Friday Update December 26, 2008

“FRIDAY
UPDATES”

Wednesday,
December 24, 2008

New
Hampshire officially broke the yearly precipitation
record at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 21, 2008. These numbers include rain and
melted snow and show numbers in Concord that date back to
1870.  The top five precipitation years are as follows: 1) 57.39"
(2008 so far); 2) 57.28" (2005); 3) 55.25" (2006); 4) 54.33" (1888); 5) 50.05"
(1897). 

Christmas
Holiday Recycling and Refuse Collection

There will be NO COLLECTION of
recyclables or refuse on Christmas Day.  Residents whose refuse and
recyclables are normally collected on Thursdays are asked to please put their
items out by 7:00 AM on Friday the 26th instead.  There will be NO
COLLECTION of commercial recycling collection on Friday, December
26^th.

DURHAM TOWN OFFICES/DURHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY HOLIDAY SCHEDULES

Durham Town
Offices

Durham Public
Library

Durham Submits
List of Potential Projects for Federal Stimulus
Package

In response to a request from
Senator Elect Shaheen's office to the N.H. Municipal Association (Local
Government Center), the Public Works Department has submitted a list
of Durham public projects that could potentially be included as part of the
Federal economic stimulus package being developed in Washington, D.C. by
lawmakers. A copy of this can be accessed by clicking HERE.

Fire
Department Warns of Building Collapse Danger

Due to this week's heavy snow with
rain in the forecast it becomes very important to clear roofs of snow and
ice that has accumulated.  A roof may collapse with little or no warning,
and one common misconception is that only flat roofs are susceptible to
collapse.  Residents are advised to take the following steps to
mitigate the danger of a roof collapse:

• Clear roofs of
  excessive snow and ice buildup, being careful not to damage gas and oil
  service to the building. 

• Keep all chimneys and
  vents clear to prevent carbon monoxide from backing up into the
  building.  Some vents, such as pellet stove vents, may exit the building
  through a wall and are susceptible to being blocked by excessive snow buildup
  on the outside of the building.

• Keep all exits clear
  of snow, so that occupants can escape quickly if a fire, or other emergency,
  should occur.  Keep in mind that windows should be cleared to allow a
  secondary means of escape in case the primary means of escape is blocked by
  fire.  Keeping exits clear also allows emergency personnel to access
  your home/building.

UNH
AIRMAP Web Cams On Line for
Viewing

The University of New Hampshire
AIRMAP Program now has in place a new air mapping tower on UNH
property near the Highland House off Bennett Road in Durham. Atop the
AIRMAP tower are four web cams, one each pointing North, South, East, and
West.  The images are updated every 15 minutes and available for
viewing courtesy of the University of
New Hampshire's Climate Change Research Center (the AIRMAP program www.airmap.unh.edu).  The purpose of
the web cams are to provide the public with a network of cameras at each of
the AIRMAP observatories that will encourage community members
to view the AIRMAP web pages and learn more about the
impacts of air quality.  Below are four links to views each
direction. 

http://soot.sr.unh.edu/airmap/TF2_West.jpg
http://soot.sr.unh.edu/airmap/TF2_South.jpg
http://soot.sr.unh.edu/airmap/TF2_East.jpg
http://soot.sr.unh.edu/airmap/TF2_North.jpg

State
Senator Amanda Merrill of Durham Meets with Local Town/City Managers to
Discuss Issues of Concern

A meeting was held last
Friday, December 19, 2008, at the Rochester County Club organized by District 21
Senator Amanda Merrill and District 6 Senator Jackie Cilley to get a feel
for what issues most concern the local governments that they represent in
Concord. 
Five City and Town Managers participated in the discussion including John
Scruton of Rochester, Mike Joyal of Dover, Todd Selig of Durham,
Carol Reilly of Barrington, and Charlie Brown of
Nottingham.  A primary concern for town
and city managers was how budget cuts at the state level would impact
municipal revenues and costs, especially pertaining to education and
infrastructure.  All seemed to agree the largest challenge facing
municipalities is costs being "downshifted" from the state and county levels and
onto municipal budgets.  Other concerns included loss of municipal and
school revenue in areas such as state highway funds, education funds, and bridge
aid.  The impact of financial challenges within the N.H. Retirement
System was also noted as an area of concern for public
employers.   

