[0:04] Good evening and welcome to the
[0:07] August 4th, 2026 Town Council meeting.
[0:10] We'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance.
[0:12] Councillor Foot, would you lead us, please? Yes,
[0:15] I pledge Allegiance, flag in United States of America
[0:19] and to the republic for which to stand.
[0:22] One nation should undergo indivisible with liberty
[0:26] and justice for all.
[0:30] Thank you. Just a reminder, please silence phones
[0:34] and in case of emergency exits out straight out the back
[0:38] or the side here, down the stairs.
[0:41] Roll call Councilor Mills.
[0:43] Good evening, Councilor Healy.
[0:45] Good evening, councilor Webb. Good evening, councilor Flood.
[0:50] Good evening, councilor Foot. Good evening.
[0:52] Councillor Chase is unable to join us this evening
[0:55] and good evening from the chair.
[0:59] Is there a motion to open public forum? So moved.
[1:02] Second. Alright, we have a motion, a second
[1:04] to open public forum.
[1:05] All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Alright.
[1:09] Public forum is now open. The floor is yours.
[1:11] If you'd like to come up, please just state your name
[1:13] and address for the record.
[1:25] Steve Raffe, 13 North Shore Road, business owner in dairy,
[1:30] property owner in dairy, a heavy taxpayer in dairy.
[1:32] And gonna be a sad person come December when everybody's tax
[1:35] bills get whacked for whatever they get whacked to.
[1:38] But since I had to do some math for another reason,
[1:41] I thought I'd bring it to you and let you know what's
[1:43] happened, which I've been preaching
[1:44] forever, but doesn't help.
[1:46] But I'm just gonna give you some numbers.
[1:48] And 2019, we had an assessed value along High Street,
[1:52] Madden Road and Folsom Road of 4.5 million.
[1:55] We were collecting about 115,000 in taxes.
[1:58] I have actually pulled all the tax cards and did the math.
[2:00] And you should know the loss of tax revenue up
[2:03] to about 2026 is approximately 700,000.
[2:08] The assessed value in 2 26 would be about 6 million.
[2:12] Now, with the increases we've had and the,
[2:13] and the reassessments and, and
[2:16] and that revenue, it's about 170,000 a year.
[2:20] Another 65 grand.
[2:21] It would've been the, And I have,
[2:26] like I said, I just did the math on this from the tax cards,
[2:29] the properties that are kept now, the assessed value
[2:33] of those properties, I own two and Stinson owns one
[2:37] and the rest are all sucked up by the state.
[2:38] There's no taxes coming in.
[2:40] Total assessment today is about 700,000
[2:43] and the taxes are now collecting are about 10,000.
[2:46] That's $8,750 a year.
[2:48] So that's welcome to exit four A.
[2:52] It's not, we've tried to get the state to, you know,
[2:57] agree with a whole bunch of,
[2:58] so we could get things going early, go through planning, go
[3:01] through zoning, get approved.
[3:03] It takes two, two years
[3:04] and by the time the highway come we could be building.
[3:06] That won't happen. So basically when the highway's done,
[3:10] because the state is unreasonable in every aspect
[3:13] that they can possibly find, including what they did
[3:15] to the rail trail, you know,
[3:17] you won't have to wait for them to finish.
[3:19] I know people have heard 2030 on the main part,
[3:22] 2032, that's probably not true.
[3:25] I was told by the state it's 27, 28.
[3:27] Still probably the town manager.
[3:28] He knows enough to know that at least it's there.
[3:31] The problem for the building part of it is until it's done
[3:35] and we know what we have, we really can't go in for planning
[3:37] and zoning, which is another year and a half.
[3:40] And then from there we gotta build,
[3:41] which is another year and a half or two.
[3:43] So it's another 700,000. So we're gonna lose 1.5 million.
[3:47] We're gonna collect about $8,700 a month for a while.
[3:50] I mean a year. And that's what we got out of that.
[3:54] So I just want everybody to know the numbers only
[3:56] 'cause I pulled every single tax card
[3:57] and went through it and I thought it'd be good.
[3:58] Good for you to know. Thank you.
[4:06] Poll Anyone Madam Chair. Seeing none rise online.
[4:09] Motion to close the public hearing.
[4:12] Second We a motion and a second to close public forum.
[4:15] All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye.
[4:18] Any opposed or abstentions? Okay.
[4:22] Moving on to consent agenda. We have quite a bit.
[4:26] We have item 26 66
[4:28] to approve the minutes from the July 7th, 2026 meeting.
[4:33] We have item 26 67,
[4:35] which is ordinance 2026 dash 0 0 2 to amend chapter 1 38
[4:40] of the general code to adopt the dairy commercial industrial
[4:43] property tax exemption program.
[4:44] There will be a public hearing at our September 1st meeting.
[4:48] 26 73 is resolution 2026 dash four four To
[4:53] accept unanticipated revenues in the FY 26 budget
[4:56] to cover finance department expenses, there'll be a,
[4:59] a public hearing on September 1st for that as well.
[5:02] 26 74 is resolution 2026 dash four five
[5:06] to approve a supplemental appropriation
[5:08] and budget transfer for the FY 26 fire budget.
[5:11] There'll be a hearing on September 1st,
[5:14] 26 75 rev resolution 2026 dash 0 4 6
[5:19] to approve a supplemental appropriation
[5:21] and budget transfer for the FY 26 Emergency
[5:23] Management Department budget.
[5:25] Also a public hearing scheduled for September 1st on that,
[5:32] is there a motion to accept move to
[5:35] Accept. Second.
[5:36] Alright. Motion by Councilor Foote.
[5:38] Second by Council Mills to accept the
[5:40] consent agenda on the motion.
[5:42] Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Haley. Yes. Councilor Webb?
[5:46] Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes. Councilor Flood. Yes.
[5:49] And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[5:52] Moving right along. All right.
[5:56] I have a few things under Chair's report, I guess first
[6:01] 'cause Tina spilled the beans.
[6:03] Happy Birthday Council Mills. Thank you.
[6:07] I heard he didn't want us to say it, but I said anyway.
[6:09] And happy pre birthday. Councilor Flood. Yay.
[6:14] Yours is coming up too. All right. Mine's passed.
[6:17] What was that? Mine name's passed. Oh, yours is passed.
[6:19] Oh, I thought it was coming up. Oh, it's passed.
[6:22] Well, happy belated birthday then also a couple
[6:26] of other congratulations out there.
[6:28] I don't know if we've mentioned it,
[6:29] but I do want to congratulate Councilor Foote in particular
[6:33] on getting House Bill 1469 was signed
[6:37] by the governor in July, which was a lot of effort
[6:41] and a lot of time
[6:42] and hard work that you've put in along with others.
[6:45] Just wanna congratulate you
[6:47] and also congratulate the state for actually getting
[6:49] that in, in statute at this point. So thank you. Team
[6:53] Effort.
[6:54] And Council Mills?
[6:56] Yes. And Councilor Mills as well. Sponsor.
[6:57] I, I'd just like to make a co a comment.
[6:59] I just came back from a Chicago National conference
[7:02] where one of the vendors there had s had saw my badge
[7:06] that I was from New Hampshire and sought me out
[7:09] and thanked me for, for SB 1469
[7:13] as New Hampshire being one of the leading states in,
[7:17] in pursuing this kind of human trafficking.
[7:20] So it's well noticed, well beyond the bounds of dairy.
[7:23] And thank you Counselor Foot.
[7:26] Thank you. And last
[7:28] but not least, I would like
[7:29] to congratulate our town clerk, Tina Guilford.
[7:34] I, I don't, I don't know what goes on in most towns,
[7:36] but I know that she is very committed
[7:38] to the role of being our town clerk.
[7:40] So much so that she has spent the last three years in a
[7:43] program from the New England Municipal Clerks Institute
[7:46] and Academy and just graduated in July from
[7:49] that, that three year program.
[7:51] And I just wanna say a thank you for, for your engagement
[7:55] with the role and also for continuing to, to grow
[7:58] and help us be the best we can be.
[8:00] Thank you.
