Keene News

[jgmaynard]

It'd be fun to do something with it.........

JM

[Kat Kanning]

Budget shows split at Unit 29
   

Nika Carlson
Sentinel Staff


N.H. School Administrative Unit 29 may face an internal legal battle after cuts made to its budget, which some called a signpost in increasingly tense relations between Keene and six town school districts.

Among multiple cuts, the board voted Monday night to remove from the budget a $68,000 rental fee on 34 West St., which the Keene district owns and rents to Unit 29 for top-level administrative offices.

Unit 29 provides administrative services to the Chesterfield, Harrisville, Keene, Marlow, Marlborough, Nelson and Westmoreland school districts. The board is made up of members from all seven districts.

The consequences of the Unit 29 board?s defiance of the rental fee were unclear at the meeting, but Keene board Chairman Carol A. Brown said she?d be calling the district?s lawyer this morning. John D. Wrigley is also the lawyer for Unit 29.


      


If Keene does bill the towns for the rental fee, there will not be money in the Unit 29 budget to pay for it. The Unit 29 board did, however, keep money in the budget to pay for the costs of running the building.

?This is a real marker for how this school board and this area, these seven towns, are relating to each other,? said Timothy L. Ruehr, business manager for towns.

Instead of working cooperatively to solve a problem, the boards were ?squabbling? over small change, he said.

?That $68,000 is a drop in the bucket, it?s pennies,? he said. ?Out of 20, 30 years of cooperation that?s huge ... You?re changing the way (Unit 29) operates, and that?s the real sad thing.?

Keene set the rental fee in October in a 4-2 vote, deciding for the first time to charge a fee above the cost to run the building. Keene and Unit 29 do not have a signed lease agreement.

The budget needed to be reduced, and Unit 29 has no contract justifying the $68,000 fee, said John L. Tonkinson of Keene when he made the motion Monday to decrease the budget by that amount. Tonkinson was not at the Keene meeting where the rental fee was set.

The fee was designed to recapture the cost of improvements to the building, which were called for in a recent study ? but the Keene board has yet to authorize.

While Keene wouldn?t feel the effects of the increased budget, the towns would, Tonkinson said.

?Your voters aren?t going to accept it ... and it?s going to cause serious issues for (Unit) 29,? he said, calling the rental fee and the size of the budget evidence of deteriorating relations between Keene and the towns.

The board passed a $2,291,657 budget for the 2006-07 school year, up $177,580, or 8.4 percent, from the current year?s $2,114,077. The final budget was $98,746 lower than the 2006-07 budget proposal an advisory committee barely approved in November.

While most of the reduction was from the rental fee, Tonkinson also proposed a series of cuts to pay raises for administrative and hourly staff, echoing the sentiments of the sole person who commented from the audience during the public hearing Monday night.

In the end, members approved only cutting administrators? cost-of-living increases, from 4 percent to 2.7 percent; maintaining 4 percent raises for hourly staff and a $23,778 pool to adjust salaries to become comparable with pay in the area, after a study.

Some board members questioned whether the adjustments were necessary, or asked why they couldn?t wait until the next budget cycle.

Personnel Manager Paul R. Cooper said administrators want Unit 29 staff to be paid what they?re worth, and employees shouldn?t have to wait more than a year for it.

The board kept the pool, but did cut $24,283 from the ?other expense? portion of the budget, which covers things like supplies, travel and advertising.

And three hours into the meeting, Judy Idelkope of Chesterfield proposed changes to Unit 29?s contributions to employee health-insurance plans.

While many of the conversations Monday repeated previous discussions in the budget advisory committee, health insurance hadn?t been raised before as a concern. Administrators were unprepared to provide immediate answers on how changes to the complex health-insurance plan would affect the budget.

?You?re making very quick decisions with no information, and you could have stumbled into raising the budget,? Ruehr said.

The more than four-hour meeting also revealed tensions between board members and administrators.

Board member Barbara Girs of Chesterfield, for example, was ?infuriated? that new budget information didn?t reach board members before the meeting.

And while some board members called for strict controls on how and when administrators could spend money, others accused their fellow board members of micro-managing.

