Wasting taxpayer's money

At yesterdays budget meeting councilors were in an all day Saturday marathon of budget meetings with a full slate of budget discussions that had us meeting from 8:30Am until 3:00pm.

At the end of the meeting, councilors came out with a reduction of only $21,000!or to translate a penny per $1000 of home value

I made a motion on 2 items that could of saved this town an additional $145,000 but it failed to gain support. The biggest problem was that these two items are not what I would call critical( must haves) in a budget year that is as tight as tight can be!

The first item was $62,000 for sidewalk construction from the Upperroom to Barkland Dr. While this project has merit, I would not say this is something that we must spend on to do this year. In fact, If this is the route that 4A will be taking, They may have to widened this road eventually and the sidewalk may have to be torn up and re-done. Also, If it were a sidewalk to be used for children walking to school, then I could see a critical need.

The second, is a road being proposed to be paved on Manning Street( not to be confused with the already established Manning street the next road over) between the courthouse and connecting to Rollins St directly across the Street from Hood Park. Again this is not critical and is in fact being used as "political payback". Why do I say this? Because some people believe that when I spoke up about this a few years back, they claimed that I was against this because it was in my back yard- You know the old NIMBY claim. NOT IN MY BACK YARD!. Well it simply was because neighbors had a complaint and ask for me to speak on the issue for them. And I did and I was successful in delaying this project.

By not doing this project this year-we could have a Savings of $ 80,000- This council choose to keep it alive with discussion to come later.

Now lets look at the issues on this subject. It was mentioned that by paving the Manning St it would help traffic flow for Trucks. It was then mentioned by Kevin Coyle that it would open up commercial land ( Bensons Lumber property ) This is his way of increasing commercial base?? It's already there! With a fence looking at a lumberyard.

Here is why I'm against it at least for now.
1) This part of the road was never officially laid-out by the planning board according to state law.
2) Bike path is designated in the exact same location
3) Railroad right-away runs smack down the middle of this road
4) Town's engineering company CLD did a traffic study on this and the study itself said that this project is a waste of money. In fact I challenged all councilors to do the research themselves and see this report. Will they take the recommendation ( I doubt it! ) because then the taxpayers will see what a waste this project is.
The study itself said that because the DMC is so close to the Londonderry line Most people traveling to the DMC come from the East and would not use this road to navigate. Some like Janet say to alleviate traffic from West Broadway ( Is she kidding) people use maple street already they are not using this to navigate from West Broadway it does not make sense.
5) This area is used by lots of kids and families as recreation and we have a tennis court that will be so close to the "new road" that tennis balls could come into traffic
6) Sight distance will make it very tricky for cars turning left or right from this new road-

Anyway, Wasting taxpayers money is a pet peeve of mine and you the taxpayers must know about these issues. So if you want to spend money for the two businesses that have trucks going to them so be it ( One company already send its fleet of trucks through to rollins every morning) the other company wants it for their trucks to have an easier time.

Don't get me wrong here. I do understand that I am one block from the downtown but to spend money on something paid engineers are saying is a waste is another thing.

What are your thoughts??

DEDC self sufficient

The DEDC, Derry Economic Development Corp has announced that it will no longer ask the town for any funding this year. In the towns FY 08 Budget, The acting town administrator had a line item for $60,000 slotted for the funding of the DEDC, however we just learned that the DEDC has decided to NOT request funding because it says after the sale of the very last lot on Ash St- It can become self supporting.

This has been a goal of the DEDC for many years and on that note I would like to congratulate them on their success!

But what now does the town do to make sure it is doing everything possible to bring tax relief in the form of bringing business into town? This is the next big question the town must need to answer.

The DEDC says it would like to remain working with the town in accomplishing its goals of increasing economic development and that is a good sign.

This also takes away some of the negativity that sometimes happens when discussions in town meetings occur and the issues of economic development come up.- Those issues will now be a thing of the past ( I hope ) Time to move-on to bigger issues and real issues.

Also, businesses that are thinking about coming in will not be discouraged when they read newspaper headlines that thrive on conflict ( after all it does sell papers don't you know. ) We can't afford this anymore- We MUST get serious about doing all we can to attract and retain more businesses. Derry is a good place to start a business after all and we must focus on the positive!

So, I look forward to talking with people and other councilors on new ways to bring in more businesses and to help lower property taxes.

What are your thought on the subject- ( for anyone new to this blog site, just hit the comment section and leave us some comments)

Budget Schedule

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.

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.

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

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!

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.