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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
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We have listed the warrants and candidates
in advance of elections on March 9 so you can see them before
the vote. Election results will be posted as soon as we get them
on the night of March 9. See your town's warrants here:
Hooksett
School, Hooksett
Town (for May elections), Allenstown,
Auburn, Candia,
Epsom and Pembroke.
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Auburn
More than two years pass without arrest
in Jodoin murder
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By LARA SKINNER
Staff Writer
lskinner@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Reward signs taped to the windows at Mr.
I Buy & Sell Everything Pawn Shop have yellowed from age.
A grainy picture of George Jodoin, taken when he ran for
a seat on Auburn's Board of Selectmen, faces North Main Street
in Manchester.
Inside the shop, stacks of stereo equipment, bicycles and televisions
are crowded behind the red bars screwed into the window panes.
Some of the things look as old as the paper taped to the window.
Just after Christmas in 2001, George Jodoin was shot and killed
while he lay in his bed. A year later, George's brother Robert
and some other family members raised $20,000 as a reward for
information leading to an arrest. By 2003, Robert Jodoin had
increased the reward amount to $50,000.
Detective Mark Armaganian with the State Police Major Crime Unit
said the case is still open and active.
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COLD CASE A sign
in the window of George Jodoin's pawn shop, Mr. I Buy & Sell
Everything in Manchester, is showing its age now two years have
passed since his death. The reward money is still available to
whomever can help police solve the case. (Lara Skinner Photo)
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"They've only got one shot at this," Robert Jodoin
said. "They make an arrest, they've got to make sure it
sticks."
Across town from the pawn shop, Robert Jodoin runs the Cadillac
Motel with a business partner. His office on Chestnut Street
is as stark as the pawn shop is crowded. A pile of snapshots
on his desk are from the 1970s, '80s and '90s. They are memories
from camping trips and deep-sea fishing expeditions that the
brothers took over the years.
In the pictures, George Jodoin is many people a shaggy
haired kid holding a bottle of whiskey while camping with four
friends, or clean-shaven at Christmas, sitting at a piano for
a holiday recital.
George was quite an accomplished piano player, Jodoin said.
He could also speak painfully to the point. If someone walked
into the pawn shop George didn't like, Robert Jodoin said he
would tell them to "get the hell out."
"(George) wouldn't two-time you or talk behind your back,"
he said.
George's attitude didn't always gain him friends, and sometimes
the friends he did have weren't the nicest kind. His business
deals were a mix of good and bad, Robert Jodoin said. While on
a trip to Bermuda, George Jodoin ran into some trouble and was
attacked by a man with a machete. Robert said he isn't sure why
this happened, but George survived the incident.
The night before Jodoin was murdered, the neighbors across the
street reported they heard gunshots after dark. Jean and Eugenia
Belanger didn't call the police because, according to an article
in The Hooksett Banner in January 2002, they were used to George
Jodoin doing a bit of target practice in his back yard. Eugenia
Belangers said at that time she was ready to "tell (George)
off in the morning for taking target practice so late."
Some people have described George Jodoin as ornery, and Robert
Jodoin said he could be hard to handle.
But the ornery George is the same man who took his sisters and
sisters-in-law out for a night on the town in a limousine. They
all lined up in front of the rental for a picture, the women
in dresses and a smiling George in a tuxedo with his arms around
two of his sisters.
Robert Jodoin said at family parties everyone would wait for
George to arrive.
The investigation
Talking about George isn't easy for Robert. For the past three
years, Robert Jodoin has kept a file of articles and his own
notes about the murder. When he gets particularly frustrated,
he said, he is ready to just throw the whole file out the window.
He doesn't want to jeopardize the state investigation, but he
wants to know who killed George and why.
"They've only got one
shot at this. They make an arrest, they've got to make sure it
sticks."
Robert Jodoin, George's brother
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Armaganian, Assistant
Attorney General Michael Delaney and Auburn Detective Gary Bartis
all know Robert Jodoin. He calls them with his thoughts and insights,
hoping to help them with his own investigative work. |
Bartis is the only detective in the Auburn Police Department,
so the state police have done most of the investigating, he said.
