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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 GHS graduates
a proud class
Abutters
raise stink about sewerage
Charter
panel's first goal: public input
Town
looks at revaluation alternative
New recycling
plan would eliminate need for sorting
Goffstown
GHS graduates
a proud class
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By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
When Jared Cassin addressed his classmates
at the 2004 Goffstown High School graduation, he made this observation
of the seniors in his midst: "The greatest class to ever
walk through the halls of Goffstown High School," Cassin
said, quoting fellow senior Chris Barone.
Since it opened in 1965, there have been a lot of classes to
walk out the doors of Goffstown High School, so Cassin might
have a tough claim to prove.
But after he and his fellow classmates received their diplomas
and flung their mortarboards high into the air, Barone reiterated
his opinion.
"We have the most enthusiasm out of any class ever,"
Barone said. "We're the smartest, we're the most athletic
everything. We don't lack a single thing."
Earlier, when first-year principal Frank McBride addressed the
soon-to-be graduates, his words seemed to make a solid case for
Barone's hypothesis.
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BEAMING From left,
Alyson Bissonnette, senior class vice president; Rachel Horan,
senior class secretary; and Sally Brzozowski, senior class treasurer,
take time to savor the moment before their graduation from Goffstown
High School on Sunday, June 13. The commencement exercises took
place at Saint Anselm College's Sullivan Arena.
(Russ Choma Photo)
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Choosing a "Top 11" list, McBride
worked his way through the class, honoring those who had done
great things and those with smaller, yet still-memorable accomplishments.
McBride spoke of the many athletic accomplishments of the class.
He reminded them of small but funny moments that were common
from a class known for its humor.
He applauded graduating senior Sara Richard for the number of
art awards she has won.
At his request, the seniors gave one last cheer to show the school's
spirit.
McBride recognized the "perseverance" of the class,
telling of how one student tirelessly rode her bike to school
every day.
The top item on his list, he told the seniors, was that they
would be remembered for treating their classmates and their community
well.
"I believe strongly that seniors help set the academic and
social tone for the school," McBride said. "The Class
of 2004 has worked hard to create a school climate anchored in
the belief of regard and respect."
Perhaps similar sentiments to both Barone and McBride are echoed
at countless other graduations. But in opening the ceremony,
Senior Class President James Giguere told the 2000-plus audience
members that his class was extraordinary. They were close friends;
they had done well.
"It may sound common," he said. "But I really
will miss you all next year."
Goffstown High School serves the students of Goffstown, New Boston
and Dunbarton.
COMFORTABLE Members of Girl
Scout Troop 2470 in Goffstown collected over 500 stuffed animals
as a service project to earn the Bronze Award, the highest honor
awarded to Junior Girl Scouts. The stuffed animals will be given
away to comfort children who have experienced an emotional trauma.
The girls will resume collecting stuffed animals this fall. From
left are Kerry Cottle, 11, Megan Downing, 10, and Chloe Downing,
7. (Tammy Downing Photo)
Goffstown
Abutters raise
stink about sewerage
By DAYMOND STEER
Staff Writer
dsteer@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Neighbors of the proposed Greystone Retirement
Community have called for the developer's site plan and subdivision
application to be scrapped because Greystone intends to use a
septic system on the site instead of the municipal sewer system.
The planning board, however, decided that resubmitting or reposting
the application would be unnecessary during the review hearing
on June 10.
Originally, the developer, Elmer Pease, of PD Associates of Auburn,
requested use of the municipal sewer system for a 270-modular-home
retirement community, but that was found to be unfeasible by
the sewer commission.
"We urge the planning board to deny the present application
and request the applicant to resubmit a meaningful and complete
application package," wrote Nick Campasano, a member of
Goffstown Residents for Sensible Development.
Goffstown Residents for Sensible Development submitted their
request to Planning Board Chairman Richard Georgantas.
"We're all on water wells in our neighborhood, said abutter
said John Sacchi after the meeting. "They are are going
to throw in a septic system for 300 homes. Connect the dots.
Where's all that waste going?" he said.
In a letter to Keach Nordstrom Associates, which does engineering
work for Pease, the town's sewer commission said it would be
"improbable" that the municipal sewer system could
accommodate Greystone.
Goffstown has contracted to buy 2.4 million gallons of waste
water treatment capacity from Manchester.