[8:07] All right. That is all I have tonight, so I'll turn it over
[8:10] to town Administrator Mike Fowler.
[8:12] Alright, good evening.
[8:13] So I have a couple of general items
[8:16] and then Owen's going to put up a presentation.
[8:19] We'll talk about goals
[8:20] and some economic development items
[8:22] that are on the town administrators report for tonight.
[8:25] So let me start off with some community information.
[8:27] So Towns staff participated in a meeting on July 21st
[8:31] regarding an upcoming deadline for the determination
[8:34] of census tracks to be selected for opportunity zone 2.0.
[8:38] So DER has two eligible census tracks located within the
[8:41] core urban sector of the community.
[8:44] To qualify the track has to meet a couple of
[8:48] dynamics in terms of medium family income and
[8:51] or the track has a poverty rate of 20% or higher.
[8:56] So we have two that do qualify
[8:58] and those will provide tax incentives.
[9:01] So basically investors are able to shield earnings
[9:05] that they have and they can defer capital gains
[9:07] and then reinvest in that.
[9:08] So basically the applications are due by August 28th.
[9:14] Bev is working on some of the application elements to it
[9:18] and we'll get that into the governor's office.
[9:19] And then the governor is expected to make final selections
[9:22] by the end of September.
[9:25] She will select 25 out
[9:27] of the 53 qualifying census tracks across New Hampshire.
[9:30] And if a census track is selected,
[9:33] the designation is a federal tax incentive program.
[9:36] So we're looking forward to that.
[9:38] We'll keep the council updated on that. Personnel.
[9:42] One of the things that I wanted to announce tonight is
[9:45] that we have currently 22 vacancies within our roles.
[9:50] We've had some recent retirements that I've talked about
[9:54] also just as a FYI,
[9:56] the executive secretary Sheila Boden Raider is going
[10:00] to be retiring on October 1st.
[10:02] So I'll go into that a little bit more at our next meeting.
[10:05] But that is going to be a large hole that we're gonna have
[10:08] to fill within, not only for the council,
[10:11] but also for me personally in terms of keeping all the stuff
[10:15] that you see here behind the scenes.
[10:17] It all gets done by, you know, by her.
[10:20] So we have a lot of work to do.
[10:22] Human resources is actively seeking candidates
[10:27] for all the positions.
[10:28] But I did wanna highlight two of them that were kind
[10:31] of most important in our front view.
[10:33] The assistant fire chief position has a closing,
[10:37] closing date of July 31st.
[10:40] As of last week we had 14 external candidates
[10:43] and one internal candidate.
[10:44] We've had some nationwide
[10:47] interest in it, which is a good thing.
[10:48] So the process going forward will be as of next week,
[10:52] we're gonna be reviewing applicants between the HR director
[10:56] and a representative of MRI and the fire chief.
[10:59] Then there'll be some initial interviews scheduled
[11:03] for probably the week of August 21st.
[11:06] Hopefully we'll have the assessment process done
[11:08] by first week of September, hopefully final interviews
[11:12] and a conditional offer by mid-September.
[11:14] And then we anticipate
[11:15] that vacancy will be filled by November 1st.
[11:18] So that's an ongoing process.
[11:21] And then also building inspector position.
[11:24] It was a closing date
[11:25] or as of 7 22 we had one internal candidate,
[11:29] 13 external candidates there.
[11:32] We are trying to actively recruit
[11:34] through New Hampshire Municipal Association,
[11:36] New Hampshire Building officials.
[11:38] We have some interviews scheduled for this week with some
[11:41] of the candidates, but it's an ongoing
[11:43] and open application process.
[11:46] Again, our hopes is to fill that vacancy in the next 45 days
[11:50] or thereabouts as you can.
[11:52] As we're gonna talk about, there's a lot
[11:54] of economic development going on, a lot of permit needs
[11:56] that are being put forward.
[11:58] So that is something that we're targeting hopefully
[12:01] by we get to the end of the month of September.
[12:05] And with that I'd like
[12:06] to go into some discussion about the FY 27 town council
[12:11] goals and economic development.
[12:27] Okay, Thank you Owen.
[12:32] Okay. At the July 7th town council meeting, we had put up
[12:37] the general list of town council goals
[12:40] that were combined from a goals session
[12:43] that was conducted in late June.
[12:46] Since that meeting, councilors were given an opportunity
[12:50] to then rank all of those goals one to five.
[12:53] So what we're gonna do coming out
[12:55] of tonight's meeting is this is the ranking in frequency.
[12:59] So I'll just go through those.
[13:00] The, the list is the same based on order of priority
[13:03] and also the frequency that the number
[13:06] of town counselors had placed a priority on.
[13:09] So number one is revisit review veterans
[13:12] and elderly tax credits and exemptions.
[13:16] The Route 28 South infrastructure improvements
[13:20] review health insurance via employee and the town committee.
[13:23] That's on everybody's mind relative to the cost continued
[13:28] downtown redevelopment.
[13:29] And then number five was a new police facility
[13:33] with construction hopefully to begin by fiscal 31.
[13:36] So you can see that there was a lot of common themes
[13:39] that were put forward in the top five.
[13:43] If you move forward to the ordinal priority where each one
[13:46] of you waited one to five,
[13:49] basically it's the same five goals,
[13:51] but you can see that the police facility moved up the list
[13:54] slightly and kind of moved everything else down below that.
[13:57] But the same five goals are shared.
[14:00] And so coming out of this, the
[14:02] town administrator will take these goals.
[14:04] I have a staff meeting with senior staff tomorrow
[14:07] and we're gonna start to implement those now many
[14:10] of these goals have already been in place.
[14:13] We already started to talk about the
[14:15] veterans credits internally.
[14:16] So that's something that we'll be bringing forth within the
[14:19] next probably 60 days
[14:21] for some discussions with town council.
[14:24] The police facility that's an active item.
[14:28] Health insurance we've talked a lot about.
[14:30] I've been in contact with Catherine St.
[14:32] Ledger, our HR director in talking about
[14:35] what the next steps are on that.
[14:37] The route 28 south infrastructure. We have design underway.
[14:40] We have an EPA grant.
[14:42] We were just notified last week that the SRF funding
[14:47] process through the state, we were ranked number one
[14:50] for the rest of that, which would be a low interest loan.
[14:53] So we'll be working our way through that
[14:55] and reporting to council shortly on that.
[14:57] And then finally continue the downtown redevelopment.
[15:01] Tonight there'll be some activity
[15:02] with some ordinance changes through the planning board
[15:05] that Liz and and staff will present on that.
[15:08] But obviously that's an ongoing effort
[15:10] through Bev and and whatnot.
[15:12] So we also wanna make sure that we remind residents,
[15:17] we remind the town council
[15:18] that we're actively working on a number of efforts that are,
[15:21] may not be listed as goals,
[15:22] but they're equally as important.
[15:24] So there's a number of of an endeavors
[15:26] that didn't make the top five lists,
[15:28] but we are gonna continue to push
[15:31] and make sure that we continue.
[15:32] There's a lot of infrastructure that's going on,
[15:34] there's a lot of economic development going on.
[15:36] There's a lot of building projects to monitor.
[15:39] So I think I'm very optimistic with the year
[15:42] that we just had and I'm looking forward to, you know,
[15:45] implementing these goals in FY 27.
[15:48] And so with that, those are the goals and,
[15:52] and I don't, you don't necessarily have to make any
[15:55] action on those, but if there's any commentary
[15:58] or anything of that nature, happy to to take that or
[16:00] otherwise we can move on to the next
[16:02] about economic development.
[16:06] I just have a quick question.
[16:08] So some of the goals that you know, aren't the top five,
[16:11] are we still kind of gonna be working
[16:13] on those throughout the year?
[16:15] 'cause we all had some, some other goals that, you know,
[16:18] they're not as maybe as as high ranking as these,
[16:22] but there's still some things that I, you know, one of one
[16:25] of my goals as a compensation study for the non-represented
[16:30] and I don't wanna see that just go away.
[16:33] So is there a process to, for some of the other small,
[16:36] smaller goals to bring those up?
