Friday Updates - September 5, 2025

Friday, September 5, 2025

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels flying over the Oyster River Courtesy, Deborah Alberts

Like fighter jets overhead for the air show at Pease, time flies! A year-ago this week at Town Hall we were experiencing a major water break from the second floor that flooded portions of the building necessitating several temporary office relocations and months of repair. 

Wednesday afternoon there was a significant Comcast/Xfinity outage in Durham. One resident working from home came to Town Hall to take advantage of our public WiFi, and another preparing for his LSAT’s at 5 PM came down and used the 1st floor conference room/WiFi to take his actual exam!  

The Town's IT safeguards prevented a virus laden email sent this week to members of the Police Department and Administrator's Office from causing any harm.

And by all accounts University Day went off without a hitch! Go Wildcats!

A few things have changed since the U.S. Navy Blue Angels last performed at Pease in 2012 (like our old gas guzzler cruisers, pictured here), but one thing that has not changed is the Town of Durham’s parking regulations along Route 4.

We hope everyone finds a great spot to enjoy the air show this weekend, but please be aware that Durham police officers will be patrolling and enforcing parking rules throughout town. This includes Route 4 near Wagon Hill, where parking at any time is prohibited.

These restrictions are in place not to dampen anyone’s excitement, but to keep everyone safe. Route 4 is a very busy highway, and with both drivers and spectators likely to be distracted by the aerial acrobatics overhead, pulling over or parking illegally creates a real risk of accidents and injuries.

Please help us keep the weekend enjoyable for all by making sure you are parked only in a designated, approved location before you settle in to watch the show.

Stay safe, enjoy the performance, and welcome back to the Blue Angels!

Durham Fire Department will be holding their annual September 11 commemoration event on Thursday on College Road. All are welcome to attend.

In addition, this year UNH received a federal grant to organize a 9/11 day of action and remembrance, focusing on gratitude for first responders. There will be a Red Cross blood drive, a food drive, a thank you note table, and a multi-media exhibit in the library.

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA ITEMS FOR SEPTEMBER 8

• Moment of silence for Dr. Eric J. Lund.
• Appointment of a new Council member to serve until March of 2026. Election of new Chair Pro Tem and appointment of new Council Representatives to HDC, Cemetery Committee and Planning Board.
• Setting additional meeting dates in November & December for budget deliberations and setting the public hearing on the budget for November 17.
• Adoption of a Resolution changing the completion date for an Emergency Generator grant.
• Voting to sign onto an Amicus Brief supporting the Plaintiffs in the case New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al.
• Setting a Public Hearing date for the acceptance of a $3.2 million grant for the removal of the Mill Pond Dam.
• Appointing Julian Smith as an alternate member to the Planning Board.
• Presentation by Library Director, Sheryl Bass, on Library events & activities.
• Presentation by Planning Board Chair, Paul Rasmussen, on Planning Board applications and activities.
• Public Hearing on a Resolution to accept a New Hampshire Office of Highway Safety Grant.
• Discussion on an Ordinance to change the height limit for portions of the CB-1 Zoning District.
• Presentation by Housing Task Force Chair, Sally Tobias, on the Task Force's work.
• Discussion on whether to cancel the September 15, 2025 Council meeting.

The Town Council will be considering a resolution on Monday evening that would advance the Mill Pond Dam Removal and Oyster River Restoration Project in Durham. The proposed action would schedule a public hearing for October 6 on a resolution that would authorize acceptance and expenditure of up to $3,247,201 in grant funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Community-Based Restoration Program, supporting critical environmental restoration work along the Oyster River.

This initiative follows Durham’s March 2022 referendum, where 74% of residents voted in favor of removing the Mill Pond Dam. Since then, the Public Works Department, working with consultants, has diligently pursued grant funding to offset project costs.