Durham/UNH
Receive Additional Funds for Main
Street-West
Improvements

As part of the Town of
Durham's 10-year Capital Improvement Plan, a total of $491,151 ($49,000 Durham,
$49,000 UNH, $392,921 Federal grant funds) is budgeted for planned enhancements
to Main Street, west of the R.R. tracks, to include a new road surface, drainage
improvements, sidewalk/multi-use path, shoulder construction, re-striping, and
signage along approximately 1.1 miles of roadway approaching downtown Durham and
the UNH campus.   The New Hampshire Department of Transportation
Technical Advisory Committee (TEAC) for various roadway improvement grant
projects approved a UNH/Durham request to increase our project budget
to $970,000.  This additional scope of work will
include lighting improvements as well as a roundabout in the vicinity
of the old "Loop
Road" near the UNH outdoor tennis courts adjacent to
the Field House.  This is very positive news for the
project.

Leawood
Orchard Property

The University of New Hampshire has received 10
submissions on their Request for Information (RFI) that was sent out for the
possible construction of faculty, junior faculty, and graduate
student housing off Mast
Road.  UNH will be reviewing these submissions
to determine next steps relative to this project.

Durham
Professional Firefighters Association Donates $1,200 to N.H. Food
Bank

This winter, the Durham Professional
Firefighters donated $1,200 to the New Hampshire Food Bank.  The money was
raised through a 50/50 raffle held at the New England Dragway.  When the
winner did not come forward to claim their prize, the Durham
Firefighters donated the money to the New Hampshire Food Bank.  The
donation will pay for 4,800 meals for the
hungry.

Power
Outage Update

PSNH has been working
to restore service to its customers across New Hampshire. While most properties in
Durham had power
restored by last Sunday, it is anticipated that 99.9% of customers in N.H.
will have power back on by midnight tonight. Given the damage that was done
to the system, and the snow that accumulated on the ground over this past
weekend, there could be some areas where debris or materials were left on the
ground.  Please be on the lookout for any residual electrical equipment
that may have been left on the ground. In particular, please contact PSNH
immediately if you see any transformers on the ground, or any tangled wires that
could cause a safety hazard. It is helpful to PSNH when you call if you are
able to provide the road name and, if possible, the number of the pole that is
closest to the material. The PSNH customer assistance number is
1-800-662-7764.

Notice
of Oyster
River Cooperative School
District Budget
Hearing

The Oyster River
Cooperative School District will hold a public hearing on the
proposed 2009-2010 school budget in Room C124 at the Oyster River High
School on Wednesday, January 14, 2009, beginning at
7:00 p.m.  The snow date is Thursday, January 15, 2009, in the same
location.

PUBLIC
MEETING SCHEDULE

There are no public meetings
scheduled for the week of December 29, 2008 – January 2,
2009

Coupons
for the needy
Put those newspaper coupon inserts
that you toss in your recycling bin to better use! Look for the specially-marked
box by the Transfer Station’s “Mixed Paper” dumpster. Drop your SmartSource,
Redplum, P&G and Rite-Aid inserts into the slot and know that you’ll be
providing for someone who could use a helping hand. A Durham resident collects
the coupons to shop for local homeless and family
shelters.

Churchill
Rink AT JACKSON’S LANDING PUBLIC
SCHEDULE

Public skating - times offered every
day

Stick and Puck – Monday – Friday and
Sunday

Pick Up Hockey – Monday – Friday and
Sunday

Call the rink for times: 
868-3907, or visit our new website at www.churchillrink.org

FROM
HISTORY IN AN OYSTERSHELL – 1600 – 1976

“1851 – J. Richardson, E. Thompson,
S. Demeritt, W. Chesley and associates became incorporated as the Durham
Historic Association, authorized to hold personal and real estate valued to
$3,000 as enacted N.H. Laws, 1848-52, Chapter 1197, pp 1151-1152. This is the
only known record.”

Happy
Holidays!

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

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