Friday Update July 03, 2008

FRIDAY
UPDATES

Thursday,
July 3, 2008

Flagpole dedication ceremony at the
Durham Fire Department

Photo courtesy
Mark Rubinstein

On Monday, June 30, 2008, a brief
ceremony was held at the Durham Fire Department to dedicate a new flag pole
donated to the Town of Durham and University of New Hampshire by the Durham Professional
Firefighters Association. The flagpole is beautiful and looks like it has always
been in this location. A “thank you” is extended to the
DPFFA.

Town
Offices Closed for Independence Day

A final reminder that the Town
Offices will be closed in observance of the July 4^th holiday on
Friday, July 4, 2008. All offices will reopen for regular business hours on
Monday, July 7, 2008 at 8:00 AM. There will
be NO commercial recycling collection on that
day.

JULY
FOURTH CELEBRATION

A final reminder that the
Durham-Great Bay Rotary Club and the Town of Durham will be sponsoring a gala
Independence Day celebration with fireworks on Friday, July 4^th with
a rain date of Saturday, July 5^th to be held at Cowell Stadium on the
UNH campus. Activities will begin at 6:30 PM. In addition to music, activities
are also planned for children. The food court will also be open and serve great
food throughout the fireworks display. Donations will be accepted at the gate.
Fireworks will begin at dusk (9:00-9:15 PM). UNH provides this venue at no cost
to the community.

Personnel Practices
at Durham Police Department

The rights of public employees, past
and present, are protected by New
Hampshire state law.  The Durham Police Department
has a system in place that is vigilant in ensuring our officers are the very
best they can be.  It is designed to address personnel matters swiftly and
objectively, when and if they come to light.  This system has performed as
designed and to the Administrator's satisfaction as Durham's hiring authority
through to the present time.  No Durham officers have been engaged in improper
activities involving the general public, nor have any officers been engaged in
improper sexual activities within the department.  Rumors to the contrary
are without merit. 

Stone
Quarry
Drive
TIF Development Agreement Negotiations
Update

Administrator
Selig and Rockingham Properties have been going back and forth
regarding the Stone Quarry Drive TIF development agreement since the
Council's last meeting on June 16th when the Administrator was asked to continue
negotiations with the owner to gain more favorable terms on behalf of the
Town.  To date, discussions have revolved
around:

1.  A provision in which
the owner agrees and binds successors and assigns that the assessed value
of each of the 15 raw lots in the subdivision will be valued at a minimum of
$150,000 for the duration of the development agreement. 

2.  A $450,000
+/- surety bond instead of the 4 lots in escrow contained in Section 1.4 of
the Agreement.  To date, the owner has been unwilling to move beyond
this position.

3.  An agreement to
commence construction of the interior water/sewer/wastewater and road within 60
days of completing the bid process for Route 108 utilities. 

The Administrator and the owner's
representative spoke last on Wednesday evening.  The owner has yet to
respond definitively with his last/best offer.  At present this matter is
scheduled to be discussed by the Council again at Monday evening but
will likely only be addressed if a revised offer is received by the Town. 

TOWNS/UNIVERSITIES
TEAM UP TO ADDRESS MUTUAL CHALLENGES

As the Town of Durham and the University of New
Hampshire work to find ways for greater
collaboration, residents may find an article from the May 2008 issue of Business Officer of interest entitled
“Teaming Up for Smart Growth”.  The article touches upon ways in which
colleges and communities around the country are teaming up as part of
multipurpose capital projects intended to strengthen town-gown bonds.  To
view the article, click on the following site: http://www.nacubo.org/x10547.xml

Stonemark
Management Co., Inc. v. Town of Durham

The Town has received Judge Fauver’s
decision in the Stonemark Management Co., Inc. v.
Town of Durham case relating to the Planning Board
approved age-restricted development at 99 Madbury Road.  The Superior Court
affirmed the Zoning Board of Adjustment on both issues that were in contention –
the issue of the lots not being “contiguous” and the issue of the elderly bonus
applying to only 80% of the units. Attorney Waugh, who represented the Town in
this case, advises that should the Planning Board or Town Council desire to
bring about the result the Planning Board originally decided in this case, the
way to accomplish that would be to amend the ordinance.  In addition, it is
our understanding that Stonemark has decided NOT to appeal the Judge’s
order.  If there is no appeal, the project, as approved by the Planning
Board, will no longer be viable and the planning appeal will become moot. 
Any future effort to revive the old approval by redesigning consistent with the
ZBA’s order, or to otherwise develop the land, will require a return to the
Planning Board and a new series of applications and
hearings.