?At some point you?re going to have to trust somebody to do something,? said Karl I. Hecker of Keene.

[Russell Kanning]

Good to live in Keene

Public Transportation Shut Down In NY
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=3609

I have to hear this kind of thing from the news ..... not personal experience.

[Lex]

Students push state-fruit bill from ?Pumpkin Headquarters?
   

Nika Carlson
Sentinel Staff


HARRISVILLE ? Guess what?s the talk of Concord?

Not the latest scandal, not state money woes, not even education funding.

It is House Bill 1111, put forward by a group of 3rd- and 4th-graders at Wells Memorial School trying to make the pumpkin the state fruit.

?These kids will never forget that you can get an idea and take it to a legislator and have some action taken,? said state Rep. J. Timothy Dunn, D-Keene, a co-sponsor of the bill. ?If we could figure out how to do this in the 3rd- and 4th-grade all across the state, it would be the greatest thing for citizenship.

?Nine out of 10 people I talk to don?t know how (a law is) made, and these kids know it all.?

The students filed the bill, with the help of their main sponsor, Rep. Peter H. Allen, D-Harrisville, nearly two months ago. Now, from ?Pumpkin Headquarters,? they?re preparing for the real work of making it a law, turning a lesson on state history into a comprehensive educational project.

The students have been working hard on the speeches they?ll make during the public hearing on the bill, learning to be ?prepared, poised, passionate and persuasive,? said Dallas Landry, a 3rd grader. (They?re learning about alliteration, too.)

In small and larger groups, they?re breaking down their research into three categories: the definition and role of the pumpkin, the pumpkin?s image in art and literature and the pumpkin?s nutritional value and economics ? the latter a new word they?ve mastered.

The speeches are in rough form, but the student speakers are quick and eager to intone them, clad in their bright orange ?Support the Pumpkin Bill? shirts on a Tuesday afternoon, despite whatever nerves they have about doing so in front of a room of legislators.

They have, at least, been getting lessons on how best to make their case.

When bill co-sponsor Sen. Robert B. Flanders, R-Antrim, visited, they received tips on public speaking.

When you start, say your name and start off with ?Good afternoon, Mr. (or Mrs.) chairman,? Dallas remembered.

Have a loud voice and sit up straight, Isabel Price, a 4th grader recalled.

Fortunately for their nerves, they found out they?ll speak only before a committee, and not all 424 legislators, at the yet-to-be scheduled public hearing, said Madison Noyes, a 4th grader.

And nearly everyone was relieved to find out they could bring in written copies of their speeches, they said.

Permission slips have been signed, and they?re ready to go to Concord at the drop of a hat.

Flanders? visit, and a more recent one by Dunn, have eased their fears, they said.

?(Dunn) said you shouldn?t be nervous because a lot of (legislators) have families and they?re just like regular people, and you can feel like you?re at home in your living room,? said Kristina Abbot, a 4th grader. ?He really made us feel good when he said that.?

Besides, the students know they?re lucky to be part of the lawmaking process.

?There?s very few people in the world who can do what we?re doing,? said Daniel Townsend, a 4th grader.

?It?s unfair to people,? Alysha Corimer, a 4th grader, added in response. ?It makes everyone feel really sad.?

The pumpkin project has become a bit of a lesson in geography and current events, too. The students have been talking about the war in Iraq and the voting that took place last week.

?Iraqis are being very brave to go out in the streets and vote when they?re having a gigantic war,? Madison said.

And while the students are impressed with Iraqi voters, legislators are impressed with them.

?We?re talking about it in Concord quite a bit,? Flanders said. ?I?ve had no bad feedback. They say, ?What great things for the kids to do.??

Nika Carlson can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or ncarlson@keenesentinel.com.

[Lex]

Court-trespass dispute settled

BRATTLEBORO ? A former Bennington man who sued after being barred from entering state courthouses has agreed to a $200,000 settlement with the state.

The state settled with Scott Huminski, 46, after federal courts ruled that it improperly issued no-trespassing orders against him.

Huminski now lives in North Carolina and was in Brattleboro on Monday for a scheduled hearing in U.S. District Court.

Court officials obtained a no-trespass order against Huminski in 1999 because they became concerned he might be planning violence when he protested against the state?s judicial system outside the Rutland courthouse.

