Fire Diary
By Chief K.G. Lockwood
On Sunday February 22, 2009 at 22:30 hrs., the
Gilmanton Fire Department was dispatched to a reported structure fire at 29
Grant Hill Road, this response received automatic mutual aid from Barnstead,
Alton and New Durham Fire Departments. Due to an updated report from the
homeowner coupled with extended response times due to the snowstorm in
progress at 22:33 Belmont was also requested to respond with an Engine and
Tanker.
The first company captain arrived on scene at 22:46 hrs. and reported a
2-story 30x40 wood frame structure with an attached garage and a fire in the
garage believed to have extended to the basement. At 22:47 hrs. a full first
alarm assignment was requested. This brought mutual aid from Barnstead,
Belmont, Alton, New Durham and Gilford. The first arriving engine was not
able to access the driveway due to the terrain and snow in the driveway.
Extensive manpower was utilized to carry equipment to the fire and assist
with extinguishment and overhaul. At 23:18 hrs. the fire was placed under
control with extensive overhaul and the final companies cleared the scene at
01:34 hrs. This fire was very labor intense and damage is estimated at
$15,000.00. The fire was kept in check by the homeowners throwing water on
the fire while awaiting the arrival of fire department companies. While it
is recommended that occupants exit the structure and not attempt to
extinguish any fire, this did hold the fire until the arrival of the fire
department.
The cause of this fire is still under investigation, but appears to be
related to an electrical problem from a generator; the homes in the area
were without power at the time. There were no injuries and the occupants and
their two dogs were going to stay with friends in the area.
Letter To The Editor:
This Saturday, for all you Gilmanton taxpayers of
voting age, the Gilmanton Year Round Library will host an open house ......
because they want something. What they want is your vote. They also want
your money. Tens of thousands, to be exact. For them, it’s not so much an
open house as it is an opportunity. An opportunity to convince. Convince you
that they deserve your vote and yes, despite these tough economic times,
that they deserve your money ... more than you do.
They want to show you their library. They’ll show you their books, their
computers. You’ll see their desks and chairs, and the barn that houses it
all, and then of course ...... they’ll have things to tell you. Not
everything, though. What they won’t tell you is that they allowed the town
of Gilmanton to be misled into believing their library project would never
come to the town for taxes. What they won’t tell you is that unlike the vast
majority of libraries built by private funding and gifted to towns, they’re
retaining ownership and control of their library, and they want the
taxpayers of Gilmanton to fund it .... forever. What they won’t tell you is
that their original objective and goal, to build their library using private
funds, and operating it entirely on an endowment, has failed, and they want
the taxpayers of Gilmanton to bail them out. What they won’t talk about is
the economy; in fact, they’ll tell you they read somewhere that libraries
are important during economic crises and ..... they’ll hope you believe it.
They won’t tell you that next year they’ll need even more money, that
they’ve overbuilt for this small town, and that’s going to cost ... forever.
Gilmanton taxpayers: send them back to fundraising. Vote no on article
23.
Al Blake
Gilmanton, NH
Letter
Gilmanton Voters:
A $75,000 petition by the Year Round Library
Association is on the Town Warrant. It is Article 23 (next to the last) and
must be defeated! A secret ballot request is anticipated. Please stay to the
end of the meeting and help defeat this unnecessary expense.
$75,000 represents an increase of $40 in the tax bill of an average
Gilmanton household. At 16 cents per thousand, figure your own tax increase.
Any increase in our tax burden is criminal when the icy fingers of tough
economic times grip our citizens. Perhaps one of your neighbors has been
laid off or their hours reduced. Our town welfare fund is severely strained
and the local food pantry is under great pressure. Please vote no to this
tax increase!
We are fortunate to have three library resources available to us in
town. The heated Gilmanton Corner Public Library, staffed by volunteers, is
open during the winter on Wednesday 3 to 5 and Saturday 10 to noon. In
spring, summer and fall, the Gilmanton Corner Public Library is open daily
and two evenings a week. The Gilmanton Iron Works Library is open May
through October. The full resources of the Gilford, Belmont or Alton
libraries are available for a modest annual out-of-town fee.
The requested $75,000 is for operating expenses – a part time librarian, and
so forth. If we approve, then we must support the year round library
forever! And the $75,000 is woefully inadequate for 2010 and beyond! The
Gilford and Belmont library budgets, for example, exceed $200,000, per year.
