August 2008 Archives
".......we hope that selectmen, school board members, county commissioners, city councilors and members of County Conventions will take a hard-nosed approach when it comes to proposals for so-called 'big-ticket projects' such as new buildings or proposals to add employees."
Article Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Gov. John Lynch is calling for two kinds of budgets when a new Legislature convenes — tight and tighter.Republicans have been trying to weaken Lynch's big advantage in the polls by trying to identify him with the huge revenue shortfalls of the current biennium. So far it hasn't stuck. Voters seem prepared to identify the shortfalls with the weak national economy. Lynch met with department heads Friday and told them it's not going to be easy. He wants innovation and efficient use of limited resources. He also wants two proposals — one holding programs at current levels and one cutting spending by three percent in 2009 and 2010, going back to current levels in 2011.By assuming this posture of fiscal discipline, Lynch certainly set the tone for the fall campaign.But his approach should reach beyond the political debate of the coming weeks. It should also frame the discussion for the work of preparing budgets in the various cities and towns, school districts and counties across the state.
John Andrews, director of the
Given the current economic climate, they can be assured that the majority of taxpayers will support them in this effort. To this end we hope that selectmen, school board members, county commissioners, city councilors and members of County Conventions will take a hard-nosed approach when it comes to proposals for so-called 'big-ticket projects' such as new buildings or proposals to add employees.Even at times as difficult as the ones we are facing there will be some cases where major capital improvements or adding staff is absolutely imperative. But for the most part these requests, though they may produce certain benefits, fall short of being absolutely needed right here, right now.
Just as importantly, those officials — whether elected or appointed — who have a role in determining pay and benefits for public employees need to demonstrate they understand the burden under which so many taxpayers are finding themselves. To advocate pay raises on the grounds that there have been pay raises in previous years is simply untenable. Public employee unions also need to acknowledge the present economic realities when they sit down to negotiate new contracts. To push for substantial pay raises or to be unwilling to accept proposals for members to pick up a bigger share of health-care benefits will only hurt their credibility with taxpayers with private-sector jobs who fear being laid off. In the last several years, local communities and school districts have been more or less successful in funding the higher cost of government by capitalizing on the volume of residential and commercial construction, which has produced a tremendous expansion of the tax base in many area communities. But the tax base is no longer expanding at the same rate, so any increase in the cost of government is going to fall harder on current taxpayers. Those leaders in government who recognize that they are the stewards of the resources that come from the people understand that this coming budget season presents challenges far different from any other year in recent memory. It requires taking tough stands and standing by those decisions. And it also requires a sensitivity that
the taxpayer's ability to pay is not as great as in past years.
Laconia Daily Sun August 28th, 2008
Letter to the Editor
This letter is in response to the topic of videotaping the Inter-Lakes School Board meetings, most recently addressed at the school board meeting of August 26 and the Laconia Daily Sun article dated August 27. A simple issue of videotaping the public sessions of school board meetings has turned complicated, now resulting in a proposed public vote on a warrant article in February. What has happened here? The reason the issue has dragged on for months is the board's ability to find fault with every suggestion that is put forth—be it cost, technology, audio quality, inconvenience, unknown viewership, or any number of reasons.
Technology is not the issue. Lack of Cable in
Video is no different than other media outlets (printed minutes, articles in local papers). Capturing a video of the meetings is easy. Ask any parent who brings their camera to a school play or band concert. Quality of the video is not the main concern. This is not Hollywood, The ability to capture information for later viewing is the important point. Cost of distribution via cable TV is being cited as a roadblock. Distribution of the video could be done in a variety of free or inexpensive ways. Free internet video services are available through YouTube. DVDs can be made inexpensively and given to each town office and town library.
The main issue is many parents simply cannot attend the meetings due to busy family schedules, or travel expenses from
I commend some of the board members for suggesting to do a mock video session at the Community Center. Unfortunately this was shot down without further discussion.
Video in general is not the issue — Meredith videos all selectmen meetings — a public forum that deserves public access is the issue. The school board should welcome video as another outreach to citizens who are highly interested in education and the school board topics, but simply cannot attend meetings. If selectmen meetings are made available to those that cannot attend, why shouldn't the school board meetings be made available?
Videotaping school board meetings is not a radical concept. The Town of
The Town of Pelham is exercising its rights under N.H. RSA Chapter 91-A. the NH "Right-to-Know" Law, under the topic: "'What rights do individuals and the media have?", which states, "Any person may record, film or videotape a public meeting so long as it is done in a manner that does not disrupt the meeting."
