City Council to hold special meeting for public hearing on bonding, and pending legislation

posted on: 6/1/2026

The City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, June 3, to hold a public hearing on a resolution that reconfirms the City Council’s authorization to sell bonds for the waterfront project that was previously authorized by the City Council in April 2023. The special meeting begins at 6 p.m. in City Hall’s Council Chambers.

The need to reauthorize the 2023 resolution will correct a procedural error regarding the sale of bonds, which requires that a public hearing notice be published in a newspaper of general circulation. The notice was never published. The city recently discovered the error while preparing for the sale of bonds scheduled for next month. The resolution will validate, ratify, and adopt the resolution to sell $6 million in bonds, retroactive to April 26, 2023. The vote on the resolution will occur at the City Council’s June 10 regular meeting. The repayment of the debt will be funded through the Waterfront Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District.

During the special meeting, the City Council will also take up two resolutions related to pending bills in the state legislature. One resolution would voice the City Council’s support of House Bill 1491, which would establish a new statutory framework for the continued operation of “non-assessable risk pools,” subject to the oversight of the New Hampshire Department of Insurance. The City of Dover is a participating member of HealthTrust, “a non-assessable government risk pool created by political subdivisions to pool risks and provide stable, cost-effective health coverage for municipal employees and retirees,” according to the resolution.

A second resolution would voice the City Council’s opposition to House Bill 1588. According to the resolution, HB1588 “is aimed at local zoning and threatens significant loss of local control over zoning by: (1) requiring municipalities to allow multi-family residential development by right in zones that permit commercial uses, (2) exempting proposed residential development on land zoned to permit commercial uses from all zoning ordinance requirements (e.g., density) except dimensional requirements; and (3) prohibiting municipalities from adopting zoning ordinances for residential development in commercial zones that differ from those for commercial development, effectively tying residential regulations to commercial regulations.”

Immediately following the special meeting, the City Council will hold a workshop session to receive updates on the water quality permitting for Great Bay and remediation efforts of the former Tolend municipal landfill.

The agendas are posted online: Special Meeting Agenda; Workshop Agenda.

Both will be televised on DoverTV and online, where they will be available on demand.