Friday Updates - December 3, 2021

Friday, December 3, 2021

Looking out on Oyster River. Courtesy Matt Carrico

________________________________________________

The NH Chapter of the American Red Cross, through the volunteer efforts of former Durham resident/Town Councilor Firoze Katrak, is working to coordinate a blood drive contest between the communities of Durham, Newmarket, and Dover in May 2022. We’re very early in the process so more information to follow in the months ahead.

Representatives from the Durham-UNH Water System will provide the Town Council with a presentation on our local water system this coming Monday evening, December 6, 2021. The Council meeting begins at 7 PM.

At this week’s budget work session, the Town Council discussed and came to near finalization on several changes to both revenue estimates and expenditure recommendations for FY 2022. The Council will discuss these and potentially move forward with budget adoption on December 6th.  

Wishing everyone a happy Hanukkah. 

WHILE DURHAM’S ACTIVE COVID CASE NUMBERS DECLINE, CASES ACROSS NH CONTINUE TO RISE

State-wide, the Covid-19 positivity rate has increased yet again from 6.8% three weeks ago, to 7.3% two weeks ago, to 9.3% last week, to 12.4% over the last 7-day cycle. In addition, only 55% of the state is fully vaccinated, meaning that when we are out and about, slightly less than every other person we encounter may be unvaccinated. 61.1% of NH residents have received at least an initial dose of the vaccine. 

Remember to take appropriate COVID precautions such as mask wearing indoors around other people, becoming fully vaccinated, getting your booster vaccine dose, getting tested if you display COVID symptoms, etc. Vaccine is now available for younger children as well.

PLANNING BOARD SITE WALKS

The Planning Board is holding two site walks on Saturday, December 4. The public is always welcome to join the board at its site walks. An inspection of the proposed new residential building at 32 Madbury (at the intersection with Garrison) will start at 1:30 pm. The board will then meet at 74 Main Street (next to Aroma Joes) to discuss a proposal for a four-story mixed-use building.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE DURHAM HISTORIC ASSOCIATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT! 

For the month of December 2021, the Durham Historic Association will receive a $1 donation from each purchase of a $2.50 reusable Community Bag at the Hannaford store located at 7 Mill Road, Durham NH. 

The Durham Historic Association's mission is: 

• To preserve the memory of events connected with the history of the Town of Durham, or of individuals who may have resided there;
• To serve as guardian of the town's history;
• To preserve the artifacts of the town's history;
• To inform and educate the citizens of Durham and others of the history of the town and how contemporary Durham arises out of its past.

TAX MAP PROJECT UPDATE

During the last three years, the Town of Durham engaged the services of CAI Technologies to update the property tax maps for assessment purposes, and in preparation for the implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) technology.  The updated tax maps and GIS will not only transform the valuation processes but can be used within municipal offices to improve efficiency, accuracy, and transparency to better serve the public.

Creating the new tax maps began with an aerial “flyover” of Durham on April 29, 2019 which was used to support the development of a planimetric base map.  Orthoimagery was also processed from the aerial photography.  In addition, CAI Technologies researched, and reviewed deeds and survey plans from the Strafford County Registry of Deeds and from the Town’s archives.  Once the compilation phase was completed and preliminary maps were created, notices were mailed to each property owner indicating their new tax map and lot numbers, and any acreage changes (if applicable).

In addition to boundary line dimensions, the new tax maps will identify either the surveyed acreage (if applicable) or the calculated acreage, and in some cases both.  If your property has been surveyed or your deed refers to surveyed acreage, your assessment will be based on that acreage.  If not, then your assessment will be based on the calculated acreage as determined by the mappers.     

The last phase of the project was just completed where CAI Technologies held informal reviews and property owners were able to meet with a representative from CAI Technologies to review their new tax map parcel and to discuss any acreage discrepancies based on information not previously available to the mappers, such as a survey that was completed on the property but not recorded at the Strafford County Registry of Deeds.  The mappers will review and revise the maps based on any new information gathered during the reviews.  If you were unable to attend the informal reviews and have information indicating a different acreage than what was mailed to you, please contact the Durham Assessing Office and we will forward your information to CAI Technologies for review.

It is anticipated that the project will be completed by December 2021 but will not be implemented until 2022 for assessment purposes.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Durham Assessing Office.

SWAP SHOP NEWS

The Swap Shop will be closing for the season no later than Saturday, December 11th, 2021. This timeline will advance should we receive a significant winter storm next week. Bulky items will NOT be accepted on December 11th, as Swap Shop volunteers will be working diligently to pack up for winter. Even though the swap shop will be closed, there are still several different options for donating items. Residents are encouraged to donate to other organizations such as the ReStore, Salvation Army or Goodwill. The containers at the Transfer Station (Discover Books, Salvation Army, and Ecosmith) will remain open throughout the winter.

