Friday Update September 23, 2011

Friday,
September 23, 2011

Administrator Todd
Selig took a few minutes out of
his schedule to pose with Arthur Herbert
"the Fonz" Fonzarelli while attending a
recent International City/County
Management Association (ICMA) Conference
held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin..."Aaay"

The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah
begins at sundown, Wednesday September 28,
2011. 

AN
ARCHITECTURAL TOUR OF UNH FOR DURHAM
RESIDENTS

On Sunday, September 25, 2011 beginning
at 1:00 PM join the Durham Public Library for
a tour of the University of New Hampshire
campus, led by UNH Architect and Durham
Public Library Board Chair Doug
Bencks.

Parking is available at the Visitor
Parking Lot on the corner of Main Street and
Edgewood Road (next to the pool and NH Hall).
Participants will meet in the lobby of
New Hampshire Hall which faces directly onto
Main Street at the traffic light intersection
with College Road.There will be a
presentation in Room 208 before the tour
begins. The entire session should be about 90
minutes.

The Dairy Bar has generously agreed to
provide 20 free small ice cream cones to
participants - first come, first
served.

HOUSEHOLD
HAZARDOUS WASTE DAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15,
2011

The 2011 annual Household Hazardous
Waste Day will be held at the Department of
Public Works facility located at 100 Stone
Quarry Drive on October 15th.  As in the
past, all hazardous waste will be collected
by appointment only.  To register, you
must call the Department of Public Works at
868-5578. Remember, the maximum
collected per resident is five
gallons. 

Common Household
Hazardous Waste

NO EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS, RADIOACTIVE
WASTE, ASBESTOS, SILVEX OR
INFECTIOUS/BIOLOGICAL WASTE WILL BE
ACCEPTED.

Consider reducing your purchase of
products with hazardous ingredients; read
labels thoroughly.

Use and store products containing
hazardous substances carefully to prevent any
accidents at home. Never store hazardous
products in anything other than their
original containers and never remove
labels.

Never mix HHW with other products.
Incompatible products might react, ignite, or
explode, and contaminated HHW might become
un-recyclable.

Remember to follow any instructions for
use and disposal provided on product
labels.

Typically, hazardous waste is
categorized as toxic, ignitable, corrosive,
reactive or otherwise hazardous. Please check
the manufacturer’s
label.

NEW RESTAURANT OPENS IN
DOWNTOWN DURHAM – THAI
SMILE-2 - Courtesy Todd
Selig

A new restaurant has opened at 13 Jenkins
Court in downtown Durham.  Thai Smile-2
(Thai & Sushi) has just opened in the
former Franklin Theater/Wings Your Way
location across from What a Croc and
Clemento's Pizzeria. The staff is extremely
courteous, the restaurant clean and
welcoming, and the food quite good.  No
MSG is used and numerous gluten-free options
are available.  Open Monday –
Sunday.  For more information, go to
http://www.thaismile2nh.com/

MASTER PLAN SURVEY RESULTS AVAILABLE
FOR REVIEW
The Master Plan Survey results are in.
Charlie French, a staff member of the UNH
Cooperative Extension, worked closely with
the a Survey Subcommittee of the Master Plan
Advisory Committee to create the survey
earlier this year and the survey was released
to the public in May and closed in June. Mr.
French then tabulated the results of the
survey in June with final edits made over the
summer.

The tabulated results consist of four
documents: A brief summary booklet document;
a summary overview of the findings including
basic frequency statistics; a question by
question summary with bar charts and
frequencies; and a summary of the responses
to the open ended questions.  They can
all be viewed on line at the Town’s
home page at http://www.ci.durham.nh.us/ under
“News”.
 
A total of 467 individuals responded to the
survey (397 full responses and 70 partial
responses).  52% of respondents were
female; 48% were male.

MAJOR
FINDINGS:

• Protecting Durham’s natural
  amenities and water resources, including
  Great Bay, is a high priority for
  respondents.
   
• 93%
  of respondents indicated that having an
  attractive natural setting was very
  important or somewhat important to making
  Durham a place where they want to
  live.
   
• At
  the same time, respondents support policies
  to stabilize or reduce the property tax
  rate, including expanding commercial
  development outside of the downtown
  core.
   
• 61%
  strongly disagree or somewhat disagree that
  a tax rate with similar rates as the past
  is acceptable.
   
• 92%
  indicated that access to the Seacoast was
  very important or somewhat
  important.
   
• Respondents overall support policies
  to make the downtown more
  pedestrian-friendly, including improving
  bike lanes, sidewalks, and
  crosswalks.
   
• 55
  respondents identified the intersection of
  Madbury Road and Main St. as a hazard to
  pedestrian safety, and 31 identified the
  intersection of Main St. and Mill Rd. as a
  hazard.
   
