During the Public Comment section of the Aug. 13, Town Council meeting, Tax Collector Diane Mullholland stated she sent out past due collection notices from 2015 and older. She added that the town collected a good portion but needed waivers for those with payment plans who are current.
She also added that there are four parcels of land that they are looking to deed to the town. The first parcel is on Dianne Road: map 3 lot 138A-1, the others are; map 8 lot 23; map15 lot 154; and map 18 lot 7.
After Steve Cotton questioned if there were any environmental issues, Mullholland said she had asked Richard Canuel, who inspected the property, and was told there were not any environmental issues.
Council member Ted Comb’s ask with theses four properties that are coming out of the tax base, how much is the town losing in revenue. Diane responded, “None of the lots have buildings on them so not really anything” all except Dianna is land locked. The town could sell them once it is deeded.
The council then accepted the motion passing 3-0
Finance Director, Doug Smith added that a few years ago the town put in place a system to help tax payers who may have fallen behind to be able to stay in there homes and have a payment plan that works for them. He wanted residents to know that they want to work with them to help them get though a bad situation. He said it is better for people to contact him and get a plan in place before things get out of hand.
Doug McNutt, a representative from the American Association of Retired Persons, New Hampshire spoke to the council about Londonderry being part of their age friendly towns where they look at housing, transportation and communication.
“We want to make it better for the people of all ages not just older people. We help you with what you want to do we are only advisory we are here just for support, advice and to give you tools. We are not looking for any money.”
Town Manager Kevin Smith told the board that Colleen Maillioux, the Town Planner, has already started working with them. We will be seeing more of them soon.
Also during public comment, Londonderry State Representative Doug Thomas informed the council about a Washington D.C. conference that he and two other State Reps attended. He felt that Londonderry was well represented at the conference where they spoke about many issues. One of the biggest topics was about getting grants to help with school funding Issues. He also mentioned that they paid for the trip themselves.
Another local resident, Ray Breslin, also addressed the council. He wanted to thank Marge Badois, and Mike Speltz of the Conservation Commission, and Steve Cotton for there efforts in making sure the town is getting air and water testing. “What I want to say is the air quality test we should not have to pay for but water is very important and $35,000 may not be enough to pay for the testing needed to be sure our water is ok. If the town is serious there are a number of state and federal agencies that will help with the finical burden needed to make sure the testing is done right. We should look into well testing like we did in the past but with all the construction and blasting we should add looking into the aquifers, brooks and streams. 75 to 80% of the town is on wells, so making sure they are not contaminated is a priority. We need to protect our water for the future generations.”
Next North fire station update now that 90% of the siding is replaced we are looking for $7,660 to paint it so it is all one color. Mr. Combs asked why do we need to paint Mr. Cotton stated that there was a misunderstanding and some of the building trim is and white and some beige this will make it all on color.
Farrell stated that he hope that central fire does need repaired Like that other two.
Doug Smith also spoke about the finances management policy updates,
basically making it more flexible to react to changes and conditions, and having it reviewed every two years by Town Council. To expend $11,065 for new remote cable equipment
Before the meeting adjourned, Council Chair John Farrell brought up a discussion on a Town Pool saying, “There has been a lot of conversation in town about a Town Pool, since the town doesn’t have a body of water.” Farrell asked the town manager to set up a feasibility study for it. Other council members agreed.