[Lex]

Monadnock school board endorses budget

SWANZEY CENTER ? The Monadnock Regional School Board voted Tuesday night to join the budget committee in tentatively supporting a 6.7 percent increase in the district?s operating budget for next year.

A 26.8 percent increase in health costs and rising costs for special education are the biggest reasons for the increase, according to school district officials.

The default budget, which will be the school district?s budget if the proposed budget fails, calls for an increase of 6.4 percent, according to Jane Fortson of Swanzey, chairwoman of the budget committee.


The budget committee will have another chance to amend the budget at a public hearing on Jan. 10. Then, those who attend the official ballot first session on Feb. 4 will have an opportunity to amend the budget and the other articles on the warrant before they appear on the ballot on March 14.

United Way hits 94 percent

The Monadnock United Way has reached 94 percent of its fundraising goal, but is still $137,000 shy of the mark.

To date, $2,050,988 has been pledged; the United Way is looking for $2,188,230 to fund about 50 local agencies and programs.

A majority of Monadnock Region residents still haven?t been reached, though, according to a press release, and there?s a risk the organization could fall short this year.

?People won?t give if they?re not asked,? said John A. MacLean, the general campaign chairman. ?We must communicate the need for new donors to step up.?

N.H. foundation awards grants

Nearly $200,000 in grants will benefit 13 nonprofit agencies and groups in Peterborough and surrounding communities thanks to a fund at the N.H. Charitable Foundation.

The A. Erland and Hazel N. Goyette Memorial Fund awarded the following:

$200,000 to The Family Center of Peterborough for four local, free sessions of its parent education and family support program.

$43,000 to the Monadnock Community Learning Center in Peterborough to repair and upgrade child-care center bathrooms.

$30,000 to Southern N.H. Services in Manchester for children?s programming and family support services to low-income Peterborough families.

$21,666 to Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services in Keene to support a chronic disease management program for diabetes and congestive heart failure patients.

$20,000 to Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough to support the Monadnock Area Teen Health program.

$15,000 to the Peterborough Human Service Fund for people who can?t be helped with public funds.

$13,500 to the Peterborough Historical Society to update heating and climate control systems.

$10,000 to the New Common Pathway Committee in Peterborough to complete the recreational pathway through the construction a trail connection across Main Street.

$7,000 to the N.H. Community Loan Fund for the MicroCredit-NH program in Peterborough.

$5,900 to the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock to expand and use its bird and mammal mount collection used in area classrooms.

$5,000 to the Sharon Arts Center for computer equipment for a new digital photography lab.

$2,500 to Peterborough Elementary School for materials and equipment to turn the Larrabee chicken farm into a sanctuary for classes to visit.

$2,089 to the Peterborough Town Library to buy a DVD/CD disc repair machine.

[jgmaynard]

Jan. 10th, ehhhhhhhhh??



JM

[Lex]

Selectmen split on town warrant
   

PETER J. CLEARY
Sentinel Staff


WINCHESTER ? Despite the protests of two members, the Winchester selectmen voted Wednesday to put all but one of the town manager?s proposed articles on the 2006 warrant.

The warrant articles include money toward a new fire truck, police cruiser and town hall repairs. Selectmen held off on asking voters to approve money for a new highway department truck.

During the discussion, Selectmen Brian D. Moser and Susan M. Newell dominated discussion on several of the requests, including the money for a new police car.

?I think we have an awful lot of police cruisers for this town,? Moser said.


The town has three police cruisers, a Ford Expedition for use in bad weather and an unmarked car used for investigations, according to Chief Gary A. Phillips.

The requested cruiser would replace an aging car, and Phillips said it?s necessary to ensure the town has a reliable police force. Two of the town?s police cars have more than 100,000 miles on them, he said.

During the evening, there are typically two police cars patrolling, he said, and the town should have a back-up car.

Selectmen decided to put the request on the warrant, with Moser and Newell voting against.

Newell and Moser also opposed asking voters to approve money for future repairs to the town hall, a request the other three selectmen voted for.

