Goffstown, Weare and New Boston are all ready for their Town Meetings and School District Meetings. This is your chance to ask questions about what your selectmen and school boards are doing.

Goffstown residents in particular should find this year's Town Meeting especially enlightening. While the selectmen have been kind enough to start sending our newspaper some letters explaining their decision to merge the fire and police departments, little has been explained yet about how such a merger could possibly save the town money. We're eager to attend this meeting and hear not only what the selectmen have to say, but also how they will handle questions from the residents in their first real opportunity to express their support or dissatisfaction with the merger plan.

In Weare, all we can say is that attendees better bring a cushion. Fifty warrant articles! That's going to be one very long Town Meeting.

— Editorials published by Neighborhood News Inc. are written by an editorial board. The board is composed of Publisher and President Amy J. Vellucci, Executive Editor Ginger Kozlowski, Managing Editor Christine Heiser and News Editor Susan Clark.

To the Editor:
It was with much interest that I read last week's letter to the editor from our board of selectmen.

I was particularly struck by the part that read, “At the 2004 Town Meeting, voters approved an article requesting the Selectmen to develop a plan for 24/7 fire and EMS service. Our position, then and now, is that the Town already provides those services...”

Nice try. The warrant article actually directed the selectmen to provide a plan for “24-hour Fire and EMS staffing.” It is insulting to voters' intelligence to attempt to argue that the town already meets the intent of that article.

Their letter continues on with, “The Board is unaware of any public complaints regarding the current delivery of services.”

Unaware? One thousand five hundred and six residents and taxpayers went to the polls last year and directed the board to come up with a plan for real 24-hour coverage. They didn't complain about the fire department, nor did they express dissatisfaction with the quality of services. They voted to ask for a plan to provide a trained firefighter in a fire station 24 hours a day to rapidly respond to a call for help. The board has failed to meet that mandate.

My parents used to remind me that if you told a lie, it required a hundred more to cover it up. As we pass this advice on to our children, we need only point to the current board of selectmen as an example. This controversy, brought on simply to settle a personal vendetta, has resulted in backtracking, half-truths and word parsing by our public officials. They should be ashamed.

My tolerance for this political double talk and shenanigans has been reached. While it would be much easier to sit at home, in the comfort of my armchair, and pen weekly letters to the editors, I feel that it is time to take a more direct approach. After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to run for selectman.

This is a decision that I take quite seriously. As residents and taxpayers, we deserve to have political leaders who are responsive to us. If elected, I pledge to restore integrity to the Goffstown Board of Selectmen. I invite you to visit my Web site (www.nickforselectman.com) and learn more about me. I ask for your support at the polls on March 14.

Nick Campasano
Goffstown

To the Editor:
The ambulance service for the town of Goffstown in my opinion has taken a step back to where we were in early '90s. The town had two ambulances in the '90s, and still has two at this time.

Since September 2005, a change has taken place where we only man one ambulance from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. with two men.

The village ambulance had an accident, and it was replaced with a new one for the cost of $130,000. This ambulance sits in the village station from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and is not manned. In the past years, the ambulances were manned with on call basic EMTs, EMTIs and a few paramedics.

Now, since September 2005, we have closed down one ambulance for a 12-hour period each day and manned one ambulance with two attendants to respond from the pinardville station. This creates delays in responses to the village and other areas of our town. It also appears that when this manned ambulance is in a response, that we are vulnerable to long delays in the other 37 square miles that our services cover.

When GEMSA was providing ambulance services to Goffstown, they raised the money to provide two ambulances and the necessary supplies and personal for the town. Their goal was to provide two ambulances so as to cut down on long responses to medical emergencies.

I feel that we need to provide coverage for the ambulance in the village station. It does not make sense to spend $130,000 for an ambulance and not use it for 12 hours each day.

This service is being billed out and payment is being received for its use at no expense to the taxpayer. These charges have already provided an ambulance and coverage. There is also money in the special account and if there is not enough money to cover the service then we have to charge more money, or make other arrangements.

Quick response to heart attack, strokes, cardiac arrest, auto accidents, etc., are of the utmost importance in providing EMS to the citizens of Goffstown.

Ret. Fire Chief Richard E. Fletcher
Goffstown

To the Editor:
Last week's headline about eminent domain “foes” gathering should have said “supporters.”

