FIRE CLAIMS TOWN TRUCK

Pittsburg's plow truck fell victim to an engine fire on Saturday morning, and although road agent Keith Robinson was driving it at the time, he escaped without injury. The blaze was extinguished quickly. (Photo courtesy of Town of Pittsburg)

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The School Governance Study Steering Committee held its second public meeting last Thursday evening, this time at the Bremer Pond Auditorium in Pittsburg. Project consultant Dr. Wayne Gersen presented his observations about the local school facilities, and the committee came to a consensus on the structure of a consolidated middle school.

The committee is composed of 12 representatives from northern New Hampshire and Vermont school boards. ENSU superintendent Chris Masson, SAU 7 superintendent Bob Mills and SAU 7 business administrator Cheryl Covill also attended the meeting, which was chaired by Dr. Gersen. About 50 parents, teachers, and citizens observed the committee's deliberations and offered their own opinions and suggestions.

Dr. Gersen conducted an immediate straw poll of everyone in attendance, postulating, "I assume everyone wants to have a functioning school building in each town that already has one." The room's response to this posit was enthusiastically in agreement.

Dr. Gersen then presented an assessment of the physical condition of each school building currently in use in Colebrook, Stewartstown, Canaan and Pittsburg. "I've toured all these buildings," Dr. Gersen said, "and I've come to some definite conclusions concerning each facility's capability to provide a good environment for learning, teaching, and public use."

Dr. Gersen told the committee that the Colebrook Elementary School campus "is the soundest and most up-to-date facility you have." He noted, "The building is almost new. It has spacious rooms for art and music, large classrooms, an excellent library space and ample office and storage areas."

Dr. Gersen also observed that the Colebrook Elementary campus has 18 acres of parking space and playing fields, along with a gymnasium and a large, modern cafeteria. "This would be a fine place to house a consolidated high school focused on college-prep and fine arts education," he said.

Dr. Gersen rated the Colebrook Academy as "inadequate, at best." He said the Academy building is in need of repairs that could entail a minimum outlay of $500,000, and proposed that it would be wise to "exclude this building in any considerations for consolidation." He reported that the Stewartstown school has "some physical limitations, but should be considered as a place to house a K-2 or K-3 school."

Dr. Gersen rated both the Canaan and Pittsburg schools as "quite sufficient for future use." He said he was pleased with both buildings' current state of repair and stated, "The Canaan school has vocational classrooms that meet or exceed all Vermont standards. Therefore, this building may be considered as a place to house a high school offering a vocational and technical curriculum that could include building trades, hospitality, health care and business education."

Dr. Gersen said his tour of the Pittsburg school indicated that it is "well suited to house a consolidated junior-high/middle school. The facility has playing fields, parking space, a gym and an auditorium. With a little modification, you could have a very good junior-high school here," he said.

After Dr. Gersen presented five preliminary alternatives for consolidation, most committee members agreed that the most practical schemes included a consolidated junior-high school to be housed in Pittsburg.

Subsequent discussion by committee members and the public concentrated on two major issues: how best to configure a junior-high in Pittsburg, and how the daily transportation of students from the far reaches of every town involved could be accomplished to serve the needs of all students in a timely and economical manner.

"You have to decide where the dividing point between elementary and middle school will be," said SAU 7 superintendent Bob Mills. "Do you want a junior-high school that is grades 6-8 or do want a seventh- and eighth-grade school?"

Committee member John Fal-coner of the Colebrook school board agreed with this question, and added, "I think this is the first real decision we are going to make, and I also think we should decide, at least provisionally, tonight."

Canaan teacher Margaret Lima told the committee that matters of teacher certification could be a mitigating factor. "I'm certified to teach grades 7-12," Mrs. Lima said. "That means if I was assigned to a 6-8 school, I couldn't be used to teach grade six."