• 74%, 73% and 68%, respectively,
  strongly agree or somewhat agree that
  improving bike lanes, sidewalks, and
  crosswalks are important to improving the
  downtown.
   
• Overall, respondents support a
  diverse mix of housing, to include
  affordable options for working individuals
  and families, young families and
  seniors.
   
• 84%
  strongly agree or somewhat agree the town
  should do more to preserve historic
  structures, but only 41% want to see the
  Historic District Boundary
  expanded.
   
• 83%
  of respondents indicated that the quality
  of Oyster River schools is very important
  or somewhat important to making Durham a
  place where they want to
  live.
   
• 91%
  of respondents indicated that they strongly
  agree or somewhat agree that joint
  UNH-Durham projects to promote economic
  Development should be
  pursued.
   
• 69%
  indicated that a recreational center for
  people of all ages would enhance Durham
  residents' quality of
  life.
   
• 91%
  strongly agree or somewhat agree that they
  would spend more money downtown if more
  retail and professional services were
  available.
   
• 89%
  strongly agree or somewhat agree that
  Durham should continue to facilitate the
  re-development of existing structures, and
  85% strongly or somewhat agreed that Durham
  should facilitate new
  construction.
   
• 84%
  strongly agree or somewhat agree that
  economic development options outside of the
  downtown should be pursued (e.g. office
  parks, light industry,
  etc.).
   
• 71%
  strongly support or somewhat support making
  more land available for commercial
  development.
   
• 71%
  strongly agree or somewhat agree that a
  downtown performing arts center would
  benefit economic
  development.
   
• 96%
  of respondents indicated protecting
  drinking water sources was very important
  or somewhat important.
   
• 96%
  indicated that protecting coastal streams
  and water bodies leading to Great Bay was
  very important or somewhat important, while
  over 90% indicated that protecting the
  watershed for recreational and ecological
  purposes was very important to somewhat
  important.
   
• 92%
  of respondents strongly agree or somewhat
  agree that the Town should take action to
  implement additional energy conservation
  measures for municipal facilities and 85%
  said the Town should develop alternative
  energy sources for municipal
  facilities.
   
• 88%
  strongly agree or somewhat agree the town
  should support the production and sale of
  local agricultural products while 82% feel
  the town should adopt policies to protect
  agricultural lands for current or future
  food production.

2012-2021 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT
PLAN DEVELOPMENT
In conjunction with the annual budget
development process, a draft Capital
Improvement Plan (CIP) is prepared in
accordance with the Town Charter. 
Section 5.8 states that the Administrator,
after consultation with the Planning Board,
shall prepare and submit to the Council a CIP
at least one (1) month prior to the final
date for submission of the budget.  The
CIP must contain a list of capital
improvements, including major replacements,
which are proposed to be undertaken during
the next six fiscal years.

Over the course of the last eleven
budget cycles, Administrator Selig has
expanded the required six-year timeframe to a
ten-year window to provide a better sense of
Durham's long-term needs.  In addition,
rather than is the case in many other
communities, we have fully integrated the CIP
into the actual budgetary document submitted
to the Council such that all items ultimately
recommended by the Administrator for the next
fiscal year are actually included within the
Capital Budget submitted to the
Council. 

All items contained within the CIP are
made part and parcel of the ten-year fiscal
forecast that is generated by the Business
Office as part of the budget process. The
result is a streamlined budget and CIP
development process that connects requests
made with actual financial and projected tax
rate implications. To facilitate this
process, the Town Council is provided in
September with the initial draft CIP
outlining all requests made for capital
improvements by departments, boards, and
committees which is discussed with the
Planning Board. After meeting with the
Planning Board, the Administrator with the
assistance of the Business Office and other
departments, hones the plan, and ultimately
transmits a final proposed document along
with the Annual Budget to the Council prior
to November 1st.

On Wednesday, September 14, 2011,
Business Manager Gail Jablonski, DPW Director
Mike Lynch, and Todd Selig met with members
of the Planning Board to introduce the
CIP.  A subsequent follow up
meeting to discuss the document further with
the Planning Board will take place on October
5,
2011. 

Please note the date change as the
September 28th Planning Board meeting has
been postponed to October 5th in deference to
the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

2012 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT UNDER
WAY
The 2011 budget review process is revving up
to full swing.

Business Manager Gail Jablonski and
Todd Selig have begun meeting with
representatives from the Durham Public
Library Board of Trustees, Planning
Department, DCAT, Fire Department, Police
Department, Zoning, Code Enforcement, and
Assessing Office, Town Clerk/Tax Collector,
MIS, and Public Works Department to discuss
budget proposals for 2011. Members of the
Council have been invited to participate in
these meetings and have been forwarded dates
and times for each group.
 