One reason for this letter stems from the school board meeting format in which the public input sessions are at fixed points in the meeting structure. It is impossible for the public to revisit a topic that is discussed after the public input sessions. After the Board unanimously voted to put the video question before the voters in a warrant article, there was no way for me to speak out because there were no more public input sessions on the schedule. The meeting format has been confusing to a number of residents, and perhaps deserves attention at a later date.
Lisa Merrill
Meredith
Note from the MCA: As many towns in NH struggle with upcoming budgets and rising taxes, we are still awaiting here in Moultonboro even a discussion of what we are doing or should be doing to keep our tax burden as low as possible and reduce not increase spending. Fellow citizens, we need to ask our selectmen and school board what they are planning to do and when will the Advisory Budget Committee meet?
MCA
By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
Sunday August 24th, 2008
As town and city officials begin putting together their budgets for next year, many face a Solomonic choice: Increase property taxes or cut services.And this year, with the economic downturn hitting folks hard in their personal budgets, some local officials say they'll choose the latter."It's very scary," said Fred Kelley, chairman of the board of selectmen in
John Andrews, executive director of the
The New Hampshire Local Government Center published a survey of municipalities in New Hampshire for 2007. It is based upon population. Of the approximately 57 towns with a population of between 2000 -4999 ( of which Moultonboro fits) the following is where Moultonboro ranks in all categories surveyed:
| No. of Towns Population 2000-4999 |
57 |
|
| Item | Amount | Moultonboro Rank |
| Total Budget | $6,211,417 | 1 |
| Total General Budget | $3,515,975 | 1 |
| Annual Full Time Salaries | $1,970,485 | 1 |
| Total Police Budget | $1,355,164 | 1 |
| Total Fire Budget | $563,910 | 4 |
| Total Highway Budget | $776,418 | 11 |
| Total Part Time Budget | $327,998 | 11 |
| Source: New Hampshire Local Government Center | ||
The Meredith News
SARAH SCHMIDT
MOULTONBORO — With several unpleasant surprises from Mother Nature this year, several town officials urged the board of selectmen to consider instituting the National Incident Management System. As was his practice in other towns, Town Administrator Carter Terenzini reviewed the events and fallout from the July 18 storm event. But in order to be ready for whatever comes next, Terenzini recommended a more formal plan be instituted for the town to deal with it. Though fire, police, and public works departments are prepared, Terenzini said that other town officials needed to move forward in training to be able to handle such situations. “We are substantially behind where we should be on this,” said Terenzini. “We need contingencies for operating plans – if this building went down, we have no formal plan as to how to continue operations.” Building on this, Moultonboro Fire Chief Dave Bengston gave a short presentation on NIMS, and how it would give the town a standard approach to emergency management and response to crises. The plan would train local public officials,
By JOHN WHITSON
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008
Anyone who has driven to the grocery store, bought a supply of food and tried to make it stretch through a week knows how expensive that routine has become.Imagine doing the same thing for thousands of kids a day, and you get a sense of the pressures weighing on school district food directors. "It's really the perfect storm of costs, with everything that's going on," said Jeanette Kimbell, Nashua's director of food services, citing fuel and energy costs, as well as food prices that have spiked in nearly every category.Add to that the push toward offering healthier (more expensive) food options that are labor-intensive (more expensive) to prepare, and you get a witches brew not seen in decades."It's been since the mid-1970s since we've had food product costs rise across the board this quickly," said Erik Peterson, spokesman for the School Nutrition Association, a nonprofit foundation representing school food workers nationwide."We're hearing from a lot of districts trying to balance a host of challenging, costly issues," he said.From June 2007 to June 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows eggs up 23 percent, milk up 7 percent, cheese up 15 percent, fresh vegetables up 8 percent and bakery products up 10 percent.
Aiming to break even
School food budgets are crafted with a break-even goal: offset spending with income from food sales .......
Editor, The Citizen August 20th, 2008
I just read the "draft" minutes of the August 14th 2008 Moultonboro selectmen's meeting. To my surprise I saw my name mentioned in the minutes (I was not in attendance) in essence accusing me of misrepresenting myself in my communications with Time Warner Cable. This was in reference to my attempts to find out the procedure to broadcast video of public Moultonboro meetings on TWC public access.
I have no way of knowing what TWC actually told Karel Crawford, but in my conversations and emails with two gentlemen at TWC over more than three months, I never once said I represented the town in any way shape or form nor was I asked if I represented the town. I find it hard to believe that the TWC representative would suggest that I did, but yet, there it is in the minutes for all to see.
