public hearing on 5/7 at 6:30. Again I recommended having a separate workshop, then public hearing, then council vote but the majority felt that combining the workshop/public hearing would work better.I'm hoping to get plenty of citizen feedback on this important topic!!
And last, we spoke about mosquito program. This year we will do a springtime larvea-cide which kills them before the are born and then we can do a fall adult spraying and monitoring throughout the summer. My questions this year was about the money side- about $55k will come from present budget and another 22k or so will come from FY08 budget which will be discussed at budget time! So all in all we will be spending upwards of $80,000 to kill these pests! ( hmmm kill insects or hire an economic development director! Thats another topic for later)
Its alot of money and I have mixed feelings on this issue, however I could not live with myself if someone contracts West Nile or EEE and dies from it. My biggest question is when can we stop spraying or does this just keep going on and on and costing us more and more each year?? We will however get some help from the state as they will give us 25% back ( Hopefully this pool of money does not evaporate quickly)
What are your thoughts on the first meeting of the year? I'm interested in your comments!
I nominated councilor Bev Ferrante,who was the chairperson pro-tem last year and deserved to become chairperson. Councilor Ferrante decline the chairmanship because of the time commitment and family reasons.
Councilor Coyle and Councilor Bulkley had expressed an interest in becoming chairman and both had 1 minute to persuade votes from other councilors. In a 4-3 vote, Councilor Bulkley was nominated as this years chairman.
My reasons for voting for councilor Bulkley was the fact that he had 14 years experience and I believe he will keep a very structured meeting on point and as we get into the very difficult decisions to be made, will keep us focused on the issues.
I think Kevin did a very good job on the charter commission as he led them through their meetings and ran those meeting efficiently and fairly, however it was mostly a one-sided group without much opposition. Also Kevin has had only 1 year experience on the council. I think he could of done a decent job, however Craigs experience out-weight and that is why I voted for him.
Councilor Coyle will now have a chance to gain some additional experience as he was nominated a Chairman pro-tem.
Also discussed last night was the time line for choosing our next town administrator. Three years ago we had over 40 applicants and we established a committee of citizens to pick out the 5 best candidates. I believe this is a good way to go because it gets citizens involved in helping select the new administrator. Having said that, This process would not make sense if we have under 10 applicants this time and we will know very soon as the dead line is 4/6.
The time line calls for a selection near the beginning of May.
The discussion then turned to the residency requirement. Mr Coyle pointed out correctly that the charter does not mandate that the administrator must live in Derry, However we can make it part of the contract. I believe Councilor Coyle was trying to bring as many applicants to the table which is good, however I believe we should mandate that the administrator should live in town as they will have a vested interest in decision being made and recommendations to the town. ( Council voted to keep this a part of the contract)
Private roads now has a date for workshop/public hearing on 5/7 at 6:30. Again I recommended having a separate workshop, then public hearing, then council vote but the majority felt that combining the workshop/public hearing would work better.I'm hoping to get plenty of citizen feedback on this important topic!!
And last, we spoke about mosquito program. This year we will do a springtime larvea-cide which kills them before the are born and then we can do a fall adult spraying and monitoring throughout the summer. My questions this year was about the money side- about $55k will come from present budget and another 22k or so will come from FY08 budget which will be discussed at budget time! So all in all we will be spending upwards of $80,000 to kill these pests! ( hmmm kill insects or hire an economic development director! Thats another topic for later)
Its alot of money and I have mixed feelings on this issue, however I could not live with myself if someone contracts West Nile or EEE and dies from it. My biggest question is when can we stop spraying or does this just keep going on and on and costing us more and more each year?? We will however get some help from the state as they will give us 25% back ( Hopefully this pool of money does not evaporate quickly)
What are your thoughts on the first meeting of the year? I'm interested in your comments!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Council issues 2007
Here are some of the issues facing us in this upcoming year.
Seven (7) Union contracts to negotiate. Right now the police patrolman's union has declared impasse. The union decided to man the polling places at West Running Brook and Gilbert H Hood Middle school during elections in an effort to gain public support of it's proposed road detail ordinance. ( I'm hoping that the union comes back to the table).
