Alumni Hall Awarded

An old building gets state recognition for its makeover.

Alumni Hall is now one of the 25 greatest preservation achievements in New Hampshire in the last 25 years.  The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance announced the list at its 25th anniversary conference on April 8.  The building has recently finished renovations and is now being used by the community as a space to hold concerts and other events.

“It’s very exciting,” said Keisha Luce, a member of the group responsible for the hall’s remodeling, about the acknowledgment.  “It’s nice to be recognized and have the public realize how much work actually goes into restoring a historic property.”

Restoring Alumni Hall is important artistically because of what it brings to the area of Haverhill, as well as the surrounding towns.  The space is used to hold classical concerts and other cultural performances.

“We now do year round art and culture programming,” said Luce.  “So for this region it’s really the only performing arts center.”

When a group of concerned citizens took on the job of fixing Alumni Hall it was in disrepair and needed major structural help.

“By the time Haverhill Heritage Incorporated was formed Alumni Hall was in pretty tough shape,” said Luce.  “And there was one wall in the great hall that was in really bad repair, to the point where people were worried it might collapse.”

Most timeworn buildings are treated like museums where they are fixed up and left alone to be admired.  Alumni Hall is different because it is a heritage building that is being used by the community.

“There are many beautiful buildings in New Hampshire that are not in great shape,” said Luce.  “And I think it’s interesting that this community found a way to use an old building.  Not only was it restored, but it’s used for something that the community takes a lot of joy from.”

Town Meeting Recap

When most towns were cutting money from their budgets, Haverhill not only put money back into its budget, but increased funding to another area.
All warrant articles passed easily and money was also added to other articles.
The budget passed after $15,000 was put back into it.  The funding was taken out by the Selectboard from the three fire departments of North Haverhill, Woodsville, and Haverhill Corner.  A representative of North Haverhill Fire Department, Shawn Bigelow, proposed to amend the budget and put the money back in.
"We depend on that money for our truck fund," said Bigelow.  "By taking that out that shortens up our truck fund payment and we have to take it out of taxes from the precinct."

Richard Guy addressing the public

Richard Guy, who was representing the Woodsville Fire Department, also spoke to have the funding replaced.

"We can't really cut these expenses," said Guy.  "We're already committed to bond payments on these trucks based on a long term agreement with the town.  It won't really change the fact that we have to make these payments, all its going to do is change who has to pay them.  You're shifting the cost for these truck payments from the bigger group of the town of Haverhill to the smaller precincts."
The amendment passed as well as the amended budget.
"That's the American way," said Selectboard Chair Wayne Fortier after the meeting about the fire department getting the funding back.  "The board took a very frugal look and we thought that that was a line item that we could tap for one year.  The people had a say and they said it tonight at this meeting.  That's what they wanted and they voted it back in.  The good thing is that a number of people came out and spoke about it."

Another project to receive more funding was the senior center in North Haverhill.  The proposed budget gave the center $12,000, but after a few residents as well as officials who work at the center addressed the meeting the funding was increased to $19,000.
"They have asked for that appropriation for a number of years," said Fortier.  "And for three or four years now we have flatlined that at 12,000.  The budget committee gave them 15,000, but we went back and brought it down to 12.  The controversy of the Selectboard reducing it to 12 came out and the people heard what (the senior center) had to say.  It was a good net gain for the senior center and I'm very pleased that that did happen."
Fortier acknowledged that while the citizens of Haverhill decided what was best for the town, the Selectboard was sparing with the budget and will continue to be so.
"We still have to be frugal, I think we are not out of tough times by any means," said Fortier.  "We'll have to keep a close eye on how we maintain our budget.  I think next year will be tougher."

Election results - number of votes in parentheses

Selectman - term of three years = Wendy Warcholik (202)

Trustee of the trust funds = Marie Bigelow (6)

Supervisor of the checklist - term of one year = Robert Roudebush (228)

Supervisor of the checklist - term of three years = Carol Norcross (196)

Cemetery Commisioner = Robert Rutherford (decided by voice vote at town meeting)

Newest Selectman-Wendy Warcholik

The newest member of the Haverhill Selectboard, Wendy Warcholik, was sworn in at town meeting on March 8.
Warcholik ran unopposed and replaces outgoing Selectman Peter Heilmann.
"I always knew I wanted to work at the local level," said Warcholik.  "I've done things at the national level, (such as) national budgeting, state budgeting.  It all starts here at the local level."
With a PhD in economics Warcholik has worked on national and state budgets.  She sees the current economic problems in the country and hopes to be able to address them and fix them.
"There are issues with the economy and housing values," said Warcholik.  "I'm very interested in how that's going to effect property taxes in the future with the revaluation that's going to go on."
She also sees what is happening at the state level and how that could effect the town.
"With the state cuts it all trickles down to the local level," said Warcholik.  "We're not sure whats going to happen with the state and what the cuts are going to be.  So until they firm up their budget at the state level in June, we're really not going to know what the cuts are going to be here in Haverhill."

