Milford Voting Results 9/9/2014

These are the results from the September 9th, 2014 primary election in Milford New Hampshire, and for the two special votes for the town and the school district.

The checklist contains 9,666 voter names.

2,186 Voters cast ballots, or 23% of the checklist


School Ballot
Approve the Fact-Finder's recommendations (Teacher's Contract)
Yes 766 36%
No 1374 64%
Article failed


Town Ballot
Purchase of property next to Keyes Field (Permatach property)
Yes 1758 82%
No 392 18%
Article passed


Democratic Ballot
Governor
Maggie Hassan 570 nominated
Ian Freeman 20
Ciecia Terrio 8

US Senator
Jeanne Shaheen 567

Representative in Congress CD2
Ann McLane Kuster 542

Executive Councilor District 5
Diane Sheehan 335 nominated
Jennifer Daler 174

State Senator District 11
Roger H. Tilton 496

State Representative Hillsborough District 23
Ruth H Heden 427 nominated
Dorothy H. Lindon 333 nominated
Elise deMichael 315 nominated
Herb Salmon 280 nominated
Mark Linn 204

State Representative Hillsborough District 40
Bill Barry 501

County Attorney
Patricia M. LaFrance 503

County Treasurer
Theodore Groh 494

Register of Deeds
Louise Wright 500

Register of Probate
Elizabeth Kulig 497

County Commissioner
Susan Ladmer 291
Shannon Bernier Martin 158


Republican Ballot
Governor
Walt Havenstein 817 nominated
Andreew Hemingway 532
Daniel J Greene 72
Jonathan Smolin 29

United States Senator
Scott P Brown 656 nominated
Bob Smith 410
Jim Rubens 350
Walter W Kelly 29
Bob Heghmann 18
Mark W Farnham 11
Andy Martin 9
Miro Dziedzic 4
Gerard Beloin 3

Representative in Congress CD2
Marilinda Garcia 777 nominated
Gary Lambert 352
Jim Lawrence 267
Mike Little 42

Executive Councilor District 5
Dave Wheeler 1056 nominated
Steve Hattamer 367

State Senator District 11
Gary L Daniels 973 nominated
Maureen Mooney 251
Dan Hynes 154
Daniel Dwyer 65

State Representative Hillsborough District 23
Bill Goulette
Shawn Sweeney 780
Barbara Biggie 724
Carolyn Halstead 706

State Representative Hillsborough District 40
Keith Ammon 1145

Sheriff
James A Hardy

County Attorney
Dennis Hogan 1143

County Treasurer
David G Fredette 549
Lynda Bennett 401
Sean W Thomas 178

Register of Deeds
Pamela D Coughlin 663
Mary Ann Crowell 272
Howard D Coffman 194

Register of Probate
Joseph Kelly Levasseur 1109

County Commissioner
Carol Holden 1107

Delegates to the State Convention
Stephen J Palmer 793
Andrew Seale 754
Thomas Flaherty 718
Daniel G Colby 705
Raymond D Hayes 642
June Minkkinen 552

Milford New Hampshire Voting Results 3/11/2014

These are the voting results for the March 11, 2014 ballot session for Milford New Hampshire.

There were 1,770 votes cast.

School Ballot

School Board
Paul Dargie 1337 elected
Kevin Drew 1314 elected

School District Moderator
Peter Basiliere 1450 elected

School District Treasurer
Rose Evans 1424 elected

School District Clerk
Joan Dargie 1364 elected

1 - Repurpose Proceeds of Capital Improvements Bond
yes 1238 passed (60% needed, got 72%)
no 476 

2 - Operating Budget
yes 1120 passed
no 610

3 - Collective Bargaining Agreement with Administrative Group 
yes 1130 passed
no 580

4 - Expanded High School Parking
yes 677 failed
no 1048

Town Ballot

Selectmen
Katherine Bauer 640 elected
Mike Putnam 638 elected
Steve Sareault 620
Andrew Seale 481
Ed Densmore 288 
Connie Kelleher 243
Matt Bernard 220

Cemetery Trustee
Leonard Harten 1429 elected

Library Trustee
Michael Tule 1197 elected
Arah Philbrick Sandhage 1346 elected

Supervisor of the Checklist
Tim Finan 1427 elected

Town Moderator 
Pete Basiliere 1461 elected

Trustee of the Trust Funds
Tina Philbrick 1431 elected

Water-Wastewater Commissioner
Robert Courage 1454  elected

Article 2
2-1 Remove "public utility uses necessary for public welfare" from section 5.02.2
yes 1340 passed
no 272

2-2 Remove "public utility uses necessary for public welfare" from section 5.03.2
yes 1351 passed
no 286

2-3 Remove "public utility" from article IV
yes 1358 passed
no 281

2-4 Amend Article VII to be consistent with the revisions made to the Town of Milford Gravel and Earth Removal Regulation
yes 1301 passed
no 341

2-5 Eliminate senior housing from Article VII
yes 1257 passed
no 410

2-6 Change zoning on land near South Street and 101A
yes 1094 passed
no 559

Ballot Question 3 - Dram Cup Hill Water Storage Tank Renovation $330,000
yes 1273 passed
no 424

4 - Town operating budget $13,007,697
yes 1061 passed
no 670

5 - Wastewater Treatment Operating Budget $1,804,945
yes 1289 passed
no 419

6 - Water Department Operating Budget $1,368,189
yes 1288 passed
no 414

7 - South Street Railroad Crossing - Renewal
yes 1370 passed
no 360

8 - Bridge Replacement Capital Reserve $125,000
yes - 1230 passed
no 465

9 - Fire Ladder Truck Replacement - $117,500 First Year of 7 Year Lease of $770,000 purchase
yes 1098 passed
no 616

10 - Dump Truck $30,000 First Year of 5 Year Lease of $144,000 purchase
yes 956 passed
no 745

11 - Transfer Station Scale House/Office Replacement $74,500
yes 1015 passed
no 685

12 - AFSCME Contract (Police Union) $117,600
yes 1139 passed
no 540

13 - Social Services $35,000
yes 1208 passed
no 491

14 - Non-Emergency Community Transportation Bus Services $28,950
yes 1271 passed
no 449

15 - Pumpkin Festival, Holiday Decorations, Plantings $20,000
yes 1115 passed
no 620

16 - Milford Improvement Team Operating Budget $20,000
yes 841 failed
no 884

17 - Summer Band Concerts $9,000
yes 1069 passed
no 660

18 - Fireworks $8.500
yes 890 passed
no 848 

19 - Parade support $6,000
yes 1334 passed
no 403

20 - Labor Day Parade $5,000
yes 1210 passed
no 527

21 - Sale of natural resources (mainly gravel) from Brox Property $0
yes 816 failed
no 838 

22 - Veterans credit increase from $300 to $400, $53.000
yes 806 failed
no 879

23 - Conservation Lands Fund $20,000
yes 809 failed
no 872

24 - Mile Slip Town Forest - Conservation Easement $0
yes 987 passed
no 688

25 - Resolution to overturn Citizens United $0
yes 1183 passed
no 439

Milford NH Voting Results 3/12/2013

These are the voting results for the Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 election for Milford New Hampshire.