Occasionally he will talk with Armaganian, but Auburn is a small
town and doesn't have the same resources the state has. Homicides
aren't too common in town either. Bartis has worked for the town
for 12 years, and this is the second time someone has been murdered
without many leads to help the police.
"I'm going to investigate one homicide alongside (the state)
maybe once every four or five years," Bartis said.
Robert Jodoin has called to ask him questions, but Bartis said
he is always uncomfortable calling him back because he doesn't
have much to offer about how the investigation is going.
Missing their idol
Unanswered questions are difficult enough for an adult, but Jodoin
said his children seem to miss George the most.
"They had an idol," he said.
George Jodoin had a wicked sense of humor with the kids. When
Robert's oldest daughter was about 5 years old, he and George
took her deep-sea fishing. After a while without any bites, George
tried to make the trip a bit more exciting.
Robert said George pretended to get a bite on his line, and managed
to bend the fishing pole so it looked like a very big fish was
tugging at the other end. After a few minutes of struggle, George
jumped over the edge of the boat, fishing rod and all, and made
it look like he'd been pulled over the edge.
It took a few minutes to calm the girl down, upset that George
would play such a dirty trick.
Once in a while, Robert Jodoin will go by George's old house
on Chester Road. Soon, it will belong to Glenn Berube, he said.
A few weeks before George was murdered, Robert said George changed
his will so the house would go to Berube. The courts are still
dividing Jodoin's assets, Robert said.
Berube was George's business partner at the pawn shop. He wasn't
willing to talk about the murder until the police make an arrest.
There's been too much finger-pointing, he said.
When cars on North Main Street stop for the traffic light, a
driver who ends up in front of the shop could look to the right
and see the reward sign in the window. A smiling George Jodoin,
dressed in a suit coat and tie, doesn't look like someone who
rode his bicycle across Australia. It's the businessman, the
potential selectman he wanted people to see at that moment.
Robert Jodoin keeps the other moments on his desk. They still
make him laugh. They still look like the brother he knew.
Candia
Town Meeting
Transfer station debated, nixed
By KATE BENWAY
Staff Writer
kbenway@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Residents killed a proposal to build a
transfer and recycling station in town and successfully doused
an attempt to reconsider the vote at the Saturday, March 13,
Town Meeting.
Hundreds of residents spent
nearly three hours debating the station the first warrant
article when, after a recess, selectmen offered an amendment
they thought might move the issue along.
The amendment, to allow the meeting to approve the $4 million
bonding for the project and to call a special Town Meeting where
the particulars of the project would be presented and voted on,
failed.
"Nobody wants this in their back yard," said resident
Mike Tatro. "Or, in my case, in my front yard."
Many residents said a lack of project details, especially around
the location of the station, left them with no choice but to
vote down the proposal.
But selectmen, with the support of a fair number of residents,
urged the meeting to jump on an opportunity that would come along
only once.
"Our goals are to prepare for Candia's future, create revenue
and erase our solid waste budget," said Selectman Gary York,
who spearheaded the proposal, along with resident Al Couch, who
is chairman of the solid waste committee.
York laid out five options for solid waste removal and recycling
before the town: do nothing and risk having the town's incinerator
not approved for operation in 2008; spend about $500,497 for
curbside pick-up and continue to operate the town's dump; build
a Candia-only transfer station for $1.3 million with a 15-year
bond and pay about $450,670 annually; build the transfer station
for about $2 million, but contract with a private hauler to provide
Candia curbside garbage pick up and bring 500 tons of outside
trash per day to the station; or, build a material recovery facility
for about $4 million.
York, along with the selectmen, officially endorsed the material
recovery facility. A full-blown recycling and solid waste transfer
center, the building would have taken in up to 500 tons of garbage
per day. The town could levy an estimated $1 fee per ton on the
private hauler, garnering revenue each year. The private company,
in turn, would make money from the recyclables taken out of the
station.
