[0:03] Yeah.

[0:04] Welcome everybody. I'll be running tonight's meeting.

[0:07] My name's Jack Webb.

[0:08] I'm the VA vice chair Councilor Spencer is away today.

[0:14] Just a reminder on emergency exits.

[0:16] There's one behind you

[0:18] and there's one over there in the event of emergency.

[0:21] And also wanna point out that directly and back is an a ED.

[0:25] Hopefully we need none of those.

[0:29] We'll now do a roll call.

[0:36] Roll Call first.

[0:37] Yeah. Councilman Chase.

[0:41] Good evening. Councilman Flood.

[0:43] Good evening, Councilman Foot. Good evening.

[0:46] Councilman Mills. Good evening, councilor Healy.

[0:50] Good evening, and myself, Jack Webb.

[0:52] Now, if we could all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[0:54] And Dan, if you could lead us in it.

[0:57] IP lead This to the flag

[1:00] of the United States of America.

[1:02] It gonna be public for which it stands,

[1:04] one Nation under God, indivisible,

[1:07] with Liberty and Justice Forum.

[1:09] Thank you. Do I have

[1:14] a motion to open the public forum? So moved.

[1:16] Second, Made by Councilor Mill, seconded by foot.

[1:21] All those in favor? Aye.

[1:22] Aye. Aye. Question on, on these motions

[1:26] because nevermind, I just remembered.

[1:28] Yeah. Please state

[1:33] your name and your address.

[1:41] Good evening everyone. My name is David Vecher.

[1:43] I live at 26 Milmore Road, der New Hampshire.

[1:47] I just wanted to make an announcement mostly for the benefit

[1:49] of the fine people in the audience

[1:51] and the one wonderful people watching online

[1:54] that the Dairy Public Library is currently holding a raffle

[1:57] for a couple of e-bikes.

[1:59] The raffle will be pulled on the day

[2:02] of Dairy Fest, September 19th.

[2:05] Please visit the library for more information.

[2:07] Thank you very much.

[2:09] Thank you.

[2:18] Sorry about my outfit today.

[2:19] I've been doing work with my hands,

[2:20] that's why I'm not dressed as nicely as I normally do.

[2:23] Erica Leon, 84 Shanita Road.

[2:25] And I'm here to speak today about the bill

[2:29] that was passed in the house to allow the town of Derry

[2:32] to absorb the schools.

[2:34] This was a bill that was passed.

[2:35] It reads, the Dairy Town Council may incorporate the Dairy

[2:39] Cooperative School District as a department of the town

[2:41] through a charter amendment

[2:43] to give the town council control over the form

[2:45] and procedures for preparation

[2:47] and adoption of the school department budget.

[2:50] This is an opportunity to answer a question

[2:53] that people throughout the town are asking.

[2:55] The question is, what's gonna happen?

[2:57] So I don't lose my home because of rising property taxes.

[3:00] I do have to say that if you were

[3:02] to split the full year into sections between the schools,

[3:06] the county, and the town, if you start

[3:08] with paying your property taxes for the schools,

[3:11] we're actually still not done with that.

[3:12] With all the property taxes we paid through the year.

[3:15] Sometime in the middle of September,

[3:17] we're done paying school, pro school taxes.

[3:19] And then after that, we pay

[3:21] for everything in the town and in the county.

[3:24] I believe that this, the town council

[3:26] and the town has done a wonderful job of budgeting.

[3:28] I think that the same discipline

[3:30] to the schools would allow us to have great results while,

[3:33] while would allow us to have great results while limiting

[3:36] the cost and making it so

[3:37] that we are not taxing people out of their homes.

[3:40] This is something that people stop me when I'm driving by

[3:42] with my license plate

[3:44] and want to know how they can stay in their homes.

[3:47] The question they all have for you is,

[3:49] will the Dairy Town Council be me moving

[3:51] forward with this on their own?

[3:53] Or will they need to bring a citizen's petition in order

[3:56] to request that the town council pursues this path?

[4:01] So that's a question that the people of dairy want to know.

[4:04] It'd be wonderful if we could get an answer from you.

[4:07] So thank you.

[4:10] State rep David. Love of, I've knocked a lot of doors.

[4:14] All right, we'll go ahead. Restart the clock for you, sir.

[4:19] Go ahead. Okay. State rep David, love. I've lo locked. Yeah.

[4:24] Knocked on a lot of doors. I co-sponsored this bill

[4:27] One Lee Circle.

[4:29] Oh, one Lee, one Lee Circle Dairy. Okay.

[4:34] Like I said, I've knocked an awful lot of doors.

[4:36] The f the the main question, you know, what about my taxes?

[4:41] I'm afraid I'm gonna lose my house.

[4:43] You know, we can't afford to stay here anymore.

[4:44] We've been here for 50 years.

[4:46] Can't afford to afford to stay here anymore.

[4:48] You got, like Erica pointed out,

[4:49] you guys do a pretty darn good job.

[4:51] The school department on the, on the other hand,

[4:54] leaves a lot to be desired.

[4:56] We'd like some answers, you know, are you guys going to,

[4:59] you know, take this, this up and,

[5:01] and allow this to go on the ballot?

[5:04] Or, or do we have to do the petition?

[5:06] You know, time's, time will, it's March, comes,

[5:10] comes real close, come, comes real soon.

[5:12] So, you know, we, we'd like to know, thank you.

[5:15] And I can, the People at dairy would like to know

[5:17] If I can hop to the end of his, since we did that,

[5:19] we have explored all the different ways

[5:21] to consolidate the ways we tr look to fund dairy educates

[5:24] for less per student than the rest of the state.

[5:27] We have lower administrative costs,

[5:29] even though ours are high,

[5:30] if we did anything at the state level

[5:32] or even the county level, it would be more expensive.

[5:35] And if we were paying for it with the same level

[5:37] of services, we, people

[5:38] of dairy would be paying higher taxes in order

[5:41] to educate students throughout the state.

[5:43] The idea of bringing it and having more state funding is not

[5:46] a solution for dairy because dairy does it better.

[5:48] What we need to do is,

[5:49] before anything like that happens,

[5:51] bring the schools under the town so we can manage it,

[5:53] be lean and mean, and just be, be more effective so we can,

[5:57] we can graduate students who can afford

[5:59] to have houses in dairy when they grow up.

[6:03] So thank you.

[6:06] All right. Thank you. Thank you Ms. Leon and Mr. Love.

[6:10] You're welcome.

[6:22] Good evening counselors.

[6:24] My name is Brian Ello, six Rollin Street.

[6:28] I just wanna touch base with

[6:32] some people take the word tax cap as something

[6:35] that's not, not good.

[6:39] And tax cap doesn't necessarily mean tax cut.

[6:43] We all know that. Sitting on your side of the table, having

[6:48] to deal with tax caps.

[6:49] We've, we've done it for a long time.

[6:51] As a matter of fact, the town of Dairies had a tax cap

[6:55] on the townside of taxes for 33 years.

[6:58] So think about that for a second.

[7:00] 33 years, has the sky fallen on the town? No.

[7:04] We have five, six unions.

[7:06] We still have to deal with the same thing.

[7:08] We, we hear some of the, the people talk about, well,

[7:11] you know, the, the, the state reps are cutting money

[7:14] for retirement.

[7:16] Well, same happens on a town, right?

[7:19] You get, you have the firefighters, you have the policemen,

[7:22] but you don't hear the town always saying it's a bad thing.

[7:25] They've dealt with it and they've dealt with under tax cap.

[7:29] So I just want to say

[7:31] that the tax cap is not necessarily an evil thing.

[7:36] And if the town of dairy can do it 33 years,

[7:38] and by the way, the,

[7:41] the town has never overridden a tax cap.

[7:44] Not once. Okay?

[7:46] And we built a fire station under the tax cap.

[7:48] By the way, you probably all know

[7:50] under the charter you can bond outside of the tax cap.

[7:54] But we built that fire station within the tax cap.

[7:59] So the town does do a fantastic job of, of its business

[8:02] and it's a good steward for the tax payers.

[8:04] So one of the things that, I went to the school board,

[8:08] I've been going to the school board meetings

[8:10] and luckily they,

[8:13] they gave back $533,000, okay?

[8:17] Out of a possible $1.8 million

[8:19] that they were talking about a contingency,

[8:21] whether they'll hold it or, or give money back.

[8:24] And so they decided to give $533,000 back

[8:28] to offset the tax rate, which is great.

[8:30] Now, they also budgeted 1.5 million.

[8:33] So you'll have a total of $2 million

[8:36] that will help a little bit of the blow.

[8:38] But remember the school's portion of the tax cap is, I'm,

[8:43] I'm sorry, the school's portion

[8:44] of the taxes are $10 million.

[8:47] That's a big hit coming in December. Okay?

[8:50] A lot of people don't realize it

[8:51] because, you know, you, you, you'll, you see

[8:54] that increase in December, not in July.

[8:57] But anyway, I just wanted to share that with you.

[8:59] I know a lot of you know about that.

[9:01] So don't, don't take it as a negative thing.

[9:04] Take it as a positive.

[9:05] And I think the town could do a really good job

[9:08] and we can find efficiencies and,

[9:09] and make it a better town overall.

[9:11] So, thank you.

[9:27] Hi, Good eating. Eat.

[9:32] Excuse me. Good evening. Richard Tripp, 44 Winham Road.

[9:38] I too am a co-sponsor on on House

[9:40] Bill 1331.

[9:45] I would like to clarify something

[9:47] that Erica said.

[9:52] I believe she, she mentioned

[9:54] that the town would be taking over the schools.

[9:57] That's not what the bill says. The bill says that the town

[10:07] town council control over the form

[10:09] and procedures for preparation

[10:12] and adoption of the school department budget.

[10:15] So the town won't be running the schools.

[10:20] All they're gonna be doing similar

[10:22] to what's going on in Manchester is they have the final say.

[10:26] The town has a final say on the school's budget.

[10:30] You know, so, you know, don't everybody get up, up in arms

[10:35] that the town's gonna be ruining the schools.

[10:39] That's not the case or that the town would be due.

[10:42] Should the charter amendment go through

[10:44] is have the final say on the school budget.

[10:52] Brian Ello made a comment about

[11:00] how much money the school is in

[11:05] the overall tax rate for the town.

