Friday Updates - March 4, 2022

Friday, March 4, 2022

CDC HAS UPDATED COVID-19 GUIDANCE AROUND MASK WEARING FOR STRAFFORD COUNTY TODAY

The CDC has just today downgraded Strafford County’s Covid-19 listing for “Community Levels and Prevention Steps by County” from Orange (high) to Yellow (medium). This means the CDC no longer recommends mask wearing for indoor public settings like at the Town Hall. It states for guidance:

If you are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions.

Stay up to date with Covid-19 vaccines.

Get tested if you have symptoms.

As such, we will be removing our entry signage recommending (but not requiring) mask wearing “per the recommendation of the CDCC” at the Town Hall today and instead will leave mask wearing to be on an per person level. 

Nonetheless, as outlined above, as a courtesy to fellow citizens and our dedicated election volunteers, some of whom may be in a higher risk category for Covid-19, we request that residents coming to the polls voluntarily wear a mask at Tuesday's March 8th Town/School election. The goal is to offer a comfortable/safe setting for everyone to exercise their right to vote given the continued health concerns surrounding Covid-19.

WITH CDC’S NEW GUIDANCE FOR STRAFFORD COUNTY TODAY, UNH UPDATES MASK REQUIREMENTS

Effective today, masks are no longer required in indoor spaces on any of UNH’s three campuses (Durham, Manchester, Concord). Throughout the pandemic UNH has based its policies on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Their mask guidance based on community levels puts UNH campuses’ counties at yellow or medium activity, which means masks are no longer required in most indoor settings. Masks are still required in UNH health care facilities, including Health & Wellness, as part of regular PPE in lab, on UNH public transportation including Wildcat Transit, and for individuals who were recently in isolation or quarantine and need to mask for 10 days.

UNH continues to be vigilant with its ongoing testing, wastewater sampling, elevated airflow in buildings and the availability of outdoor tents in the next few weeks. UNH is grateful for the high levels of vaccination within the community and encourage all to remain up to date with vaccinations. 

Both Durham and UNH recognizes this change will be met with varying reactions within the community; it encourages people to exercise personal choice and to do what feels right for them. If you are immunocompromised, at high risk for severe disease, have young children or others in your home who cannot be vaccinated or are uncomfortable with the change in mask requirements, please review CDC’s recommendations for individuals. And for everyone, some reminders:

• Be respectful. Community members may still choose to wear a mask for various reasons. If someone asks you to wear a mask—including in the classroom—say yes if at all possible. 
• Stay home from work or class if you’re sick. If you have symptoms, make an appointment for a rapid test.
• Continue testing as part of the UNH campus testing program. No changes have been made to testing requirements. For UNH community members, check your Wildcat Pass.

Thank you for your continued commitment to our COVID policies and the safety and well-being of your fellow Wildcats and the Durham community as a whole.

DURHAM PARKS & RECREATION WELCOMES KELLIE DESIMONE

It is with great excitement that the Town of Durham Parks and Recreation Department welcomes Kellie DeSimone as the new full time Assistant Director for Parks and Recreation. Kellie comes to us from the City of Nashua where she has spent the last 10 years as an experienced professional in the field of Recreation. Kellie started as a summer intern for Nashua Parks & Recreation, and after completing her Parks & Recreation Management degree from Western Carolina University, she was hired on full time as Nashua P&R Program Coordinator. Within a few years she was promoted to Program Manager where she spent the last 5 years developing a broad range of recreational programs and event opportunities for the residents of Nashua. Kellie was instrumental in the creation, organization and management of the Annual Gate City Brewfest, which attracts over 2,000+ attendees annually. 

Kellie is excited to continue to grow and learn here with Durham Parks & Rec. and the Town of Durham. We are equally excited for her to bring her knowledge, creativity, and passion for recreation to our small but dynamic department. We look forward to introducing Kellie to our amazing community and all that Durham has to offer. You will soon see her out and about at programs, summer camp and community events and hope you will stop by and welcome her to Durham!