The facility would have created at least 15 to 22 jobs, said
York.
But residents weren't convinced.
Hung up on the location issue, they said it simply wasn't enough
to know town officials were considering putting the station along
Route 27, between the Mobil gas station and the Lyons Club.
"There are a lot of unanswered questions here," said
resident Peter Butt. "Who is the carrier and what is the
exact location? Why this is being considered here and not at
Exit 3 is beyond me."
But resident Steve Cogswell classified the project as a "no
brainer."
"This partnership will offset our tax base," he said.
"Politics aside, whether or not you like the messengers,
this is a good decision."
And resident Rick Mitchell characterized the town's current facility
as a "dump in crisis," urging voters to look at
the issue as a solution to the town's current problem a
failing incinerator.
Ultimately, selectmen offered a compromise: vote on the bonding
at the meeting to give them leverage in negotiating with a private
hauler, but save the final determination on the project for a
special Town Meeting where the location and other contract details
would be laid out.
The amended article needed a two-thirds majority to pass, but
failed, when 157 voted yes, but 134 voted no.
The issue was temporarily raised again later in the meeting,
when resident Carol Jordan made a motion to reconsider the vote
on the amended warrant article.
She asked residents to allow reconsideration because the no vote
left the project dead and the town without direction.
But her move fueled strong opposition among those who said reconsidering
the vote was unfair to those who had shown up to cast their votes
specifically for the issue and then left.
Ultimately, the move to reconsider was defeated and by the end
of the meeting, selectmen were left with little more than a few
comments from residents who encouraged selectmen to continue
to tackle the trash disposal issue.
While a handful of the other options outlined remain, officials
believe the chance to build the materials recovery facility will
be gone next year, as another town, alerted to the opportunity
by Candia's exploration, will move forward with the idea.
Both Bedford and Hooksett, they said, are interested in building
material recovery facilities.
"That was it," said Couch after the vote. "That
was our chance to jump on this opportunity." |
Fire department now town-governed
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By KATE BENWAY
Staff Writer
kbenway@yourneighborhoodnews.com
With a good six hours to round out, residents
set aside the transfer and recycling station issue to take up
a number of others.
Among them was a four-vote defeat on an open space bond.
The measure needed a two-thirds majority to pass, and came four
votes shy of doing so with 158 residents voting to approve the
article. Another 84 voted against it.
Designed to devote $3 million to the buying of land or conservation
easements, proponents said the move would help slow the town's
growth and ensure that open, undeveloped space would be a part
of Candia's future.
"We want to protect our open space and the water supply,
increase recreational opportunities and preserve wildlife habitats,"
resident Ed Fowler told voters.
In support of the measure, resident Betsy Kruse said a conservation
easement is the most permanent way to ensure land is conserved.
But others, including planning board member William "Kim"
Byrd, doubted the $3 million would go far.
"We don't have a piece of land that's being presented to
us," he said. "Over half of the acreage in Candia
is in current use. I would urge people to enroll in that current
use program."
Land in that program is conserved, but up for sale, should developers
offer the right price to a land owner, a reality that supporters
said results in subdivisions and more development.
Ultimately, when a recount affirmed the results, there wasn't
enough support to get the article passed.
In other results:
· Voters gave selectmen raises that will take effect immediately.
The annual salary of the chairman was raised from $2,000 to $3,000,
while the annual salaries of the other two selectmen were upped
from $1,700 to $2,500. "With the amount of time we're spending
on some of these projects, this has become a part-time job,"
said chairman Clark Thyng.
· With ease, voters approved transferring the volunteer
fire department to town control. What had been a heated issue
last year, was markedly cooled this year. After a brief presentation
by Fire Chief Rudy Cartier and George Denoncourt, president of
the Candia Volunteer Firefighters Association, one of the only
questions was about the support of the measure by firefighters.
The association is unified behind the article, Denoncourt and
Cartier assured residents.
The association will remain intact, but act as a benevolent group,
supporting the department. Also, the department will remain a
volunteer department, said Cartier.
