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 NEWS AND HAPPENINGS ...
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Thursday,
December 22, 2011
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Happy Holidays from
Frosty!
Courtesy the Selig
Family
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A few of us were talking about a new
fad we have witnessed while out and about
holiday shopping over the course of the
season this year: young women wearing
pajama pants, whether flannel, silk, or
linen, as outerwear in public — at the
mall, at stores, etc. In addition,
there is a new trend in animal character hats
(hats that make the wearer look like a dog, a
cat, a rabbit, etc.) for both children
and adults. Perhaps indicators
of economic recovery?
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NO "FRIDAY
UPDATES" NEXT
WEEK
Due to the Christmas, Hanukkah,
and New Year holidays, there will
be no "Friday Updates" next week. The
next publication will be on Friday,
January 6, 2012.
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CHRISTMAS
HOLIDAY COLLECTION
SCHEDULE
All Town offices will be closed on
Friday, December 23rd and Monday, December
26th for the Christmas
Holiday.
Friday, December 23, 2011:
There will be no commercial
recycling.
Monday, December 26, 2011:
There will be NO CHANGE to the regularly
scheduled refuse and recycling
collection.
Saturday, December 24,
2011: The TRANSFER STATION
will be CLOSED.
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NEW YEAR'S
HOLIDAY COLLECTION
SCHEDULE
All Town offices will be closed on
Monday, January 2, 2012 for New
Year’s Day.
Monday, January 2, 2012:
There will be NO COLLECTION of refuse and
recycling. All refuse and recycling will be
pushed forward one day (Example:
Monday’s route will be on Tuesday,
Tuesday’s will be on Wednesday,
etc.). All items need to be out by 7am
as always.
Friday, January 6, 2012: There
will be no collection of commercial
recycling.
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Christmas at
the Streelman residence, Nobel K. Peterson
Drive
Courtesy
Todd Selig
LOOKING FOR A LOCAL EVENING
ACTIVITY RIGHT HERE IN DURHAM? – TAKE A
DRIVE DOWN NOBEL K. PETERSON
DRIVE
For
residents looking for something local to do
over the holiday weekend, consider taking a
drive down Nobel K. Peterson Drive (follow
Rt. 108/Dover Rd. to Canney Rd., left onto
Bagdad Rd., left onto Nobel K. Peterson
Drive), to see the work that has been done
decorating houses there. In particular,
our neighbors, Ron and Jan Streelman at 5
Nobel K. Peterson, without a doubt have to
win the prize for the most festive household
in the community! Interestingly, the
Streelmans were featured on the front page of
Foster’s this morning focusing on
“Happy Christmas memories in Durham of
Hungarian food and family.” To
see the story, go to:
http://bcs.dll/article?AID=/20111222/GJNEWS_01/712229744
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DURHAM RESIDENT AND UNH PROFESSOR
FEATURED IN UNH HOLIDAY GREETING WEB
VIDEO
Each year
the University of New Hampshire releases a
holiday video on the web. This year the
video (created by Durham resident Bridget
Finnegan) illustrates seven New Year’s
resolutions. Durham resident and UNH
Professor Ihab Farag is shown with two of his
engineering students with the resolution
“to engineer a cleaner
ride.” This is certainly in line
with the Town’s goal of supporting
sustainability! To view the video, go
to:
http://www.unh.edu/ucm/animations/holiday2011/.
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NEW BILL INTRODUCED IN
LEGISLATURE WOULD NEGATIVELY IMPACT
CONSERVATION COMMISSIONS ACROSS
NH
This week
Durham has been made aware of House Bill
1512-FN introduced by Representative Hoelzel
of Raymond which involves reducing the
ability of Conservation Commissions to
acquire and Manage Land for conservation
purposes.
The
Department of Revenue Administration states
HB 1512-FN would remove certain powers of
conservation commissions, including accepting
monetary or proprietary gifts, and removes
the authority of commissions to purchase
property or rights to property. It also
eliminates the existing local option of
transferring proceeds from the Land Use
Change Tax (derived when land is removed from
Current Use) to the Conservation Fund for
conservation
purposes.