Durham has already secured two installments from NOAA: $290,000 (October 2023) and $1,924,701 (recently received). The remaining grant of $1,322,500 is under federal review and will be available once released by NOAA. This grant does not require a local matching contribution. If the remaining $1,322,500 is ultimately not released by NOAA due to the change in presidential administrations, local dollars would likely be utilized, consistent with the original plans for dam removal, to be ironed out during the upcoming FY 2026 budget process. 

If approved, the Administrator will be authorized to sign and submit all necessary paperwork, enabling Durham to begin final preparations for dam removal and river restoration work, which is anticipated to start in spring 2026, pending complete funding and permits. The public is invited to a hearing on this action to be scheduled for Monday, October 6, 2025.

This has been an all-encompassing project for several years, which aims to restore the river’s natural health and strengthen Durham’s resilience for the future.

TOWN COUNCIL TO CONSIDER SUPPORTING LEGAL CHALLENGE TO EXECUTIVE ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

The Town Council will consider Monday evening joining an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in the federal case New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al., now pending in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire. The case challenges an executive order issued by President Trump that seeks to deny birthright citizenship to certain children born in the United States, based on the immigration status of their parents. Specifically, the order would affect children whose mothers were unlawfully present or on temporary visas at the time of birth and whose fathers were not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

The proposed amicus brief, filed by local governments from across the country, explains that such a policy could impose new legal and administrative burdens on cities and towns like Durham. Local officials could face new challenges in verifying citizenship for services such as voting and issuing birth certificates, and eligible families might lose access to health or nutrition benefits for their children. The lawsuit argues that the executive order violates both the Fourteenth Amendment and longstanding Supreme Court precedent, including the 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark decision.

If authorized by the Town Council, Durham would not become a formal party to the litigation but would affirm its opposition to the executive order and support the existing constitutional and statutory definitions of citizenship. The Durham Human Rights Commission has already endorsed signing the brief. Admin. Selig recommends supporting the plaintiffs, citing the importance of upholding honesty, integrity, and justice, and reflecting Durham’s core values. 

Blue Heron preparing to fly off. Courtesy, Michael Morneault

Durham’s Waysmeet Center/Cornucopia Food Pantry averages 100 food pantry visitors each week. About one third of the food pantry clients are international students, and about half of their clients are affiliated with UNH - either as current students, or employees of the university.

The pantry provides this essential food service by bringing in approximately 13,000 pounds of food per month through donations from Hannaford in Durham, Hannaford in Dover (Central Ave) and Trader Joe’s in Newington, as well as the New Hampshire Food Bank. They also receive donations from local farms, gardens, and food drives, and have grant funding to purchase specialty food and food from NH farms.

The Cornucopia Food Pantry’s strong commitment to sustainability

Any food that is not distributed at the pantry is diverted from the landfill by composting with Mr. Fox and donating to a local farmer.  The pantry fills three 13-gallon Mr. Fox bins per week (roughly 250lbs of compost/week).

Looking for volunteers!

Do you have a few hours available to help the Cornucopia Food Pantry with its vital service to our community? The pantry is looking for volunteers to do quality control and compost management. These volunteers would help by going through the pantry to look for food items that are ready for compost, removing them from any packaging and putting them in the compost bin.

The days/hours available for this role include: 

Mondays 8:30am-9:30am

Wednesdays 8:30am-9:30am

Fridays 8:30am-9:30am

The link for more information and sign-ups is HERE. 

If you have questions, please contact Anya Teehan, Food Pantry Manager at foodpantry@waysmeetcenter.org, 603-868-1216

The Waysmeet Center

Cornucopia Food Pantry

15 Mill Road

Durham, NH 03824

Brought to you by the IWMAC Committee 

Questions about recycling or composting? Email us at: DurhamRecycles603@gmail.com

Check us out on Instagram: sustainable.durham.nh

Not sure if an item can be recycled? Check here: www.Recyclesmartma.org

Want to learn more about the Swap Shop? Click HERE.

At UNH, New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station scientist Ranjit Bawa has been leading research to understand how widespread woody invasive species are in the Northeast, which species pose the greatest threats and how to manage them more effectively.

