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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 He was
born with 'wings'
Developer
wants to capture the view
Charter
vote draws record low turnout
Selectman
Hunter criticizes editorial
COLOR="#990000"
New Boston
This is just a drill
INFERNO Smoke coming from the Air
Force Tracking Station on Chestnut Hill Road in New Boston was
from a car set on fire for an emergency drill. Firefighters from
New Boston and Amherst joined air station personnel for the drill
on Saturday, May 15. (Lara Skinner Photo)
Goffstown
He was born
with 'wings'
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By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Dave Dubreuil certainly could have taken
the route to easy street.
After the Goffstown native graduated from the University of Central
Florida in December armed with a degree in management information
systems, he could have easily slipped into the high-tech world.
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Dave Dubreuil
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But Dubreuil didn't want to head down
the road that would lead to a lucrative job in a comfortable,
air-conditioned building.
Instead, the 26-year-old is heading overseas to teach computer
science to middle and high school students in the small west
African country of Cameroon as a Peace Corps volunteer.
"I wanted to use my degree in a different way than most,"
he said. "I think it's important for the kids (in Cameroon)
to learn about technology, and from someone who knows about it."
Dubreuil said as an American, he was lucky to have a wide range
of schools to choose from.
"We're not all fortunate enough to go to any school we want,"
he said. "And so I think it's important to give back to
others who aren't as fortunate as me."
Starting June 3, Dubreuil will spend the next 27 months in Cameroon,
including three months undergoing intensive language and culture
training. At this point, he is not sure what his new home will
look like.
He will not be assigned his post until eight weeks into his training,
after he's gotten a handle on the language and his teaching skills.
He's not sure where in Cameroon he'll be living.
Talking about his upcoming adventure recently at his parents'
house in Goffstown, Dubreuil said he's more excited than concerned
about where he'll end up.
"I'm excited," he said. "Maybe nervous."
Seated at the table next to him, his mother, Claire Capraro,
can't help but chime in an anxious "ditto!" in agreement
to the latter point.
"I'm a parent, and it's so far away," she said. "It's
going to be a long time before I see him again, but we're so
proud of him."
Her husband, Steve Capraro and Dubreuil's 12-year-old sister,
agree.
Claire said, ultimately, she's not surprised at her son's choice,
because ever since high school it was obvious he wanted to travel.
"He was born with wings," she said. "He always
wanted to go somewhere other than here."
Dubreuil said his love for travel was sparked during his time
at Goffstown High School. Although he was involved in both drama
and school politics, eventually becoming the first student representative
to the school board, Dubreuil said it was the trip to the British
Isles as a student ambassador that triggered his wanderlust.
In college, he took a number of other trips to Europe again,
across the U.S. and down to Central America. Dubreuil said those
adventures only made him want to travel more.
When the chance to join the Peace Corps came along, he jumped
at it.
Dubreuil said that he had been considering the option for a while,
but thinks he might have first gotten the idea from his world
history teacher at Goffstown High School.
Dubreuil remembers how his his teacher, Jerre Smith, would tell
his students about the time he spent in the Peace Corps before
coming to Goffstown.
"I remember him telling stories about his time in Kenya,"
Dubreuil said. "And how he integrated a lot of his experience
into the classroom."
Smith, who is retiring this June after 33 years teaching in Goffstown,
said he is pleased he inspired a former student. He said he has
tried to emphasize to all of his students that if they have the
opportunity to travel, they should take it.
"Somewhere in your life you'll have a window of opportunity,"
Smith said. "And if you can do it, you should get out of
our culture and get into another and experience it from another
perspective."
As he prepares to leave behind his nervous but proud family for
two years in sub-Saharan Africa, Dubreuil has clearly taken that
message to heart.
Dubreuil said he's not sure where he will be at the end of his
posting. Unlike most other recent graduates, his first job isn't
there to be a resume builder. Instead, he said, he hopes the
degree he has been lucky enough to earn will be able to help
others.
