Nancy Wright

To the editor,

Taxpayers be aware!

At the town meeting this past March, Moultonborough’s residents voted to purchase the Lion’s Club property. We were told prior to the vote that the Lions would lease the building for a period of up to ten years and continue to run the senior programs. I don’t recall any talk of tearing the existing building down in the next year or so to make way for a new multi-million dollar recreational facility but this seems to be the plan. I feel we were misled. Is a Recreational/Community Center on the fast track?

I attended two of the Recreational Strategic Planning Committee listening sessions in May and June. The Strategic Planning Committee refers to the proposed building as a Community Center, however, the Town Warrant in which the feasibility study monies were approved calls it a Recreational Facility. The meetings were advertised as soliciting public input for the possibility of a new building for recreational programs. I left the meetings feeling the committee was not interested in public input but rather selling their own ideas. I questioned why we need a new 20,000 to 25,000 square foot building (numbers supplied by the Strategic Planning Committee) which includes a gymnasium and swimming pool. Do the taxpayers of Moultonboro really want this? Could we consider using the schools, existing Lions Club, library and other facilities to run programs, before we jump into another large and expensive building project? Let’s check it out carefully to ensure that taxpayers are convinced we really need such a building.

I read the Master Plan Survey for Moultonborough dated December 2006. The full 59 page report can be accessed by going to the town website www.Moultonborough.org. In the Master Plan, the Executive Summary states that the need for a Community Center was rated high. The actual survey shows that it was rated a modest priority by the townspeople who responded. However there is the need for senior programs.

Respondents of the survey are asked which community services they would be willing to spend additional tax dollars to improve. Recreational facilities as a group were rated rather low and additional fields and ice rink improvements were at the bottom

The Summary of Additional Comments listed six major items. Here is the fourth: “property taxes and assessments were on the top of the list for many. Respondents were very concerned, especially seniors, that they will have to sell their homes because their fixed incomes cannot cover the rising taxes.” None of the six items mentioned the need for a Recreational/Community Facility.

There are over 400 additional comments that follow the survey and I found them very telling. In the summary, citizens want the town to address things that were rated very high, they are: Protecting the lakes and streams, protecting our drinking water, rising property taxes and assessments, quality education, keeping the rural character of the town, traffic concerns, preserving open space and agricultural land, roads, zoning, growth, affordable housing.

I am not convinced that the residents of Moultonborough are ready to increase their taxes for a new multi- million dollar building, which will bring with it not only long term maintenance costs but salaries /benefits for additional staff for years to come.

Nancy Wright

Moultonboro Citizens Alliance