“FRIDAY
UPDATES”

Friday,
April 9, 2010

 

 

A beautiful sunny day brought out
hundreds of egg seekers to Durham's Town Landing.  Durham Parks and Recreation and ORPP sponsored
the annual Egg Hunt on Saturday.  Over 4000 eggs were found in a matter of
minutes. The community soaked up the sun while enjoying the view, snacks,
touring the fire truck, catching up with friends, and visiting with the Bunny.
Thank you to all who helped make this wonderful event possible, including the
Durham Fire Department.  Photos courtesy
Sara Badger Wilson

 

 

2009 community garden at
WHF. Courtesy Dennis
Meadows

 

Grow
your own food and make new friends

There will again be community
gardening plots on land at Wagon Hill Farm and other sites in Durham and Lee. This year
will be even better than 2009. Many more plots are being prepared, raised beds
are being built, water near the gardens is being offered, and a tool storage
space is being provided. If you wish to consider taking a garden plot this
season, please attend the information and planning meeting on Sunday, April 11,
from 3:00 – 5:00 PM in the Trustees Board Room first door on the right
immediately inside the front door of Thompson Hall on the campus of the
University of
New Hampshire. On Sundays all parking spaces on campus
are open for public use, so participants can park for free in any of the
university parking lots in the vicinity of the Thompson Hall.
 

If you plan to come, send an e-mail
message to Dennis Meadows (LATAILLEDE@AOL.COM). If you wish to come,
but cannot, please inform Dennis of your
interest. 

 

 

2009
Town of Durham
Fiscal AUDIT

This week a team of eight auditors
from the firm of Plodzik and Sanderson Professional Association have been using
the Council chambers to evaluate the Town of Durham's financials, expenditures, revenues,
and fiscal controls as part of the annual fiscal audit for 2009.  When the
audit report is received, it will be presented to the Town Council and the
public as part of our annual process.

 

 

newmarket
leads in Census Challenge - 10 Questions, 10
Minutes

The City
Managers from Durham, Dover, and Newmarket have made a friendly wager that their
respective communities will have the greatest percentage of residents who mail
in responses to the 2010 Census by an April 16 deadline.  After the results
are tallied, the winning community will receive a visit from the other
two managers, who will grab a sponge and bucket and scrub one of the
winning community's fire trucks.

 

As of Friday,
April 9, 2010, Newmarket leads in the competition as
follows:

 

Rockingham County – 67%

Newmarket – 66%
Return

Strafford County – 65%

State of New Hampshire
– 64%

U.S. Participation Rate
– 64%

Dover – 63%
Return

 

Durham
– 61%
Return

 

If residents have not already
completed and returned their Census forms, please take 10 minutes and do so at
your earliest convenience. If you did not receive a Census form in the
mail, forms are available at the Town Clerk’s office, Mon-Fri, 8:00 to 5:00
PM.

About $85 million is saved for every
one percent increase in mail participation.  Data from the Census is used
to reapportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, for redistricting of
state and local governments, and to determine how more than $400 billion
annually in Federal funding is distributed.  

 

POLICE
UNIFORM SHIRTS – KAIZEN EFFORTS CONTINUE

With recently hiring four new police
officers, the Durham Police Department needed to purchase uniforms for these
officers. As part of the ongoing Kaizen effort, the department decided to look
into the implications of changing its existing uniform shirts from “French blue”
to a dark blue for a number of reasons, including functionality due to the color
and the potential for stain and dirt resistance.  By making this change,
the Police Department will save approximately $500 annually on shirts. The
officers and administration at the department are congratulated for their
willingness and interest in enhancing process efficiency at the
department.

 

COMPARISON
OF FIRST QUARTER POLICE RESPONSE TO RENTAL
PROPERTIES

The Durham Police Department has
been collecting data over the past three years in order to analyze police
responses, as well as comparisons, to rental properties throughout the
community. As this initiative continues, additional annual data will enhance the
department’s ability to form conclusions about problematic properties, as well
as recognize those that have undertaken initiatives to improve behavior and
negate the need for police response. To view the information which represents
Durham police
responses to rental properties for the period January 1-March 31, 2009, please
click HERE. 

 

2010
MEMORIAL DAY PARADE – MONDAY, MAY 31^ST

The
Durham Memorial Day Parade will take place on Monday, May 31^st. 
This year there will be a slight modification to the parade route.  In past
years, the parade has originated from Laurel Lane.  This year the parade
will begin at Old Landing
Road. 

