Table Of Content

(/if u *LOU N I T Y N H OFFICIAL OFFICE HOURS AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS Selectmen's Office - Town Office & Mon., Wed. Thurs. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 542-9665 (except Holidays) 543-3102 FAX 542-9736 Selectmen's Meeting - Town Office Mondays - 6:00 p.m. to ?, public always invited Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Town Office Monday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 542-9665 Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Friday - Closed Planning Board - Town Hall 1st Wednesday each month 7:00 p.m. Landfill Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Summer Months - Wed. 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Health Officer - Randolph Newton 863-5439 Building Inspector - Randolph Newton 863-5439 Police Department - Valley Dispatch 542-7040 Fire Department 1-352-1100 Dog Control Officer 542-7040 Library 543-3253 Emergency Only Fire, Police and Ambulance 9-1-1 The Town Hall is available to rent for special occasions or meetings. Please call the Town Office for fee schedule. ANNUAL REPORT of the Selectmen and other Town Officers UNITY, N.H. Year Ending December 31, 2001 Bring your Town Report to Town Meeting March 12th, 2002 12:00 Noon for Business Meeting March 16th, 2002 TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication 3 Town Officers 4 Appointed Officers 5 Selectmen's Report 6 Town Warrant 2002 10 RSA 31:105; 508:12-b; 154:1 16 Budget 19 Tax Rate Calculation 22 Town Clerk's Report 24 Vital Statistics 25 Town Hall - Dates Used 29 Tax Collector's Report 30 Current Use Report 33 Schedule ofTown Property 34 Revised Estimated Revenues 36 Town Expenses 37 Treasurer's Report 45 Trust Funds 46 Auditor's Report 50 Budget Report (96GF) 52 Balance Sheet 55 Building Inspectors' Report 58 Conservation Commission Report 59 Volunteer Fire Dept. Report 61 Fire Warden's Report 64 Highway Hours 65 Historical Society Report 66 Landfill/Recycling Report 67 Police Department Report 68 Library Report 70 Old Home Day Report 71 Planning Board Report 74 Community Alliance Report 75 Lake Sunapee Visiting Nurse Assoc 78 Southwestern Community Services 80 Sullivan County Hospice, Inc 81 Sullivan County Nutrition Services 82 Minutes ofTown Meeting - March, 2001 83 "Along The Main Highway" 94 UNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT School District Personnel 96 Unity Tuition Students 97 Unity Teachers 98 Treasurer's Report 99 School Nurse's Report 100 Nutritious Meals Report 100 Auditor's Report 101 Minutes of Unity School Dist. Meeting - Mar. 3rd, 2001 102 Minutes of Elections of School Officials - Mar. 13th, 2001 104 Superintendent's Report 108 School Board Report 109 Principal's Report 110 Budget Ill School District Warrant 119 In Recognition ofthe Untiring Work of Roberta R. Callum In Preserving and Sharing the Historic Heritage of the Town of Unity Roberta has worked hard over the years to insure that the heritage that has been passed down to us by our forebears is preserved, made available to the present generations, and passed on to future generations. In 1964 she was an active member ofthe Historical Committee for Unity's Bi- centennial, which produced the booklet Highlights in History ofUnity. She was chairman ofUnity's United States Constitution Bicentennial Committeein 1987. In 1983 she was a founding member of the Unity Historical Society and she served as the Society's president from 1983 to 1988 and as its treasurer from 1991 to 2002. As treasurer ofthe Unity Historical Society (and as the person whose mailing address was used by the Society), Roberta has served as an informal clearing- house for information about the history of our town. She has answered innu- merable requests for information about our history from historians and gene- alogists. In the process she has gathered much invaluable information about Unity's past, which has been added to the Society's files. Even more important than her work in preserving the documentary record of ourhistoryhasbeen her enthusiastic efforts to make sure that our architectural heritage is preserved. When the town hall project in the early 1990's left us with a town hall shorn ofits bell tower, Roberta went to work as part ofvolunteer committee determined to restore the tower. In addition to raising, almost single- handedly, many thousands of dollars for the project, Roberta was there at the town hall Saturday after Saturday, providing assistance to the other workers, cheering them on, and making a careful photographic record ofthe progress. The bell tower is now back in place, but Roberta is still hard at work, organiz- ing arededication ceremony and celebration, which is scheduled to take place in May. Fresh from the completion of one successful restoration, with the bell tower back in place, Roberta