Draft
Option Agreement for
Town
Office Site

The Town has received a draft option
agreement from Scott Mitchell of Tropic Star Development relative to the
purchase of the Town Office site.  Mr. Mitchell also owns the Irving
Station next to the Town office. The proposed price is $2 million.  A copy
of the draft document has been forwarded along to members of the Town Council
and Economic Development Committee for their initial review.  The
Administrator plans to speak further with Mr. Mitchell concerning the terms of
this draft document in the near future.  In addition, an appraisal is now
being performed by the Town for the parcel.

Kaisen
Update

At the Administrator’s
request, in March of this year resident and former Toyota executive Jerry
Gottsacker who is versed in Total Quality Management practices, met with the
Administrator and Business Manager to discuss the possibility of working with
the Town to introduce department heads to the practice of Kaizen (a million
incremental ideas) designed to enhance efficiencies within the workings of an
organization.  Since that time, Mr. Gottsacker has spent time working with
the various Town departments to develop illustrative examples of ways in which
the Town might consider implementing total quality management initiatives
utilized in the private sector. In addition, Mr. Gottsacker has also met with
members of the Economic Development Committee discuss this initiative
further.  Mr. Gottsacker will attend Monday evening’s Council meeting to
provide a brief update to Councilors regarding his efforts to
date.

Proposed
Amendment to Signs and Utility Structure Section of Zoning Ordinance, Sections
175-126 to 175-137

One of the goals of the
zoning rewrite was to amend the Signs and Utility Structures section of the
Zoning Ordinance.  The Planning Board hired a consultant to help finish the
process.  Steve Whitman, from Jeffrey Taylor & Associates was the
consultant.  The Planning Board was given the first working draft on March
16, 2007. Over the next several months the Planning Board reviewed the
amendments and submitted comments back to the consultant.  The amendments
were given back to the Planning Board for review on September 11, 2007. Once
again the amendments were discussed by the Planning Board and more comments were
sent back to the consultant.  Another draft was received in October 2007
and then again in November 2007 after discussions by the Planning Board. 
The Planning Board finished its review and the result was the final version
dated November 8, 2007. At their April 9, 2008 meeting, the Planning Board set a
public hearing date for April 23, 2008. The Planning Board held public hearings
on the amendments at their April 23, 2008 meeting and May 14, 2008. The public
hearings were opened and closed with no public comments for or against the
amendments.  After closing the public hearing the Planning Board
unanimously recommended that the Town Council adopt the amendment.  On
Monday, June 16, 2008, the Town Council moved the ordinance on First Reading as
presented and scheduled a Public Hearing for Monday, July 7, 2008. 
Residents/property owners interested in this topic should plan to attend
Monday's planned public hearing.  In addition, copies of these changes were
forwarded to the Durham Business Association and the Durham Landlords
Association to give members an opportunity to become familiar with the changes
proposed so that concerns/suggestions could be aired during the planned public
hearing.

Amending
Chapter 175 “Zoning”, Article
XXI, “Off-Street Parking and Loading”, Sections 175-110 to
175-117
of the Durham Town
Code

Another goal of the
zoning rewrite was to amend the Parking and Loading section of the Zoning
Ordinance.  The Planning Board hired a consultant to help finish the
process.  Steve Whitman, from Jeffrey Taylor & Associates was the
consultant.  The Planning Board was given the first working draft on March
15, 2007.  Over the next several months the Planning Board reviewed the
amendments and submitted comments back to the consultant.  The amendments
were given back to the Planning Board for review in September 2007.  Once
again the amendments were discussed by the Planning Board and more comments were
sent back to the consultant.  In March of 2008 the Planning Board once
again received an updated version of the amendments from the consultant. 
The Planning Board finished its review and the result was the final version
dated March 20, 2008.  At their April 9, 2008 meeting, the Planning Board
set a public hearing date for April 23, 2008. The Planning Board held public
hearings on the amendments at their April 23, 2008 meeting and May 14,
2008.  The public hearings were opened and closed with no public comments
for or against the amendments.  After closing the public hearing the
Planning Board unanimously recommended that the Town Council adopt the
amendment.   On Monday, June 16, 2008, the Town Council moved the
ordinance on First Reading as presented. A Public Hearing was scheduled for
Monday, July 7, 2008.  In addition, copies of these changes were forwarded
to the Durham Business Association and the Durham Landlords Association to give
members an opportunity to become familiar with the changes proposed so that
concerns/suggestions could be aired during the planned public
hearing.

