Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $131,814 for the following purposes of the Parks and Recreation Department: (a) to replace the 22-year old Kids Kingdom Playground and (b) to replace the Tuck Field right field fencing and netting, as determined by the Board of Selectmen, the Town Manager and the Director of Parks and Recreation, and to authorize the withdrawal of $131,814 from the Recreation Infrastructure Special Revenue Fund established for the purpose under Article 44 of the 2007 Annual Town Meeting?

What it means: Every year, the needs of the Parks and Recreation Department are identified, and the voters need to approve withdrawal of the requested dollars from an established fund.

Those in favor say: The projects will contribute to a safer play environment for the children of our town, and the costs have been covered by revenue generated in Town Parking lots.

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

Fiscal Impact:  No tax impact, as there is an established fund for the Parks and Rec Department from which the funds are withdrawn with the approval of the voters.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $120,000 for the purpose of purchasing software, hardware, and services, including any necessary support items to upgrade the Fire Department’s primary Dispatch, EMS, and records reporting services software, and to replace and upgrade computers and communications equipment and upgrade and outsource the Town’s website hosting services, with said sum of $120,000 to come from the Unassigned Fund Balance.  This will be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32:7, VI and shall not lapse until the work is completed or by March 31, 2020, whichever is sooner?

What it means: This will purchase Computer-Assisted Dispatch for the Fire Department, replacing a system that is 14 years old and was developed for Police Departments.  It does not fully address the needs of Fire operations.

Those in favor say: The hardware/software will help the Fire Stations to operate more efficiently.

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

Fiscal Impact:  No tax impact because the $120,000 cost would be withdrawn from the Unassigned Fund Balance, meaning that the taxpayers have already paid for it.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $100,000 for the purpose of installing new decorative street lighting at Hampton Beach on C, D, and F Streets and on Ashworth Avenue, including all engineering, design, procurement, shipping, delivery and installation costs, together with all related appurtenances and activities necessary or desirable to complete the purposes of this article, with the sum of $100,000 to come from the Unassigned Fund Balance.  This will be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32:7, VI and shall not lapse until the work is completed or by March 31, 2020, whichever is sooner?

NOTE: Decorative lighting was installed in 2009 on A and B Streets as well as part of Ashworth Avenue in accordance with plans in the possession of the Town.  The underground conduit already is in place on all of Ashworth Avenue and all of the lettered streets with only wiring and above ground decorative lighting left to be installed.  The new lighting that was installed has greatly improved visibility and safety on the streets where lighting was completed; the old commercial street lighting was disconnected and removed and utility billing for the commercial street lighting has been terminated for those streets.

What it means: The description and notes above are self-explanatory.

Those in favor say: Much of the expensive work (underground conduits) has already been done, and the balance, which will be taken from the unassigned fund balance, will not increase taxpayers costs in 2018.

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

Fiscal Impact:  No tax impact in 2018 because the funds are being withdrawn from the Unassigned Fund Balance.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $100,000 for the purpose of hiring a consultant engineering firm to study and report on the impacts of, and solutions to, flooding from the Hampton River and Hampton Harbor onto and along the West Side Streets off of Ashworth Avenue, Brown Avenue, and the Island Path and Glade Path areas, and the flooding that occurs from New Hampshire Route 101 North to Winnacunnet Road, including NH Route 1A and in the areas surrounding Meadow Pond, including High Street, King’s Highway, Gentian, Greene and Meadow Pond Roads, with said sum of $100,000 to come from the Unassigned Fund Balance.  This will be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32:7, VI and shall not lapse until the work is completed or by March 31, 2020, whichever is sooner

What it means:  An engineering firm will be tasked with studying how the water breaches existing environmental and man-made systems and floods the named streets.  They will identifying possible solutions and costs.

Those in favor say: The flooding in the mentioned areas has become worse over time.  There are days when even without any precipitation, the water pours onto Kings Highway (Kings Highway being just one example) and prevents homeowners from leaving or returning to their properties.

Those against say:  No one spoke in opposition at the Deliberative Session, but subsequently some people expressed concerned that the problem is the rising tides, and there will not be an easy solution.  Some people also point to the fact that history books indicate that flooding in the low lying areas is not a new phenomenon.

Fiscal Impact:  No tax impact because the dollars are being withdrawn from the Unassigned Fund Balance.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $90,000 to carry out all lawful functions allowed under federal, state and local criminal justice forfeiture programs and to authorize the withdrawal of said sum of $90,000 from the Police Forfeiture Special Revenue Fund created for that purpose under Article 55 of the 2003 Town Meeting?

What it means: During normal police operations, items of value may be forfeited by individuals. There are expenses associated with the management of such property, including storage, auctioning, returning items where appropriate, etc.  NH law permits the auctioning of this property where appropriate, and the funds so received are put into a fund.  Some of the money is used to cover the expenses of the forfeiture process.  Excess funds may be used for other town costs.

Those in favor say: This is a standard, annual procedure.  This year, the funds will be used to refurbish the Police Department Fitness Room.

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

Fiscal Impact:  No tax impact.

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $80,000 to conduct an investigation and preliminary design for a storm water drainage system for the King’s Highway area from Winnacunnet Road to the closed 12th Street Sewer Pumping Station and from the closed 12th Street Sewer Pumping Station to High Street, to include Greene Street, Meadow Pond Road, Gentian Road and portions of High Street and the numbered streets where necessary and including the design for converting the abandoned sewer line and pumping station to move storm water in the new system, with said sum of $80,000 to come from the Undesignated Fund Balance.  This will be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32:7, VI and shall not lapse until the work is completed or by March 31, 2020, whichever is sooner?