· Voters gave their wholehearted support to a proposal
to outfit the pond in back of the Smyth Public Library for ice
skating. Along with the skating, planners said walking and cross-country
skiing trails, a lighted park and a gazebo will be added to the
area.
The $72,850 project will be offset by a matching federal Land
and Water Conservation Fund grant that will reimburse the town
for half of the project cost.
Jon Godfrey presented the project and told residents the ultimate
$36,425 cost would amount to a one-time cost of $9 per resident.
· And despite an effort to trim $50,000 from the town's
budget, the proposed $1.7 million operating budget was passed.
Resident Ingrid Byrd proposed reducing the budget to about $1.66
million after going through a number of line items she thought
represented considerable increases.
But former selectman Ken Goejkian sided with the town officials'
proposal.
"To say the selectmen's budget is 2.9 percent too high is
just an insult," he said. "If they have extra
(at the end of the budget cycle), they give it back. It all balances
out in the end."
The budget includes 7.6 percent in health insurance increases
for town employees, a raise for Police Chief Michael McGillen,
a new police cruiser and transferring the building inspector's
position from part to full time.
· Voters also raised the elderly, disabled and veterans'
tax credits and exemptions, in time for the property revaluation
that's expected to affect next year's taxes.
· Articles devoting $4,000 toward the operating costs
of the Fitts Museum and $3,800 for electrical improvements and
exterior painting at the museum were passed.
· After some debate, residents voted in favor of putting
$25,000 aside to create a Capital Improvement Plan and for the
hiring of a consultant to help the planning board update zoning
ordinances and sub-division regulations.
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Pembroke
Town Meeting
Old police station to be kept for town
use
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
The Pembroke police may be moving into
a new home, but their historic old headquarters won't be lost
anytime soon.
The fate of the old brick police station, located at 4 Union
St. in Suncook, was one of the dominant topics of discussion
at the annual Town Meeting held March 13. The debate stemmed
from Article 20, which if approved, would have given the selectmen
the right to sell the property sometime in the next year if a
good deal were presented.
Debate on the issue was fueled by an amendment offered by members
of the Sewer Commission, who said they are looking for a new
home and hoped to possibly utilize the old police station.
The issue was originally broached when Paulette Malo, office
manager for the commission, proposed adding $20,000 to Article
18, the town's operating budget, for the purpose of finding a
new office.
Harold Thompson, a member of the commission, told the crowd that
his group was being thrown out of their current office at the
Department of Public Works.
"We have been evicted," he said. "We will have
to come up with rent money, heat money, money to transfer the
phone hookup."
Following Malo's proposed amendment to the budget, voters moved
to table discussion until discussion over the future of the old
police station was held. During that debate, Thompson proposed
an amendment that would've allowed the sewer commission to move
in after the police department moves to their new safety complex.
Selectman Brian Tufts said the matter wasn't as simple as it
seemed because the old police facility was not handicap-accessible
and not ready for a new occupant immediately.
"We're not trying to throw them out on the street. We are
looking at all the options," he said.
Voters turned down Thompson's amendment, but also rejected Article
20. Several voters said they wanted to hear the results of a
study on possible uses of the building before they were ready
to let the selectmen sell the building.
Although voters rejected the possibility of the sewer commission
moving into the old police station, they did grant a request
for an additional $20,000 to be inserted into the operating budget
for potential moving costs.
Other votes
· One amendment that did fail was an additional $2,000
proposed by resident Lorette Girard for the purpose of buying
American flags. Girard spearheaded an effort last summer to put
flags on utility poles along Route 3. Girard said she wanted
flags on every utility pole, but, at $75 a flag, it was expensive.
David Beauchesne, who identified himself as a Vietnam veteran,
said he thought it was an "inappropriate expenditure"
of town money.
"I have a flag flying at my house and that is enough,"
he said.
· Overall, budget committee Chairman David Freeman-Wolpert
said the operating budget looked good and had already been reduced
significantly.
Voters seemed to agree and appeared supportive of the budget
as it passed by a large margin.