At 10:00 AM on the
31^st, the Oyster River wreath-dropping ceremony will take
place on the footbridge at the Durham Town Landing.  Immediately following
the ceremony, the parade will depart Old Landing Road and turn left onto Route
108.  At the 108 intersection the parade will proceed towards downtown for
the second ceremony at Memorial Park.  A third ceremony will take place up
at the Memorial Union Building Chapel following the events at Memorial
Park.  Parade participants are asked to park at the Durham Town Landing
parking area or at the Town Hall and must report to Old Landing Road by
9:30 AM. Parade spectators are asked not to enter Old Landing Road
prior to the start of the parade.

For a map of the new parade route,
please click HERE. 
Please contact Parks & Recreation Director Michael Mengers at 817-4074, mmengers@ci.durham.nh.us with
questions.

 

Application
for Elderly Exemptions  

Eligible citizens may apply for an
Elderly Exemption or other exemptions/credits (Veterans Credit, Blind Exemption,
Solar, etc.) by the deadline of
April 15, 2010 for the 2010 spring
tax bill. An application may be obtained from the Planning, Zoning, and
Assessing Office located on the first floor of the Town Hall, 15 Newmarket
Road.  Questions regarding these exemptions can
be directed to the Planning, Zoning, and Assessing Office at 868-8064. Current
criteria and exemption amounts for the elderly are as
follows:

 

Income
Criteria

           
Single net
income:                           
Not more than $32,500.00

           
Married, combined
income:            
Less than        $43,700.00

 

Asset Criteria

           
Net
assets:                                        
Not in excess of $200,000.00

 

Age Eligibility
Criteria                     
            Exemption
Amount

           
65 years up to 75
years:                  
$125,000.00

           
75 years up to 80
years:                  
$175,000.00

           
80 years or
older:                             
$225,000.00

 

NH
Rapper Video on Youtube - Compare and Contrast

A Durham resident has forwarded to us a link to the new
NH Rapper Youtube video about the Granite State.  To view it, residents can go
to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7nQrCgALM. 
Durham residents can compare this production to
the Town of Durham's promotional video on our web site (and
also on Youtube) at http://ci.durham.nh.us/COMMUNITY/PromoVideo.html. 

 

       

 

MUCH
New Construction Under Way IN DURHAM

Several construction projects
continue throughout Town. Matt Crape, 6 Jenkins Court, is constructing a new
mixed-use 3-story commercial/residential building with housing for 60 students
on the former Houghton Hardware store site (above left). Bryant Park West at
262 Mast
Road is constructing two 3-story apartment buildings
which will house 120 students with anticipated occupancy in late summer (above
right).

 

WISWALL BRIDGE AND SNOW PLOW
CLEARANCE

The Department of Public Works has
completed a mock-up of Wiswall
Bridge curbing/railing configuration
and has determined that the department’s snow plows will have little difficulty
fitting between the curbing and railings of the soon to be completed Wiswall Bridge. To view the mock-up with
dimensions, please click HERE.

 

STREET
PAINTING/SWEEPING AND ROAD WORK

Department of Public Works crews
began street painting this week thanks to the mild weather.  Spring street
sweeping continues ahead of schedule, with approximately 50% of the sweeping
already completed.  In addition, crews spent much of this past week on
gravel road maintenance such as shoulder cleanup on Dame Road. 
Weather permitting, the departments anticipates all gravel road maintenance and
grading to be completed by the end of next week.

 

SEMIANNUAL
WATER METER READINGS

The Durham Water Department
completed its semiannual water meter readings this week.  Water/sewer bills
typically follow within four weeks of the meter reading completion. 

 

Spring
Cleanup

Residents should have received a
flyer this week regarding Spring Cleanup.  This year the cleanup will be
held on May 3rd.  Remember that all items should be out no earlier than Saturday, May 1st and no later than
7AM on Monday, May 3rd.  There will be a flyer has details
regarding this collection. 

 

Wind
Storm Brush and Woody Debris Collection

The Department of Public Works
opened bid requests on Tuesday of this week to conduct a town-wide residential
curbside brush collection due to the wind storm on February 25^th.
York Woods Tree Service of South Berwick, ME is
the apparent low bidder for the roadside and chipping aspect of the
collection.  The department is anticipating that the contractor will begin
collection on April 12, 2010 with a completion goal date of April 30,
2010.  Please have all brush out by Monday, April 12^th. 
The Packers Falls Gravel Pit will still be opened for residents who are hauling
their own brush or having a private contractor haul it for them. 