The money would help with proper maintenance of the town hall, said Town Manager John H. Stetser. But Newell and Moser didn?t want to approve the warrant article without knowing what specific repairs the money would pay for.

There are many parts of the town hall in need of repair, said Selectman Gustave A. Ruth, including floor work, replacing windows and finishing the sprinkler system.

Also Wednesday, selectmen voted to increase the amount requested to fund a new fire truck from $25,000 to $50,000. Newell proposed the increase.

The board voted to ask voters if they want to establish a reserve police fund that would allow the police department to pay officers for out-of-town details with the money generated from those details.

The police department went over budget last year, in part because the money it received for work done in other towns went into the general fund and was not available to pay officers, according to town officials; the officers? extra pay came from the the police budget.

A request to authorize the purchase of a $120,000 highway truck was put off until next week because selectmen want to go over specifics of the truck.

In other news:

The selectmen voted to accept a donation to the police department from Wal-Mart.

The donation was given to the town months ago, according to police association president Theresa G. Sepe, but some selectmen had problems with accepting it because the check was made out to the police department. Wal-Mart had intended the money to be used for the association?s outreach activities, she said.

The selectmen voted to include the money as a separate item in the police budget. It can be used for any purchases on a list of items suggested by Wal-Mart, selectmen decided, except food baskets the association gives to people who need food.

Selectmen approved a bonus Stetser requested for town employees. Full-time employees will receive a $700 bonus and part-time employees working at least 20 hours a week will get a $300 bonus.

The bonus is appropriate, Stetser said, especially because many town employees have not gotten a raise in two years.

Newell and Moser opposed the bonus.

Peter J. Cleary can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1409, or pcleary@keenesentinel.com.

[Lex]

Conservationists try rezoning again
   

Anna Haigh
Sentinel Staff


ANTRIM ? Voters rejected a plan last March to rezone part of Route 9 in Antrim, but supporters of the proposal aren?t giving up.

Property owners along Route 9 are asking voters again to rezone the land, only this time around, the land would be zoned for rural conservation.

?It?s a huge area of conserved land already,? Antrim resident and petition spokesman Alexander W. Snow said of the land along Route 9, which stretches from Liberty Farm Road and Reed Carr Road west to the Stoddard town line.

The land is currently zoned for business, which permits restaurants, motels, gasoline stations, convenience stores, truck terminals, warehouses and light manufacturing.

Last year, petitioners tried to change the zoning to residential, but that proposal failed.

Snow said a rural conservation zone would help preserve the rural character of the town.

A rural conservation district permits homes, duplexes, schools, churches, public utilities, home-based businesses, recreational facilities, agricultural facilities, and stables, according to Antrim?s zoning ordinances.

The change wouldn?t have a negative impact on commercial development, according to Snow, because the area isn?t right for development anyway.

?We don?t think that there is that much vacant land to support industrial or commercial development,? he said.

Amy J. Zaluki-Stone, an Antrim resident and petition supporter, said rural conservation zoning is less restrictive than residential zoning.

?It will allow some commercial development, however, with some control,? she said. ?It would have to be aesthetically pleasing.?

Zaluki- Stone said the petition?s supporters aren?t necessarily anti-development, they just want new development to be in harmony with the surrounding land.

Snow, a member of the planning board, said retail outlets would conflict with the North Branch River corridor along the highway.

The March 2005 proposal was rejected by voters 268-175, but he said the unexpectedly large number of positive votes encouraged him to try again.

And, he said, last year?s petition had only 29 signatures, but the new petition has the names of 248 residents who agree with the zoning changes.

Snow also said last year?s petition was opposed by the planning board, which may have influenced the vote.

If the land had been rezoned as residential, only homes, duplexes, public utilities, and home-based businesses would have been permitted in the area.

Antrim Town Planner Paul L. Vasques said the planning board informally has decided to oppose the new petition.

The board will take a formal vote after the public hearing on the petition, but he said the board does not support the proposal because it would remove commercial property from the area.

The planning board has scheduled a public hearing on the petition for Jan. 19, Vasques said.

Anna Haigh can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1434, or ahaigh@keenesentinel.com.

[Lex]

WOW! Talk about an expensive paint job, at our expense of course!!! 

