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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.

Seabrook Holds Successful Employee Benefits Fair

Seabrook held a very successful Employee Benefits Fair, which brought many vendors to our Community Center for discussion and assistance for our employees last week. It is the first Employee Benefits Fair held here in many years, and we look forward to doing them annually. The Fair was put together by Lara Wolfendon and Tia Knowles, whose hard work made it a great success. Thank you to all the vendors who invested the time to make the Fair a great value for our employees.

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Seabrook Procures a New Recycling Truck

The Town of Seabrook purchased a new recycling truck, which is now in service collecting our recyclables curbside. The truck was procured after a long process of laying out specifications, and careful management of the the truck build out after bid award. John Starkey, and his staff, worked hard on putting together the process, and overseeing the truck build to ensure we got the best value for Seabrook taxpayers. The recycling truck was financed with dollars from our recycling program, with no impact to our taxpayers. Thank you to John Starkey and the staff for all of the hard work.

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IHOP Ribbon Cutting

It was a pleasure to join the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Selectmen at the ribbon cutting for the new IHOP that has opened in Seabrook. Thanks to the Chamber for a great event, and thank you to IHOP for making the investment in Seabrook.

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Video of American Legion Citizen of the Year Award to Margaret Fogg

At the July meeting of the Board of Selectmen Margaret Fogg was honored as citizen of the year by the Seabrook American legion and the Board. Margaret has truly been an “outstanding citizen,” with a long list of contributions to the Town of Seabrook. The Legion and the Board of Selectmen offered this award and recognition of a lady who has epitomized what public service is. Thank you, and congratulations to Margaret Fogg.

Rockingham Community Action Opens New Building in Seabrook

Rockingham Community Action cut the ribbon on their new building in Seabrook this week. This beautiful new building will bring the Head Start program to Seabrook, with new and modern class space, new and expanded space for the Women, Infants and Children Program, the Fuel Assistance Program, educational and employment counseling, and a modernized food pantry. Thank you to the terrific staff, and the leadership at the CAC, which had the vision to create this wonderful new facility.

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Tales of Old Seabrook-Old Home Day Presentation

Seabrook, N.H. – “Tales of Old Seabrook” (1636- 1956) is the subject of this year’s Annual Old Home Day slide show be presented on August 15, 2016.

The program consists matching the Society photos to written materials from years past (diaries, newspaper articles, journals, and records of country stores, business records, town records, church records, court records. In addition to Seabrook organizations, such as Atlantic Cornet Band, Grand Army of the Republic, and the 1915 Club.
Over 80 slides will be shown, which include old buildings, landmarks and roads in all section of town – Crowtown, Route 1, Seabrook Village, Farm Lane, Walton Road, Smithtown, South Seabrook and Seabrook Beach.

It will also show members of many old time Seabrook families –Beckman, Boyd, Bragg, Brown, Chase, Cilley, Dow, Eaton, Felch, Fogg, Fowler, Gove, Gynan, Knowles, Locke, Perkins, Philbrick, Rowe, Sturgis, Walton, Weare, and many more.

The program will be held at the Seabrook Recreation Center on Monday, August 15, 2016, at 7 p.m. A donation of $5.00 for adults and $2 for children will be collected at the door to help defray the cost of this program.

Portsmouth Regional Hospital Comes to Seabrook

The Board of Selectmen welcomed Portsmouth Regional Hospital to Seabrook this week to announce the placement of a full service Emergency Room in Seabrook, in partnership with Waterstone Development. This is a terrific development for Seabrook, bringing vital medical services into the community, 45 new jobs to start, and substantial tax revenue. My thanks to Dean Carucci of Portsmouth Regional Hospital and the folks at Waterstone Development. From the joint press release from the Town of Seabrook and Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

Portsmouth Regional Hospital’s Seabrook ER, a freestanding ER for the communities of Seabrook, Hampton and Hampton Falls in New Hampshire and Amesbury and Salisbury in Massachusetts will be located at 603 Lafayette Road, at the Intersection of Route 1 and Route 107, in Seabrook, New Hampshire. “The Town of Seabrook and Portsmouth Regional Hospital have mutually committed to address the critical need for a convenient local healthcare access point close to major arteries such as Interstate 95 and Route 1,” stated William Manzi III, Seabrook town manager. “The freestanding Seabrook ER will also provide needed employment for the area and will continue Portsmouth Regional Hospital’s tradition of quality patient-centered care for the communities it serves,” stated Dean Carucci, Portsmouth Regional Hospital CEO. “We hope to create an estimated 45 new healthcare jobs with this project,” Carucci continued. Key Features: 24/7/365 Freestanding Emergency Room Fully integrated department of Portsmouth Regional Hospital Approximately 10,000 square feet Fully integrated department of Portsmouth Regional Hospital Approximately 10,000 square feet Approximately 10 emergency room bays, including a fully equipped Trauma bay Separate pediatric waiting area, triage, and a dedicated bay State of the art imaging, including CT, Ultrasound, and Radiology Covered ambulance entrance for patient drop-off/pick-up and EMS lounge Portsmouth Regional Hospital will provide a tax base for the Seabrook community Seabrook ER will employ 45-50 people (approximately 43 FTEs) Seabrook ER will be staffed by experienced professionals, including emergency nurses and board certified emergency care physicians Located at 603 Lafayette Road, Seabrook, NH 03874 at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 107 in Seabrook Portsmouth Regional Hospital is a Chest Pain Accredited Hospital and Joint Commission Certified Primary Stroke Center Vital information for heart patients will be able to be transmitted to the Seabrook ER, just as EMS crews would do at PRH Patients needing to be admitted to an inpatient bed will be transported to the main campus with seamless care handoff to our excellent intensivist and hospitalists Anticipate opening in the summer of 2017.