[16:38] Yeah, so I think this process is kind of a way
[16:42] for the town council to clearly define to the staff
[16:47] and to the public that these are its priorities.
[16:49] But beyond that, anytime it's a discussion with me,
[16:53] it's a discussion with town council chair
[16:56] to bring certain items.
[16:57] So you all have that opportunity to kind
[17:00] of talk through those items.
[17:02] It can be agendized
[17:03] or it can be put forward as a budgetary item.
[17:05] But I think with each one of you,
[17:07] I've had conversations about certain priorities
[17:10] that you'd like to see you, for example,
[17:12] talking about animal control that didn't make the top five,
[17:17] but certainly that is gonna be a high priority goal within
[17:20] staff and then it may require some ordinance
[17:22] changes and things of that nature.
[17:24] So all those goals are taken into account
[17:26] and I certainly pay attention to them.
[17:28] There's no question about that
[17:29] because I recognize if we just focused on five goals
[17:32] and only accomplish those five,
[17:34] we'd leave a lot of things out, right?
[17:36] So I think the process to come back around to it,
[17:39] for example, if you're talking about a compensation study,
[17:42] would be to have a conversation with, you know, with me
[17:45] and with the chair about how do we fund that?
[17:48] How would we want to kick that off?
[17:49] Is it something that would be timed
[17:51] with the budgetary process?
[17:52] I think that might be an appropriate way to look at that.
[17:54] But the door's always open for those sorts of discussions
[17:57] and there's things that we maybe not even had looked at
[18:01] that are contemporary because they just happened this month
[18:04] or just happened, you know, a few days ago.
[18:07] And those may rise to a high priority just
[18:10] because, so this isn't a static list that can't be amended
[18:13] and, and obviously we're not just rigid
[18:15] within those five goals.
[18:16] Okay, thank you
[18:19] Council, We thank you for putting this together.
[18:23] Thank you chairperson Spencer for the new process.
[18:27] I thought being very open about it was very helpful.
[18:30] The only concern I have is again, my own soapbox,
[18:35] which is in health insurance is I,
[18:38] I think it's a complex problem.
[18:39] I don't think we necessarily have the expertise within this
[18:43] building and that may be something
[18:48] that we may have to look at financially in the future.
[18:51] But you know, even if we spend money on a consultant
[18:54] that saves us a thousand dollars a month
[18:56] or a thousand dollars a year,
[18:58] that's a $200,000 savings across the town.
[19:02] So I think it's something that as you work with staff,
[19:08] we should consider is to make certain that we have somebody
[19:13] that's an expert on both in facilitating these discussions
[19:17] and knowledgeable of the problem
[19:18] because it is a pretty vast problem.
[19:20] Thank you. Thank you.
[19:23] Anyone else? Alright, thank you for up. Okay,
[19:28] So as we start the new fiscal year,
[19:31] we're already one month into fiscal 27.
[19:34] I think it's, it's important to look at
[19:37] where we're trending on on the economic development front.
[19:41] So I'd asked Bev to compile some information relative
[19:46] to some of the initiatives and,
[19:48] and where we stand on some of the things.
[19:50] So, you know, looking,
[19:52] just generally our efforts have been multi-pronged.
[19:54] There's been infrastructure expansion, zoning updates
[19:58] and attraction of new businesses and new projects.
[20:02] So looking at some of the infrastructure,
[20:05] as everybody's aware, the DPW
[20:07] had successfully completed the,
[20:09] the Rand Shepherd interconnection project
[20:11] to connect three community water systems to municipal water.
[20:14] So this was primarily a project for
[20:17] in residential districts,
[20:19] but it also has some ancillary effects on quality of life
[20:23] and and attracting people to our community.
[20:26] Obviously well known the exit four A improvements are still
[20:30] underway along Folsom Road,
[20:32] Southern New Hampshire Regional Water projects.
[20:35] We have some work going on at the Chin Road storage tank
[20:38] and improvements in London dairy,
[20:40] which were started in FY 26.
[20:42] There'll be more information to come.
[20:45] We do have some upcoming meetings with the state
[20:48] DES looking at fully funding that phase two B,
[20:53] which will be something that we'll bring in front
[20:55] of the council should that be mature to do.
[20:58] So. The landfill solar project was completed
[21:00] and that went online last month.
[21:02] I will come back to the council with a brief report as to
[21:06] how we're doing, but thus far the
[21:07] production has been pretty good.
[21:09] Other than a couple of rainy days,
[21:11] obviously our fire headquarters were completed
[21:13] and opened January of 2026.
[21:16] And then obviously last year at this time we sold the bond
[21:19] and, and we have construction underway on our
[21:21] Abbott court parking garage.
[21:24] So zoning obviously planning staff and planning board.
[21:27] Were heavily involved in defining the gateway
[21:29] zoning district in the exit.
[21:31] Four a quarter town council will be presented
[21:34] with some minor changes in the central business
[21:36] district at tonight's meeting.
[21:37] So that's also listening to some of the, the trends
[21:41] that we needed to look at.
[21:42] And Liz and and staff will be able
[21:44] to walk through that tonight.
[21:48] So some highlights of some things that have occurred.
[21:52] We have 74 Rockingham Road,
[21:54] the residence at Sky Crystal Ave.
[21:57] You saw the Common man in Bangor Savings Bank Open recently,
[22:00] 71 Bir Street, dairy, plumbing and Heating.
[22:03] And there's several minor subdivisions, 33 East Dairy Roads,
[22:07] 84 Island Pond Road, Daniel Road and Cemetery Road.
[22:10] So there's been some new residential development
[22:16] and then looking at some approved
[22:17] projects with a future build.
[22:19] So ironically both 12 a street,
[22:23] which is Epsy conditionally improved there,
[22:26] there have been ground broken on that project this week.
[22:29] And then also 43
[22:31] and a half Crystal Lab, the Grindhouse, you do see some
[22:35] construction equipment on that site as well.
[22:37] So there's, I believe there was an announcement by
[22:40] the proprietor that that project is starting up.
[22:42] So those are both exciting.
[22:44] 41 Ashley Drive, which could potentially be a warehouse
[22:49] that easement was approved through Conservation Committee
[22:52] and town council and that was a major hurdle
[22:54] to future development of that parcel.
[22:58] 1, 2, 3, and four Humphrey Road.
[22:59] It's a mixed use site plan that was conditionally approved.
[23:02] We're keeping an eye on, on the, the process through that.
[23:05] We'll be in front of the council on September 4th,
[23:08] I'm sorry, September 1st to approve easements related
[23:11] to the realignment of Humphrey Road, Abbott Court
[23:14] and LMG Phase two residential is not too far behind us here.
[23:18] So that is a process that's ongoing.
[23:21] And then 18 Crystal Lab reuse of the Rite Aid
[23:24] with multiple tenants.
[23:25] That is something that is going
[23:27] to likely be coming forward in the next six to 12 months.
[23:33] Some growth statistics tax year 2025 our,
[23:36] our assessments increased by $55 million.
[23:41] But I also wanted to look as to what just happened.
[23:44] The fiscal 26 building permit stats 1,375 permits,
[23:48] $88 million worth of construction costs.
[23:50] Now some of those are relatively minor additions.
[23:53] They might be electrical permits,
[23:55] but there were some large permits within there as well.
[23:58] 33 new residential single family permits
[24:01] and 353 residential additions or renovations.
[24:05] So as we look forward to the fiscal 28,
[24:10] when we set the tax rate in looking to the FY 28 budget,
[24:15] we're anticipating a similar increase year over year
[24:19] of about $55 million.
[24:21] And again, that helps broaden the tax base.
[24:24] So you're starting to see where we used to figure 15
[24:27] or $20 million worth of new assessed value,
[24:31] we're seeing multi-year trends of $55 million
[24:35] or more, which is very, very favorable.
[24:37] So, you know, I think the, the
[24:39] trajectory continues to point up.
[24:42] I think the town does a really good job at
[24:45] looking at sustainable projects, projects
[24:48] that don't tax our infrastructure so much
[24:51] that we can't handle the items that are there.
