Always something going on in Rollinsford...

Over the past few weeks I have had some great experiences with many residents covering many different topics. Back at the end of May I was invited to go speak to the 3rd and 4th graders over at RGS. I have to say that after speaking in front of many different groups over the last few years - this was my toughest crowd yet. Such an amazing group of students full of great questions. Their topics ranged from what we do at Town Meeting to has their ever been a female selectman. Their teachers did a great job helping them prepare questions, and I was thrilled to see so many of them engaged in how local government works... The future will be in good hands with those kids. They really made my day.

On May 29th, we held a public hearing for our new policy on construction on private roads. While there was no doubt some upset residents at the meeting, (they only got a chance to see the draft proposal at the hearing) I believe that we will be able to better explain our reasoning for this proposed change in policy, and its overall benefit to the future growth of the town, at the continuation of the public hearing this Thursday June 14th at 6:30pm in town hall.

For news on the Withdrawl Committee, I can report that this past Monday, the 11th, selectman Dionne and myself toured some schools with the Feasibility Committee. The first two stops were Dover High School and Dover Middle School. I could not attend those two, but I was able to attend the other two tours that day at Marshwood High School and Marshwood Middle School. Both schools were incredibly friendly to us and were able to answer any question we asked. I look forward to hearing what the rest of the Rollinsford residents on the tour have to say when I hear back from them. Next week, we will take tours at Noble and Somersworth. I look forward to be able to gather as much info as I can to make the best decision for the students, and residents, of Rollinsford.



Then there was this:

If you drove by the American Legion yesterday you without a doubt saw this at the bottom of Locust St. The road was undermined by water and created a not-so-nice sinkhole underneath. Luckily, our Road Agent, Jeff St.Jean, was able to get a crew there in less than a half hour and begin fixing it.

Problems happen in this town, but I am very thankful to say we have a team put in place that can solve them efficiently and safety. Thanks to all of them.

Moving forward...

Things in town are moving along. The Budget Committee met this past Wednesday to review the town, school, and water department's budgets. The town, in the first quarter, should be at or below the 25% mark by the end of March. We are at 15%. This leaves us at a good start for the year, and in a good position to come under budget for yet another year again. This is yet another direct result of our hard working staff.

Tree trimming is going on throughout the town right now, Road Agent St. Jean hopes to pick away more and more each year. This is a great way to clear away any risk of falling branches on power lines and also allows more sunlight to  reach the roadway during the winter months.

The new compactor is also being installed as I type this at the Transfer Station. This will require less energy for the town to operate, as well as, reduce maintenance cost for some time.

Myself and selectman Dionne are currently meeting with the Withdrawal Committee to look at what our options are for Rollinsford school children who attend grades seven through twelve. We are currently doing research on many different aspects of this, including what type of economic impacts and educational impacts the town would withstand if we were to tuition our kids to another school system. The committee has 180 days from its first meeting to come up with a plan.

We are also in the process of determining which streets will be repaved this year - a key factor is what we can afford with the cost increasing so much each year. Baer, Clement, Foundry, and Oak are at the top of the list right now.

I have also been invited to speak at RGS to the third and fourth graders about what it is like being a selectman in town. This should be exciting, along with some great questions.

Here is a great source for NH economic research. Enjoy. My birthday gift today from me to you... 32 years old sounds better than it feels.

http://www.nhfpi.org/

For someone who likes to talk a lot, I guess I'm just not a natural blogger.

Life in Rollinsford is going smoothly right now. Life at our many different departments is going rather well too. They are ,without a doubt, a direct function of the great departments heads and staff we have here in town who work with very limited resources under a tight budget everyday. 

This last week I had a chance to stop by the site of the old Cumberland Farms on Rt. 4 and get a chance to see our awesome FD get some rare in-town practice. Due to the undergoing renovations of Cumberland Farms, the company was generous enough to allow our FD to use the building for training. From what I saw, not only was it a very helpful experience for our volunteers - it looked pretty fun as well. Thank you CF's and thanks to our volunteers at RFD and Chief Spinney, as well as the assistance from South Berwick FD. 

I think that in order to make this blog a little more interesting, and to allow you into my head a little, I will post some links to some of the sources I use to help me with making the right decisions on the Board here in town; they also add a little more depth to the macro world we live in. I enjoy economics very, very much. So, here is a new study that explains some the pros and cons on education reform. I am not, and never will be, on the school board, but I do find many aspects of the education system fascinating. Enjoy.

http://www.epi.org/publication/teachers-strategies-best-for-schools/

OK, I am going to try this again. It's important.

Today in town hall this morning we held a Joint Loss Management Committee meeting. This is a state mandated quarterly meeting that must be held with the town employees. I stood in as chair because Lt. Uraskevich, the normal chair for this committee, had police work he had to do. Present at the meeting was myself, Selectman Carroll; Fire Chief Mike Spinney; Road Agent Jeff St.Jean; Tax Collector Andrea Cass; Finance Secretary Beverly Dionne; Police Chief Bob Ducharme; and two staff from the New Hampshire Local Government Center (LGC), Wynette DeGroot and Laura Cole. Both are Health and Saftey Advisers for LGC.

The purpose for these meetings are to allow the employees of the town discuss their thoughts or concerns about the safety of their places of work. With the advisers from LGC there, it is better for us to get some quick input on how we can all work together to create the best, safest, and most efficient workplaces for all of the town's staff and for the residents. As soon as I am done typing up the minutes from this meeting, I will post them up at town hall. We have not yet set a date for our next meeting, but I will have that ready and made public by this Wednesday.

I was away from last week's meeting to take a vacation, so I am happy to get back to work at our selectmen's meeting tonight.

I want to thank everybody who came to this mornings meetings - thank you.

Happy Mother's Day!

Last Thursday the Transfer Station committee met down at the library to discuss our field trip and set our plan in motion for some up coming changes to our transfer station. Coming May 23rd you will see a gate-shack welcoming you at the entrance... Further details to come!

Friday consisted of a few appointments at town hall at 9AM, followed by an hours worth of paperwork before I left for work. I want to thank the town clerk, Charisse, for helping me out on a few things.

Saturday I was able to go down to the library for open studios. The Friends of the Rollinsford Public Library put on a fantastic chocolate tasting event. It was great to see so many people enjoying the library, and chocolates. Our library director is one fantastic chocolatier..

So we begin...

Hello! Back in March of 2008 I was elected to the Board of Selectmen here in town. Throughout these last few years, I have come across many challenges and met many wonderful residents. Through it all, I have been very impressed by the dedication I have seen from residents and town employees. This blog will help me record my experiences and give you a better idea of what it is that I do. I hope you enjoy!

Here's what has happened this week so far...

Yesterday, May 3rd, myself and members of the ad hoc Transfer Station committee took a trip over to the town of Lee to tour their fantastic transfer station facility. We were all very impressed by what we saw and hope to implement some of the great ideas they shared with us. We will meet May 5th at 7PM in the Rollinsford Public Library to discuss what we saw yesterday. Please feel free to join us!

I want to thank the committee members who joined me yesterday (and drove), and I want to thank our Road Agent Jeff St. Jean for coming as well.