Dr. Gersen agreed that this could be problematic, but with "grandfathering" rules and some applicable teacher education, this obstacle could be overcome. The consultant added, "Grade 6 seems to be a swing grade. Kids this age are in between being little kids and pre-adolescents." Dr. Gersen noted that the Pittsburg facility could house a middle school configured as either 6-8, or 7 and 8. "It's up to you how to do it," Gersen said.

Mr. Falconer urged the committee, "Let's decide how we want to configure the junior high. Sooner or later we have to make some definitive choices, so let's start with this." He went on to say, "I know we aren't an elected public body, but right or wrong, I move that we provisionally agree that the consolidated junior high school will consist of grades 6-8." Committee member Dan Wells of Columbia immediately seconded Mr. Falconer's motion.

Pittsburg school board and committee member Bob Ormsbee observed, "We all want to best use the taxpayers' money; that's one reason we're here. The most important thing however, is to give all our children the best education we can... I agree with John's proposal." The committee approved Mr. Falconer's motion by a non-voice vote.

Dr. Gersen told the assemblage that a busing network could be devised after decisions are made concerning school configurations. "These two issues are inter-twined," Gersen said, "but we'll figure it out to everyone's benefit if we work together. Its not an insurmountable obstacle."

The steering committee will hold its next public meeting at the Stewartstown Community School at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 9.

(Issue of February 1, 2012)

112 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Vernon Crawford, Chief Steve Young and Harland Crawford were on hand to greet visitors to the Beecher Falls fire station during the department's open house on Saturday. They hope to share their wisdom with new volunteers. (Rob Maxwell photo)

The second race in the Great North Woods Vintage Snowmobile Race Series sponsored by LaPerle's IGA will go on as scheduled this Saturday, Feb-ruary 4, but it is being relocated from Northern Tire in Colebrook to Farr Road in Pittsburg, the location of this year's first race.

While there is adequate snow cover for recreational snowmobiling out of the Colebrook area to the higher terrain, there is not enough snow to maintain a safe race track throughout 14 races, plus heats. The Farr Road track in Pittsburg was used in the first race of the series on January 7, when copious amounts of snow were trucked in, and that snow base has maintained its integrity. With additional snow in the forecast, the track should be in excellent condition.

This will be the second event of the five-race series, the only race series of its type in the Northeast. The remaining three races will be in Errol on February 18, in Stratford on March 3, and in Pittsburg on March 17.

As in the first race, over 125 competitors are expected to participate. There are multiple classes based upon the engine size for sleds manufactured prior to 1974 that are fan-cooled or free air, single or twin cylinder.

The Farr Road track has easy access via automobile and snowmobile, and a spectator area that allows full visibility of the track. Automobiles can follow Route 3 north to Back Lake Road and on to Farr Road; for those arriving by snowmobile, the race is located on Trail 142.

Qualifying heats will run as necessary, and the races start at 10 a.m. and continue throughout the day. There is a $5 per-person entrance fee and refreshments will be available on site.

Further information is available from Keith Landry, at 603-538-7702, or on-line at www.thegreatnorthwoodssnowmobilerace.com.

(Issue of February 1, 2012)

SWEET COMPETITION

One of the more popular events of the Pittsburg School Winter Carnival each year is the pie-eating contest. Seen here in action are Jackie Jameson, Mallorie Biron, Brennan Landry, Cole Prehemo, Nick Remick, Katelyn Kelsea, Tyler Hicks, Seth Pfaff, Spencer Landry, Garrett Purrington and Anthony Puglisi. (Ann Gray photo)

The proposed Northern Pass transmission line project will not be able to use eminent domain to secure a right of way for its proposed transmission line, as the Senate approved an amended version of House Bill 648 during its session last Wednesday. Mean-while, two studies differ on how many jobs the project might generate, and a proposed merger of utility companies may have hit a snag in Connecticut.

