July 3rd Select Board Newsletter
July 3, 2019
Dear Stratham Residents,
You have our best wishes for a happy and safe Independence Day. In this edition - holiday closures, PFAS update and new rulemaking, next steps for the Master Plan, Waste Collection Advisory Committee meeting, National Night Out, Employment Opportunities with the Town and more.
Please advise your neighbors about this resource for keeping on top of information from the Town of Stratham. To sign-up for these updates and other notifications from Town, please visit: https://www.strathamnh.gov/subscribe.
The Select Board
Michael Houghton, Chairman Joe Lovejoy, Vice Chair Allison Knab, Selectwoman
CLOSURES FOR JULY 4TH AND 5TH
As a reminder, the Municipal Center offices and Library will be closed on Thursday July 4th in recognition of Independence Day. The Municipal Offices will also be closed on Friday July 5th. The Library will be open both Friday and Saturday (the 5th and 6th).
FIRST ANNUAL NATIONAL NIGHT OUT HOSTED BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
On Tuesday August 6th at 5:00 p.m. the Police Department will host Stratham’s First Annual National Night out. Check out the Police Departments’ Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2091330744506073/
ALL-STAFF MEETING SET FOR JULY 9TH (MUNICIPAL OFFICES OPENING AT 11:45 A.M.)
Bi-annually, the Town holds an All-Staff meeting for Town employees. The next meeting will be held Tuesday July 9th from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Please note, during this time, Town Offices will be closed but will be reopened at 11:45 a.m. Thank you for your patience as the Select Board, Administration and Employees invest in time together in order to better serve the Town.
PFAS UPDATE IN TOWN CENTER AND DES PROPOSED NEW STANDARDS
In addition to performing the focused-site investigation at the Fire Station in Town Center, the Town is also following developments as they relate to new regulations pertaining to PFAS compounds at the State-level. Late last week, the State issued a news release regarding proposed new drinking water standards that set new (lower) threshold levels for PFAS contaminants already regulated and set levels for two new regulated PFAS compounds. These new thresholds are proposed to take effect on October 1st, following approval of the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (JLCAR) prior to then.
The Town’s PFAS resource page has been updated with the NH DES news release on the new standards as well as new information and guidance concerning PFAS contamination. This list includes more detailed information on filtering technology options and frequently asked questions. The information and links below can be found on the Resource Page (https://www.strathamnh.gov/home/news/updated-july-1st-resource-page-resi...)
NHDES and NHDHHS have compiled a list of frequently asked questions and answers associated with PFAS, drinking water, and potential health impacts that can be found here: https://www4.des.state.nh.us/nh-pfas-investigation/?page_id=92
Since new drinking water standards may encourage private well owners to test their wells for the newly regulated compounds, NHDES has compiled an updated well testing fact sheet that can be found here: https://www4.des.state.nh.us/nh-pfas-investigation/wp-content/uploads/20...
REVALUATION NEXT STEPS
Field work for the Town-wide revaluation will be complete this week. In the middle of July, property owners will receive notices in the U.S. mail containing their preliminary values following this process. In addition, the transmittals will include information about opportunities to meet with Assessing Department representatives regarding the value determinations and answer questions. Those meetings will be scheduled during the weeks of July 22nd and July 29th.
In case you missed it, check out last month’s (June) Stratham Magazine for more detail about the Stratham revaluation effort including information about the staff team leading the project. More information about the Stratham reval can be found here:
https://www.strathamnh.gov/assessing-department/pages/statistical-update...
For an introduction to assessing, please also consider viewing: “Who are the Assessors” https://youtu.be/9PtAuUmIzjU
A Note about Taxes and Assessed Value: Often times, the analogy of a pie is used to explain the relationship between assessments and the amount of taxes paid by a property owner. In the analogy, the entire pie represents the total amount of money a community agrees to raise through the property tax to fund its services. Each slice of pie (the total amount of funds to be raised through property taxation) represents the amount of tax each property owner is responsible for. The size of each slice of pie is determined by how much value each taxpayer owns in the community. The relative size of each slice reflects the difference in value owned from taxpayer to another. Importantly, during a revaluation if a community’s total value increases, then the tax rate applied to raise the same amount of funds through taxation would decrease. Therefore, when communities experience revaluations and value increases, tax rates go down.
MASTER PLAN NEXT STEP
The Master Plan Steering Committee, Planning Board, the Town’s various Boards and Commissions, and Planning staff and consultants have been working on the Town’s new Master Plan following months of community outreach. Recently, the Master Plan Steering Committee and Planning Board met in joint session to review an initial draft. A new draft based on this discussion and follow-up inputs is being prepared for the next Planning Board meeting on July 17th. At this meeting the Planning Board, joined by the Steering Committee and representatives from Boards and Commissions will discuss a new draft to be circulated prior to the meeting and further revise the Plan’s vision. For more information, please visit https://www.strathamplan.com. As always, the Planning Board meeting on the 17th will be a public meeting. This meeting will be video recorded for playback for the community.
FROM THE TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE
Civil Forfeiture notices for dog owners are effective July 8th. Please pay at the Town Clerk’s office during their open hours. (Monday 8:30 7:00, Tues. Wed. and Thurs. 8:30-4:00 and Friday, 8:00-12:30. Please note: Clerk office closures (discussed above) July 4th (closed), 5th (closed) and July 9th (closed 8:30 to 11:45 am.).
Your Town Clerk’s Office can now register your ATV’s! Come by anytime during our open hours to register them.
Your July tax bills were due July 1st. Interest of 8% is now in effect.
WASTE COLLECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 8TH
The first meeting of the Curbside Collection Advisory Committee will take place this Monday July 8th at 6:00 p.m. in the Hutton Room at the Municipal Center. The 2019 Town Meeting authorized the expenditure of up to $365,000 to facilitate the transition to an automated curbside collection program. At Town Meeting the community asked many good and detailed questions about the proposed collection program. While the Town staff and Select Board have discussed many options moving forward for a final program design, more input is needed in shaping the eventual program. As a result, the Select Board is forming an Advisory Committee to serve as a channel for public input on the program and to assist the Select Board in further defining the program and more generally the future of recycling in Stratham.
Charge: The Curbside Collection Advisory Committee’s charge is to serve as a conduit for collecting input into program details and rollout strategies for the Town’s future curbside collection program as well as to synthesize that input and advise the Board on implementation strategies and more generally the future of recycling in Stratham.
It is anticipated the Committee will hold regular meetings as well as special outreach sessions designed to encourage public participation.
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE TOWN
The Town currently has two open positions: Land Use Project Coordinator (open until July 19th) in our Planning Department and Finance Administrator (open until July 30th) in the Administrative Office. To learn more about these positions, please visit the Town’s website: https://www.strathamnh.gov/town-administration/pages/open-positions. Please share these position announcements with anyone who may be interested in joining to Town’s staff team and serving the residents of Stratham.
David Moore
Town Administrator
Town of Stratham, NH
10 Bunker Hill Avenue
Stratham, NH 03885
(603) 772-7391 ext. 181
www.StrathamNH.gov