Friday Updates - July 31, 2020

Friday, July 31, 2020

This photo of a beautiful Luna moth was taken by Durham resident Hana Bartos, which she noticed in her back yard. The Luna moth is a Nearctic moth in a group commonly known as giant silk moths. It has lime-green colored wings and a white body. Typically, it has a wingspan of roughly 4.5", but can exceed 7", making it one of the larger moths in North America.

COLLEGE ROAD CLOSURE - THE UNH DUAL TEMPERATURE INTERCONNECTION PROJECT

Beginning 8/1 and extending through 8/9, College Road will be closed at Zais Hall. Traffic toward Main Street will be detoured onto Service Road, around the Central Heat & Power Plant, onto Library Way and back to College Road. Traffic from Main Street will be detoured onto Library Way, under the train trestle, onto Colovos Road and South Drive, and back out to College Road/McDaniel Drive. The South Drive Gate will also be open. Pedestrian traffic will be diverted to Morse Circle, where temporary provisions will be in place for pedestrians and wheelchairs.

The areas behind the McGregor Ambulance Building and between Zais Hall and the Durham Fire Department will be backfilled and open to Durham Fire Department vehicles prior to and throughout the closure of College Road.

RAYMOND LAROCHE, JR. (RAY) RETIRES FROM DPW

Raymond LaRoche, Jr. (Ray) accepted employment with the Durham Department of Public Works on April 4, 1989. He always provided courteous service to the citizens of Durham and performed his duties in a highly professional manner. Ray was a Jack of all trades with a “can do” attitude which served as a model for all other public works employees. 

In his 31 years of service, he accomplished and mastered any task placed before him, including but not limited to: water system technician, heavy equipment operation, snow fighting, plumbing, masonry, tree removal, carpentry, small engine technician, painting, welding, roofing, locksmith, safety officer, landscaping, equipment purchasing, cemetery/graveyard guardian, and heating/ventilation/air conditioning technician. In other words, a “go to” employee for just about anything! 

Ray was a valued and cherished employee to the Department of Public Works, as well as to other departments within the Town. Town employees were always looking to Ray for help moving something, fixing something, troubleshooting an issue, or to just pick his memory about Durham’s past as he is a lifelong Durham resident.    

In retirement, Ray can be found with his wife and family, most likely busy on his farm or in his sugar shack making maple syrup surrounded by his grandchildren. 

Thank you Ray for your 31 years of dedicated service to the Town of Durham. 

DURHAM FARMERS' MARKET - Each Monday Afternoon in the Sammy's Downtown Lot off Pettee Brook Lane

The Durham Farmers' Market is now open again this season on Monday afternoons through Monday, October 5, 2020 from 2:15- 5:30, closing 1/2 hour earlier than previous years. Vendors will adhere to predetermined sanitation and Covid 19 prevention standards. 

Customers are requested to wear masks, maintain 6’ distance from others, and send only one person per household to shop if possible.  

The market has several new vendors participating this year and they are pleased to have prepared food, maple products (including ice cream!), garden plants, and assorted vegetables available.  

One positive aspect is that folks can walk downtown to access the market and while they are there, shop/eat in other downtown establishments. 

A PROFILE OF ANDREA BODO - Part of an ongoing series by Dir. of Planning Michael Behrendt focusing of people of interest here in Durham.

Rosa Bodo was an opera singer. She arranged for music lessons for her two daughters and her son Andre Gustav, who would become a virtuoso violinist.  

Rosa also ran Bodokavehaz (“Bodo coffee house”), serving hot beverages and fancy pastries to the artists, poets, and bohemians who frequented the cafe. Her husband Adolph Bodo operated Bodograph movie house where they showed black and white pictures like Mae West’s “She Done Him Wrong” and “I’m No Angel.” He also enjoyed parading his family around Budapest, where they lived, in a carriage drawn by white Lippizaner horses.  

Andre Gustav was performing at a resort on the Lido in Venice, Italy in 1937 when he met Florence Jarlett, who was traveling around Europe studying art. They got married, moved to Teaneck, New Jersey, and had a daughter Andrea.  

He performed as a violinist at Manhattan’s El Morocco nightclub, the all-night legendary establishment that started as a speakeasy and was favored by glitterati like Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, the Vanderbilts, Jackie Bouvier and both her future husbands. Every Sunday he played chamber music, often with members of the New York Philharmonic. Andre Gustav was friends with Bela Bartok, the eminent Hungarian composer who was then teaching at Columbia University. Both shared a passion for traditional folk music from their native country.

