November 5th Select Board Newsletter
Dear Stratham Residents,
Please read below for news and notes from the Town of Stratham. In this edition:
- Stratham Fair Survey
- PFAS in Town Center Update
- Veterans Day Ceremony
- Age Friendly Communities
- Trail Work Day - Volunteers Needed!
- 10 digit phone numbers
- Historical Society Program - Tales of the 10th: The Mountain Troops & American Skiing
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
A MESSAGE FROM THE STRATHAM FAIR
The Stratham Fair Board of Directors requests your input on the Stratham Fair. It has been absent for the past two years due to COVID-19, and now we need to re-assess our path forward. Please take a minute to complete this short pulse survey before November 20. Here’s the link:
Thank You from the Stratham Fair Board of Directors
PFAS IN TOWN CENTER UPDATE
The Town of Stratham recently received its Groundwater Management Permit from NH DES for the PFAS contamination in Town Center. This permit and more information about the Town Center site can be found at our Town PFAS page. Point-of-entry filtration systems have been installed at nearly all affected properties; one installation remains. The work in managing this site has turned to preparing the annual reporting under the permit to be done in conjunction with our environmental consulting engineers and the many property owners who work with us to schedule sample collections at frequencies required in the permit. The Town will also be obligated to maintain and service the approximately 18 newly installed systems. The Town is also preparing to apply for a NH DES PFAS Remediation Grant to recuperate PFAS mitigation costs; rules for this program were finalized this past Friday October 29th. As the Town has already submitted a pre-application, we will receive final application materials when they are prepared. In addition, the Town is working to plan for the long-term management of this site. This work will include studying the various alternatives and their relative cost-effectiveness over the long-term; this engineering work is reimbursable in accordance with another NH DES program.
We want to thank the property owners in the vicinity of Town Center who have been impacted by the this water quality challenge. We appreciate your patience and cooperation with the Town as it continues to follow-up in accordance with permit requirements.
VETERANS DAY CEREMONY
Please join us on Thursday, November 11th at 11:00 am for a ceremony to honor veterans. It will be held at the Veteran's Memorial Garden at Stratham Hill Park. Additional information, including a program, will be posted to our Town Facebook Page and available on our website. Once again, this event is spearheaded by community volunteers dedicated to ensuring a solemn and thoughtful observation of Veterans Day in Stratham. We thank them and all of the Stratham residents who attend.
STRATHAM TO PARTICIPATE IN AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE
One demographic trend that is significantly impacting Stratham and the surrounding region is the growth of the population age 65 and over. The aging of the Baby Boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964, is helping accelerate this trend. Between 2020 and 2035, New Hampshire’s population of those age 65 and over is forecast to increase by approximately 40 percent. The Rockingham Regional Planning Commission has obtained grant funding from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and AARP New Hampshire to pursue an Age Friendly Communities Initiative in the Rockingham Region and selected Stratham as a community to work with during Phase I of the project.
Stratham’s involvement in the project will include a Community Assessment will be guided by a local steering committee made up of Stratham residents, and will include a community survey and local community forum. The initiative will use a framework developed by AARP and used extensively around New Hampshire in recent years that considers eight elements of Age Friendly Communities. These include outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, work and civic engagement, communication and information, and health and nutrition services. The goal of the initiative, which will launch in early 2022, is to provide guidance to Town Government, businesses, and others on measures to make Stratham more accessible and accommodating of residents of all ages, but particularly those age 65 and over.
If you are interested in serving on the local steering community helping guide this project or would like to learn more about the initiative, please contact the Planning Department at planning@strathamnh.gov.
TRAIL WORK DAY #2 - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED (NOVEMBER 6TH)
Our trail day on October 24th was such a success - we were able to resurface the entire length of the Tote Road in low/eroded places and improved the trail entrances/exits from the Tote Road with the help of over 25 volunteers!
We are holding our second work day on November 6th to improve the bottom section of the Kitty Rock Trail - we’ll need many hands to help remove and re-install water bars, define the trail edge and resurface eroded areas. Join us at 9AM at the Jack Rabbit parking lot - we’ll have hot coffee and donuts! Hope to see you there - register here.
Please note that Kitty Rock Trail will be CLOSED Friday, 11/5 and Saturday, 11/6 while this work is being done. PLEASE AVOID THIS AREA as we have volunteers and large equipment working on the trail during this time.
NEW HAMPSHIRE TEN DIGIT PHONE NUMBERS
Please be aware of this upcoming change in dialing telephone numbers as reported by Seacoastonline.com.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY PROGRAM
On Monday, November 8 at 7:00 pm, Jeff Leich, Executive Director of the New England Ski Museum and editor of the New England Ski Museum Journal, will present “Tales of the 10th: The Mountain Troops & American Skiing”. This visual history tells the story of the 10th Mountain Division in World War II, the unique unit conceived by New England skiers and recruited from the ranks of civilian skiers by the National Ski Patrol. Three regiments of mountain troops trained extensively in skiing and mountaineering in the Colorado Rockies, then compiled a distinguished combat history in Italy. Its veterans had an important influence on the postwar development of American skiing. This program is free. Pre-registration is not required. This program is courtesy of the Stratham Historical Society and the Wiggin Memorial Library.