Town of Exeter, New Hampshire Water Supply Alternatives Study (draft) October 20, 2009 Draft Report

I read this  draft  this morning. I found a mistake. The Town reservoir does not  empty into Wheelwright  and then the Exeter  River.It’s the Squamscott River. Small point  you say? Please replay the tapes to  me to prove the discussion has ever paid more than  lip service to Great Bay.

A couple of bullets, mine.

• The dam is coming down.
• The natural  bedrock falls  will still maintain a  pond of significant size  back to Gilman.
• The engineers are confident of  their ability to continue to withdraw water from the River.
• Water use  is not increasing. Growth is and will continue to be  flat.
• There are no good records .
• We have to nip the water district talk, and help others  live within their own limits.
• There is  still a great deal of water being  lost in distribution.(leaks)
• We have  a looming  sewerage treatment  issue.
• Let’s get this dam  down and move on.

Day 3

Of course when you open the Dam, the water  flows out. The water  that had been  captured and over ran its natural channel these many years. It looks raw along it’s bank. I found a slew of fresh water clams at Gilman. The ducks  also seemed quite pleased moving about in the flowing water. Should we remove the Great? Dam it will all fill in, and be quite lovely, and flowing. So get on down to Gilman or your favorite spot and fix it in your mind, how it could look.

I have a few shots from today , you can compare  them with yesterday.

Intake for the Academy,lawn water.

Second bridge Linden Street

Tuesday                                                                                                                            Wednesday

This next shot is from the Academy Bridge  between the track & the football stadium. I htink this stretch will always look the same.

Now a couple of  the foot bridge to Gilman Park. Check out it’s underpinnings. This area under this footbridge was always a fetid swamp. It could be a flowing stream. Mosquitoes loathe  flowing water, and love stagnant water .

The Great? Dam held nothing, certainly not  a mighty River. People are frankly surprised it emptied this fast. You were not looking at a River all these years , just  a stream out of its banks. I think that despite any misgivings you might have the dam is coming down. We will probably have to wait 5 years with all the wrangling. That’s why we must have everyone go now and look. Just imagine all the new growth over the mud flats. Oh and listen, you can hear it now, flowing. It’s  really the right thing to do.

11 Water Street  should begin designing  their new deck, they have a backyard now.

Mike

Exeter River impoundment drawdown

Here are a few pictures  taken today.

Gilman Park looking downstream.

I am assuming that dark line  represents the drop since yesterday. We will compare later this week.

Looking upstream at Gilman

This next shot is the 111 bridge below  Pickpocket Dam.

Upstream

Downstream

Exeter  Elms Campground Court Street

Upstream

Downstream

Linden Street Second Bridge

Upstream

Downstream

We will see how much of this log is revealed moving forward.

Little River at  First Bridge Linden Street.

Check back later for more photos as  the draw down continues.

Mike

Aruban Skies

Just got back in Town.I have some Exeter River draw down pictures taken this morning that will be up tonight. About a foot drop so far at Gilman Park.

This one almost slipped by.

“In less than one hour on Oct. 1, approximately $77,000 in funds vanished from the Pease Development Authority bank account, Tradeport officials admitted Monday.”

“After days of remaining tight lipped on the hacking allegations originally reported in The Washington Post, Pease officials acknowledged the theft in a written statement, but offered no other comment otherwise.”

“The statement reveals that on Oct. 1 between the hours of 5:59 p.m. and 6:56 p.m., the state-owned agency fell victim to approximately 10 fraudulent transfers to at least eight banking institutions. In the Oct. 15 story titled, “Trojan Turns Smash & Grab Into Grab & Smash,” Brian Krebs reported that a top PDA finance official revealed the Tradeport had fallen victim to hackers and suffered a $100,000 loss as a result.”

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091020/GJNEWS_01/710209949

I have been saving up for another Pease post. Here’s a taste. Basically the  Airport  is poaching  Armed Services air traffic by lowering ramp fees and other charges for landing and  fueling. Yes, poaching in a last ditch effort to make a number so the airport is eligible for a big chunk of money. Then with this money (federal tax dollars) they can keep this  loser  going. A real airport like  Bangor ME from whom they are poaching can’t do that . They have several real airlines that  serve the airport. If they lower fees for one they have to go down for  all.

On a security  note. I spend a lot of time on the Great Bay, boating. I am basically underneath this C-17.

I checked the tail, it’s from  Oklahoma, Altus Air Force Base. The Bangor Troop Greeters do not post  the arrival times of troop carriers on their  web site. They have a vetting process and a somewhat secure phone tree for that  information.

http://www.peasegreeters.org/

This is sloppy security.

“tight lipped” Funny, King for a Day would clean  out the  Tradeport Executive  Offices and hire  professionals.

Mike

“And they used Bon Ami”

The party season  is almost upon us and with  it , “oops”. I figure you use Resolve  Carpet  Cleaner, I did. I was in Shaws  with my Aunt and   grabbed this product. It had the  industrial look to it, 5.00 bucks, 30 years in business. It’s  unbelievable.So if you sweat having parties or  want to be a hero, get one for your trunk and under the sink. “It’s ok I got this great stuff in my trunk!”  “More Merlot anyone?”

http://www.folexcompany.com/

Mike

carmen sandiego prize winner

This week.
Joe.

Portsmouth PD AOK

Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?
Groucho  Marx

In this case, not your eyes.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20091021-NEWS-910219981

Mike

Gloria Cheever

I was out walking the  dog a few weeks ago downtown. I was coming down Spring  St behind the Fairpoint Switch building and spotted Gloria.

She was throwing some brush  on this pile in the parking lot. She was moving around with some authority  for sure. I hailed her with “is that your pile?” ” Yes ” she answers. I got to know her a little bit The pile is next to the burning bush. She has a couple of other piles. I got the sense she was not a lineman but  assumed a next door neighbor. Nope, just someone that thinks the site is quite pretty, and should be kept in better shape. I agree. She has been adding to that pile for some time. Just above those  parking stops is a very nice spot that  really should have a picnic table. You could have a very nice almost private picnic there. I asked her if she had approached Fairpoint about  removing her piles, “no money’ she answered. She gave me a complete tour of the grounds , pointing out the  once lovely landscaping.” It just needs some attention”. I remember Verizon was not much for gardening either. I checked around a little. These little switch buildings are becoming available for reuse.. The switch banks are not what are in use any more, so the buildings are unnecessary,  smaller spaces are sufficient.

Parking lot on Center St on the front side of the  Fairpoint Building. I had no  idea this was  a Town lot. The  green space for a table is at the rear of this lot.

This the front with some nice  plantings, the granite curbing is in disarray. Trucks  park on the lawn. Major pet peeve of mine folks, sorry,but lawn parking is for the Fair only.

This picture is  the  empty lot that once had a Church  on it. I want to know the  date of the last meeting held by Town Officials with  anyone concerning the  property. The Cobbler Shop burned down in 1992 ? The Cobbler occupied   the lot between   11 water St & the Chocolatier.. Is that  site going to lay dormant with   that awful fence forever?

That Church lot would look pretty  this Winter  as a Christmas Tree Lot, maybe a Churchill Style lot, no crappy  trailers. The lot on the River, I have no idea what that owner is thinking. Not much in my book.

If Fairpoint cannot afford to clean up Gloria’s piles could we send a truck over?

Mike

Have you dipped yet?

Mike