Wiswall
Bridge Update

Representatives from the Department
of Public Works will provide the Council with an update relative to the design
process for replacement of the Wiswall Bridge.  Since the last Wiswall Bridge update was presented to the Town
Council on February 18, 2008, CLD Engineers, the engineering design firm working
for the Town, has developed the basic no-frills bridge design concept as
requested by the Council to include the following:

• Single lane-single
  span bridge
  
• Reduced length u-back
  wingwall abutments
  
• A basic 2-bar
  aluminum bridge railing

The proposed basic bridge design
does NOT include:

• Pedestrian
  sidewalk
  
• Stone facade 
  

CLD has expended significant
resources to coordinate and provide design options for unanticipated historical,
cultural, and environmental resource issues.  At present, a number of
issues remain pertaining to satisfying historic conditions at the site.  A
cost table had been provided to the Town Council on February 18, 2008 with a
high price of $2,738,800. 
Since that time, CLD revisited the u-back design and developed a
reduced length u-back wingwalls concept with estimated costs that are more in
line with the flared wingwall options.  The estimated construction cost for
the basic no-frills bridge design described above is approximately $1,956,400
excluding other costs such as engineering and historic mitigation.  The
additional items requested by the New Hampshire Department o Historic Resources
(NHDHR) including tinted concrete ($8,000) and black railing ($35,300) would add
approximately $43,300 to the project cost.  FEMA has indicated that the
non-bridge related, but required historic mitigation (i.e. and interpretive
display at the Wiswall Historic Mill
Park) could add as much as
$30,000 to the project.  A breakdown of the project costs associated with
the basic no-frills bridge design plus the additional items requested by NHDHR
is as follows:

Basic
Bridge                                                  
$1,956,400

           
           Tinted
Concrete                                  
$       8,000

Black
Railings                                    
           
$     35,300

           
           Historic
Mitigation                                
$     30,000

           
           Design
Engineering                            
$   172,530

           
           Construction
Engineering (10%)        
$   196,500

           
           TOTAL                                    
            $2,398,730

 A
breakdown of cost sharing arrangement is as
follows:

           
           Federal
(FEMA)                                   
$   524,000

           
           State (Bridge
Aid)                                
$1,499,784

           
          
Town                                                   
$   374,946

           
           TOTAL                                    
            $2,398,730

A total sum of $2,388,200 is budged
for this project as part of the 2008 Capital
Budget.

Council-Initiated
Ordinance Amending Chapter 175 “Zoning”, Section 175-32, Zoning Map, of the
Durham Town Code to Extend the MUDOR District Into the RB District to Include
Land North of Route 4 and East of Madbury
Road

At the Town Council
meeting of May 5, 2008, the Town Council forwarded a proposed amendment to the
Durham Planning Board for its review and recommendation to extend the MUDOR
District to include land north of Route 4 and east of Madbury Road. The
Planning Board discussed the amendments at its May 28, 2008 meeting and set a
public hearing date for June 18, 2008.  There was no one in attendance to
speak in favor of the amendment to extend the MUDOR district.  There were
many people who spoke in opposition to the amendment.  After deliberating
on the amendment the Planning Board recommended that the Town Council not amend
the Zoning Map to extend the MUDOR district and to have further investigation
done by the Zoning Rewrite Committee and perhaps procuring professional services
to help accomplish the investigation.  Subsequent to the Planning Board's
hearing, the Town received a protest petition from owners
of more than 20 percent of the area of the lots included in the change in
accordance with Section 175-14(G) of the Zoning Ordinance.  Consequently,
any such amendment developed pursuant to this subsection of the Zoning Ordinance
shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of two-thirds (2/3) of
all Council members present at its second reading.  The Council will
discuss this matter further on Monday, July 7th.