 

 

New
Police Officers

Pictured above, Pam Donley, Nick
Glowacki, and Jonathan Lavoie stand in front of John Hatch’s three-dimensional
map at Town Hall as Town Clerk Lorrie
Pitt administers the oath of office to Durham’s three newest
police officers who began their careers on Monday.  The three officers will
be completing a variety of tasks in the coming weeks as they prepare for entry
into the New
Hampshire Police
Academy on April
26^th with graduation scheduled for July 30^th. 

 

It’s
Prom and Graduation season

Each weekend during prom/graduation
season, nearly 50 teenagers will be killed nationally in motor vehicle
accidents.  Many teenagers, and sadly many parents, consider alcohol and/or
drug use as normal adolescent rites of passage.  Now is the time to
reinforce parental obligations and ensure that our teenagers celebrate safely
without alcohol or drugs. To ensure that parents can provide accurate and
relevant information to their teenagers, the Durham Police Department will focus
upon relevant New
Hampshire laws during this graduation season:

 

Alcohol laws that pertain to persons
under the age of 21:

Possession of alcohol such as having
beer cans or bottles, and/or internal possession of alcohol which is defined as
a blood alcohol
level of .02+, is a mandatory $300 fine plus a $50 penalty assessment for the
first offense.  Additionally, the person’s license will be suspended
regardless of whether a vehicle was involved or not. The presiding Judge
can require up to a 60 day suspension of driver’s license.  Additionally,
the Department of Motor Vehicles can add an additional suspension of driver’s
license.  If the person is not a licensed driver, that person can be
required to surrender their license for a period of time once the operator
successfully passes their test!  The conviction for this offense remains
attached to the violator’s motor vehicle record for a period of three (3) years
creating significant issues with staggering insurance rates or even denial of
coverage all due to this non-motor vehicle related alcohol
offense.

 

Oyster
River
Water Quality Monitoring Program – Volunteer Water Monitors
Needed

The Oyster River Water Quality
Monitoring Program, sponsored by the Durham/UNH Water Supply, Oyster River
Watershed Association, and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services,
is seeking volunteer water monitors. Working in teams, volunteers collect water
quality data on the Oyster River using state-of-the-art instruments.
Field sites are easily accessible and sampling trips last just several
hours.  Volunteers can be involved at different levels, depending on
interest and time available. For more information, contact Tom Lee, 659-2269, tom.lee@unh.edu
or Brian Gallagher, 862-1390, brian.gallagher@unh.edu.

 

Lyme Disease
Prevention

The ticks have arrived, bringing
with them the increased threat of tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease.
Citizens are urged to take precautions to prevent the potential for becoming
infected with tick-borne diseases by performing frequent, thorough tick checks,
wearing light-colored clothes, tucking pants into socks, and placing clothes in
the dryer for 30 minutes to kill ticks.  More information may be obtained
by contacting the Lyme Disease Association, Inc., PO Box 1438, Jackson, NH
08527, calling
Toll-free (888) 366-6611, or by E-mail: Lymeliter@aol.com. You may
also visit their website at: www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org. 

 

PUBLIC
MEETING SCHEDULE

The following public meetings are
scheduled for the coming week in the Town Council chambers at the Durham Town
Office. All meetings begin at 7:00 PM and are held in the Council chambers at
the Town Hall unless otherwise indicated below. To view the agenda for the
meetings listed below, please click HERE. 
All meetings recorded on DCAT are available on DVD at the Durham Public Library
for checkout and viewing. 

 

Durham Energy Committee – Monday, April
12, 2010 (7:00
PM)

Zoning Board of Adjustment –
Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Planning Board – Wednesday, April
14, 2010

Integrated Waste Management Advisory
Committee – Thursday, April 15, 2010

 

Oyster
River School Board meeting schedule, please click HERE. 

Durham
Public Library Board of Trustees meeting schedule, please click HERE.

DCAT
Programming Schedule, please click HERE

 

DURHAM PARKS AND RECREATION
PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

Stay
current with all Durham P&R programs by viewing the April Recreation
Reminder, please click HERE.  Also, visit our website at
http://www.ci.durham.nh.us/COMMUNITY/recreation.html or on Facebook - search ‘Town of Durham
Parks.’ 

 

§        
Wednesday, April 14, 1:45 PM, Durham P&R: 
Afterschool Movie – Tales of
Despereaux

§        
Monday, April 19, 6:00 PM, Durham Town Landing: 
HIIT Walks
Begin

§        
Saturday, April 24, 10:00 AM – Noon,
UNH’s Great Lawn:  World Tai
Chi Day

§        
Wednesday, April 28, 4:00 PM, Durham P&R: 
Broadway Bound
Begins

§        
Tuesday, May 4, 7:00 PM, Durham P&R: 
Tuesday Yoga Begins

§        
Saturday, May 8, 9:30 AM, Durham P&R: 
Introduction
to Digital Photography

 

To register for any of the above
classes please contact Durham P&R Director Michael Mengers at 817-4074, mmengers@ci.durham.nh.us, or visit
the Town Clerk’s Office.

