Friday Update September 26, 2008

“FRIDAY
UPDATES”

September
26, 2008

Drawdown done on Mill Pond—time to
come out!

Courtesy Andrea
Bodo

This will not be a good weekend for
doing outside fall cleanup as our area is expected to receive an extended period
of heavy rain, partially due to tropical Storm Kyle, which is expected to move
up the coast of Maine on Sunday.

Mill
Pond DRAWDOWN AND DAM INSPECTION COMPLETEd

The dewatering of the Oyster River
Mill Pond this past week went off without a hitch and the inspection of the Dam
was successfully completed on Monday.  The Town’s Dam engineer Stephens
Associates of Brentwood conducted the inspection and were able to get a good
look at the problems on both the backside and the underside of the Dam. 
The inspection revealed a good deal of concrete degradation on the underside of
the spillway which will require extensive repair.  The engineers will
develop recommendations for the repairs and perform a stability analysis of the
Dam, as required by the State, and submit a full report to the Department of
Public Works in December. The Department of Public Works would like to thank all
the residents who assisted in monitoring the event and extend a special “thank
you” to Andrea Bodo and Steve Burns, who live next to the Dam, for their
understanding during this process.

Black
Bear Research Project
CONTINUES

Beginning the middle of April,
Durham residents were informed of a black bear
research project at UNH, funded by the NH Fish and Game Department and
USDA-Wildlife Services in Concord, and provided with a link on the Town
web site by which reports of bear sightings could be recorded. The focus of this
research is to learn more about the behavior and ecology of suburban bears in
southeastern New
Hampshire. Residents can continue to be of great help as
many begin their autumn ritual of hanging bird feeders.  Bears will be
attracted to this “easy food”, particularly if they have visited and been
rewarded previously. Because of the good acorn crop this year, “hits” are not
expected to be as fast and furious, but they will occur.  On September
10^th, a bear was caught on the Durham-Lee line. The 160 pound male,
shown above, was estimated to be 2.5 years old.  He was fitted with a
radio-collar and blue ear tags and released successfully.  Since then he
has been in Pawtuckaway State
Park, spent about a week in Raymond, and has now
returned to the Garrity
Road area very close to the capture site. Some
interesting highlights of the research include: 1) At least 4 different bears
were caught on camera this summer in Durham; 2) The radio-collared bear traveled
to Raymond in 3 days and returned to Lee in 2 days, indicating an elongated home
range and ability to travel considerable distance quickly; 3) The radio-collared
bear will be located at least twice daily.  These data provide a unique
look into its travels, habitat use, and use of human-associated food sources (he
has been spotted in backyards already); 4) Wildlife species caught on camera
numerous times at bait sites in Durham include wild turkeys, deer, fisher, gray
fox, red fox, raccoons, gray, red, and flying squirrels, opossum, and black
bears; and 5) All the above species were captured on film within the village
limits. The bear survey is still available at (http://www.nre.unh.edu/) and was extremely
helpful to researchers in the spring. Residents are encouraged to continue
reporting sightings as reports to the survey are of great value and
interest.

Celebration
of the Merrick Conservation Easement

On Sunday, October 5, 2008, from
3:00-4:30 PM, the Durham Land
Protection Working Group and the Durham Conservation Commission invite members
of the public to help them celebrate the acquisition of a conservation easement
on the Merrick property, a 25-acre wooded
parcel at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 108. The easement protects this
highly-visible corner from development, and provides for low-impact recreation
on informal trails that travel through the woods on the property.  The
afternoon event will include a short dedication ceremony with light refreshments
and a walk to highlight the geology and historical stone-quarrying activities.
Be sure to bring bug repellent and wear boots, as parts of certain trails may be
wet.  Please leave pets at home.
Parking is available on the Merrick
property at 7 Canney
Road. Photo
courtesy Beryl Harper

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, October 2, 2008

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

WOODRIDGE
FIELD SKATEBOARD PARK
OPENS

The small skateboard park at
Woodridge field opened yesterday.  We hope
skateboarders safely enjoy the new addition to Woodridge. 

TOWN
OFFICES CLOSED - COLUMBUS DAY HOLIDAY

All Town offices will be closed for
the Columbus Day holiday on Monday, October 13, 2008,and will reopen for
business on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 8:00 AM. Please note, however, that
there will be NO CHANGE to the
refuse and recycling collection. 

CHURCHILL
RINK AT JACKSON’S LANDING OPENS ON OCTOBER 20, 2008

The Churchill Rink at Jackson's Landing is
expected to open on October 20, 2008 for the winter season. The public skating
hours will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2:00-3:20 PM; Tuesday and
Thursday from 9:00-10:20 AM & 2:30-4:20 PM; Saturdays from 2:30-4:20 PM, and
Sundays 2:00-3:50 PM.  Ice time is still available for groups to rent at
$185/hour.  Interested parties may call the Department of Public Works at
868-5578 to obtain more information. 

Durham
Trick-or-Treating

Trick-or-Treating in Durham will be on Thursday
evening, October 30, 2008, between the hours of 5:00 and 7:30 PM.

ENERGY
SAVING TIPS

ü     
Combining multiple errands into one
trip is one of the best ways to significantly reduce energy and carbon
emissions, and save money!

ü     
Selecting energy-efficient office
equipment—personal computers (PCs), monitors, copiers, printers, and fax
machines—and turning off machines when they are not in use can result in
enormous energy savings.

MCGREGOR
EMS HOSTS 2^ND ANNUAL COMMUNITY OPEN
HOUSE

Wednesday, September 24th marked the
second annual McGregor Memorial EMS open house.  The volunteer EMT's of
McGregor opened their doors to the community and invited them in to learn more
about their professional emergency medical service.  With more than 25
McGregor EMT's in attendance community members were treated to tours of the
station and ambulances, were able to practice CPR on training mannequins,
learned how to become involved as a community EMT, and gained a better
understanding of the service McGregor has provided to the Town of Durham for
over 40 years.  McGregor is proud to be an integral part of the Durham community and enjoys
being able to serve its residents.  McGregor's doors are always open and
they welcome anyone to stop in for a visit.

Police
Sergeant Andy Buinicky Retires

Sergeant Andy Buinicky is retiring
this week after 20 years of service to Durham.  Andy had already worked 10 years
for the University of New Hampshire Police when he came to Durham in August of
1988.  Since then, Andy faithfully provided law enforcement duties in a
professional manner to all the citizens of Durham.  As a Sergeant overseeing a patrol
shift, Andy continually ensured that those working his shift were professional
and compassionate, and he instilled a strong work ethic at all times.  His
peers have long recognized that his skills, knowledge, experience, and training
combined to make him “a cop’s cop”.  Chief Kurz has named Kathryn (Lilly)
Mone as an acting supervisor to fill Andy’s work shift while a promotional
process is developed. 

Weekly
Police Arrest Report

Week -
42                                          
28 UNH (67%)            
14 Other (33%)

*2008/09 Academic Year -157
           118 UNH
(75%)           39 Other
(25%)

Calendar Year
–672                           
395 UNH (59%)           277
Other (39%)

*Commenced September 1, 2008 

Historical Data
for the same week

FROM
HISTORY IN AN OYSTERSHELL – 1600 – 1976

“1820– Two shipbuilding ways were
located just below the Falls. They were said to be the only town-owned ways in
N.E. Their use was auctioned off at Town Meeting to the highest bidder. With
good management, 2 ships could be built on each way. The hulls were fitted down
river.”

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

Our weekly
“Friday Updates” provide updates and announcements concerning the community for
interested individuals and we’ve now made it even easier to subscribe. 
Please visit this link
and fill out our new form to sign up.