Derry panel talks bear at Transfer Station, road repairs

By Bruce Frauman
©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Trash and all the problems it attracts became a subject at Monday’s Londonderry Select Board meeting, when board member Tom Cavanagh brought up the recent bear sightings at the Transfer Station on Route 100.

Board member Tom Cavanagh talks about the bear siting at the Transfer Station.All photos by Bruce Frauman

Cavanagh said that although none had been seen at the station during daylight hours since last Thursday, there is evidence that they have been there at night. He asked residents to be aware when they drop off trash and recyclables.

Electric fencing and ammonia have worked to deter bears during the day, he said.

Cavanagh added that, starting in mid-May, clean and dry clothes will be accepted at the Transfer Station, where a Planet Aid bin will be placed.

Then, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 19, electronics will be collected at the Flood Brook School on Route 11 west of Londonderry proper.

Work on the new salt and sand shed is in its final stages, Board member Bob Forbes said. Forbes, board chair and Road Commissioner Jim Ameden and Road Foreman Matthew Rawson were to meet with representatives of All Seasons

Board member George Mora says the town can pursue taking down the wall at Routes 100 and 11.

Construction Tuesday morning to go over the building and grounds. Forbes said the town must dig a trench for the electrical conduit.

Also, board member George Mora said Matt Bogaczyk of the Agency of Transportation said there is a procedure for the town to remove the retaining wall at the corner of Routes 11 and 100.

The wall has been a major issue in the town after restaurateur Ed Brown painted over a children-designed mural last fall. The wall has been crumbling for several years and many residents believe that tearing it down would be the best solution to the problem.

At a Traffic Committee meeting, Bogacyzk told Mora that it is actually easier for a town to take the initiative to remove an unwanted wall and have the telephone pole moved than the state as long as the property owner agrees. Mora called the idea “food for thought” and did not propose any actions.

Thompsonburg, Winhall Hollow road work

Town Administrator Robert Nied said bids are due on May 21 from a Request for Proposals for the excavation and repair of Thompsonburg Road. Ameden has previously said there is some situation under the road near Wiley’s garage that is causing the road to cave in, but neither he nor Rawson know why.

Nied also said proposals for repaving Thompsonburg Road are due June 4.

Ameden said that a resident has been complaining that, ever since Winhall Hollow Road was paved, its transition onto the privately owned Tuttle Road is much too steep.  Ameden said that a culvert that is collapsing under Winhall Hollow Road will be replaced and Tuttle Road residents will be invited to hire a contractor to cut the road back and lessen the angle of the transition, possibly at the same time as the culvert work.

Board chair Jim Ameden says a resident is finding the intersection of Winhall Hollow and Tuttle roads too steep.

The board approved a liquor license for the new Corner Market & Deli, owned by Jason O’Connor and his mother Terri. After several months’ delay, the shop is expected to open this summer at Middletown Road and Main Street in South Londonderry.

Mora said she will be ordering signs that will say that tobacco cannot be used on town land. On July 1, a one-year transition period ends and the new tobacco policy takes over. Signs will be placed at Town Hall, Memorial Pond, Pingree Park, the Prouty land, the Transfer Station and Town Garage.

Treasurer Tina Labeau explains the recent Audit Report.

Labeau distributed four copies of the Audit Report along with a summary of the deficiencies and Labeau’s responses. She said it found the usual deficiencies that are difficult to remedy in a small town.

Labeau said the report suggested that she should not be handling all the processes when it comes to writing checks. Instead, she will train Bonnie Cobb, who was hired to replace Tammie Long, to do some of her paperwork. The report also said the town was “headed in the right direction” with the punch card system at the Transfer Station, but since the plan was implemented late in the year, some “fraudulent activity” was still possible, though none was found. 

Labeau also said the town will have about a $165,000 surplus this year that would be returned to taxpayers.

Prouty said another “food for thought” was to have town involvement in how the electricity generated from the proposed solar array by the Norris Brothers would be sold. Nied said the Energy Committee would talk with the developers concerning that.

 

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