Currently, the average run is about half that, said Steven Crean
and Jim Bouchard at the hearing on June 10.
The proposed development would add an estimated 130,000 gallons
of wastewater per day, said officials.
Heavy rain can cause the flow to reach 4 million gallons. Manchester
could fine Goffstown if the run exceeds the capacity limits,
said sewer officials.
In a straw vote, members of the planning board decided not to
have developer Pease resubmit or repost his application.
When an application is accepted by the planning board, that means
it has been "put on the docket" said Goffstown Planning
and Economic Development Coordinator Ste-phen Griffin.
After acceptance, the planning board is required to hold at least
one public hearing on the matter. The Greystone application was
accepted by the board in November, Griffin said.
"The public hearing is and will remain ongoing," said
Griffin.
The state Department of Environmental Services and the town's
planning board will still have to approve Pease's septic design.
Forcing the applicant to repost and reapply because of the wastewater
treatment change is unnecessary because abutters are already
well aware of the development, said Griffin.
"If you or I did this, we would be kicked out," Campasano
said.
Pease isn't bothered by the sewer commission's opinion that the
system couldn't handle the added burden from his proposed development.
Fairly new septic technology, he said, can work in this situation.
"I love it," he said about the system.
Pease added that the planning board has always been fair and
"very meticulous" in dealing with him.
But abutters say they are also concerned about the density of
the proposed development.
"I have nothing against manufactured housing, but don't
do it at eight times the density we have now," Campasano
said.
The development, Cam-pasano said, would drastically alter the
existing neighborhood, which has houses on 1- or 2-acre lots.
Greystone homes would be about 30 feet apart, he said.
The developer is also trying to put a condominium complex on
East Union Street.
Pease has said in the past that the owner of the properties at
Tirrell Hill Road and East Union Street would like to sell the
two parcels together as a package.
Goffstown
Charter panel's
first goal: public input
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Most of Goffstown's roughly 17,000 residents
probably don't give much thought to how their local government
works.
Most assume there must be some sort of formal framework. After
all, towns and cities all have charters. And the state and country
have constitutions.
But, in fact, Goffstown does not have a formal town charter.
The town still operates under the original land grant offered
by King George III in 1761. It has been amended, but the town
government the selectmen, the town administrator and the
various boards and commissions all stem from that one 243-year-old
document.
One example of this lack of awareness is the 362 votes that were
cast in the recent charter commission election. Nine residents
were chosen in the May 18 election, which has the dubious distinction
of being the lowest turnout ever for a townwide vote.
Now those nine members on the charter commission are hoping to
open the process and spread awareness.
The commission will hold a public input meeting on Wednesday,
June 23, at 7 p.m. in town hall.
According to Karen McRae, commission chairman, the purpose of
the meeting will be to inform residents and solicit their questions
and opinions.
One of the first questions to be asked, McRae said, is, "How
do you, as townspeople, envision going forward from this point?"
Currently, Goffstown is governed by a five-member board of selectmen,
who determine general town policy. Oversight of day-to-day administration
falls on a hired town administrator and department heads.
A number of other positions and committees are also elected,
including the town clerk, the budget committee, the planning
board and the sewer commission.
At the public input meeting, McRae said she will present the
three forms of government available as options municipal,
town and city.
Each of those categories has a variety of options available
the difference between a town administrator and town manager,
for example.
McRae said she hopes to hear residents' thoughts on those possibilities
and others.
"There are many forms that the charter can take," she
said. "And it will basically state how Goffstown will govern
itself in the future."
In 1991, a similar charter commission was established. They created
a proposal for a new town charter.
However, failure to submit the plan to the state before the deadline
killed the effort before voters ever saw it.
The newest commission has until late December to submit its final
proposal. If it has developed anything new, that proposal must
still win voter approval in March.
Some commission members said they were concerned that after voters
last March approved the warrant article calling for the creation
of a charter commission, they might just tune out the process.
John Davis, the commission's vice chairman, said he is worried
that some residents may ignore the commission's work and show
up at the polls unsure of what has been proposed.
"That's always a fear, that because of the busy lives everyone
has, people may miss it," he said.
"But it's the future of the town," Davis said. "And
if they're going to to live in the town they should know. It
affects the tax rate, how things are done, the road repairs,
and even what type of federal grants are available."
