By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Courtesy graphic (click to enlarge) A map provided by TF Moran shows where the Cabela’s development would be located, as well as other areas where businesses might go and the borders of the TIF district. The district is outlined in red dashes, and includes land on both sides of the Merrimack River and up into Hooksett Village. The Cabela’s property includes the store, a 100-room hotel, one fast-food site, two sit-down restaurants, parking and recreational areas, as well as one site available for another commercial user. In purple are potential commercial and retail locations. In gold above that is medium density residential land. On the west side of I-93, in brown at the top is potential commercial, industrial or manufacturing land; in blue is potential commercial land for a hotel and/or entertainment facilities; and in brown below that is more potential commercial-industrial-manufacturing land. In orange are the affected roadways, and a new traffic light is planned for Route 3-A at Hackett Hill Road.

Hooksett’s voting booths ought to be packed on Tuesday, May 9, as this year’s ballot features a host of divisive and big money issues.

Leading the list is the $18 million proposal to fund a tax increment financing, or TIF, zone.

The town council has been negotiating with outdoor sports retailer Cabela’s, which would anchor the TIF zone.

The article states that there would be no tax rate impact, and that payments on the proposed 20-year bond would be paid through excess tax revenue generated from within the district, which spans about 150 acres near Interstate 93’s Exit 11.

Cabela’s representatives have also said the company could guarantee payments on the bond, and remove any risk to local taxpayers. Any such agreement, however, would have to be negotiated with the town council after the vote.

Of the $18 million, $4.5 million would go to town infrastructure needs, like upgrades to the wastewater treatment facility and the Lilac Bridge. The remaining money would go to projects related to the proposed 50-acre Cabela’s site.

Cabela’s, which regularly partners with towns to get tax breaks as it proposes new projects, has 14 retail centers nationwide, and the stores typically draw a slew of new developments in surrounding areas.

Proponents of the plan have suggested it’s a rare opportunity to invest in the town’s financial future, while some detractors have called the bond a “subsidy,” and have questioned many of the plan’s components that have yet to be ironed out between developers, and local and state officials.

Sewer plant

Sewer officials are hoping voters approve a request for $1.5 million to go toward completing the ongoing project that would double capacity at the wastewater treatment facility, and provide a new composting facility.

The three-phase plan was spurred in 2002, when voters approved a $3.5 million bond.

Sewer officials have said the $1.5 is needed after an update of state Department of Environmental Services regulations requiring the town buy a pricey water clarifier, which hadn’t been anticipated until the project’s final phase.

The $1.5 million is covered under the proposed TIF bond, and if the TIF article passes, the sewer bond request would become null.

Village School

Voters last year rejected spending $1.5 million to turn the historic Village School building into half town offices and half community center.

The school has been only used for some storage since students walked out for the last time in 2004.

Officials have returned this year with a proposal to use $500,000 of surplus money to outfit the building for use strictly as town offices.

If voters reject the warrant article, the $500,000 would stay in the town’s general fund. The move would provide relief to Hooksett municipal building employees, who’ve complained about overcrowding in the outdated facility for several years.

Ambulance service

Officials are proposing a town-run ambulance service that would replace Tri-Town Ambulance as Hooksett’s primarily ambulance provider.

Tri-Town has served Hooksett, Pembroke and Allenstown for the past 36 years, but fire officials have argued that a town-run service would enable quicker response time, and provide the town with an additional revenue stream.

If warrant Article 25 is approved, $156,000 would fund the first six months operation – including wages for four new paramedic firefighters – for the new service. An ambulance would be purchased through impact fees already collected.

At the deliberative session of Town Meeting, Tri-Town representatives passed out fliers suggesting a town-run service could reduce the quality of ambulance care, and lead to more expensive patient bills.

Hooksett Fire Chief Mike Williams, however, said the change could quicken response times around the clock, and perhaps be a source of profit.

Police details

A petitioned warrant article, number 26 on the ballot, asks to establish a revolving loan fund for police special detail work, along with an initial investment of $10,000.

Currently special details, which police officers take on independently of normal departmental duties, are funded from a line in the operating budget.

That line was cut by $50,000 by the town’s budget committee, prompting former police officer Frank Gray to establish the petition.

Gray has publicly said a revolving fund would allow officers to work special details year-round, instead of having special details eliminated once the budget line is spent. Supporters of the proposed fund say it would help the police department retain some talented younger officers.

Budget committee members voted unanimously against the proposed change, and have said it would bypass the budgeting process.

Raises

Warrant Article 7 asks voters to approve a 12 percent raise for the town’s unionized firefighters.

Firefighters would see pay increases of 6 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent over next three years, but would pay more for health insurance premiums.

The contract is estimated to cost about $177,000, $93,691 of which would come in the first year.

Voters are also being asked to approve spending $74,254 to cover raises for the town’s nonunion personnel. The raise would reflect a 2 percent increase for cost of living, and another two percent increase for a successful performance evaluation.

Conservation fund

Article 24 proposes capping the amount of current-use revenue that goes into the town’s land conservation fund at $100,000 a year. Currently, 100 percent of current use money goes into the conservation fund, which has a balance of more than $400,000.

Assessing officials say current use revenue – paid by developers when land is taken out of current use – may see a sharp hike in coming years.

Some town councilors have argued that the money could be better spent if it returned to the general fund. See a related story in this week’s Hooksett Banner.

Other articles

The proposed $14.3 million operating budget, as endorsed by the budget committee, marks about a $200,000 increase over the proposed default budget.

Proposed additions to this year’s budget include funding for higher anticipated fuel costs, the move of a parks and recreation department member from part time to full time and a new firefighter position.

Warrant Article 23 asks for $50,000 to go toward a feasibility study for the, southern leg of the parkway. The conceptual road that would bypass Route 3 was first included in the town’s planning documents in 1971.

Article 13 asks for $105,536 for the final phase of HVAC renovations for the library.

Voting day is Tuesday, May 9, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Cawley Middle School.