Jeanie Forrester: Meredith Selectboard to vote on building new playground at Prescott Park

The Sept. 8 Meredith Selectboard meeting included items related to the Parks & Recreation and Fire departments, our wastewater treatment system, and a grant.

The Parks & Recreation director requested approval to withdraw $156,820 from the William Andrews Fund to build a new playground at Prescott Park. This fund, with a current balance of $261,380, was set up in 2004 to help construct the Meredith Community Center and to benefit the Meredith Parks & Recreation Department. The selectboard previously approved the project in November 2023, and will take a formal vote at their next meeting.

In 2023 the town contracted with Municipal Resources Inc. (at a cost of $23,000) to provide an organizational assessment and review of how fire and emergency medical services are provided to the community. Recommendations were developed for improvements that consider the current and future needs of the town and necessary modifications to the delivery systems to provide the desired level of services.

The selectboard requested a progress report on recommendations from the study. While progress has been made in various areas, the board and fire chief agreed that clarification and prioritization is required on which aspects of the study should be accepted. A committee will be created to review, adopt and prioritize recommendations.

The town manager presented a proposal to reduce the Winnipesaukee River Basin Program replacement fund formula from 5% to 2% of the value of the equipment and other depreciable assets of the facilities.

The WRBP is a state-owned sewer system created in 1972 as part of the Clean Water Act. It serves 10 communities in the Lakes Region who fully fund the program. The original treatment plant receives all wastewater from around Lake Winnipesaukee and the communities along the way to Franklin. It is operated by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and includes a wastewater treatment plant in Franklin and a maintenance facility in Laconia.

The WRBP communities are each represented by one person on an advisory board to the state. The board acts in an advisory capacity only with the state having final authority.

The advisory board asked the state to recalculate the replacement fund formula from 5% to 2%, to more equitably align with current and future capacity needs. The replacement fund covers costs of future capital expenses and potential emergencies. Almost $70 million has been spent to construct the system, and annual operation and maintenance costs are about $4.7 million.

If this new formula is adopted by the state Legislature, it will reduce the Town of Meredith’s annual contribution to the replacement fund by approximately $80,000 (from $133,407 to $53,363). An article in the Sept. 13 Laconia Daily Sun provides additional information about this proposal.

The town manager advised that she has applied for a $432,000 grant from the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program for Main Street. The RTA provides up to $54.2 million in no-match grants on a first-come, first-serve basis to support infrastructure projects that enhance the safety, efficiency, and quality of the country’s transportation system. 

The next meeting of the selectboard is on Monday, Sept. 22.

Upcoming budget workshops are 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12, and 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

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Jeanie Forrester serves on the Meredith Selectboard.