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
Saturday, March 31, 2007
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!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Retirement Funding issues
Folks, To keep you as informed as much as possible. This legislative newsletter which came my way is very interesting. Please see below
Greetings:
On Friday, March 9, NHMA's Municipal Advocacy Committee (MAC) voted unanimously to support the Retirement Working Group proposal. As we announced in the last Legislative Bulletin, the proposal is available for review and was considered at a joint meeting of MAC and NHMA's Committee on Government Affairs Friday before the vote. NHMA staff will now advocate for the elements of the proposal at the Legislature.
It is critical that all municipalities review the proposal and contact their respective legislative delegations to ask for their support of the proposal. Currently, the plan is to have the proposal drafted as an amendment to a retirement bill that is now before the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee. We do not know at this time which bill that will be.
Included here is a direct link to the LGC website Retirement Working Group Proposal which contains the proposal and explanatory documents. We will periodically update the website and add documents, such as the amendment, as they become available. You will need Adobe Reader to be able to read, save, and/or print any of it. If you do not have Adobe Reader, simply click here to download that program.
Greetings:
On Friday, March 9, NHMA's Municipal Advocacy Committee (MAC) voted unanimously to support the Retirement Working Group proposal. As we announced in the last Legislative Bulletin, the proposal is available for review and was considered at a joint meeting of MAC and NHMA's Committee on Government Affairs Friday before the vote. NHMA staff will now advocate for the elements of the proposal at the Legislature.
It is critical that all municipalities review the proposal and contact their respective legislative delegations to ask for their support of the proposal. Currently, the plan is to have the proposal drafted as an amendment to a retirement bill that is now before the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee. We do not know at this time which bill that will be.
Included here is a direct link to the LGC website Retirement Working Group Proposal which contains the proposal and explanatory documents. We will periodically update the website and add documents, such as the amendment, as they become available. You will need Adobe Reader to be able to read, save, and/or print any of it. If you do not have Adobe Reader, simply click here to download that program.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Thank-You Dist 4 Voters
I would like to extend a very big thank-you to all who voted for me to represent you again as your district 4 councilor. Thank-you!
It has been an anti-incumbent year in politics. The Dems beat out the Republicans on the national scene.
Closer to home we see that the incumbent in Salem lost his race
In Londonderry the chairman who some consider a taxpayer advocate actually as of this writing is in a tie vote ( re-count will be coming and if still a tie, a coin toss will decide the race) Very Close race!!!
And as you can see no matter what your politics may be- Incumbents are getting the heave -ho.
So, In my race, I was able to be re-elected again for a three year term.
My opponent, Joe Dichairo ran a very good race and did a good job. I would like to thank him for running a good race! I did not see Joe at Town hall when they announced the results and so I wish to say so in this blog.
I would also like to congratulate Rick Metts and Brent Carney for their wins to the council and look forward to working with them and the rest of the council this year.
And Lastly, the charter was defeated! I want to thank the voters for recognizing the fact that this was very bad for our community the way that it was proposed, however I want to thank the commissioners and the community for a better Derry in accomplishing getting more voters to the polls!
It has been an anti-incumbent year in politics. The Dems beat out the Republicans on the national scene.
Closer to home we see that the incumbent in Salem lost his race
In Londonderry the chairman who some consider a taxpayer advocate actually as of this writing is in a tie vote ( re-count will be coming and if still a tie, a coin toss will decide the race) Very Close race!!!
And as you can see no matter what your politics may be- Incumbents are getting the heave -ho.
So, In my race, I was able to be re-elected again for a three year term.
My opponent, Joe Dichairo ran a very good race and did a good job. I would like to thank him for running a good race! I did not see Joe at Town hall when they announced the results and so I wish to say so in this blog.
I would also like to congratulate Rick Metts and Brent Carney for their wins to the council and look forward to working with them and the rest of the council this year.
And Lastly, the charter was defeated! I want to thank the voters for recognizing the fact that this was very bad for our community the way that it was proposed, however I want to thank the commissioners and the community for a better Derry in accomplishing getting more voters to the polls!
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