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Editorial
Support Hooksett schools
What an unusual situation Hooksett finds itself in.
This is a town with one brand new school, another practically
new school, and a third school recently relieved
of overcrowding problems. But these beautiful facilities
may not be able to offer Hooksett's students the kind of
education one would picture taking place inside because
of cuts to the operating budget.
Voters denied the Hooksett School District its requested
operating budget last year, despite knowing that
some costs were bound to increase with the larger facilities.
We can only imagine that tight household budgets
forced many people to say the schools must tighten their
belts too. Some cuts were made, and life went on this
year.
But this past March, voters again denied the school
district its requested budget, and now things are really
going to change. No sports, no field trips, no new
books, no extracurricular activities, higher lunch costs.
Is that the kind of education you think Hooksett's students
deserve?
We urge Hooksett voters, particularly parents, to go to
the deliberative session on May 3 to learn exactly what
the school district is up against. And if you are one of
the residents who say they just can't afford higher taxes,
you should attend, too. Perhaps you can help the school
board decide just where cuts can be made that won't
jeopardize our students. educations.
But most importantly, after learning just what your
vote will mean to Hooksett, come to Cawley School
on May 31 and vote. We doubt there will be any snowstorms
that day to keep you away.
-Ginger Kozlowski
Letters
Hooksett School Board asks for support on operating budget
To the Editor:
For the first time since we
have operated as an SB 2 community,
your local school board
has elected to attempt a second
passage of its operating budget.
We do not undertake this move
lightly, and after we outline our
options, we are confident that
you will not only agree that
we are behaving responsibly,
but also that you will come out
to our next deliberative session
and later vote to support our
new budget.
First, we had that terrible snow
storm that grew in intensity as
our election day progressed.
Many people have approached
us and said that they weren't
able to get home from work
until after the polls had closed.
Others stated that they hadn't
even thought of voting, as their
main concern was to arrive home
safely. As a result, we feel that
the low turnout was not truly
reflective of the community's
support of its school programs.
We believe that a normal turnout
would have reflected the
true wishes of the voters and
turned the school district's loss
of less than 10 votes into an
overwhelming positive result.
Most importantly, a negative
vote would have a detrimental
effect on our school programs.
Among the items that would
be left out of such a budget,
the school board has identified
$329,868 worth of items that
have a very high priority and
must be kept. This means we
would have to make cuts elsewhere
in the budget. At our last
board meeting, we identified the
following items that would be
in jeopardy and probably cut,
based on board priorities: all
extracurricular activities (sports
as well as all other after-school
clubs and activities), including
transportation for such, classroom
supplies, all library book
requests, all food service support
(resulting in increased food
prices), all field trips, supplies
for special education programs,
Project Safeguard, textbooks
severely curtailed, courses and
workshops for non-bargaining
unit employees, summer school
and special education textbooks.
Despite these cuts that have
been seriously considered, the
board would still need to make
additional cuts to meet default
budget requirements. Please
understand that none of us wants
to face this situation. We need
your help and election support
to avoid the crippling effect of
a negative final result. Please
come to our deliberative session
on Tuesday, May 3, at 7 p.m. at
Cawley Middle School. More
importantly, please come to vote
on May 31. A "yes" vote will
insure that we can maintain a
program that all of us have come
to expect and appreciate. If we
can help answer any questions,
please do not hesitate to call any
of your school board members.
Thank you.
Ronald M. Dion
Hooksett School Board
Hooksett residents: Warrant Article 4 needs your support
To the Editor:
What an opportunity Hooksett
residents have before us this
year! We have the ability to fix
the space crunch for town offices
for the next 20 years, while
also addressing the community's needs for various programs
and services, in an efficient and
economically prudent manner
through the passage of this warrant.
What will the $1.5 million
bond issue do? It will renovate
half of the former Village School
into town offices and address
life-safety issues for the entire
building. Funding for future
community center activities will
come from private donations.
How much will it cost the
average taxpayer in Hooksett?
It will cost approximately $40
for the first year, then go down
each year after until the bond is
repaid.
Is this worth your investment
to vote yes? I believe so. A similar
facility built from the ground
up would cost $4 to $6 million - if Hooksett already owned
the land.
If we do nothing by voting no,
it will cost $100,000 to maintain
the building in its vacant state.
Do we want to throw that money
away when there are so many
compelling reasons to use this
site for public purposes?
As some of your may know, I
volunteer my time as the board
chairman with the Community
Economic Development Corporation
of Hooksett (CEDCOH).
Some have asked why CEDCOH
is involved in this project - what does this organization
have to gain? As a community-
based, resident-driven initiative,
we are here to fill in the
gaps that currently exist in town - gaps between what the needs
are and what our town government
and private sector cannot
fill alone.
