Friday Update June 27, 2008

“FRIDAY
UPDATES”

June
27, 2008

Durham’s swans at
the Mill Pond - 2006

This week the Department of Public
Works began the initial stages of building a basic skateboard park out at
the Woodridge recreational area.  The
skateboard park will have six skateboarding elements appropriate for elementary
and middle school children. 

Town
Offices Closed for Independence Day

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.

NEXT
WEEK’S “FRIDAY UPDATES”

Due to the July 4^th
holiday on Friday, next week’s “Friday Updates” will be published on Thursday,
July 3, 2008.

EMERGENCY
PLANNING

On Tuesday of this week
Administrator and Director of Emergency Management Todd Selig met with
University of
New Hampshire Emergency Management Director Paul
Dean and VP of Student and Academic Services Mark
Rubinstein to discuss emergency management for the entire Durham/UNH community.
The University is doing an outstanding job in moving forward with emergency
planning, and is in fact ahead of many major institutions of public education
across the country with their efforts. The Town and the University intend to
continue working together with regard to joint emergency planning initiatives.
For example, the Whittemore
Center serves as the point of
distribution (POD) site for Durham for use by residents during a
pandemic.

POLICE
NEGOTIATIONS WITH UNH

On Tuesday of this week
Administrator Selig invited Council Chair Neil Niman to accompany him to meet
with UNH representatives to discuss the impact of the University on the Town of
Durham in the
area of policing services. Mr. Selig provided an overview regarding the
discussions to-date. Chair Niman provided an overview of ways in which the
University could work with the Town for the benefit of the entire community in
an effort to create additional taxable value or business drivers for the Town
that would result in a win-win effect for both entities. The group will meet
again on July 29, 2008.

ATTORNEY
TIM BATES RETIRES

The Town has received notification
that attorney Tim Bates with the law firm of Mitchell & Bates Professional
Association will be retiring the end of July 2008. Mitchell & Bates was
formed in 1995 to focus on the needs of municipalities. The firm will continue
as Mitchell Municipal Group.

SEMIANNUAL
TAX BILLS

A reminder that the first half
semiannual 2008 tax bills are due on Tuesday, July 1, 2008. Interest will begin
accruing on July 2^nd.

POOL
VOUCHERS

Approximately 70 pool pass vouchers
are still available for resident youths and senior citizens. Please stop by the
Town Clerk’s Office, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday to obtain a pool
voucher. Eligible residents can receive a $35.00 discount off the full price of
a season pass. Vouchers are issued on a first come, first served basis.

AIANH
150 FILMING DOCUMENTARY ON EFFORTS OF THE MILL PLAZA STUDY
COMMITTEE

As noted some time ago, the
American Institute of Architects
AIANH 150 group effort in Durham was selected by the New Hampshire State
Planner’s Association to receive the 2008 “Plan of the Year”. The AIA group is
filming a documentary on the Mill Plaza Study Committee’s efforts. Today Walter
Staples, a videographer working with the NH Chapter of the AIA, interviewed
Administrator Todd Selig and Town Planner Jim
Campbell to talk about the effectiveness of the endeavor. Mr.
Staples has also interviewed Mill Plaza Committee Chair David Howland, Councilor
Julian Smith, and Durham Public Library Chair Doug Bencks to include in the
documentary. Residents may also be interested in reading the article published
in the Foster’s Daily Democrat regarding this
effort. To view the story, click on the following site:

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/GJNEWS_01/287598875/-1/FOSNEWS0102

PLANNING
BOARD UPDATE

On Wednesday, June 25, 2008, the
Planning Board continued a public hearing on Joe Caldarola’s Sophie Lane 9-lot
Conservation Subdivision application before closing the public hearing portion
of the application.  The Board will now begin deliberations on the
application.  Deliberations are to begin at the July 9, 2008 meeting. 
In addition, the Board discussed the Council-initiated amendments to the
definition of “Habitable Floor Area” and the amendments to the Table of
Dimensional Requirements for the Church Hill (CH) and Central Business (CB)
Districts.  The amendment to the definition of Habitable Floor Area allows
more area to be added to the habitable portions of residence and the amendment
to the Table of Dimensional Requirements lowers the lot area per dwelling unit
needed in the CH and CB Districts.  Copies of these changes are available
at the Planning Department.  The Board also requested that the Director of
Planning and Community Development move forward with an application to the New
Hampshire Housing Finance Authority for consulting services to ensure that the
Town of Durham Zoning Ordinance incorporates inclusionary zoning into the
ordinance.

