ALERTS: All Town Departments will be CLOSED, Tuesday, December 24th and Wednesday, December 25th. The Town Hall will be CLOSING at 12PM on Monday, December 23rd.

Seabrook Earns Big Money Through Public Auctions

The Seabrook Board of Selectmen have created centralized purchasing by policy, which has led to savings in procurement across the enterprise. As part of this major reform the Board abolished the position of Projects Clerk, and created the position of Procurement Manager. Since that time Procurement Manager Shaylia Marquis has brought the process of requesting public property surplus back to where it needs to be, with all requests for disposition of public property submitted to the Board of Selectmen in public session for discussion and decision by the governing body. As part of this effort Ms. Marquis initiated a process to dispose of taxpayer property through the use of “public auctions,” with utilization of a national on line company Public Surplus. That company does not charge the Town for use of the system, with all costs borne by the buyer. This initiative has brought the taxpayers of Seabrook over $70,000 for the surplus of public items, including $40,000 for the disposition of a Town boat. Ms. Marquis has initiated a process where Town police cruisers coming off line are disposed off through this process. We have just sold our third cruiser through this process, and those proceeds have far exceeded the value taxpayers would have received from simply trading the cruisers in against the value of new cruisers. There has been much more to centralized procurement than this item, but it is a significant success. Congratulations to Procurement Manager Marquis for all of her hard work in bringing this success to the taxpayers of Seabrook.

News Coverage of Seabrook’s Use of Public Surplus Auctions

Selectmen Authorize Letter in Support of Harbor Dredging

The Seabrook Board of Selectmen, at the March 6, 2017 meeting, formally voted to sign on to a letter to Senator Jeanne Shaheen asking for support for federal funding for the dredging of Seabrook Harbor. The text of that letter is below. Thanks to Tracy Shattuck, Chief Harbor Master of the New Hampshire Port Authority, Michael Pike, Seabrook Harbor Master, and the Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative for their efforts in putting this effort together.

Harbor Master Dredge Request

News coverage of the letter.

Congratulations to Safe Harbor Recovery Center on Seabrook Opening

The Safe Harbor Recovery Center, bringing needed treatment programing to Seabrook, had a soft grand opening on Monday February 27, 2017. Thank you to Director Elizabeth Miller and the team for all of the hard work, and thank you to Vic Maloney for making this space available. There is a real need for these services, and the Board of Selectmen extend best wishes for success.

Transfer Station Hours Change on Sunday March 12, 2017

The Seabrook Transfer Station will once again open on Sundays, beginning on Sunday March 12, 2017. The Sunday hours will be 8:00 am through 11:00 am.

The Transfer Station Hours, beginning on March 12, 2017.

Monday-Thursday 8:00 am -3:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am -12:30 pm
Saturdays 8:00 am until 11:00 am
Sundays 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.

Congratulations to New Seabrook Fire Captain Marc Bibeau

A very big congratulations, and best wishes to, Seabrook Fire Department Captain Marc Bibeau, who was formally sworn in on February 22, 2017. Thank you to Fire Chief William Edwards, who made the ceremony, at the Seabrook Fire Department possible. The video of the event is below.

Press coverage of the swearing in.

Bob Wheeler Donates Painting to Seabrook

Many thanks to Bob Wheeler, who painted “Memorial Parade at Seabrook” and has donated it to the Town. The Board of Selectmen has ordered that it be displayed prominently in Town Hall. We look forward to its formal unveiling in Town Hall in the very near future.

EPA Recognizes Seabrook Wastewater Plant for Regional Excellence

The Seabrook Wastewater Treatment facility has been recognized by the federal EPA with a Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Excellence Award. On behalf of our Board of Selectmen our congratulations to Superintendent Maltais and all of the men and women that worked so hard to achieve this recognition. Running a successful Wastewater facility requires tremendous diligence, hard work, and attention to detail. We are all very proud of our Wastewater facility for achieving recognition by the Environmental Protection Agency. The press release from the EPA is below.

