Voters Will Get to Decide on Official Ballot Voting
continued from main page
About a dozen residents were present.
Referring to state RSA 49-D: 3, I and II, Meyer emphasized that in his opinion, imposing a quorum was beyond the commission's authority.
"I couldn't agree more," resident Reed Clark told him.
Resident Bob Napolitano asked Meyer if he knew of any New Hampshire towns that had adopted an SB2 (Senate Bill 2 or official ballot) form of government but ultimately dropped it.
Meyer said Enfield has done so, but noted he "was unable to speculate why."
Commission chairman Brian Farmer noted that Pelham currently has official ballot voting. An attempt to overturn that town's voting method failed overwhelmingly in a recent election.
"Town Meeting is such a good process, such an important process," Napolitano said. "I don't understand any reason for changing it."
"I think we're underestimating the people of Londonderry," charter commission member Al Baldasaro said. "They know exactly what they're doing at the polls."
Resident Mary Soares said she was in favor of leaving Town Meeting as is.
"I feel Town Meeting has a very positive process and don't see the same thing happening at a deliberative session," she said.
"Right now, we're lucky to see 250 people attend Town Meeting," Baldasaro responded.
Commissioner Deb Paul, publisher of the Londonderry Times, noted that her newspaper has long encouraged residents to participate more actively in Town Meeting, though those efforts "haven't made a difference."
"It's their choice and they don't attend," she said.
Town councilor Sean O'Keefe said though he supported a change to official ballot voting, he wasn't in favor of establishing a quorum.
"People are so busy and the economy so difficult, it is difficult for people who work out of town to get to a meeting," O'Keefe said. "My vote should mean something when I go to those meetings. People need to adjust, because if you don't change, you're failing society."
Town cable administrator Dottie Grover, who attended the meeting as a longtime town resident, said she has attended Town Meetings since she was 10 years old.
"When growing up in Chester, it was considered a very exciting night out," Grover said. "This is where I fell in love with democracy. I understood it was my responsibility to participate and be heard on the issues that were important to me."
Grover asked the commission to consider the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) form of government, referring to an article that ran in the May 2010 edition of "New Hampshire Town and City" magazine. Grover provided copies of the article to those attending Monday's meeting.
RTM is a hybrid form of government combining features of the open town meeting with a representative body. Voters delegate legislative power to a relatively large number of elected representatives, but reserve the right to attend and speak at town meetings.
"The goal is to have more involvement in the voting process," Grover said. "The current methods have resulted in fewer people having a chance to ask their questions before they go to the polls. Ballot voting alone means that there are fewer options to engage voters in a discussion."
Resident Tom Freda asked Mayer what percentage of positive votes would be needed to initiate a switch to official ballot voting this March. Mayer said a 60 percent majority would be required.
"I would like to say I've watched all the commission's meetings and haven't heard one reason to validate keeping Town Meeting the way it is," Freda noted. "You've offered no reason to exclude the 40 or 50 people who vote absentee ballot every year because of military service."
Freda added that this year's annual Londonderry High School band trip to the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade would coincide with the March 2011 Town Meeting, meaning it would be likely that many more residents would miss their chance to vote on issues at the meeting, though they could still vote for the Tuesday election items via absentee ballot.
"I'm all for moving to SB2. I've followed this issue for at least three or four years," said resident Glenn Douglas. " I say move forward and let the voters decide if they want this or not next March."
"It's our vote to recommend, then it's the will of the people in March to say yes or no to any change," Farmer said. " If we get to a Tuesday vote and it's a blizzard and nine people walk in and say no, I am fine with that. If it's the will of the people, I am fine with that. We're not changing anything."
After nearly two hours of discussion, the public hearing concluded, with the commission unanimously agreeing to take its final vote with no further discussion.
Baldasaro made the motion for the commission to recommend establishing official ballot voting.
The commission will meet Aug. 9, when its final report, along with a minority report, will be discussed.
back to main news page
_____________________
PSNH Offers Less Clear-Cutting if Abutters Sign Letter and Withdraw Opposition
continued from main page
On Friday, Murray said Springwood Hills residents had until Aug. 14 to respond to the letters, with construction on the project not to begin until after that date. Those who sign the letter would be agreeing to withdraw their opposition to the project, among other stipulations.
Murray said the offer stemmed from concerns presented by Seasons Lane resident Bruce Connell, which were most recently presented to PSNH and the Londonderry Planning Board on June 9.
Since that meeting, the state Public Utilities Commission's (PUC) consulting firm, Accion Group, LLC, followed up on Connell's concerns. According to the PUC report presented at the June meeting, the five concerns are: no Environmental Impact Statement was performed for the project; government regulations require 50 feet of clearance between the line and the edge of the right of way; the proposed distribution line poses safety hazards, as it crosses the only road in and out of the development; and the project is poorly planned and not cost effective.
