August 8, 2022 Board of Selectmen Meeting

Maltreatment at the Recycling Center

A resident addressed the board about the shockingly abusive treatment he received from an employee at the Nottingham Recycling Center. The resident was a retired government worker and former elected official in Goffstown, NH who relocated to Nottingham about a year ago. The resident said a town employee became irate at him as he was bringing in a large amount of cardboard for recycling. The employee insulted and threatened him, and told him that he was banned from the Recycling Center.

The resident requested that the board initiate an investigation, as the confrontation should have been captured on the Recycling Center’s security cameras, and that the board take action against the employee.

If you’ve experienced maltreatment from an employee of the Recycling Center, now may be a good time to let the board know. You can email them at bospc@nottingham-nh.gov or show up at the next meeting to tell them of your experience.

Increased Cost of Glass Recycling

The Recycling Center needs to find a new destination for glass. A glass recycler in Rochester has been identified that will take our glass at a cost to the town of $40 per ton. As the town has existing pickups to make in Rochester, transportation to the recycler will be nearly free. Recycling glass this way is more expensive than disposal, but the board feels that recycling is the sounder choice.

Sale of Town Real Estate

An abutter has inquired about buying a piece of land that the town obtained in the 1980s on a tax default. The land has no points of access to any road. As such it has little economic value to anyone who is not an abutter. John Morin pointed out that adding the lot to an abutting property would create the opportunity for a housing subdivision, which he argued would be costly for the town. While it was agreed that it would be good for the town to sell the property and get it back on the tax rolls, a lengthy debate ensued about how to get the optimal price for the land, with the board selecting a silent auction with the right to decline to sell if the board did not feel the highest bid was adequate.

Lamprey Drive E911

At the previous board meeting, residents of Lamprey Drive told the board that not only were the maps wrong that the town was using to base its E911 decisions for Lamprey Drive, but the problem with the configuration of Lamprey Drive was that there was one landowner whose deed said they were supposed to include a section of road on their property, but who never created that section of road and that the town had failed to enforce the creation of this section of road. If the section of road were completed, then the residents would have another point of egress, and the renaming and renumbering of Lamprey Drive as originally planned would no longer make logical sense.

Town Administrator Chris Sterndale reported that the residents were correct about the missing section of road and that he is in discussions with the landowner to add that section. He recommended that the board postpone a decision on E911 changes for Lamprey Drive. The board agreed to a 90-day delay.

Pawtuckaway State Park Fire

Fire Chief Jaye Vilchock gave extensive details of the four-day effort to extinguish a forest fire in the state park. The cause of the fire was determined to be an unattended, illegal campfire. The terrain was remote and difficult. Over 100 firefighters were involved, with heavy support from neighboring towns.

Watch the video of the meeting at