Yes, the group who is protesting eminent domain abuse has proposed an article which advocates taking land for public benefit. Keith Lacasse even admits that 90 percent of New Hampshire citizens oppose what he is trying to do – take property through eminent domain.

The logic used by those in favor of this article is perverse. They advocate what they abhor. What's next, make a judge have an abortion to prove it's wrong? Would you give a judge the death penalty because you disagree with his approval of it? Should judges now base their decisions on which form of retribution they prefer?

If Justice Souter's home is taken, who's next? Hey, maybe someone will disagree with future selectman Joshua Solomon on an issue and take his home as payback. Why not?

The reality is that the best possible outcome of the protests has already been achieved. Legislatures across the country are re-examining eminent domain laws to prevent abuses. Most protests would be completely validated by such action. But that's not enough for these folks. Mr. Clements is in need of cash and Mr. Hopper needs national media exposure.

This sorry episode will be over soon and the voters of Weare will overwhelmingly give this article the end it deserves, swift and sure. Sorry guys, this just doesn't measure up to the Boston Tea Party or the Pine Tree Riot.

Joe Fiala
Weare

To the Editor:
There has been a lot of coverage lately of the Medvil Cooperative 's purchase of the two manufactured home parks is Goffstown. One resident who is adamantly opposed to Medvil purchasing the parks has a letter in nearly every edition of The Goffstown News. Even your article written by Joseph Edgerton quoted this person. It's time for another view.

It has been stated that if Hometown America purchases the parks, they are prepared to absorb the cost of repairs and improvements with a million-dollar fund for that purchase.

There is no documentation that this is a fact. Hometown America is a business with shareholders, they are in the business of making money. If there are major repairs or improvements that have to be made, then Hometown America had “pass throughs” in place in the purchase-and-sales agreement to assess the residents for the costs of any extraordinary expenses. This would be in addition to the rent increase.

It is true that Medvil has given the residents a better rent cap than was in the purchase-and -sales agreement from Hometown America. The extra two years capped at 6 percent was part of the negotiations with the owners in the out-of-court settlement. Hometown did not have the 6 percent caps in their P&S agreement and were going to begin charging for water.

There is a clause in the new bylaws that pertains to selling homes that complies with HUD rules. It is simply that if there are two equal offers on your home, you would be obligated to accept the offer from the buyer with the lower income.

If one buyer offers more than the low-income offer, then you accept the higher offer. This all applies only if we borrow money from HUD and there are no plans to do that.

Medvil will have a membership committee that will interview all new residents. They will be looking into the same things that any landlord would.

This includes a credit, criminal and Megan's Law check, and verification that one of the buyers is 55 or older. There will be no checks for current residents.

Another concern has been that no one is capable of running the parks. Medvil is interviewing management companies right now to see what is available.

The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund has a office of experts to help us negotiate park ownership. We have many homeowners with a wealth of experience who are willing to share their expertise, not to mention a hard-working board of directors. We are not expecting volunteers to run the park or do the maintenance, repairs, snow plowing or trash pick-ups.

We have employees now who perform those functions and we will have employees when Medvil owns the parks.

The transition committee holds meetings every Wednesday evening at 7 o'clock to answer all questions and share information as it becomes available. The schedule for these meetings was distributed last week along with “Straight Talk,” our community newspaper. This week, it will be held Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the Medford Farms club house at 7 p.m. All residents are welcome.

The choice here is simple: own our parks and have a say in all expenditures or have a for-profit company own them and have no say at all. Who will have our best interests in mind?

Barbara B. Doiron
Goffstown

To the Editor:
I am writing this to all of the residents who live in both Medford Farms and The Village of Glen Falls. I am appealing to you to examine everything sent to you in the packet from the Medvil Association regarding the purchase of these parks.

It is very important to do this before you vote so you can make an informed decision on how you vote. I believe that there are too many residents who are not scrutinizing all the facts pertaining to this sale.

It is extremely important that we pay special attention to the financial statement that will be coming to us, if not in the packet as originally promised then at least 10 days before we vote.

I'm sure that the majority of residents in these parks came here because they wanted an adult park in a reasonable price range to spend their remaining years and hope to stay here indefinitely.