His team has identified five species of top concern plus one more (burning bush) flagged consistently by foresters and found that woody invasives are expanding at a rate of 0.5 percent per year, a rate that is expected to increase as temperatures rise.

"They are undermining biodiversity, and their proliferation comes at a cost, both in terms of what landowners must spend to control their spread and the ecological value lost when native species are displaced," says Bawa. "Yet the regional response remains fragmented, and delaying coordinated action will likely drive even higher costs in the future,"

This research lays the groundwork for more targeted and cost-effective strategies to protect NH's forest before the problem becomes more difficult and expensive to manage.

You can read more about the research and its results HERE.

This week, the Land Stewardship Team replaced the decaying bench on the observation platform at Jackson’s Landing Nature Trail.

The bench was built by volunteer Ralph Danko with some lumber sourced from the UNH Sawmill. Thank you, Mr. Danko!

Enjoy the great view of the Oyster River from the platform!

On September 8, 9, and 16, there is scheduled police training that will be held at the New England Center, located at 15 Strafford Avenue.

Additional training will take place on UNH property at #283 and #285 Mast Road. 

Both trainings will be conducted indoors. There will be highly visible police training signs posted in both areas.

This is not an ICE training.

Each year, Oyster River High School welcomes its incoming freshman class with an orientation held before the start of the school year. As students explore the high school for the first time, Durham police officers join in the occasion by serving them lunch.

This longstanding tradition has given officers a chance to connect with students in a friendly, non-law enforcement setting—what better way than over food? Officers put on serving gloves and offer a variety of pizzas as the new students wrap up orientation and take their first steps into high school life.

Welcome, Class of 2029!

Oyster River Parents and Preschoolers (ORPP) is a non-profit preschooler activity group open to all families in the Oyster River school district with at least one child not yet in kindergarten.  

Throughout the school year, ORPP members organize community tours, playground meetups, farm visits and nature hikes for children and their caregivers on weekdays, parents gathering in the evenings/weekends, and whole family get-togethers on the weekends. Some examples of past activities include apple picking at Butternut Farm, touring the Durham fire station, a flower planting workshop at Wentworth Greenhouse, exploring the insect collection at UNH and countless playground meetups and local hikes in the area. 

Members volunteer their time and knowledge to introduce children and families to the wonders of the Oyster River area and beyond! Each year the group also makes a rotating donation to one of the three towns - past donations include an adaptive swing for Woodridge playground in Durham, a feature in the Madbury Library nature playground, and a rink liner for the Lee ice skating rink. 

For a nominal annual membership fee, families may join online at www.tinyhood.com/orpp. 

OYSTER RIVER SCHOOL NEWS

A Message of Gratitude to the Oyster River Community

All four ORCSD principals wish to thank the Oyster River community and share their heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelming support shown after the recent loss of four community members. You can read their message HERE.

Preschool Program Openings

We currently have openings in our afternoon preschool group. The afternoon program runs Monday to Thursday, 12:00-2:30 p.m., and serves 4 years old students. Please contact PEP Coordinator Diana Eisenhaure HERE or call 603-868-2375 ext. 6103 for additional details.

Transportation Information 

Our Transportation team is hiring! If you or someone you know would like to drive a van or a bus, please contact Director of Transportation Trisha Daley at 603-868-1610 or by email at tdaley@orcsd.org. Additional details are available HERE.

Nutrition Assistance Programs

ORCSD's Free & Reduced Lunch program information may be found HERE. To continue receiving free or reduced meals for the 2025-2026 school year, your application must be received by October 11, 2025. Additional assistance is also offered by End 68 Hours of Hunger and Community Action Partnership of Strafford County.

ORCSD School Board Updates

ORCSD school board meetings recordings are available on the ORCSD YouTube channel HERE, and the agendas and minutes are available HERE. School board meetings are live streamed on the ORCSD Streaming channel HERE.