All I did was ask how to get public meeting videos on a public access channel as a private citizen. If I had known the procedure or who actually controlled the public access channel, the process would have been different. TWC never told me how this works until after they were contacted by the town. So now the selectmen are offended by this perceived "discourtesy".
Believe me, there has been enough discourtesy from the selectmen (even at the last meeting) to more than make up for it. That's not what really bothers me about this though. What prompted this letter is the continued lack of leadership, fairness and foresight from some of our selectmen. What they seem to bring to the table though is a good measure of vindictiveness to those they perceive are against them. Think about it, a totally free service, at no expense to taxpayers that would allow greater access by the citizens of Moultonboro to the unedited workings of its government has been convoluted by the selectmen into a "discourtesy". Never mind that only a handful of people attend the meetings and the minutes would at best garner a D- in business school. Is it any wonder then that the selectmen themselves can't figure out what's going on or remember the decisions made? Oh yes, there is a long document being proposed and reviewed at a "work session" to discuss public access. No mention of when and where in the minutes by the way, but wait I'll look it up on the new town website ... but I can't as it is still not live! So in the meantime it will be business as usual and Moultonboro will remain behind the times. How disappointing. But let's look on the bright side. At the prior selectmen's meeting (which I did attend) a question I asked was in the minutes as a "member of the audience asked ..." No mention of my name. So to find my name in the minutes of a meeting I didn't attend (and it's even spelled correctly) is very encouraging. Keep up the good work!
Paul Punturieri
Moultonborough
Theodore Comstock, Executive Director
Barrett M. Christina, Staff Attorney
www.nhsba.org
A recent article in the Concord Monitor highlighted the predicaments school districts area facing as a result of rising fuel costs and related operation expenses. Some districts are considering eliminating bus routes, consolidating bus routes, and reducing their schedule to a four-day school week in the winter
months. Also in response to these concerns, many school boards are reviewing and researching energy conservation policies. These concerns are likely shared throughout the state. With the beginning of another school year approaching, these issues offer a timely opportunity for school board members and administrators to review the pertinent state statutes and NHSBA Sample Policies relative to transportation, school building maintenance, and energy conservation.....
Fosters.Com
WOLFEBORO — The Gov. Wentworth Regional School Board determined there wasn't enough time to resolve all the issues to make any drastic changes in the school calendar before classes begin in two weeks
District officials heard from Superintendent Jack Robertson and listened to more than 100 area residents, including parents, teachers and district staff, as board members discussed adding 45 minutes to the school day, moving to a four-day school week during the winter months and other less drastic means to save on energy costs.
"The purpose of this is not about adopting this (proposed) calendar, it's about saving energy," Robertson said.
Robertson said the average annual costs for fuel and electricity in the district — which includes the communities of Brookfield, Effingham, New Durham, Ossipee, Tuftonboro and Wolfeboro — are significantly higher than last year and more than initially budgeted by officials. For the 2008-09 school year, the district budgeted $290,000 for oil, $470,000 for electricity and $292,000 for diesel fuel, but estimates the projected costs to be $368,000, $580,000 and $347,000, respectively — resulting in a total shortfall of $243,000, according to Robertson.
District officials know it is not a short-term problem since fuel and heating costs have increased 450 percent in the past decade, he said.
Robertson said the district spends more than 99 percent of its budget, leaving very little left over to pay the expected shortfall. He added the district can reduce some of the amount by 5 to 7 percent — possibly $47,000 to $66,000 —
The Citizen August 19th 2008
The idea of a four-day school week as a way to save energy costs has little support on the Inter-Lakes School Board. The issue was briefly discussed at last Tuesday's meeting of the Inter-Lakes board as a possibility discussed by other school districts. Other school districts, such as the Governor Wentworth School District and Shaker Regional School District, have previously discussed the possibility of extending the school day for extra time and having a four-day week in hopes of saving money with high fuel costs. ..
6 HOLLAND STREET
PO BOX 139
MOULTONBOROUGH, NH 03254
Selectmen’s Meeting August 14, 2008
DRAFT
MINUTES
Present: Selectmen: Karel A. Crawford, Edward J. Charest, James F. Gray; Carter Terenzini, Town Administrator; Hope K. Kokas, Secretary.
I. CALL TO ORDER: Karel called the meeting to Order at 7:00 P.M.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III. REVIEW/APPROVE MINUTES: Jim Made the Motion to approve the Minutes of July 24, 2008 as written. Ed Seconded. The Motion carried unanimously.
