2 Warrant Articles You May Know Little About

Today is town meeting day for all local municipalities and school districts, which means you likely have seen signs or heard talk about some of the controversial items, large projects and flashier warrant articles.

Because of all of that, you may also not know much about some of the other warrant articles. Hopefully this article will help illuminate two articles that have a little more to them than they seem: the Hampton washdown facility project, and the Winnacunnet High School technology fund.

[Editor's note: This story isn't meant as an endorsement for either warrant article, but rather as a way to convey information that isn't contained within the wording of two significant items on the ballot.]

Officials Say Facility Would Stop 'Wasting Money'

Most residents don't enjoy seeing their tax bills go up, which is why Hampton Public Works Department officials say approving a half-million-dollar project today may be a cost-effective decision.

Article 11 on Hampton's municipal ballot asks for $500,000 to build a five-bay, 140-foot-by-60-foot sewer and drain building on the department's Hardardt's Way campus. The purpose of the facility, which includes with a 60-foot-by-20-foot wash bay for equipment and heavy machinery, is to extend the life of all of Hampton's vehicles — including police cruisers and fire engines — as well as make public works as a whole more efficient and safer, Tobey Spainhower, the foreman of the sewer and drain department, told Patch on Thursday.

"The savings created by extending one lifespan of [all of the sewer and drain department's vehicles] pays for the building," said Spainhower, estimating that the average yearly cost to maintain each of his department's non-garaged plow-equipped dump trucks is $10,666 for each year of their shortened 15-year lifespans versus the $6,400-per-year costs for the Hampton Highway Division's garaged 25-year lifespan vehicles.

Currently, many public works trucks and plows must be stored outside and cannot be properly washed in most conditions flowing plowing, sanding, infrastructure repair and other jobs. Spainhower said this exacerbates rust and deterioration on the vehicles, several of which he said have a degree of wear commonly found in vehicles 10 years their senior.

Spainhower said the facility would also have room for training, move the wastewater treatment plant supervisor's office from the code-violating control room to a real office, and allow for hand tools and important plans and documents to be stored in proper, ready-to-go locations rather than scattered around Hardardt's Way like they current are.

Members of the Hampton Budget Committee have issued glowing endorsements, including a unanimous vote of recommendation, for the facility — the idea for which has been in the works for years. Not everyone is in favor of the project, though, despite some of the alleged benefits as well as the fact that much of the engineering and construction duties will be performed in house, according to Public Works Director Keith Noyes.

Spainhower said he feels some of the opposition is based on false information as well as feelings that the department is performing too many projects. Spainhower said his department is solely responsible for bringing the facility forward, and said it would greatly assist and lessen costs across the board for public works' other projects.

"I think if voters were aware of what the details were, I don't think it's controversial at all," said Spainhower. "On the short term, yes, there is a money issue. It's not cheap, but over the course of 20 years, it'll pay for it. The town's wasting money having stuff sitting outside."

'Blank Check' or Focused Way to Help Winnacunnet?

One of the lesser-known issues on the school side of the ballot is Winnacunnet High School's Article 5, which calls for the establishment of a new technology expendable trust fund and an initial appropriation of $90,000.

Nancy Tuttle, the finance manager for School Administrative Unit 21, has said two other schools within the district have similar funds to help cover costs for technology upgrades and expenditures. Other district employees have called for the article's approval because they say it'll help guarantee funding for a school struggling with reliable and available technology.

The Winnacunnet Budget Committee as well as some parents have spoken at previous public sessions against Article 5, though, because they perceive it to be "fiscally irresponsible." Former Winnacunnet School Board member Denyse Richter has called it a "blank check."

"A request for funding with no plan or supporting documentation (the definition of a “slush fund”) is just fiscally irresponsible and such a request does not deserve your support," wrote Winnacunnet Budget Committee Chairman Fred Caesar in an opinion piece posted on Patch.

There have been accusations that the $90,000 is an underhanded way to fund the installation of campuswide wireless Internet at WHS, as the estimated cost for that project is roughly $90,000. Others, including Selectman Mike Pierce, oppose the article because they feel the money should be within the budget, not in a special fund.

Chris Muns, a current member of the school board, and others have said the wireless estimate played into the decision to call for a $90,000 initial appropriation, although Muns said there are no plans to use the money in that or any other way and that Article 5 isn't a devious way to pay for a project some have opposed.

Instead, Muns and others have said the account will be used just like all of the other WHS expendable trust funds, which require a public meeting before approval can be granted in accordance to set policies.

"It’s not for wireless," said Muns. "That determination hasn’t been made yet. [The fund] is so we’re in a position so we don’t have to wait another year and can make a difference [if a need arises]." 

Full copies of the warrant articles and a list of the polling times and locations, as well as additional coverage of the issues, candidates and other town meeting topics, can be found here.