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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 DPW:
Roads slowly getting better
Greetings
from Iraq
Call
him 'Rip' Holden
Crispin's
House benefits from charity softball tilt
Goffstown
DPW: Roads
slowly getting better
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By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
GOFFSTOWN Finding them rutted with
potholes and crumbling at the edges, roads are once again the
topic of complaint by residents.
Matt Bourque, who lives in the Lynchville Park Road neighborhood,
said his road has virtually disappeared into a pothole. Bourque
said he measured a pothole nearly 100 feet long by 12 feet wide.
When two cars pass each other, there is no way the vehicles can
avoid hitting holes, he said.
Bourque's frustration with the road has led him to call the department
of public works over 40 times in the past year. But the calls
aren't getting him anywhere, he said.
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ROAD WORK Henry
Bridge Road, shown here, is typical of the condition of many
roads in town.
(Russ Choma Photo) |
Frustration with DPW has reached a new
high, Lynchville Park residents say, and so next March at town
meeting, several have suggested that they will submit a warrant
article to elect the town's road agent
"When they say we're on the schedule (to be repaired), they
don't ever know when," Bourque said.
The schedule Bourque is referring to is an extensive list, compiled
by the DPW using "pavement management" software called
Micro PAVER. Originally developed by the U.S. Department of Defense,
the program compiles data on all the roads in town and then assigns
them a ranking called the pavement condition index (PCI.)
According to Carl Quiram, Goffstown's DPW chief, those rankings
help the town decide what sort of work needs to be done on what
roads.
Generally, he said, the work falls into one of three categories:
crack-sealing (repairs of minor cracks); paving (a basic resurfacing
of a deteriorating road); and reclamation (a complete rebuilding
of the road and the bed underneath).
Quiram says these rankings are the sole factor in determining
what work gets done. The only exception to the formula, where
needy roads are put off, he said, are in neighborhoods like Lynchville
Park where the town will be running sewer lines in the next few
years.
Quiram admits the road is in rough shape, but said there is no
point in investing money in rebuilding the road if it's only
going to be torn up a year later.
But Lynchville Park is hardly the only road where residents remain
furious over potholes and deterioration.
Quiram says he regularly fields calls from angry residents, and
said he tries to explain the Micro PAVER system he uses.
"What Micro PAVER does by default is to focus on the roads
at the top (of the PCI scale,)" he said. "We like to
equate it to a leaky roof on your house it gets worse and
worse if you don't deal with it quickly."
It's easier to maintain the high-quality roads first, and then
slowly work up the worst roads as money becomes available.
"If you've got a failed road, it was already gone, and five
years from now it will still be gone," Quiram said. "But
if I can save 40 to 50 miles of (drivable) roads, that's what
I should do, because the dollar will go a lot further."
Quiram defends list
Recently, due to resident complaints, Quiram's crew resurfaced
a large section of Shirley Hill Road near the intersection of
Route 114 and St. Anselm's Drive.
According to Micro PAVER, the stretch was due to be completely
rebuilt in 2009. The resurfacing, Quiram said, did not fix the
road's base deterioration and only took money away from other
projects slated to be done this year.
"The worst thing that has happened was the Band-Aid on Shirley
Hill Road," he said. "If we start to bastardize the
plan, it will have dire consequences."
Quiram said that despite criticism, he remains confident in the
Micro PAVER system because it is built on science, not politics
or subjective decision-making.
"If the selectmen were to tell me to do something differently,
I would do it with every objection," he said. "I will
not waiver I put these lists together on the best science
I know."
Staunch in his defense of the Micro PAVER system, Quiram says
he is confident that if residents stick with the plan for a few
more years, they will see an overall improvement in the condition
of town roads.
For now, he says, he is pleased with the system, despite resident
criticism. As unpopular as Micro PAVER may be, Quiram says it's
better than 2000 when he had no comprehensive plan.
"Prior to this plan we received people's complaints and
there was nothing we could do," he said. "I couldn't
keep up with the bad roads and didn't have money for the good
roads.
"At least now, I feel like I will get to (their road) at
some point it's just a matter of time," Quiram said.
Quiram said he suspects it may not be possible to please all
residents all of the time. Resident complaints are just part
of the job, he said.
"I guess this is the cross I bear and not only me
any director of public works," he said.
Greetings
from Iraq
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By JODI WOLFE
Staff Writer
jwolfe@yourneighborhoodnews.com
CAMP BUCCA, IRAQ The Goffstown News
communicated by e-mail with Goffstown resident Scott Simons SSG,
who is stationed in Iraq with the New Hampshire National Guard.
What does SSG stand for?
SSG stands for Staff Sergeant/E-6
Where are you stationed in Iraq?