[11:07] And I think Eric, Erica mentioned that

[11:13] you don't, you don't start paying for this

[11:18] town's portion of the budget till you hit like September.

[11:24] That's pretty much true.

[11:25] You know, the town portion of the budget,

[11:30] it's only about 28%.

[11:33] The school's portion of the budget is about 62%.

[11:38] You know, that's a lot of money.

[11:44] I believe that the town

[11:49] working with the school could find a way to

[11:53] cut the overall budget.

[11:58] The, I know this year

[12:05] the school's budget went up by

[12:11] a little over $9 million,

[12:15] which is about 9%.

[12:20] I know they're gonna, the town, the,

[12:23] the school's probably gonna say that.

[12:25] Well, a lot of that is bigger than

[12:29] well continue.

[12:31] Hold on a second, Mr. Trip, you've exceeded your time.

[12:35] Do I have a motion to extend it? So

[12:38] Moved.

[12:39] Second Motion to extend Mr. Tripp's time.

[12:42] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye.

[12:44] Aye. Thank you. As almost done.

[12:47] Anyhow, I just wanted to say that

[12:54] Pinkerton this year is a, a,

[12:59] a little over $2 million.

[13:01] So they're roughly 22% of the increase

[13:05] that the school is asking for.

[13:08] So, well, Pinkerton is a substantial part

[13:12] of the school budget.

[13:14] It's, I don't believe that it's significant enough that

[13:19] you can blame Pinkerton for

[13:24] the 9% increase this year.

[13:26] So thank you.

[13:31] And think about saving the town's people some

[13:36] money, you know,

[13:37] because like I said, the

[13:45] another 9% increase, well, I, I, I'd like to know

[13:50] what the, the tax rate's gonna be this year.

[13:53] But I was talking to somebody

[13:54] and they said we won't know that until November or whatever.

[13:58] So thank you much.

[14:02] Thank you, Mr. Tripp.

[14:11] Steve Raffe, 13 North Shore business owner in dairy.

[14:15] So I've been coming here for 15 years telling everybody

[14:18] prior to you, gentlemen,

[14:19] and ladies, as you know, one's not present, that we needed

[14:23] to take the school budget and that everybody has issues.

[14:26] Who's gonna run for the town council?

[14:28] There'll be all school people. I've heard it

[14:29] all, but I knew it was coming.

[14:31] I also came and told you about nine months ago,

[14:33] this budget was going up 8,000,025.

[14:36] It was 96 5. It's now at ten eight. That's the difference.

[14:41] It went up 10 million.

[14:43] It's at 1 0 7, 4, it went up 10.8, 10, 10 million, $800,000.

[14:48] The school budget, they're gonna do it again next year.

[14:50] They plan on it already.

[14:52] I can tell you it's three to 5 million right now.

[14:54] At least two and a half to five, probably closer

[14:56] to three to three and a half.

[14:57] And they're gonna do it for a few years. That's what I know.

[15:00] I told you this before, that's what's coming.

[15:02] So as Ms, as Ms. Leon and,

[15:05] and Mr. Love said, you know, if we can do something

[15:08] with the charter is a,

[15:09] it's a very good idea and I'll tell you why.

[15:11] It gives you a chance to negotiate.

[15:12] It gives you some kind of pull.

[15:14] So when you're putting the budget together,

[15:16] if you think it's a good idea for the school to go one way

[15:20] and you, you know, you're controlling some of the budget,

[15:22] they're gonna have to pay attention right now.

[15:24] There's no checks and balances.

[15:26] I'm hearing not only from a lot

[15:29] of people in Derry, they're kind of tired of it.

[15:31] And I hate to tell you, but council's

[15:32] getting blamed for a lot of it.

[15:33] We know here because we're involved in it,

[15:35] but it just seems the town did it.

[15:38] It's always the town. And then

[15:39] of course it's the town council.

[15:40] I'm also hearing from, you know, some of the,

[15:44] I would say lower income tenants,

[15:46] which I house a few, quite a few.

[15:49] I have some that have been there for between five

[15:50] and 30 years, try to keep their rents down.

[15:52] And this year, from what I'm seeing now,

[15:55] my taxes will increase 15 to about 30,000.

[15:58] And they have to split that between them all.

[16:00] It, it could be 30, 40, 50, $60 a tenant a month,

[16:05] whatever, 10, even 10 or 20.

[16:07] It's a lot of money for somebody on a fixed income at making

[16:09] $22 an hour or whatever.

[16:11] It's, so we have to do something.

[16:14] The town and, and taking the, the school budget,

[16:17] any way you can take it would be very wise.

[16:19] And I think instead of just doing it through refer,

[16:22] you know, having them go around and sign petitions

[16:25] and all that stuff, I think the town council really needs

[16:28] to look into it and do it.

[16:30] It's gonna give you a lot of negotiating power to make,

[16:34] you know, keep the schools

[16:35] somewhat in line and slow 'em down.

[16:37] We're stuck on a cap.

[16:39] You know, we, we, we use some of the cap every year. Okay.

[16:42] It's not a lot of money, but we're stuck with it.

[16:44] But the school, there's no end to this and,

[16:47] and it's getting hard for older people.

[16:49] And I've been coming here for years, funding

[16:51] for the older people and the poorer people.

[16:53] And, and now here it is, it's, it's hitting us.

[16:55] You have, and you have, you can do something about it now.

[16:57] So I would highly advise it

[16:58] and I appreciate your time. Thank you.

[17:01] Thank you Mr. Tfe.

[17:26] Good evening everyone. Tom Carin to Cunningham Drive.

[17:29] I have here a positive comment on taxes.

[17:33] I had the honor of attending the ribbon cutting for the

[17:38] new solar array.

[17:39] That our net zero committee, I'm the secretary of

[17:43] that committee, but we have been working on that

[17:44] for about 10 years and it's been online for,

[17:47] I dunno, about a month or so.

[17:48] And it's gonna save us about what, 4 million over the life

[17:51] of the project.

[17:52] So that's 4 million worth of taxes.

[17:56] So, you know, like I said, again, it was,

[17:58] it was an honor to do that.

[17:59] And you know, we're gonna continue

[18:01] to work on different projects to save the,

[18:04] the town money on energy costs.

[18:06] I know we've worked over the years, we save about a hundred,

[18:10] about a million dollars a year on taxes.

[18:13] But a lot of that had to do with Mike Fowler

[18:16] 'cause he's, you know, he, he had a lot of input

[18:19] and really helped us out a lot.

[18:20] So anyway, so that's a positive about taxes. Thank you.

[18:25] Thank you Mr. Cardin.

[18:29] Do I see anybody else in the audience coming up?

[18:33] Mr. Chair? We're seeing none Rise online.

[18:43] Hi, Jamie Caru, six L Richardson Drive.

[18:47] I just wanted to remind everybody that the public is welcome

[18:51] to attend all of the school's fiscal advisory committees

[18:56] and also we do have the deliberative session every February

[18:59] and that is the opportunity for everyone in town

[19:02] to have their voice heard on

[19:04] what they want the school budget to look like.

[19:07] So we do have a say, but people need to show up. Thank you.

[19:14] Thank you Ms. Caru. Seeing anyone else?

[19:19] Seeing none on mine. Mr. Chair. Mr. Close. Second.

[19:23] Motion to close by Councilor Foot.

[19:25] Seconded by Councilor Flood. All those in favor? Aye.

[19:30] Aye. Aye. The public forum is now closed

[19:34] and we'll move on to the consent agenda.

[19:38] On the consent agenda, we have item

[19:41] 26 dash 76 to approve the minutes of August 4th, 2026.

[19:47] We have item 26 77,

[19:50] ordinance number 2026 dash 0 0 3 to amend chapter one 19

[19:55] of the General Code Hawkers Hor in itinerant vendors.

[19:58] There'll be public hearing scheduled for

[20:00] that on September 15th, 2026.

[20:04] Item 26 dash 78,

[20:08] resolution 2026 dash five

[20:11] to accept the 2026 Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

[20:16] A public hearing for that will be also held on

[20:18] September 15th, 2026.

[20:22] We do have two reservations that we need to accept

[20:27] from the Conservation Committee member Val Conway

[20:30] and Christopher Morlock.

[20:32] An alternate. We also need to accept the resignation

[20:37] of the Ty Taylor Library.

[20:38] Trustee Angel Fontaine.

[20:45] Okay, I have a motion under consent agenda second that

[20:50] made by Councilor Foot.

[20:51] Seconded by Councilor Mills on, do I need

[20:55] to do a roll call on this or is this okay?

[20:57] Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot?

[21:01] Yes. Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Healy? Yes.

[21:06] And the vice Chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six.

[21:09] Nothing on the chair's report.

[21:13] We have Town clerk Tina Guilford.

[21:37] Good evening counselors.

[21:40] I am here tonight to remind everyone

[21:43] that there is a primary next Tuesday,

[21:46] September 8th, 2026 at the Hackler gymnasium.

[21:51] 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM Hopefully everyone remembers

[21:56] to come out and vote.

[21:58] We're looking forward to seeing all our voters.

[22:02] We've had tons of trainings already.

[22:06] There were more trainings tonight

[22:07] and there's some more trainings on Thursday

[22:10] and I think our staff is ready to go

[22:14] and ready to receive all the voters.

[22:18] So let's not make all our work in vain

[22:22] and not have a good turnout.

[22:24] So that would be great.

[22:28] Last chance for absentee ballots are happening right now.

[22:32] So the Clerk's office is open tomorrow, seven to five,

[22:38] Thursday and Friday seven to four.

[22:42] Monday Labor Day.

[22:44] The town clerk's office will be opened

[22:47] for absentee ballots only from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM

[22:53] We are required to be open by state law from three to five,

[22:56] but I'm gonna be open at 12.

[22:59] So myself and my staff will be here on Labor Day for you

[23:03] to drop off your absentee ballot.

[23:05] Pick up an absentee ballot.

[23:07] You can vote it right on the spot.

[23:09] We have people voting downstairs

[23:11] and turning it right back in.

[23:13] If you don't want to take it home.

[23:15] If you're concerned about the mail,

[23:18] do not drop it in our Dropbox in the drive through.

[23:21] It will be rejected.

[23:23] We don't have drop boxes here in New Hampshire.

[23:25] You do have to hand it to us at the Clerk's window.

[23:29] So again, labor Day 12:00 PM

[23:32] to 5:00 PM we will be here for absentee ballots only.