Andrea started taking piano lessons when she was seven. Andre Gustav thought this instrument a good choice for his daughter as its sound blends well with that of the violin. Two years later he bought her a Steinway Grand. She was allowed to skip school the day it was delivered. A huge truck arrived, four guys took the legs off, turned it on the side, and wheeled it in. A big, beautiful, black Steinway piano. Andrea blossomed.

The family spent their summers in Manchester, Vermont. When Andrea was 11 she was one of the winners of a painting competition. The prize was a 10-week en plein air (in open air) session with Jay Hall Connaway, a distinguished Monhegan Island painter, and Norman Rockwell. A limousine picked the kids up and took them to Dorset Hollow where they painted all day while listening to presentations about color, paint, light, and composition. She remembers Rockwell as being “very down to earth, a lovely person.”

When Andrea was 13 her father died. Her life changed dramatically. Florence Bodo sold the house and the piano. Andrea went to live with her maternal grandparents in Connecticut and was then sent to a Moravian boarding school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for a year. Her mother remarried a merchant marine and the family relocated to Walden, Vermont, in the Northeast Kingdom, near St. Johnsbury.

It was an idyllic setting. They had a farmhouse and were surrounded by cows. But there was no more music. When she was older Andrea made the practical decision to become a nurse.  After graduating from nursing school at the University of Vermont she worked in the emergency room at the Yale Hospital in New Haven. Six years later she moved to Boston to become a senior staff nurse in cardiac surgery at Mass General Hospital where she worked for 20 years. There were around seven open heart surgeries every day.  “It was a pretty intense environment, like on the television shows Chicago Med and ER.”

When Andrea was around 32, her father’s younger sister in Budapest wrote to her. She met Aunt Margot and Cousin Gabriel in Brussels. They insisted on taking her to a Yamaha exhibition hall and asked her to play for them. She was inspired to start again. Andrea enrolled in a program in piano performance at the New England Conservatory and took lessons with Russell Sherman, a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Jacob Maxin, who had been called, “the greatest of unknown pianists.”

She was active with the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music (near Keene) and played in ensembles as part of a double, trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, septet, and octet but not as a soloist. “I like to get out there with my pals.” Most commonly, she performed in piano string quartets which include a violin, viola, and cello and piano woodwind quintets with an oboe, a French horn, a clarinet, and a bassoon. They played at the Gardner Museum, the New England Conservatory, Dunster Hall at Harvard, and for private events sometimes catered by Chez Robert. Very shi-shi.

In 1990 Andrea was called on to treat a professor of biomedical engineering at MIT for plantar fasciitis. A main cause of this ailment is the consumption of too much MSG (monosodium glutamate). But Andrea soon realized she would not be able to persuade Steve Burns to lay off the Chinese Food - he and his colleagues ate at Mary Chung Restaurant all the time – so she encouraged him to replace his Hush Puppies with better-fitting Mephisto shoes. The new footwear was expensive but it did the trick.  

The inevitable romance was sealed when Steve and Andrea entertained a couple at Steve’s cottage up north in Durham one wintry evening. The friends had prepared a Hungarian dish (not knowing of Andrea’s ancestry), Andrea played the piano and they all sang Christmas Carols as snow fell outside the picture window.  Former Town Clerk Linda Ekdahl performed the marriage ceremony in the gazebo on Steve’s property. Andrea installed her grand piano, took on students, and played in chamber music ensembles, including with former neighbor Doug Worthen, a flutist.

Andrea later developed arthritis and no longer plays. She gave away her piano and took up watercolor painting, something she had done in her childhood. “There are different chapters in your life and you move on.”  

We can thank the late Frank Pilar for suggesting that Andrea join the Durham Historic District Commission. She knew nothing about the subject but was willing to learn. Beloved architect Bill Schoonmaker, who died recently, was chair at the time. Andrea grew to become one of the community’s most passionate champions for preserving Durham’s heritage. “As a nurse, I used to advocate for old people. Now I advocate for old buildings.”

After 17 years on the HDC Andrea decided not to continue on when her term expired in April. But she will still be involved with issues that concern her, like protecting the Oyster River Dam which is adjacent to their house. “The waterfall is magical. And this is the only Ambersen dam in New Hampshire that still works.”  

Andrea notes that her life “has not been a steady line all the way” but she has been blessed with “many, many great moments.” She loves contemplating her Hungarian roots and imagining herself lounging at Bodokavehaz (and El Morocco). But her cousin Gabriel advised, “You romanticize too much. It was a hard life, especially during the war.” And evidently Grandma Rosa “was not too warm and fuzzy,” Andrea notes. “She was a tough cookie. But she had to be.” Still, wouldn’t it be grand to see Andrea and Steve waving to the crowd as their carriage is pulled up Church Hill by a team of Lippizaners?