We are located at Camp Bucca, which was named after the first
firefighter that had perished during 911. Less than a month ago,
we had the opportunity to meet the son of Firefighter Ronald
P. Bucca. He had come here and was presented honors for his father.
How long you have been in Iraq? How long will you be there?
I have been currently deployed to Iraq since February of 2004,
and we are not sure of time of deployment. It all is dictated
(by) our peacekeeping mission.
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FREEDOM FIGHTER Goffstown
resident Scott Simons, a staff sergeant with the New Hampshire
Army National Guard, stands in front of the bombed out hulk of
a palace formerly owned by Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, along
a river in Baghdad. He's holding a ribbon that pays tribute to
the victims of 9/11. (Courtesy Photo)
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How long you have been in the Army?
I have been a member of the New Hampshire Army National Guard
for 21 years, of which 15 years (were) full-time.
What do you do in Iraq?
My mission here in Iraq is the Company Supply Sergeant, for which
I am responsible for the individual needs of approximately 200
soldiers.
How is Iraq different from Goffstown?
Let me tell you, there are not any trees, as you would have probably
already known. The village is nowhere near anything like Goffstown.
There are a variety of vehicles there are Datsuns as well
as other names that I couldn't pronounce. We are not in a village.
We are well outside of the village. We just pass through it in
order to do our supply runs. We have our military vehicles ...
to protect us from any possible gunfire or Improvised Explosive
Device (IEDs) or UXOs Unexploded Ordinance.
The houses have no color, children stand by the road looking
for handouts, as well as an occasional makeshift carriage being
pulled by a burrow.
The kids, we stop by and see when we can, and give them some
food and trinkets that are sent from home (and) local organizations,
i.e. Girl Scouts, schools and VFWs as well as other groups.
Which Girl Scouts, school, and VFWs organizations send packages?
How often do they send care packages?
The packages that I was referring to were from Goffstown residents.
There are other organizations from all around the state from
which the soldiers that are of this company, whether it be their
employer or just a good patriotic Samaritan, and (are) sent sporadically.
What do you miss most about home?
I can say that I miss my family very much. This has been my first
deployment from them and this has been very tough on the kids,
as well as my wife.
Thank God for all the support that the community has done for
them. I want to thank everyone for the generous hearts. It is
definitely appreciated when the times are tough. I also miss
spending time around the house, mowing the lawn. Fresh grass
is a little hard to get right now, and the opportunity of the
occasional camping trip.
Describe an average day as a soldier in Iraq.
The main mission we have here in Iraq is that we are responsible
for the largest detainee camp with other additional missions
as well. We also provide escorts, search and seizures, patrols,
maintenance tasks and covert operations which we cannot disclose
at this time.
Is the detainee camp for Iraqi prisoners of war? Are the escorts,
search and seizures and patrols for the civilians or military
personnel?
They are not to be considered prisoners. They are detainees until
they have been brought forward to the courts that are located
in the north. Our escorts are for a varitey of missions. The
patrols are to ensure that there are no IEDs or UXOs located
around the vicinity of us, whether they are meant for us or passing
convoys. The British are in the next village, as well as at the
port, ensuring safety there as well.
What does it mean now that the U.S. has established a sovereign
Iraq?
With the change of control being given back to the Iraqis, things
are a little more tentative here. The threat is still there.
The people here still have mixed feelings for us; however, more
and more each day they appreciate our presence with all the assistance
that is given to the community. It is nice to see smiles and
waves as we pass them different times of the day.
What would you say to soldiers who are preparing to go to Iraq?
One of the most important things that should be taken very serious(ly)
in preparation for here is to know hydration. Consume lots of
water. It has gotten very hot here on many occasions. We have
hit temps up to as high as 131 here already. Granted, it is not
humid, (but) it is still hot and can dehydrate you very quickly.
You also need to stay alert you never know when you could
come across an old unexploded or placed ordinance. These are
the things that can take you out not a good scene.
I look forward to getting home, holding the family and breathing
fresh New Hampshire air.
Goffstown
Call him 'Rip'
Holden
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
For 37 years, no one has actually called
Randolph Holden by his given name.
At the age of two, when a babysitter, exasperated by his temper
tantrums, complained to his mother, his mother retorted, "You
know, he's not Jack the Ripper."
Ripper changed to Rippy and then Rip, and Holden reports that
despite the name, he still "turned out to be a very nice
young man."
But the name stuck. In fact, Holden believes nobody in town actually
knows Randolph Holden they just know him as Rip. And in
Holden's line of work as a state representative, name recognition
matters.
For the past four years, Rip Holden has represented Goffstown
in the state legislature.
But this year, when he went he filed for re-election, Rip was
told he couldn't run.
Nicknames not directly derived from the given name, the Secretary
of State's office ruled, were unacceptable on the ballot. In
other words, Randy could run, but not Rip.