There were 1528 ballots cast out of 9667 voters on the checklist, for a voter turnout of 16%.  

School Warrant:

School Board (2 positions)
886 Bob Willette, elected
851 Len Mannino, elected
733 Mike Banks

Question 1 - Capital Improvements Bond (Middle school roof, Middle school flooring, High school fire alarm system, District phone system); 60% supermajority vote needed
1081 yes, 420 no, passed (72%)

Question 2 - Operating Budget, 903 yes, 594 no, passed

Question 3 - MTA (Teachers) Collective Bargaining Agreement, 954 yes, 540 no, passed

Question 4 - MESSA (Associates and Assistants) Collective Bargaining Agreement, 942 yes, 532 no, passed

Question 5 - MEPA (Custodians and Maintenance) Collective Bargaining Agreement - 989 yes, 488 no passed

Question 6 - Purchase of West Street Lot, 561 yes, 934 no, failed

Question 7 - Long Term Data Service Lease, 894 yes, 585 no, passed


Town Warrant

Selectmen
735 Kevin Federico, elected
649 Ed Densmore

Cemetery Trustee
665 Stephen Trombly, elected
387 Gil Archambault
277 Maria Salisbury

Library Trustee (2 positions)
983 Chris Costantino, elected
862 Wayne Hardy, elected

Town Clerk
1089 Peggy Langell, elected
288 Bobbi Schelberg

Trustee of the Trust Funds
1236 Janet Spalding, elected

Water & Wastewater Commisioner
1229 Dale White, elected

Question 2 Zoning Change Ballot Votes

Ballot Vote 1 - Non-conforming uses and structures, 1146 yes, 271 no, passed

Ballot Vote 2 - Non-conforming uses and structures - Continuance, discontinuance, or change, 1154 yes, 258 no, passed

Ballot Vote 3 - Zoning Ordinance Definitions, 1150 yes, 263 no, passed

Ballot Vote 4 - Groundwater protection, 1184 yes, 222 no, passed

Ballot Vote 5 - Sign ordinance definitions, 1150 yes, 248 no, passed

Ballot Vote 6 - Sign ordinance - Permits not required, 1129 yes, 262 no, passed

Ballot Vote 7 - Sign ordinance - Application procedure, 1160 yes, 225 no, passed

Ballot Vote 8 - Sign requirements by sign type, 1121 yes, 255 no, passed

Ballot Vote 9 - Sign ordinance - Wall signs (fascia sign or facade sign), 1135 yes, 251 no, passed

Ballot Vote 10 - Sign ordinance tables, 1115 yes, 275 no, passed

Ballot Vote 11 - Senior housing development, 1230 yes, 199 no, passed

Ballot Vote 12 - Telecommunications facilities ordinance, 1189 yes, 212 no, passed

Ballot Vote 13 - Administrative relief, 1159 yes, 250 no, passed


Question 3 - Nashua Street Sidewalk Construction Project, 60% supermajority required, 457 yes, 1024 no, failed

Question 4 - Town Operating Budget, 926 yes, 523 no, passed

Question 5 - Wastewater Treatment Operating Budget, 1118 yes, 301 no, passed

Question 6 - Water Department Operating Budget, 1127 yes, 283 no, passed

Question 7 - Two Replacement Ambulance 7-Year Lease/Purchase, 970 yes, 490 no, passed

Question 8 - Social Services, 1101 yes, 348 no, passed

Question 9 - Non-Emergency Community Transportation Bus Service, 1136 yes, 325 no, passed

Question 10 - Dump Truck (6 cubic Yard) - 5-Year Lease/Purchase, 911 yes, 533 no, passed

Question 11 - Conservation Lands Fund, 913 yes, 558 no, passed

Question 12 - Pumpkin Festival, Holiday Decorations and Plantings, 987 yes, 558 no, passed

Question 13 - Milford Improvement Team Operating Budget Support, 927 yes, 536 no, passed

Question 14 - Teamsters Union Collective Bargaining Agreement (2013-2014), 866 yes, 586 no, passed

Question 15 - Summer Band Concerts, 948 yes, 532 no, passed

Question 16 - Memorial, Veterans & Labor Day Parade Town Support, 1127 yes, 360 no, passed

Question 17 - Fireworks, 836 yes, 652 no, passed

Question 18 - Allow for the Inclusion of Estimated Tax Impact Notations on Budget and Warrant Articles, 1115 yes, 301 no, passed

Milford NH Voting Results 3/13/2012

These are the voting results for Milford NH for the 3/13/12 local elections

Total Votes Cast 1818

School Ballot

School Board
Peter Bragdon 1446 elected

School District Moderator
Peter Basiliere 1566 elected

School District Treasurer
Rosemarie Evans 1516 elected

School District Clerk
Joan Dargie 1471 elected

Warrant Article 1 Operating Budget
yes 1218, no 547 passed

Warrant Article 2 MESSA Collective Bargaining Agreement
yes 1219, no 539 passed

Warrant Article 3 Special Meeting Allowed
yes 1169, no 555 passed


Town Ballot

Selectman
Gary Daniels 1178 elected
Mark Fougere 1026 elected
Kevin Federico 723

Cemetery Trustee
Mary Dickson 1036 elected
Gil Archambault 455

Library Trustee
Jennifer Martin Hansen 1326 elected
Kim Paul 1102 elected
Debra Faucher (sp?) 23 elected
Joy Leo 19
Randy Malcuit (sp?) 6