[24:53] So with that, I think that's the, the
[24:59] essence of the report.
[25:01] And then looking at future opportunities,
[25:03] 1 0 9 Rockingham Road could be a mixed use site plan.
[25:08] We also have reuse of a couple of other drug stores,
[25:12] the old Walgreens and the Rite Aid at 52 Rockingham Road
[25:16] seven Manchester Road, the old Sanmina property,
[25:19] 57 Crystal Ave, bank of America.
[25:22] You obviously have the opportunities in front
[25:24] of you from the west running Brook zone,
[25:27] downtown Central Business District,
[25:29] and the Gateway District.
[25:30] So these are all future opportunities.
[25:32] You know, Bev is in contact with a number
[25:35] of different stakeholders on those individual properties
[25:38] and also in a general sense to try
[25:40] to attract good development to the community.
[25:43] She's in the audience tonight if you have any questions
[25:46] relative to to that, but I know Bev is also instrumental in
[25:51] bringing some of the key players into dairy to try to talk
[25:56] through various questions that they may have.
[25:59] Try to guide them to the right people,
[26:00] whether it's on a local basis or,
[26:02] or a state level basis to help them maybe with financing
[26:05] with some of the questions they have for development
[26:08] and of, of our staff.
[26:09] So that's a quick rundown as to where we stand,
[26:12] but again, overall it's very, very positive.
[26:18] Thank you. Are there any questions,
[26:20] comments, officer Haley?
[26:22] Yeah, I have one on the,
[26:24] the New residential in the Reno renovations.
[26:28] How quickly do those get recorded with assessing in,
[26:32] you know, the tax card kind of updated
[26:34] to when the project is complete is,
[26:38] It's my understanding and,
[26:39] and I believe there's a, what they call kind of a pickup as
[26:44] of April 1st of that year.
[26:46] So April 1st, 2026, there's a process that
[26:51] you are assessed for the 26 tax year at the status you are.
[26:55] So say there's a building project that's ongoing
[26:58] and it worked over the winter time, they will assess it at
[27:01] that point and it may be 70% done.
[27:04] So it's assessed at that level.
[27:06] And then the following year when it has its occupancy
[27:09] certificate and, and it's built, they would get another,
[27:12] you know, the final 30% is assessed at that time,
[27:15] but I believe the date is April 1st of each year.
[27:19] Yeah, I can see Liz shaking her head. Yeah.
[27:23] And so we're notified, you know, as the project's completed
[27:26] to, for the, for the assessor or whatever to go out
[27:29] and for everything to be completed at that point.
[27:31] Yeah, and and I, the process works where it goes from the
[27:35] building inspector's office to the assessing office for them
[27:40] to go out and perform those physical inspections
[27:42] and make those determinations of assessment as of April 1st.
[27:46] Thank you. Other questions? Comments?
[27:52] Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank
[27:54] You.
[27:59] All right. We
[28:04] have one public hearing this evening.
[28:06] Agenda item 26 64,
[28:08] which is ordinance 2026 dash 0 0 1
[28:12] to amend the zoning ordinance chapter 1 65,
[28:15] planning director Elizabeth Du presenting.
[28:22] Good evening Counsel. Before I get into the meat of this,
[28:25] I did wanna take this opportunity to introduce Abigail Burl,
[28:29] who is our planning intern this year.
[28:31] You will see the results of all
[28:33] of her very hard work on some more zoning changes
[28:36] that we'll be bringing forward as a result
[28:39] of the legislative session this year.
[28:41] We'll be presenting that to the planning board tomorrow
[28:43] night and then working over the rest of the summer
[28:46] to bring that forward to you.
[28:48] Abby's also been very, it's been great between Caroline
[28:53] and and Abby, we've been able to keep track of
[28:57] the increasing number of applications
[29:00] that are coming through our office.
[29:01] So I'm thankful to have her. So welcome.
[29:06] Thank you. All right.
[29:10] So for this evening,
[29:14] the planning board's been reviewing proposed changes
[29:16] to the central business district in various definitions.
[29:19] Since January of this year, the board held five workshops
[29:23] and conducted one onsite walk to review the district.
[29:26] We actually walked almost the entire CBD
[29:29] this early in the spring.
[29:31] The changes include redefining parking lot
[29:34] and adding a definition for a multi-level parking facility
[29:37] to differentiate between ground level parking
[29:39] and a parking structure.
[29:41] And the definition for front Lot Line has been amended
[29:44] to clarify which lot line is actually the front when
[29:48] a lot has frontage on more than one street.
[29:50] We were running into issues where if it's a corner lot like
[29:54] that, trying to make the dimensions work
[29:57] and we had to keep sending people to the zoning board
[30:00] and that just wasn't an efficient use of,
[30:03] of anybody's time and effort.
[30:05] So we've worked on that.
[30:08] There's been an ongoing goal to maximize growth
[30:10] and economic development opportunities in
[30:12] the core of our downtown.
[30:14] The proposed changes recognize the changing landscape
[30:17] of Southern New Hampshire, where increased housing density,
[30:19] the height of buildings in commercial market trends require
[30:22] some form of adaptation to create opportunities
[30:26] for economic growth and development while still maintaining
[30:29] the historical character of our central business district.
[30:32] The proposed changes recognized
[30:34] that the smaller lot sizes in land use patterns
[30:37] that have emerged in the district need to continue
[30:41] and pursuant to RA 6 75 7 as we're not changing
[30:46] as a district boundary
[30:47] or there's more than a hundred lots, we didn't have
[30:49] to individually notice every member
[30:52] or every lot that was affected by this in the district.
[30:57] So the notification requirements were met per the RSA.
[31:03] So rather than going through each of the changes line
[31:07] by line, I'll just provide a summary for you.
[31:09] The proposed changes include an amendment to the purpose
[31:13] of requirements in the district, increases the density
[31:16] for multi-unit mixed use residential from 12 units an acre
[31:20] to 24 units decreases the minimum unit size from 800
[31:24] square feet to 400.
[31:26] It removes the number of
[31:28] the limit number on bedrooms required.
[31:31] It removes the restriction on
[31:33] where commercial space shall be located in mixed use
[31:36] buildings while defining the percentage of commercial space
[31:39] that will be required in the building.
[31:41] For that one, currently we say no residential
[31:45] below the second floor.
[31:46] We've taken that away so that there can be some
[31:50] creative adaptive reuse of some buildings so
[31:53] that the commercial can be a percentage anywhere in the
[31:56] building as opposed to on the first floor.
[32:01] We added medical office as a permitted use in the district
[32:04] and removed the prior term parking facilities, replacing it
[32:07] with multi-level parking.
[32:09] And we also added a requirement to connect
[32:11] to municipal sewer conversions
[32:13] and new developments, changes to enhance and protect.
[32:17] The street scape included amending the maximum front yard
[32:20] depth to vary in terms of the lot width.
[32:23] So you're set back as opposed, you know,
[32:25] based on how wide you are.
[32:27] For lots that are 75 feet
[32:29] or less wide, the front yard depth would be eight feet
[32:32] or the average for a hundred feet in every direction.
[32:36] And for lots that are over 76 feet,
[32:38] maximum yard depth would be 25 or the average for 2200 feet.
[32:44] Structure height was increased up to 425 feet
[32:48] above sea level and the prohibited use section was amended
[32:51] to delete the list of prohibited uses
[32:53] as we're permissive zoning ordinance.
[32:55] So we don't need to list what we don't allow.
[32:57] If it's not there, it's not permitted off.
[33:01] Street parking was clarified to ensure that parking is not
[33:05] situated in a manner that requires a vehicle
[33:06] to back out into the town roadway
[33:08] and to also prohibit parking
[33:10] or storage of vehicles in the front setback.
[33:13] And we also remove the special exception uses
[33:16] as they were no longer relevant to the zone.
[33:18] So I do wanna say the board spent a considerable amount
[33:21] of time on reviewing
[33:22] and analyzing the front setback in the implications
[33:24] of any changes to the zoning district.
