Hastings Named Hampstead’s First Full-Time Fire Chief
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The fire board of engineers attended the ceremony, and Deputy Chief Jim Gilmanton spoke for the group, saying they couldn’t think of a better man to fill the first chief’s position.
Hastings, who was earning an annual salary of more than $43,000 as part-time chief, will receive a raise up to $61,137 to go along with the plaque presented to him by the board of selectmen.
Hastings told the selectmen they are losing one of the town’s full-time firefighters to the town of Salem. Gerald Mackey, who has been instrumental in working on the computer upgrades as well as with the emergency medical services division of the fire department, will be leaving, Hastings said. Mackey has been a full-time firefighter for three years with the department.
“Our loss is Salem’s gain,” Hastings said. “We have got to come up with a plan to retain some help for longer periods of time.”
Hastings also urged the board to get moving on establishing a steering committee to develop the protocol by which the board can seek a replacement for him before he retires.
Gilmanton said ideally he would like to see someone in place by Dec. 1 so that the new chief “can get up to speed” before Hastings retires.
The board later in the evening appointed Hartung to fill the selectmen’s position on the steering committee. Other members will come from the board of engineers, the executive board, the Local Government Center and a previous fire chief. Gilmanton said new members from the fire department boards should be in place later this week after they hold their own meetings.
Hastings said he hasn’t come to a decision yet whether he will remain with the fire department on a volunteer basis after his retirement.
In other business Monday evening:
• The selectmen unsealed bids for the second time for a Laura Lane culvert project. A second set of bids was requested after some changes were made to the plan.
Hartung announced that the nine bids ranged from $8,800 to over $26,000. Road Agent Jon Worthen said the three lowest bidders on the project were the only companies that had inspected the site before placing their bids. “It’s a pretty simple job,” he said.
The board passed the proposals to Worthen for review before awarding a bid.
• The selectmen also passed to Worthen for review the two bids received on a project to repair the old town garage. Both bids came in under $10,000 and were within just under $400 of each other. Hartung said one bidder said the cost would even be lower, by about $1,800, if white ash siding could be used instead of fir.
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Minton Parcel Opens to Public Use
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“It offers a lot of recreation opportunities right in town,” Butler said. “There are some really nice spots in there. People don’t have to waste the gas to drive up north. Personally, I’m looking forward to going hunting on it. But it’s there for whatever people enjoy doing.”
The acreage, known throughout the conservation commission’s campaign to buy the property as the Minton Property Mill Site, is commonly referred to as the “Minton parcel.” It abuts both Fremont and Odell roads, and both roads will likely have a parking area from which residents can access the land in the coming years. It also abuts the Town Forest and creates 260 acres of contiguous open space.
A formal celebration of the purchase is planned for Saturday, Sept. 27. The conservation commission is still arranging the details, but the day, currently called “The Town Forest Expansion Celebration,” will feature music from a local bluegrass band, food, games, speakers, and the opportunity for hiking and other passive recreational activities.
The commission is currently making improvements to the Town Forest parking lot for use at the event.
Also part of the celebration will be a photography contest of photos taken within the new property. Categories will include amateur, professional, youth, black and white, and color. The first-place winner of the contest will see the photo published on the front cover of next year’s town report.
“Everyone keeps saying that the conservation commission did such a good job, but I can’t stress enough it wasn’t us. The voters made the decision,” Butler said.
The next step for the conservation commission is to finalize the language in the conservation easement and have that signed. The commission is also looking toward creating a forest management plan on the piece and connecting it to the existing trail system in the Town Forest.
“For years we were looking at the property. We were hoping just to get a little chunk of it, but to get 138 acres is fantastic,” Butler said.
If residents are interested in helping with improvements, such as trails, to the new property, contact the conservation commission. Butler said the group is always looking for volunteers to improve the town’s resources.
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Chester School Board Gears Up to SB2 Schedule
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At Town Meeting in March, voters narrowly approved the adoption of SB 2. The system does away with the traditional school district meeting and replaces it with official ballot voting on all school district issues, preceded by a deliberative session to discuss any matters to be voted on. Proponents of the change argue that it will facilitate more participation in the district.
The change presents to school administration several issues that must be addressed early. One of the main concerns is a timeline for discussing and approving the budget.
In an effort to plan ahead for the coming budget year, Superintendent Vic Petzy drew up a schedule and presented it to the school board, Principal Leslie Leahy and Lamphere at the Aug. 6 school board meeting.
In general the budget process gets moved up about a month. Last year, the school board had its first meeting with the budget committee at the end of January, while this year the last legal date to post the finalized warrant and budget is Jan. 26.
According to Petzy’s tentative schedule, the school budget will be presented to his office by Oct. 17. From that point, all of the discussion, scrutiny, and back-up data will begin.
“And I guess run a school sometime in there,” Petzy joked.
The final numbers for the budget are dependent, however, on many factors that will not be determined until the budgeting process has begun, namely, Pinkerton Academy tuition rates, adequacy aid information from the state, and health premiums. Chester students are tuitioned to Pinkerton in Derry for high school.
Petzy emphasized that the process would be a moving target.
“My concern is that if we start meeting early and think we’re going in a certain direction, and then things change, we’ll have to (do over) the whole process again,” Petzy said.
Petzy recommended Jan. 15 for the budget hearing, and the deliberative session must be held “between the first and second Saturdays following the last Monday in January,” or between Jan. 31 and Feb. 7.
The election, or second session, will be held March 10, the second Tuesday of the month.
The school board agreed to match Petzy’s schedule with their own personal schedules to make sure there were no conflicts, but chair Mike Romick said he was so new to the process that he would be dependent on Petzy’s recommendations this coming year.
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