Council-Initiated
Ordinance Amending Chapter 175 “Zoning”, Section 175-32, Zoning Map, of the
Durham Town Code to Expand the Central Business (CB) District Into the Church
Hill (CH) District to Smith Park Lane

At the Town Council
meeting of May 5, 2008, the Town Council forwarded an amendment that would
extend the Central Business district up Church Hill to Smith Park Lane to
the Durham Planning Board for its review and recommendation.  The Planning
Board discussed the amendments at its May 28, 2008 meeting and set a public
hearing date for June 18, 2008.  There was no one in attendance to speak in
favor of the amendment to extend the Central Business District into the Church
Hill District.  There were several people who spoke against the
amendment.  After deliberating on the amendment the Planning Board
recommended that the Town Council not amend the Zoning Map to expand the Central
Business District up Church Hill and to have further investigation done by the
Zoning Rewrite Committee and perhaps procuring professional services to help
accomplish the investigation.  The Council will discuss this matter further
on Monday, July 7th.

Council-Initiated
Ordinance Amending Chapter 175 “Zoning”, Section 175-32, Zoning Map, of the
Durham Town Code to Expand the ORLI District Into the RB District to include the
remaining land of Sprucewood to the Lee Town
Line

At the
Town Council meeting of May 5, 2008, the Town Council forwarded a proposed
amendment extending the ORLI District to include the remaining land of Sprucewood to the Lee Town Line to the Durham Planning Board for
its review and recommendation.  The Planning Board discussed the amendments
at its May 28, 2008 meeting and set a public hearing date for June 18,
2008.  There were three people who spoke in favor of extending the ORLI
District into the RB District to include the remaining land of Sprucewood to the Lee Town Line. 
There were many people in attendance who spoke in opposition to the
amendment.  After deliberating on the amendment the Planning Board
recommended that the Town Council amend the Zoning Map to extend the ORLI
District into the RB District to include the remaining land of Sprucewood to the Lee Town Line.  The
Council will discuss this matter further on Monday evening, July 7th. 

West
End Sewer Rehabilitation Engineering
Contract

The 2007 Capital Fund
Budget includes an appropriation of $96,000 for engineering investigation/design
services for the wastewater collection system, west of the railroad
tracks.  This engineering will define the exact problem and design
components to eliminate a deficiency (bottleneck) in the existing collection
system, which runs from Main
St (Old
Concord Road), along side the Field House Grandstands
and parallel to the track/football field. The deficient collection pipe then
continues near the abandoned baseball diamond and under the Railroad tracks. The
current piping is a mix of 18”, 15” and 12” diameter pipes in the Goss International/Mast
Road, (155A) corridor. The bottleneck reduces the
piping in the area mentioned above to 8” in diameter, which reduces the
collection system capacity in this area by 35% thereby impacting potential
development on the west end of town. The Town of Durham’s Administrative Code requires that the
process for obtaining professional services include receiving proposals from
various interested state qualified engineering firms and evaluating those
proposals and the anticipated quality of services rendered. The State of
New Hampshire
revolving loan fund and state aid programs also require the same selection
process. On April 11, 2008 Public Works advertised a request for qualifications
in the local newspaper and sent 12 invitations to state approved engineering
firms requesting letters of interest and qualification statements. Hoyle Tanner
& Associates (HTA) received an outstanding rating compared to good ratings
for the three other top ranked engineering firms. Hoyle Tanner engineers walked
the project, and investigated not only the problem area but also most of the
west end collection system. HTA presented Public Works Officials with a very
detailed plan of what they would do and how they would accomplish those tasks.
The scope of services, which Hoyle Tanner Associates will perform in this
contract includes preliminary and final field investigations, including closed
circuit television assessment, complete design, including construction
drawings/specifications, and state/federal permitting/grant opportunities. The
Administrator concurs with the staff at the Department of Public Works regarding
the strong qualifications of HTA for this scope of work and recommends to the
Town Council that it award an engineering contract to Hoyle Tanner &
Associates of Manchester,
NH for a lump sum not to exceed
$54,997.98.