Dunbarton
Developer wants
to capture the view
By LARA SKINNER
Staff Writer
lskinner@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Mountain views along Route 13 are a pleasant
part of living on the south side of the state road. People playing
a round of nine holes at the Countryside Golf Club enjoy the
same scenery.
Developer Donald Lane, who is a managing member of the Watch
Hill Group in Bow, wants to open the best of both attractions
in the area to more homeowners.
For the past four months, Lane has worked with the planning board
and the people who live around the golf course to propose a housing
development that he says will fit everyone's needs.
"As a developer, I can capture value (from the view),"
he said.
But when he brought his proposal for a housing development that
meets state requirements for elderly housing before the planning
board in January, residents weren't ready to compromise the landscape
they have enjoyed.
Lane had planned to build 104 housing units, a restaurant, a
convenience store and a clubhouse, but the board and property
abutters objected. The proposal was then whittled down to 88
housing units, without the extras.
Planners are now mulling over the most recent revisions presented
by Lane at a recent board meeting.
Even with the new plans, Planning Board Chairman John Trottier
said, the board is taking its time with the application.
"Eighty-eight dwelling units to this town, in a town as
small as this, you need to look at (the proposal)," Trottier
said.
What concerns him the most with any proposal, he said, is how
densely populated the final development will be.
Lane's proposal, however, will be affected by new zoning ordinances
for density requirements approved by voters at this year's Town
Meeting.
Under the new ordinance, a developer has to have five acres of
land to build a one-family house. When duplexes or four-unit
buildings are in the mix, a developer has to add two acres to
the lot size for every extra living unit proposed to help preserve
open space in town.
So, one building with space for four families would need at least
11 acres of land to meet the zoning requirements.
There are 256 acres for sale at the golf course and surrounding
land. Approximately 20 percent, or 52 acres, of the parcel would
contain housing units, Lane said.
Out of the 88 units proposed, 52 would be allocated as single-family,
six units would be duplexes and six would have four apartments
in each building.
To meet the town requirement, Lane would have to purchase 368
acres of land, 112 more than what's available for sale.
Some people worry that the development will take away Dunbarton's
small-town feel.
"Every town in New Hampshire is seeking a definition for
the concept called rural character," Lane said.
Keeping the homes on 52 acres of the parcel should help avoid
the look of sprawl, he said. Plotting the neighborhoods with
common lawns and houses with porches should encourage a traditional
New England neighborhood feel.
If his proposal is accepted, the planning board will have to
grant Lane a waiver to allow for a higher density than the current
zoning allows.
If the board doesn't accept the development plans, resident Kevin
McCarthy said they would be doing the town a disservice even
though Lane's plan exceeds the acreage requirements.
"We've been seeing developers come out here, well, for at
least as long as I've been here," McCarthy said, who has
owned his home on Meadow Lane for 18 years.
Because the golf course is located behind his house, McCarthy
said he attended the first public hearing on the project, he
said. He wanted to know how many and what kind of houses were
being proposed, and what would happen to the golf course.
He was against the development proposal at first, but said people
who own property around the course eventually got together and
tried to work with Lane on a plan that would suit everyone.
The location of the proposed homes was moved to over the hills
on the course so people could enjoy the mountain views instead
of looking at the back of someone else's house, Lane said.
The store, restaurant and a pool have been excluded from the
plan. Acreage not occupied by homes will have public walking
trails, access to a part of Beaver Pond and the golf course will
remain open for public use.
It's inevitable that some developer will come along and want
to build on the land, McCarthy said. Having the chance to work
directly with Lane and architect Lyle Folkestad has convinced
him that the development will benefit the town.
"They know they're giving up something," McCarthy said
about Lane's company. "But they're getting something as
well."
Lane said he is satisfied with the compromises he reached with
his potential neighbors, and wants to help retain the rural feel
of the town and bring in housing at the same time.
He is hoping to get the planning board's approval at its regular
meeting in June.