BOSTON – The Seabrook, N.H. Wastewater Treatment Facility was recently selected by EPA for a 2016 Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Excellence Award. The Seabrook facility, led by Philippe Maltais, Superintendent and Dustin Price, Chief Operator, was recognized by EPA’s New England Office for exceptional work in operating and maintaining the wastewater treatment plant. The facility was one of six facilities in New England acknowledged for exemplary performance during 2016.
The EPA Regional Wastewater Awards Program recognizes personnel in the wastewater field who have provided invaluable public service managing and operating wastewater treatment facilities throughout New England. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services was instrumental in the plant’s nomination.
“The professionals operating wastewater treatment plants play a very important role in keeping our communities and environment healthy by protecting water quality. We are proud to acknowledge this staff’s outstanding contributions to help protect public health and water quality and to give them the credit they deserve,” said Deborah Szaro, acting regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office.
The EPA Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Excellence Award was established to recognize and honor the employees of publicly owned wastewater treatment plants for its commitment to improving water quality with outstanding plant operations and maintenance. More often than not, and particularly with the smaller facilities, conscientious operators and staff continue to perform exceptionally with limited resources. EPA’s New England office formally acknowledged the Seabrook facility for its fine work during the annual New England Water Environment Association Conference last month.
More information: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-water#wastewater

Seabrook Town Hall Closed Today Monday February 13, 2017

Seabrook Town Hall will be closed today, Monday February 13, 2017 due to the winter storm that has descended on the region. If there are any issues please email [email protected]

Seabrook Town Hall Closed Today Thursday February 9, 2017

Seabrook Town Hall will be closed today, Thursday February 9, 2017 due to the impending major winter storm. If there is any immediate business that needs attention please send an email to [email protected]

Please be safe today.

Seabrook Officials Offer Strong Opposition to HB324

Seabrook officials, including Representatives Francis Chase, Jason Janvrin, and Aboul Khan, gathered at a Legislative hearing to express strong opposition to HB324, which would require localities to accept DRA assessments of utilities. This bill would, in essence, shift tax burden from utilities to residential, and other commercial taxpayers. Select Board Chair and State Representative Aboul Khan offered testimony on behalf of the Town. That testimony, which was later cited by expert witnesses, gives a strong overview of the negative impacts to the Town of Seabrook should this legislation be adopted. Thanks to our entire legislative delegation for their support.

Town of Seabrook Testimony on HB324 Good morning Mr. Chairman and honorable Committee members. On behalf of the Seabrook Board of Selectmen I respectfully offer testimony this morning in strong opposition to HB324. Our opposition is rooted in the inherent unfairness of shifting a major piece of our property tax burden from utility companies to residential, and other commercial taxpayers. In Seabrook that impact would be stark, with an estimated $360 million dollar loss in value, translating to a revenue loss of just under $3 million dollars. We have calculated that under this bill utilities would see, in my Town of Seabrook, a 21% decline in their share of the overall tax base. That additional burden would force large tax increases, or serious service cuts, onto our other taxpayers. We estimate that our tax rate would have increased by $1.92 under the provisions of this bill, a 13% increase. This shift of tax burden, to already hard pressed residential, and other commercial taxpayers, does not meet the most fundamental standard of fairness. As far as the DRA valuations themselves it is abundantly clear that both the results and methodologies are flawed. In the recent cases of Public Service Company of New Hampshire v. Town of Andover and New Hampshire Electric Cooperative v. Town of Andover the Board of Tax and Land Appeals found the DRA's valuation and allocation methodologies were not credible and were subject to considerable flaws. While there is no need to get into the detail involved in how to properly assess value I think it is fair to say that within the assessing community there is wide divergence on how to fairly do so, especially in the area of utilities. In summation I offer my opposition to HB324 on behalf of the taxpayers of the Town of Seabrook. The proposed one size fits all approach advocated in this bill will place taxpayers, and localities in New Hampshire, at a severe disadvantage, and provide a financial windfall to utilities. On that basis I respectfully ask the honorable committee not to recommend this bill. Mr. Chairman, and honorable members, I thank you for your time today.