DURHAM TAX MAP ORTHOPHOTOGRAPHY/PLANIMETRIC BASE MAP PROJECT UPDATE – Your Assistance May be Required!

CAI Technologies of Littleton, New Hampshire has completed the Base Map and Preliminary Record Research phases of the tax map project. The Base Map phase of the project consisted of an aerial “flyover” of Durham which provided orthophotography for the development of a planimetric base map. The Preliminary Record Research phase of the project included initial deed review and gathering available survey plans from the Strafford County Registry of Deeds and from the Town’s archives. All plans gathered during this phase have been inventoried, scanned and indexed.

CAI staff are now moving into the Digital Compilation Phase of the project. This phase includes compiling the information gathered during the Preliminary Research phase onto the planimetric base map. During this phase, CAI may have questions regarding specific property boundary lines.  If your property was one of those, you may be able to help.

Over the next several months, CAI Technologies will be mailing letters to those property owners asking for information such as a survey, sketch or written physical description of the physical evidence indicating your property lines. Your assistance and cooperation will assure the Town of the most accurate and meaningful maps possible. Also, it is to your advantage that your property is correctly delineated on the revised tax maps.            

ORCSD SCHOOL BOARD FINANCE COMMITTEE HELD INFORMATIVE WORKSESSION WITH MADBURY, LEE, AND DURHAM THIS WEEK

Town Councilor Jim Lawson and Mr. Selig, as well as municipal representatives from Lee and Madbury, attended a meeting organized by the ORCSD Finance Committee Wednesday evening of this week to discuss financial impacts associated with the Covid-19 pandemic and other matters of collective interest. The meeting took place in the ORHS Library at 6 PM. The following topics were broadly discussed:

• Update on reopening options for ORCSD in light of the pandemic;
• Progress/financials on ORMS project;
• Efforts ORCSD is making now to address current fiscal year budget;
• Efforts ORCSD is making to address fiscal impacts of upcoming school year budget;
• Reports on finances from each of the three municipalities;
• Potential partnership opportunities for future collaboration between the parties –trash/recycling, 
• possible collaboration in REACH/Parks & Rec. expanded programming;
• pooled/self-insured health care coverage, 
• electric aggregation. 

Everyone agreed it was a mutually beneficial meeting. 

DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO REFER TO THE PLANNING BOARD ORDINANCE #2020-10, A TOWN COUNCIL-INITIATED ZONING AMENDMENT TO:

1. ALLOW AN ADDITIONAL STORY IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT BY CONDITIONAL USE;
2. CHANGE THE CONFIGURATION OF USES IN A MIXED-USE BUILDING IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT;
3. CHANGE THE METHOD FOR DETERMINING BUILDING HEIGHT; AND
4. CHANGE PROVISIONS FOR DRIVE-THROUGH FACILITIES

Administrator Todd Selig convened an informal working group to explore possible amendments to the Durham Zoning Ordinance to facilitate the creation of high quality development projects in the Central Business District. Members of the working group included Town Council members Al Howland, Jim Lawson, Ken Rotner, and Sally Tobias. Staff members included Town Planner Michael Behrendt, Code Administrator Audrey Cline, Town Assessor Jim Rice, Economic Development Director Christine Soutter, and Mr. Selig. The group met numerous times and developed the amendments that are proposed.

The working group thought it beneficial to provide for greater flexibility in downtown development while ensuring high-quality design and avoiding adverse impacts. There are four general components of the proposed amendments as follows.

Number of stories in CBD. 

The current maximum number of allowed stories in the Central Business District is four except as specified in Sections 175-42. B. 8. and 9. In this area - including all of Madbury Road (The westerly side is zoned CBD) and both sides of Main Street from the Town and Campus/Ciao Italia lot to the east end of the district - the maximum is three stories. This three- story limit on Main Street was adopted in 2013 pursuant to a citizen’s petition. The limit on Madbury Road was initiated by the Town Council and adopted later in 2013.

The proposed amendment, in Section 175-42. B.6., would allow one additional story (a fifth or fourth, depending on the area, above) by conditional use provided that it is set back from the street by at least ten feet and that the Planning Board determines that it will not have an adverse impact upon the streetscape. These provisions should ensure the additional story will fit in visually.  

Configuration of uses in CBD.  

The working group took another look at the respective requirements for commercial and residential uses in mixed-use buildings – Section 175-42.B.7. This is clearly a challenging, but important, issue that the Town has revisited continually over the years. The provisions included in subsections a. through f. are aimed at allowing for greater flexibility while more precisely addressing the specific objectives.