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The press coverage of the announcement by the Town of Seabrook and Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

The Seabrook Water Restriction Ordinance

I have attached the Seabrook Water Restriction ordinance passed by the Board of Selectmen on July 7, 2016. (The text is also below)

The ordinance was necessitated by severe drought conditions, as well as by a winter that did not fully replenish our well system. If you have any questions or concerns please call the Seabrook Water Department at 603-474-9921 or the Town Managers office at 603-474-3252.

This post has been amended on Monday July 11, 2016, as the Board of Selectmen, in Special Session, further amended the water restriction ordinance by allowing the full watering of gardens on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The Board also specifically excluded the non-commercial washing of cars. Those changes are reflected below.

Emergency Water Ban Ordinance

Notice is hereby given that the Seabrook Board of Selectmen, in their capacity as the Board of Water Commissioners, intends to formally adopt the following emergency ordinance regulating the excessive use of water at its meeting on July 7,2016 pursuant to the powers granted in Seabrook’s Municipal Water System Ordinance (the “Ordinance”), the Seabrook Home Rule Charter and the Revised Statutes of the State of New Hampshire, as amended:

WHEREAS, there exists in the Town of Seabrook (the “Town”) drought conditions which have created a critical situation for the water systems ability to meet peak summer demand; and

WHEREAS, an adequate supply of water is necessary for the public health and safety; and

WHEREAS, the Town’s Board of Water Commissioners are charged with promoting the implementation of prudent and effective water conservation measures, protecting the health and safety of consumers, protecting the Town’s source waters and safeguarding the public water supply; and

WHEREAS, under the current drought conditions, restrictions on the use of Town water for secondary purposes are necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare;

THEREFORE, be it enacted pursuant to Section 6:5 of the Ordinance “Curtailment of Use”:

PROHIBITION OF THE EXCESSIVE USE OF WATER

1. The use of Town water in excess of current uses and amounts by persons, firms, or corporations is hereby prohibited, and the use of Town water outside of the primary domicile or place of business other than for drinking, cooking, and hygienic reasons is prohibited. Specifically prohibited is the filling of swimming or wading pools, the non-commercial washing of cars, the watering of lawns, trees, shrubbery, or gardens (except gardens operated for commercial purposes) and the utilization of irrigation systems in that use. The ordinance allows, as an exception, the use of “water buckets” only to provide water for non-commercial gardens, except on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, when normal watering will be allowed (for vegetable gardens only) between the hours of 7:30 p.m. through 8:30 p.m. Exception is also made for water used in the maintenance of livestock.
2. Upon notification of a violation of this ordinance the Seabrook Water Department shall have the authority to investigate the alleged violation and reserves the authority to terminate water service, pursuant to Sections 6.7 and 6.8 of the Ordinance, in the event that a violation is found to have occurred. Said water supply will remain turned off until the Water Department or Board of Water Commissioners are satisfied that the violation will not continue or recur.
3. The Board of Water Commissioners reserves the right to pursue additional legal action against violators of this ordinance to include injunctive relief, a cease and desist order, civil penalties, and criminal prosecution pursuant to Sections 12.10 – 12.12 of the Ordinance, where it is deemed appropriate.
4. There shall be, in addition to any other penalties provided by law a fine of One Hundred Dollars ($100) for each separate violation of this ordinance.
5. This ordinance shall be effective until October 1, 2016 or as may be determined by the Board of Water Commissioners in consultation with the Water Superintendent.
6. If any provisions of this ordinance or any portion of such provision or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance and the remainder of such provision and the application thereof to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Assessors Data Now Online

The TOWN OF SEABROOK
ASSESSOR’S DATA
Is now available on the web

The Town of Seabrook, along with implementing a departmentally shared GIS System with People GIS, has contracted with Vision Government Solutions to put the Assessor’s Data on the web. The web address is http://gis.vgsi.com/seabrooknh/
This website can be searched by owner name, map and lot, or address and publishes owners, mailing address and property data.
A shortcut is also on the Assessor’s page of the Town website at seabrooknh.info
For the most up-to-date information you will still need to contact the Assessor’s office at 603-474-2966.
Vision Government Solutions is also completing our 2016 required update of values. These figures will be available in July or August and letters will be sent to property owners with an opportunity for a meeting if desired.