· Voters appeared supportive of the town officials as
all articles, except for Article 20, passed, including the other
major item of spending, Article 1. Article 1, as passed,
calls for bonding of $100,000 for the purpose of repainting the
interior of a 1-million-gallon underground water tank on Brickett
Hill. This passed 181-9.
· Other items voters accepted were:
Article 5: $100,000 to be added to the Town Equipment Capital
Reserve Fund.
Article 6: $63,000 to purchase a new dump truck and plow for
the Highway Department.
Article 7: $66,900 to purchase a trackless sidewalk plow.
Article 8: $50,300 for the Fire Equipment Capital Reserve Fund.
Article 9: $4,265 for the fire department to buy breathing equipment.
Article 10: Establishment of a Police Small Equipment Capital
Reserve Fund, with $8,000.
Article 11: Establishment of a Police Cruiser Capital Reserve
fund, with $40,000.
Article 12: Withdrawal of $26,021 from the newly created Police
Cruiser Capital Reserve Fund to purchase a new cruiser.
Article 13: Changing the name of the Salt Storage Facility Construction
Capital Reserve Fund to the Municipal Facilities Capital Reserve
Fund.
Article 14: Addition of $30,000 to the newly renamed Municipal
Facilities Capital Reserve Fund.
Article 15: Creation of a Recreation Facilities Capital Reserve
Fund, with $11,000.
Article 16: Withdrawal of $10,000 from the newly created Recreation
Facilities Capital Reserve Fund, to be used to build new bleachers
at Pembroke Academy's soccer field.
Article 17: $5,000 to implement a one-day hazardous waste collection
day. The last one was held in 2001 and organizers estimated at
that time they collected 1,000 gallons of hazardous waste from
90 families.
Article 19: Expansion of the town's Disability Exemption. This
article makes it easier for disabled residents to qualify for
tax exemptions.
Article 21: Discontinuation of Terrace Lane, a dead-end
road.
Epsom
Hunting death: negligent
homicide
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
A grand jury has returned
three indictments against a Concord resident for the shooting
death of a prominent Epsom man.
Steven Laro, 48, of Concord, was indicted on Thursday, March
11, by a Sullivan County grand jury in relation to the accidental
hunting death of Robert Proulx of Epsom. Laro was indicted on
one count of negligent homicide, one count of the felonious use
of a firearm and one count of reckless conduct with a deadly
firearm.
Proulx, a popular member of the local hunting community and owner
of the Wildlife Taxidermy and Sports Shop in Manchester, was
shot once on Jan. 3 at the Corbin Park Game Preserve in Croyden.
Proulx and Laro were both members of the same hunting party and,
according to the indictment, Laro shot at Proulx believing he
was a boar. Proulx was not wearing any "hunter orange"
at the time of his death.
Sullivan County District Attorney Marc Hathaway said investigators
did not believe the shooting was intentional.
"The state's contention is that it was not the intent of
Mr. Laro to cause the death of Mr. Proulx," Hathaway
said. "But that he did fail to exercise the required care
when he discharged his firearm at a target which he misidentified
as a game animal. The essence of the charge is a failure to exercise
due care."
From the beginning, investigators ruled the death a hunting accident,
but the case initially attracted a great deal of media coverage
because investigators took several days to name Laro, a former
Franklin police officer, as the shooter.
Laro was at the center of a 1995 controversy when his record
as a police officer led to the state Supreme Court to throw out
two cases. Laro was the state's lead witness in both cases, a
rape and a murder. However, the defense successfully raised credibility
issues over certain troubling items in his personnel file.
According to court documents from 1995, a state police pre-employment
investigation of Laro described him as "an extremely volatile
person." Letters in his personnel file said Laro would "come
on strong, often verbally abusive, and if questioned about his
demeanor would manhandle the subject, often choking the person
or threatening him with physical harm." The state police
investigation also discovered that while employed at a Massachusetts
police department, a psychologist had recommended that Laro "should
not be entrusted with a gun or badge."