As you
know, the Town of Durham and numerous other
communities across New Hampshire utilize
proceeds from the Land Use Change Tax to put
money aside for conservation
purposes. While the question of
whether or not to use Land Use Change Tax
proceeds for conservation purposes can be a
hotly debated topic and has been in Durham on
and off for many years, it is a local option
for communities. HB 1512-FN would strip
this local option away
entirely.
The nexus of this bill may a local
disagreement in Raymond between the Board of
Selectmen and the Conservation Commission
over issues of community-specific
relevance. The implications of the
bill, however, will be of concern to all
conservation commissions and communities
across New Hampshire. To view an
article from the Union Leader on the Raymond
dispute, go to:
http://NEW BILL INTRODUCED IN
LEGISLATURE WOULD NEGATIVELY IMPACT
CONSERVATION COMMISSIONS ACROSS
NH.
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DURHAM TOWN COUNCIL ADOPTS FY
2012 BUDGET
On
Monday evening, December 12, 2011, the Durham
Town Council adopted a 2012 General Fund
budget totaling $11,257,284.00. The
approved 2012 budget is projected to increase
the 2012 local municipal portion of the tax
rate by four cents (or .55%) to $7.61 from
the estimated 2011 level of $7.57.
For comparative purposes, the twelve-month
September 2010 to September 2011 Consumer
Price Index (CPI-U) numbers are: U.S.
City Index – 3.9%, Northeast Urban
Index – 4.0%, and Boston-Brocton-Nashua
– 3.7%.
To view an article in Foster’s
Daily Democrat from this week on the approved
budget, go to:
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111220/GJNEWS_01/712209951.
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THE DURHAM CEMETERY TRUSTEES HAVE
WORKED TO MITIGATE IMPACT OF CAPSTONE PROJECT
ON DURHAM
CEMETERY
As an abutter to the Capstone property,
the Town was notified along with others by
the Planning Board as soon as this project
began the permitting process last year.
The Trustees of the Trust Funds, who serve as
the Cemetery Committee (along with 3 council
members), were advised of the design and
appeared at a Planning Board meeting to
address any issues regarding impact to the
cemetery.
After several meetings with the developer and
landscape designer, it was agreed that the
developer would construct, and maintain, an
8-foot solid wood fence running the length of
their property on the west side, all along
the back of the cemetery on the north side,
and for a short distance along Technology
Drive (behind the white shed). In
addition, the developer would install
landscaping consisting of large, mature cedar
and arborvitae trees as well as a few sugar
maples to provide both a visual and noise
shield. Shown above is a copy of the
fence and landscaping
plan.
Tree selection was made in consultation
with Mary Reynolds, the NH State Arborist and
Durham resident, and Charles Moreno, a
registered forester who has worked with the
Trustees at Doe Farm and at other selective
cut tracts that the town has carefully
managed. The owner of the Capstone
property, including all future owners, is
required to maintain the fence and the
landscaping in perpetuity, so that the Town
is not saddled with any costs.
The site plan for the project calls for
buildings to be built quite close to the
property line (partially as a result of the
requirement that the entire project be
shifted eastward away from the river).
This resulted in the need to cut most of the
trees along the fence. Our consulting
forester recommended that we also cut (at the
developer’s expense) the remaining few
large pines on the Cemetery property, since
they would likely not do well in a
‘stand-alone’ situation, and
would pose a risk of blow-over into the
Cemetery at some point.
As a result, once the project is completed in
the spring and the fence is installed, the
view looking back will indeed be
changed. What residents will see is the
roofs (and perhaps some of the second
stories) of the five cottages that are close
to the property line, with a large solid
fence between the buildings and the road,
along with plantings of 5-6 foot cedars and
arborvitae on both sides of the fence, and
four or five 8-12 foot sugar maples in front
of the fence. These trees will quickly
grow and provide additional visual shielding
over the next few years. Capstone,
which will own and operate the development,
has assured the Town that their on-site
management will work closely with us
regarding any noise or other issues.
In addition, on the recommendation of our
consulting forester, we will be removing some
of the older, large pine trees along the back
of the cemetery this winter as a precaution
against their falling into the cemetery due
to their age and condition. This should
not impact the view in that direction as
there will be no buildings in that area and
we will be leaving the healthier trees
standing.