These are reasons to defeat Article 23 at Town Meeting! Please stay to
the end and help say NO!
William Angevine
Gilmanton
Letter To The Editor
To the Editor,
In 1999 a group of residents discovered that Gilmanton
was one of only two towns in NH without a year-round library and formed the
Gilmanton Year-Round Library Association (GYRLA). Understanding how
difficult it would be for taxpayers to fund library construction, the group
decided to attempt construction through fundraising.
It was always the Association’s goal to progress as far as possible
without requesting any public funds. However, the Board never pledged that
Town support would not be considered. If a decision never to seek Town funds
had been made, it would have been so significant that it would have been
reported in annual letters, Town Reports and Selectmen’s minutes. Since such
a commitment was never made, it won’t be found in any communications.
Perhaps, in the excitement of building the library, some may have discussed
doing everything with private funds, but that has never been the
Association’s official position.
After ten years of effort, thousands of volunteer hours and financial
contributions from over 600 households, Gilmanton voters have an opportunity
to have a $1.2 million, full service public library without the tax burden
of constructing it. The $75,000 operating budget that is being requested
will cost a little more than $3/month in taxes on the average Gilmanton
property. When forming your opinion, we ask that you consider the
history and community importance of this project. We respectfully
request your support by voting YES on the petitioned warrant article to fund
the GYRL at $75,000 at Town Meeting, March 14, 2009.
Sincerely,
The Gilmanton Year-Round Library Association Board of
Directors,
Elizabeth Bedard, Bill Foster, Carol Mitchell, Alice Bean,
Carolyn Baldwin, George Kelley, Stan Bean, Ann Kirby, Sue Barr, Carolyn
Kelley, Nancy Stearns, Steve Bedard, Carolyn Dickey
Gilmanton Year-Round Library Invites Voters
This year’s Gilmanton Town
warrant includes a request that the Town provide an operating budget of
$75,000 to open and operate the Year-Round Library. The library, constructed
entirely with private funds, including in-kind services and donations from
about 600 individuals and families, and thousands of hours of volunteer
labor, is ready to open. Books are on the shelves, computers are ready to be
activated, and inviting reading spaces beckon. Especially welcoming is the
children’s area, stocked with books for younger readers.
Voters are especially invited to inspect the
library at an open house scheduled for Saturday, March 7th 10 a.m. to 2
p.m., with a snow date of Sunday March 8th, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Thousands of books have been donated to the library
by Gilmanton residents and friends. Many have been shelved for the permanent
collection. Two book sales have given people opportunity to purchase
duplicates. Books not sold were offered to the existing seasonal libraries
in town for their collections.
Residents eager to see the Library, ten years in
the planning and building, finally opened for the benefit of all citizens of
Gilmanton are urged to attend Town Meeting on March 14th to support the
operating budget article on the Town Warrant.
Gilmanton Corner Public Library
March is “Quilt Month” at the Gilmanton Corner Public Library. No matter
how many quilts you have seen, it is the next one you are sure will be the
ultimate in design, color and workmanship. Whether your taste in quilts is
for appliquéd, embroidered or pieced quilts, we have the quilt book for you.
Stop by the Library and peruse our display of quilts, and pick up your
free pattern for the Bear Paw quilt design. Happy Quilting!!!
Watch for the flag waving in the breeze on Wednesdays, 3:00-5:00 and
Saturdays, 10:00-Noon to see our quilt display and check out a book. We are
the white historic building located at the entrance to the Town Offices.
Letter
Gilmanton is a small town. Most people who live here don’t work in town.
They leave home in the morning and return late in the day.
With that scenario in mind, a small group of residents decided that
Gilmanton needed a full time library, in spite of the presence of a library
at the Corners and three summer facilities in the Iron works. This private
endeavor on private land was to be funded by private contributions.
Many townspeople did not feel the necessity for yet another library in
the town since other first class libraries are available close by. They may
not be as convenient, but they are not that inconvenient either.
The private group has asked the town to allocate $75,000 to fund a
year’s operating cost for the private endeavor.
In this economic environment our priorities and public funds must be for
necessary services such as fire and police departments. We cannot afford to
give $75,000 to a less than necessary project.
As children, we were raised with an understanding that people had wants
and needs.
I hope the townspeople will put their wants and needs in
perspective. The private endeavor group may have their wants but the town
doesn’t have the need.
A Concerned Taxpayer
Respectfully
Mary Ellen Erickson
Gilmanton, NH