According to state statute, the policy was correct. But in years
past, most nicknames including Rip have been acceptable.
Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan said it was nothing personal
against Rip, only that his office felt the situation was getting
a little out of hand this year.
"This year there were a higher number of requests and some
more questionable requests for nicknames," Scanlon said.
"We felt we had to treat everybody in the same manner
either let the floodgates open or deny everyone."
Holden wasn't the only affected politician. Few in Hopkinton,
for example, know Richard Kennedy. That's because most voters
know him as Rep. "Stretch" Kennedy. The same is true
with Howard "Crow" Dickinson, or Ed "Smoky"
Smith.
And how many people know Doris Haddock is challenging U.S. Sen.
Judd Gregg for his seat? Probably not as many as those who have
heard of 94-year-old campaign finance activist "Granny D."
Luckily for Holden, Rip (not Randolph or Randy) will be running
this year.
Holden filed an appeal with the Ballot Law Commission, and on
July 12 the six-member panel ruled in his favor.
"After hearing the case stated by Rip, they agreed that
even though the name Rip is not customarily associated with his
given name, it is customarily associated with him as a person,"
Scanlan explained.
Holden broke it down in simpler terms.
"I will no longer be known as the candidate formerly known
as Rip," he said.
Goffstown
Crispin's House
benefits from charity softball tilt
By MARC THALER
Staff Writer
mthaler@yourneighborhoodnews.com
GOFFSTOWN Just over two weeks remain
until all the tough talk will take a back seat to tough competition
at Villa Augustina Field.
The annual charity softball games benefiting Crispin's House
will take place on Friday, July 30, and while the contests are
sure to be entertaining, the venomous verbal remarks being traded
between members of the Goffstown Police Association and Neighborhood
News have been plenty entertaining in their own right.
Realizing the importance of using the heated rivalry to the advantage
of Crispin's House, the organization's executive director and
league commissioner Laurie Hambleton agreed to lift the gag order.
All participating clubs are now allowed, even encouraged, to
talk trash in the 15 days leading up to the big day on the diamond.
Without the ban for the foreseeable future, Weare Detective and
Crispin's House board member Mark Bodanza continued to do his
best to add fuel to the fire.
"We're investigating a serious crime here at the police
department," Bodanza said sarcastically. "It seems
that The Goffstown News believes they can steal this year's game
from us."
Theft isn't an act the detective takes lightly, he added. But
there was little he could do to keep from laughing when asked
to respond to the most recent comments of Neighborhood News sports
editor and player-manager Jerry Liptak.
Liptak said that unlike last year, if his squad can keep the
game close on July 30, Team Neighborhood plans to pick the pockets
of its police counterparts clean. Bodanza wasn't concerned in
the least.
"Our pitching staff has a better era than the Red Sox at
this point in the season," the detective said. "They
have no chance."
The back-and-forth banter prompted Hambleton to jump into the
ring and throw a few punches herself.
The first was a jab at the GPA.
"I've been wondering to myself ... can cops steal bases
and get away with it?" she asked. "And if they can't,
who arrests them?"
The follow-up swing was a haymaker directed at Liptak's lovable
losers.
"The Goffstown News team won a few years ago," Hambleton
said. "I guess everyone gets lucky once."
Of course, Neighborhood News and Goffstown's finest law enforcers
aren't the only ones scheduled to settle all matters on the field.
Other teams included in the charity softball event are the Goffstown
Fire Department, the Department of Public Works, the Main Street
Board of Directors as well as the Lions and Rotary Clubs.
"We're excited the fire department will be playing that
night," Hambleton said. "Most of those guys know CPR."
Many other activities are planned for the evening.
A pitching booth and radar gun will give folks the chance to
fire their best fastballs.
A dunk tank will also be set up while a ball-throwing contest
will give one individual the chance to win a prize for the toss
landing closest to the target.
Along with a tug-o-war station and appearance by Max the Monarch,
the winner of the Neighborhood News T-shirt design contest will
be recognized.
Weare
Officials make
the pitch for a new middle school
By JODI WOLFE
Staff Writer
jwolfe@yourneighborhoodnews.com
School officials and the Weare School Board
are working on a bond for a new middle school to be presented
to voters next March.
The school board has conducted studies on the current building
and found it too out of code to renovate, according to Matt Thomas,
chairman of the Weare School Board.
According to Thomas, the brick portion of the school was built
in the late '60s and early '70s, and the white building portion
of the school was constructed in the late '40s and early '50s.
"In either case, it's pretty old," he said.
According to state standards, the school, which houses more than
600 students, is built to accomodate 500 students.
School board member Helen Dutton said the building houses 140
students more than its capacity.
She said there is no sprinkler system in the old wood building,
the electrical systems are failing.