[33:27] Based on those changes for fiscal impact,
[33:30] the town would see reinvestment in the downtown hopefully,
[33:33] which will generate new and additional revenues
[33:35] and higher assessed values.
[33:37] And it's recommended that you would approve the amendments
[33:40] to the zoning district.
[33:42] And Happy to pause for any questions
[33:47] before we have questions.
[33:48] Does, is there a motion to open the public hearing?
[33:50] I make the motion to open the
[33:52] Public hearing. Second that.
[33:53] Alright. On the motion. Council mills? Yes.
[33:57] Councilor Healy? Yes. Council Webb? Yes. Council Flood? Yes.
[34:01] Council Foot? Yes. And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes.
[34:04] Six zero. So the public hearing is now open.
[34:06] If anyone would like to come up to speak on this topic.
[34:11] I do have someone coming up one of you
[34:17] To steal one of your chairs.
[34:18] Absolutely.
[34:22] Hello, David Provin, 26 Milton Moore Road.
[34:25] I've been a dairy resident for most of my life.
[34:28] Most of that's been at my current address,
[34:30] but I did spend a year on Railroad Ave,
[34:32] which is right in the middle of downtown.
[34:34] And I just wanted to say,
[34:35] this all sounds absolutely wonderful and I fully support it
[34:39] and I think anything to get more people into our downtown,
[34:42] more life in there would be an
[34:45] improvement for the town overall.
[34:46] Thank you. Thank you
[35:00] Steve Raffe.
[35:01] Just two questions. Number one, I've only watched one
[35:03] of those meetings, I know you've had a few,
[35:05] so I didn't get a chance to sit in on those.
[35:08] But where the traditional business is an overlay
[35:11] of the central business to those
[35:13] properties, they're not affected.
[35:14] They're not affected. And then the only other comment I
[35:17] would say that could be an issue,
[35:20] 'cause I have some properties that are like that, especially
[35:21] where the small back side streets along the back of Broadway
[35:25] and certain things where people can't, there is no other way
[35:29] but to back out into an alley, even though it's considered a
[35:33] street and really there may not be no traffic.
[35:35] That happens quite a bit. I know know mostly every street
[35:37] and every, every building in Derry.
[35:39] So is there a provision for that
[35:41] or does that just mean what do they do if they can't,
[35:44] if they pull in and then they have to back out
[35:46] and not, a lot of times it's not a main street, it's just a,
[35:48] something may not even use that much.
[35:50] Well our hope is that people aren't backing out into
[35:53] Birch Street or Broadway.
[35:54] Right.
[35:56] But that, does that provision mean
[35:57] they're stuck with it everywhere?
[35:58] It it doesn't mean that you can't,
[36:01] the way the way we have it written is if you're redeveloping
[36:05] the lot that we are asking people to take
[36:07] that into consideration Right.
[36:08] When they're planning redevelopment.
[36:10] So if a building is raised
[36:11] and you're putting up a new structure to plan your parking
[36:14] so that you're, that is no longer applicable.
[36:17] Okay. So that's prob that's
[36:18] for new construction, not existing. Correct.
[36:20] We can't say that, you know, we,
[36:22] we can't in the zoning police, the streets.
[36:27] Okay. Only thing I'm, the only reason why I mention
[36:29] that is 'cause when they, okay, this maybe
[36:30] that should be part of, maybe
[36:33] that should be clarified for that reason.
[36:34] I don't have that property in the central business that has
[36:37] that, but I do have some in
[36:38] traditional business that have that.
[36:40] And there's just a lot of buildings.
[36:42] And I bet you I can think of 30 where they have
[36:45] to back out into something that's hardly ever used.
[36:47] But it is considered a street. It
[36:48] Yeah.
[36:49] We, we understand that there's
[36:50] some existing conditions that,
[36:51] Okay.
[36:52] Just thought I'd bring it up. You can. Yeah.
[36:53] Thank you. Thank you Owen.
[36:58] Is there anyone online?
[37:00] Madam Chair, we're seeing none Rise online.
[37:03] Madam Chair, move for close to public hearing. Second.
[37:06] Right. Motion by Council Mill second by Council AB
[37:08] to close the public hearing on the motion.
[37:10] Councilor Mills? Yes. Councilor Healy. Yes. Councilor Webb?
[37:14] Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes.
[37:17] And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes.
[37:19] Six zero Public hearing is now closed.
[37:21] Counselors, do you have any questions? Council Webb,
[37:24] I think you answered this already,
[37:25] but it just went by a little too fast on prohibitive uses,
[37:31] I noticed that you, the section two,
[37:33] the activities included like sexually oriented businesses.
[37:36] Can you please go over again why that was deleted?
[37:39] Oh, let me, let me take a peek at that for you
[37:41] Because I think you said it's already prohibited.
[37:44] Another section. Yeah, I just wanna confirm that.
[37:51] So What Oh, okay.
[37:55] You were asking about the prohibited the prohibited things.
[37:57] Yeah. Yeah. So in the, in the list
[38:01] of permitted uses,
[38:07] sexually oriented businesses are not listed
[38:09] as a permitted use.
[38:11] We permit that in other districts it had,
[38:18] what we, what we did was re we removed the, we removed them,
[38:22] those three specific things
[38:24] because if they're not permitted, if they're not written in
[38:27] that first list, if
[38:28] They're not, that's what I thought you said.
[38:29] I just wanted to make clear. So if it's not listed
[38:31] as a permitted use, it is in essence prohibited.
[38:34] Correct. Okay. Yes. Alright.
[38:38] Councilor Haley, someone else had their hand up. Yeah.
[38:42] Just related to the, the parking facility going
[38:45] to a parking lot and then the multi-level parking facility
[38:48] with the multi-level parking facility, would it be wise
[38:51] to add registered vehicles?
[38:54] That's in the parking lot,
[38:55] but it's not in the parking facility.
[38:58] The, the parking garage, it just says house vehicles.
[39:02] But with the parking lot, we're excluding any vehicles
[39:05] that aren't registered.
[39:06] So I don't know if that's something we want to add.
[39:08] If you, if you think that's worth adding
[39:11] or if there was a reason why it wasn't in there.
[39:13] I seem to recall a discussion relating to if,
[39:18] if there is a, someone might have a,
[39:22] a permit in a parking garage to be able
[39:25] to house a vehicle there and it may be a seasonal vehicle
[39:29] or, or something.
[39:30] And I think we didn't want to have to police that.
[39:35] Obviously in the, you know, you for some parking garages,
[39:38] you're gonna need permits
[39:39] and that will, that will be all part of a further something.
[39:44] But I don't, I know that the board did talk about that.
[39:47] I think that we weren't, many
[39:51] of the multi-level parking facilities are, are likely going
[39:54] to be related to multi-family use.
[39:57] In any event, I don't know
[39:59] that the town will be taking on another parking garage like
[40:02] Abbott Court anytime soon.
[40:04] So if someone is living in a building and,
[40:09] and has an unregistered vehicle, they,
[40:12] they essentially own that spot.
[40:14] So I would almost look at that as,
[40:17] as if I was parked at a single family home.
[40:19] And if I'm allowed to have one unregistered vehicle, the,
[40:23] I think the management company would need
[40:25] to police that more than us.
[40:27] Okay. If that makes sense. Yeah.
[40:29] Okay. Thank you. Any other
[40:33] questions from council?
[40:36] Alright, thank you. Someone else?
[40:40] Would you like to read that for us? Council Mills?
[40:46] I am sorry. Would you like to, you, you, you tend
[40:49] to read our motions.
[40:50] Would you like to read our motion for this one?
[40:51] Oh, I didn't know we needed a We do an ordinance motion
[40:57] Ordinance number 26 20 26 0 0 1.
[41:00] Is that what we're talking about? Yes.
[41:03] Amend zoning changes to Chapter 1 65,
[41:06] whereas Section 5.1
[41:08] of the town charter designates the town council
[41:11] as a governing and legislative body of the town.
[41:14] And pursuant to Section 6.1,
[41:16] the council shall legislate by ordinance.
[41:20] And whereas the planning board adopted modifications
[41:22] to various land use definitions applicable to all zones.
