Boy Scout Troop 242 invites the Seniors of our community to a turkey dinner,
1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 23, at the Gilmanton Community United Church,
G.I.W.
The dinner is free of charge to Seniors in our community.
Scrabble Tuesdays at Gilmanton Year-Round Library
Did you know that qat, qi, qoph are three of eleven ‘q’ without ‘u’
words in the Scrabble dictionary?
Come play Scrabble at the Gilmanton Year-Round Library on Tuesdays from
2:30 until 4:30. Enjoy a cup of tea, watch the late afternoon sky turn dusky
pink, and play a friendly game of Scrabble with Gilmanton neighbors.
The Library is located on Rte. 140 across from the Gilmanton Elementary
School. For further information, contact Gary Mason, Librarian, at
364-2400.
The Library is open six days a week. Library hours are Monday, Friday
and Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 12 p.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday,
from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
(Qat is an evergreen shrub. Qi is the vital force that in Chinese
thought is inherent in all things. Qoph is a Hebrew letter.)
Selectmen’s Update
Rachel Hatch, Chair Betty Ann Abbott, Don Guarino
Public Safety Building
In early December, the Town published a request for proposal for a
design/build project that would give the Town a needs-based, no-fluff
combination fire and police station, to be located on the land the Town
bought some years ago on Rt. 140 across from Allens Mill Road.
Thirty-seven builders attended the mandatory pre-bid meeting on December 14,
2009, indicating a high level of interest and possibly a very competitive
bidding process. Bids are due at noon on January 21, 2010.
A preliminary site plan has been presented to the Planning Board and is
now posted on the Town website (www.gilmantonnh.org).
The Board of Selectmen, Chief Lockwood, Chief O’Brien, Budget Committee
Chair Stan Bean and Town Administrator Tim Warren will carefully review the
plans and select the plan which best meets the Town’s needs, at the best
price, and no later than February 5th. We have scheduled two
Public Information Sessions to introduce the plan to the townspeople:
Wednesday, February 10, 7:00PM at the Police Department
Saturday,
February 20, 10:00AM at the Corner Fire Station
We expect to be able to
complete the 6,400 square foot building for under $900,000. The first
proposal for a public safety building was brought to Town Meeting in 2004
with a footprint of 12,360 square feet and a price tag of $1,648,042; and
the following year, a smaller building for $1,300,000. Both of these
proposals were voted down at Town Meeting but the Town voted to begin
putting money into a capital reserve fund in the hopes of finding an
appropriate plan for our modest but proud town.
That fund now has just over $370,000 in it, so the Town would need
to bond the remainder of approximately $500,000. The Municipal Bond Bank
offers 10-year bonds at 2.62% and the Town may be able to get an even lower
rate elsewhere. Here is an example of yearly payments and also total
interest paid, using the Municipal Bond Bank’s current interest rates.
· For a 10-year
bond at 2.62% interest, the Town would pay $56,890 in principal and interest
per year. ($69,000 in interest over the course of the loan)
· If the Town bonds for 20 years at the Bond Bank’s 20-year interest rate of
3.56%, the Town would pay $34,980 in principal and interest per year.
(Almost $200,000 in interest over the life of the loan)
Once we have
selected a bid (contingent upon approval at Town Meeting), we will finalize
our estimates for the bonding amount, search for the best bonding packages
for the Town, and present that information to the townspeople at a Public
Hearing:
• Bond Public Hearing - Monday, February 22, 7:00PM at the
Academy Building
And finally, we will bring a proposal to the Town at
Town Meeting on March 13, 2010 asking to appropriate and expend the total
amount needed to build the Gilmanton Public Safety Building, with funding to
come from a combination of the Police/Fire Safety Building Capital Reserve
Fund and a bond issue.
Town Democratic
Committee Officers Elected In Gilmanton
Gilmanton’s
newly elected Democratic Committee Officers are Chair, Lew Henry;
Vice-Chair, Deb Chase; Secretary, Brenda Sens; Treasurer, Jean Henry;
Delegate-at-Large, Randy Perkins. The Jan. 13th, Wednesday evening Gilmanton
caucus was attended, also, by Sen. Kathy Sgambati, who had the group’s
thanks for her ongoing work for the people of Senate District 4 and the
state.
County Chair, Lynn Chong expressed gratitude to the gathering for
turning out to vote and taking on the responsibilities of local office. She
turned over the group’s donated food items to Chair, Lew Henry to deliver to
Gilmanton’s food pantry.
Belknap County Democrats’ activities can be read
at www.belknapcountydems.org.
Contact Lew Henry at 364-5687 to help out with local Democratic party
efforts. “Put Saturday, March 6th on your calendar for a Paul Hodes
fundraiser in Gilmanton,” says Vice-Chair, Deb Chase, hostess of the
fundraiser.
Town caucus meetings will continue over the next months
until all eleven towns have their Democratic party officers in place.