"Based on Connell's concerns, the PUC conducted its research and, under their recommendation, we decided to offer this to landowners," Murray said.
The reduced clearing, subtracting 20 feet on each side of the right of way, would apply to each individual property, and would only be reduced on the properties of residents signing an agreement with PSNH.
The letter from PSNH states several exceptions to this agreement, including:
• "Any dead or dying tree which PSNH determines in its sole discretion needs to be cut down because it presents a danger to the operations or reliability of the proposed new line."
• "Any trees or other vegetative growth which PSNH determines in its sole discretion need to be cut and cleared to allow for access around wetlands, to protect against or avoid wetlands impacts from PSNH's right-of-way activities, or to avoid rock outcroppings or other obstructions."
In exchange for signing the letters and having less land subjected to clear-cutting, abutters would, "in consideration of PSNH's forbearance in fully exercising its easement rights,...indemnify and hold harmless PSNH...from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, proceedings, liability and responsibility for any loss, cost, damage or expense whatsoever, inclusive of death, personal injury or property damage, arising from or out of, or claimed to have arisen from or out of PSNH's forbearance under this Agreement, including but not necessarily limited to any claims or causes of action for tree-related power outages, and the cutting and clearing at any time in the future of the right-of-way to its full 100 foot wide width."
Abutters signing the letter would also agree "to immediately withdraw and discontinue any and all opposition of any nature to PSNH's construction, operation and maintenance of the new 12.47 kV overhead power line within the PSNH easement before any and all governmental or regulatory agency or authority...including the Town of Londonderry Planning Board."
Construction and clearing for the project will begin sometime after Aug. 14, Murray noted, though the company will again notify property owners by letter prior to the start date.
As of early this week, none of the Springwood Hills residents had signed and returned their agreement letter, Murray said. Residents who decline to sign the agreement will be subjected to the original 100-foot clearance on their properties, he emphasized.
"We've had conversations with all of the (affected) residents. We've offered to do additional landscaping on the cleared areas," Murray said, adding that the company plans to landscape around additional areas outside the Springwood Hills neighborhood before winter begins.
On Monday morning, Connell said he received the letter earlier this month but had not signed the agreement. "The mitigation is minimal to the abutters, but it is something," Connell said. "The critical issue here is the (state) Department of Environmental Services should deny PSNH's wetlands application because of the severe financial impact to the abutters, and therefore prevent the right of way from being cleared."
Connell noted that PSNH's wetlands application was still under review, though at last month's meeting, Frank Richardson, regional supervisor with the state DES Wetlands Bureau, noted "the right of way by PSNH cannot cause any financial impact to abutters."
"The PSNH project will cause severe financial hardship for all of the abutters," Connell said.
According to Connell, his property is assessed at $331,000. That amount would decrease to $150,000 if the project were carried out, according to a private property appraisal he recently had completed.
During last month's planning board meeting, project manager Nick Golon of TF Moran, Inc. noted the project would result in a total of 5,465 square feet of temporary wetlands impact in eight areas, with 560 square feet of that of permanent impact, with 80 feet in Londonderry.
According to Town Planner Tim Thompson, the PSNH project, per town regulations, does not have to go through any site plan or subdivision approval, the only time the town's wetland ordinance comes into play.
back to main news page
_____________________
Former LHS Teacher Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor Indecent Exposure
continued from main page
Dennehy was arrested and released on $10,000 personal recognizance bail after turning herself in to local police on March 5 and has resigned from her teaching position.
During her July 26 court hearing, Dennehy, who was granted a plea agreement after pleading guilty, offered a public apology.
"I am truly sorry for my actions and poor judgement," she said. "I wish the student and his family well."
As part of her plea agreement, Dennehy's 12-month prison sentence was suspended for two years on condition of continued good behavior, Londonderry Police Prosecutor Kevin Coyle said. Dennehy was also required to surrender her teaching license and avoid contact with the victim or his family.
Coyle added that the victim's family, who did not attend Monday's court hearing, supported the plea agreement.
According to Coyle, Dennehy is currently involved in counseling, and has undergone a New Hampshire sex offender evaluation, though under the state's current laws, she is not required to register as a sex offender.
The student victim alleged his relationship with Dennehy began approximately two months prior to her arrest, and said she'd sent him a total of four nude photographs of herself to his Hotmail e-mail account, which he shared with two of his friends.
The student further claimed that he'd kissed Dennehy on two occasions and had received text messages from his teacher, many of which contained sexual innuendos. He said that in several of the messages, Dennehy reportedly offered to perform a sexual act on the student.
back to main news page
_____________________
|