[41:26] And whereas the planning board adopted several dimensional
[41:30] and density changes to the CBD Central Business District
[41:34] and now therefore the town of Dairy Ordains,
[41:37] that the dairy zoning ordinance is hereby
[41:39] amended as follows.
[41:41] To amend the town of dairy zoning ordinance, article two
[41:45] word uses and definitions section 1 65 dash five
[41:50] definitions to amend the definitions of front lot line
[41:53] and parking facility.
[41:55] And to add a definition for multi-level parking facilities
[42:00] to amend the town of dairy zoning ordinance Article six,
[42:03] district provisions section 1 65 dash 33 Central
[42:08] Business District to amend subsection A purpose.
[42:12] Subsection B permitted uses subsection C
[42:17] one through six area
[42:20] and dimensional requirements
[42:21] to include minimum lot area front yard depth
[42:24] and building height to amend subsection F prohibited uses
[42:29] subsection G parking to delete the town
[42:33] of dairy zoning ordinance.
[42:34] Article six, district provisions sections 1 65 dash 33
[42:39] Central Business District subsection H,
[42:43] special exception uses
[42:45] this ordinance shall take effect 30 days after its adoption.
[42:50] Second. Alright, we have a motion by Councilor Mills,
[42:54] second by Councilor Foote on the motion.
[42:56] Councillor Mills. Yes. Councilor Healy. Yes. Councilor Webb.
[43:00] Just want to thank Liz
[43:01] and Chairman Nelson, the rest of volunteers. So yes.
[43:05] Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes.
[43:08] And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[43:11] Thank you both. Thank you Council.
[43:15] Moving on to our new business.
[43:19] Item number 26 68 is resolution 2026 dash
[43:24] 0 3 9 to withdraw funds from the Capital Reserve Fund
[43:27] for mold remediation at the Dairy Public Library.
[43:29] And our library director Kathleen presenting
[43:37] You just can't catch a break.
[43:37] Can't
[43:40] Tell me something.
[43:44] Good evening. So back in March the staff noticed
[43:48] that there was some staining on the ceiling in a couple
[43:51] of different areas of the building.
[43:54] There was also some mold appearing on the walls
[43:58] of our air handler room in the lower level.
[44:01] So I contacted a company called Indoor Doctor
[44:04] to request mold testing where they found levels
[44:07] of mold in the various areas to be either above normal
[44:11] or very high slash severe.
[44:14] So I contacted three different companies
[44:16] to provide estimates for mold remediation work.
[44:20] The companies were in Viro Vantage, A BS, environmental
[44:24] and Household Environmental.
[44:26] I presented these quotes to the library's board of trustees
[44:29] during their meeting on June 22nd of this year.
[44:33] And after some discussion they decided to go
[44:35] with the estimate from Household Environmental.
[44:39] Their quote was for $13,850.
[44:43] They also recommended post clearance testing
[44:48] just to make sure that the, the work had
[44:51] been thoroughly completed.
[44:53] So with the estimate of their work plus that testing,
[44:57] I am requesting $15,350 from our
[45:01] Capital Reserve Fund.
[45:04] Thank you. Any questions counsel? Nope.
[45:09] Straightforward. Alright,
[45:13] Madam Chair, I move resolution number 26 0 3 9
[45:17] to withdraw funds from the DPL Capital Reserve Fund
[45:21] for mold remediation at the Dairy Public Library
[45:24] where Section 5.1
[45:27] of the Town Charter designates the Town Council
[45:30] as the governing and legislative body of the town.
[45:32] And whereas we have identified some areas of concern
[45:36] requiring mold remediation
[45:38] and whereas a Capital Reserve fund was established in 2004
[45:42] for the maintenance of the dairy public library.
[45:44] And whereas the library board
[45:46] of trustees has requested authorization to utilize a portion
[45:50] of the fund for this purpose and now
[45:52] therefore be it resolved in council as agents to expend
[45:56] that the sum of $15,350 shall be
[46:01] appropriated from the Dairy Public Library Capital Reserve
[46:04] Fund to finance the mold remediation.
[46:06] This resolution shall take effect
[46:08] immediately upon its passage.
[46:11] Second. Alright, we have a motion by Council Mills
[46:15] and a second by Councillor Healy on the motion.
[46:17] Councilor Mills?
[46:19] Absolutely. Yes. Councillor Healy. Yes. Councilor Webb?
[46:23] Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes.
[46:28] And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes. Six zero. Thank you.
[46:31] Thank you very much. Next up
[46:36] item agenda item 26 6 9 is resolution 2026 dash
[46:40] 0 4 0
[46:41] to fund expenses from the compensated absences Capital
[46:44] reserve fund, town administrator Michael Pollo presenting.
[46:48] Alright, so the next three items under new business are
[46:51] all end of fiscal 26 housekeeping matters.
[46:56] So CFO Mark Fleischer had prepared the staff reports
[47:00] and basically the first of the three is relative
[47:04] to the compensated absence capital reserve fund.
[47:07] So essentially within the
[47:10] OMO other municipal obligations budget,
[47:13] it was included $354,254
[47:17] for earned time payouts.
[47:20] And sometimes when you go through that process,
[47:22] we've had years where we've hit the mark
[47:23] and there have been other years where there have been some
[47:25] unanticipated retirements or payouts
[47:28] because an individual leaves us and,
[47:31] and we weren't aware of that, try
[47:33] to project it the best we can.
[47:34] But the mechanism to deal
[47:36] with those variations has been money
[47:39] that's been set aside in the capital reserve fund.
[47:42] So we have a really healthy balance on that.
[47:45] It's up upwards of $1.6 million.
[47:48] So tonight, because the expenses in FY 26 were
[47:52] $704,000, we're gonna be requesting a transfer
[47:57] of $350,495 to cover these payments.
[48:03] And essentially when this is completed,
[48:05] we will still have $1.6 million in that fund.
[48:10] One of the things that we will talk about
[48:12] as we take a look at the capital funds
[48:17] that we have available to us, the unassigned fund balance,
[48:20] you may choose to send some money in the direction
[48:23] of this compensated absence fund, but Mark
[48:26] and I both believe that we're in a really healthy spot
[48:29] and we're able to continue to care cover these sorts
[48:31] of expenses as we move forward.
[48:34] I would say one of the trends that
[48:36] as we keep talking about some of our more senior employees
[48:39] retiring, I think the reliance on
[48:41] the funds in these large buyouts I, I think are going
[48:45] to continue to diminish
[48:46] because we just don't have as many employees
[48:49] who have large accrued earn time balances that would be due
[48:52] to them upon retirement or separation from the community.
[48:56] So with that, you have a recommendation to move forward
[49:00] with this and a resolution 2026 dash 40.
[49:06] Thank you. Any questions or comments?
[49:08] Madam Chair saying no questions or comments?
[49:10] I move resolution number 2026 dash 0 4 0
[49:14] to fund expenses from the compensated Absences Capital
[49:18] Reserve Fund where the Town Council created a compensated
[49:22] absences capital reserve fund in 1997.
[49:25] And whereas the purpose of the fund is to pay
[49:28] for the town's obligation to its employees
[49:30] for vested accumulated leave upon separation
[49:34] and for any earn time pay payouts in excess of budget.
[49:38] And whereas several,
[49:39] several long tenured employees retired in FY 26
[49:43] and whereas transfer
[49:45] of funds from compensated absences Capital Reserve fund will
[49:48] stabilize the impact of end
[49:51] of service payments on the town's general fund.
[49:54] And now therefore be it resolved in council
[49:56] that the Town Council as agents to expend
[50:00] hereby authorizes the withdrawal
[50:01] of $355,495
[50:06] from the compensated Absences Capital Reserve fund
[50:10] to fund accumulated leave obligations.
[50:12] This resolution shall take effect immediately
[50:14] upon its passage.
[50:17] Second motion by Council Mills second
[50:20] by Councilor Healy on the motion.
[50:22] Councilor Flood? Yes. Changing it up. Councilor Foot? Yes.
[50:26] Councilor Webb? Yes. Councillor Healy? Yes.