FY08 Budgets: Councilors should be receiving their budget books this Mon 3/19. We already know that this budget will be a "tough" budget in the fact that even if it were decided to raise taxes up to the tax cap- there would be a shortfall of about $300k. Lets hope that some of the supporters of the now defunct charter who want to have a say in budgets-come out and watch the budgets hearings, understand how the budgets works and through the representation of their councilors,have a chance to have input on these budgets. Remember folks- e-mail us, write us, call us. YOUR VOICE WILL BE HEARD!!( you can even use this blog forum to speak your mind)
Hiring a town administrator: The search is on and will continue to receive applicants until 4/6. Bennett Yarger ( the company doing the search) will be coming up with a time line in the decision making process very soon ( I will post when it becomes available) It is my understanding that we could make a final decision as early as mid-late May!
Private Roads Issue: This was scheduled for Feb council meeting, however after an e-mail from a citizen who wanted more notification of more people, especially citizens that live on private roads, I decided that that citizens request was not unreasonable. In fact, my recommendation would be for the sub-committee, who worked on this for at least 6 mos, come before the council and give us the information they worked very hard on. This would be a workshop- Then we should have a public hearing letting the citizens voices be heard- Then a vote by the council ( 3 separate meetings) *** this is not an easy subject to deal with, how ever we must make a decision so that these issues are addressed.
Sewer expansion to Brady ave area: Another big subject and a very important one.
Economic Development: This is going to be a very very interesting issue to deal with, I am looking forward to hearing from my fellow councilors their thoughts on how we move forward in bringing business to Derry. This is very important as this will help contribute in lowering our taxes. Downtown area will be a major focus of mine not only because it is in my district, but because we need to bring back focus to our downtown.
I'm looking forward to taking on these issues and my hope is that more people will contribute in having their say on theses issues. I'm hoping for constructive conversations and solutions to what you want to see. Lets aim high and really think outside the box, lets sets some goals on how to achieve our goals and lets work together to find these solutions so that we can all be proud of our town!!
let us know your feelings about these issues!
Seven (7) Union contracts to negotiate. Right now the police patrolman's union has declared impasse. The union decided to man the polling places at West Running Brook and Gilbert H Hood Middle school during elections in an effort to gain public support of it's proposed road detail ordinance. ( I'm hoping that the union comes back to the table).
FY08 Budgets: Councilors should be receiving their budget books this Mon 3/19. We already know that this budget will be a "tough" budget in the fact that even if it were decided to raise taxes up to the tax cap- there would be a shortfall of about $300k. Lets hope that some of the supporters of the now defunct charter who want to have a say in budgets-come out and watch the budgets hearings, understand how the budgets works and through the representation of their councilors,have a chance to have input on these budgets. Remember folks- e-mail us, write us, call us. YOUR VOICE WILL BE HEARD!!( you can even use this blog forum to speak your mind)
Hiring a town administrator: The search is on and will continue to receive applicants until 4/6. Bennett Yarger ( the company doing the search) will be coming up with a time line in the decision making process very soon ( I will post when it becomes available) It is my understanding that we could make a final decision as early as mid-late May!
Private Roads Issue: This was scheduled for Feb council meeting, however after an e-mail from a citizen who wanted more notification of more people, especially citizens that live on private roads, I decided that that citizens request was not unreasonable. In fact, my recommendation would be for the sub-committee, who worked on this for at least 6 mos, come before the council and give us the information they worked very hard on. This would be a workshop- Then we should have a public hearing letting the citizens voices be heard- Then a vote by the council ( 3 separate meetings) *** this is not an easy subject to deal with, how ever we must make a decision so that these issues are addressed.
Sewer expansion to Brady ave area: Another big subject and a very important one.
Economic Development: This is going to be a very very interesting issue to deal with, I am looking forward to hearing from my fellow councilors their thoughts on how we move forward in bringing business to Derry. This is very important as this will help contribute in lowering our taxes. Downtown area will be a major focus of mine not only because it is in my district, but because we need to bring back focus to our downtown.
I'm looking forward to taking on these issues and my hope is that more people will contribute in having their say on theses issues. I'm hoping for constructive conversations and solutions to what you want to see. Lets aim high and really think outside the box, lets sets some goals on how to achieve our goals and lets work together to find these solutions so that we can all be proud of our town!!
let us know your feelings about these issues!
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