Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $50,000 to begin the process of converting stored paper documents to electronic format as authorized by Chapter 226 of the Acts of 2016. Said sum of $50,000 to come from the Unassigned Fund Balance, a fund containing unexpended appropriations from prior years, as of December 31, 2016, with no amount to be raised from taxation. This shall be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32:7, VI and shall not lapse until the purpose is completed or by March 31, 2019, whichever occurs sooner? (Majority vote required)

What it means: Certain town records are required to be kept indefinitely. As the years go by and the population grows, the number of documents and the space required grows exponentially. This Article approves the use of unexpended funds from prior years to be used to begin the process of preserving the documents in an electronic format, which will also make them more accessible.

Those in favor say: This will allow the town to begin the process of talking to companies that specialize in document preservation, to understand the scope of the task at hand and to solicit bids for the defined work.

Those against say: No one spoke against this article at the Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact: There is no tax impact since the monies will be taken from the unexpended appropriations from prior years.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to amend Chapter 420 Solid Waste of the Code of the Town of Hampton by deleting in Section 420-2 B everything after the word “Town” including sub-paragraphs (1) and (2), and by adding the following new sub-paragraph 420-2, C: Hours for winter and summer operations of the Transfer Station shall be determined by the Board of Selectmen and posted on the Town’s Web Site? (Majority vote required)

 

 What it means: Currently, the hours for the town’s transfer station are noted in the ordinance. To change the hours requires a Warrant Article at Town Meeting, which occurs once each year. Article 32 would remove the specifics of the hours from the ordinance and instead note that the hours will be posted on the Town’s Website.

Those in favor say: This Article will make it easier to keep the hours current.

Those against say: By doing this, voters are giving more power to the Board of Selectmen instead of reserving that power for themselves.

Fiscal Impact: No tax impact.

Shall the Town of Hampton grant the Board of Selectmen the authority under RSA 41:14-a to modify or release deed restrictions imposed by the Town under the Leased Land Sales Program, to be added to the authority already granted by the Town to the Board of Selectmen under RSA 41:14-a under Article 38 at the March 12, 2002 Annual Town Meeting by extending this authority to apply to the Leased Land Sales Program? (Majority vote required)

What it means: The Town previously owned land near the ocean that was leased and then ultimately sold to individual homeowners. These lots carried with them certain restrictions that were attached to all such lots whether or not the restriction had good rationale in all cases. Over the years, homeowners began asking for relief from these restrictions. Although all such cases had to go before the appropriate boards in town to get whatever variances they needed, they also had to have their request placed on the Warrant because the authority to release the deed restrictions for these lots lies with the people of the town. If passed, Article 33 would transfer the decision-making about relief from the deed restrictions to the Board of Selectmen.

Those in favor say: Voters often are unfamiliar with the individual lots or the neighboring lots and generally are not in the best position to decide if a specific deed restriction should be released or not. The Board of Selectmen can hear the request and any objections to the request and make a decision based on the merits of the case. This process can take place throughout the year, as opposed to only once a year on the Warrant.

Those against say: This idea transfers power from the townspeople to the Board of Selectmen. The people should retain the power.

Fiscal Impact: No tax impact.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to amend the Town’s Fire Prevention Code as follows:

Click here to see the proposed changes.

 

What it means: This warrant article brings the Fire Prevention Code compliant with current statutes, codes, and standards.

Those in favor say: This is a “housekeeping” matter to keep the Fire Prevention Code current with other approved practiced in Hampton.

Those against say: No one spoke against this article at the Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact: No tax impact.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to accept the following streets as Class V Highways. These streets require the vote of a Town Meeting to be Class V Highways and have not previously been placed before the Town for a Vote of acceptance; they have been paved and maintained by the Town for many years. These streets shall be accepted at no cost to the Town:

Dumas Avenue and Cliff Avenue per plan recorded at the Rockingham Registry of Deeds on March 1, 1918; and

Ocean Drive, Woodstock Street, Plymouth Street, Campton Street, Thornton Street and Portsmouth Avenue, all located in Sun Valley, so-called, per plan recorded at the Rockingham Registry of Deeds on June 26, 1946, Plan Number 9174; and

Pearl Street, Gill Street, and Redman Street per plans recorded September 29, 1921; and

Viking Street and Thorwald Avenue per plan recorded December 17, 1942. These streets known as Norseman’s Rest; and