Town Moderator
Peter Basiliere 1505 elected

Town Treasurer
Brian Sanborn 1397 elected

Trustee of Trust Funds
Brad Chappell 1462 elected

Supervisor of the Checklist
Darlene Bouffard 1430 elected

Water & Wastewater Commisioner
Mike Putnam 1429 elected


Articles

Article 2 Zoning Changes

Ballot Vote 1: Shall/Should/May wording standardization
yes 1425 no 270 passed

Ballot Vote 2: Lot of Record definition alignment
yes 1390 no 287 passed

Ballot Vote 3: Dwelling unit, lot of record, definition modifications
yes 1338 no 310 passed

Ballot Vote 4: Acceptable use modifications
yes 1272 no 360 passed

Ballot Vote 5: Overlay Districts name changes
yes 1351 no 283 passed

Ballot Vote 6: Add overlay district Commerce and Community District
yes 1229 no 401

Ballot Vote 7: Add overlay district West Elm Street Gateway District
yes 1283 no 353

Ballot Vote 8: Update sign ordinance
yes 1264 no 404 passed

Ballot Vote 9: Remove duplicate references in sign ordinance
yes 1359 no 285 passed

Ballot Vote 10: Modify code enforcement rules to match state requirements
yes 1262 no 361 passed

Question 3 Ambulance Facility $2,214,000
yes 1120 no 667 passed 63% (needed 60% or 1072 to pass)

Question 4 Operating budget $11,767,325
yes 1208 no 490 passed

Question 5 Wastewater Treatment Operating Budget $1,693,966
yes 1362 no 330 passed

Question 6 Water Department Operating Budget $1,361,299
yes 1336 no 334 passed

Question 7 Fire Engine # 4 Replacement (Annual payment $67,700/total purchase price $437,000)
yes 1213 no 487 passed

Question 8 Public Works Backhoe, Rubber Tired (Annual payment $23,800/total purchase price $113,000)
yes 1021 no 663 passed

Question 9 AFSCME union Collective Bargaining Agreement (2009-2013) - $50,510
yes 1067 no 603 passed

Question 10 Teamsters Union Collective Bargaining Agreement (2012-2013) - $21,035
yes 980 no 683 passed

Question 11 Social Services - $35,000
yes 1275 no 413 passed

Question 12 Non-emergency Community Transportation Bus Service $26,500
yes 1434 no 335 passed

Question 13 Conservation Lands Fund $20,000
yes 1107 no 632 passed

Question 14 Pumpkin Festival, Holiday Decorations and Plantings $20,000
yes 1221 no 553 passed

Question 15 DO-IT Operating Budget Support $20,000
yes 1112 no 623 passed

Question 16 Jennison Road Bridge Replacement/Phase I $18,000
yes 1351 no 383

Question 17 Summer Band Concerts $9,000
yes 1107 no 647 passed

Question 18 Memorial, Veterans & labor Day Parade Town Support $6,000
yes 1324 no 427 passed

Question 19 Fireworks $4,500
yes 1038 no 773 passed

Question 20 Authorize the Board of Selectmen to Rent or Lease Town-Owned Property $0
yes 1429 no 295 passed

Question 21 Authorize the Board of Selectmen to lease Town-Owned property - Shepard Park Scout House $0
yes 1519 no 194 passed

Question 22 Authorize the Board of Selectmen to Lease Town-owned property - MCAA/North River Road Fields $0
yes 1525 no 182 passed

Question 23 Authorize the Board of Selectmen to to Convey a Permanent Easement on Town-Owned Property (Former Putnam Street) $0
yes 1352 no 289 passed

Question 24 Establishment of the BROX Prperties Public infrastructure Improvement Fund (Tax Map 38, Lots 4,5, 5-1, 6, 9, 11,12, 13, and 14) $0
yes 1225 no 436 passed

Question 25 Funding of the BROX Properties Public Infrastructure improvement Fund $0
yes 1207 no 444 passed

Question 26 Authorize the Board of Selectmen to Convey a Permanent Subdivision identification Signage Easement - Falcon Ridge Subdivision (Map 3, Lot 4) $0
yes 1238 no 385 passed

Question 27 Pratt Land Conservation Easement Conveyance (Map 45, Lot 2) $0
yes 1353 no 288 passed

Question 28 Change Town Treasurer to and Appointed Position $0
yes 1101 no 609 passed

Question 29 Adjustment to income and Asset Levels for Elderly Exemptions - By Petition $0
yes 1106 no 619

