Our Community Newsletter November 2014 should be directed to the Assessing Office at 267- 8300 Ext. 118 or to [email protected]. Ques- tions related to your tax bill can be directed to the Town Administrator’s office at 267-8300 ext 124, or [email protected]. Town Administrator’s Monthly Report The Belmont Pavilion which is located The 2014 Property Revaluation is complete, hearings next to the Mill is under construction. were held mid-October and final values were provided We are working with NCM Manage- to the Selectmen on October 15th. The ment Inc. and Stewart Associates, new values were used to establish the both local firms, on the project and we are very ex- 2014 tax rate and will be reflected in cited to have them on board. Volunteer efforts by the 2nd issue bill which should arrive in members of the Revitalization Committee continue your mailbox by November 10th. The to move this project and the river walk and foot- Town of Belmont’s 2013 Equalization Ratio was bridge forward; we could not do this without their 122.6%; the purpose of any revaluation is to insure help. We anticipate the Pavilion to be complete by proportionality in our values and to bring all proper- late fall and would anticipate it will be available for ties to 100% of market value. Many of you saw de- use in the spring of 2015. Anyone having questions creases in your overall value as a result. It is important on the design, please feel free to stop by my office. to remind everyone that bringing values to market value may increase the overall tax rate. The Town and School raise and appropriate monies each year at Town and School meetings, use offsetting revenues and then set the tax rate based on the remaining funds needed to provide Town and School services to the community. The total funds needed are then di- vided by the Town’s total property value to establish the tax rate. This year’s rate breaks down as follows: 2013 2014 Town-wide Value: $732,371,163 $588,845,010 Tax Rate: Town $7.53 $9.50 School $11.67 $14.24 County $1.13 $1.43 We are pleased to announce that Gretta Olson- State Ed $2.11 $2.48 Wilder has been hired to fill the position of Special Events Coordinator. Gretta will be working closely Total Rate: $22.44 $27.65 with the Town’s civic organizations, recreation de- If your value decreased by more than 18% your tax bill partment, school district and Board of Selectmen to should decrease despite the increase in the overall bring a variety of activities to the Village in 2015. rate. Any questions regarding the Revaluation process or your property’s value November 2014 Town Administrator News (cont.) Page 2 The Water Meter Replacement Pro- on the recycling program will be distributed over the ject has been awarded to New Eng- next few months and will be available at Town Hall. land Backflow. In addition, the Town This program will be in conjunction with our curbside is also working on an Asset Manage- collection of trash. Effective January 1, 2015, we ment Plan for the Water Department. would like to remind everyone that your trash and We have taken great strides to improve our infra- recyclables must be placed at the curb by 7 am. structure and to comply with the stringent rules and regulations that protect our water. The Bel- We would like to remind residents/ mont Board of Selectmen will be holding a public taxpayers that recycling bins are available hearing in mid-November to consider an increase at Town Hall so if you haven’t picked up in the cost per gallon of water; this increase will your bins (2 per household), please stop by insure continued improvements and maintenance Town Hall. of the Town’s water system. Your support of these ongoing efforts is greatly appreciated. Our 2014 Consumer Confidence Report relative to our water system is available on line at www.belmontnh.org. IT is the LAW! (RSA 466:31 II (c)) 2015 Proposed Budget We would like to remind all Dog Owners of the impor- tance of picking up your dog’s waste from property The Board of Selectmen and staff have begun pre- not your own. The town installed at two different lo- paring the 2015 proposed budget and the first cations, dog waste stations where you can obtain a Budget Committee meeting will be held on Tues- plastic bag to pick up the waste and deposit it in the day, November 18, 2014 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in numerous garbage cans located in the Village. the meeting room at the Corner Meeting House. A draft copy of the budget will available on our web- site, questions can be forwarded to townadminis- [email protected]. In order to meet the continuing needs of our residents and taxpayers relative to the The Town of Belmont has com- sharing of information, we are looking for pleted contract negotiations with a