Public hearings on budget, CIP amendments on Council's Aug. 13 agenda

posted on 8/12/2025

The City Council will hold four public hearings on budget-related resolutions at its Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025 meeting. The City Council will vote on these resolutions at its Aug. 27, 2025 meeting.

One public hearing is for the resolution to rescind the Dec. 13, 2023 debt authorization of $2.5 million for the high school athletic complex project, as the Council had authorized the full amount of $18,037,000 at its June 25, 2025 meeting.

Another public hearing is for the resolution to transfer $1,740,571 from the School Department’s FY26 debt service line item to its School Facilities Capital Reserve in the FY26 General Fund Budget. As part of the high school athletic complex authorization, the City Council appropriated $1,740,571 for the School Department’s debt service for the project in FY26. However, since the next opportunity for the city to issue debt for the project is in January 2026, the resulting first-year debt service will be in FY27.

A third resolution would rescind the Dec. 11, 2024 debt authorization of $850,000 for Fire and Rescue’s South End Station addition project. Earlier this year, the City Council authorized Fire and Rescue to lease space on Crosby Road, negating the immediate space needs for the station.

A fourth resolution would authorize reprogramming $278,434 of unused debt authorization to help fund the retrofit of the Liberty North Fire Station area vacated by Inspection Services into a training facility.

Also on the agenda are two resolutions related to the Dover Library renovation project. One resolution would authorize $159,886 for the purchase of a Caterpillar generator. The other would authorize $499,307 to replace 119 windows in the library. The original renovation plan was to prep and paint the window trim for $25,000. However, when the contractor accessed the windows, they determined the trim was rotted and no longer salvageable. The contractor presented two options: reusing the windows that were installed in 2007 and replacing the window trim and associated parts for $464,925, or a complete window replacement with new trim for $499,307. After evaluation, city staff recommend the complete replacement as the better value.

Click here for the complete agenda.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in City Hall’s Council Chambers. It will be televised on Channel 22 and online at https://dovernh.viebit.com, where it will also be available on demand.