end of ballots

Milford Voting Results 3/8/2011

These are the results from the 3/8/2011 vote: There were 2001 voters. School Ballot School Board 1224 Paul Dargie - elected 855 Kevin Drew - elected 798 Carolyn Magri Halstead 340 Jim Rumson Question 1 Operating Budget yes 984 no 988 failed Question 2 Collective Bargaining Agreement - MEPA yes 1318 no 641 passed Question 3 Special meeting if question 2 is defeated yes 1364 no 559 passed Question 4 Property Acquisition yes 616 no 1330 failed Question 5 Creation of a joint services study committee yes 1531 no 416 passed Town Ballot Election of Officers Selectmen 1245 Mike Putnam - elected 1224 Kathy Bauer - elected 673 Kevin Taylor Cemetery Trustee 1576 Len Harten - elected Trustee of the Trust Funds 1507 Ed Killam - elected Library Trustee 1464 Sarah Philbrick-Sandhage - elected 1241 Michael Tule - elected Water/Wastewater Commissioner 1618 Bob courage - elected Article 2 - Zoning Questions (all questions passed) 1 Residential small structure setbacks yes 1248 no 624 2 Zoning Ordinance definitions yes 1464 no 370 3 Definitions: liquid petroleum products in groundwater protection district yes 1537 no 302 4 Residence A district special exception uses yes 1298 no 514 5 Residence B district special exception uses yes 1341 no 463 6 Residence R district acceptable uses and special exception yes 1292 no 508 7 Commerical district acceptable uses and special exceptions yes 1325 no 460 8 Industrial district uses and special exceptions yes 1391 no 428 9 LCB district acceptable uses and special exceptions yes 1364 no 443 10 ICI district acceptable uses and special exceptions yes 1367 no 436 11 ICI-2 district acceptable uses and special exceptions yes 1310 no 441 12 Special exception criteria for offices in residence A and B yes 1247 no 503 13 Sign ordinance definiitons yes 1283 no 478 14 Wall signs and price numbering signs yes 1170 no 591 15 Monument signs and price numbering signs yes 1215 no 538 16 Price numbering signs yes 1238 no 550 17 Off premise signs yes 1310 no 480 18 Event signage yes 1317 no 491 19 Electronic message centers yes 1038 no 782 20 Senior housing development definitions yes 1497 no 321 21 Wetlands conservation district yes 1285 no 486 22 Open space and conservation zoing district yes 1323 no 428 Article 3 Fire/Ambulance facility lands acquisition & vacant building demolition $530,000 (60% majority needed) yes 963 no 964 failed Article 4 Fire/ambulance facility architectural & engineering plans $250,000 (60% majority needed)yes 810 no 1109 failed Article 5 Water utilities department - sanitary sewer system rehabilitation $270,000 (60% majority needed) yes 1401 no 499 passed Article 6 Union street water main replacement project $246,000 (60% majority needed) yes 1379 no 528 passed Article 7 Operating budget $11,708,252 yes 868 no 1043 failed Article 8 Wastewater treatment operating budget $1,735,642 yes 1406 no 501 passed Article 9 Water department operating budget $1,381,757 yes 1393 no 486 passed Article 10 Route 101A / Route 13 / Oval improvements grant $155,000 yes 1372 no 576 passed Article 11 Public works tractor / loader / backhoe $135,000 yes 778 no 1147 failed Article 12 Route 13 South / Emerson road / Armory road intersection improvement $90,000 yes 1136 no 771 passed Article 13 Social Services $35,000 yes 1396 no 513 passed Article 14 Non-emergency community transportation bus service $35,000 yes 1473 no 459 passed Article 15 Pumpkin festival, holiday decoration and plantings $20,000 yes 1265 no 660 passed Article 16 DO-IT operating budget support $20,000 yes 1212 no 691 passed Article 17 Conservation lands fund $10,000 yes 1253 no 657 passed Article 18 Summer band concerts $9,000 yes 1193 no 726 passed Article 19 Memorial, Veterans & labor day parade town support $6,000 yes 1460 no 470 passed Article 20 Establishment of the Brox properties public infrastructure improvement fund $0 yes 819 no 1048 failed Article 21 Diversion of proceeds of sale of former police station property $0 yes 928 no 966 failed Article 22 Modification of authorization for Selectmen sale of the Brox properties $0 yes 1390 no 476 passed Article 23 Elderly exemption equalization to synchronize with town property assement revaluation $0 yes 1602 no 302 passed Article 24 Joining Concord regional solid wate / resource recovery cooperative $0 yes 1284 no 599 passed Article 25 Joining single stream recycling Co-op $0 yes 1237 no 648 passed Article 26 Town forest lands - Tucker Brook town forest $0 yes 1617 no 275 passed Article 27 Town forest lands - Mayflower Hill town forest $0 yes 1617 no 275 passed Article 28 Joint services study committee - by petition yes 1362 no 486 passed

Milford Cost Per Student Trends

The state recently published the cost per student data for the 07-08 school year. The data is published on the New Hampshire Department of Education - Financial Reports web page.

Milford reached a milestone with this latest report. Our cost per student for the entire District was below the state average for the first time in at least 11 years!!!

Shown below is a graphic that shows the data from the state site summarized for Milford. The first block shows the total spending per student for the past 11 years. We have been showing continuous improvement in our cost per student spending during the past 11 years. Our per student spending was 110% of the state average 11 years ago. The percentage has steadily dropped over the years, and we are now at only 98% of the state average.

This came about because our percentage growth in spending has been less than the state percentage growth over this time period. Our total spending per student has gone up 71% over the 11 years (from $6394 to $10,933), while the state average 's cost per student has gone up 93% (from $5780 to $11,135).

There are a lot of factors that go into spending for a school district that feed into the overall results. In my opinion, we have provided the right focus on our spending to provide good outcomes. The District is in much better shape than it was 11 years ago. We have gotten where we are by being consistent in our spending practices. We have been following the practice of trying to make continuous improvement each year, but in a modest way. We have avoided years of no progress due to severe cutbacks, and we have also not tried to do too much in any given year.

We have followed the teachings of the Tortoise and the Hare fable, where slow but steady wins the race. We have become a good Tortoise, where we move along at a steady pace each year, taking consistent steps towards an improved District. The only difference is that we do not have a finish line - we are just trying to do better all the time.

The spending area that contributed the most to our overall improvement was the elementary schools calculations. Eleven years ago we were at 111% of the state average, and now we are now at 91%. This is likely the result of going from operating out of three aging schools (Garden Street, Bales, and Jacques), and transitioning to newer schools (Heron Pond and renovated Jacques). We get economies of scale by operating out of a relatively large Heron Pond school. Most elementary schools in the state are much smaller, and they cost more to operate per student. We get by with fewer support staff members than a typical District due to the larger school size. There was additional savings when the Fifth grade was added onto Heron Pond, where we added about 200 more students with minimal additional overhead cost.

3/10/09 Voting Results

There were 1683 ballots cast today in the Milford local elections.

School Votes

1302 Peter Bragdon, School Board

Question 1 Jacques School Addition to Implement Public Kindergarten
yes 943 (57%), no 713 (43%) - question failed as it needed a 60% supermajority to pass

Question 2 Operating Budget
yes 856 no 802

Question 3 Teachers Association contract
yes 932 no 721

Question 4 Special meeting allowed if question 3 fails
yes 1060 no 565

Question 5 Milford Educational Support Staff contract
yes 931 no 718

Question 6 Special meeting allowed if question 5 fails
yes 1055 no 583

Question 7 Deputy Treasurer
yes 1072 no 562

Town Votes

Article 1 Elections of Officers

Selectman ( two 3-year terms)

1128 Gary Daniels
637 Nathaniel Carmen
519 Frank Corey
387 John Cass, Sr.

Cemetery Trustee - 3 year term

1360 Mary Dickson

Checklist Supervisor - 1 year term

1362 Polly Cote

Trustee of the Trust Funds - one 3 year term

1039 Brad Chappell
356 Kevin Taylor

Library Trustee - three 3-year terms

1142 Tim Barr
1105 Edith March
1070 Kristie Popp

Water/Wastewater Commissioner - 3 year term

1342 Mike Putnam

Water/Wastewater Commissioner - 2 year term

1389 Robert Courage

Article 2 Zoning Questions

Vote 1 Definitions
yes 1218 no 267
Vote 2 Replace principal route of access with Class V or better
yes 1194 no 301
Vote 3 Yard requirements
yes 1048 no 450
Vote 4 Administrative wording
yes 1247 no 263
Vote 5 Expiration of variances
yes 1229 no 269
Vote 6 Growth management sunset date
yes 1095 no 396
Vote 7 Small wind energy system restrictions
yes 1139 no 373