Our board made a choice to
work with the town on this project
as a result of the many surveys
conducted since 2001 that
valued a community center as
an important need. We have no
paid staff. All members are residents
and/or business owners in
Hooksett who volunteer their
time in an effort to improve life
in our town. It will be up to our
town council to determine the
next steps once the vote takes
place. We realize that there are
many options to consider and
will do whatever we can to help
make the community center
reality. However, none of these
ideas will be possible without
a 60 percent or more approval
from Hooksett voters.
I know that sometimes it can
be difficult for people to trust
others to do the right thing. I
fully trust that our town's elected
and appointed officials, as well
as our residents, will respond to
our obligations to one another
by supporting Warrant Article
4. The town offices and community
center belong to you - take ownership by voting yes
on May 10.
Dawn Stanhope
Hooksett
Town would benefit from community center – support Article 4
To the Editor:
I am writing in support of
Warrant Article 4, the Hooksett
Village School Community
Center and town offices proposal.
As a Hooksett resident,
a member of the Recreation
Advisory Board and a Hooksett
Lions Club member, I have been
part of the team working on the
program for the reuse of the
Hooksett Village School.
I believe our town needs and
would benefit from this conversion
in the following ways:
• The center would serve to
expand the space needed for the
town offices.
• A community center and
town office complex could serve
as a central hub for the town's
numerous and varied activity.
• Such a facility could offer
numerous possibilities including
community theater, additional
and sorely needed recreational
space for our town's
youth, senior center and meeting
space for community groups
and office facilities for social
service agencies. Some of these
could generate rental revenue.
Our town is growing rapidly
and stands poised at the brink
of an amazing opportunity. lf
the bond issue passes and after
the renovation, Hooksett could
boast a resource to envy, and
one that would be far more
expensive to duplicate if starting
from scratch.
Estimates of increased tax
burden range from $26 to $57
per year per household, depending
upon the value of your home
and the length of the bond. This
seems to me a small price to pay
for the considerable improvement
in quality of life in our
town.
I hope, and ask, that we don't
squander this reuse opportunity
due to turf wars, personality
conflicts or apathy. We have an
opportunity to create a tremendous
resource for our town's
residents.
Vote yes on Article 4!
John Brock
Hooksett
Hooksett: Consider approving Warrant Article 5 on May 10
To the Editor:
This is written to ask Hooksett
residents to please vote yes on
Warrant Article 5, on May 10,
to raise appropriated funds of
$410,000 for the construction
and expansion of the sewer system
on Bartlett Street, Deerhead
Street and Fairview Circle.
Last year, a similar warrant
article was presented to the
town in the sum of $460,000,
but the article did not pass by
32 votes. This warrant article
was lowered by $50,000, and
your support would be greatly
appreciated in passing it.
Our neighborhood is one
of the older existing areas in
Hooksett, located in the southern
part of the town abutting
the Manchester city line. The
majority of the homes were built
in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s,
and many of the original homeowners
are still living there.
The house lots are now considered
nonconforming, and with
septic systems getting older, it
would be environmentally sound
to replace them with new sewer
systems. This new sewer system
would not have any impact on
the Hooksett Sewer Treatment
Plant, because it would be connected
into Manchester's sewer
system.
According to the Sewer District,
this is the last area under
the original sewer system plan
that is incomplete, due to the
Interstate 93 construction back
in the mid 1970s. It was placed
on hold indefinitely when the
highway, separating it from the
main town of Hooksett, divided
this neighborhood.
My neighbors and I are hoping
that the residents of Hooksett
will support the appropriated
sum and approve the connection
of the sewer system in this area.
This is not an unusual request,
as the town has approved similar
projects in neighborhoods
such as, Cyr Drive, Birch Hill
Drive, Kennedy Drive, Granite
Street, and Elmer Avenue.
Please consider approving
Warrant Article 5 when voting
on May 10.
Colleen Mousseau
Hooksett
CEDCOH should insure town for liability on building use
To the Editor:
The current exposure of a proposed
unlawful “memorandum
of understanding” that was being
lobbyied by many, unknowing
of the fact that a “joint venture”
of a private, nonprofit
corporation (CEDCOH) with
a public municipal corporation
(Hooksett), is not sustainable in
that the liability of the private
nonprofit corporation cannot
lawfully be extended by such
proposed “joint venture” to the
municipal corporation and thus,
to each and every citizen in this
town of Hooksett. The mixing of
any revenue from taxpayers with
revenue from a non-profit for
mutual benefit is a contractual
arrangement which creates the
liability!