is hoping that the Town will be able to restore Chase's Tavern, at the other end ofthe Common. The unspoken guiding principle ofher work has been one ofboth preserving our proud historic heritage and also sharing it as widely as possible. ELECTED TOWN OFFICERS OF UNITY, NH 2001 OFFICE ELECTED TERM EXPIRES Selectmen - 3 year term Randall H. Bragdon 2000 2003 Robert B. Banks 1999 2002 Mary'L. Gere 2001 2004 Town Clerk - 3 year term Rosemary Heino 2000 2003 Treasurer - 3 year term Mary Hall 2000 2003 Moderator - 2 year term John Callum 2000 2002 Supervisors ofThe Check List - 6 year term Susan Schroeter 1998 2004 Donna Vandergrift-Sweetser 1997 2003 Bonny Polley 1996 2002 Building Inspector - 1 year term Stephen Fish* 2001 2002 Library Trustee - 3 year term Martha Morse 2001 2004 Marguerite Hall 2000 2003 Judith Smith 1999 2002 Planning Board - 3 year term Sandra Franklin 2001 2004 Kenneth Hall 1999 2002 Jeffrey Albright 2001 2004 Sue Schroeter 2000 2003 Robert Banks - Ex Officio 2001 2002 Trustee ofthe Trust Funds - 3 year term Marguerite Hall 1999 2002 Sally Teague 2001 2004 Carol Dombroski 2000 2003 APPOINTED TOWN OFFICERS OF UNITY, NH 2001 Secretary Priscilla Swensen Road Agent Alvin Smith Highway Employees Harold Booth, Jason LeMere* Dana Pierce Tax Collector - Rosemary Heino Deputy Tax Collector - Deputy Town Clerk Tyyne Cox Deputy Treasurer Dorothy McClay Health Officer Stephen Fish*, Randolph Newton Landfill Attendants Randolph Newton*, Marshall Mittnick, Warren Gee, Vanessa Keith, James Romer, Mary E. Gere, Chris Carrier, David McCumber, Clarence Gee Conservation Commission Ethel Jarvis - 2001 - 2003 Bardon Flanders 2001 2003 - - Jennifer Wright - 1999 - 2002 Dick Tatem 1999 2002 - - Ernie Bridge 1999 2002 - - Randy Newton 2001 2003 - - Alternate Stanley Rastallis - 2000 - 2003 Recycling Commitee Scott Nielson - 2000 - 2003 Vanessa Keith - 2000 - 2003 Jim Romer 1999 2002 - - Sue Lawrence 1999 2002 - - Alternates Ethel Jarvis, Jenny Wright Planning Board Secretary Sue Schroeter Planning Board Alternate Terry L. Callum & Assessor Earls Neider Perkins Forester Peter Rhoades Tax Maps Wayne McCutcheon Ballot Clerks Tyyne Cox, Mary Ellen Bellimer, Marguerite Hall, Cheri LeMere, Animal Control Officer Jason LeMere Sexton Fred Bellimer Police Chief Nicholas Picerno Police Officers Mickey Michael, Scott Hagar, Jason LeMere Fire Warden George Dunn Deputy Fire Wardens Robert Janelle, Charles Hudson, Bruce Baker, Ron Cota, Linda Butterworth Todd Gregory Civil Defense Jason LeMere Assistant Moderator Fred Bellimer Building Inspector Randolph Newton Building Committee Will Boutin, Ken Hall, Phil LaBreque, Fred Bellimer, Steve Robbins, Bill Schroeter, Ethel Jarvis :Resigned UNITY BOARD OF SELECTMEN REPORT 2001 We THANK YOU will open this year's report with a large to all ofthe volunteers who, overthe years, have worked to restore the bell towerto our Town Hall building. And thanks go out to Rod Gray and his crew for providing the finishing touches to get the tower installed. The bell tower makes such a significant and prominent contribution to the Town Hall. There are some people living in town who may not have lived here long enough to have seen the old bell tower on the old Town Hall building. By seeing it in place now, it becomes evident why there has been such apassionate and dedicated group willing to spend many thankless hours working on its restoration. The Town Hall looks magnificent! As you may know, we had intended to begin the construction ofa new town office A facility. building committee was set up, with volunteers meeting regularly, to propose a building layout and design. After several bid proposal requests, with site changes after each one in an attempt to reduce costs, it was determined that a building ofsufficient size to serve the Town's needs could not be built with the available funds. You will find on the Warrant for 2002 an article requesting additional funds to provide the necessary money for full construction and site preparation. In the process ofplacing the numerous bid requests for the new office building, the Board ofSelectmen was asked to consider the feasibility ofapplying for a State grant for money that could be used for restoring the former Fusscas building (a.k.a. Huntoon's Tavern, a.k.a. Chase's Tavern, a.k.a. the green house at the south end ofthe common). The State's Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) seemed to be a good fit for obtaining funds to renovate the building for use as a town office facility. The Board allowed for the creation ofa Renovation Committee, through the Historical Society, to investigate the grant funds and, after several months, it was determined that the renovation could utilize the LCHIP funding. We allowed the Renovation Committee to continue its application process and, to date, the process is continuing