[23:38] We are the only department

[23:39] that will be open here at Town Hall.

[23:41] Every other department will be closed.

[23:43] So please don't come here trying

[23:45] to register your car 'cause that's not gonna happen.

[23:48] But for an absentee ballot, drop it off, get one.

[23:53] We will be here. Absentee ballots must be arrive in the town

[23:57] clerk's hands by 5:00 PM on election day in

[24:01] order to be processed.

[24:03] Just as a reminder, if you're bringing an absentee ballot,

[24:06] you know mom's bringing it for her kid on election day.

[24:10] Don't come at seven 15 at night because it will be rejected.

[24:14] So I need to have it in my hands by 5:00 PM on election day.

[24:19] Bring it on Labor Day. We'll be here. 12 to five.

[24:22] It's a holiday, so come on in. I have to be here.

[24:25] So please come in

[24:27] and visit when you are voting on election day.

[24:31] Please wait for the green check mark.

[24:33] We've had such a low turnout the last two town elections.

[24:37] I am certain that most voters,

[24:39] this will be the first time voting on our new machines.

[24:42] So please, when you're putting your ballot in the vote

[24:46] counting ballot counting device, please wait

[24:48] for the green check before you walk away.

[24:50] That means your ballot has been counted and accepted.

[24:54] Okay, last,

[24:57] our town clerk's office will be closed on primary day on

[25:01] election day, September 8th

[25:02] because we will be at the election

[25:05] and we will reopen at noontime on Wednesday.

[25:09] So that my staff has, I don't know, a few minutes

[25:12] to sleep in before we have to come in

[25:14] and do all the things we need to do for the election

[25:17] before we actually open at noon.

[25:20] 'cause we still need to do wrap up the morning

[25:23] after the election.

[25:25] So does council have any questions?

[25:30] Thanks Jim. What is the total number

[25:32] of registered voters currently?

[25:34] So they just closed the checklist.

[25:37] We have approximately, I believe it is

[25:42] 20,000

[25:46] and 186.

[25:50] I think that was the number I saw.

[25:52] They just had a session today.

[25:54] We had voters added, we had voters removed.

[25:59] I have been to all the nursing homes.

[26:02] Pleasant Valley was today, earlier today.

[26:06] I've been to Derry Rehab, I've been to Birch Heights,

[26:12] I've been everywhere.

[26:13] So hopefully everybody that wanted

[26:16] to vote in those places has voted.

[26:19] Thank you. Any other questions?

[26:24] I just have one question and

[26:26] I thought of this on the way here.

[26:27] I would've emailed it to you first.

[26:29] And that's been all the news on

[26:34] the new policies with mail-in ballots, the court cases

[26:39] with mail-in ballots,

[26:40] and even the rumors that the

[26:43] US Postal Service is gonna follow the rules.

[26:45] Despite injunctions, there seems to be a lot of confusion.

[26:49] Is that going to affect these

[26:52] absentee ballots for this election?

[26:55] I don't believe so. And to be perfectly honest,

[26:58] we don't have mail-in ballots in New Hampshire.

[27:00] We have absentee ballots.

[27:01] Mail-in ballots usually means

[27:03] that everybody automatically gets mailed a ballot

[27:06] and that is not the case.

[27:07] We are absentee here in New Hampshire.

[27:10] You must request a ballot in order to receive one.

[27:14] All right, thank you. You are welcome.

[27:18] And I just wanted to let you guys know

[27:20] that we were successful in obtaining our grant.

[27:24] So hopefully we'll have all our poll worker software up

[27:27] and running for November.

[27:31] Thank you Ms. Guilford.

[27:38] We have a appointment

[27:42] to the net zero task force.

[27:45] So I move that we appoint Colton as an alternate

[27:50] to the net zero task force

[27:51] with a term expiring on March 31st, 2029.

[27:56] So second. Any discussion?

[28:02] All right, we'll move to a vote then. Councilor Chase? Yes.

[28:05] Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Mills?

[28:09] Yes. Councilor Healy? Yes. And Vice Chair votes? Yes.

[28:12] Motion passes. Six. Nothing.

[28:15] Last thing I wanna mention under the chair's report is a

[28:21] reminder that Septe, the 25th anniversary

[28:23] of September 11th is coming up.

[28:25] The fire department will be having an event that day

[28:30] invitations and more to follow.

[28:31] So I'd suggest that you pay attention

[28:32] to the fire department's social media page on the specifics

[28:37] of the 21st, 25th anniversary of nine 11.

[28:42] So Now we're ready for the time Ministry's report.

[28:46] Thank you. And I'd like

[28:47] to invite Mark Fleischer to the podium.

[28:50] He has a presentation on the status of our fiscal 26

[28:56] end of year, along with the quarter four financials

[29:00] as a general presentation that he provides us each quarter.

[29:03] So I'll hand it off to Mark.

[29:07] Good Evening. All

[29:08] Wanna use those arrow?

[29:20] So yes, this is the June 30th, 2026 financial report.

[29:29] Go to the end here. Okay,

[29:31] so these results are preliminary.

[29:34] Our audit is going to commence on September 14th.

[29:38] For this analysis, we're gonna be talking about

[29:42] general fund operations,

[29:44] which do not include taxes overlay TIF, capital

[29:47] and EMT revenue or expenses.

[29:50] So our FY 26,

[29:51] our general fund operational revenues were 106% of budget.

[29:56] Our expenses were 98% of budget

[29:59] a year ago, FY 25.

[30:01] Our operational revenues were also 106% of budget.

[30:05] And the expenses, 97% of budget.

[30:10] So this slide shows some revenue variations for operations.

[30:13] These are general fund revenues that exceeded budget.

[30:17] So you can see that I've listed the activity center

[30:21] or the particular line that's involved.

[30:23] You see the budget and the actual results.

[30:26] And then the variance in this case,

[30:29] fire permits were about $30,000 above budget.

[30:34] Ambulance revenue 255,000 above budget.

[30:37] Motor vehicle was 557 above budget.

[30:41] Health permits 15 four above budget.

[30:45] Got on to interest revenue.

[30:46] That was 689,000 above budget.

[30:51] Town clerk had some, some positives also.

[30:55] There's a new line in there from average ceremony revenue

[30:57] that was $10,000 planning.

[31:01] Their applications were 14 five above budget.

[31:05] Code enforcement building permits were

[31:07] $149,000 above budget.

[31:10] And the transfer station,

[31:11] the recycling revenues were 332,000 above budget.

[31:15] So overall motor vehicle revenues were 42,867 greater

[31:20] than FY 2025.

[31:23] Our general fund interest revenue, despite being

[31:26] above budget, was $290,000 lower than FY 2025

[31:31] primarily because our rates have gone down.

[31:36] Some of the revenues that were below budget in police,

[31:40] we had canine reimbursement for $32,000 SRO,

[31:45] which is a school resource officer over a Pinkerton

[31:47] that was $6,700 below budget.

[31:53] Let's see some of the other ones. Oh, finance PCard rebate.

[31:57] We didn't get one last year, so we had a variance

[31:59] of $25,000.

[32:01] However, I've been informed we are going

[32:03] to receive in a couple weeks, $13,000.

[32:07] And planning code enforcement, small money recreation.

[32:11] Alexander Carr Trust reimbursement fell short.

[32:14] $18,000,

[32:17] the park side was $9,900 and could be

[32:21] because of programs not being taking place

[32:24] so much at Alexander Carr Highway, the non-governmental

[32:29] reimbursements were down 4.4 mil.

[32:33] Four point, let's see, $4,400. How does that sound?

[32:38] Transfer station household hazardous waste day reimbursement

[32:41] from the state was down $5,000.

[32:44] And despite our recycling revenues being high,

[32:47] our actual scrap metal recycling was down $16,000.

[32:52] The transfer station household,

[32:54] hazardous Waste Day expenses are partially reimbursed

[32:56] by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

[33:02] Going over to the expenditure side FY 26,

[33:05] we were a 98% of budget.

[33:07] FY 25 were a 97% of budget.

[33:11] So in fire, their overtime was over budget

[33:14] by $453,000 in police.

[33:18] Their full-time wages, I'm sorry they're not over,

[33:20] they're actually under

[33:22] and full-time wages in police were under budget

[33:26] by $360,000.

[33:28] And then police, their operational expenses outside

[33:32] of payroll had they were ahead 30,

[33:36] almost $39,000.

[33:38] Community development Professional services was below budget

[33:43] for 12,690.

[33:46] Let's see some of the other ones.

[33:47] Human Services assistance, that's a, that's a big one.

[33:50] $45,000 that wasn't spent.

[33:54] Assessing, planning, recreation,

[33:56] other professional services, $13,000 below budget.

[34:01] And I thought this would be a good one just to see gasoline

[34:06] expenses for the general fund.

[34:08] Activity centers had a positive of $8,000.

[34:11] A diesel fuel had a positive of $2,000.

[34:14] So at June 30th, departments trended individually

[34:17] between 96% and 110%.

[34:21] Also, there were five paramedic positions, vacant and fire

[34:24] and seven patrol officer positions.

[34:26] Vacant and police. So some

[34:31] of the expenditures that were exceeded exceeding budget over

[34:35] time and fire was $377,000.

[34:38] Emergency management, we had vehicle repairs of $9,000.

[34:43] Our capital less than $10,000 exceeded budget by $9,000.

[34:49] And finance, our audit expense is exceeding the budget

[34:52] by 41 5.

[34:54] I'm gonna talk about that later.

[34:56] In OMO, retiree Health, that was above budget by $30,000.

[35:02] Buildings and grounds for repairs

[35:04] and maintenance was above budget by 10,000.

[35:07] Parks and highway over time was up mainly

[35:10] because of snow removal.

[35:12] And in the supply maintenance line

[35:14] and highway $110,000 about budget, that was road salt.

[35:19] The transfer station trash hauling fees were about budget

[35:23] by $57,000.

[35:25] So another node is the fire overtime is offset

[35:28] by vacant positions and related roll-ups.

[35:31] Retiree health audit

[35:32] and legal expenses, overages in finance

[35:36] to be covered by our interest.

[35:37] Revenue surplus and emergency management expense overage is

[35:41] gonna be covered by emergency management.

[35:43] Unanticipated revenues not fire.

[35:47] So in summary, general fund operational revenues are

[35:50] expected to aced estimates by 2.736 million,

[35:54] which is 6% of budget.