The one-on-one budget meetings are done each
year in an effort to gain a better
understanding of each department's priorities
and needs early on in the budget development
process prior to any budgetary decisions
being made.

It is overtly recognized that we are
operating in the midst of a very difficult
economic environment for residents. 
Proposals brought forward to the Council in
November by the Administrator will be
reflective of this
reality.


Upon finalizing the budget development
process in late-October, the proposed 2012
budget will be submitted to the Town Council,
along with the proposed 2012-2021 Capital
Improvement Program in accordance with
Section 5.2. of the Town Charter, which
states: "At such time as may be requested by
the Administrator or specified by the
Administrative Code, each officer or director
of a department shall submit an itemized
estimate of the expenditures for the next
fiscal year for the departments or activities
under his control to the
Administrator. The Administrator shall,
based on these estimates and other data,
prepare a recommended budget which he shall,
together with these department estimates,
submit to the Council no later than the last
workday prior to November 1 of the current
year." 

The Council then has
until the last workday in December to adopt a
budget or the budget as recommended by the
Administrator becomes the adopted
budget.


Please note that time spent on this
intensive process often results in delays in
responding to other items from the
Administrator’s office.  We
appreciate your patience over the next two
months. 

NEW TRAIN STATION MAP INSTALLED TO
SUPPORT DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES -
Courtesy Todd
Selig
In connection with the new RR Trestle
advertising panels installed along the
boarding platform area at the Durham/UNH
Train Station, a new “Welcome to
Durham: Home of University of New
Hampshire” map has been installed in
order to help inform and direct visitors not
only around campus, but also to downtown
Durham establishments.  Appreciation is
extended to UNH for collaborating with Durham
in the production of this informative
map. 

TNH EDITORIAL REGARDING
IMPLICATIONS OF STUDENT HOUSING IN
DURHAM

UNH Dean of Students
Anne Lawing and Administrator Todd Selig
provided a letter to the editor in The
New Hampshire in an effort to help
educate students regarding the realities of
living off campus in Durham.  To view
this letter, click HERE.

PUBLIC HEARING ON LAND USE
CHANGE TAX PROCEED
DISTRIBUTION
On Monday evening, September 26th, the Town
Council will hold a public hearing on a
resolution regarding the distribution of Land
Use Change Tax proceeds and more
specifically, whether they should be
allocated 100% toward the conservation fund
as is presently the case, or whether these
funds should instead be diverted for a
limited time period to the Town’s
general fund due to challenging budget
circumstances. The Council meeting will be
held in the Council chambers at the Town Hall
and will begin at 7:00 PM

PUBLIC
MEETINGS: SCHEDULE AND VIDEO ON
DEMAND

The following public meetings are
scheduled for the coming week  All
meetings begin at 7:00 PM and are held in the
Council chambers at the Durham 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.

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/.

Town Council
- Monday, September 26, 2011. To view the
complete packet for this meeting, click
HERE.

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.

SEPTEMBER IS
"NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS
MONTH"

As part of the Durham Police
Department’s continuing partnership
with the Health & Safety Council of
Strafford County during the month of
September, the department is continuing
in its series of messages as it participates
in a Joint Information Virtual Exercise
(JIVE). The theme this week is the word
“CONNECT”.

People need to stay in touch with
family members during disasters. No one will
feel secure until everyone is accounted for.
Families should agree ahead of time how to
stay in contact. Each person should carry an
emergency contact list.

A good way to connect during an
emergency is to have someone in another state
act as the family emergency contact. If
family members are separated when an
emergency occurs, everyone will know to call
the family emergency contact if they can't
reach each other directly. Sometimes during
disasters, local phone circuits are disrupted
but long distance service is not affected.
The out-of-state contact can relay messages
to family members.

In an emergency, some communication
tools may be working while others are not. Be
ready to try different ways of reaching each
other. Sometimes you may not be able to place
a cell phone call, but you may be able to
send a text message or access the internet
from your phone. Make sure you and all of
your family members know how to send and
receive text messages and access the internet
on their phones, if
possible.

Connect also means staying in touch
with neighbors and members of your community.
By checking on an elderly relative down the
street or volunteering with a community
organization, you will be reinforcing New
England's tradition of looking out for each
other and helping to build strong
communities.

It is also important to pay attention
to disaster warnings. The National Weather
Service (NWS) provides watches and warnings
for weather-related emergencies. NWS operates
a network of VHF radio stations that
constantly broadcast local weather
information. Real-time weather information is
also available on the Internet and on the
news. Other emergency information is provided
by the Emergency Alert System, which is
carried by all broadcast stations in New
Hampshire.