As reported in a previous letter
to the editor, should the nonprofit
CEDCOH corporation wish
to enter into a contractual lease
agreement with the municipal
corporation for space remote
from the town offices, such lease
agreement must contain a “Hold
Harmless Clause,” indemnifying
all citizens and town officers
from any and all liability that
may issue from any and all CEDCOH
activities. Anything less
will only expose the people in
the town of Hooksett to potential
litigation expenses. All Hooksett
officers are now on notice!
Dick Marple
Representative
Merrimack District 9
Since when is CEDCOH so powerful and influential?
To the Editor:
CEDCOH is upset? Who do
they think they are? Our town
councilors can e-mail and talk
to anyone about anything they
want! Since when does CEDCOH
feel empowered to berate
anyone in our town government.
Since when are they so powerful
and influential to claim they can
"provide the town with a new
community center (and town
offices)?" With whose money?
If you ask me, it sounds like
townie busybodies attempting
to have a little fiefdom called
the Hooksett Community Center,
with the help of their townie
"trustees," who are looking to
broaden their hems. I chuckle
reading the same transparent
talking points being repeated
weekly, often on the same page.
If you have something to say,
use your own words. Parrots are
annoying.
A new parroted talking point
that caught my eye was the
$100,000 per year cost to maintain
the building. Last year they
got us to give them $30,000
to do that, saying it would be
enough. Is that why the pipes
froze? Did they run out of oil?
Did they spend it all on "maintenance,"
or was some reappropriated
for plans, PR, signs, phone
calls, faxes, meetings and such?
All this for a dollar? Mount
Zion would be happy to maintain
the building - as a school!
Instead of costing us money, we
would get some.
Another curious item is redistricting.
Census figures are used
by most everyone for district
delineation purposes. How come
it's 2005 and the districts remain
the same? We can't trust the
2000 census, so let's do nothing.
More evidence of time being
spent on getting elected and
spending our money on selling
and starting "projects" instead
of traditional "Town" work.
The sewer department is back
again. The "restrictions" of the
state of New Hampshire are
too strict and should be circumvented.
They want to spend
our money without any "restrictions,"
hehe. They just want to
bend the rules a little. Just like
what was done to Head's Pond;
the state DES was too strict, so
Head's Pond is not a "prime
wetland" anymore. Looks pretty
prime to me, so far.
Head's Pond is Hooksett's
greatest natural resource; clean,
retainable water. Can you say
future reservoir? There was a
day when people planned for
their grandchildren's children.
These days it seems like it's
only retirement. The only planning
I've seen in this town has
been for developers and town
employees. Please vote May
10.
David Ross
Hooksett
American Legion groups are active in helping community
To the Editor:
Once again, I would like
to thank all the staff at The
Hooksett Banner for publishing
my articles for J. J. Maguire,
American Legion for the auxiliary,
the Legionnaires, and the
Sons of the American Legion.
We do so much, not only for our
veterans, but for our children
and youth and our elderly.
We try to do our best to
improve our community. Some
of our programs include donations
of flags and money to our
schools. Our poppy program help
our veterans and their families
when they need help, so please
give whatever you can when
you see our volunteers with their
poppy can out in front of local
businesses, we also help clean
up the highways, and donate
our time for the sick and elderly
in nursing homes and hospitals.
Children's Miracle network,
Make-A-Wish Foundation and
Special Olympics are more that
we contribute to. These are only
a few of the programs that the
American Legion helps with.
It is a wonderful organization
and I am proud to be a part of
it.
Jean A. Talford
Pembroke
Cat killed on Hackett Hill Road
To the Editor:
During the morning of Tuesday,
April 14, our beloved Maine
cooncat, Ziggy, was killed and
left dead in the middle of Hackett
Hill Road in Hooksett (just
outside Cate Cemetery).
A special thank you to a daily
walker who was compassionate
enough to move him from the
middle of the road to the side.
We hope that the driver who
hit and left him feels really proud
of himself/herself for being the
coward who just took off, not
even taking the time to ask if he
belonged to any of the houses.
Barbara Thibeault
Hooksett
Clean-up day at Memorial Field in Pembroke was amazing
To the Editor:
My son and I on Saturday,
April 16, had the privilege of
helping at the Memorial Field
clean-up day in Pembroke.
What amazed me most was
that out of the hundreds of men,
women and children, everyone
was working. People brought
their tractors and trailers, thatchers,
leaf blowers, leaf vacuums,
trash barrels and hundreds of
rakes and shovels.
While some people worked
on raking leaves and grass, others
rototilled, laid sod, relayed
the base paths with new and
existing sand clay, and still others
took of the dugout roofs and
reroofed them.
This day was and is a credit
to the organizers and the participants.
It leaves little to wonder
why the baseball programs at
these fields are so successful.
Gordon Ellis
Epsom
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