videographer to work with Town Staff Casella for our future trash collec- and attend Selectmen and other meetings tion and disposal needs. The con- for the purpose of videotaping the meet- tract will begin January 1, 2015. ings. Anyone interested, should contact The new contract is anticipated to save the Town the Town Administrator’s office to discuss money and provide enhanced service. Curbside the position further. collection of single stream recyclables will begin in January 2015; no special containers will be neces- sary, but will need to be clearly marked as recy- Your feedback is always welcome and if my office can cling. Possible route and collection day changes be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me may need to be considered, however residents will at [email protected]. be given plenty of notice prior to any changes. Fur- ther information November 2014 Planning & Zoning News Page 3 Planning Board Mountain Lake Village, LLC: A one year extension of 18-lot open space single family subdivision on Mile Hill Road Gistis Belmont Realty, LLC: A one year extension of 43-lot open space single family subdivision on Province Road Terra Firma Real Estate/Jemco Builder: A one year extension of 36-lot open space single family subdi- vision on Upper Parish Settlement Drive Foley Oil Company: A one year extension of addition to garage for truck bays and office space at 39 Old State Road Sail View Inc.: Commercial building rehab/professional office space at 287 Daniel Webster Highway First Student, Inc.: Vehicle fueling facility at 592 Laconia Road Zoning Board David & Carol Leary: Approval to construct a deck at 15 Dutile Shore Road Koral Family Revocable Trust: Approval to construct an addition at 27 Wakeman Road Lynne Fournier Qual. Per. Res. Trust: Approval to replace/expand a pre-existing non-conforming shed at 119 Tucker Shore Road Jennifer Syphers: Denial of request to allow an accessory apartment at 474 Hurricane Road Ramzi Al-Shawafi: Commenced Public Hearing to add two apartments in an existing building at 139 Main Street - Tabled Application Review Committee Peter DeJager, Sr.: Request for Boundary Line Adjustment, 2 lots, on Sun Lake Drive Acquvest, Inc.: Request for Boundary Line Adjustment, 3 lots, Jefferson Road, Bayview Drive & Lakeside Drive Visit www.belmontnh.org/agendasminutes.asp to view agendas and minutes for all meetings. Other Land Use News Construction is underway at: Sail View, Inc. - Daniel Webster Highway redevelopment of property into Professional Office Space Winnsiquam Marine - Sunset Drive, construct 4,200sf boat display building Winnipesaukee Truck - Laconia Road, construct 5,600sf truck repair facility ClearChoiceMD - Daniel Webster Highway redevelopment for Urgent Care facility Construction recently substantially complete at: Brook Hollow Development - Horne Road final road/improvements construction for 10-lot subdivision Be sure to visit the Town's Veterans page at www.belmontnh.org/aboutveterans.asp November 2014 Fire Department News Page 4 Firefighter Weeks? As part of Administrative Assistant Sarah Weeks’ proba- tionary training (and to help her under-stand just what the heck we are talking about) Lieutenant Ryan Brown conducted some fire-fighter one training with her. Sarah learned the terminology of all the turnout gear firefight- ers wear and what it feels like to be fully dressed. She also experienced putting on a Self Contained Breathing Apparatus, con-ducting a large area search and hose line op- erations. Description Count BLS Alpha or Bravo 260 ALS Charlie 87 ALS Delta 93 ALS Echo 37 MVA Alpha or Bravo 9 MVA Charlie 4 MVA Delta 8 MVA With Extrication 2 Fire Response 128 Hazardous Materials Response 30 Motor Vehicle Accident No Injury 17 Mutual Aid Response 146 No Medical incident Found/No Patient Contact 5 Rescue Response 1 Service Call 23 Storm Response 4 Water Rescue 1 Total 855 November 2014 Fire Department News Page 5 Automatic rooftop vents are installed in some occupancies to allow smoke and heat to escape, thereby improving visibility for firefighters, minimizing property damage, and confining a fire to a smaller area. Vents may be passive, such as the illustrated shrink-out plastic vents, or active, meaning they operate by a fusible link, remote operation or manual re- lease on the rooftop. (See Coffee Break Training FP-2006-28 for manual vent testing procedures.) Rooftop vents are found most often in storage occupancies and some legacy applications for buildings that have extremely large areas. Smoke and vents, however, are controversial in fire protection. For example, in buildings protected by automatic sprinklers, water discharge at the ceiling may cool the thermal plume to the level where the vents are unable to operate automatically.