HB 648 prohibits a public utility from the use of eminent domain to construct a transmission facility that is not needed for system reliability. The Senate passed the amendment 16-8, then passed the amended bill 23-1. The bill will now go to the House, which can pass it, request a committee of conference or kill it altogether. Representative Larry Rappaport of Colebrook, one of the bill s sponsors, believes one of the first two options is the likeliest to occur. If passed, the bill will go to Gov. John Lynch's desk for a signature.

Northern Pass has responded to the Senate's decision on its project Web site. "The project currently has property rights to the vast majority of the land necessary for building the transmission line within existing rights of way, and we are working successfully with property owners to purchase land or easements to develop an acceptable route in that area of the North Country where there is no existing transmission right of way," the statement reads.

"Contrary to claims by some project opponents, the Northern Pass project is not predicated on the use of eminent domain," it continues. "The use of eminent domain for utility purposes is an extremely rare occurrence in New Hampshire, and we believe that existing state law is sufficient protection for property owners."

Northern Pass goes on to say that the bill could have unintended consequences, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) or ISO-New England dictating the use of eminent domain rather than the state.

In other Northern Pass news, the New England Power Generators Association has released an economic study that claims the project will generate half the amount of jobs predicted in a study by Northern Pass.

The study, conducted by PolEcon research, claims that there will be a high of 533 jobs in year two of the project and only 241 in the first year, and the project will still require many out-of-state workers.

"Despite a large overall cost of completing the project, the New Hampshire economy does not have enough of the required business inputs or specialized labor to complete the project without a majority of inputs from out-of-state businesses and labor," the executive summary states. "New Hampshire businesses and workers will capture no more than 11-19 percent of project-related expenditures."

The summary also states that based on a measurement of jobs per mile of transmission line, the North Country will receive fewer benefits than other counties. For the PolEcon study, "prior studies of high-voltage transmission line construction projects throughout the country were reviewed, capital cost models for electric generation and transmission were consulted, and an analysis of the availability of qualified businesses and workers in New Hampshire capable of meeting the project's expected demand for goods and services was conducted."

In April, Dr. Lisa Shapiro, Chief Economist for Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, P.C., prepared an economic impact study for Northern Pass. "Using simple static economic multipliers for New Hampshire called RIMS II multipliers, a first order approximation of the economic impacts of the project during the development and construction phases was reported," the study states. That study projected that during the primary construction period from 2013-15, the peak employment would be 1,370 to 1,670 jobs in 2013.

Northern Pass responded to the NEPGA study in its Project Journal, saying that an ongoing transmission project in Maine is employing over 2,000 people, with 268 Maine companies hired. "Here in New Hampshire, we've already heard from 550 individuals who are seeking information about Northern Pass job opportunities," the entry reads. "Their experience includes heavy equipment operation, general construction, welding, real estate, trucking, fiber optic splicing, concrete and administration."

Dr. Shapiro also responded to the new study, noting that her research was based on actual anticipated costs from the developer, while the NEPGA study "created a theoretical estimate of the cost that is significantly lower. Based on this fact alone, it should be no surprise that the opponent power plants are able to create a study that assumes a lower job total estimate."

She also says that the NEPGA study did not consider key project jobs, such as those needed for construction of about 20 miles of roads and logging on new transmission routes. She also said the Northern Pass preliminary study included the Maine project, and that "the opponent power plants study also makes assumptions to support its conclusion that may not be accurate, such as assuming particular contractors will be selected to work on the project, what subcontracters would be hired and the types of non-specialized, skilled workers required on the project of this magnitude.

National Public Radio's Web site has both studies up for review, and they may be seen at www.stateimpact.npr.org under "New Hampshire."

On January 19 the Boston Globe reported that Connecticut will review a proposed merger between NStar and Northeast Utilities.

Erin Ailworth reported that the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority said it is "legally obligated" to review the deal, and will try to present its conclusion by mid-April. The proposed $17.5 billion merger would create a company that would serve 3.5 million customers from Connecticut to Pittsburg.

(Issue of February 1, 2012)