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December 17th Select Board Newsletter

Posted on: December 20, 2021 - 8:37am

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Dear Stratham Residents,
Please read below for news and notes from the Town of Stratham.  In this edition:

  • Town Offices Closed for Holiday
  • Police Department Earns CALEA Accreditation!
  • Stratham Welcomes New Police Officers
  • Thank you for responding
  • Toy Drive
  • Lights 4 Lives - Santa Parade Update - Parade move to Sunday the 19th at 5:00 p.m.
  • Energy Savings of $27,813 Achieved Through Regional Partnership
  • Property Tax Information
  • Wiggin Memorial Library Wins Grant

Please remind your neighbors about this resource for keeping on top of information from the Town.  To sign-up for these updates and other notifications, please visit: https://www.strathamnh.gov/subscribe.

The Select Board
Michael Houghton, Chairman            Joe Lovejoy, Vice Chair            Allison Knab

All town offices will be closed on Friday, December 24th and Friday, December 31st for the holidays.  Trash and recycling pick up will remain on its usual schedule.   

police

STRATHAM POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES CALEA LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCREDITATION AWARD

We are thrilled and proud to share that the Stratham Police Department has received the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) Accreditation Award.  The CALEA Accreditation program provides public safety agencies an opportunity to voluntarily meet an established set of over 500 professional standards addressing accountability and performance, fact-based management decision-making, community relationship-building and maintenance, and continuous pursuit of excellence.  Currently, only 19 police departments in the State of New Hampshire have been accredited by CALEA.

The results of this process proves to the community that the Stratham Police Department is committed to serving in the most professional, compassionate and competent manner.

To read more about this achievement, please visit this Police Department web page.  A recognition event to celebrate this achievement is planned for the new year.

Congratulations to Chief King and each member of our Stratham Police Department!

NEW STRATHAM POLICE OFFICERS
The Stratham Police Department is excited to welcome Jonathan Wood as a full-time patrol officer.  He filled a vacancy that was created after Officer Matt Callahan left the department for a new opportunity with the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Department. Officer Wood comes to us from the State of Ohio where he worked as a patrol officer before deciding to relocate to Stratham.  He grew up in the area, the son of retired Lieutenant Richard Wood and we are excited to welcome him back to Stratham.  Jonathan is in his third week of Field Training and he is a wonderful addition to the department.

Stratham PD also welcomed part-time Officer Matthew Poole. Matt started at the department on Monday, December 6, and will be starting Field Training in the coming weeks.  Matt comes to us from the State of California where he worked as a patrol officer.  He will be filling one of two open vacancies for part-time officers within the department.

With the appointments of Officers Wood and Poole, the Stratham Police Department is almost at full staffing for the positions that we have allotted to the police department, with only one part-time vacancy remaining open.

THANK YOU FOR RESPONDING
In our December 3rd newsletter, we put out a call for volunteers to serve in various Emergency Management roles.  In our November 5th newsletter, we asked for volunteers to serve on the Age Friendly Steering Committee.  The response to each of these requests was terrific!  We thank you for your interest and willingness to serve. There is still time to reach out: For age-friendly communities, please reach out to the Planning Department at planning@strathamnh.gov.  For emergency response, please reach out to Emergency Management Director David Barr at dbarr@strathamnh.gov.

TOY DRIVE
Stratham Police are holding a toy drive to benefit the Seacoast Area Firefighters Toy Bank.  Please donate a new, unwrapped toy for ages newborn to 17 or a gift card to aid local mercants in purchasing items such as clothing and toys.  Please click here for details on drop off locations. 
lights 4 lives
LIGHTS 4 LIVES - SANTA PARADE UPDATE: due to the impending snow storm Saturday we will be postponing the L4L Santa parade until Sunday Dec 19th starting at 5pm.  Click here to see the parade route. 

Lights 4 Lives is back for its 8th year helping a family or charity in need in Stratham!  This year the Stratham Volunteer Fire Dept. Association is partnering with Gabriel Chambers and his family.  Gabriel is a loving and happy 9-year-old boy who was born with Angelman Syndrome (AS), a very rare neuro-genetic disorder.  Follow this link to learn how you can help.  The conclusion of the Lights 4 Lives fundraiser will be on December 19, with the raffle winners being drawn and a parade through town with special guest Santa Claus. 

ENERGY SAVINGS OF $27,813 ACHIEVED THROUGH REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP
This week, the Stratham Energy Commission met and discussed the performance to date of the municipal electricity aggregation program entered into in September 2019.  The Town’s current contract with Constellation Energy was the result of a regional partnership spearheaded by the Rockingham Planning Commission (RPC) to aggregate the electricity demand loads of multiple municipal entities. The result was to leverage the purchasing power of the entire group and achieve savings for each entity. 

With the recent Unitil rates published through May 2022, the RPC and Stratham Energy Commission can project a realized savings of $27,813 to the Town for the period between November 2019 and May 2022 (a 30-month period). 

This RPC initiative has the potential to grow as other interested municipalities see their current energy contracts expire. The current contract run through October 2022.  In the future, this effort to cooperate regionally has the potential to save Stratham even more tax dollars.  Many thanks to Stratham’s Energy Commission and the RPC for this work. 

PROPERTY TAX INFORMATION
By now you all should have received your 2021 second half tax bill.  Usually tax bill time also brings up questions about how your property taxes are determined. Please take a few mins to view this educational video on the property tax process called Who are the Assessors? As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Assessing Department at 772-7391 ext 184 or jjoseph@strathamnh.gov or check out our webpage.

WML
WIGGIN MEMORIAL LIBRARY WINS GRANT

$3,000 Grant Will Help the Library Work with Residents to Improve the Civic Experience for All

The Wiggin Memorial Library has been selected as one of 100 libraries to participate in round three of Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries, an American Library Association (ALA) initiative that helps library workers better serve small and rural communities.  The competitive award provides a $3,000 grant. The money will be used to support conversations with Stratham residents about how they can more easily access information they need to actively participate in local government.

As part of the grant, Wiggin Memorial Library staff will take an online course on how to lead conversations -- a skill vital to library work today -- and then host conversations with residents about ways to improve the civic experience in Stratham.  Grant funds will be used to host events, invite additional input, and create a summary of community needs, ideas, and outcomes.

Conversations will take place in early Spring 2022.  If you are interested in getting involved or taking part in these conversations, please contact Lesley at wigginml@comcast.net, 603-772-4346, or visit https://library.strathamnh.gov for more information.