COE DRIVE WATER LINE REPAIR

Durham Public Works crews recently responded to a water main break in the vicinity of 30 Coe Drive. A older service pipe connection from a residential home had separated from the main pipe in the street. The compromised “direct tap” connection was replaced with a heavier duty saddle-style connection. The Durham Public Works team performed exceptionally well, locating, isolating, and repairing the break in under two hours.

WISWALL DAM CONCRETE ADHESION CORING INVESTIGATION

Durham Public Works continues to evaluate findings with dam structural engineers, Pare Corporation, regarding the dam stability review of Wiswall Dam. Durham Public Works recently executed a contract with Pare Corp to evaluate dam adhesion through coring of the dam and analysis of the bedrock/concrete dam interface. A concrete coring contractor has been retained to take small cores in the dam to study the adhesion between the dam concrete and underlying bedrock. This work will require a small drawdown of the Wiswall dam impoundment such that no water is going over the spillway. This small drawdown is being coordinated with the UNH/Durham Water System as well as regulatory agencies and will not have an impact to water users. This analysis of the adhesion has the potential to result in favorable findings eliminating or greatly reducing the need for costly upgrades. In the event findings indicate less than desirable adhesion, it may be necessary to install shear pins into the dam bedrock interface to anchor the dam to the bedrock below in lieu of rock anchors that were originally anticipated. This work has been tentatively scheduled for Monday December 6th and is weather dependent with drawdown preparations scheduled for Friday December 3^rd.           

FALL LEAF AND BRUSH CURBSIDE COLLECTION COMPLETE

Durham Public Works recently completed the annual Fall leaf and brush curbside collection. 62 truckloads of material totaling 50 tons were collected. This effort marks the end of the construction season for Durham Public Works, with crews now transitioning over to winter operations. 

DEI RESOLUTION - Adopted by OR School Board September 15, 2021

On June 25, 2021, HB 2 was signed into law. Initial drafts of the bill included the controversial prohibition against teaching “divisive concepts,” but this restriction was removed from the final bill which focused on a discrimination against “identified groups.” An FAQ issued by the NH Department of Education, the Commission for Human Rights, and the Department of Justice summarizes     HB 2 as follows:

Public employers and government programs are prohibited from training and advocating that      one identified group (a group based upon: age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion or national origin):

•   Is inherently superior or inferior to people of another identified group;

•   Is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;

•    Should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment; or

•   Cannot or should not attempt to treat members of other identified groups equally 

    and/or without regard to their identified characteristic.

The Board finds nothing in HB 2 or this clarification that contradicts our own robust policies dealing with inclusion, diversity, and anti-racism. In fact, the state’s clarification expressly allows for teaching about race, even when some topics are uncomfortable. However, we are concerned that the prospect of civil suits and “disciplinary sanctions” from the state may have a chilling effect on our efforts to create an inclusive curriculum which honestly addresses issues of bias and race.

In response to HB 2, the Board:

•   Affirms its confidence that our teaching staff will continue to open up the

    curriculum to diverse perspectives, and, in developmentally appropriate ways, 

    celebrate the advances our country has made, and confront the harms of

    discrimination, past and present.

•  Will seek to create opportunities for teachers to inform parents and the wider

   community about how our curriculum is evolving to be more inclusive. 

•   Will support any teacher, working within our own guidelines, who is subjected to the

 penalties or legal exposure made possible by this bill.

LOCK YOUR CARS!

Durham Police Detectives routinely attend regional intelligence and information sharing meetings. At one recent meeting, a series of significant vehicle thefts was discussed. The vehicle thefts have been targeting newer model high end and luxury vehicles at dealerships and in local neighborhoods and residential areas throughout northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Several of these incidents have been reported on local media. One note of interest is that on many new vehicles, a sign the vehicle is locked, is that the side mirrors fold in toward the window. When the car is not locked, the mirrors will be out as they are when the vehicle is in normal operation. Those who are targeting these vehicles are apparently looking for this distinct feature while casing driveways of houses. 

Please remember to lock your vehicle, even in your own driveway! As always, if you see something odd or that just does not seem right, please contact the Durham Police Department immediately, 603-868-2324.

Durham Public Works team members Shane Bickford, Mike McCrillis and Dana Smith calibrating a front-line truck and spreader for deicing material application