Candidates running for office at Town Meeting

Selectman for a term of (3) three years: Wendy Warcholik

Trustee of Trust Funds for a term of (3) three years: Write In

Supervisor of the Checklist for a term of (1) one year: Robert Roudebush

Supervisor of the Checklist for a term of (3) three years: Carol Norcross, Leslie Ramsay

Feb. 8 - Budget passes Selectboard

The Selectboard passed the budget despite the public's concerns.
After the public hearing concluded there was a deliberative session still open to the public where the Selectboard voted to pass the budget.  Before the unanimous vote there was some discussion about what had transpired at the meeting.

Selectman David Joslin was not glad to be cutting the money from the fire departments, but felt it was necessary for this year and only for this year.  “I don’t feel great about cutting money out of the fire department, but we had to make some cuts somewhere,” said Joslin.  “My understanding and my feeling is that this was a one shot deal.”

Selectboard Chair Wayne Fortier expressed that if the town does not like the budget then they can vote it down during town meeting. “They need to come out and defend (the fire department),” said Fortier.  “They have (until March 8) to do it.”

Selectman Roderick Ladd voiced his concern about maintaining three fire departments and keeping up with all the equipment costs.  “We need to get a handle on the cost of the fire equipment that we have as a community,” said Ladd.  “When they say it’s getting expensive to run these fire departments, it is.  We are going to have to do something about that down the road here.  It’s getting out of hand.”

Town Manager Glenn English addressed his thoughts about the precincts and the financial dilemma the town faces.  “(The townspeople) are basically giving the money to the precincts and the precincts are deciding (what to do with it),” said English.  “All the taxpayers in the town are footing the bill and the ones that go to the precinct meetings are the ones who decide how that money is spent, I don’t know if that’s fair.”

Feb. 8 - Budget Hearing gets contentious

A passionate debate erupted when the issue of cutting $15,000 from the fire departments was addressed at a budget hearing on Feb 8.

The Selectboard met with the public to discuss its newest and final version of the town budget to be voted on during town meeting this year.  The meeting went smoothly, with only a question or two along the way, until the fire department was discussed.

The Selectboard suggested in their version of the budget, to be voted on March 8, to cut $5,000 each from the town’s three fire departments equipment fund.  The equipment part of the funding goes solely to pay for the fire trucks.

“The Selectboard is acting a lot like the state of New Hampshire,” said Larry Corey, Woodsville Fire District Commissioner.  “I vehemently object to this reduction.  We’ve made our budgets, we have loans outstanding.  You’re just pushing (the cost) down.  You’ve saved it at the town level and sent it down to the precinct level.”

There are three precincts within the town of Haverhill, those being Woodsville, North Haverhill, and Haverhill Corner.  These precincts run the fire departments for the town and all three precincts were represented at the hearing either by commissioner or fire chief.

The fire departments argued that they are currently paying off fire trucks purchased in the past and this money was going to help pay those trucks off.  There was some discussion about how long a fire truck lasts and the consensus was that a truck should last 20 years.  After that it is considered obsolete and needs to be replaced.

The fire departments also discussed that areas outside the precincts do not have fire protection so these three precincts have to put out fires in those outside areas and the cost adds up.  They feel that the cost of putting out the fires in the area under the current Mutual Aid agreement exceeds what they are getting in funding now and certainly cannot afford a cut in funding.  Mutual Aid is an agreement for fire protection across jurisdictional boundaries.

Grafton County Sheriff Doug Dutile saw it as a possible confidence issue between the firemen and the town.  “This is a huge morale problem,” said Sheriff Dutile.  In referring to the job they do: “These firemen in these three precincts aren’t doing this for the money.  They are doing this for the community.”  The possibility of the firemen quitting if the budget is passed on town meeting was also brought up.