Towle Avenue per plan recorded September 1922; and

Newman Street and Mason Street per plan recorded October 1948; and

Acadia Avenue, Emerald Avenue, Sapphire Avenue, Crest Street, Ash Street, Spruce Street, and Overlook Street per plan recorded February 15, 1911 as part of Surf Side Park; and

Lamprey Terrace per plan dated September 29, 1948 recorded at the Registry of Deeds as Plan # 01379; and Boston Avenue, said highway having been surveyed by Parker Survey, Inc., and filed in the Rockingham Registry of Deeds as Plan D-12567 and Plan D-12566, respectfully, and constructed by the Hampton Beach Improvement Company on Town property under a lease approved by Town Meeting, said lease dated and signed April 24, 1897; and Accept as is, the “Numbered Streets”, 1^st Street through 19^th Street, said highway having been surveyed in June 1909 by W.T. Ross, for the Town of Hampton and filed in the Rockingham Registry of Deeds under plan number 1316NR and in July 1976 by John W. Durgin, Civil Engineers Professional Association as plans numbered D6262, D8278, D8314, C8314, D11832 and D13216, said streets having been constructed on Town property”; and

Accept Acorn Road, said road having been shown on a plan dated October 21, 1924, titled “The Greenlands”, said acceptance confirming only its viatic use as a public highway, provided that its acceptance shall be of no force and effect until every property owner abutting Acorn Road signs a waiver, to be prepared by the Town Attorney, of any appeal under RSA 231 from such acceptance and of all damages that could be sought under RSA 231 as a result of such acceptance, or until six months has elapsed after the vote of acceptance without any such appeal having been made, whichever comes first; and Accept Smith Avenue, said street having been shown on a plan dated October 21, 1924, titled “The Woodlands”, said acceptance confirming only its viatic use as a public highway for that portion described as open for public use in deeds recorded at the Rockingham County Registry of Deeds at Book 2618, page 2374, and Book 2618, page 2375 provided that its acceptance shall have no force and effect until every property owner abutting the public area of Smith Avenue as described in the before mentioned deed signs a waiver, to be prepared by the Town Attorney, of any appeal under RSA 231 from such acceptance and of all damages that could be sought under RSA 231 as a result of such acceptance or until six months has elapsed after the vote of acceptance without any such appeal having been made, whichever comes first? (Majority vote required)

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0-0

What it means: This is a housekeeping matter to correct an oversight that has persisted since 1897.

Those in favor say: This will be the last article on the acceptance of streets, since if this Article passes it will bring all streets into compliance with state standards regarding control and maintenance.

Those against say: No one spoke against this article at the Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact: No tax impact.

 Shall the Town of Hampton authorize the Board of Selectmen, on behalf of the Town, to issue a 99-year lease of 64 square feet of land to the owners of property at 10 Ancient Highway, it having been discovered that a small portion of their dwelling house is located on Town property? (Majority vote required)

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0-0

 What it means: This is an “after the fact” way of handling an issue that was discovered when the owners were doing some permitted reconstruction work.

Those in favor say: It is the only fair way to handle a situation that was not foreseen.

Those against say: No one spoke against this article at the Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact: No tax impact.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to convey to the Hampton School District, upon such terms and conditions as the Selectmen may determine are appropriate and in the best interests of the Town, all of the Town’s right, title and interest in two separate vacant parcels of land, the first commonly known as the Arnold property (Tax Map 161-51) which has been under lease to the Hampton School District for the purpose of an off-street bus loading/unloading area in accordance with Article 43 of the 1988 Annual Town Meeting, and the second commonly known as the Martel property (a part of tax map 176 Lot14, a subdivision may be required), over which the Hampton School District has an easement for a travel lane also in accordance with Article 43 from the 1988 Annual Town Meeting, both located on Academy Avenue, these conveyances are contingent upon the successful passage of the currently proposed bond issue for renovations of the Hampton Academy and the carrying out of that project, and are further to be made subject to a reverter of title to the Town of Hampton of said parcels should they no longer be needed by the Hampton School for school purposes? (Majority vote required)

What it means: There are two small parcels of land which are owned by the Town and which have been leased to Hampton Academy since 1988 (for $1.00 per year) to provide a space for off-street bus loading and unloading. This Article authorizes the Board of Selectmen to deed the two parcels to the school. There is another Article on the SAU 90 ballot that authorizes SAU 90 to accept the transfer. If the voters approve this transaction, it would be contingent upon the Hampton Academy renovations being approved, and contingent upon the property being needed by the school going forward. If the school does not need it for school purposes in the future, the small parcels of land would revert to the town. The SAU 90 bond request (on the school ballot) must pass in order for this Article to be acted upon.