WOODRIDGE
SKATEBOARD PARK UPDATE

Public Works continued to work at
the new skateboard park at the Woodridge
recreational area. For those not familiar with the project, the Town has worked
10+ years on this park to provide a safe environment for our young
skateboarders. A subcommittee chose to locate the new skateboard park at
Woodridge recreational area on Fogg Drive. The
skateboard park will be a basic design with six different “street elements”
geared toward elementary and middle school aged children. In skateboarder terms,
a street element is a common item that is found in park areas such as: railings,
benches, and stairways. At the Woodridge
recreational area the new skateboard park will be where the basketball court is
located. The basketball court will be made smaller, but will still include two
baskets. The new recreational activities at Woodridge recreational facility will not eliminate parking
spaces. For more information, please contact Public Works Director Mike Lynch at
868-5578.

GREAT
BAY
– WATER QUALITY IMPAIRMENTS

Town Engineer Dave Cedarholm, Dan
Peterson the Wastewater Superintendent, and Administrator Selig attended a
meeting with Phil Trowbridge and Ted Diers of NHDES at the Durham Town Hall
along with officials from Exeter and Newmarket on Wednesday July 2^nd
about the water quality impairments in the Great Bay and its tributaries and the
apparent decline of eelgrass beds in the Great Bay Estuary.  Mr. Trowbridge
gave a presentation on a variety of studies from 1949 to 2005 that show a
decline of eelgrass habitat in the Great Bay,
and the complete disappearance of eelgrass in the tidal portions of the Oyster,
Lamprey, Squamscott, and Winnicut Rivers.  These rivers are all listed
on the State’s 303(d) impaired waterways list, which refers to Section 303 of
the Federal Clean Water Act.  Pressure has been placed on NHDES by the
Conservation Law Foundation to hold communities responsible for correcting
303(d) listed impairments and in response NHDES is looking to establish a
methodology to assess the role that nutrients, specifically nitrogen, from the
municipal wastewater treatment plants and stormwater discharges have on the
eelgrass habitats in the Great Bay Estuary.  It is unclear as to how this
initiative will impact the operations at Durham’s Wastewater Treatment Plant or the
management of the stormwater system. While the NHDES staff members indicated
that increased regulations are anticipated, representatives from Durham and
other affected communities raised many questions and concerns about methodology,
future Federal/state funding support, and the impact of nonpollutant source (non
Wastewater Treatment Plant) discharge accounting for 66%-80% of the nitrogen
discharge into the estuary.

PUBLIC
MEETING SCHEDULE

The following public meetings are
scheduled for the coming week in the Town Council chambers at the Durham Town
Office and will begin at 7:00 PM unless otherwise indicated
below.

Zoning Board of Adjustment –
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Planning Board – Wednesday, July 9,
2008

Conservation Commission – Thursday,
July 10, 2008

Economic Development Committee –
Friday, July 11, 2008 (7:30
AM)

To view an agenda for the meetings
listed above, please click HERE. 
All meetings recorded on DCAT are available on DVD at the Durham Public Library
for checkout and viewing.

VACANCIES
ON TOWN BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES

There are still a number of
vacancies remaining to be filled on various Town boards, commissions, and
committees. Residents interested in being appointed to any of the boards,
commissions, or committees listed below may obtain an application form by
clicking HERE.  Applications are
also available at the Town Clerk-Tax Collector’s Office. Completed applications
may be submitted via email to jberry@ci.durham.nh.us, or mailed to
Jennie Berry, Town of Durham, 15 Newmarket Road. To view the
charges/responsibilities for the various Town boards, commissions, and
committees, click HERE.