Dutton said the school board has been told that the electrical
system has only about a year and a half of usefulness left. In
addition, said Thomas, air quality flow is bad in the building.
Christine Tyrie, superintendent of SAU 24, said she is also worried
that there are currently no science labs because they have to
be used as multi-purpose rooms.
"We don't do a lot of experiments," she said. "The
kids are getting cheated out of (an) education."
Tyrie said that another problem is that there's no isolated area
in the nurse's office for sick and contagious students to quietly
rest while they are waiting for their parents to come pick them
up.
She said the nurse barely has room for a desk and a chair.
She also said the school is not wheelchair accessible.
Thomas said he has a daughter who will be entering the seventh
grade at the school, but that students have concerns that are
different than their parents' concerns.
Specifically, he said students are concerned about space issues,
such as the limited room they have to walk in in the hallways,
the availability of meeting with their teachers in private, and
the size of the classrooms.
"Something has to be done soon," he said.
According to Jim Crane, business administrator for SAU 24, the
state standard for middle school land is 20 acres, plus one acre
for every 100 students. He said there are approximatly 640 students,
so the middle school should be on 26 to 27 acres.
The school currently sits on 12.8 to 13 acres.
Crane said the new school would be built for 800 with a core
facility of 1,000 students. With that student population, the
new school will need to be built on 28 to 30 acres, he said,
adding these regulations will go into effective July 1, 2005,
and anything built or bonded after that will need to follow those
regulations in order to qualify for state reimbursement.
Thomas said now is the right time to build a new school because
the state will reimburse 40 percent of the district's costs.
That percentage is based on per capita income and equalized value
per pupil.
He said the more affluent families that move into Weare will
cause that percentage to go down.
"The longer we wait, the higher the cost will go,"
he said. "It makes sense to do something now."
He said that 40 percent reimbursement will include so-called
"soft costs" such as desks and chairs, lab equipment,
computers and art supplies.
He said they could essentially create a new school with the amount
of money they would get back.
According to Assistant Principal Meeta Brown, right now the architect
working on preliminary drawings and they are hoping to have the
drawings completed by the end of the month.
She said they are working with TeamDesign, an architecual company
in Manchester.
Dutton said the school board recently posed questions to the
community on its Web site, but so far have gotten no responses.
She said they really just started with this process in May.
Dutton is on the communications committee for the new middle
school.
The next meeting on Aug. 11 is open to the public.
She said the committe is working on gathering information and
questions from the public.
The current proposal is for the new buliding to be across from
the new safety complex on Route 114.
She said if the bond passes in March, they would like to begin
construction as soon as possible, and that it would take 18 months
to construct the building, with an opening scheduled for September
of 2006.
Thomas said they anticipate 800 students in September of 2006
because there is a lot of construction going on in town.
He said figures show that for every house, there are approximately
0.6 kids.
"No doubt we're overcrowded at the middle school site,"
he said.
Dutton said they hope to have the preliminary cost determined
by September.
"We want everybody to understand the needs," she said.
Thomas said they are doing everything they can to bring it in
at a reasonable cost.
He said he thinks voters will approve the bond if school officials
can show they are getting real value for each dollar they spend.
Tyrie said she feels voters will appreciate the problems once
they get information about them.
"I'm confident they'll be supportive," said Tyrie.
The Weare Middle School construction committee will meet July
20 at the Weare Middle School library at 6 p.m. Anyone is welcome.
Residents can visit weare.k12.nh.us for more information on the
ideas for a new Weare middle school.
New Boston
Trip to farmers'
market turns into lesson in native American history
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By DEVON CORMIER
Staff Writer
dcormier@yourneighborhoodnews.com
NEW BOSTON New Boston got a taste
of old tradition when the Mt. Kearsage Indian Museum settled
in at the last farmers' market.
Staff member Jessica Eshleman and her son, Jacob, came down from
Warner for the event with other staff members. They were an instant
hit when they set up a large table with Native American souvenirs,
feathers and informational pictures.
Later, Jacob acted out old native American stories as his mother
told them to explain the legend of the three sisters to children.
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MAKE ROOM, PLEASE
Children crowd into a teepee at the New Boston Farmers' Market.
Market director Melissa Harvey brought the teepee to help illustrate
stories of native American life told by workers from the Mt.
Kearsage Indian Museum. (Devon Cormier Photo)
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The three sisters are vegetables
specifically beans, corn and squash.
The children listened intently as they learned about how the
crops grow well together, and then they got to play some old
native American games with dried corn husks.
"We want to help kids visualize how companion planting works,"
Eshleman said.
The museum's presence at the market helped parents shop without
their kids running rampant. The market is a playground to youngsters,
but on Monday, July 12, they all sat quiet and mesmerized.
This is just one of many events planned for children and families
throughout the summer. The farmer's market will have more entertainment
throughout the season.
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