DEPARTMENT
OF PUBLIC WORKS BEGINS 4-DAY WORK WEEK FOR
SUMMER

Effective Monday, June 30, 2008,
personnel in the Highway, Buildings and Grounds, Equipment Maintenance, and
Water divisions at the Department of Public Works will begin a 4-day work week,
7:00 AM to 5:30 PM for the summer. Beginning the work day at 7:00 AM, rather
than at 6:00 AM which has historically been the case, is a more productive start
time due to constraints such as the noise ordinance and vendors’ hours that
prevent work from beginning until 7:00 AM.

ROAD
PROGRAM UPDATE

The application of base coat was
completed this week on Ambler
Way and Gerrish Drive.  These roads will be
left to set up until approximately mid August when the final top coat
will be applied.  Shimming was cut short this Thursday on Morgan Way,
Tirrell
Place, and Williams Way due to rain.  The
shimming will be rescheduled for sometime next
week.  

RISING
GAS PRICES AT STATE FUELING SITES

This week, the Department of Public
Works, who is in charge of all fuel usage of Town vehicles, was informed by the
New Hampshire Department of Transportation informed Public Works that
beginning July 1, 2008, all users of state fueling sites will have an increase
of $.05 per gallon for unleaded gasoline and $.10 per gallon for diesel for
administrative fees on top of any other market
increase.

CHANGE
IN COMPUTATION OF REGULAR AND OVERTIME HOURS
WORKED

The Business Office has notified
employees that the Town of Durham will be using the “rounding method” for
computation of regular and overtime hours worked. All time shall be rounded to
the appropriate quarter hour fraction (i.e., if an employee works until 5:08 PM,
s/he shall be paid till 5:15 PM versus an employee works until 5:07 PM s/he
shall be paid till 5:00 PM). In the future, any time sheets submitted with
“minutes” reflected will be rounded to the appropriate quarter
hour.

PUBLIC
MEETING SCHEDULE

The following public meeting is
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.

Historic District Commission –
Thursday, July 3, 2008

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.

FIREWORKS
SAFETY

Each year throughout the United
States thousands of people are injured and
homes are destroyed by the careless use of fireworks.  According to the
National Fire Protection Agency statistics, 9,600 fireworks-related injuries
were reported to emergency rooms in 2004.  In 2003, over 2,300 structures
caught on fire as a direct result of consumer fireworks.  Children continue
to be the most vulnerable to serious injury.  The Durham Fire Department
encourages residents to leave fireworks in the hands of professionals and enjoy
and support the fireworks show in Durham on July
4^th at Cowell Stadium at the University of New
Hampshire. 

JULY
FOURTH CELEBRATION

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.

OPEN
HOUSE HOSTED BY UNH COMMUNITY SAILING CENTRE AND PISCATAQUA SAILING
ASSOCIATION

The UNH Community Sailing Centre
(UNHCSC) and Piscataqua Sailing Association (PSA) will host a free Open House
event including on-the-water introductory sailing lessons on Saturday, June 28,
2008 from 10:30 AM until 3:00 PM. The event will be held at the UNHCSC clubhouse
located on Mendum’s Pond in Barrington, NH. The event is open to Durham children of all ages
from 6 to 18 who are interested in learning about the fun sport of sailing. Food
and refreshments will be provided by PSA. For directions and more information on
the UNH Community Sailing Centre contact Diane Weidenbacker at 603-868-5189 or
visit: http://www.sailpsa.org/content/view/33/96/. 
For more information on the Piscataqua Sailing Association, visit: www.sailpsa.org.

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

OPEN
HOUSE HOSTED BY DOVER MOUNTED
POLICE

Over the years, the Dover Mounted
Police unit has assisted the Town of Durham Police Department with crowd control
after high profile UNH hockey games and during the Red Sox World Series and
Patriots Super Bowl evens. On Sunday, June 29, 2008, the Dover Mounted Police,
along with volunteers, will host an Open House (rain or shine) from 10:00 AM to
2:00 PM at the Dover Mounted Police stables located at 75 Cocheco Street, Dover. There will be paddock rides, games,
food, face painting, and a bake sale. Bring your camera to take pictures of your
children on the police horses. All proceeds will benefit the Dover Mounted
Police.

FROM
HISTORY IN AN OYSTERSHELL – 1600 – 1976

“1789 – To supplying Philip Crommet,
one of the poor, being for pasturing and shacking his cow; to hay sufficient to
winter cow and hauling same to his hovel; 23 ft. wood supply; supplies and
medicines; for coffin and digging grave. The family was a Town charge through
1817.”

Have a nice
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

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