City Council to discuss, potentially vote on FY 2023-2028 Capital Improvements Program

posted on 11/9/2021

The City Council will discuss and potentially vote on three resolutions relating to the fiscal years 2023-2028 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) at its meeting Wednesday, Nov. 10.

The first CIP resolution would be to adopt the six-year CIP document itself, which outlines what projects the City of Dover plans to complete over the next six years. It's a document that can be changed and does not appropriate funding nor authorize bonding.

The second resolution would authorize non-debt financed projects for FY2023 only. This resolution would appropriate capital reserve funds to finance a portion of the CIP, such as the police cruiser replacement program. It also authorizes the transfer of capital reserve funds. The total amount of proposed non-debt finance projects for FY2023 is $5,084,600. This resolution requires a two-thirds majority vote by the Council to pass.

The third CIP resolution would authorize bonding for debt-financed projects for FY2023 only. The total amount of proposed non-debt finance projects for FY2023 is $18,150,000. This resolution also requires a two-thirds majority vote by the Council to pass.

For more information about the proposed CIP, view the Capital Improvements Page at https://www.dover.nh.gov/government/city-operations/planning/special-projects/cip/.

Review census information for potential ward redistricting

The three councilors of the Ordinance Committee, Dennis Shanahan, Lindsey Williams and Fergus Cullen, have sponsored a resolution that would direct the Ordinance Committee to review federal census data and determine if any ward boundaries need to be adjusted to ensure proportionality and equal population as required by law. If approved, the Ordinance Committee would study the issue and then report to the Council with its findings and recommendations to redraw ward boundaries, if needed, by ordinance.

Typically after the city receives census data from the decennial census, staff analyzes it and proposes boundary changes, if needed, to ensure populations in the ward remain equal as possible. Voters would then ratify those changes at the municipal election. However, 2020 Census data collection was challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the City of Dover only recently received the data. There was insufficient time for staff to analyze the data to see if it warranted the proposal of ward boundary changes for voters to ratify at the Nov. 2, 2021 Municipal Election. At the Nov. 2 election, voters approved Question 1, which allows the City Council to create new ward lines for the 2022 state elections by ordinance.

Pudding Hill Water Treatment Facility

The City Council will be asked to authorize a contract with Penta Corporation of Moultonborough to construct the Pudding Hill Water Treatment Facility for $13,927,910. The new facility would treat water from the Griffin, Ireland and DPH-1 wells, all of which draw from the Pudding Hill aquifer.

City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr. and Community Services Director John Storer voluntarily elected to take the three wells offline in 2019 when separate monitoring wells detected plumes of PFAS contaminants. No PFAS were found in the drinking water pumped from the wells; however, ongoing use of the aquifer could draw PFAS, known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, into the aquifer before a water treatment facility could be built. PFAS seeped into the ground from the former auto recycling plant off Knox Marsh Road that Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. now owns. The city is in ongoing discussions with Schnitzer Steel to fund the cost of the treatment plant.

Public hearings

There are also four public hearings scheduled for the meeting.

One public hearing is on the pending resolution to reprogram unexpended bond proceeds from the Cochecho Pump Station project to the Varney Brook Pump Station project.

The three public hearings are on proposed ordinance changes. Public hearings on these ordinances were also held at the Council's Oct. 27 meeting. One would amend the Chapter 9 Board of Health section to be aligned with state law. The ordinance would also expand board criteria to include physician assistants and nurse practitioners. The second would amend language in Chapter 53 related to bicycles. If approved, bicycle registration would no longer be "required" but "encouraged," already a long-standing practice of Dover Police.

The last public hearing is on amending Chapter 141: Vehicles and Traffic. The amendments include removing First and Second streets as authorized resident permit parking areas, providing a period of free parking for those with walking disabilities, and adding a stop sign on Glencrest Avenue at Glenwood Avenue.

The City Council's Wednesday, Nov. 10 meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting will broadcast live on Channel 22, streamed live and be available for on-demand viewing at https://dovernh.viebit.com. For the complete agenda and materials, click here.