Copies of the fiscal impact analysis, a development summary and
other information from Lane are available at Dunbarton Town Offices.
Goffstown
Charter vote
draws record low turnout
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Only a handful of voters turned out to
cast votes in a special election to choose nine residents who
will form a commission assigned to revise or replace the town's
charter.
Of the 18 candidates vying for a seat on the commission during
the May 18 special election, the top nine vote-getters who will
now make up the commission are: Charlie Carr (197 votes), John
Caprio (173), Frederick Plett (159), Karen K. McRae (154), Jo
Ann Duffy (151), Al Desruisseaux (151), Stephen Crean (135) and
John Davis (133).
Fifteen write-in votes were also cast.
The final turnout of 362 voters, only a fraction of the 9,692
registered, is believed to be the lowest turnout in town history.
Voters approved the creation of the charter commission this past
March when 62 percent of voters supported the initiative. The
proposal appeared as Article 13 on the ballot and called for
a commission to be established "for the purpose of revising
the municipal charter or establishing a new municipal charter."
The charter dictates what form of government the community will
operate under a municipal charter, town charter or city
charter and the structure of the chosen form of government.
The only major changes in the town charter in the past 15 years
were the expansion of the board of selectmen to five members
in 1993, and approval of SB2 voting in 1996.
The commission will hold its first organizational meeting on
June 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the town hall.
The group has until Dec. 29 to issue a final report to the selectmen.
At that point, selectmen can order that the recommendations,
if there are any, be put on the ballot for consideration by voters
at the annual town meeting.
Goffstown
Selectman Hunter
criticizes editorial
Selectman Bruce Hunter said he did not
attend the informational session on the proposal to locate a
federal prison halfway house in Pinardville because he was at
a family member's wake.
Hunter called The Goffstown News to respond to an editorial that
appeared in last week's edition criticizing several selectmen
for failing to show an interest in the issue.
Although Hunter was not singled out for criticism, Selectmen
Chairman Robert Wheeler was.
Editor Henry Metz called on Wheeler and other selectmen to get
more involved in the proposal to house 25 federal inmates in
the former St. Edmonds convent building at 49 Henriette St.,
which straddles the line between Goffstown and Manchester.
"Let me ask you something," said Hunter. "If your
sister died, would you go to her wake?"
Two of the five members of the board of selectmen attended the
informational session on the halfway house, which was held May
5.
Metz responded to Hunter by saying that had three or four members
of the board attended the meeting, the editorial would not have
been written.
The two selectmen who did attend the session were Philip D'Avanza
and John Sarette.
In explaining his position on the proposal, Wheeler said, "I
haven't looked at it that closely. I have ample things to do
without examining things that won't come before us."
If the nonprofit agency that wants to locate the halfway house
in Pinardville, Com-munity Resources for Justice, wins the contract,
it will have to make a formal application to Manchester and appear
before Manchester city boards before coming to appear before
Goffstown boards.
Hunter said he is opposed to the plan to house convicted felons
in Pinardville.
"Goffstown already has enough," he said, referring
to the State Prison for Women located on Mast Road next to the
Hillsborough County Complex. "I plan to oppose this. If
it goes before the planning or zoning boards, I will be there
to object to it."
About 50 people, mostly Pinardville-area residents, showed up
at the May 5 meeting to voice their opposition to the plan.
One vocal opponent was Manchester Ward 10 Alderman George Smith,
who vowed stiff opposition.
Smith said a letter of opposition, signed by 12 of the 14 city
aldermen, had been written.
"From what I understand, if there's enough opposition, they'll
look for alternatives," he said at the meeting.
DIGGING DEEP Fourth-grader
Jacklyn Trexler gives the shovel a stomp while working on a landscaping
project around the sign in front of Dunbarton Elementary School.
Landscape designer Laura Campbell is working with the entire
school on the project as an artist-in-residence. (Lara Skinner
Photo)
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