BRISTOL — Public tours of the former Newfound Family Practice at the intersection of School and Summer streets are scheduled for Monday, Oct. 1, and Saturday, Oct. 6, so taxpayers have an opportunity to see the building that town officials hope to purchase as a new municipal building.
Barbara Greenwood, who serves on the space needs committee, said there will be tours at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Oct. 1, and at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the 6th. She said people may also contact her for tours at other times.
A public hearing on the proposed purchase is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the Old Town Hall on Summer Street.
Selectmen have petitioned Grafton County Superior Court for permission to hold a special town meeting on Thursday, Nov. 1, when voters will be asked to purchase the building from LRGHealthcare at a negotiated price of $335,800 and put additional money into renovations to make it suitable for town offices. Plans also call for creating an 800-square-foot meeting room that can accommodate larger gatherings and potentially serve as a voting location.
Acting on information from the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, Town Administrator Nik Coates initially said that voters would have to give an up-or-down vote on the warrant article, but another official with the DRA said the information given to Coates was wrong and that voters would have full authority to increase or decrease the appropriation, the same as at any regular town meeting.
Recycling and Ayers Island
During their Sept. 20 meeting, selectmen discussed the negative response they have received to their announcement that the town would stop its recycling program on the 24th. It costs twice as much to handle recycled materials as it does for regular solid waste and the selectmen had decided earlier in the month that continuing to recycle was not sustainable under current market conditions.
They will continue to accept glass bottles and jars in a separate container at the town’s transfer station, because they can be crushed to serve as a base for road work. Selectmen noted, however, that plates and other ceramics cannot be accepted with the glass.
Selectman Wayne Anderson said he has been speaking with New Hampton officials about the possibility of bailing recyclables, but wasn’t sure where the discussions would lead.
Coates said he had preliminary discussions with Barbara Lucas, his counterpart in New Hampton, about strategies for dealing with the new owners of the Ayers Island Dam, which straddles the two towns. Eversource recently sold the hydroelectric facility as part of its state-mandated divestiture of generating facilities. An affiliate of Hull Street Energy, LLC, of Bethesda, Maryland, has purchased Eversource’s nine hydroelectric facilities, including Ayers Island Station, which has an 8.4-megawatt generating capacity. It paid $10,500,000, which is less than what the two towns have been assessing the property for tax purposes.
Eversource has agreed to cover the difference in taxes between the old and new assessment for the first year, then paying two-thirds of that amount in the second year, and one-third in the third year. Coates said that, in order to qualify for the stabilization fund, Bristol and New Hampton would have to agree to assess the facility at its sale price.
The portion of the property in New Hampton has the greatest value, so that town has a greater stake in the decision, noted board chair Rick Alpers.
The two towns will be setting up a joint meeting to exchange their views and attempt to settle on a strategy for taxing the property.
Sewer Rates
Water and Sewer Superintendent Jeff Chartier has been reviewing the user rates and concluded that water rates are fine where they are, but that sewer rates may need to be adjusted.
His immediate proposal was to establish a separate fee for water meters used in irrigation. Regular water users pay a sewer fee based on water usage, but those who have the town hook up a separate meter for outdoor water use incur no sewer fee, since the water goes into the ground. Chartier said the setup fees also should be less than for setting up the main water meter.
He also discussed setting up a credit card payment option to make it easier for customers to pay their bills.
Reporting on the upgrade at the wastewater treatment plant, Chartier said the new dewatering system is working well on one side, but the second line is not working efficiently. The company that sold the new system is standing by its performance guarantee and is working to solve the problem, he said.
