February 10th Select Board Newsletter
Dear Stratham Residents,
Please read below for news and notes from the Town of Stratham. In this edition:
- Transfer Station (Open this Saturday)
- Presentation - Stratham Then and Now: Revisiting The King's Great Highway
- Voter Information Night
- Update from the Town Clerk's Office
- Open Space & Connectivity Kick Off Meeting
- Free Water Testing
- Valentines From Stratham - Thank You
- Smyk Park: Plaque Installation, Maintenance and Future
- Unitil Recommendations on Tree Plantings
- Board and Commission Openings
- Stratham School Board and School District Meetings
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 this section on our website and check the "Select Board" box under News and Announcements.
The Select Board
Michael Houghton, Chairman Allison Knab, Vice-Chair Joe Anderson
TRANSFER STATION
Due to being closed on February 4th because of the weather, the Transfer Station will be open on Saturday, February 11th from 9am - 4pm. Thereafter, the Transfer Station will resume its regular winter operations, opening on the first and third Saturdays of the month. As a reminder, the Transfer Station accepts checks only (no cash or credit cards).
STRATHAM THEN AND NOW: REVISITING THE KING'S GREAT HIGHWAY
The Stratham Heritage Commission will present “ Stratham Then and Now” on Friday, February 17, at 7PM at the Stratham Fire Station. In the event of stormy weather, the event will be rescheduled to Friday, February 24.
Nate Merrill, Commission Chair, will trace the Stratham homes and buildings illustrated in “Down the King’s Great Highway” that appeared in The Granite Monthly in 1899. Merrill’s research and photos will trace our town’s evolution over more than 100 years. For more information visit the Heritage Commission's webpage.
VOTER INFORMATION NIGHT - March 7th
Mark your calendars! Wiggin Memorial Library will be hosting Voter Information Night on Tuesday, March 7th in the Municipal Center, Room A, at 6:30pm. Come out and meet the candidates running for the Town and School District and learn about the topics being voted on at the Election (3/14) and Town Meeting (3/18). Check for updates to the Town Meeting 2023 page (and this newsletter) as we add our Voter Information Guide and other materials in preparation for Town Meeting.
UPDATE FROM THE TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE
With the March Election filing period ending this past Friday, February 3rd, click here to see your 2023 candidates (Town / ERCSD) for the March 14th Election. As a reminder the polls will be open from 7am-7pm at Stratham Memorial School located at 39 Gifford Farm Rd. The Town Meeting business session will be held on Saturday, March 18th also at Stratham Memorial School. The meeting will begin at 9:00am. See you at the polls!
PLANNING EFFORT FOR OPEN SPACE AND CONNECTIVITY IN STRATHAM KICKS OFF
The Town is enthusiastic to kick off its Open Space and Connectivity Plan. A key recommendation of the 2019 Stratham Master Plan, this effort will provide the Town a blueprint to guide management and use of existing open space parcels, guide long-range planning to help preserve valuable open spaces, achieve a better connected and more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly community, and provide guidance to help balance goals related to habitat and ecological protection, recreation, and other needs. Drafting the plan will be a public process and opportunities for public engagement are planned for the spring and early summer. Residents can keep up on news specific to this planning effort via e-mail updates by clicking the news and agenda options for the Open Space and Connectivity Plan here. The Open Space and Connectivity Plan Steering Committee will hold its first meeting Monday, February 13 at 2 pm at the Stratham Municipal Center. All meetings of the Committee will be open to the public.
FREE WATER TESTING!!
Did you receive your postcard invite from NHDES?
Residential private well users in Stratham are invited to a workshop to learn about drinking water quality and to receive bottles for free water quality testing sponsored by the Seacoast Private Well Initiative. Click here to learn more: 2023 Free Residential Private Well Testing | Town of Stratham NH
VALENTINE'S FROM STRATHAM - THANK YOU
We thank the Stratham Cub Scout Pack 185 and the members of our community who created Valentines for the town-wide service project as part of our Martin Luther King Jr. events. All the Valentines will be delivered early next week. We thank the Pack, the Stratham Historical Society, the Stratham Community Church, the Wiggin Memorial Library, and the Racial Unity Team for their joint efforts to acknowledge the holiday and for helping our community to remember our homebound neighbors and those in local nursing homes. Happy Valentine's Day.
SMYK PARK: PLAQUE INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE AND FUTURE
The Town is fortunate to have been bequeathed an 11-acre parcel of land at Bunker Hill Avenue and Portsmouth Avenue by Walter and Mary Smyk. In accordance with the provisions of the gift, the site is known as the Walter & Mary Smyk Park and through the Town’s efforts a plaque has been installed, which was funded by the estate’s Trustees (read the text of the plaque and more about the gift here). Our Public Works Department maintains the site which recently included extensive clean-up from the recent blustery wintry weather as well as the restoration of the stone retaining wall which is prominent in the Park.
As you will read elsewhere in this newsletter, we are kicking off the Town’s Open Space & Connectivity Plan effort, which will take a town-wide look at our open space parcels of which Smyk Park is one. Through the conversations with the community, the Smyk Park as well as various other open space parcels owned by the Town or accessible to the public will be considered for the role they could play in achieving our connectivity goals and other needs of the community. Meanwhile, the public is invited to access this passive park in accordance with regulations. 
UNITIL RECOMMENDED TREE PLANTINGS
As you contemplate your spring landscaping projects, consider these recommendations from Unitil for planting trees and shrubs under power lines.
BOARDS AND COMMISSION OPENINGS
The Town Meeting marks the end of 2023 terms on our Boards and Commissions. At this time, we currently have openings listed here, including Zoning Board, Conservation Commission and Planning Board. Meanwhile, if you have an interest in getting involved in any Board or Commission, we encourage you to call (or visit) the Town Administrator's office at 603-772-7391 ext 187 so we can connect you with a staff person or current board member who can answer your questions. 
SCHOOL BOARD AND SCHOOL DISTRICT MEETINGS
See below for the following upcoming meetings all being held at Stratham Memorial School, 39 Gifford Farm Road. If you can't attend the meetings in person, watch the recordings here Blue Hawk Media
- School District Meeting 3/6/23 at 6 p.m.