Since it is the law that all the residents of the parks cannot vote unless they belong to the association, then I believe that we should all strive to pay the required $25 to Medvil if you are not a member so that each household has an opportunity to voice their choice.

I want to again strerss the importance of thoroughly reviewing the financial statement – not just for the first four years but also how it will impact us after the first four years. We want to be sure to maintain our parks at the high standards we have had in place over the years without “breaking our banks!”

Anne Becker
Goffstown

To the Editor:
Before deciding to create a Department of Public Safety, we looked at calls for service, services provided and cost. Most calls for service are for police and medical responses. Ensuring your safety primarily requires a timely response to those calls. There are very few actual structure fires each year due to improvements in codes and fire prevention activities. It is for these reasons that we implemented a program with two EMTs in a fire station to cover night-time medical calls. The cost of this program is funded by the revenue collected from ambulance billing. We believe this is the fiscally responsible approach to handle the increase number of medical calls. The cost for firefighter coverage as proposed by the union is about $1 million for a full first year. This is an extreme and inappropriate response to a few structure fires per year.

Police and fire services naturally lend themselves to consolidation. Currently, all calls for fire response are coordinated by police dispatch. The emergency management director for our community is, and has always been, our police chief. Our fire administrative staff has grown and they perform administrative duties which are also provided by other departments. Continued consolidation of these functions for the protection of persons and property will provide an efficient approach to providing 24/7 service to the community. Goffstown has always been able to recognize the needs of the community and respond with an appropriate level of service.

In 1761, there were no public safety services. Neighbors handled fires, the doctor was sent for in medical emergencies, and enforcement of the law was handled by appointed citizens who responded when needed. The largest expenditure of tax dollars for over 100 years was for roads. In 1885, a water precinct was established for the purpose of establishing reservoirs for firefighting, and $1,500 was raised to purchase two fire engines. The first fire station was in the village, and volunteers responded to fire calls.

By 1900, our population grew to 2,200 and the majority of town funds continued to be spent on roads. Wages were paid to citizens who served as police officers. There were no townwide allocations for fire or medical service. In 1940, the total budget was $142,408, with $2,700 for the “Protection of Persons and Property” to cover police and fire functions. As the town and the need for more protection grew, management of the fire precinct was transferred from volunteers to the town in 1942.

By 1950, police were overseen by selectmen and fire service by the fire wardens. Town expenditures continued to allocate an appropriation for “Protection of Persons and Property” totaling $45,600. The police department had a chief and five officers. The fire department had a chief and volunteers. In the case of a fire, residents dialed one of two numbers, which would ring the red phones at the Village and Pinardville fire stations, the fire chief's house, and each of the fire wardens' homes. Depending on the time of the call and fire location, the chief and/or the fire wardens would oversee the firemen who responded.

It was under this system that the first consolidation of fire and police services occurred. During the 1970s, the police department had personnel working 24 hours a day providing dispatch services. The duplication of dispatch services was eliminated by transferring the responsibilities for both fire and police dispatch to the police department. Those dispatchers, reported then and now, to the police chief. It was also around this time that the town hired its first full-time firefighter.

In 1993, at the recommendation of the fire wardens, the town meeting voted to transfer the responsibility for the fire department from the fire wardens to the selectmen. The fire wardens believed their services were duplicative in light of the full-time chief and personnel. The trends the fire wardens identified in 1993 continue – calls requiring fire suppression continue to decrease and the calls for emergency medical responses continue to increase.

As a result, pay incentives were established for firefighters to be trained as EMTs. Today, our police are trained to provide some basic medical services and more advanced training will enable them to provide a higher level of medical services. This is important as police officers are the first responders on scene both locally and nationally. Services to residents continue to evolve through years of organizational changes. Our decision to consolidate police and fire service into a Department of Public Safety reaffirms our commitment to provide you with the services you need. We believe such a department will provide better responses to calls with less duplication of services. We are committed to providing services at a cost that you the taxpayer can afford.

Thank you for your continued interest and we look forward to your comments, letters to this paper, and continued participation in the governing of your community.

Goffstown Board of Selectmen:
Gossett McRae, Chairman
Bruce Hunter, Vice Chairman
Philip D'Avanza
Barbara Griffin
Robert Wheeler