Article 3 Curtis well facility improvements
yes 1121 no 495

Article 4 Operating budget
yes 879 no 755

Article 5 Wastewater treatment budget
yes 1213 no 412

Article 6 Water treatment operating budget
yes 1194 no 415

Article 7 Route 101a / route 13 / oval improvements grant
yes 1142 no 510

Article 8 Teamsters union collective bargaining agreement
yes 504 no 1114

Article 9 Social services
yes 1054 no 547

Article 10 Wastewater treatment facility wheel loader replacement
yes 989 no 598

Article 11 Pumpkin festival, holiday decorations and plantings
yes 956 no 667

Article 12 Reinstating library hours
yes 854 no 765

Article 13 DO-IT operating budget support
yes 925 no 676

Article 14 Fireworks
yes 692 no 920

Article 15 Summer band concerts
yes 889 no 732

Article 16 Memorial, Veterans, and Labor Day parade town support
yes 1195 no 430

Article 17 South street railroad crossing
yes 1155 no 442

Article 18 Distontinuance of a portion of Hartshorn Mill Road
yes 1261 no 305

Article 19 Authorization to expend funds to purchase interest in lands outside town boundaries
yes 897 no 687

Article 20 Adjustment to income and asset levels for elderly exemptions
yes 1383 no 226

Article 21 Authorize special meeting if collective bargaining agreement warrant article is defeated
yes 1008 no 539

Article 22 Authorization to selectmen to establish and amend town ordinances
yes 1008 no 539

Article 23 Grant of access easement to Saint Joseph Hospital
yes 1406 no 207

Article 25 Cable access revolving fund
yes 865 no 702

Article 26 Non-emergency medical transportation bus service budgetary funding request
yes 1122 no 490

Article 27 Railroad pond fishing age limits - McBriarty Memorial Fishing Derby
yes 1041 no 541

Article 28 Request for adoption of New Hampshire RSA 79-F Taxation of farm structures and land under farm structures
yes 952 no 548

Milford School Board 4/7/08

MESSA

The meeting started with Deb Hayes from the High School talking in public comment as a representative from MESSA (Milford Educational Support Staff Association). This is the bargaining unit that has been in negotiations with the School Board for a year and a half. The group had previously requested that the entire school board meet with them directly to negotiate the contract, and the board had subsequently turned down their request. Ms. Hayes reiterated their request and asked the board to reconsider the decision. Chairman Bragdon indicated that the board would probably bring this up at the previously scheduled non-public session that would be held at the end of the meeting.

Bob Willette Presentation

Peter Bragdon presented Bob Willette with a granite plaque as a memento of his five years of service on the board. Lorna Willette was also there to help with the ceremony.

Superintendent's Report

Bob Suprenant had these comments:

* The Middle School Math Counts team entered the Ultimate Math Competition, and the team achieved Gold Level status. This means that at least 12 members of the team scored 80% or higher on the test. There will be a banner posted in the school to commemorate the achievement.

* 16 High school students were named Granite State Scholars. They will be eligible to apply for scholarships if they meet certain criteria, such as attending particular state schools.

* There were 9 winners at the State History Day competition.

* 10 Students were in the New Hampshire Science day competition
Liam Hurley won first in the state Skills competition in the carpentry section, and he will be going to the national competition (which is usually in Kansas City, but I'm not sure about this year).

* 9 High School Students did well at the state FBLA Future Business Leaders of America competition, including Joe Stagnone who won 1st place in the accounting 2 competition.

* Libby Wehrle-Anderson is sponsoring a Teen Alcohol Use Forum on 6/9/08 at the Middle School.

* The Bales Study Committee is having a forum to receive public input regarding anyone's thought about potential futures uses for the Bales facility, to be held at the Selectman's room in Town Hall.

* Teachers and Administrators have been doing a lot of work at reviewing the NECAP test results. They are completing their findings, and Laurie Johnson will be presenting them at an upcoming meeting.

* The District job fair was held on 3/20/08. There were 101 initial interviews conducted at the fair, with follow-on interviews scheduled for some candidates. There are only 13 openings right now, which is a bit lower than what we have seen in the past few years. A few of the openings might be difficult to fill, with 3 in math and 2 in science at the high school.

* Bob Suprenant and Burt Becker went to Concord to testify on the subject of Senate bill 530 regarding education funding. They recommended that the funding for temporary classrooms be put back in the bill, and that new kindergarten construction aid be done at the 100% level instead of the planned 75% level.
The High School graduation will be held on 6/14/08 at 10:00 am in the Hampshire Dome since the football field will not be available this year. Thanks to Rick Holder of Hampshire Hills for making this happen - the Hampshire Dome will be a much better venue than the High School Gym which was the alternate choice.

Writing Across the Curriculum

Ms. Jackie Theriaque gave a presentation regarding the John Collins "Writing Across the Curriculum" program. This is a structured approach to try to incorporate writing skill improvement as part of all curriculum activities. For example, if a teacher is working with the class on a math unit, then she might include a writing assignment at the same time.

One aspect of this process is to include the concept of "Focused Correction Areas" FCAs for assignments. In this approach, the students are told in advance which particular portions of the writing assignment will be graded, and what the weightings will be. For example, one FCA might be proper capitalization with a weighting of 20%. The students will then know to focus on making sure that their capitalization is correct, and not worry about a non-graded area such as word choice. The FCAs are rotated during the year to insure that all grade level expectations are covered during the school year.

There are also permanent FCAs which apply for all writing assignments. These vary by grade level and for individual capability. They are set at a level where the student can be reasonably expected to be able to meet them at all times.

Committee Reports

There were few reports from the standard committees, except that Lori Pitsas made a summary presentation regarding the status of the MAFC Milford Athletics Fundraising Committee.

* April 17th, 7PM, at the High School cafeteria. This is being put on and being promoted by the High School Football Boosters group. Tickets are $8 in advance, or $10 at the door.