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TOWN OFFICE FILING PERIOD FOR
MARCH 13, 2012 TOWN
ELECTION
The
filing period for Town offices for the March
Town Election is Wednesday, January 25, 2012
through 5:00 PM, Friday, February 3,
2012. The following positions will be
available for citizens who might choose to
become involved in Durham Town
government:
Town
Council, 3 positions (3-year
terms)
Library Board of Trustees, 2 positions
(3-year terms)
Library Board of Trustee, 1 position
(2-year term)
Moderator, 1 position (2-year
term)
Supervisors of the Checklist, 1
position (6-year term)
Trustees of the Trust Funds, 1 position
(3-year term)
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PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED $2,700,000
LIBRARY BOND
REFERENDUM
At the Town Council meeting scheduled
for Monday, January 9, 2012, beginning at
7:00 PM, the Council will hold a Public
Hearing (required by RSA 33-8:d, II) on
a proposed library referendum question to be
placed on the March 13, 2012 Town Election
ballot which would authorize the
issuance of up to $2,700,000 in long-term
debt for constructing and equipping a
new library. After holding the Public
Hearing, the Council will then vote to order
placement of the referendum language
below on the Town Election ballot. This
requires a 2/3 majority vote of the
Council.
“Are you in
favor of authorizing the issuance of
$2,700,000 in bonds or notes, issued in
accordance with the provisions of the
Municipal Finance Act (RSA 33), in order to
fund a portion of the cost of constructing
and equipping a new
library?”
Over the past year, the Town Council
has received presentations from Douglas
Bencks, Chair of the Durham Public Library
Board of Trustees, relative to the
Trustees’ progress in conducting
fund-raising efforts toward the construction
of a new public library.
The resulting design of the library is
10,500 square feet, which is less than the
13,000 square feet that was identified in the
building program report prepared last
year. The Building Committee and the
full Board of Trustees agree that this
library design is forward looking, but also
acknowledge the expectation that it is to be
as space-efficient and condensed as
possible.
The design/build team has provided for
all of the space program needs in a two-level
design that allows for the use of various
meeting spaces even when the library might be
closed. It is energy efficient,
durable, and easy to maintain. The
layout allows staffing to be kept to a
minimum with good sight lines and staff
coverage of a much larger facility than
exists today.
The total cost to build and outfit this
library is $4.2 million plus the $600,000
spent to date by the Library Trustees to buy
the land, resulting in a total project cost
of $4.8 million. The Library Trustees
received $1.2 million of funds prior to March
2011, and are pleased to report this week
that they have surpassed their fund-raising
goal of $900,000 with efforts still
continuing. The remaining $2.7 million will
need to be approved by a bond referendum in
March 2012, however, the bond issue is
already factored into the adopted FY 2012
budget and long-term fiscal forecasting of
the town.
The Trustees anticipate that operating
costs for the new building, including
staffing, will increase the annual budget by
less than $15,000 for the same amount of
hours.
The Public Hearing will be held in the
Council chambers at the Durham Town Hall.
Members of the public are invited to attend
and express their views. Questions concerning
the proposed library and bond referendum
should be directed to Douglas Bencks, Chair,
Durham Library Board of Trustees at
603-868-6559, dbencks@comcast.net.
Written comments for submission to Town
Council members may be sent to the
Administrator's Office. Comments may also be
sent by electronic mail to jberry@ci.durham.nh.us.
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ALTERNATE
MEMBER VACANCY - DURHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF
TRUSTEES
There is currently an
alternate member vacancy on the Durham
Library Board of Trustees. Residents
interested in seeking appointment to this
vacancy should contact the Town Administrator's
office at 868-5571 and ask for a board
application form, or stop in at the Town
Clerk's office located on the first floor of
the Town Hall, 15 Newmarket Road, and
complete an application. Applications
are also available on the Town's web site
at http://www.ci.durham.nh.us/ on
the right-hand side in
blue.
Completed
applications may be mailed to the Town
Administrator's office, or submitted via
email to jberry@ci.durham.nh.us.