[35:56] The general fund operational expenses were, are expected

[35:59] to be below estimates by 1.259 million,

[36:03] which is 1.6% of budget.

[36:06] This information confirms funds can be added

[36:08] to the unallocated fund balance.

[36:10] Therefore the maximum amount

[36:12] that the FY 26 budget can be released

[36:15] to the capital reserve funds equals 928,797.

[36:20] So anyone have any questions?

[36:25] Nope. I see none. I, okay.

[36:29] Yeah, so if our revenues are 2.73 higher,

[36:34] are we budgeting correctly in some of these departments

[36:37] or should we be looking at that?

[36:39] I know we just did the fiscal year 27 budget,

[36:42] but are some of the budget numbers budgeted low

[36:47] and, well,

[36:49] We have, we have, actually, I, I did something on that the

[36:56] compared to last year, FY 26, FY 25,

[37:01] we increased the motor vehicle revenue budget by $250,000.

[37:05] Our, we also increased our interest revenue by $200,000

[37:09] and building permits went up 50,000

[37:13] and ambulance revenue 50,000.

[37:15] So we've, we try to monitor where we think we're gonna be

[37:19] and we have increased from year to year.

[37:21] It's just that our volume is

[37:23] doing better than what we budget

[37:27] Because I know we don't want to go

[37:30] too low then not meet that.

[37:31] But for example, the transfer station recycling revenues 332

[37:37] extra thousand, which is a pretty significant amount.

[37:43] And then, you know, our expense is 1.25 less.

[37:46] So you're almost at 4 million in additional funds.

[37:53] Now we talked, we had a few residents come up

[37:55] and talk about the tax bills in DEC in December prior

[37:58] to those tax bills coming out, are there any scenarios

[38:01] that we could be presented with possibly the town council

[38:04] returning any money to the taxpayers?

[38:06] Or is that an option in the future? That's

[38:11] Probably something that we, we can discuss.

[38:13] It's just that I know one of the goals of the council is

[38:17] to decide what to do, whether unallocated fund balance

[38:19] and what projects can be done and that kind of thing.

[38:22] Whether it can be returned to the taxpayers,

[38:25] a tax rating sign, it might be able to, but I think that,

[38:29] I mean, I like Requires further discussion.

[38:31] Yeah, I mean, I'd like to see the big picture, but

[38:33] before those bills come out, I don't know if

[38:36] that's something we could discuss on what we do if we have

[38:41] kind of a surplus in, in that.

[38:44] I mean, to me it looks like we haven't

[38:47] 4 million right, right there.

[38:48] That, but I mean, I'm,

[38:50] I'm not sure without seeing all the right,

[38:52] all the numbers, but, and

[38:54] Remember that that's an estimate

[38:55] and the auditors still have to do their thing

[38:57] and I know they do all sorts of entries

[38:59] and sometimes it, it increases our, our surplus

[39:03] and sometimes it decreases it.

[39:05] Okay. But this is from what I,

[39:06] we can tell at this point that's what it's gonna be. Okay.

[39:09] I just, I don't want to be holding on to an excess amount

[39:13] of money with the,

[39:17] with the big increase coming in December.

[39:19] So I'd like to see something

[39:22] before the tax wills go out on our options.

[39:26] Those are my comments.

[39:28] Okay. Any other comments?

[39:33] Vice chair has none. Thank you,

[39:35] Mark.

[39:36] Thank you.

[39:37] Okay. I have some other items of general interest

[39:40] that I'd like to talk about.

[39:42] So along those lines, for Mark

[39:45] and the financial staff, I'd like to make the announcement

[39:48] that for the 28th consecutive year, the town

[39:50] of dairies received the GFOA Certificate of Achievement

[39:54] for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award.

[39:57] And this is for fiscal year 2025.

[39:59] The town's financial staff is small, albeit deserves credit

[40:04] for their continued professionalism and diligence.

[40:07] This award is a recognition

[40:08] of the high standards established by the finance department.

[40:11] And I'd like to congratulate Mark

[40:13] and his staff on this award.

[40:15] It's a high level esteemed award.

[40:19] And thank you again, mark,

[40:20] for all the hard work throughout the year.

[40:29] So earlier in the, in the discussion,

[40:31] we had several folks step up to the podium

[40:34] and talk a little bit about their concerns over

[40:37] the absorption of, of the town

[40:39] and the, in the school district.

[40:40] But one of the things I did want

[40:41] to talk a little bit tonight was the revaluation.

[40:46] So taxpayers received roughly middle of Octo of August,

[40:51] notices from the assessing department, the 2026 revaluation.

[40:55] And generally speaking,

[40:56] the assessments increased in the range of about 9%.

[40:59] So this is an exercise to

[41:02] validate based on recent sales

[41:05] and to make sure that taxpayers are, are

[41:08] equitable across all the different classes representing

[41:12] what they actually, the value is as of current.

[41:16] And some communities don't do this frequently, which leads

[41:20] to some wild swings.

[41:21] I think conquered most recently had some swings

[41:23] that were in the 40 to 50% range.

[41:27] This approach keeps it current

[41:30] and we didn't expect, you know, anything more than 10%.

[41:33] We hit the 9% mark here.

[41:35] So now what happens from there

[41:38] as a reminder reassessments are, are to ensure fairness

[41:42] and to adjust for actual market values.

[41:45] So if there are any questions specific to an individual

[41:49] taxpayer, they can reach out to the town's assessor.

[41:53] We've been doing appointments here at the municipal center

[41:56] virtually all of this week.

[41:59] They're certainly open to sit down,

[42:01] evaluate data, look at the comps.

[42:03] There's also a bunch

[42:04] of information on the town's website under

[42:06] the assessing tab.

[42:08] So we certainly want to be open

[42:10] and transparent about how a specific value is derived.

[42:13] So if there's any questions, reach out and,

[42:15] and they can certainly help you find that.

[42:18] So to talk about where we go from here, the tax rate

[42:21] for the 2026 tax year will be published sometime

[42:24] around late October.

[42:26] And the DRA approves that rate.

[42:28] The first tax bill

[42:30] that everybody received in June, 2026 was calculated on the

[42:33] 2025 tax rate, $18 and 99 cents

[42:37] and the old assessed value.

[42:39] Okay, the second tax bill will be calculated

[42:42] for the 2026 tax year.

[42:44] So we will have the new higher assessments,

[42:48] the new 2026 tax rate.

[42:51] And then the way this works is you multiply the 26 tax rate

[42:56] by the new assessment and you'll arrive at a,

[42:58] at a total value for the year.

[43:00] Then you subtract the first half payment

[43:04] and that will be your balance due in December of 2026.

[43:08] So what ends up happening is some of the components

[43:11] that were discussed here tonight, the town's rate is,

[43:15] was determined by your

[43:17] vote on May 5th, 2026.

[43:20] For the FY 27 budget.

[43:22] That tax capped rate is not

[43:26] to exceed 3.3%.

[43:28] Once we get all the final valuations,

[43:30] the assessor will calculate that.

[43:32] And as soon as I know that number, we will announce that.

[43:35] However, you don't have any control over what's done at the

[43:39] other three levels.

[43:40] The county, the state tax rate for the schools

[43:44] and obviously the, the local school districts.

[43:46] So it is possible that some of the

[43:50] normally in an assessed value, when you go up,

[43:53] your tax rate will drop.

[43:54] And I'm expecting that to happen on the town side.

[43:57] I think in the other components you may not see

[44:00] that same effect.

[44:01] So as soon as we have that information, we will publish that

[44:04] and make sure that everybody is understanding of the math

[44:07] that goes in behind it.

[44:09] But just wanted to kind of talk everybody through that

[44:12] process on another topic, public information.

[44:17] So the town staff has, has fielded a number of right

[44:21] to know information requests in the month of August.

[44:24] This council is aware we do not employ a right

[44:27] to know officer.

[44:29] Many communities have those to address these requests.

[44:32] So one of the requests

[44:33] that we've seen multiple times this month

[44:35] stems from a nationwide concern over the flock

[44:38] cameras and privacy.

[44:39] Related to that, I wanna read a brief statement

[44:42] that Chief FII has, has prepared to talk about

[44:45] what has been alleged in in dairy

[44:48] and just make sure we put it out there so

[44:50] that everybody understands where we stand on this.

[44:53] So we're aware of several websites,

[44:57] http d flock.org

[44:59] and https, flock cameras location.com that attribute flock

[45:03] and or Motorola cameras to locations in dairy.

[45:07] And further indicate that the cameras are controlled

[45:09] by the dairy police department.

[45:10] Dairy Police Department does not own, operate

[45:13] or access any flock safety cameras

[45:16] or other A-E-L-P-R system.

[45:20] The department also has no contracts, no agreements,

[45:23] memorandums or understanding

[45:24] or other arrangements concerning the use of access

[45:27] to any such camera, system or data.

[45:31] The department has no records

[45:32] or knowledge identifying any flock safety

[45:35] or A LPR cameras operating within the town of Derry,

[45:38] whether operated by any other governmental agency,

[45:41] a private entity, or any other party.

[45:43] So the answer to that question

[45:45] that has been given out on multiple occasions,

[45:48] we don't have any involvement in flock cameras in dairy.

[45:51] So that hopefully will put that question to rest.

[45:55] Lastly, personnel Sheila Boden Rail is going

[45:59] to officially retire on October 1st

[46:01] after 33 years with the town.

[46:03] She started part-time with the recreation department in July

[46:06] of 1993 and then became full-time in 94.

[46:09] She moved into the executive secretary office

[46:12] for the town council

[46:13] and town administrator in September of 2003.

[46:17] So Sheila, as all you can attest, has been a beacon

[46:20] of stability, consistency,

[46:22] and most importantly confidentiality.

[46:24] She sees a lot of things that, you know, just happen and,

[46:27] and you know, organically and she keeps it within wraps.

[46:31] So by my count, she has served under 37 different town

[46:35] counselors and 12 different town administrators,

[46:38] seven permanent, and five in the interim

[46:40] and acting capacity.

[46:42] So despite all the winds of political change,

[46:44] Sheila's always provided a cheerful disposition

[46:47] and a high level of support for the town council,

[46:49] town administrator, the public,

[46:51] even when sometimes people in those roles

[46:53] were at odds with each other.