To start making your family
communication plan, use the checklist and
template included in this brochure. (link
to:

http://www.nh.gov/readynh/documents/readynh_stay_leave_connect.pdf

DURHAM PUBLIC
LIBRARY PROGRAMS AND
EVENTS

With your support, the Durham Public
Library will open its new doors in the summer
of 2013. We are eager to welcome you in our
10,500 square foot, eco-friendly, dynamic,
state-of-the-art community library at 49
Madbury Road. Our goal is to raise $900,000
before a bond vote in March 2012. To date
more than $500,000 has been raised from
private sources. But we still need another
$350,000. You can help by making your
own pledge; volunteering to host an event;
volunteering to talk to friends and neighbors
about the project and ask for pledges
directly; and volunteering to help get out
the vote in March 2012. Visit our
website http://www.durhampubliclibrary.org/durham/ for
details. Sign up to volunteer at NewLibraryVolunteer@gmail.com and
thank you for your support.

Tour of UNH
Campus - Sunday, September 24, 1:00
p.m.-2:30 p.m., lobby of New Hampshire
Hall.

Preschool Storytimes -
Tue., Sep. 27th and Thu., Sep.
29th, 10:30 a.m. This
week: Superheroes/Heroes.. All are
welcome to enjoy stories, songs, fingerplays,
feltboard, and a craft.
Pajama Storytime
begins on Tue., Sep 27th at 6:30
p.m. Join ORPP and the library for our
pajama storytime. All are welcome, The theme
this month is Superheroes/Heroes. We will
read stories about superheroes and heroes and
make a superhero
craft. 

Raccoon Readers (2nd
-4th grade Book Club will begin on
Tue., Oct 4th, 6:00-7:00
p.m. This month’s book is Mr.
Popper’s Penguins by Florence and
Richard Atwater We will discuss the book(s),
author(s), play games, and make a
craft.  Books are available at the
library.
Young Adult Writing/Blog
Group, Tue., Oct 4th, 7:00-7:45
p.m.  Like to write?  Join us for
this Young Adult writing/blogging group that
will meet once a month.
Authors Toby Ball and Kristin
Duisberg to speak, Wed., Oct 5th,
6:30 p.m.

Join our Lego Club,
Thu., Oct 6th, 3:45-4:45 p.m. for
1st-5th graders.  Like to build
Legos?  Come to the Lego club in the
Children’s Room to start
constructing.
All Together Now For the Durham
Public Library, Sun., Oct 9th,
3:00-7:00 p.m. Beatles tribute band "All
Together Now" performs at the Mill Plaza as
we kick off the Durham Public Library's new
library building campaign. Come enjoy the
Beatles timeless music and show your support
for the Library. This concert is free and
open to all.
Registration for Tales for
Tails has begun. 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 in September for a session beginning late
Sep.
Sign-ups have started for Seacoast
Reads (UNH Reading Buddies). 
Have a child in 1st through 3rd grade who
could use some help reading?  Sign your
child up for a UNH Reading Buddy. 
Weekly sessions hope to start
mid-October.
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!

Thanks to
the children/families who signed-up this
summer to have a Japanese Pen Pal.  All
18 Japanese students have been assigned to
Durham Library children/families and have
started receiving their letters.  If you
are unable to continue writing please let
Miss Lisa know at ekleinmann@ci.durham.nh.us.

Check out our website www.durhampubliclibrary.org for
more info.

COMMUNITY
PROGRAMS AND
EVENTS 

Forging the
Link Workshop - Fri., Sep 30, 2011,
12:30 - 2:15 PM, Hugh Gregg Coastal
Conservation Center at the Great Bay
Discovery Center at Sandy Point, 89 Depot
Road, Greenland. This is the latest
curriculum from the Universty of New
Hampshire Stormwater Center and is a workshop
about how low impact development can improve
a community's economic well-being, water
quality, and resilience to storms.
Refreshments will be served. FREE of charge,
but pre-registration is
required.

For directions,
visit: http://www.greatbay.org/visit/index.htm.

To register, visit:
https://www.events.unh.edu/RegistrationForm.pm?event_id=8642

To learn more, visit:
http://www.unh.edu/unhsc/workshop/forging-link-training-ftl

Oyster River Clean-up
- Hosted by the Oyster River
Watershed Association, Sat., Sep 25,
2011, 9:00 AM.
Meet at
Durham Landing (via Old Landing Road, off of
Route 108 [Dover Road]). Coffee will be
available.

Volunteers will be supplied with
gloves, trash bags, and tally
sheets. This is intended to
be a family-friendly event. Wear old
clothes and boots. For more information,
contact Dick Weyrick, 868-2862, dweyrick@comcast.net.

One World Language School
- French, Spanish, German, and
Chinese classes begin on September
28th. There is still room in some
classes for children of ALL AGES. For
information, contact Julie Reece at julie.reece@oneworldlanguageschool.org
or (603) 866-0364.  You can also learn
about our programs at http://www.oneworldlanguageschool.org/.