A tall order to drink
   

PETER J. CLEARY
Sentinel Staff


HINSDALE ? Standing beside one of Hinsdale?s four water tanks earlier this week, town water Superintendent Dennis J. Nadeau gazed at the green, metal structure, dotted with rust spots and multiple hues of paint.

Then he pointed to a hatchway at the bottom of the tank.

That?s where workers will enter the tank, he said, if voters okay spending to cover the tank ? inside and out ? with a new coat of paint.

Although the color for the new paint is nothing fancy ? just a neutral tone called graystone Nadeau said he chose to blend in with the trees ? the price tag is sizable.


It costs $196,000 for the paint job, according to Town Administrator Jill E. Collins. It may be the only big-ticket item, which would be considered separately, on the town?s 2006 warrant.

Although $196,000 may seem steep for painting the 250,000 gallon tank, the process ? which includes blasting the tank with steel balls ? is a bit more involved than painting a house, Nadeau said.

And it?s needed, Nadeau said, following the recommendations of state officials and a scuba-diving inspector the town hires every five years to take a look inside the tank.

Despite the cost, the town is not getting soaked, according to one state official. The cost is reasonable given the work involved, said Richard C. Skarinka, the official responsible for inspecting Hinsdale?s water system.

Painting is also much cheaper than building a new tank, which Robert W. Mann, a N.H. Department of Environmental Services engineer, said is necessary if a tank is left too long without fresh paint.

?Painting a tank is a science unto itself,? Mann said.

Part of the high cost comes from the precautions workers need to take when removing the old paint, which contains lead, Nadeau said.

To keep the lead contained, workers will sheathe sections of the tank with canvas during the project. Part of the containment system, which rotates around the tank as workers move to a new section, will be held in place by magnets.

While inside the canvas, workers blast steel balls against the side of the tank to strip the old paint. The old paint is then collected and disposed of, while the steel balls are filtered out for reuse.

It?s a noisy undertaking, Nadeau said, but the houses around the tank are far enough away that their occupants shouldn?t be affected.

Once the old paint is removed, the tank is covered with primer, two coats of paint and epoxy.

The state environmental agency, which does regular sanitary inspections of the town?s water system, recommended the painting three years ago, according to Skarinka. During another inspection a few weeks ago, he said, he noted the tank still needs paint.

In addition to the visible rust spots, there?s also interior wear, Nadeau said. That comes during the winter when a foot-thick piece of ice freezes on the top of the tank. And as the water level changes throughout the day the ice scrapes up and down, gnawing at the paint.

That, as well as the weathering of the outside of the tank, means it?s time for a fresh coat. The north Hinsdale tank would be the third of the town?s four tanks painted in the last few years. The fourth tank was built in 2002 and doesn?t yet require new paint.

The town prioritized the two village tanks on Highland Avenue, which had a more urgent need, putting fresh paint on those in 2003 and 2004.

The cost of repainting those tanks ? $278,000 ? was split evenly between the water department and tax revenue. Town officials have not yet determined if the money for the proposed painting would be divided between the two revenue sources.

About 85 percent of Hinsdale residents use the town water system, Nadeau said. The tanks supply water to those residents for about half the day, when the town?s water pumps aren?t operating.

But, he added, the tank maintenance will help all residents.

Town fire hydrants, which are supplied by the tanks, benefit even people with private water supplies, Nadeau said, adding that insurance companies base the town?s rating for premiums, in part, on the quality of the water department.

The new, graystone paint should last about 20 years, he said. And a properly maintained tank, he said, can last forever.

But the plan is still tentative. No department budgets or special projects have yet been finalized by town officials, said selectmen Chairman William Nebelski.

The price of painting the tank is part of the total 2006 budget Collins is proposing for Hinsdale. The proposed operating budget for the town, which does not include the cost of painting, is $2,730,500. That?s 5.5 percent higher than the 2005 budget.

Most of the reason for a growing budget comes from cost-of-living increases, such as a 8.9 percent jump in the cost of health insurance for town employees, Collins said. But other than than those increases and more money budgeted for fuel, there aren?t many additions to the proposed budget beyond the paint job.