[46:55] I want to provide my personal thanks to Sheila

[46:57] during her transition from Dave to me as town administrator.

[47:02] She helped me out immeasurably to find the correct file

[47:05] or format, which was

[47:07] extremely effective in helping us

[47:11] get a good start in my role as the town administrator.

[47:15] As I've mentioned previously,

[47:16] the town is experiencing retirements

[47:19] for several long tenured employees

[47:21] and employees like Sheila have provided exemplary service

[47:24] and have built relationships within the community.

[47:27] I wish Sheila the very best in her retirement and

[47:29] and congratulations to her.

[47:33] And that's all I have.

[47:36] Any questions for the town administrator?

[47:40] I, I have none and I know we have no authority to this,

[47:42] but I told Sheila I was gonna do it anyway.

[47:44] I wanna make a motion that the town council reject her

[47:48] application for retirement

[47:50] and keep her going for another 33 years

[47:53] As much as second.

[47:54] I would love to accept that motion.

[47:56] I believe it's technically illegal. I thought so.

[48:00] So my sentiments are, are the same,

[48:02] but Sheila will be missed.

[48:05] She was anchor for US employees when I worked here

[48:10] and she does a lot that people aren't always aware of.

[48:15] So she'll be missed

[48:18] and I'll, I'm always happy when somebody can retire.

[48:21] Happy.

[48:27] Any comments over here for the time administrator? No.

[48:33] We'll move on then. Thank you Mr. Fowler to public hearing.

[48:38] 26 dash 67 Ordinance 2026 dash

[48:42] 22 0 0 2.

[48:44] Sorry about that. To amend chapter 1 38 of the general code

[48:48] to adopt the Dairy Commercial industrial

[48:51] Property tax exemption program with Bev Donovan.

[48:56] Good evening. I'll try

[48:58] to make sure the new person has the candy ready

[49:00] for you guys before your meeting.

[49:02] So I know Sheila is really good at that.

[49:06] Tonight I'm here to talk about

[49:10] the reauthorization

[49:12] of our commercial industrial tax incentive program.

[49:17] The Town Council has men has maintained as one

[49:20] of its primary goals, the enhancement

[49:22] of economic development opportunities in the community.

[49:26] Currently the town offers a downtown dairy re revitalization

[49:30] tax relief program, which provides relief from taxes on the

[49:34] renovated portion of an existing structure within the

[49:37] downtown area for a period of up to five years

[49:41] or more under certain circumstances.

[49:44] The town also sponsors a facade improvement program,

[49:48] which has been very successful recently extended

[49:51] to all properties within the dairy

[49:53] commerce corridor TIF district.

[49:55] The facade improvement program is a matching grant

[49:59] and it works for Facades Demolition of Eligible Properties.

[50:05] Another program historically known as the COAs County Bill

[50:10] as its origins lie in the program,

[50:12] specifically targeting development in New

[50:14] Hampshire's Northernmost County.

[50:16] The legislature later expanded program statewide

[50:20] and enabled the municipalities

[50:22] to make decisions on applications received on a case

[50:26] by case basis as opposed to a blanket approval

[50:29] for all eligible properties.

[50:31] And the DER Town Council approved this program

[50:34] under ordinance number 2019 dash

[50:40] 0 1 0 on October 1st, 2019

[50:43] with an initial effective date of April 1st, 2020.

[50:48] Per state statute, the Town Council must reauthorize this

[50:51] program every five years for it to continue to be an option

[50:55] for eligible property owners.

[50:58] As the council considers this program,

[51:00] there parameters established by state statute number one,

[51:04] the the amount of property tax exemption may not exceed 50%

[51:08] of the assessment on the improvements.

[51:11] Number two, the duration

[51:12] of the period cannot exceed 10 years.

[51:15] Number three, the exemption applies to the town

[51:18] and local school rate only

[51:20] and does not include the state school rate

[51:22] or the county rate.

[51:24] And currently the total of the town

[51:26] and local school rates comprise 89% of the overall tax rate

[51:30] of 1899.

[51:33] Number four, the program would need to meet, need

[51:36] to be authorized every five years

[51:37] or the program will terminate.

[51:40] And there are exemptions granted during previous period,

[51:43] which shall be honored.

[51:48] The council has authority to approve

[51:50] or deny each application based on a case by case basis.

[51:54] And the things that need to be considered are the public

[51:57] benefit generated for each application.

[52:00] The amount of the exemption for the application

[52:03] and the duration of the application, the fiscal impact

[52:08] in the town's experience is as follows.

[52:11] LaBelle Winery 2.5 million in renovations

[52:17] at 50% tax exemption for a period of 10 years.

[52:22] The four Peabody Road extension,

[52:24] 1.2 million in new construction with 50% tax exemption

[52:28] for three years expiring tax year 20 26, 42.

[52:33] Route one 11. There was a company that was,

[52:38] that had put in an application

[52:41] but didn't, never completed their application

[52:43] because they decided not to purchase their building.

[52:46] Once the approved period has expired,

[52:48] the applicant pays the full tax burden going forward.

[52:52] The core goal is to spur economic growth in properties

[52:55] where redevelopment may not have occurred otherwise.

[53:00] Any questions on that

[53:03] Move to open public hearing motion made

[53:06] to open the public hearing.

[53:08] Second that Councilor Chase? Yes.

[53:13] Councilor Flood? Yes. Contour Foot. Yes. Contour Mills? Yes.

[53:18] Councilor Umey? Yes. And Vice Chair votes Yes.

[53:26] Questions. And if you could just, I know we know

[53:28] who you are, but if you could please state your

[53:30] name and address for the record.

[53:32] Steve Dfe. 13 North Shore Road.

[53:36] And I'm the recipient of one of those

[53:38] that we're talking about for four Peabody Road.

[53:41] So I'll wanna give you some practical

[53:43] experie where I went with that.

[53:45] One thing on the facade, downtown facade.

[53:49] I think it'd be a good idea for the town to do some type

[53:52] of flyer with their COCs because there's still some canopies

[53:56] and some signs that look pretty bad.

[53:58] And I tell people who I see, but I'm busy

[54:01] and I think maybe when they're moving in,

[54:03] if we let them know that that's a possibility,

[54:05] we maybe they'll get out there and paint the front of it

[54:07] and put a sign up, put a canopy, do something

[54:10] to make the downtown look a little bit better.

[54:12] 'cause there's still some areas that need help.

[54:13] So that's just something

[54:14] that came since Bev mentioned that I just thought of that.

[54:17] So I'm gonna give you some practical experience on this one.

[54:20] I'm not LaBelle, they came in for 10 years.

[54:22] I have the four Peabody Road extension,

[54:24] 1.2 million, that's my building.

[54:25] I built that new in 23. That was a big deal back then.

[54:30] The town council or the town

[54:32] manager asked me what I thought I needed.

[54:33] I said I just need three years. Once we fill it

[54:36] we're gonna have to fix the rents for a couple of years.

[54:38] And back then though the interest rates were low,

[54:40] they were only four and a half percent.

[54:42] So that math worked for me.

[54:44] That assessment's gone up now about 900,000

[54:47] or 18,000 a year in taxes.

[54:49] If you figure it 20, $20, a thousand or 1500 a month.

[54:54] Not so terrible except

[54:56] for now the interest rate's at about seven.

[54:59] So that's a very important program

[55:01] because with the interest rate going up

[55:04] and you would ju you know, maybe somebody will come in now

[55:06] for five or seven or 10, you have the option to do that

[55:10] and it'll be able, they'll be able

[55:12] to afford the higher interest rate, which is a lot,

[55:14] you know, is another 80% more than your mortgage

[55:16] or 70% more on your mortgage.

[55:18] And that savings offsets that

[55:20] and enables them people to build.

[55:21] So I highly recommend it.

[55:23] I'm speaking from money right outta my own pocket.

[55:25] It worked for me then I didn't want more than three years.

[55:27] That was enough to get me going and,

[55:30] but it's a great program and

[55:31] after that, of course we get the benefit of, you know,

[55:34] 2, 3, 5, $7 million projects

[55:36] and then taxes from here on out.

[55:38] So I'm highly recommending

[55:39] that the council, you know, approve that.

[55:42] Thank you.

[55:46] Any other comments? Move to close public hearing.

[55:49] Oh, do we have anybody on online?

[55:53] I don't believe so. Sure.

[55:57] Seeing none Rise online. My motion stands

[56:00] Second.

[56:01] That motion by Councilor Foot. Seconded by Councilor Mills.

[56:05] Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot?

[56:09] Yes. Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Huey? Yes.

[56:13] And the vice chair votes? Yes. Okay, thank you.

[56:17] Yeah, hold on one second.

[56:18] Any any questions from

[56:21] or concerns from any of the councilors?

[56:25] Mr. Chair, I've got a question just on the LaBelle Winery

[56:28] number because I did notice the four Peabody extension

[56:31] showed that it was expiring.

[56:33] Is LaBelle Winery, is that a new one that

[56:35] that's 10 years going forward?

[56:37] Or are we in the middle of year five or six or what?

[56:42] That was for the new Wine barn building that they built.

[56:45] Okay, so So that's 10 years going forward.

[56:47] Yeah. That was a new construction, not a renovation.

[56:50] That was my only question.

[56:52] And I just have one question.

[56:53] It's more of a curiosity one

[56:54] and it's the near a property on 1 0 1.

[56:58] What happened with that project?

[57:00] When they originally came in, they were looking

[57:03] to purchase that building

[57:04] and this project, this really is kind

[57:06] of geared toward purchase.

[57:07] Yep. When they decided to lease,

[57:11] they just decided not to move forward.

[57:16] All right, Mr. Chairing no further questions.

[57:19] I move ordinance number 2026 dash zero two

[57:24] to reauthorize the dairy commercial Industrial

[57:27] Property tax exemption program.

[57:29] Whereas Section 5.1

[57:31] of the Town Charter designates the Town Council

[57:34] as the governing and legislative body of the town.

[57:37] And pursuant to Section 6.1, the Town

[57:40] Council shall legislate by ordinance

[57:43] and whereas a goal of the Town Council is to encourage

[57:47] economic development opportunities throughout the town

[57:50] and whereas the Dairy commercial industrial

[57:52] Property tax exemption program will provide additional

[57:56] incentives to expand, modernize,

[57:58] and relocate businesses to dairy.