Historic District Commission - (1
vacancy)

Planning Board – (1 alternate member
vacancy)

Zoning Board of Adjustment - (1
alternate member vacancy)

Durham Cable Access Television
(DCAT) Governance Committee - (2 vacancies)

Integrated Waste Management Advisory
Committee - (1 vacancy)

Strafford Regional Planning
Commission (MPO Policy) - (2 vacancies)

2-1-1
-- The New Statewide Help Line Begins Operation

New
Hampshire residents needing a variety of
human services or financial assistance can get referrals for help by calling
2-1-1, the new statewide help line. The state 2-1-1 operation is a cooperative
project of New
Hampshire’s 10 United Way organizations and Public
Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH). It operates out of PSNH’s Manchester call center,
with information specialists trained and paid by the United Ways. The
service replaces five regional information and referral hotlines operated by
United
Ways. In addition to the United Ways and
PSNH, 2-1-1 is sponsored by the State of New
Hampshire, Citizens Bank Foundation, N.H. Charitable Foundation and
Exeter
Hospital. Forty-four other
states operate 2-1-1 systems.

HIGH
TEMPERATURES CAUSE RECORD JUNE POWER
DEMAND

The temperature came close to 100
degrees on June 9 and 10, 2008.  The mini-heat wave created demand for
electric power in the region that broke the record for June. ISO-New England,
the regional power grid operator, has announced that demand reached 26,149
megawatts (MW) on June 10th, topping the previous record for June of 26,055 MW
set in 2006. The all-time record demand for the region was 28,130 MW, set on
August 2nd, 2006. Grid officials are predicting peak demand of 28,000 MW for the
summer and they say the system has sufficient capacity to meet that demand.

THE
FARMERS MARKET

A reminder that the Durham Farmers
Market is underway for the summer and will continue through October 6, 2008. The
market will be in the Pettee Brook parking lot every Monday from 2:30 to 5:30
PM. There will be several farmers selling vegetables and fruit, and residents
will also find cut flowers, plants, bread, and more.

DURHAM
DAY 2008

Durham Day 2008 has been set for
Sunday, September 14, 2008 from 12:30-4:30 PM at Wagon Hill Farm.
Residents interested in assisting with this annual event should contact Durham
Day Coordinator, Nicole Moore, at 868-6775 or e-mail durhamday3@yahoo.com.

UNH
BEGINS MUB SUMMER SERIES

The University of New Hampshire will begin its MUB Summer
Series events each Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the summer. This is free and
open to all Durham residents, On Tuesday, July 8, 2008, beginning at 7:00 PM the
movie “National Treasurer: Book of Secrets” will be showing in Theaters I and II
at the MUB.  On Wednesday, July 9, 2008, beginning at 3:00 PM, musician
Jason Levasseur will be performing in Theater II. Movies are co-sponsored by the
MUB, Durham Business Association, and Durham: It’s Where U Live. For more information
regarding other summer events, please contact Dave at 862-1586 or log on to: www.unhmub.com, or to view the summer series
flyer www.unhmub.com/mub/unh_summer_2008.pdf

UPCOMING
EVENTS AT THE MILL
POND CENTER FOR THE
ARTS

Sunday, July 6, 2008,
 Octavio Brunetti &
Bernardo Monk. Concert at 5:30 PM. Tickets: $18.00

Milonga with live music begins at
7:00 PM. Tickets: $20.00.  Tickets for both events: $35.00. Bring picnic
basket and blanket.

Saturday, July 12, 2008,
12:30-3:30 PM. Nice and Naughty CD
Release Party. No admission fee. Enjoy a casual picnic and barbecue on the
grounds.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008,
6:30 PM. Theatre in the Meadow. The
New England Shakespeare Festival presents “Much Adoe About Nothing”.
Tickets:  Adults, $5.00; Children, $3.00; Children 5 and under, Free. Bring
picnic basket and blanket.

For more information or to purchase
tickets, call (603) 868-8999 or visit www.millpondcenter.org.

FROM
HISTORY IN AN OYSTERSHELL – 1600 – 1976

“1790 – Voted against the proposal
to dis-annexing the Towns of Dover, Durham,
Somersworth, Madbury, and Lee from Strafford County, and annexing the same to
Rockingham. These towns would be put to…difficulties of crossing ferries in
windy seasons to attend court in Portsmouth.”

Have a fun and safe July
4^th weekend.

Todd

Todd I. Selig, Administrator

Town of Durham
15 Newmarket Road
Durham, New Hampshire 03824
Tel
(603) 868-5571
Fax (603) 868-5572
tselig@ci.durham.nh.us
www.ci.durham.nh.us

The Town
of Durham has
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