smoothly, though, due to the State's time schedule, it is a very hectic process. You will find on the Warrant for 2002 a separate article requesting funding for the renovation ofthe Chase's Tavern building for use as a town office facility. Obviously, we will only be able to choose one ofthe building articles, so we hope that you make the time to visit the town office and look over both proposals so that you are able to cast an informed vote at the 2002 Town Meeting. Following the advice ofthe Fire Department, and upon approval ofTown Meeting this year, we placed an order for a new fire truck. We were hoping to have the truck in November ofthis year, but it looks like we may have to wait until March or April of2002 for delivery. Even so, considering the average age ofthe trucks currently in use, it will be nice to have a new truck on-line and ready to go all the time. The Fire Department's . rescue vehicle has been red-lined (taken offthe road), so we anticipate an article for Town Meeting 2002 regarding the purchase ofa new rescue vehicle. Again, we will be working with the Fire Department to be sure to order the best vehicle for their use, provided we get approval at Town Meeting. The highway crew had a tough Winter in the early months ofthis year as we had upwards ofseven feet ofsnow in the month ofMarch. Some roads got a bit more narrow as room for pushing the snow offthe sides was reduced due to the shear volume ofsnow. This Winter, already in progress, seems to be a bit warmer and, so far, the snow accumulation has been significantly less. A new employee was hired to replace outgoing Jason LeMere. Dana Pierce has been assigned to the east side oftown, and we hope the crew has an easier Winter this year than last. A significant highway department project was completed this year, that being the re- paving ofLear Hill Road. This project was 1.75 miles ofroad, as well as lots ofblasting, ditch work and culvert replacement. It has been ongoing for several years but, considering it was last worked on sometime in the 1950's, we hope it to be a worthwhile investment. > Our landfill is growing larger and, as such, the State is making louder noises about our We need to close the landfill. have asked a surveyor to provide us with a plan ofthe existing lot where the landfill sits, as well as the abutting lot which is owned by the Town. Once this work is complete, we will be investigating the costs and practicality of constructing a new, State-approved, lined landfill for use by residents ofUnity. Ifthe abutting land can be used, it has been estimated that we could provide a ten acre landfill which, at our current rate ofdisposal, should last many, many years. We are hopeful that, though the construction costs will be substantial, we will be able to phase the project and that, with phasing, the new landfill will be less expensive than having to forever ship our waste to out-of-town (or out-of-state) facilities. We do not anticipate having to make a decision on a project ofthis scope in the year 2002, but we may have to have a plan prepared for Town Meeting 2003 As always, we try to impress upon all ofthe residents in town that our landfill space is limited and that recycling is the best way to increase the life ofour landfill. Please do yourpart. Our landfill employees work hard at separating the recyclables at the shed so that you do not have to separate the items at home. They are a dedicated and knowledgeable group ofpeople who would be glad to provide any information they can to those ofyouwho may have questions about recycling. Our police department has been busy this year. Having answeredjust under 1000 calls, we have to appreciate ChiefPicerno and his officers. Averaging 19 calls per week is a lot for a small town and a small department. We also appreciate that the department is run on such a limited budget, considering the number ofcalls. We would always wish the police department a lighter year than the previous year, but we are glad to know that they can handle the big responsibility this small town throws at them. In closing, we would like to return to our opening paragraph and expand it slightly. We have placed a special page in this report in honor ofRoberta Callum. Roberta has played a significant role in the historic preservation and restoration ofour town buildings. She's been active with the Town Hall restoration (initially with her late husband, John) and, for the past few years, has worked diligently raising funds for use on the bell tower project. We wanted to provide a special thanks to Roberta for all ofher continued efforts in providing lasting history to our Town. We hope to see more people attend our meetings throughout the year so thatyou can stay informed about what is going on in your town. Sincerely, UNITY BOARD OF SELECTMEN Randall H. Bragdon Mary'L. Gere Robert B. Banks 8