Kellie recently moved from the Manchester area to Nottingham with her husband, baby boy and adventure pup Nitro. Together, they spend free time hiking, camping, floating on the lake and fitting in travel adventures. Welcome Kellie!

DURHAM FIRE DEPARTMENT PLACES NEW EMS RAPID RESPONSE VEHICLE IN-SERVICE

On March 1, 2022, Rescue 5 responded to its first call for service as the Durham Fire Department’s new primary EMS response vehicle. 

The purpose of the EMS rapid response vehicle is to provide first-due medical aid more efficiently and economically than responding with larger apparatus. The unit is staffed and equipped to provide advanced life support-level care. The fire department typically responds to over 1,100 EMS calls annually.  

As part of the Town’s 2020 Capital Improvements Program, the Durham Town Council voted to approve the purchase of a vehicle to replace the department’s aging 2010 Ford F-350 designated as Medic 1.

The replacement vehicle is a 2021 Ford F-350 with utility body and has been equipped with emergency warning systems, two-way radio communications, and medical equipment. The new EMS vehicle’s call sign is Rescue 5.  

The department wishes to thank Captain Jim Brown, Firefighter Matt Hunt, Firefighter Dan Brothwell, and Assistant Chief Randall Trull for their hard work and diligent efforts in getting the vehicle purchased, outfitted, and placed in service.   

DURHAM POLICE OFFICER ACCEPTS POSITION WITH MA STATE POLICE – The department is now down by 1/3 of our sworn officers.

Police Chief Rene Kelley informed Admin. Selig this week that one of our police officers has accepted a position as a Trooper with the Massachusetts State Police. They are finishing the officer’s background investigation, which Chief Kelley was told they are expediting. With this officer’s resignation, we will be down six officers with a seventh officer currently in the NH Police Academy. Our full force of sworn officers in Durham is 21. We will be discussing implications to our shift staffing. It’s certainly not an ideal situation, with far too few individuals stepping up in NH and the Northeast interested in the policing profession. We’ve increased the reach of our recruitment efforts into MA and ME. Police departments across the region are struggling at this time to fill their ranks. I understand the NH State Police, for example, had over 60 vacancies several months ago. It’s causing departments to begin to actively try to attract staff from other agencies. Durham is an outstanding police department with great staff as part of the team (hence why so many departments are interested in Durham officers) so we believe the vacancies here to be an indicator of a broader issue in policing across the region. Following many months of fruitful Collective Bargaining Negotiations, the Town and Durham Professional Police Officers Association recently approved a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which we collectively hope will help to supplement pay/benefits within the department.  

Chief Rene Kelley presented Officer Chloe Jepson a Certificate of Appreciation from MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) for her enforcement efforts dealing with impaired drivers. Courtesy DPD

ATTENTION ALL DURHAM DOG OWNERS! It’s time to renew your dog’s license for 2022. (Your dog could be Durham's Top Dog!)

Dog licenses may be obtained online at Online Dog License Renewal, by mail, or in person at the Durham Town Clerk-Tax Collector’s office 8 Newmarket Road, Durham, NH 03824. The fees to license your dog are $7.50 for an altered dog, $10.00 for an unaltered dog, and $2.00 if the dog owner is a senior citizen.

Once again, the Town of Durham will host the Top Dog raffle. This raffle was created to motivate and remind dog owners to license their pets every year by April 30, as state law requires. Residents automatically register for the Top Dog raffle when they obtain a dog license before April 30. The winner of the Top Dog raffle will receive a gift basket donated by the clerk’s office and their dog’s biography will be featured in the Durham Friday Update. 

Bo MacGregor was the lucky winner in 2021. Your dog could be the next Top Dog! Please contact the Town Clerk's office for more details on raffle rules and regulations. 