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DURHAM POLICE
VOLUNTEER
PROGRAM
Members of the Durham Police Department
met with several highly committed citizens
who have expressed an interest in
volunteering some of their time to help out
at the police department. The goal of the
meeting was to identify tasks that would
require minimal training and/or expertise to
accomplish yet are still important functions
that the department must perform. One idea
focused upon the volunteers providing small
blocks of time to answer telephones, provide
data entry, and other office roles. This
would allow the two administrative assistants
to focus upon critical functions relative to
court preparation, financial accounting,
payroll, and analysis of police officer
activity.
As Chief Kurz attempts to launch the
program, he would welcome input from active
citizens who could possibly donate their
energy, snippets of time, coupled with their
desire to help out the community that would
enable trained and experienced staff to focus
upon critical police matters. Please
feel free to contact Chief Kurz @ dkurz@ci.durham.nh.us.
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WHAT A CROCK!
HOMEMADE SOUPS - THIS WEEK'S FEATURED
DOWNTOWN
BUSINESS
This week's featured business is
WHAT A CROCK! HOMEMADE
SOUPS. What a Crock is located
at 4 Jenkins Court and is owned and
managed by Dawn and John Knorr, who may be
contacted a 603-590-9866 or
email whatacrock@comcast.net, Web
site: http://www.whatacrockhomemadesoups.com/.
Hours of operation are Monday through Friday,
11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
What a Crock offers eight homemade
soups daily. Menu changes
daily.
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Businesses interested in participating
in this weekly feature should send their
information, including location, contact
information, web site, hours of operation,
and a brief description of the business, to
jberry@ci.durham.nh.us.
Photographs of the business would also be
welcomed.
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PUBLIC
MEETINGS: SCHEDULE AND VIDEO ON
DEMAND
THERE ARE NO TOWN
MEETINGS SCHEDULED FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER
26, 2011.
The Historic District
Commission/Heritage Commission will
meet on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 7:00 PM
in the Council chambers at Town
Hall.
All meetings recorded on DCAT are
available on DVD at the Durham Public Library
for checkout and viewing.
VIDEO ON
DEMAND: Meetings can
also be viewed via Video on Demand.
Interested viewers can access the streaming
site from the Town’s website at
http://www.ci.durham.nh.us/ by
clicking the DCAT on demand logo, or directly
at http://dcat.pegcentral.com/.
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.
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DURHAM PARKS
& RECREATION PROGRAMS AND
EVENTS
The Winter Carnival & Chili
Festival will be held on Saturday, January
28, 2012 from 1:00 - 3:30 PM at the Churchill
Rink. This year, the event will
include a Mac & Cheese
Tasting.
An opportunity to contribute to the
warmth and comfort of your community awaits
you. Durham Parks & Rec is looking for
people who would like to share a crock of
chili or a dish of macaroni & cheese at
this year's Winter Carnival on Jan. 28th from
1- 3:30 PM. For more information contact
Sandy Devins at recreation@ci.durham.nh.us,
817-4074.
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COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND
EVENTS
Community Christmas Eve
Service, Saturday, Dec 24, 2011,
4:00 PM, Oyster River High School
Gym.
Oyster River FIRST Robotics
Team #3499 Competition, Saturday,
Jan 7, 2012, Southern NH
University.
Working with adult mentors, Oyster
River High School students have just six
weeks to design, build, program, and test
their robots to meet this year’s
engineering challenge. For more information
on this competition, click HERE.
The Pressured Child:
How to
Help your Child find Success in School and
Life, presented by Dr. Michael
Thompson, consultant, author, and
psychologist specializing in children and
families, Oyster River High School
Auditorium, Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012,
7:00-9:00 PM. This event is being hosted
by
the
Mast Way PTO, Moharimet PTO, ORMS PTO, ORHS
PTO, The Alliance for Better Childcare, and
Oyster River Parents and
Preschoolers. All are
welcome.
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DURHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY PROGRAMS AND
EVENTS
Wonderful news: The
Durham Public Library has surpassed the
$900,000 fund-raising objective for the new
library. Donations now total $921,665! All
told, the Trustees and donors will contribute
at least $2.1 million as the private portion
of the project costs. The Library’s
Board of Trustees and campaign volunteers are
still continuing to fund-raise with the
intent of surpassing the goal and bringing
down the bond as much
possible.