Subsection g. will allow for a developer to count outdoor public use areas toward the commercial area requirements for the site. We want to encourage attractive outdoor public amenities, especially on larger sites, and a developer will not have an interest in doing so unless there is a benefit to the project. We also recognize that in some cases meeting the required amount of commercial square footage can be challenging and this is one way to help meet that standard. Nonetheless, use of these areas depends upon a finding by the Planning Board that the space will be a significant public amenity.

Building height definition.

The change is made to Article II – Definitions and Section 175-56 General Dimensional Standards. The current definition is problematic. This issue came to light in the context of the working group’s discussions about the number of stories in the Central Business District. A more precise method for measuring building height is needed and accordingly, this method should not be included in the Definitions section of the ordinance so it is relocated to General Dimensional Standards.

Measuring building height is complex when more than a simple box is involved. There may be variation in the underlying grade, the grade may change as part of the project, and there may be different sections of the building with different heights. The biggest shortcoming of the current definition is that the height is measured to the average roof elevation of the overall building. This could be interpreted to allow for measuring different sections (a 30-foot section, a one-story 12-foot section, etc.) with a lower section bringing down the average. It is logical that no section of the building exceed the maximum and this is what the new provision specifies.

In addition, the maximum height allowed in the Central Business District by conditional use would change from 50 feet to 60 feet. This would be allowed in conjunction with the proposal to allow a fifth floor, above, since a four-story building would rarely exceed 50 feet.

Drive-through facilities.

Presently a drive-through facility is allowed only for a bank by conditional use (in five zones). The working group thought that allowance for a drive-through facility should be expanded, albeit carefully, to better accommodate residents with disabilities for whom it is easier to purchase from a drive-up window and to enhance social distancing in situations like the current pandemic.

Drive-through windows for food service potentially have a great traffic impact so these would be allowed only in the automobile-oriented Courthouse zone. Any other drive-through window would be allowed in the five zones where bank windows are now allowed by as a permitted rather than a conditional use.

DURHAM FIRE DRIVEWAY CONSTRUCTION - It's not easy getting our fire trucks out of the station!

The driveway at the Durham Fire Dept is still under construction as the University’s contractors work to replace core campus heating lines and associated stormwater, electrical, and water services which all run below the fire department’s apron and street access to the station. This week fire apparatus often has to make a three point turn to leave or return to the station. 

BUDGET AND CIP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS UNDER WAY FOR FY 2021 - Departments/Committees in the process of preparing requests

Over the course of the summer, Durham’s department heads, as well as the Town’s various boards, committees, and commissions (as well as external organizations to which the Town makes payments for services such dispatch, ambulance, social service agencies, etc.) have been preparing their proposed budgets and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) requests for FY 2021 for consideration by the Administrator as he works to prepare a formal FY 2021 budget proposal for the Town Council as part of the annual budget development process.

Next month, Business Manager Gail Jablonski will begun to organize budget meetings with each of the Town’s department heads to enable herself and Administrator Selig to meet with departments and better understand budget requests, as well as departmental CIP requests.



Members of the Town Council will also be invited to each of these meetings if they have an interest in doing so.

One of the Town’s Council’s approved goals for FY 2020-2021 states: “Task the administrator with meeting the following budget goals for 2021: Hold the municipal tax rate at the 2020 level or less. For the medium and long-term, the Town will continue to make an effort to control its spending and explore innovative ways to reduce the municipal tax rate."

Per Town Charter, the Administrator is charged with the development of the annual budget and CIP program. The proposed annual budget must be submitted to the Town Council by the last business day in October. The Town Council by Charter then has until the last business day in December to adopt a budget or the Administrator’s budget becomes the budget of the Town by default.

The requested CIP projects will be presented to and discussed with the Planning Board in September. 

It goes without saying that the financial impacts of the pandemic will weigh heavily upon the budget season this summer/fall.

REMINDER FROM THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT ON POOL SAFETY

Many above ground pools have been installed in Durham this summer. We want to remind everyone that the pools must have a 4 foot high barrier/side wall around them, including access from the house or deck, for the safety of young children. Portable ladders that access the pool must be removed, or in a closed/locked position with a non-climbable surface when not directly in view of an adult. 

Thank you and enjoy your backyard playground!

OYSTER RIVER CONSIDERS DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR SCHOOL OPENING 

Last night the ORCSD School Board discussed a number of options for opening school in the fall. They discussed a traditional opening, a remote opening and several different hybrid models. No decisions were made as it was a workshop and the Board cannot make decisions in that format. Next Wednesday, August 5, the Board will discuss the various options before them and make a decision. The meeting will be streamed live for those who wish to watch.