UNH EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM TO BE TESTED FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022 

Regular testing of the University of New Hampshire’s outdoor notification system will occur Friday, March 11, 2022, at 11:30 a.m. The test will include the siren, a “canned” message and a recording signaling the end of the test. The entire exercise will take less than 10 minutes.  

In addition, the university will also simultaneously send test messages through its alert system to registered cell phones and e-mail accounts, and a directed communication to all UNH faculty, staff and students. 

The outdoor notification system is designed to not only alert the campus community when there is imminent danger but also follows up with voice instructions. This two-step approach, called Alert and Inform, helps reduce confusion and restore order. 

Sirens are located on the roof of the MUB, the roof of Morse Hall, A-Lot and the dirt parking lot near the equestrian facility. The system reaches nearly a mile in all directions.  

Contact UNH Police Chief Paul Dean at (603) 862-1427 for more information or with any questions. 

PIKE PROPERTY CONSERVATION EFFORT MOVES FORWARD - An update.

We are very pleased that the Town of Durham will soon be acquiring a new conservation property. Once the final details for the 36-acre Pike Property are worked out the parcel will be conveyed to the Town. See the area outlined in red in the map below.  

The site is located on Packers Falls Road just to the east of the juncture with Wednesday Hill Road and the Thompson Forest property, a 54-acre tract owned by the Town with a conservation easement held by the Southeast Land Trust (SELT). The undeveloped Pike Property has almost a quarter mile of frontage on the federally-designated wild and scenic Lamprey River and is adjacent to the drinking water intake pipe for the Durham/UNH water system. The site includes 26 acres of forest, 5 acres of pasture, and 5 acres of wetlands (with 8 vernal pools), and is part of an extensive forest block composed of multiple properties. SELT will hold a conservation easement on the land.  

Our thanks to Bonnie Pike, owner of the property, and to Duane Hyde, Land Conservation Director for SELT, for effecting this transaction. Duane had to keep a number of balls in the air simultaneously - negotiating the many details with the property owner, securing funding from a half dozen organizations, and obtaining approvals from the Town – and it all came together. Duane, who served as the Durham Town Planner twenty years ago, had the opportunity to become reacquainted with our many Town boards – obtaining a contribution of $35,000 from the Conservation Commission from the Town’s Conservation Fund, a necessary variance for a side setback from the Zoning Board of Adjustment, lot line adjustment and subdivision approval from the Planning Board, and acceptance of the property from the Town Council. He was smiling throughout the ordeal so we know that he enjoyed the process.  

On Tuesday, March 1, 2022, Detective Carrington Cazeau and Detective Emily Festa attended the Serving Job & Internship Fair on the UNH Campus. Durham officers continue to recruit locally and throughout New England to find qualified police officers to be part of our community.  

SUMMER FARMERS' MARKET RETURNING TO DURHAM IN SUMMER 2022

Seacoast Eat Local has announced that, beginning this season, it will be hosting Summer Farmers' Markets in Durham, Dover, Exeter, and Portsmouth.

The Seacoast Growers Association (SGA) membership last year voted to dissolve as an organization to focus on their own farm and food businesses. For 45 years, SGA has supported local food and farming businesses. 

The chance to host summer farmers' markets comes at perfect time for Seacoast Eat Local. With 15 years of experience running winter markets, the organization had identified a readiness to support summer markets during its recent strategic planning and so they are eager to get to work planning the summer season.

Seacoast Eat Local does not expect market locations or days to change, but you can stay tuned to any future announcements.

Durham residents Peter and Roni Pekins had biologists from NH Fish and Game and USDA-APHIS in their backyard recently capturing waterfowl to check for presence of avian flu. Residents may have seen something about this in the news. The Pekins' offered to help due to the presence of mallards (so unusual) at their bird feeders a few weeks ago. Fish and Game used a remote controlled, spring activated net. Birds are housed temporarily in crates and then each one is banded and swabbed for the disease. A really smooth operation, the ducks are calm throughout. Biggest catch of the season, 37.

Durham FD new Rescue 5 vehicle. Courtesy Todd Selig