An Agenda for the Future

The election is over, and now we need to address the key problems we face as a town. The following is a list of items we think should be on the agenda of the first meeting of the new board:

• Development of the Capital Improvement Plan
  
• Establishment of an Economic Development Committee
• Consideration of Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
• Decision about the Fire Station Roof
• Plan for Dealing with the Bucket Loader and Tractor
• Status of Correcting Discrepancies in the Union Contract
• Plan for Renegotiating the Employee Contributions to the Health Care Plan
• Repair of Thompson Street, Smith Hill Road, and West Street
• Hiring a full-time Grant Writer

Development of the Capital Improvement Plan is a campaign promise made by Jeanette Stewart at Candidate's night and was approved by town. It is imperative that a committee be established and that work commence on the plan immediately.

Establishment of an Economic Development Committee was a campaign promise made by Jeanette Stewart at Candidates' Night. A committee should be formed by the select board as soon as possible. Promoting economic development is essential to meeting the goals for the town established in the master plan, is critical to the town's economic future, and necessary for improving our quality of life.

Consideration of Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Establishing a TIF district is one way to improve the downtown area and attract both new businesses and talented people to the town. Many towns in New Hampshire have used this approach to revitalize areas for business and recreation. TIF funds are accumulated from tax increases on property improvements and are spent on improving infrastructure in established TIF districts.

Decision about the Fire Station Roof. The board has had the report on the fire station roof for a week and should be ready to discuss a plan for the repair. There are several approaches to repairing the roof that range from a little less than the $50,000 approved by the town to about $175,000.

Plan for Dealing with the Bucket Loader and Tractor. The town did not approve the warrant articles to lease a new bucket loader and tractor. However, the problem of either repairing or replacing this equipment remains. We need to know how the board plans to deal with this situation, what the options are, and how much it will cost.

Status of Correcting Discrepancies in the Union Contract. We wrote a blog article outlining the major discrepancies in the new union contract. Jeannette Stewart said at a board meeting that she would address these problems by calling a meeting of the negotiating team. That meeting has not yet been held. At a later meeting she said that the discrepancies were not a problem because the town had not approved the final contract. The town voted to approve the contract, but as far as we know the contract has not been corrected.

Plan for Renegotiating the Employee Contributions to the Health Care Plan. At a board meeting Jeanette Stewart said that the union had agreed that they would go back to the table and renegotiate the issue of employee contributions to their health care plan. This is an important issue since non-union employee are required to contribute to their plans, and the non-union employees did not receive the same increases in salaries. We voted to approve the contract based, in part, on the promise that this issue would be renegotiated. It should be done soon.

Plan to Repair of Thompson Street, Smith Hill Road, and West Street. These three roads along with the dirt portion of Owl Brook Road, are the worst roads in Ashland. They are in desperate need of repair, but the town does not have a plan to repair them. The town approved $125,000 capital reserve fund for roads, but it will cost over $1 million dollars to repair these roads. At the rate of $125,000 a year, it will take at least 8 years to save enough money to do the major repairs, but the roads need temporary repairs until then. There are people living in all of these areas with health problems who are finding it very difficult to travel over these roads. The board needs to develop a plan to address this issue. I believe the following figures are correct. We have $50,000 in the budget for road repair, but more than $30,000 will go to Owl Brook.

Hiring a full-time Grant Writer. The town has a grant writer who is very dedicated, but we need to place much more emphasis on writing and getting grants. The town's financial position should qualify us for grants in a number of areas.

All of these issues should have been addressed by previous boards, but we as voters need to make sure that they are addressed now, and they are addressed soon.