IV. NEW RESIDENTS: Michael D. Visbeck, Andrew D. Moore, Cynthia J. Tucker, Anne M. & Raymond H. Potvin, Marvin J. Padilla, Justin T. Avery, William J. Hyner, Seth A. Young, Derek A. Duke, Henry J. Arsenault, Yannick Rousseau, Rodyan Quinonez, Richard L. & Dianne L. Davis, Judith C. & Dudley Hare, Ralph K. & Patricia A. Putnam, Victoria A. King.
V. PUBLIC MEETING:
1. Non-Public Session, Personnel Matters: The Selectmen did not have a quorum for the scheduled Non-Public Session.
2. Bob Wallace, Steamboat Rally: Mr. Wallace informed the Selectmen that the annual Steamboat Rally will be held on Friday, September 5th through Sunday, September 14th. They will begin to prepare on Thursday, September 4th, mowing, installing docks, etc. There will be the annual parade and fireworks are scheduled for Tuesday, September 12th. As in year’s past the Steamboat Rally Committee requests that the Town provide the portable toilets and electricity. The Selectmen approved of the request by Consensus and thanked the members of the Steamboat Rally for the good work that they do.
2. Don Muscavitz, Adopt-a-Spot: Mr. Muscavitz requested that his sign be removed from the Library’s garden, as the month’s worth of rain has killed his flower garden. He asked the Selectmen for their direction regarding what he should do next; i.e., remove and clean up the plants, re-plant, etc. Karel stated that the Selectmen understood his predicament and suggested that he contact the Library Trustees to see what they want done.
3. Al Hume, Citizen’s Petition: Mr. Hume read the petition he presented to the Administration office regarding their request to place the question on the 2009 Town Warrant to see if the Town will vote to approve the creation, funding and construction of a Firearms Training and Certification area at the Waste Management facility.
4. Hollis Austin, MCA & Time Warner Public Access Channel: Mr. Austin read his letter into the Minutes regarding the Alliance’s request to Time Warner to broadcast their videos of the Selectmen’s Meetings......
Inter-Lakes officials are mulling over the costs and logistics of recording and airing school board meetings.
The board discussed different ideas for airing meetings with District Technology Director Allan Hale during Tuesday's meeting. The taping of meetings has been an ongoing issue as some residents have requested meetings be aired.
The district has spoken with Lakes Region Public Access and the Laconia School District as part of a preliminary look at the logistics of recording meetings as well as contacting various media companies about airing meetings online.Hale said the district would have to contract with a media server company in order to stream video online. The district server does not have enough bandwidth to support streaming video and multiple viewings could paralyze the website....
Laconia
Daily Sun August
8th, 2008
HOME.
Editorial The Citizen Friday, August 8, 2008
The
Other school districts are having serious discussions on how they will deal with the serious challenges higher fuel prices put on their budgets. The
The underlying message of this trial balloon is one that is worth heeding. School districts, like other arms of government, face serious challenges as energy prices continue to rise. The proposal of extending the school day one hour and going to a four-day-a-week from December through March again directs attention to the need of coming up with ways to deal with the cost of heating homes, schools and businesses this winter, and helping those who can least afford it deal with high transportation costs. The idea is that shutting schools will save on heating costs and save workers the gas used to commute on the fifth day. On the other hand, fiddling with the established weekly schedules in schools means a great number of people would have to shift their daily lives. Working parents who find their children out of school an extra day would have to deal with finding and paying for more child care. Schools would have to figure out how to meet the minimum number of school days mandated by law. It's much easier to point out the obstacles to making an idea work than to come up with a fresh approach toward dealing with a tough problem. A four-day school week might prove to be impractical for many reasons, but the idea goes beyond the usual focus on how we pay our most immediate bills. No matter the ultimate outcome of such proposals, school districts deserve credit for being willing to look at bold moves to deal with a daunting and serious issue. There is little prospect for oil prices coming down anywhere near the level that we've enjoyed in the past. That means we all need to look at how we can change the way we live to cope with the changing world of energy
In response to a request from the MCA askng if the Moultonboro school district had similar plans to reduce the school week or propose other energy saving ideas, Superintendent Lancor responed as follows via email:
The topic “Potential Governor Wentworth Calendar Changes” will be on the Moultonborough School Board agenda for Tuesday, August 12. Any changes made to the Governor Wentworth calendar impact Moultonborough Academy students who attend the Vocational Education Center associate with Kingswood High School.