* Golf Tournament, Friday August 22nd, at Amherst Country Club.

* Road race in the fall, perhaps in early October near the date of the pumpkin festival

The fundraising group is continuing to look for donations of cash or in-kind items.

Lori mentioned that there are about 100 students on the track team at the Middle school, and about 70 on the track team at the High school.

Bob Suprenant mentioned that he had submitted Lori's name to the New Hampshire School Administrators Association NHSAA in nomination for the "Champions for Children" award for the Southwest district. Someone from Peterborough won the district nomination, but Lori was a well-deserved candidate.

CIP Capital Improvement Plan Committee

I was appointed as the School Board rep to the CIP. Peter Bragdon had been the rep on this committee for the past few years, but he felt that he could not fit it into his schedule this year. The purpose of the committee is to try to set up a unified capital improvement plan for the next few years (5?) to help in establishing priorities on capital spending.

After the meeting, I learned that there will be a more inclusive meeting set up this year to try to include most of the stakeholders in the discussion of capital planning. All 5 School Board members will be invited to the expanded meeting.

Water Utilities Entrance Fee Charge

We received a bill from the Milford Water Utilities for an Entrance Fee charge for the new irrigation system for the fields under construction. This is a fee that none of us had ever heard of before now, and it was not in the budget. The fee was assessed at $22,691, so it is not an insignificant issue.

We discussed this at some length, with the outcome that we directed the Superintendent to meet with the water utilities folks to see what our options might be.

Len Mannino suggested that we look into drilling a well to replace or supplement the water to be obtained from the town system. This might help with lowering the Entrance fee, and it should help with lowering the amount that we pay for water on an ongoing basis. This will be researched by the High School Renovations committee, along with the district administration.

Policy Review

Our ongoing review of policies continued, with policies relating to Instruction, School Calendar, and Length of School Day going to first reading, and Controvertial Issues not going to first reading. Some members wanted some more time to reflect on the Controversial Issues policy before moving it to first reading.

PEG Committee

John Parker was appointed to be the School Board rep to the PEG (Public/Education/Government) cable access committee.

School Board Goals

We reviewed the goals that were suggested at the previous meeting, and decided to create goals for these topics for the 08/09 School Board term.

* Develop a plan for a temporary solution for providing public kindergarten starting in the 09/10 school year. This should be completed in time to have it as part of the warrant for next year.

* Develop a plan for a permanent solution for providing public kindergarten, probably starting in the 10/11 school year. This should be completed in time to have it as part of the warrant for next year.

* Complete contract negotiations with the Teachers bargaining unit in time for a warrant article for next year.

* Complete contract negotiations with MESSA Milford Educational Support Staff Association in time for a warrant article for next year.

* Negotiate with Mason to provide educational support for their students on a tuition basis, probably starting in the 09/10 school year.

* Learn more about the standardized testing process, assess what we are doing, and decide if we need to do something different.

These items were also discussed, but were not set up as items to be tracked on a goal basis:

* Provide oversight on the high school renovation project.

* Develop action plans based on the results obtained from the Bales study committee which is expected to provide their final report at the second meeting in June.

* Provide oversight on the subdivision of the Heron Pond property.

* Modify the district policy manual to match the structure of the New Hampshire School Boards Association model policy manual.

* Investigate the impact of the increase of retirement account spending at the state level.

* Work to minimize the impact of gang development in Milford.

Milford School Board 3/17/08

We held our first meeting of the new school board on Monday 3/17/08. Newly-elected member John Parker and I were sworn in prior to the start of the meeting.

I usually enjoy the first meeting of the year. Everything seems fresh and new, and we get to look forward to trying to make improvements. Much of the activity during the year is geared towards providing good choices for voters on the March ballot, and it is somewhat satisfying to finally finish the process. The final outcome is not always what I had hoped for, but it is good to have a completion of some type. The March elections are a bit like taking finals at the end of the year; you study and do the best you can during the year with the hope that there is confirmation of your work by doing well on the final test.

We held a "non-meeting" before the regular meeting to discuss contract negotiations. This type of meeting is specifically excluded from the right to know law, and the discussion is confidential.

Elections and Appointments

The first meeting of the year is an organizational meeting. We made the following elections and appointments:

Peter Bragdon - Chairperson
Paul Dargie - Vice Chairperson
No Secretary was elected; there is not much of a need for this position

No Truant Officer was appointed; we will search for a candidate

Paul - Professional Development Committee
Bert Becker - ATC Regional Center Advisory Committee
Paul - Technology Committee
John Parker - Wellness Committee
No appointment - PEG Committee
Paul - High School Renovations Committee
Paul - Athletics Fund-Raising Committee
Paul - Finance Committee
Bert - Finance Committee
Bert - Policy Review

Bob Willette, while no longer on the board, was kept as the board representative on the Bales Study Committee

Public Comment

Bob Willette spoke at some length discussing Milford's test scores.

MathCounts Presentation

Mrs. Page made a short presentation to the board regarding the MathCounts team at the Middle School. She has been the coach for the team for a long time, and has done a great job with it. She had three current members of the team with her, and they each discussed an aspect of the team. The team recently competed at the Keene regional competition, and will be going to the Plymouth State College state meet soon.

My daughter was on the MathCounts team about five years ago, and I was able attend the Plymouth state meet. It was a great event - the kids were all excited about Math, which can be a difficult thing to get them excited about.

Superintendent's Report

* The district has started an internal newsletter called Milford Minutes. The first issue was distributed to board members.

* The annual job fair is this Thursday. This has been a great way to get quality candidates for anticipated openings.

* The workshop day on voting day went well. There were a variety of programs available including responsive classroom, personalized profiles, and CPR training.

* The recent 11th grade NECAP scores were reviewed, with a comparison to state scores. In summary, Milford's results were very close to the state average, but the scores for both seemed low, especially for math. It is not clear if the problem was that students in general are not able to complete work at grade level expectations, or if there was some sort of a problem with the test. I'm guessing that at least some of the blame is due to the test. For example, I find it very hard to believe that 17% of 11th grade students are proficient with distinction on Reading, but only 1% or 2% are proficient with distinction in Math. There is usually a much higher correlation between the two categories than that.

* Laurie Johnson announced some grants that had been won: $10K for e-portfolio development, $10k for various items such as professional development reading improvement, etc.