[58:01] And whereas the state legislature legislature has amended

[58:05] RSA 72 80 dash 83,

[58:08] which provides the Town Council the flexibility

[58:11] to determine the public benefit of public

[58:13] of development applications submitted before it.

[58:17] Whereas the Dairy Town Council approved the commercial

[58:20] Industrial Property Tax exemption program on

[58:23] October 1st, 2019 pursuant

[58:27] to ordinance number 2019 dash

[58:30] 0 1 0 and has since expired.

[58:34] Now therefore, the town of Dairy Town Council

[58:37] re authorizes the Dairy Commercial Industrial

[58:40] Property Tax Exemption Program as enumerated in chapter 1 38

[58:45] of the general code.

[58:46] Continuing with the following guidelines.

[58:48] Number one, the program shall apply

[58:50] to all properties within the town.

[58:53] Two, the maximum exemption amount of new value shall be 50%.

[58:58] Three, the maximum duration shall be for 10 years.

[59:01] Four, the public benefit shall be as defined pursuant

[59:05] to Section 1 38 dash 38 of the Town Code.

[59:12] Second Motion made by Councilor Mill, seconded

[59:16] by Councilor Foote, do we have any discussion on the motion?

[59:23] I see no discussion that we will have a vote.

[59:26] Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Flood. Yes. Councilor Foot?

[59:30] Yes. Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Huey. Yes.

[59:35] It's a wonderful program. Chair votes, vice Chair votes.

[59:38] Yes. Thank you. Thank you Bev.

[59:46] Next item is item 26 dash 73.

[59:51] Resolution 2026 dash 0 4 4 To accept un

[59:55] unanticipated revenues in the fiscal year 26 budget

[59:58] to cover finance department expenses chief CFO

[1:00:03] Mark Feiser presenting.

[1:00:05] Very good. So during FY 26,

[1:00:09] the finance department,

[1:00:11] which includes assessing tax collection, finance

[1:00:14] and OMO, received unanticipated revenues

[1:00:17] and incurred un unanticipated expenses.

[1:00:20] Certain expenses require supplemental appropriation

[1:00:23] and budget adjustments.

[1:00:25] Refinance The unanticipated expenses totaled 86,487

[1:00:30] and they are $41,500.

[1:00:33] For the FY 26 audit.

[1:00:36] We had sent out an RFP

[1:00:37] and the information received back was that there is a lack

[1:00:41] of municipal audit firms out there as well

[1:00:43] as municipal auditors, which has caused firms

[1:00:46] to charge premium rates in the marketplace.

[1:00:50] Next expense would be 30,319. For retiree health.

[1:00:54] Unanticipated staff retirements put this line over budget

[1:00:59] and 14,000 606 8 for legal expenses.

[1:01:02] Legal expenses related to personnel matters

[1:01:04] and collective bargain unit negotiations caused this

[1:01:07] overages, this overage.

[1:01:09] Were seeking approval

[1:01:10] to use excess general fund interest earnings,

[1:01:13] which total approximately $689,000

[1:01:16] to cover these over budget expenses.

[1:01:19] And we do need to do a public hearing on this.

[1:01:23] All right. And yeah.

[1:01:27] Motion to open the public hearing. So moved.

[1:01:29] Second Motion made by Councilor Foot.

[1:01:31] Seconded by Councilor Mills. Councilor Chase? Yes.

[1:01:36] Councilor Flood. Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Mills?

[1:01:41] Yes. Vice Chair Votes yes. To open the public hearing.

[1:01:46] Anybody in the public wish to speak on this?

[1:01:50] Anybody Online? Seeing none. Rise online. Move to close.

[1:01:54] Second Motion made by Councilor Mills, second

[1:01:59] by Councilor Foot to close the public hearing.

[1:02:02] Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot?

[1:02:07] Yes. Councilor Mills. Mills. Yes. And the vice chair of OC?

[1:02:11] Yes. Any discussion

[1:02:14] or questions on this?

[1:02:19] Seeing none, Mr. Chair, I move resolution number 2026 dash

[1:02:24] four four to accept unanticipated revenues related

[1:02:28] to finance department activities whereas Section nine point

[1:02:32] 15 of the Town Charter authorizes the town council to apply

[1:02:36] for, accept

[1:02:38] and expend funds from a variety of sources to be used

[1:02:41] for public purposes.

[1:02:42] And whereas the finance department has experienced a variety

[1:02:45] events during FY 2026,

[1:02:48] which re require the unanticipated expenditures

[1:02:52] of town funds for auditing retiree health

[1:02:55] and a state of New Hampshire loan payment.

[1:02:59] And whereas FY 2026 General Fund interest revenue

[1:03:03] exceeded budget by approximately $689,000.

[1:03:08] Now therefore be it resolved in counsel

[1:03:10] that the town administrator is hereby authorized

[1:03:13] to accept $86,487

[1:03:18] in unanticipated revenues

[1:03:20] and reimburse the various finance department's

[1:03:23] accounts as follows.

[1:03:25] One. A $41,500 budget adjustment

[1:03:29] to FY 2026 General fund

[1:03:33] finance audit expenses

[1:03:35] account

[1:03:36] 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0

[1:03:45] From OMO General Fund interest earnings

[1:03:48] account number

[1:03:49] 1 4 4 0 5 0 3 5 2

[1:03:58] A $30,319 budget adjustment

[1:04:02] to FY 2026 General Fund

[1:04:05] finance OMO Retiree health account number

[1:04:09] 1 4 4 2 1 20 0

[1:04:17] from OMO General Fund interest earnings account number

[1:04:21] 1 4 4 0 5 3 5 2.

[1:04:28] Number three A $14,668

[1:04:33] Budget adjustment to FY 2026 General Fund

[1:04:37] finance OMO Legal expense,

[1:04:41] line number

[1:04:42] 1 4 4 2 0 0 4 3 2 0 0 0 0

[1:04:49] from OMO General Fund interest revenue account number

[1:04:53] 1 4 4 0 5 0 0 0 3 5 0 2 0.

[1:05:02] This resolution shall take effect immediately

[1:05:04] upon its passage. Second

[1:05:07] Motion made by Councilor Mills Seconded

[1:05:09] by Councilor Foote.

[1:05:11] Any discussion on the motion?

[1:05:14] Seeing none, we will move to the vote. Vote.

[1:05:17] Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot?

[1:05:21] Yes. Councilor Mills? Yes. Councillor Healy? Yes.

[1:05:26] Vice Chair votes Yes.

[1:05:28] Onto the next item, 26 dash seven four.

[1:05:32] Glad to see Evan moved. Resolution 2026

[1:05:37] dash 0 4 5 to approve a supplemental appropriation

[1:05:41] and budget transfer for the fiscal year 26.

[1:05:43] Fire budget. CFO Mark Fleischer presenting.

[1:05:47] Okay, well this is regarding fire.

[1:05:49] So construction of the fire department headquarters has been

[1:05:53] completed in punch list.

[1:05:54] Items are being addressed.

[1:05:56] Total project expenses exceeded budget

[1:05:58] by $41,800 in capital project fund.

[1:06:02] 2 0 3 5. There are sufficient unanticipated revenues

[1:06:07] available in the Fire Department of Budget

[1:06:08] to cover this overage.

[1:06:10] We're seeking approval of a supplemental appropriation in

[1:06:13] the General Fund fire budget in the amount

[1:06:15] of 50,007 nine oh 0.30 Offset

[1:06:18] by the following unanticipated revenues.

[1:06:22] 25,900 1193.

[1:06:24] Reimbursement for EMS jackets using unspent assistance

[1:06:29] to firefighter grant funds

[1:06:31] and that was not budgeted for 24,000

[1:06:35] 878 37 Exit four.

[1:06:37] A aerial work reimbursement by New Hampshire DOT.

[1:06:40] This was for fire alarm utility relocation related

[1:06:43] to the four A project.

[1:06:45] The 50,007 nine oh 0.30 will then be transferred

[1:06:49] to fund 2 0 3 5 2 2 0 3 5

[1:06:52] to cover the overage.

[1:06:56] So again, the public hearing. Yep.

[1:06:58] To a public hearing. Second

[1:07:02] Councilor Chase?

[1:07:03] Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes.

[1:07:07] Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Healy? Yes.

[1:07:12] Do we have anybody in the public who wishes

[1:07:14] to speak on this issue?

[1:07:17] Anybody online?

[1:07:18] Seeing none. Mr. Vice Chair, move to close.

[1:07:20] Second Motion by Councilor Foote.

[1:07:23] Seconded by Councilor Mills to close the public hearing.

[1:07:26] Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot?

[1:07:30] Yes. Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Healey? Yes.

[1:07:34] Vice Chair votes? Yes.

[1:07:38] Any discussion by the council? Any questions? Alright,

[1:07:43] Seeing none, Mr.

[1:07:45] Chair move resolution number 2026 dash

[1:07:49] 0 4 5 to improve a supplemental appropriation

[1:07:53] and budget transfer

[1:07:54] for the FY 26 Fire Department budget whereas the Town

[1:07:58] Charter establishes the Town Council

[1:08:00] as the appropriating authority of the town.

[1:08:03] And as such, it is empowered by Section 9.6 of the charter

[1:08:07] to make supplemental appropriations

[1:08:09] after the annual budget is adopted

[1:08:12] and whereas the Capital Project Fund 2035

[1:08:16] for the new fire station exceeded budget

[1:08:18] by approximately $41,800.

[1:08:22] Whereas there are sufficient excess revenues collected in

[1:08:26] the FY 2026 fire budget to cover these expenses

[1:08:31] and now therefore be it resolved in council

[1:08:34] that the town administrator is hereby authorized

[1:08:37] to accept $50,790

[1:08:41] and 30 cents in unanticipated fire revenues

[1:08:45] and reimburse Capital Project Fund number 2035

[1:08:49] New Fire station as follows,

[1:08:52] A $50,790 and 30 cent budget adjustment

[1:08:56] and transfer from FY 2026 General Fund fire

[1:09:01] transfer to Capital Project Fund

[1:09:04] 1 1 0 3 3 0 1 3 dash

[1:09:07] 9 3 0 0 0

[1:09:11] to fund 2035 Fire Station Capital Project Fund

[1:09:16] transfer from the General Fund.

[1:09:18] 2035 dash zero,

[1:09:22] I'm sorry, excuse me.

[1:09:24] General Fund

[1:09:26] 23 5 0 6 0 0 0 3 9 1 1 0.

