http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/feeds/topics/milford_tm2010 Daily news from The Telegraph of Nashua en-us dkiesow@nashuatelegraph.com onlineeditor@nh.com http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/666204-308/1.7-million-milford-school-addition-approved.html MILFORD – Voters approved an addition to the Jacques School but turned down the School District’s operating budget Tuesday The $1.7 million four-classroom addition, which will give the school more space to accommodate public kindergarten, is contingent on the state funding 75 percent. Milford’s share, $438,000, will have a first-year tax impact in 2011 of 1 cent per $1,000 of assessed valuation, which will go up over the remaining nine years of the bond to about 7 cents. Last year, the project received a majority vote but failed to get the required 60 percent. The original $35.3 million school operating budget had been increased by $419,451 at the school Deliberative Session in February, and voters said they wanted to return staff hours that the School Board had trimmed from the original budget. Tuesday’s defeat means a default budget of $35.4 million, a budget that is slightly more than the School Board’s original budget, will go into effect. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:53 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/666207-308/fireambulance-buy-shot-down.html MILFORD – Plans to build a fire/ambulance facility on School Street suffered a setback on Election Day as voters rejected a $850,000 warrant article to buy land adjacent to the current firehouse. The item, Article 4, needed a 60 percent vote, but didn’t even receive a majority Tuesday. It would have allowed the town to bond up to $850,000 to buy four lots adjacent to the School Street fire station for an eventual expansion of the facility, which would have cost $6.6 million. There is general agreement that the fire and ambulance services need more space, but critics said the entire project should be offered at once, while others said this is the wrong time to build a new facility. In other items on a long ballot, voters said no to Fourth of July fireworks, an Osgood Road sidewalk and bike lane project and Granite Town Rail Trail improvements, but gave their OK to improvements to Kaley Park. Milford’s $37,137 share of the Souhegan Valley Transportation Collaborative bus for non-emergency medical appointments passed easily. Voters also approved spending for local social services, the Pumpkin Festival, holiday decorations and plantings, summer bank concerts and parades. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:53 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/665706-196/milford-rejects-school-street-fire-station-expansion.html MILFORD – Plans to build a fire/ambulance facility on School Street suffered a setback on Election Day as voters rejected a $850,000 warrant article to buy land adjacent to the current firehouse. The item, Article 4, needed a 60 percent vote but did not even receive a majority. It would have allowed the town to bond up to $850,000 to buy four lots adjacent to the School Street fire station for an eventual expansion of the facility, which would have cost $6.6 million. There is general agreement that the fire and ambulance services need more space, but critics said the project should be offered at once, while others said this is the wrong time to build a new facility. In other items on a long ballot, voters said no to Fourth of July fireworks and to an Osgood Road sidewalk and bike lane project and to Granite Town Rail Trail improvements, but gave improvements to Kaley Park. Milford’s $37,137 share of the Souhegan Valley Transportation Collaborative bus for non-emergency medical appointments passed easily. Voters also approved spending for local social services, the Pumpkin Festival, holiday decorations and plantings, summer bank concerts and parades. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:52 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/665726-196/school-addition-accepted-operating-budget-not.html MILFORD – Voters approved an addition to the Jacques School but turned down the School District’s operating budget Tuesday. The $1.7 million four-classroom addition, which will give the school more space to accommodate public kindergarten, is contingent on the state funding 75 percent. Milford’s share, $438,000, will have a first-year tax impact in 2011 of 1 cent per $1,000 of assessed valuation, which will go up over the remaining nine years of the bond to about 7 cents. Last year, the project received a majority vote but failed to get the required 60 percent. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:52 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/655653-308/voters-to-decide-fate-of-fees.html MILFORD – Milford voters go to the polls on March 9 to decide on a myriad of issues ranging from land purchases to sewer upgrades to fireworks displays on the Fourth of July, but one of the most contentious issues can be found in Article 28, an article which would put cable access franchise fees into a revolving fund for public access television channels. In 1984, Congress passed the Cable Franchise Policy Act, which mandates cable companies give 3 percent of their revenues to towns in exchange for the right to be the sole cable provider in a particular town. Milford co-mingles these funds along with other tax appropriations and uses them to help fund all town communications, from the public access channels to the town Web site. Article 28 on the town warrant would place these fees in the fund to be used to solely fund cable access channels. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:42 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/655678-308/milford-school-board-3-year-seat.html Four people are running for a pair of three-years seats on the Milford School board. The Cabinet asked them to answer this question: “Given the financial times, list an example of a school program that could be cut to save money and an example of a school program that should not be cut under any circumstances, and explain why you feel this way. Please be as specific as possible.” Len Mannino If considering “cuts”, one question that should always be asked is, “What action can we take to reduce expenses that will have the least impact to the overall education of all students?” I would seek to identify a program that is not a part of the minimum requirements, but one, such as an elective program, that demonstrates the least amount of student interest; that if eliminated would have the least amount of impact to all students and reduce personnel costs that amount to tangible savings. With the exception to the activities that do not have any measurable student participation, it would be my position that co-curricular programs be spared from cuts. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:42 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/647517-308/state-funding--touted-by-backers-of.html MILFORD – The need for an addition to the Jacques School is like the need for proper auto maintenance, School Board Chairman Peter Bragdon said this week: The school can get away without the extra space for awhile, “but eventually the work should be done,” On the ballot for the March 9 elections is $1.7 million for a four-classroom addition to the school, which houses kindergarten and first grade. A state grant would pay for 75 percent, and Milford’s share would be $438,000. The district would not appropriate the money if state funding does not come through, say school officials. State-mandated kindergarten started in September and the approximately 134 new students make the addition necessary, they say. The addition is meant to house first graders, with kindergarten children in the rooms formerly used by the first graders. Portable buildings that were intended to temporarily relieve crowding have been held up since September by coding issues, and a decision on whether to install them at all will probably wait for the vote in March, said Bragdon. Bragdon said the school needs more space, and the need will increase as the school population, whose growth now is relatively flat, starts to grow again. “They are making do now, although not with ideal resources,” he said. For example, “there is no dedicated library space. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:37 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/647522-308/milford-board-of-selectmen.html John Cass Sr. is challenging incumbent Tim Finan for a three-year seat on the Board of Selectmen. How should the town deal with today’s financial realities - the expectation of lower revenue and rising expenses? Tim Finan: In difficult economic times, we cannot forget that the taxpayers are hurting. Asking the taxpayer to make up revenue shortfalls should be the last option. We must start with the premise of a flat operating budget; if we could get by last year on X, then we should be able to get by this year on X. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:37 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/637166-308/restaurateur-eyes-moderator-post.html MILFORD – A local restaurant owner is challenging Town Moderator Peter Basiliere for the two-year position. Joseph Oneail, owner of Papa Joe’s Humble Kitchen, said he entered the race after a few residents asked him to. “I have no experience. I’m a blank slate,” he said, but added he’s confident he could run a meeting. He said he doesn’t attend town meetings, but watches them on public access television. One of the duties of town moderator is to choose members of the Advisory Budget Committee and Oneail said his views as a fiscal conservative will influence his choices. Oneail has owned the restaurant, which makes and sells ready-to-eat meals, for 10 years and recently moved it from downtown to Route 13 and changed the name from Humble Pie to Papa Joe’s Humble Kitchen. Before that he owned the Milford Fish Market for four years. Incumbent Peter Basiliere is also the school district moderator and was elected to the posts two years ago. He served on the School Board for three years in the 1990s, the final year as chairman, and on the School Budget Committee before that. There are two other elements to the job of moderator: running meetings and running elections, and Basiliere said he loves them both. The last presidential election “in November of 2008 was just a thrill,” he said. “More than 7,000 voters came through, the most we’ve ever had in Milford. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:31 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/637171-308/vote-gives-birth-to-controversy.html MILFORD – Officially, the town Advisory Budget Committee has taken no position on the fire station/ambulance warrant article. But if a telephone vote by its chairman had been counted, the committee would have given it a negative recommendation. The committee met after the town’s Feb. 6 Deliberative Session and voted on all the town warrant articles, giving a tie vote of 4-4 to Article 4, which would allow the town to bond up to $850,000 to buy four pieces of property between Nashua, School and Pine streets for a combined fire and ambulance facility. Faced with the tie vote, committee members called Chairman Chuck Morrison, who was in the hospital, where his wife was giving birth to their first child. Morrison voted no. But a phone vote is illegal – committee members have to be present to vote, and Town Moderator Peter Basiliere was aware of the phone vote and declared it illegal. So only the 4-4 vote will appear on the town Voters’ Guide on Election Day, with pro and con explanations for the vote, instead of a majority and minority report. The committee met again Feb. 11, but did not take a re-vote as planned because a few members were absent. Morrison says he feels like a football quarterback sitting on the bench during the big game. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:31 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/637188-308/milford-school-board-1-year-seat.html Give an example of a school program that could be cut to save money and an example of a school program that should not be cut under any circumstances, and explain why you feel this way. Please be as specific as possible. Bert Becker: In my opinion, cutting the co-curricular programs (sports, band, math and Destination ImagiNation) would save about $300,000, including salaries, memberships, officials’ payments, maintenance, supplies and $94,000 in transportation costs. All of the participating students are volunteers, and partipation is not required for graduation. This cut will not impact the regular curricula. Reading, which starts at the kindergarten level and demands increasing competency until graduation, should not be cut under any circumstances. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:03:31 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/603532-308/milford-voters-put-land-buy-question-to.html MILFORD – Voters will see 29 warrant articles on the ballot when they go to the polls in March, following the Milford Deliberative Session at the Town Hall auditorium on Saturday, which drew exactly 100 voters during a 51⁄2-hour meeting. Article 4, which would allow the town to bond up to $850,000 to purchase four pieces of property between Nashua, School and Pine streets, to transform the current fire station into a combined fire and ambulance facility, drew considerable debate. The article arose from the town’s Facilities Committee’s wish to replace the current fire station on School Street and ambulance bay in the basement of Town Hall. Supporters said it’s a good to buy property, while opponents were concerned about the interest cost and said it would be better to do the entire process, which would include building the $6.6 million facility, along with the $850,000 purchase of the land. An amendment was passed allowing the Board of Selectmen – should it not be able to buy all four properties needed for the facility – to spend the money on an ambulance facility at another location with the approval of the director of ambulance services and the Facilities Committee. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:59:51 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/603538-308/voters-increase-school-budget-to-return-cut.html MILFORD – Saying they want to avoid cuts to teaching hours, voters last week added money back into the district operating budget. The School Board’s original $35.3 million operating budget reflected reductions to some staff hours, the board’s reaction to a “very challenging year,” said Chairman Peter Bragdon. But residents at the Feb. 4 at the School Deliberative Session voted 74-9 to increase the budget by $419,451, on a motion by Budget Committee Chairman Kevin Federico. That means when voters will add money back into the School Board’s budget if they approve the operating budget in March. Voters last Thursday night, the majority of whom seemed to be parents or school staff, also put the $1.7 million Jacques School addition warrant article on the ballot, after School Board member Bob Willette went to the microphone to explain why he changed his mind. Up until last week Willette had opposed the project. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:59:51 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/599732-196/milford-to-decide-on-850k-land-buy.html MILFORD – Voters will see 29 warrant articles on the ballot when they go to the polls in March following the Milford Deliberative Session at the Town Hall auditorium on Saturday. According to the Supervisors of the Checklist, exactly 100 Milford residents attended to discuss numerous issues over the 51⁄2-hour meeting, which decided the wording of all measures to be voted upon by Milford voters in March with the exclusion of zoning variances and the election of officers. The first contentious topic of the day was Article 4, an article that would allow the town spend up to $850,000 to purchase four pieces of property between Nashua, School and Pine streets in order to transform the current fire station into a combined fire and ambulance facility. The article arose from a proposal from the town’s Facilities Committee to replace the current fire station on School Street and ambulance bay in the basement of Town Hall. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:59:49 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/597365-196/milford-moves-to-reinstate-staff-hours.html MILFORD – Last week, School Board member Bob Willette wrote a letter to the editor explaining his opposition to building an addition to Jacques School. But at the school Deliberative Session on Thursday night, he went to the microphone to explain why he changed his mind. The state will pick up most of the cost of the addition this year, he said, and the opportunity for state funding might not be available next year. The four-classroom addition would cost the district $438,000, with the state paying $1.2 million. It’s “something we need and it should pass,” Willette said to scattered applause, and residents agreed, voting to put the warrant article on the ballot unchanged. The proposed $35.3 million operating budget reflected cuts to some staff hours, part of reductions made by the School Board to keep the tax rate down. It was increased $419,451 on a motion by Budget Committee Chairman Kevin Federico to reinstate staff hours. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:59:48 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/553371-308/another-try-for-school-addition.html MILFORD — The School Board will try again this year to get approval for a four-classroom addition to Jacques School. The project, which would give the school more space to accommodate the new public kindergarten program, received a majority vote last March but failed to get the required 60 percent majority. School officials reviewed the kindergarten proposal and other warrant articles at a public hearing Tuesday night before a small audience. The kindergarten article calls for the state to pay 75 percent of a $1.7 million kindergarten construction bond. Milford’s share would be $438,000, but the article is contingent on the state funding. School Board Chairman Peter Bragdon, who is a state senator, warned that funding might be cut off this year. The kindergarten bond would have a first-year tax impact of 1 cent per $1,000 of assessed valuation, going up over the course of the remaining nine years to almost 7 cents. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:56:25 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com//www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/553373-308/2-contracts-up-for-approval.html MILFORD – Town Administrator Guy Scaife told a sparse audience at the town’s budget and bond hearing Monday night he doesn’t support the latest contract covering police department patrol officers. The contract keeps a provision for sick-time buyouts, Scaife said, while of all the rest of town employees, including members of the Teamsters union, have dropped it. “Sick time is not an entitlement,” he said. “It’s there for when you are sick. I am baffled why 17 employees should be treated differently.” Voters will be asked to approve two employee union contracts on Election Day, March 9, one for the 17 police officers – members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and one for members of the Teamsters union, which covers about 23 people. The AFSCME members are non-management, mostly patrol officers, and make up half of the 34-member police department, Scaife said. Each of the two three-year settlements call for no wage increases this year. Teamsters agreed to up to a 3 percent merit increase for 2011, while the AFSCME proposal calls for a 2.5 percent across-the-board increase for 2011. “Teamsters went out of their way to meet the challenges of this economic climate,” Scaife said. The AFSCME contract amounts to a $49,829 warrant article and would account for a 3 cent tax rate increase. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:56:25 EST