Town Manager’s Letter
Once again, it is town meeting time for Colebrook Citizens. Everyone is anxious to receive the town report and see which 2010 items are over or under the approved budget and the proposed budget total for 2011.
The town office staff has been working diligently since December to close out the 2010 books, finalize the balancing, create the new 2011 budgets and prepare the town report. The town office has been fortunate to have a part-time volunteer this winter. She assisted with several time consuming projects, which allowed the regular staff to concentrate on the vital work.
The town contracted with their auditing firm to have one staff person work with the town’s bookkeeper one day a month to bring the town’s financials into a full accrual system. They have also concentrated on preparing all the grant paper work for a single audit. Any town receiving or expending over $500,000.00 in Federal grant funds in one calendar year is required to have a single audit of all accounts. The town’s regular audit company cannot conduct this audit as they have worked with the town staff during the year and cannot audit their own work. Hence, the extra $20,000.00 in the audit line item.
The ARRA Project (pump house and water lines from the new wells to the existing water line, plus Edwards Street Loop to Route 145) has been a very successful project to this point. Unfortunately, this grant was a 50/50 match and the water users’ rates were increased substantially to meet the payment.
This increase is indicated on the October, November and December Quarterly billing. Colebrook’s water rates have been some of the lowest in the state for years but that has to change. The lines and shut offs under Main Street are over 100 years old. They usually break more during cold weather. If the shut offs do not work, the entire street needs to be shut down during a repair. Due to these issues, the town has been looking for grants to replace water and sewer lines along with the sidewalks, as part of a Main Street Project. State of NH DES and USDA will not give grants unless the rates increase to what their departments
consider normal usage cost.
The CCDA applied for and was awarded a Plan NH Grant that brings architects, engineers, designers and historical associates to look at a town and then make recommendations for how the town can alter their appearance to promote growth in an esthetically pleasing manner. Rick Tillotson supplied the matching grant funds for this project. I hope the end project report will assist Colebrook in their long awaited Main Street Project from the basic utility lines to the face-lift of Main Street.
Several funds and grants funded the Mohawk River Bank Retaining Walls, Pleasant Street Water Line and Connecticut River Bank Restoration Projects, some of which were the Economic Development Administration, Economic Development Initiative, Tillotson Grant, Moose Plates, NH Fisheries, and NH DES. Everyone in town watched Academy Street get dug up and the wall torn down. Then we waited. We are all watching and praying that the sheet piling is installed before the high water arrives. Everyone has been very patient with everything associated with this aspect of the Mohawk Wall Project. My thanks
go out to Colebrook Academy’s staff, students, and Howards’s Restaurant owner, Crystal Ball, for their patience and accommodation in waiting for Academy Street’s wall. Thank you also to First Colebrook Bank for your patience during the inconveniences while your side of the wall was constructed.
Parking in the town parking lot has been restricted and the Monadnock and Methodist Churches, along with Gail Nugent and the News & Sentinel, have provided alternate parking spaces.
The explosion was another tragedy that plagued Colebrook in 2010. The North Country is blessed with a regional dispatch center and emergency responders from New Hampshire, Vermont and Federal Agencies that immediately move into action and work together during a tragedy. The first responders certainly risked their lives that day.
Roaring Brook Road washed out again this year. Once again, I thank everyone who was affected by the washout for their patience and understanding. I also would like to extend a thank you to the Smith Family who assisted the town in placing the roadbed back together again.
There are so many people in Colebrook that I could easily be saying thank you to for all your good deeds, patience, thoughtfulness, volunteerism and generosity but there is not enough room in my letter to thank all of you.
I want to thank each employee and each elected official for the Town of
Colebrook for your Dedication and Pride in your work to serve the Citizens of Colebrook. You all donate your time, your own personal money in one way or another to benefit your town. Some purchase their own uniforms and supplies, use their own vehicles, do not charge mileage, attend classes on their own, do mechanic work on town vehicles, work extra hours, take their insurance from another source and the list goes on.
One final item - There is a suggestion box in the hallway at the side entrance of the building. We welcome any suggestions for any town department. You do not need to sign your name. Money is tight for everyone, and if there is a way you think the town or employees can save tax dollars, please place your comments in the box.
Thank you,
Donna Caron
Colebrook Town Manager
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