[1:09:33] Transferring $50,790

[1:09:37] and 30 cents rather than $41,800.

[1:09:41] Provides a buffer

[1:09:42] to cover any additional vendor invoices adopted.

[1:09:48] September 1st, 2026. Second

[1:09:51] Motion made by Councilor Mills seconded by Councilor Foot.

[1:09:55] Any discussion on the motion?

[1:09:59] Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. Councilor Chase? Yes.

[1:10:03] Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot?

[1:10:06] Yes. Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Healey? Yes.

[1:10:11] And the Vice Chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero

[1:10:21] and I think

[1:10:23] One More.

[1:10:24] One more. Reso, forget to flip the page.

[1:10:28] Resolution 26 75.

[1:10:31] Resolution 2026 dash 0 4 6 To approve a supplemental

[1:10:35] appropriation budget transfer for the fiscal year 26.

[1:10:37] Emergency Management Department budget.

[1:10:42] CFO Mark Fleischer presenting?

[1:10:45] Yes. So the FY 26 emergency management budget is over

[1:10:49] budget by approximately $10,000.

[1:10:52] This overage is made up in part

[1:10:54] by miscellaneous expenses related

[1:10:56] to the Fire Headquarters project

[1:10:58] and major repair to the Mobile command unit.

[1:11:01] We are seeking approval

[1:11:03] of a supplemental appropriation amount of 10,102 oh 0.48,

[1:11:07] offset by unanticipated revenue received

[1:11:10] by the Emergency Management Department as follows,

[1:11:14] $3,000 was reimbursement from the New Hampshire Department

[1:11:18] of Safety related to updating the town's hazard mitigation

[1:11:21] plan that was not budgeted for 7,102.

[1:11:25] 0.48 Is insurance claim revenue for accident repairs

[1:11:30] to the mobile command vehicle that we're not budgeted

[1:11:33] for. Move to open public

[1:11:36] Hearing.

[1:11:37] Second

[1:11:38] Councilor Chase?

[1:11:40] Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes.

[1:11:44] Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Huey. Yes. Vice Chair Votes?

[1:11:48] Yes. Anybody speaking

[1:11:52] on this issue in the public?

[1:11:54] Anybody online? Seeing

[1:11:56] None Rise online. Move to close.

[1:11:58] Second. Motion

[1:11:59] to close the public hearing by Councilor Foot.

[1:12:01] Seconded by Councilor Mills. Councilor Chase? Yes.

[1:12:04] Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Mills?

[1:12:10] Yes. Councilor Healy. Yes. Vice Chair votes? Yes.

[1:12:13] Public hearing is closed.

[1:12:15] Any questions for CFO Fleischer?

[1:12:20] Nope. Nope.

[1:12:21] Seeing none, Mr. Chair.

[1:12:22] I move resolution number 2026 dash 0 4 6

[1:12:26] to approve a supplemental appropriation

[1:12:28] and budget transfer

[1:12:30] for the FY 2026 emergency management budget.

[1:12:34] Whereas the town Charter establishes the Town Council

[1:12:36] as the appropriating authority of the town.

[1:12:39] And as such, it is empowered by Section 9.6 of the charter

[1:12:42] to make supplemental appropriations

[1:12:45] after the annual budget is adopted.

[1:12:47] And whereas the emergency management

[1:12:49] FY 2026 operating budget is projected to have a deficit

[1:12:55] of approximately $10,700,

[1:12:58] whereas there are sufficient unanticipated revenues

[1:13:01] collected in the FY 2026 emergency management budget

[1:13:06] to offset this deficit.

[1:13:08] Now therefore be it resolved in counsel that the sum

[1:13:11] of $10,120

[1:13:14] and 48 cents shall be added

[1:13:16] to the FY 2026 emergency management general fund budget

[1:13:21] with the proceeds from the anticipated

[1:13:24] FY 2026 emergency management revenues.

[1:13:28] This resolution has been adopted by the two thirds majority

[1:13:31] of the entire council as required by charter

[1:13:35] and shall take effect immediately upon its passage.

[1:13:39] Second Motion made by Councilor Mills, seconded

[1:13:42] by Councilor Foot.

[1:13:44] Any discussion on the motion?

[1:13:48] Seeing none will move to a vote. Councilor Chase?

[1:13:50] Yes. Councilor Foot?

[1:13:52] Yes. Councillor Foot now. Sorry.

[1:13:55] Yes. Councilor Mills? Yes.

[1:14:00] Councilor Huey. Yes. Vice Chair votes? Yes.

[1:14:03] The motion passes six zero so it passes the threshold.

[1:14:07] Thank you. Appreciate it.

[1:14:14] Now we move on to new business council

[1:14:17] or item 26 dash 81 to withdraw from,

[1:14:22] from the Taylor Library Capital Reserve funds

[1:14:24] for the repair at the Taylor Library

[1:14:27] we have library director Jen Ker.

[1:14:31] Good evening everyone. I'm Jen Ker and I'm here with

[1:14:34] Sue Rose.

[1:14:36] Sue is a trustee over at the Taylor Library.

[1:14:38] We're here to present two repairs that we would like

[1:14:42] to do at the library this year.

[1:14:44] One is one that you've heard before, the sills at the,

[1:14:47] not the sales, the chimney at the library.

[1:14:51] The liner does need to be replaced.

[1:14:54] It's something that timing has not worked out in the last

[1:14:57] two years due to chimney Swifts, which are endangered

[1:15:00] and obviously you can't disturb those once they settle

[1:15:02] into our chimneys.

[1:15:04] So we have, we are on the schedule.

[1:15:07] It can go through if you guys approve funds

[1:15:12] and we'll get it in this time before the weather turns bad.

[1:15:16] The other one is the soffits

[1:15:19] around the front entryway of the library.

[1:15:22] The, when doing other repairs, our

[1:15:27] carpenter noticed some issues with the

[1:15:31] wood being quite soft in those areas.

[1:15:34] So the sills would need to be replaced

[1:15:38] and fit to match the age

[1:15:40] and nature of the building around it.

[1:15:42] And then scraped and painted to then again blend in

[1:15:47] with the the building.

[1:15:49] So the total requests

[1:15:52] for the soffits is $2,550

[1:15:56] used from the Taylor Library Capital Reserve Fund.

[1:15:59] And then for the chimney that is $4,750.

[1:16:04] So combined 7,300 for the two projects.

[1:16:09] Thank you. Any questions from the council?

[1:16:14] Nope. We'll move on.

[1:16:16] Seeing no further questions, Mr.

[1:16:18] Chair, I move resolution number 2026 dash four eight

[1:16:23] to withdraw funds from the Taylor Library Capital Reserve

[1:16:26] Fund for repairs at the Taylor Library.

[1:16:29] Whereas Section 5.1

[1:16:31] of the town Charter designates the town council

[1:16:33] as the governing and legislative body of the town.

[1:16:36] And whereas staff have identified some areas

[1:16:39] of concern requiring repair to the soffit and chimney

[1:16:43] and whereas a capital fund was established

[1:16:46] for the maintenance of the Taylor Library

[1:16:48] and whereas the Taylor Library Board

[1:16:50] of trustees has requested authorization to utilize a portion

[1:16:54] of the fund for this purpose and now

[1:16:57] therefore be it resolved in council as agents to expend

[1:17:01] that the sum of $7,300 shall be appropriated from the Taylor

[1:17:06] Library Capital Reserve Fund to finance the soffit

[1:17:10] and chimney re chimney repairs.

[1:17:12] This resolution shall take effect

[1:17:14] immediately upon its passage.

[1:17:16] Second,

[1:17:18] A motion made by Councilor Mills

[1:17:20] seconded by Councilor Flood.

[1:17:22] Any discussion on the motion?

[1:17:24] Seeing none, we'll move to the vote. Councilor Chase? Yes.

[1:17:29] Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Mills?

[1:17:35] Absolutely. Councilor Healey? Yes. Vice chair votes?

[1:17:38] Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:17:43] Go on to the next item, which is Resolute

[1:17:46] New Business 26 dash 82.

[1:17:48] Resolution 2026 dash 0 4 7 To accept a road easement on

[1:17:53] Humphrey Road Town Administrator Michael Fowler presenting.

[1:17:56] Alright, so this item has come through

[1:17:58] to us from the planning departments.

[1:18:00] A little bit of a housekeeping item to follow through with

[1:18:04] some items related to the development at the corner

[1:18:07] of Humphrey Road and South Main Street.

[1:18:11] So essentially planning board approved the mixed use site

[1:18:15] plan for numbers 1, 2, 3,

[1:18:17] and four Humphrey Road in September of 2024.

[1:18:20] The conditionally approved plan included easements dedicated

[1:18:24] to the town of dairy, which will permit grading along a

[1:18:27] portion of two Humphrey Road.

[1:18:28] And it's more specifically noted as dedication area A.

[1:18:32] So within your packet there is a plan

[1:18:35] that has been prepared by the surveyor.

[1:18:37] This will facilitate the realignment of Humphrey Road

[1:18:41] and then also the plan outlines grading easements dedicated

[1:18:45] to the town of dairy to permit grading along one Humphrey

[1:18:48] Road in the vicinity of the intersection.

[1:18:49] More specifically described as dedication areas B

[1:18:54] and C on the plan.

[1:18:56] Additionally, two drainage easements are shown

[1:18:58] totaling 13,427 square feet

[1:19:03] and then another one for 1,248 square feet.

[1:19:07] So these drainage easements are being put in place

[1:19:09] to allow the town to drain, maintain drainage infrastructure

[1:19:13] as necessary coming from the realigned Humphrey roads.

[1:19:16] So the Public Works Department has reviewed this plan

[1:19:21] and has endorsed the acceptance

[1:19:22] of the dedicated easement areas

[1:19:24] and there'll be no fiscal impact to the town as the

[1:19:28] final recording will be done

[1:19:30] by the applicant in this matter.

[1:19:32] So I'm recommending that the Town Council vote

[1:19:34] to accept the dedicated easement areas

[1:19:36] and that will be one of the final last items on that project

[1:19:40] before that starts to look to break ground.

[1:19:46] Any questions for the time administrator?

[1:19:49] So you know questions. Mr. Chair.

