Nutfield Publishing - Tri-Town Times

Police Contract Shows Raises, More Health Premium Sharing
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These increases are the result of both step increases within a predetermined wage matrix and cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increases. The first year has a 2.18 percent COLA and a 2.5 percent step, if the officer is eligible. The matrix includes all employees who have worked with the town for 10 years or less. In the second and third year, there are 1.5 percent COLAs and 2.5 percent steps.

The contract also has a stipulation that increases the minimum number of hours for court and hearing appearances from three to four hours. Police chief Joe Gordon said most of the time the officers are at court for the four full hours, as court days are generally busy.

The contract also increases the probationary period for new employees from 30 to 60 days.

Including raises, the contract includes a $1 a year increase in per hour detail costs, starting at $34 an hour in the first year. This is a cost not borne by taxpayers, however, and is funded through use of the department's revolving fund set up for that purpose. The increases came through an effort to bring Sandown's rates in line with surrounding communities.

Also, a notable burden taken off taxpayers is the union's agreement to pick up a larger percentage of healthcare premium costs. While union members have stayed at a 4 percent contribution since 2009, the first year of the new contract states that will double to 8 percent. In the following years, the increase goes to 12 percent and then to 15 percent.

Regular, non-union town employees currently cover 10 percent of their premiums. In 2009, the contribution went from zero to 5 percent and in 2010, another 5 percent was tacked on.

Gordon, not a union member, expressed comfort with the contract and hoped voters would support the agreement.

"I support the contract. It's time to move it forward," said Gordon. He noted that it was important to give employees proper incentives, not only to keep them with the town, but because employees who think they are being adequately rewarded for their work are apt to be better workers. He also noted that officers have stayed with the department since 2009 with no pay increases.

"We have a good group of people," said Gordon, noting that retention of a quality workforce is less expensive than rehiring, especially in the police force, where training is time consuming.

Selectman negotiator Tom Tombarello has aired similar views on the contract and said he hopes voters get behind the agreement.

Tombarello worked with selectman Brenda Copp on the negotiations this year and with former chair Nelson Rheaume last year.

Tombarello noted that the negotiations with union representatives and officers Chris Rothwell and Richard Buco went well, and the group met about eight times. He called the resulting contract fair.

"It's good for the town and good for the morale of the guys," said Tombarello. "It lets the guys know that they're wanted by the town. It's an incentive."

Tombarello has also noted that the cost of attorney's fees for negotiations, a tab picked up by taxpayers, totals more than $8,000 this year, a sum replicated last year. As a result, the cost for the first year of $6,000 in wage increases costs about $17,000. He said that if the contract fails, legal counsel benefits because the negotiations are going to come up again.

Hampstead School Board members were urged to contact their representatives and express their concern and opposition to the bill and to urge the representatives to vote against it. The board was told by Pinkerton's Executive Director of Public Relations and External Affairs, Chip Underhill, that emails and letters are one way to reach their representatives, but the most effective is a phone call.

A hearing on the bill takes place Feb. 9 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 301 at the Legislative Office Building in Concord.

As the Derry School Board was meeting at the same time as Hampstead Tuesday night, Jan. 24, Underhill didn't know what position that board took, but Derry would be protected against increases in tuition resulting from the bill, while the sending towns would have to pay any resulting tuition increase.

The bill is sponsored by Representative Frank Sapareto, R-Derry, with fellow Derry Republican Representatives Kevin Reichard, James Webb and John O'Connor signing on as well.

"There is no upside in this bill for Hampstead," said Assistant Superintendent Winfried Feneberg.

Former state legislator and present board member Vivian Clark said the bill as written in her opinion is unconstitutional. Because of her past legislative experience, the board asked Clark to write the letter to the Municipal and County Government Committee from the board. Chairwoman Natalie Gallo said each board member should take responsibility for contacting the Hampstead Rockingham County District 8 Representatives by personal letter or phone call to ask them to vote against it.

Feneberg said the implications of HB 543, which is now law, appear significant. It would allow a parent to object to a specific material being used in a curriculum, and the school would have to provide that student with an alternative. He said he could envision scenarios when this would disrupt an entire class and a decision would have to be made whether to move the student to another location for the alternate material, which would likely require additional staff.

The bill requires school districts to adopt a policy allowing an exception to specific course material based on a parent's or legal guardian's determination that the material is objectionable. This took effect Jan. 1 and became law over the Governor's veto.

"This is probably a bill that didn't receive letters of objection or calls to vote it down," he said. "I am concerned about how wide the impact of this law could be. This is ladened with questions and we must develop a policy, even though we aren't sure what it means or how it can be done. We are in contact with other district administrations and will be working on this."

A preliminary report from that meeting is due out later this month, hopefully in time for the committee's next meeting on Feb. 17.

Cynthia Robinson, Chester Planning Board representative to the committee, said that for years the intersection has been considered problematic, but the response to improving it was always "there's nothing we can do." Last year, after an opportunity arose with SNHPC to investigate the area with the committee, she began initiatives to see whether that was the correct answer.

As part of that initiative, the SNHPC created a report to see whether the town could qualify for a DOT-led Road Safety Audit. The report was completed in November of 2011 and qualified the town for that work.

The report takes into account annual average daily traffic flows, signage, landscape, accident reports (including type of accident, weather, surface condition, lighting and severity) and other data to give an accurate picture of the area.

According to the report, most of the accidents were right angle collisions in dry, clear conditions; 54 percent were right angle collisions and the next highest type, at 21 percent, occurred when a car struck a fixed object. There were seven injuries, and 17 accidents that resulted in property damage only. The report determines that most of the accidents were caused by drivers on Route 121 failing to yield, limited sight distance on Route 121, slippery road surface and excessive speed.

A field visit documented in that report notes that a skewed intersection (the roads don't meet at right angles) could be a factor, along with signs hidden by vegetation, utilities and other signs; vision impairment from the hill on the Stevens Hall corner of the intersection; and low visibility (especially for the blinking yellow light) due to slopes and curves.

The report outlines potential repairs, but much of the meeting on Jan. 20 involved discussing them and why they may or may not be applicable.

Though agreeing that more research needs to be done, the SNHPC report notes several short-term and long-term fixes. These include the installation of flashing light warning signs, trimming trees on the Route 121 approaches, changing the intersection to right angles, cutting back the southwest corner, eliminating the upgrade slope and vertical curves on the Derry Road approach of Route 102, installing rumble strips and installing traffic signals or a rotary.

Robinson said that short-term, less expensive fixes were considered more applicable for the time being, and that any major work would be at least five years out.

Concern about installing lights or a roundabout include whether there are sufficient rights of way and the difficulty for heavy vehicles to start up again once stopped on the Derry Road hill.

Robinson added that DOT was aware that the intersection represents the center of town and has a historic nature. Complicating any work to the area are Stevens Hall on one corner, the Chester Congregational and Baptist Church on another and the Village Cemetery on a third.

According to Robinson, making the intersection right-angled was deemed not feasible. The group even suggested resident Jamie Towle's old solution of creating a tunnel in the center of town for one of the roads. DOT engineers said there wasn't enough space for such a project and the requisite opportunities for changing direction or exiting the roadway.

The public is encouraged to attend Highway Safety Committee meetings. The next is set for Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. in town hall.