 

COMMUNITY
EVENTS

§        
Saturday, April 10, Oyster River High
School: 7^th Annual Todd’s Trot 5K Road
Race/Walk. Help make this year’s race more environmentally-friendly
by contributing to the event’s green initiatives. Bring your old sneakers to be
recycled by Nike. The recycling program transforms old sneakers and reutilizes
the materials in the construction of courts, tracks, and playground surfaces.
Also, take advantage of the premium parking spots set aside for carpools of
three or more people in a car. Go to http://www.toddstrot.org/
to register and learn more about Todd's Trot.

§        
Sunday, April 11, 2:00 - 5:00 PM, Scorpion’s Bar and
Grill, 45 Main
Street: St. Baldrick’s Cut for a Cure.
Local resident Scott Righini, Wildcat Fitness and Scorpions, and a number of local
volunteers have teamed up again this year to shave their heads in both the honor
and memory of children who have suffered and passed from
cancer.

§        
Saturday, April 24, 10:00 AM – Noon, Great Bay
Wildlife Management Area at Crommet Creek:  Celebrate the Sweet Trail for Earth Day
hosted by the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership. Come join us for field
trips and the official trail opening in honor of Earth
Day.

§        
Saturday, May 1, 5:00 – 9:00 PM, C-lot off of
Mill
Road:  May
Day Carnival. Come join UNH's Campus Activities Board in the first
UNH May Day Carnival! The night will have 3 large carnival rides, musical
performances, food, and free Honest Tea and Vitamin-Water!  Food will be
available from various Durham locations including DHOP, JP's, Kurt's
Lunchbox, and more. The event is open to the public and free for all UNH ID
Holders, $3 for others, with families getting a discounted entrance
fee.

§        
Saturday, May 8, 12:00 noon, Town Landing: 
Oyster River Quackfest sponsored
by Oyster River Womenade – a rubber duck race down the Oyster River. Ducks will launch at 1:30 PM. To learn more about Oyster River Womenade
and the Quackfest, visit: www.orwomenade.org.

§        
Saturday, May 15, 8:00 AM, Oyster River
High School:  Bobcat
Bolt 5K/10K Race and Oyster River Festival. Proceeds from the
races go directly to The Oyster River Alumni Association. This non-profit
organization will donate the proceeds to The Durham Teen Initiative for the
construction of a youth center in Durham in the names of Josh and Nate Hardy.
Registration can be completed online at www.bobcatbolt.com. Following the race,
the Oyster River Festival will commence with live music, art exhibitions, and
food vendors on-site. For more information, contact Race Director Christopher
Jerard at cj@bobcatbolt.com or Festival Director Anita
Mathur at orhs92@yahoo.com (or anita@bobcatbolt.com). Residents should expect traffic delays; especially in
the area of the Oyster River
High
School.

 

Weekly
Police Arrest Report

 

Week – 9	6 UNH (67%)	3 Other (33%)
*2009/10 Academic Year – 699	439 UNH (63%)	260 Other (37%)
Calendar Year – 156	103 UNH (66%)	53 Other (34%)

*Commenced September 1, 2009 

 

Historical data
for the same week

This data represents the 2009/10
Academic year report which begins anew each August

when UNH students begin arriving in
Durham.

Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Week	28	31	41	16	9
Academic Year	878	738	657	676	699
Calendar Year	216	235	216	199	156

 

NEW
HAMPSHIRE
TRIVIA & TIDBITS

“New Hampshire did not
officially adopt a state flag until 1909. Prior to that, New Hampshire was
represented by numerous regimental flags. The present flag has been changed only
once, in 1931 when the state’s seal was modified.” AmericanProfile
Magazine – First appeared: 12/30/2007

 

Have a good
weekend.

 

Todd

 

Todd I. Selig, Administrator

Town of Durham
15 Newmarket Road
Durham, New Hampshire 03824
Tel
(603) 868-5571
Fax (603) 868-5572
tselig@ci.durham.nh.us

www.ci.durham.nh.us

 

The
Town of Durham
has developed a list server. The server provides interested individuals with
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subscribing should send an email to Town_of_Durham@ci.durham.nh.us
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