Laro's attorney, Paul Maggiotto, was unavailable for comment
at press time.
Laro will be arraigned in Sullivan County Court on Friday, March
26.
Auburn
School District Meeting
School modular OK'd, school
land needed
By TIM RYAN
Staff Writer
editor@yourneighborhoodnews.com
At the School District
Meeting Friday, March 12, the district's budget of $8,561,598
was approved by the nearly 60 voters in attendance at the Auburn
Village School.
The biggest item on the board was a three-year lease agreement
for a modular classroom, bringing the total number of portable
classrooms utilized at the Auburn Village School to three. The
amount for the leasing of the classroom was approved at $17,244,
with $111,282 also approved for the set-up, staffing and equipping
of the trailer.
School board member Robert F. Hayes said the trailer was needed
because attempts to build a new school for the town within the
last year have failed.
Hayes told residents the district has been looking for a site
for a new school to no avail, and asked anyone with land that
could be used for a school to come forward.
"It is time to focus the town's energy to solve this problem,"
he said.
A list of sites in town with 20 acres or more was compiled, but
after many were looked over by civil engineers, architects and
soil scientists hired by the district, no site was found that
would meet the needs of the district.
"Land in Auburn is scarce to build on, and large parcels
are worse," Hayes said. "We have nearly exhausted our
search, and our options are severely limited."
Finding a new site is critical, Hayes said, because the current
facility is not adequate for the student population. The school
can accommodate between 520 and 540 students, previous studies
have found, and there are currently more than 630 students at
the school. The state generally mandates that 30 students is
the maximum for classrooms; Auburn officials have set guidelines
of 20 students for grades K through 3 and 25 for grades 4 and
up.
However, budget committee chair Lynn White said the reason the
committee did not recommend the trailer was that the district
is seeing larger increases in other areas.
"In a year, when we're looking at a huge increase in school
tuition and benefits (for teachers), we didn't feel this was
(as appropriate) with those other increases," she said.
Voters also approved $25,000 for the expendable trust fund, to
be utilized for buildings and grounds, and $2,500 for the special
education expendable trust fund.
Auburn
Town Meeting
Lover's Lane to be paved,
town budget increased
By TIM RYAN
Staff Writer
editor@yourneighborhoodnews.com
At the Town Meeting Saturday,
March 13, the most-discussed item was a petition to reclassify
Lover's Lane from a Class 6 road to a Class 5 paved road.
Norman Boulay, a resident of Lover's Lane, submitted the petition
to allow additional development of properties on the road. He
said there are a number of reasons to reclassify the road.
"We must protect the rights and interests of all our residents,"
he said. "This is an arterial road on the master plan."
Selectmen Chairman Harland Eaton said the selectmen supported
the change as a way of allowing residents of Lover's Lane to
develop their land.
"Anyone who owns property in Auburn has a right to develop
their property," he said.
However, Ellen Holmes, another resident of Lover's Lane, said
the reclassification would only create more traffic in the area.
"I believe we have the right to vote against a road that
will increase traffic in our own front yards," she said.
After a vote by secret ballot, the measure passed, 128-61.
A second petition to reclassify the stretch of Lover's Lane that
runs from Bunker Hill Road to Chester Road as a Class A municipal
trail was defeated in a secret ballot vote, 44-136. Selectman
Bruce Knox said, "This town is only going to continue to
grow."
Voters approved the budget of $2,838,040, which was raised by
about $38,000 after Fire Chief Bruce Phillips asked for an additional
$22,618 after the department had received two homeland security
grants, and Knox asked for an additional $15,000 to provide a
driver well for town hall.
Also approved were new warrants for tax exemptions for seniors,
veterans, the disabled and blind residents; $361,000 for the
capital reserve fund; $47,054 to continue a full-time patrolman
position for the police department that was first funded by a
COPS grant in 1999; $15,000 for an emergency social health trust;
$65,000 to rehab a fire department Rescue One light rescue vehicle;
and $125,000 for police outside duty detail.