Calendars

We set up the school board calendar for the year, with all the standard events scheduled.

We approved the school district calendar for the 08-09 year. School starts on 8/27/08 and Christmas break is 8 weekdays: 12/24/08 to 1/2/09. The last day of school without snow days is Monday 6/15/09, which means that the real last day will be around 6/18/09 or 6/19/09.

School Board Goals

Each year the school board sets their goals for the year. Each member can bring up options at the first meeting of the year, and we set the goals at the second meeting. The final list is usually a subset of the ones that are first presented. These are the potential goals for the year:

* Develop plans for a 09-10 start-up for a public kindergarten program in Milford. This is likely to take the form of adding portables to Jacques to create the space needed for the program.

* Develop plans for the presentation of a warrant article on the 2009 ballot for the construction of permanent space for public kindergarten. This is likely to be a proposal that is similar to the one that was article one on this year's ballot.

* Negotiate with the Teachers bargaining unit and the Support Staff bargaining unit with the objective of agreeing to contracts that will be presented to the voters on the 2009 ballot.

* Develop action plans based on the final Bales Study report due in June.

* Do some sort of activity regarding the potential severe Retirement System cost problems.

* Do some sort of activity regarding the development of gangs in Milford. This might involve working with law enforcement professionals in some manner.

* Manage the High School, Track, and Bales Roof renovation projects.

* Subdivide the Heron Pond lots.

* Negotiate with Mason regarding having their Middle and High school students attend Milford schools on a tuition basis, perhaps starting in the 09-10 school year.

* Do some sort of activity regarding the poor test scores, especially the 11th grade math scores.

* Start a conversion of our district policies to match the model policy format used by the New Hampshire School Board Association.

What Happened in the School Board Election?

I was surprised by the results of the school board election. I had been expecting the Bob Willette and I would be re-elected, and that John Parker would come in third. My simplistic thought was that Bob and I are fairly well-known and thus we would get the most votes, and that John was somewhat of an unknown to most voters in Milford and would thus receive fewer votes.

Upon reflection, I have an idea as to what happened, and it relates to the way a three-way race for two positions can play out.

There are three types of voters for this school board race:
1. Status quo voters: ones that like the way things are going and want to stay with the current directions.
2. Conservative voters: ones that are relatively conservative and want to move the board to the right from the status quo.
3. Liberal voters: ones that are relatively liberal and want to move the board to the left from the status quo.

As a general rule, Bob is fairly conservative, and I am more liberal than him. John's political leanings are less well known, but my impression is that he is perceived as being somewhat in the middle relative to Bob and I. Whether that is true or not doesn't matter; what does matter when making a voting choice is the perception of the voters. Assuming the perceived positioning is correct, then:

* Status quo voters would tend to vote for Bob and I, to try to keep things moving in the same direction as today.

* Relatively conservative voters would tend to vote for Bob and John, since John is perceived as being more conservative than me.

* Relatively liberal voters would tend to vote for John and I since John is perceived as being more liberal than Bob.

This three-way arrangement is common for a three way race for two openings. The three choices are evaluated on some sort of a continuum (such as liberal-conservative), and then they are ranked according to the perception.

Each candidate is chosen in two out of the three possibilities. The number of votes that any one candidate gets is determined by the distribution of voters into the three categories, neglecting bullet voters that only vote for one candidate instead of two.

It seems to me that the candidate that is in the middle when the three choices are rank ordered will have an advantage since he will be the second choice for voters on both ends of the spectrum.

I think that there were somewhat fewer status quo voters this year, and that of the voters that were not leaning towards status quo, there were more liberal leaning voters than conservative leaning voters. This mix would end up with John getting more votes than he would normally get as an unknown candidate.

I'm sure that these types of electoral dynamics are studied in depth somewhere, but I could not find any studies with a brief google search. I would be interested in reading them if anyone has a link to a discussion somewhere on this topic.

2008 Milford Election Results

This are the results from the March 11th, 2008 election. There were a total of 1723 votes cast.

School District Election

School Board
1033 Paul Dargie
906 John Parker
859 Bob Willette

School Treasurer
1381 Rose Evans

School Moderator
615 Peter Basiliere
578 Gary Daniels
259 Carolyn Magri Halstead

School District Clerk
1377 Joan Dargie

Question 1 Jacques addition for public kindergarten (failed)
823 Yes
838 No

Question 2 Brox stand-alone school for public kindergarten (failed)
228 Yes
1397 No

Question 3 Study private kindergarten options (failed)
661 Yes
980 No

Question 4 Operating Budget (passed)
1076 Yes
598 No

Question 5 Tuition Agreements (passed)
1226 Yes
439 No

Question 6 Subdivision Approval (passed)
1103 Yes
556 No

Question 7 Deputy Treasurer (passed)
1229 Yes
416 No

======================================
Town Election

Selectmen
1314 Mike Putnam
1173 Katherine Bauer

Cemetery Trustee
1407 Leonard Harten

Library Trustee
1320 Sarah Philbrick Sandhage
1116 Michael Tule

Moderator
1435 Peter Basiliere

Supervisor of the Checklist - 2 Year
1332 Gil Archambault

Supervisor of the Checklist - 6 Year
1377 Bobbi Schelberg

Trustee of the Trust Funds
1375 Bill King

Water-Wastewater Commisioner
1321 Peter Leishman

Zoning Changes - All 8 passed
All 18 Ballot questions passed

Zoning 1 - Offensive land use in residential districts
1304 Yes
312 No

Zoning 2 - Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) definition
1224 Yes
362 No

Zoning 3 - ADU by special exception
1115 Yes
455 No

Zoning 4 - Corridor Overlay District
1358 Yes
254 No

Zoning 5 - Driveway paving permits
1285 Yes
309 No

Zoning 6 - ADU special exceptions for Zoning Board
1126 Yes
430 No

Zoning 7 - Storage of goods in home occupation space
1170 Yes
391 No

Zoning 8 - Growth management restriction revisions
1352 Yes
252 No

Question 3 Operating Budget
1209 Yes
449 No

4 Wastewater budget
1368 yes
278 No

5 Water Department
1310 Yes
308 No

6 Route 101A Oval Improvements
1327 Yes
349 No

7 Cemetery Building
1030 yes
629 No

8 DPW Dump Truck
1129 Yes
532 No

9 Social Services
1302 Yes
338 No

10 Pumpkin Festival
1207 Yes
453 No

11 DO-IT
1163 Yes
485 No

12 Fireworks
1121 Yes
536 No

13 Band Concerts
1245 Yes
413 No

14 Parades
1387 Yes
280 No

15 Patch Hill Open Space
1241 Yes
386 No

16 Beech Ridge Lot
1392 Yes
233 No

17 Transportation Needs
1332 Yes
315 No

18 Property Tax Resolution
1311 Yes
292 No

2008 Milford School Warrant - Recommendation Summary

Here is a summary of my recommendations for this year's warrant articles:

1. YES - Jacques addition for kindergarten

2. NO - Brox stand-alone building for kindergarten

3. NO - Study private kindergarten

4. YES - Operating budget

5. YES - Tuition agreements

6. YES - Subdivision approval

Warrant Article 6 - Subdivision Approval

This article will give the school board the authorization to sell off two building lots from the Heron Pond site. These potential lots abut Brookview Drive.

This land is not really suitable for any district function. It is property that is behind the playing field at Heron Pond, and can not be easily used for any extra function such as parking.

The property is best used for building lots, so that is what we want to do. Although it is not certain, it is likely that the lots will be used in the building construction program. They will build houses on the lots over a couple of years per house. This will probably start in the 09-10 school year, since we are not set up to do it next year. We need to allocate construction money in the budget to make the program work.

We are not sure how much the lots will generate in terms of profit. There will be a cost associated with making the subdivision. They need to be surveyed, and a road and associated utilities needs to be provided.

Please vote in favor of article 6.

Warrant Article 5 - Tuition Agreement

Warrant Article 5 will allow the school board to enter into a tuition agreement with other towns such as Mason. We had developed a preliminary draft of an agreement with them a few years ago, but they were unable to get out of their agreement with Mascenic.

It now appears that they will be able to withdraw from Mascenic and contract with another district such as Milford. They have roughly 90 students in grades 6 through 12 that would come to Milford. This is roughly 12-15 students per grade level, and we should be able to absorb them without too much in the way of additional spending.

The tuition agreement would be very straight-forward. Mason would pay a per student fee for the students to attend Milford. The fee is based on a formula that starts with our total per pupil spending, subtracts out some items such as special education costs, some transportation costs, and a few other items. Mason will be responsible themselves for the excluded items.

The idea is for the Mason students to become unified with Milford students. They would be eligible for all extra items such as co-curricular activities, clubs, and sports on the same terms as Milford students.

Mason would not have a seat on the school board or any other similar rights; this would be a straight tuition agreement.

This would raise perhaps $700k-$800k in revenue, depending on the number of students and the formula for the tuition. The spending that will be needed is harder to estimate. There will be some spending for consumable items such as workbooks and books and other variable costs, but the big issue as usual will be if we will have to hire new employees for any area. It is possible that there will be some grades or subjects where we are right on the edge of needing a new teacher, where the addition of 12-15 students in the grade might require that we hire another person where we would normally not have done so. In any event, it is expected that the total extra spending will be much less than the additional income.

It is important that we try to find additional revenue sources as much as possible in order to try to minimize the amount of money that we need to raise by local property taxes. The addition of Mason students to Milford would be a big help.

Please vote in favor of article 5.

Warrant Article 4 - Operating Budget

The district administration, school board, and budget committee spent a lot of time going over the budget this year (as usual), and have come up with a responsible budget that I support.

The operating budget spending is less than I would actually prefer from a programs perspective, but the impact on taxes is high due to low state adequacy aid, that we need to be very tight this year.

We follow a process for budget development that seems to work fairly well. These are the main steps of the process:

* The school board decides whether to set a bottom-line number up front, or to wait to see what is presented before deciding on a number. We have chosen to use the wait and see approach in recent years, and this has worked well since the administration has made good faith efforts at developing responsible budgets.

* Administrators responsible for various areas of the budget develop their first pass at the budget. The Superintendent gives them guidelines to follow while developing their budget. The budgets are built using a bottoms-up approach, where the planned spending for each cost account is individually developed. Any new positions or programs are included in the overall numbers, but are separately identified for ease of discussion.

* The individual budgets are loaded into the system, and then reviewed in total by the Superintendent. The Superintendent will then remove some items from the budget. New positions and new programs are areas that get the greatest scrutiny.

* The budget is distributed to the school board and the budget committee. It is reviewed in detail at an all-day Saturday meeting so that everyone involved has a common understanding of the issues.

* The school board then gives a reduction task to the administration to achieve a bottom line number. The administration revises the budget to meet the task amount. It is reviewed again to see the impact of the cuts. This process may be repeated as we home in on an appropriate bottom line number.

This year there were three iterations of the budget that occurred over several meetings. The first request made by Peter Bragdon was for a $400k reduction. The second request made by me was for a $180k reduction. The third request made by Len Mannino was for a final $50k reduction.

The progression of budget reductions was fairly typical, except for the fact that it took more time than usual. Each cut was more painful than the previous one, and it was more difficult to find areas to cut that would not have direct impacts on education delivery.

The final budget number we ended up at was $32,618,179 as compared to the default budget of $32, 455,230. The default budget is a calculation based on last year's budget plus spending changes that are legally mandated by law or contract, minus special items. Since there are some items that are excluded from the default budget that make sense to include, the fact that we are so close to the default budget shows that we are holding tight on the spending this year.

Some of the larger items excluded from the default budget but included in the proposed budget are things like raises for employees not part of a bargaining unit, and new equipment. We typically try to include raises each year for everyone to keep up with inflation. We also try to spend money each year on curriculum improvement as part of our planned improvement cycle where each major area is refreshed on a regular schedule that results in relatively level loading of improvement spending.

On a side note, Bob Willette had made a motion to reduce the budget by $50k just before Len's motion, but his was geared toward making the cuts in specific areas such as co-curricular activities. It is my philosophy to try to just manage to a bottom line number and not try to second guess the Administration as to the priorities for the spending. We all have our pet projects and areas, so it would be slippery slope if we start doing the cutting on a line item basis. One board member might want to preserve spending in one area and another member may have a totally opposite viewpoint. Once we start picking and choosing, then we would have trouble coming to an agreement on the items. Bob's motion failed due to lack of a second, so it appears that most other board members share my opinion on this.

I urge everyone to support the operating budget.