Durham Businesses Support the
New Library Campaign: The business
community is rallying in support of the New
Library Campaign. Beginning New Year’s
Day, Hayden Sports and Outback Gift Shop will
contribute 10% of sales through January 31.
The ffrost Sawyer Tavern at Three Chimneys
Inn follow on January 7 with an offer to
contribute $1 for every order of the
chef’s popular potato-crusted haddock
entrée through January 21st. We encourage you
to support our community-minded businesses
during these special
promotions.
Community Initiative to Get Out
the Vote for DPL: Are you
interested in joining the effort to help get
out the vote for the new library? You are
invited to join a community initiative to Get
Out the Vote for DPL. Please mark your
calendar and plan to attend one of the
meeting dates for new volunteers:
Monday, January 16th at 7:00 p.m. at the
Durham Public Library and Sunday,
January 22nd at 3:00 p.m. at the Durham
Public Library. Make-it-take-it craft all
week in the Children’s Room.
There are no storytimes this week, but come
in to make a craft. Storytimes resume Tues.
Jan. 3rd at 10:30 a.m
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Library Holiday
Hours: Closed Fri., Dec
23rd and Sat., Dec 24th. Reopen Tues.
Dec 27th. Closed Sat. Dec. 31st.
Re-open Tues. Jan. 3rd.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Registration for Tales for
Tails: Sessions starting again
January, 2012. Have a young reader who could
use some non-judgmental encouragement for
reading aloud? A Delta Therapy dog is waiting
for your child. Sign up at the library.
Need a reading buddy?
UNH tutors are available through Seacoast
Reads at the library for your child in 1st
through 3rd grade. Sign up for the
second semester.
Join the Patch Program, our
reading incentive program for children aged
2-12 years. Children earn patches for minutes
read or being read to as well as a Durham
Library book bag. If new to the program, stop
by and register. Thanks to the Friends
of the Durham Public Library for their
continued support of this program. We
have new patches!
Check out the library's website,
www.durhampubliclibrary.org,
for more
information.
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A GRAPHIC
VIDEO OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF DRINKING AND
DRIVING FOR THE
HOLIDAYS
Last
year we provided a link to a video produced
by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), a
Victoria, Australia government-owned
organization that pays for treatment and
benefits for people injured in motor vehicle
accidents. TAC is involved in promoting
road safety in Victoria and in improving
Victoria's medical trauma
system.
The video, with a link below, is a very
compelling depiction of the results of
drinking and driving. The movie is
professionally accomplished with background
music by REM of their song “Everybody
Hurts” that significantly adds to the
power of the video.
The five-minute video is extremely
graphic in its depiction of motor vehicle
accidents and should be viewed by parents
first and certainly warrants family
discussion to determine whether it
is appropriate for
others in the household. The video may
be viewed at
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Z2mf8DtWWd8.
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FROM
“DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE A HISTORY
–
1900-1985”
Business (1960-1985): "When the
B&M Railroad stopped its passenger
service to Durham in 1958, the university
opened a Dairy Bar in the old railroad
station. Ming Fogg designed an attractive
woman's clothing store in part of a new
building on Main Street, located between
Grant's Cafe and the University Barbers. She
called her shop the Yankee Drummer. The other
side of the building housed Ben Orcutt's
insurance agency and Dan Ninde's real estate
office. After more than forty years on Main
Street, Grant's Cafe changed hands and became
Young's Donut and Coffee Shop. East on Main
Street, the New England Frozen Food Company
took over Merrill's Bowling Alleys, and a
fascination with India-made clothing prompted
several stores like the Folk Art Emporium,
located in the front of this building, to
linger in Durham through the peak of the
fad." Published
in 1985 by the Durham Historic
Association.
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And finally ... I was pleased to learn
this week that Santa Claus is a fellow
alumnus from my alma mater, Syracuse
University. Please have a happy and
healthy holiday season!
Todd
Todd I. Selig,
Administrator
Town of Durham, New
Hampshire
T:
603-868-5571 F:
603-868-5572
tselig@ci.durham.nh.us http://www.ci.durham.nh.us
Everyone can
tackle climate change. How can you reduce
your carbon
footprint?
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