[1:19:51] I move resolution number 2026 dash 0 4 7

[1:19:55] to accept easements on Humphrey Road, whereas RSA 6 74

[1:20:00] and 6 74 dash a authorizes the Town Council

[1:20:05] to accept streets as shown on a subdivision plan approved

[1:20:09] by the planning board.

[1:20:10] And where is the Dairy Planning Board approved?

[1:20:13] Two multifamily projects along Humphrey Road frontage.

[1:20:18] And where is the planning board further approved.

[1:20:20] A plan to realign Humphrey Road in favor of

[1:20:26] the town which will enhance the town's ability

[1:20:29] to perform winter maintenance and enhance public safety.

[1:20:32] And whereas the Town Council is now requested

[1:20:34] to approve this easement now

[1:20:36] therefore be it resolved in council

[1:20:38] that the town administrator is hereby authorized

[1:20:41] to accept easements along Humphrey Road from the Timothy j

[1:20:45] Butterfield June, 1997.

[1:20:48] Revocable trust this resolution shall take effect

[1:20:51] immediately upon its passage. Second

[1:20:54] Motion made by Councilor Mills, seconded

[1:20:57] by Councilor Foote.

[1:20:59] Any discussion by the council?

[1:21:01] Seeing none will move to vote. Councilman Chase? Yes.

[1:21:06] Councilman Flood? Yes. Councilman Foot? Yes.

[1:21:11] Councilman Mills? Yes. Councilman Huey?

[1:21:16] Yes. Vice Chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six. Nothing.

[1:21:23] And we have item number 26 dash 83

[1:21:28] resolution 2026 dash 0 4 9 to authorize a second extension

[1:21:32] of the Master Development Agreement

[1:21:34] with the Lansing Melbourne Incorporated

[1:21:36] to administrator Michael Fowler presenting.

[1:21:39] Alright, so as the public can see,

[1:21:41] we're making some really significant progress on the

[1:21:44] Abbott court development.

[1:21:45] You can start to see one of the walls on the east side

[1:21:47] of the parking garage moving along.

[1:21:49] A light of lot of sight work going on down there.

[1:21:52] So I'm really pleased with the positive progress

[1:21:54] that's been relatively good weather throughout the summer.

[1:21:57] So they are moving along quite well.

[1:22:01] One of the items that you have

[1:22:03] that had established this relationship is the

[1:22:05] master development Agreement.

[1:22:07] Within that there was a requirement

[1:22:09] to have the formal closing of all of the parcels

[1:22:13] and pieces by a certain date.

[1:22:15] Initially that was back in February of 2025.

[1:22:20] I'm sorry, February of 2026.

[1:22:22] You granted an extension to September 30th, 2026.

[1:22:25] We had a meeting a couple of Fridays ago.

[1:22:28] We meet weekly amongst the town attorneys

[1:22:30] and the LMG attorneys

[1:22:32] and was felt that we should ask for another couple

[1:22:35] of months just to make sure

[1:22:36] that we don't exceed that timeline.

[1:22:38] So tonight is just a procedural item to extend the date

[1:22:42] of closing until February 1st, 2027.

[1:22:45] There are no other changes

[1:22:46] to the document other than the date of closing

[1:22:49] between the land transactions that are out there.

[1:22:51] So you have a resolution 20 26 0 4 9

[1:22:55] to support that effort.

[1:22:58] Any questions to the town administrator,

[1:23:02] Mr.

[1:23:03] Chair? So no questions.

[1:23:04] I move resolution number 2026 dash 0 4 9

[1:23:07] to authorize the Second Amendment

[1:23:09] to the Master Development Agreement with LMG dash NH

[1:23:15] LLC for the red redevelopment of Abbott Court.

[1:23:18] Whereas Section 5.1

[1:23:20] of the Town Charter designates the Town Council

[1:23:23] as the governing and legislative body of the town.

[1:23:26] And whereas the Town Council pursuant

[1:23:28] to resolutions number 2021 dash seven five

[1:23:33] and number 2024 dash 0 6 6 authorized a

[1:23:37] memorandum of understanding for the redevelopment

[1:23:40] of Abbott Court with the Lansing Melbourne Group, LMG

[1:23:45] and HLLC.

[1:23:46] And whereas the town

[1:23:48] and LMG has su successfully partnered

[1:23:51] to redevelop Abbott Court

[1:23:53] and the existing agreement,

[1:23:54] which featured a March 30th, 2026 closing date

[1:23:58] and extended to September 30th, 2026 pursuant

[1:24:03] to resolution 2026 dash 15.

[1:24:07] And now therefore be it resolved in counsel

[1:24:10] that the town administrator is hereby authorized

[1:24:12] to execute an amendment for the Master Development agreement

[1:24:16] and all other associated documents with LMG

[1:24:21] New Hampshire LLC to extend the closing date

[1:24:24] until February 1st, 2027.

[1:24:27] This resolution shall take effect

[1:24:29] immediately upon its passage.

[1:24:31] Second

[1:24:33] Motion made by Councilor Mills, seconded

[1:24:35] by Councilor Foote.

[1:24:37] Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, I move to a vote.

[1:24:42] Councilor Chase? Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot?

[1:24:46] Yes. Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Healey? Yes.

[1:24:51] Vice Chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six. Nothing.

[1:24:56] We'll move on now to councilor comments.

[1:24:59] Do we have any, I'll start over there with Councilor Mills,

[1:25:04] Get out and vote.

[1:25:06] September 8th. Ora

[1:25:08] Councilor Healey.

[1:25:10] So we had a few residents come up during the public

[1:25:13] comments section and talk about HP 1331.

[1:25:17] This was brought up, I was a candidate this

[1:25:19] year for town council.

[1:25:21] This was brought up at the candidate form.

[1:25:23] At the candidate form.

[1:25:25] I said I would not be supportive of putting it on the ballot

[1:25:28] and I'm going to stick to that.

[1:25:30] There is no expiration date on this bill.

[1:25:32] So I think this gives the school some time

[1:25:38] and if a future council wants to put on the ballot they can.

[1:25:41] But I'm gonna go on the record

[1:25:42] and say that as, as far as me, as far as one counselor,

[1:25:46] that I will not be supportive

[1:25:48] of putting on the ballot for this year.

[1:25:50] Thank you

[1:25:53] Councilor Floyd.

[1:25:54] I just wanna remind everybody

[1:25:56] before they give up their right

[1:25:58] to control the school budget, that they just need to get up

[1:26:02] and go to the budget meetings.

[1:26:06] They all have a voice.

[1:26:08] If everyone is outraged, why is the turnout so low?

[1:26:14] Before you ask, you know, the council to take it over.

[1:26:18] You need to remember, you need

[1:26:19] to realize you're giving up your choice, your voice,

[1:26:23] you know, it takes work to save money.

[1:26:27] It's not easy. It's hard to earn money,

[1:26:30] it's harder to save it.

[1:26:32] So if you want to save it, you have

[1:26:34] to do the dirty work and you need to show up.

[1:26:36] You need to be responsible,

[1:26:37] and you need to look at the budget

[1:26:39] and make common sense decisions.

[1:26:43] That's all.

[1:26:46] Council Foot. Thank you Mr. Chair.

[1:26:49] So as mentioned earlier tonight,

[1:26:52] we had the solar ribbing cutting today,

[1:26:54] the solar field ribbon cutting.

[1:26:56] And that was a great event

[1:26:58] and a lot of work went into that to make that happen.

[1:27:00] That was back in 2016 when we

[1:27:02] that initially started this process.

[1:27:04] So I wanna give a lot of kudos

[1:27:05] and thanks to the net zero task force and all the volunteers

[1:27:08] and the citizens of the community who, who came forward

[1:27:11] to help out with that and

[1:27:13] all the agencies that made that happen.

[1:27:16] Like they said today it was, it's gonna be about,

[1:27:18] was it 6 cents Mike that we're paying on the

[1:27:21] Yeah, the, The supply rate will be six

[1:27:23] and a half cents starting with July 15th spill.

[1:27:27] So, and, and at throughout the life of the solar fields,

[1:27:32] which is 25 years, the most we'll pay is 10 cents

[1:27:35] and there could be four to $5 million savings.

[1:27:39] And depending how much more the prices go

[1:27:41] up, it could be more than that.

[1:27:43] So it was a great investment and a great day. Thank you.

[1:27:49] Just want to, any other comments?

[1:27:52] I just want to reiterate council's foot on, on that,

[1:27:56] and as I said at the ribbon cutting,

[1:28:00] I wanna thank the people that volunteer

[1:28:02] to this town on the different boards.

[1:28:05] Several of those volunteers were here

[1:28:07] tonight speaking on their issues.

[1:28:12] This town runs on its volunteers

[1:28:15] and please look onto the town website

[1:28:20] because there are boards that have some vacancies.

[1:28:23] I know that the Dairy Housing

[1:28:24] and Redevelopment Authority does have a vacancy right now.

[1:28:27] And please participate in this town if you don't feel

[1:28:32] that you have the time to participate on a board.

[1:28:35] Please participate by voting on September 8th.

[1:28:40] And the last comment I have was brought up here tonight is

[1:28:43] just some general concerns for us to think about.

[1:28:46] There's a cost to these right to no requests.

[1:28:49] And as they take a tremendous amount of time of,

[1:28:52] because they're handled by our Autonom administrator,

[1:28:55] Mike Fowler and our town Clerk, Tina Guilford,

[1:28:59] there may become a time that we have

[1:29:01] to allocate significant funds to hire a right

[1:29:04] to no compliance person.

[1:29:06] And it's a situation I don't want to be forced to put into,

[1:29:10] and I don't wanna discourage right to no requests,

[1:29:12] but I want people to understand that there is a cost to 'em

[1:29:15] and it may affect our taxes

[1:29:17] because a, just off the top of my head, right

[1:29:21] to no compliance officers, $150,000 between wages, benefits,

[1:29:26] social security, all the other rollups

[1:29:29] that go into a position.

[1:29:32] So that's my little soapbox for tonight.

[1:29:37] Move to close. Mr. Chair.

[1:29:39] My favorite motion, please don't take I away from me.

[1:29:42] After all my motions and resolutions, I move to adjourn.

[1:29:46] Motion to Adjourn. Made by Councilor Mills Second.

[1:29:49] Second by Councilor fud. All those in favor

[1:29:54] A Aye.

[1:29:56] I aur. I made the motion. Not him.

Town Council - 09/01/26

Agenda

Transcript