Congressman Jeb Bradley (R-NH) made a brief appearance at the
Auburn Town Meeting, which was recessed for a few minutes so
residents could talk with him. Moderator Donald Stritch said
he had asked Bradley to stop by if he was in the neighborhood.
In doing so, Stritch said, Bradley became the first congressman
to attend an Auburn town meeting.
"It has been a tremendous honor being your representative,"
Bradley said.
Hooksett
Sewer commission rethinks
composting
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By KATE BENWAY
Staff Writer
kbenway@yourneighborhoodnews.com
The town's wastewater treatment
plant is in a pinch.
With the defeat of the composting proposal at the polls, Hooksett
Sewer Commission Chairman Sid Baines said he expects the commission
to be forced to refuse service to any new developments in town.
Currently at what the state considers full capacity, the town's
wastewater treatment facility cannot be expanded to handle more
sewage until a plan for its disposal is in place.
"If you enlarge the plant, you're just compounding your
problem," said Baines. "Composting was our solution
to get rid of the problem."
Though Baines had said the commission would go ahead with building
the composting building on land the town already owns, he's holding
off on that so-called "Plan B" while exploring other
options.
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JUST DIRT Hooksett
Sewer Commission Sid Baines displays the final product of composting
a ball of dirt. (Kate Benway Photo)
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To cover the price of hauling
sewage out of town this year, Baines asked the budget committee
for an extra $180,000.
Currently, the town's wastewater treatment plant, located on
Egawes Drive on the Merrimack River, takes in about 830,000 gallons
of sewage per day. If everything that's gotten approval to come
on line is put in place, the facility would accept about 960,000
gallons per day, said Baines.
The plant's total capacity is 1.1 million gallons of sewage per
day and, according to the state Department of Environmental Services,
plants must stop accepting sewage once at 80 percent capacity.
With what's currently being taken in, said Baines, the plant
is nearly at 80 percent capacity.
"The state says you're at capacity until you have an expansion
plan and a funding method to take care of it," said Baines.
And though the sewer commission has plans to double the facility
size to handle 2.2 million gallons of sludge per day and some
of the funding is in place, composting, said Baines, was an integral
part of that plan.
Without that plan becoming a reality, the commission will have
no choice but to require new developments to install their own
septic systems, he said.
Applying pressure from another side are new state regulations
that limit the amount of sewage that can be spread on land.
Currently, the sewer commission processes the sewage at the local
plant, draining out water and moisture. The resulting material
is hauled to Pembroke, where it's spread over farm land.
But with new state requirements, the amount of sewage that can
be placed on that land has been cut in half, leaving the commission
with more sewage to dispose of and fewer available sites.
It's the ratepayers who pay for the hauling and Baines said the
commission might be forced to haul sewage to Maine because of
the local farmland shortage and the nixing of the composting
project.
"Composting could have handled the entire volume that we
would have taken in if we doubled the size of the plant,"
said Baines.
Meanwhile, a few years ago, voters approved a $3.5 million warrant
article that would go toward the expansion of the facility.
Included in it was the composting project, which would have provided
the needed disposal system to handle the additional sewage.
At this year's deliberative session of Town Meeting, resident
Joan Bailey planned to try to overturn that article, intending
to put a stop to the composting notion for good.
Bailey, along with a number of other residents, has campaigned
against composting since the project was pitched and helped lead
the successful effort to defeat the proposal at the polls this
year.
Concerned the composting would spread bacteria and be a danger
to the neighboring Memorial School, Bailey said she has backers
interested in turning land near the wastewater facility into
a heritage trail.
"We won this vote and I believe we have a good chance at
rescinding the money at Town Meeting in May," said Bailey
after the vote at the polls. "And my long-term goal is this:
I have CACO members willing to pledge a lot of money to have
that seven acres turned into the heritage trail."
But Baines said the issue of sewage disposal remains unsolved.
"We're back on square one for the moment and we'll figure
out where to go with it," he said. "If we can't handle
the volume and the town doesn't want to address it, we'll have
to put a freeze on any new construction that requires sewage.
We have to find a home for our sludge."
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