[50:28] Councillor Mills? Yes. And Chair votes? Yes. Motion passes.
[50:32] Six zero. Next up
[50:36] Agenda item 26 70.
[50:38] Resolution 2026 dash 0 4 1 Transfer funds from the Transfer
[50:42] Station Solar Project back to you.
[50:45] Alright, so seven years ago the town
[50:50] purchased 10 solar trackers that you see on the hill
[50:54] adjacent to the transfer station.
[50:56] So this was our first foray into solar production
[50:59] and that roughly generates about 150,000
[51:04] kilowatt hours annually
[51:05] that is distributed within the transfer station campus.
[51:09] The funding mechanism at the time was
[51:13] to use the Public Works Capital reserve fund as, as opposed
[51:17] to taking it to a bond or any other funding mechanism.
[51:21] And the idea was that the savings in each
[51:25] of the individual departments,
[51:26] because the solar is offsetting the needs
[51:30] to come from the grid,
[51:32] those savings would be transferred back
[51:34] to the Capital Reserve fund over the course
[51:37] of a 10 year period.
[51:38] So we've reached the seventh year on that
[51:41] for fiscal 26.
[51:44] The amount reimbursed back to the general fund is going
[51:46] to be $26,522 and 23 cents.
[51:51] It's broken up into three
[51:53] segments mostly from the wastewater treatment plant.
[51:57] That's the largest amount at $17,289.
[52:01] But also the transfer station building itself
[52:03] and then also a very little bit from the
[52:05] vehicle maintenance budget.
[52:07] So we have three more years on this,
[52:09] but this has been an ongoing process,
[52:11] a very successful project
[52:12] and obviously once we get beyond year 10,
[52:16] there'll be no other need to do any transfers
[52:19] of, of this nature.
[52:20] So with that you have
[52:22] resolution 20 26 0 41 for your consideration.
[52:26] Thank you. Any questions, comments?
[52:30] Madam Chair, seeing no questions
[52:31] or concerns, I move resolution number 2026 dash 0 4 0 1
[52:36] transfer funds for the transfer station Solar project,
[52:39] whereas Section 9.7
[52:42] of the Town Charter empowers the town council
[52:44] to transfer any unencumbered appropriation balance
[52:48] and whereas the Town Council approve the use
[52:50] of Public Works capital reserve funds to fund a construction
[52:53] of the solar array at the transfer station
[52:56] and whereas a year end transfer is required
[52:59] for the annual reimbursement to the capital fund.
[53:02] Now therefore be it resolved in council
[53:04] that the town administrator is authorized to transfer to sum
[53:07] of $26,522
[53:11] and 23 cents from the transfer station budget.
[53:15] $8,519
[53:17] and 38 cents from the vehicle maintenance budget,
[53:21] $713 and 5 cents.
[53:24] And from the Wastewater Fund $17,289
[53:29] and 80 cents to the PW Capital Reserve funds.
[53:33] This resolution shall take effect
[53:34] immediately upon its passage.
[53:37] Second. Second. Motion by Council Mills second
[53:41] by Councilor Healy on the Motion.
[53:43] Council Mills,
[53:45] Assuming that the math is right, I didn't check it.
[53:47] Yes.
[53:49] Councilor Haley? Yes. Council Lead? Yes. Councillor Flood?
[53:53] Yes. Councillor Foote? Yes. And Chair votes? Yes.
[53:55] Motion passes. Six zero.
[53:58] Next up is item 26 71.
[54:02] Resolution 20 26 0 4 2 to transfer funds
[54:04] to the Dairy Economic Development Expendable Trust Fund Town
[54:08] Administrator Mike Fowler. I present again.
[54:10] Alright, so the last of the three
[54:14] items on the financial agenda tonight is relative
[54:17] to the economic development expendable trust funds.
[54:21] So when the Phase one water project
[54:25] connecting Manchester through dairy down to Salem,
[54:29] the town takes in what we call a wheeling charge.
[54:32] And so that wheeling charge is a basically a toll
[54:35] for the water to pass through dairy's borders
[54:38] and eventually whatever the meter reads, we collect a dollar
[54:42] for every 100 cubic feet of of water
[54:45] that's transferred down to Point South.
[54:48] So essentially there was legislation that was put into place
[54:53] that the funds that came from that particular instance
[54:58] can be shared with the general fund.
[55:01] So this is the water fund being a separate enterprise fund
[55:04] from the general fund.
[55:06] So over the past, I think it's five years, we have gone
[55:09] through and done an end of year budget transfer of 50%
[55:12] of those proceeds.
[55:14] So for fiscal 26 we would be looking
[55:18] for the total wheeling revenue was $277,591
[55:23] and 50% of that would be transferred
[55:26] to the Dairy Economic Development Expendable Trust
[55:29] $138,795 in 50 cents.
[55:34] So with that you have resolution
[55:38] 20 26 0 4 2 to adopt
[55:42] and then that will be taken care of internally
[55:44] as a finance mechanism.
[55:46] That fund as of the transfer, would be at a balance
[55:49] of $667,834,
[55:53] which reflects the prior year balances
[55:56] and revenues that have come in
[55:57] as a result of the wheeling charge.
[56:00] Thank you. Any questions or comments?
[56:03] Madam Chair, seeing no questions
[56:05] or concerns, I move resolution number 2026 dash 0 4 2
[56:10] to transfer funds
[56:11] to the Dairy Economic Development expendable Trust fund.
[56:14] Whereas Section 9.7
[56:16] of the Town Charter empowers the town council
[56:19] to transfer any unencumbered appropriation balance.
[56:22] And whereas the Town Council previously authorized
[56:25] participation in the Southern New Hampshire Regional Water
[56:28] Interconnection Project
[56:30] and whereas participation included receiving wheeling
[56:33] charges from users of the dairy system within the project.
[56:37] And whereas the town advocated to the legislature
[56:39] to amend the statute to allow to allow a portion
[56:43] of the revenues to be utilized
[56:45] for economic development purposes.
[56:48] Now therefore be it resolved in council
[56:50] that the Town Administrator is authorized
[56:53] to transfer the sum of $138,795
[56:58] and 50 cents from the Water Division wheeling revenue
[57:02] account to the Dairy Economic Development
[57:04] Expendable Trust Fund.
[57:06] This resolution shall take effect
[57:08] immediately upon its passage.
[57:11] I second. Alright, motion by Council Mills second
[57:14] by Council Webb on the motion.
[57:16] Council Mills?
[57:17] Yes. Councilor Healy? Yes. Councilor Webb? Yes.
[57:21] Councilor Flood? Yes. Councilor Foot? Yes. And chair votes?
[57:24] Yes. Motion passes. Six zero.
[57:27] Last item for the evening agenda item 26 72 is resolution
[57:32] 2026 dash 0 4 3 To authorize the town administrator
[57:36] to accept and expend a grant from the US Alliance
[57:39] for Election Excellence.
[57:40] Our town Clerk, Tina Guilford is presenting.
[57:51] Good evening counselors.
[57:57] Good evening.
[58:02] So I'm in front of you to
[58:07] try to move forward with a grant.
[58:09] So this grant is from the US Alliance
[58:12] for Election Excellence.
[58:17] They found something else that we can do
[58:18] for election offices.
[58:20] We can get our offices certified in election excellence.
[58:24] So there are currently 26 standards.
[58:27] They've opened up application for 11 of them so far.
[58:34] Four of them I've already completed
[58:35] and submitted the application for that.
[58:39] We obviously are already doing
[58:44] this is for a grant for one
[58:47] of the biggest things we have in an election.
[58:52] So that's our poll workers.
[58:56] So this is for software, well it's not really software,
[59:00] it's web-based application
[59:03] and it's for making it accessible
[59:07] to our poll workers for training, video training,
[59:12] in-person training, tracking, scheduling of shifts.
[59:19] I don't know if people realize we hired 154 people
[59:23] for the November, 2024 election.
[59:26] That means that 154 people
[59:30] were juggled on a spreadsheet by two people.
[59:36] It is extremely difficult.