NOTE – These streets are regularly inundated with water covering and ponding in the roadways.  The water is considered a traffic hazard due to the potential for freezing during the winter and also causes conflict during the summer when motorists are trying to avoid the water with pedestrians and bicyclists in the roadway.  The elevation of the water table and the infiltration rates of the soils prevent water from being able to infiltrate into the subsurface areas.  The grade of the roads and the saturated soils cause water to cover and pond in the roadways and flood yards along these streets.

What it means: This is related to the flooding issues of Article 20, in that they both address flooding but from different perspectives.  Article 20 provides for the study and possible solutions to flooding in general, whereas Article 22 would address the issues with moving standing water away from the roads and homes. There is a suspicion that the drainage in the Kings Highway area is not working properly – either the pipes are clogged or perhaps they are not large enough.  The purpose of the study is to determine likely causes and to preliminarily design a drainage system to address those issues.

Those in favor say: Storm water drainage is long overdue along King’s Highway. A light rain shower results in excessive standing water on the roadway.

Those against say:  We have allowed the building of homes and roads in places that couldn’t support it. Do we need a study to know where we went wrong?

Fiscal Impact:  No tax impact because the dollars are being withdrawn from the Unassigned Fund Balance.

Shall the Town  of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $51,000 for the  purpose of purchasing and  equipping a utility pickup truck with plow for the Fire Department; this vehicle will be multi-purpose: for use in the winter to haul equipment and materials for the clearing of fire hydrants; during warmer weather it is utilized in the forest fire role; it is also used to haul equipment to and from fire scenes and to tow all of Hampton Fire and Rescue’s trailers, including for transporting Marine 2.  This shall be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA32:7, VI and shall not lapse until this project is completed or by March 31, 2020, whichever is sooner?

What it means:  The purpose as stated in the Warrant language above is self-explanatory.

Those for and against say:  No one spoke either for or against this Article at the Deliberative Session, other than to explain it.  The explanation is as laid out in the Warrant itself.

Fiscal Impact:  Approval of this purchase will create an additional tax cost for the average Hampton home valued at $408,000 of $6.12. (Your property value divided by 1000 and multiplied by .015 will give you your tax impact.)

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $50,000 for the purchase of the following replacement vehicle for the Department of Public Works one replacement yard horse tractor, the replaced vehicle to be traded in if deemed to be prudent by the Public Works Director, Town Manager and Board of Selectmen.  This shall be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32:7, VI and shall not lapse until these purchases are completed or by March 31, 2019, whichever is sooner?

What it means:  DPW is looking for a used Yard Horse Tractor, a vehicle that helps to transfer trailers of trash or recycling within the Transfer Station, as well as to move salt around.  The current truck is a 1980 vehicle that does not have the proper hydraulic connection to engage the pumps in the trailers. Due to the lack of hydraulics, DPW has had to manually empty the trailers to do repairs, and had to cut open a trailer due to a fire in bins that could not be accessed without the hydraulic lift.

Those in favor say:  DPW has researched used trucks and they feel they can purchase a reasonable “previously used” vehicle for their purposes and save taxpayers some money.

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

Fiscal Impact:  Approval of this purchase will create an additional tax cost for the average Hampton home valued at $408,000 of $6.12. (Your property value divided by 1000 and multiplied by .015 will give you your tax impact.)

Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $50,000 for the maintenance, repair, re-construction, replacement, and making ADA compliant of the Landing Road sidewalk from Route 101 to Winnacunnet Road.  This shall be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32:7, VI and shall not lapse until this project is completed or by March 31, 2020, whichever is sooner.

What it means: Funds are applied to specific projects as identified by the Department of Public Works and approved by the Board of Selectmen.

Those in favor say: Funds would be used for maintenance, reconstruction, repairs and ADA compliance for Landing Road from Route 101 to Winnacunnet Road.

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

Fiscal Impact:  Approval of this purchase will create an additional tax cost for the average Hampton home valued at $408,000 of $6.12. (Your property value divided by 1000 and multiplied by .015 will give you your tax impact.)

Shall the Town of Hampton raise and appropriate the sum of $44,662.00 for the purpose of hiring a full-time Assistant Town Clerk?

NOTE: The warrant article contains the cost for 39 weeks from April 1, 2018 to December31, 2018.  Total yearly cost is $59,549.

What it means: A new person would be added to the staff at Town Hall, with the task of being the second in command to the Town clerk, and helping to manage the Town Clerk responsibilities, including Motor Vehicle Registrations, Boat Registrations, Dog Licensing, OHRV Registrations, Hunting & Fishing Licenses, Vital Records & Marriage Licenses, Voter Registration, Election Administration (Day of as well as preparation months before including Absentee Ballots), Beach & Transfer Station Decals, Oaths of Office, Filing of Articles of Agreement, Filing of Burial Transit Permits, Filing of Wetlands Applications, Record Retention and Notary Services.

If successful, a full year’s salary would be $59,549. The first year would start in April so the 2018 cost is less.

Those in favor say: Often, there is a long line of people waiting to be served at Town Clerk’s Office.  The existing staff is not sufficient to handle the ever-increasing workload on a normal day.  On days when some members of the team are not available for any number of reasons (illness, family emergency, vacation, etc), the Town Clerk needs to stand in.  But at certain times such as the ramp-up to Town Meeting, this is not feasible.  The volume of work since 2007 has increased almost 25% since 2007, yet staff hours are identical.

Those against say: A speaker at Deliberative Session noted that window hours have been re-structured so that the windows are open more hours Monday – Thursday and close early on Friday (a total of 39.5 hours per week). Although not clear, presumably the point was that more people would come later in the day on Friday if the windows were open then, thus reducing the lines during the rest of the week.

Fiscal Impact: The average Hampton home valued at $408,000 would bear an increased tax cost of $6.93 for a 52- week period if this Article passes.