Mike Lancor
To add an idea to the growing list of ideas for Moultonboro sponsored by the MCA please click HERE
MCA
Source: http://www.meredithnh.org/
Meredith Ideas
THE TOWN MANAGER FACILITATED A BRAINSTORMING SESSION ON JULY 15, 2008 THAT GENERATED 48 IDEAS. THE FOLLOWING IS A LISTING OF ITEMS DISCUSSED, ALONG WITH THE STATUS. FOR ANY FURTHER COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT TOWN MANAGER, CAROL GRANFIELD, AT 677-4205
MEREDITH IDEAS
1. WINDMILL AT WATER DEPARTMENT SITE COULD PROVIDE ENERGY
FOR TOWN BUILDINGS/TRAFFIC LIGHTS.
2. PURCHASE A HARVESTER (COST $10,000) TO DISPOSE OF MILFOIL AT
USE OUR LAKES DUE TO MILFOIL).
3. PAINT WHITE LANE LINE AT RT. 25/SCENIC PARK FOR SAFETY (THIS
WAS ALREADY SCHEDULED AND HAS JUST BEEN PAINTED).
4. HAVE A BIKE PATH ALONG
VILLAGE PATHWAY COMMITTEE AND DPW).
(COULD POSSIBLY PAINT - REFER TO DPW).
6. CONTINUE SIDEWALK FROM BARNARD RIGHT DOWN MEREDITH
NECK ROAD (REFER TO DPW TO EXPLORE).
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The Citizen Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The townwide revaluation is nearing its end as taxpayers will be able to have informal hearings and information will be available. On Monday, the town released a statement that the state-required townwide revaluation of Moultonborough is about to enter its final stages, Moultonborough announced that Vision Appraisal Technology will shortly be mailing out informational letters to property owners of the town's approximately 7,250 parcels of land. The letters will state the property assessed value of land and buildings as of April 1.
Informal hearings will be available to property owners to ask questions about their assessments. Property owners who would like an informal hearing to discuss the proposed values should call Vision Appraisal at 1-888-844-4300 from Monday, Aug. 11 through Friday, Aug. 29, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The last scheduled day for hearings is Sept. 2. Topics of discussion can include an explanation of valuation, information on the property record card and the market data used to determine the proposed value. The town stresses that the notices being mailed out are not tax bills and Vision will not be able to discuss or predict the actual amount of the tax bill that will result. Informal hearings will be by appointment only and will be held at the town hall. If a property owner will not be able to attend one of the five hearing days available during August and early September, they can submit evidence they would like considered to Vision Appraisal, c/o Assessor's Office,
Note from the MCA: A copy of this article will be sent to Bill Blackaddar, Moultonboro School Board Chair for reaction and SAU 45's plan to address this issue. The School Board next meets in Moultonboro August 12th at 7pm, Town Hall.
MCA
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The Concord Monitor Sunday August 3rd, 2008 | |
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August 03, 2008
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By JOHN KOZIOL |
The Citizen Saturday, August 2, 2008
It's going to cost a whole lot more — nearly double — to fuel municipal boilers this fall and winter. On Friday, City Purchasing Specialist Jonathan Gardner opened three bids for No. 2 heating oil and the apparent low bidder, at $3.995 per gallon, is the Fred Fuller Oil Co.The Irving Oil Co. bid $4.285 and Strafford Oil, $4.495 per gallon.
Subject to verification, the winning bid from Fuller was $1.63 higher than its winning bid from 2007 of $2.335 At the time, the 2007 Fuller price was a good deal given that the average price of heating oil in
Twenty of the city's municipal buildings are heated with oil, including city hall, the police station, the community center, Laconia Public Library, Goss Reading Room, all park houses, the public works garage and all water department buildings.
“I think the best phrase in this situation would be ‘stay tuned,” said (Hollis) Austin
The Meredith News July 31st, 2008
Sara Schmidt
MOULTONBORO —
Those turning to Channel 3 to catch last week’s selectman’s meeting will have to wait just a bit longer, as protocol for taping and airing the public meetings is being hammered out. After months of work, the
Moultonboro Citizens’ Alliance managed to get approval from Time-Warner to broadcast recordings of the Thursday night meetings of the Moultonboro Board of Selectmen on their public access channel. But those who tuned in on the projected launch date of July 15 at 7 p.m. only saw static. The Moultonboro Board of Selectmen requested that the channel not air any tapes until the town could determine its policy on broadcasting tapes of public meetings, according to Government Relations Manager Mike Edgecomb. Currently, no such policy exists in Moultonboro. “The selectmen asked us to hold off until they review (procedure),” said Edgecomb. “It’s in the selectmen’s hands.....