To help keep residents informed of the commission's activities,
all meetings will be carried live on Goffstown's local access
cable station.
Commission members urged anyone interested in the process, in
particular those who signed the original petition, to attend
the June 23 meeting.
For those unable to attend but who are still interested in offering
an opinion or asking questions, the commission is accepting written
input.
The commission can be e-mailed at sued@ci.goffstown. nh.us or
written to at: Charter Commission, Administration Office, 16
Main St., Goffstown, NH, 03045.
New Boston
Town looks
at revaluation alternative
By DEVON CORMIER
Staff Writer
dcormier@yourneighborhoodnews.com
In a rush to meet state standards, the
town may be looking at a cheaper alternative to a revaluation
an update.
Town Administrator Burton Reynolds has hired Norm LeBlonde from
the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration to evaluate
the update option.
The decision to research an update came after voters shot down
the warrant article that would have placed $35,000 in the Town
Revaluation Capital Reserve Fund. The vote left selectmen stumped
for an alternative.
In a scurry to meet state requirements without the necessary
funds, Reynolds has been hoping for the update.
"Part of 'plan B' could be doing an update instead of a
full revaluation," Reynolds said. "In an update we
take for granted that the data we have on the assessment card
is accurate."
LeBlonde has begun taking a small sampling of the town data and
testing its accuracy. Reynolds said that if the data meets the
state's requirements, an update would be sufficient and bypass
the need for a full revaluation.
If LeBlonde says that an update would meet state standards, the
option for an update will be presented to the selectmen, who
have the final say.
Goffstown
New recycling
plan would eliminate need for sorting
By DAYMOND STEER
Staff Writer
dsteer@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Residents would be able to throw their
recyclables away without sorting them if a new solid waste ordinance
is approved, said Town Administ-rator Sue Desruisseaux.
"All materials can be placed inside the recycling container,
including: newspapers, mixed paper, magazines, aseptic packaging,
glass containers, aluminum, steel and tin cans, Corrugated cardboard,
PETE and HDPE plastics and other materials that can be recycled
through the town's contracted recycling hauler and specific to
the existing contract," according to the Goffstown Solid
Waste Management Ordinance.
On collection day or the evening before, the 65- and or the 95-gallon
town-supplied containers would be be placed curbside or within
five feet of a Class Five town road in such a way that doesn't
obstruct vehicles or pedestrians, according to the proposed ordinance.
There is a waiver of this requirement for those who live on private
roads, and the public works director will be able to review,
approve or disapprove a container's placement, according to the
proposed ordinance.
During a hearing on the ordinance on June 14, resident Wayne
Perreault and Selectman Philip D'Avanza suggested minor changes
to the ordinance, which are to be discussed by the Solid Waste
Committee on June 16.
There will be another hearing on June 28, and the selectmen will
vote on the final ordinance on July 12. There is no specified
date as to when the new ordinance will take effect if it should
pass.
Perreault told the board of selectmen that the term "appropriate
location" for storing the bins should be defined as behind
the front line of the building. That way, the bins would be less
noticeable when they aren't in use.
D'Avanza suggested striking language that requires all container
caps and rings be removed. This way, if the recycling vendor's
policy changes, the ordinance doesn't have to be rewritten. The
materials to be recycled will still have to be rinsed, he said.
Pereault also seeks a definition for the word "evening"
with regard to pick-up day. He noted evening can be defined as
noon to nighttime.
Desruisseaux said the solid waste ordinance is necessary because
residents at Town Meeting voted to use municipal curbside recycling
instead of contracting with Waste Management.
The town also needed to change the solid waste ordinance to allow
municipal trucks to travel on private and Class Six roads, which
are owned but not maintained by the town.
The director of public works, Carl Quiram, convinced residents
that they would save money by making the change, said Desruisseaux.
According to the 2003 Town Annual Report, this new program will
save the town $100,000 at the end of the bond term.
The reports says $533,800 out of the $578,541 total was to be
bonded.
The large receptacles will put more emphasis on recycling, said
Desruisseaux. The little blue bins now being used tend to fill
up quickly, and that may cause people to stop recycling, she
said.
The more residents recycle, the more money the town will save,
said Desruisseaux.
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