Those in favor say: This was also on the ballot last year and it passed by a strong margin. Since the Hampton Academy renovation did not pass last year, but is on the SAU 90 ballot again this year, it is necessary to again ask the voters for the approval to transfer these two parcels of land for the purposes of the reconstruction work that is planned for Hampton Academy, in the event that Article is successful this year.

Those against say: No one spoke against this article at the Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact: No tax impact.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to amend the Code of Ordinance to regulate the handling, transportation, and disposal of animal waste.

Amend the Code of the Town of Hampton by adding to Chapter 18 Animals the following new Section to be number 18-13:

18-13 Handling, Transportation, and Disposal of Animal Waste

1. No person who is the owner, keeper, trainer or person in charge of a dog or other animal, temporarily or otherwise, permit such animal to defecate in violation of the provisions of this Chapter without the necessary actions to immediately remove such defecate in a safe and sanitary manner.
2. Defecation removed in compliance with the provisions of this Chapter shall be placed in a plastic bag or similar container and placed in a solid waste container for disposal at a solid waste facility.
3. Disposing of animal defecation by being placed in or transported to a public or private sewer, storm drain or storm drainage system, or any part thereof, whether public or private shall be a violation of this Ordinance.
4. Any person found to have placed any animal defecation in a public or private sewer, storm drain or storm drainage system shall be fined $1,000 for each such action and shall be responsible for all costs incurred in the cleaning of the system up and until it passes any test required under State and Federal Storm Water Quality requirements or regulations.

And

Amend the Code of the Town of Hampton by adding to Chapter 406-6 Use of Public Sewers Subsection C the following:

(5)      Animal Defecation? (Majority vote required

What it means: This article would establish a local ordinance with stated penalties to help guide appropriate pet-ownership practices and prevent animal waste from ending up in the storm drains. Water fed into in storm drains does not receive any filtering but rather goes straight into our streams and ponds and the ocean.

 Those in favor say: This article is necessary to protect our water from unhealthy levels of fecal matter. Specifically, the Town needs this code in order to meet the guidelines set by EPA under the MS4 regulations (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems).

Those against say: There is no clear investigation or enforcement protocol.

 Fiscal Impact: No tax impact.

ITKH side note: Storm Drains in just about every municipality are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit program. The EPA, by issuing this permit, is giving approval for a municipality to discharge storm water to surface waters with the understanding that only clean storm water will be released. The community then becomes responsible for ensuring that nothing enters the system that can pollute its lakes, rivers, and streams.

Ideally, the only thing that should enter a storm drain is clean, uncontaminated rainwater.

When pet owners collect pet waste and toss the waste & wrapper onto the street or directly into storm drains, the wrapper degrades and the animal waste becomes part of the storm water discharge.

Upon Petition of Helena and Burley Barthell and at least and twenty-five (25) registered voters of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire, to see if the Town will vote to modify restriction #5 in that Deed recorded at Book 5772, Page 1928 for two lots located at 33 and 35 Dover Avenue shown as Lots 145 and 146 on Tax Map 296 (formerly Lots 211 and 212 on Map 104) to permit each of the lots to be sold separately upon the condition that each have a deeded right of access to Dover Avenue and to authorize and direct the Town Clerk to execute and deliver to the owners of said lot a notice recorded at the Rockingham County Registry of Deeds at no cost to the Town? (Majority vote required).

What it means: This is an example of a property that was a town-leased lot and was sold along with deed restrictions, in this case preventing the selling of the lot as two lots.

Those in favor say: Each lot meets or very nearly meets the required minimum lot size requirements. The owners must still get sign-offs from the town boards and departments in order to proceed with the lot division.

Those against say: No one spoke against this article at the Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact: No tax impact.

On the petition of John Nyhan and at least 25 Hampton registered voters, shall the Town of Hampton raise and appropriate $3,000 to pay to Experience Hampton Inc., the organizer of the 2010 to 2016 Hampton Christmas Parades, to help defray the expenses of the 2017 Christmas Parade and related activities? (Majority vote required)

What it means: This is an annual donation to Experience Hampton to help fund the Christmas parade in town.

Those in favor say: The parade involves many groups within town, including businesses, schools and local officials. The total cost of the parade is $15,000, of which the taxpayers are being asked to absorb a small fraction.

Those against say: No one spoke against this Article at Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact: The average Hampton home valued at $404,000 would bear an increased tax cost of $.40 if this Article passes.