[59:38] And then you get last minute emails,
[59:40] people suddenly can't work a shift.
[59:42] Now you gotta try to find people to fill a shift
[59:44] and it's also exhausting.
[59:48] So this program would allow us
[59:54] to be able to send out shifts to people
[59:56] who are not already scheduled to work.
[59:58] If they want to pick it up, it will allow us
[1:00:03] to make training available.
[1:00:06] Secretary of State's office is gonna be putting out various
[1:00:09] videos that will be able
[1:00:11] to make available to our poll workers.
[1:00:13] Now we've sent it to them in the past,
[1:00:15] but we have no way of knowing if they actually watch
[1:00:18] them this way.
[1:00:20] We can actually incorporate a quiz, have them watch them,
[1:00:26] they would click through, answer the questions,
[1:00:28] we know whether or not they passed.
[1:00:30] They understood. It's a way of knowing if people
[1:00:33] have actually taken the time to train
[1:00:37] because they come in person and it's great.
[1:00:39] And in-person training is great, but sometimes
[1:00:43] after a September election
[1:00:45] and a November election, asking people
[1:00:47] to come in again in March is a little exhausting.
[1:00:52] So this would be a tool that we could use
[1:00:56] to track that and keep people engaged
[1:01:01] and know that they've taken the refresher.
[1:01:06] Also, they wouldn't be able to sign up
[1:01:07] for shifts in jobs they have not trained for.
[1:01:12] If all you've done is be a ballot clerk,
[1:01:15] you can't really be an assistant moderator without going
[1:01:17] through assistant moderator training.
[1:01:19] And right now, again, we're keeping track of
[1:01:21] that on spreadsheets for over 200 poll workers
[1:01:25] that we currently have on the roster.
[1:01:28] So it's, it's a long and exhaustive process.
[1:01:34] And obviously we've been pre-approved
[1:01:38] for a $9,000 grant.
[1:01:40] It's all tied to our voter role and our citizen population.
[1:01:47] So what I've done is I've done some deep work.
[1:01:51] There's not a lot of companies in this space
[1:01:56] and this company delivers probably
[1:02:02] the best, I don't know, bang for the buck shall we say.
[1:02:09] They have automatic notifications, they have
[1:02:16] the online training, they have the portal
[1:02:20] that each poll worker is going to go in and set up.
[1:02:24] And the only information they really need
[1:02:26] to give is their name, address,
[1:02:28] and email address in order to sign up.
[1:02:30] Well, their name and address is
[1:02:32] already on the public checklist.
[1:02:34] So there's not, you know, they don't have
[1:02:37] to put their phone numbers on it
[1:02:38] unless they wanna get alerts by text rather than email.
[1:02:44] There are automatic shift reminders, automatic reminders
[1:02:49] for when we're gonna have training.
[1:02:52] There's a, even a check-in checkout system.
[1:02:55] I know some of you have been there at the end of the night
[1:02:57] and everybody's scrambling to find the
[1:03:02] sign in, sign out sheet at, you know, 1130 at night
[1:03:06] that somebody already put in a box.
[1:03:08] So it would prevent a lot of that.
[1:03:13] And it has just all the things that we need
[1:03:16] and probably some stuff that we don't.
[1:03:19] However, there will be, there was legislation
[1:03:23] that was passed this year
[1:03:25] and towards the end of the year, the Secretary
[1:03:28] of State will be putting out some information
[1:03:30] and as a council you'll need to decide,
[1:03:32] are we gonna stay with one polling place?
[1:03:33] Are we gonna go to multiple polling places?
[1:03:36] And this has venue management
[1:03:38] because there are requirements when you have multiple
[1:03:41] polling places about who can work in
[1:03:43] what polling place based on where they live.
[1:03:45] So those are all things we would need to keep track of.
[1:03:47] And those are all things that we can do with this software.
[1:03:51] And yes, we're, we're doing it with a spreadsheet
[1:03:54] and then there are times that somebody's double scheduled
[1:03:57] and there are times that nobody's scheduled
[1:04:00] and we're shorthanded
[1:04:01] and the idea is to try to prevent that.
[1:04:06] So did you have any questions? Council
[1:04:11] Mills?
[1:04:12] I have a question. So if I understood you correctly,
[1:04:14] you're telling me that you, you're, and,
[1:04:16] and first of all, congratulations to everybody
[1:04:18] that comes out to volunteer these, these poll workers.
[1:04:21] But as you're saying, they come out
[1:04:22] and they vote, they work during the primary, then they work
[1:04:25] during the general election and then
[1:04:26] they come back in March.
[1:04:27] They have to be requalified each
[1:04:29] and every time they come back for this.
[1:04:31] So, or is theirs qualification good
[1:04:33] for six months, eight months?
[1:04:35] So September and November tend to be,
[1:04:40] you know, once they're trained in September,
[1:04:41] they work in November and everything's copacetic.
[1:04:45] The issue we have is that the legislators up in Concord like
[1:04:50] to pass legislation
[1:04:51] that suddenly takes effect on January one surprise,
[1:04:55] and then all of a sudden we need to change a process
[1:04:58] for the March election
[1:05:00] and now everybody's back in in training.
[1:05:02] Okay. So, you know, we pride ourselves on when the Secretary
[1:05:07] of State and the Attorney General's office comes in,
[1:05:09] that they don't find any issues
[1:05:11] and they don't find any problems
[1:05:13] and we're doing things the right way by statute.
[1:05:17] The only way you can do that is
[1:05:18] to make sure everybody's taken the training
[1:05:20] in some way, shape, or
[1:05:21] Form, and everybody's qualified then at that point.
[1:05:24] Yep. Thank you. That's all I had.
[1:05:26] Council Webb, When I first saw this on the agenda,
[1:05:30] I sent a, through my follow to Tina
[1:05:33] questions on data security and data of privacy.
[1:05:35] I just wanna thank you for answering those
[1:05:37] and alleviated my concerns that this was a product that pro,
[1:05:43] that protected privacy, had good data security
[1:05:47] and retained ownership of data to the town of dairy.
[1:05:51] Correct. So thank you for answering those questions and
[1:05:53] That's one of the number one reasons
[1:05:55] why I went with this company.
[1:05:56] Yeah.
[1:05:59] Madam Chair, seeing no other questions
[1:06:01] or concerns, I move resolution number 2026 dash 0 4 3
[1:06:05] to accept grant funding from the US Alliance
[1:06:08] for Election Excellence.
[1:06:09] Whereas section nine point 15
[1:06:12] of the Town Charter authorizes the town council to apply
[1:06:16] for, accept and expend funds received from outside agencies.
[1:06:21] And whereas the town clerk has identified an opportunity
[1:06:24] to enhance election efficiency through acquisition
[1:06:27] of poll worker software.
[1:06:28] And whereas the town clerk sees seeks to access these funds
[1:06:32] through purchase the software to support upcoming elections.
[1:06:37] Now therefore be it resolved in council
[1:06:40] that the town administrator is hereby authorized
[1:06:42] to sign a grant agreement with the US Alliance
[1:06:45] for Election Excellence in the amount of $9,000
[1:06:49] and expend such funds,
[1:06:51] this resolution shall take effect
[1:06:52] immediately upon its passage.
[1:06:55] Second, Great motion by Council Mills second
[1:06:59] by Councilor Webb on the motion. Councilor Mills,
[1:07:03] I checked, I think I am qualified.
[1:07:04] I vote yes. Councilor
[1:07:07] Healy?
[1:07:08] Yes. Councilor Webb? Yes. Councilor Flood? Yes.
[1:07:11] Councilor Foot? Yes. And chair votes? Yes. Motion passes.
[1:07:14] Six zero. Thank you very much. Okay.
[1:07:17] We are two counselor comments. Anyone? Anyone have anything?
[1:07:22] See? Alright.
[1:07:27] Wow. No counselor comments.
[1:07:29] Seeing no counselor comments.
[1:07:31] Madam Chair, I make my favorite motion. I move to adjourn.
[1:07:36] I'll second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. All right.
[1:07:40] Have a good night everybody. Thank you.