The town budget committee will meet with selectmen during the second week in January. The town will also hold a public hearing on the budget in January, prior to finalizing the proposed budget in mid-February.

Residents will be able to vote on the budget ? including the water-tank painting if town officials decide to put it on the warrant ? at the town meeting in March.

Peter J. Cleary can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1409, or pcleary@keenesentinel.com.

[Lex]

Taxpayers in Gilsum facing a little change

KAREN SANBORN
Sentinel Staff

GILSUM ? This year?s tax rate will have Gilsum residents throwing in their two cents.

The N.H. Department of Revenue Administration has set the town?s 2005 property-tax rate at $20.16 per $1,000 of assessed value, up 2 cents, or less than 1 percent, from $20.14 last year.

Tax rates are split into four parts: town, local and state education and county. The portion for town expenses is the only one that decreased, and is largely why the whole rate didn?t increase more.

At town meeting in March, taxpayers voted to spend $35,000 less than the year before, said William G. Hasbrouck, selectmen chairman. That money, plus $30,000 of surplus, combined to reduce the total amount to be raised by taxes.

?I think we?re a fairly frugal town and overall, proportionally, our ... taxes are reducing,? Hasbrouck said.

But he and other selectmen are keeping an eye on the springtime, Hasbrouck said, when a new budget will appear, likely with some major road projects.

The local and state education portion of the tax rate kicked up almost 10 percent when combined. Those rates are based on the town?s equalized assessed values from 2003, said Robert M. Boley of the N.H. Department of Revenue Administration.

At that time, Gilsum?s equalized value increased from $34 million to $40 million, said Laurent J. Biron, business manager for the Monadnock Regional School District.

The school district?s tax burden is split among its member towns based, in part, on property values. When Gilsum?s values went up, Biron said, the town?s share of the burden went up, too ? from $576,054 to $626,542.

The new tax rate means the owner of a house assessed at $100,000 would receive a tax bill of $2,016.

The town?s ratio of assessment is at 100 percent, Hasbrouck said. That means that a house assessed at $100,000 would typically sell for and be taxed on that amount.

Of every $20.16 Gilsum collects in taxes:

$4.94 goes to town government expenses. That?s down $1.26 cents, or 20 percent, from last year?s $6.20.

$11.21 goes to local school taxes. That?s up 89 cents, or 8.6 percent, from last year?s $10.32.

$2.09 goes to state education taxes. That?s up 2 cents, or 1 percent, from last year?s $2.07.

$1.92 goes to county taxes. That?s up 37 cents, or 24 percent, from last year?s $1.55.

Gilsum?s total tax commitment is $1,119,685 this year. That?s $1,067 more than last year?s commitment, which was $1,118,618.

Tax bills are due Jan. 3. Late fees are 1 percent per month.

Karen Sanborn can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1435, or ksanborn@keenesentinel.com.

[Lex]

State approves KSC dorm bond

CONCORD ? The N.H. Executive Council this week approved $145 million in bonds for new dormitories at three state colleges, including Keene State.

The bonds will be issued through the N.H. Health and Education Finance Authority, said Edward R. MacKay, vice chancellor for finance for the University System of New Hampshire.

Of the $145 million approved, $34 million will come to Keene, said Michael J. Matros, director of college relations at Keene State. The rest goes to other housing projects at the University of New Hampshire in Durham and to Plymouth State University in Plymouth.

In Keene, construction on the new dormitories began this summer. When they?re finished ? Butler Court is scheduled for an August 2006 completion and Pondside III for December 2006 ? the college will be close to housing 60 percent of its undergraduates, Matros said.

Butler Court, located at the corner of Butler and Winchester streets, will house 216 students in suite-style rooms for six, eight or 10 students. Pondside III, situated on the north shore of Brickyard Pond, will house 154 students in similar suite styles.

The bond issued by the Health and Education Finance Authority will be the second in two years to benefit Keene State. It issued $65 million last year, MacKay said, $15 million of which went to the college for the new Zorn Dining Commons.

[Lex]

Friday, Dec. 23, 1955

City Recreation Director Gus Hanley will investigate flooding several areas on private property to provide skating rinks for youngsters. But the director has one big obstacle to overcome: No funds are left in the budget for such a program.