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.
It was an exciting day in Seabrook, as Eureka Gaming opened the Greyhound Casino & Tavern at the site of the old Yankee Greyhound facility they recently purchased. This is the first of many upgrades to come at this location, and occurred a scant 40 plus days after Eureka purchased the site. There is much more to come! Stay tuned for some more exciting economic development news in Seabrook!
The ARGO Rescue vehicle, ordered by the Seabrook Board of Selectmen last year, has arrived in Seabrook. Our first responders are training on this vehicle, which will allow them to reach those in distress that are in difficult to reach areas. While it will be of significant assistance to rescue personnel on Seabrook Beach the vehicle can be deployed town-wide. A big thank you to the D’Allasandro Fund, which financed the purchase, allowing us to increase public safety at no cost to taxpayers.
I have submitted to the Seabrook Board of Selectmen a breakdown of the 2019 warrant with a look at the tax impacts on 2019. There will be a more substantial analysis submitted after the election results come in. The “pre-election analysis” is below. The focus is on 2019 impacts, with a breakdown by Department. After the breakdown we give a look at what the 2019 budget would look like if all articles passed.
Seabrook has a robust Asset Management plan, with warrant article 7 designed to build upon our existing system. Our Wastewater Department has produced the informational video attached below. This article will have no impact on the tax rate as it will be converted to a grant.
The annual reports provided to the Board of Selectmen on the activity of the Water Department and the Sewer Department are attached below. These reports are compiled to examine the volumes in each department, as well as the overall financial impacts of each department on the overall municipal budget. In FY 2018 the overall level of taxpayer subsidy to both departments in combination was relatively stable, but increased in wastewater. The Board of Selectmen have adjusted water and sewer rates in FY 2019 in order to eliminate this taxpayer subsidy. Next years report should see the combined “subsidy” eliminated, or being very close to elimination. The taxpayer subsidy in 2018, on an operations only basis, was over $2 million.
PUBLIC NOTICE
DRAFT Section 401 Water Quality Certification # 2019-404I-001 for
Maintenance Dredging of Hampton Harbor and Seabrook Harbor
is available for public comment
Dear Interested Party or Stakeholder: In accordance with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1341) and NH RSA 485-A:12, III, a draft Water Quality Certification (WQC) for the Activity described below is now available for public review and comment on the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) website at;
https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/section401/coe_ind.htm
The draft certification states that based on the facts, findings and conditions in the certification, NHDES has determined that there is reasonable assurance that construction and operation of the proposed Activity will not violate State surface water quality standards.
Activity Description: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Applicant) is proposing maintenance dredging of the Hampton Harbor Federal Navigation Project and state anchorage in Hampton Harbor and Seabrook Harbor to improve navigation. Approximately 152,500 cubic yards (cy) of sandy material will be dredged. Most of the work will be performed with a hydraulic pipeline however, it is likely that approximately 700 cy in the entrance harbor will be dredged using a hopper dredge. Where hydraulic pipeline dredging occurs, the dredge material will be placed along areas of Hampton Beach, Seabrook Beach, an area beneath the southern end of the Rt. 1A bridge and within and adjacent to an existing composite sheet pile wall built in 2005 to protect the Middle Ground sand flat. If a hopper dredge is utilized, the material will be placed at one of the nearshore sites in the vicinity of the project.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING COMMENTS: Comments will be accepted until 4 pm on March 14, 2019. Only written comments will be accepted. Comments may be sent by postal mail, email or fax. Please include the project name/certification number, your name, and organization; mailing address, email address and telephone number with your submittal.
By Mail: 401 Certification Program (Attention: Gregg Comstock)
NHDES Watershed Management Bureau
P.O. Box 95
Concord, NH 03302-0095
By Fax: 401 Certification Program (Attention: Gregg Comstock)
(603) 271-7894
By email: [email protected]
If you have any questions about the draft certification or have difficulties accessing a copy, please contact Gregg Comstock, Supervisor of the NHDES Water Quality Planning Section at (603) 271-2983 or via email at [email protected].
The Board of Selectmen welcomed two new police officers, John DiFrancesco and Anthony Robinson, at their February 4, 2019 meeting. The officers were sworn in by Clerk Cheryl Bowen, with the Board offering congratulations, and support for our public safety personnel. Congratulations to officers DiFrancesco and Robinson.
The Seabrook Board of Selectmen have accepted the final report of the consultant hired to analyze, and recommend changes to, the water and sewer rates in Seabrook. That report is attached below.
Water and sewer rates in Seabrook have not been raised since 2012, with the result being, in 2017, an operational deficit in those two departments of over $2 million. What that translates to is a taxpayer “subsidy” to water and sewer ratepayers, in 2017, of over 8% of the total municipal budget. That number, as large as it is, does not account for water and sewer capital spending, only the budgeted operational expenses. Year to year studies of those departments has shown that the subsidy continues to grow, with stagnant revenues and increasing expenses. The water and sewer financial reports, issued to the Board of Selectmen annually, show this number consuming an ever larger portion of the municipal budget, squeezing other spending out, and restricting the ability of the Town to make necessary investments in water and sewer capital. (The 2017 reports for each department are attached)
The Seabrook Board of Selectmen have examined the attached consultants report and opted to close this operational deficit in water and sewer in FY2019. The new water and sewer rates, starting in January 2019, are attached below. As part of this study the Board also directed that the “service rates” for each department be studied, and they have created a new service fee schedule for each department, attached below.
The Board of Selectmen, as well as the Budget Committee, have directed management to recommend measures that will reduce pressure on the tax burden in Seabrook, and this is a major step in that direction. Every dollar raised in local revenues is one less dollar that needs to be raised through the property tax. This new rate schedule will raise an additional $2 million in local revenues in 2019, eliminating the subsidy from Seabrook’s taxpayers to the ratepayers, reducing that burden on the property tax.
On Friday December 7, 2018 Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator Maggie Hassan came to the Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative in Seabrook to announce that federal funding had been secured for the dredging of Seabrook/Hampton Harbor. This project will be undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who had received preliminary funding and have been in the engineering phase of the project. The Seabrook Board of Selectmen were on hand, as well as Seabrook Harbor Master Mike Pike, Police Chief Brett Walker, Fire Chief William Edwards, Emergency Manager Joseph Titone, as well as Ed O’Donnell and Coral Siligato from the Army Corps. The Seabrook Board of Selectmen (Chair Ella Brown, Vice Chair Aboul Khan, and Board Clerk Theresa Kyle) have made support of this project a top priority, setting a Town policy of full support for the funding, as well as instructing management to work closely with the Army Corps on the logistics of the project. The Army Corps have been a tremendous partner on this project, moving as quickly as they can to get the work started. This project is vital to the commercial fishing industry on the seacoast, as well as other commercial boating and charter operations. Thank you to Senator Shaheen and Senator Hassan for all of their hard work on the funding. Their involvement and hard work have brought this funding forward, and we are deeply appreciative for their efforts.
Ann Robinson, the Seabrook Librarian, has announced her retirement after 11 years of service to Seabrook. Ann was a terrific steward of the Seabrook Library, bringing strong leadership and improvements for the Library across the board. The Seabrook Library Trustees held a reception for Ann on December 5, and this video is from that reception. The Seabrook Board of Selectmen were on hand to wish Ann well. Best wishes, and much gratitude, to Ann for a job well done.
