It all started when we moved into a small eleven unit “active adult community.” On January 2nd this year, the big day arrived and so did the movers. Amongst the snow and chaos, we finally settled in and started to enjoy our new home.
A few weeks later, we received the invitation to our first association meeting. This meeting was to be the beginning of the “turn-over” of the association to the residents. After taking a short nap at the back of the meeting room, I awakened to my wife shaking my arm and saying congratulations dear - you’re the new President!
Since I don’t know anyone named “Monica,” this President needed to figure out what his responsibilities were. The first item of concern was to analyze our expenses, both near-term and future. Doing a capital reserve analysis is a daunting task, but with help from the contractor and the Internet, reality started to reveal itself on my Excel Spreadsheet. Once the capital reserve situation was under control, I started to look at operating expenses. It became clear that a number of items needed to be addressed because of their impact on our operating expenses (and condo fee). One of the more costly recurring expenses is rubbish collection. Now having never lived in a “private” community, I never gave much thought to how my trash was going to be dealt with.
Seeing this fairly large expense for trash removal made me think that we could do better with a little effort. I called Waste Management and was told that they would have to send a separate truck to pickup our trash (for curbside trash pickup) because their contract with the Town of East Kingston is based upon tonnage, so they would not be able to co-mingle our trash with
“Town” trash! Wow I didn’t know how complicated trash was before this telephone conversation.
It seemed that this should be an easy problem to solve, so I wrote a letter explaining our request for trash pickup. I further explained that since we are “old” and only one and two person households, the quantity of trash generated by us would be, on average, less than any random eleven homes in the town. We also offered to pay twelve months in advance, so the Town would have no financial exposure. This arrangement would have cut our rate in half because Waste Management could “co-mingle” our trash with the Town’s and not require a separate truck.
I waited patiently for the response from the Selectmen’s office. When it arrived, I was looking forward to a problem being solved. Instead, I received some gobbledygook about the contractor receiving the permit to build the units predicated upon no services required from the Town. OK, a deal is a deal, but we were not looking for something for nothing. We were just looking for some common consideration that would not cost the Town anything. Based upon our expected tonnage and advance payment, the Town would actually be making out on the deal. This is a perfect example of substituting a rulebook for common sense!
So, let me see. We get to live in East Kingston, pay taxes the same as anybody else, get no road maintenance, no snow removal, no trash pickup and, since there are over 150 units of over 55+ in the Town, we are responsible for the taxes being about 20% lower than they would be without us since the lion’s share of the Town budget is schools and we receive no services so, why isn’t this Elderly Abuse?
Thomas Christenson East Kingston
To the Editor:
I am lucky. My living room windows overlook the rushing Exeter River where it flows into the Squamscot River, where fresh water joins tidal water and the remarkable, reversible daily journey to the sea and back again is visible – and audible! Right now the river is high, for winter snows in the deep woods are still melting into the waterway, and recent heavy rains have added to the always-changing waterscape.
As I watch the river day and night, I often wonder about its impact on life around us, on the river animals and plants, on the shoreline animals and plants, and on the human life in our area. And, I wonder what impact are we humans having on the river? As I have become gradually more concerned about environmental issues, I have come, belatedly, I confess, to asking questions about the quality and quantity of the Exeter River Watershed.
For example: how vulnerable is the river to urbanization? What protection is there for the water supply, so that it is safe for human as well as wildlife use? Is the water treatment facility just down the river from where we live adequate for the increasing demands being made by a growing population? What about flood control? Is the Great Dam, just a few feet from our living room, reliable in times of flood? Who takes care of the watershed?
There are answers to these questions, fortunately. On Fri., April 18, a free public forum, “Spotlight on the Exeter River Watershed” will be presented, with experts on the river to share their knowledge and respond to audience questions about the river. The forum will feature Don Clement, Chair of the Exeter River Local Advisory Committee (ERLAC), Sally Soule, NH Department of Environmental Services, Watershed Assistance Section; and Russ Dean, Exeter Town Manager. The 7:00 p.m. forum will be held at the Congregational Church in Exeter, 21 Front Street.
This panel is being presented by We The People, an ecumenical project sponsored by the Congregational, Episcopal, and Unitarian-Universalist churches of Exeter in cooperation with Phillips Exeter Academy.
If you are concerned about the health and future of our beloved river, please join in the conversation that will undoubtedly arise when these experts put the spotlight on the Exeter River Watershed.
Pat Yosha Exeter
To the Editor:
Taking a Bite for Better Health
It is unfortunate that we salute the importance of public health one-week each year, when literally every day should celebrate that notion. In particular, I believe our children‚s nutrition plays a great role in achieving good overall public health. It is undisputable that kids who receive proper nutrition in their development years are more likely to excel in school and will likely live longer healthier lives. However, there are several benefits to adolescents that are often overlooked.
The most obvious benefit in my mind is a major reason why these children live healthier lives well into adulthood; that reason is habit. Not unlike the effect on children of a warm and caring family life, children who are taught the importance of eating at the proper times and with proper foods, both at school and at home, are likely to act on that example through their adult lives. As a result these properly nourished and developed youngsters pass this example onto their children.
Furthermore, one of the more substantial and disregarded benefits of proper nutrition is the chronic health problems avoided later in life. I cannot watch the evening news, read the newspaper, or listen to the radio without some pundit talking about how childhood obesity is on the rise. Statistics from the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease show that one in three children will develop diabetes, a disease that is often preventable through a proper diet routine. In addition, PFCD‚s statistics put the number of New Hampshire residents with a major chronic disease at nearly half a million people. That is almost two in five people in our state. These figures will not improve without real reforms to our children‚s eating habits.
Certainly other factors like regular exercise play a big part in improving the overall long-term health of our children, our spouses, and our friends. But it is systemic changes in nutrition that truly are diamonds in the rough. If your child or grandchild‚s does not have a healthy nutrition plan in place please make a pledge to create one today. Happy and healthy kids, families and the public good depend on it.
Tammi Martin, Chairperson The New Healthy Schools Coalition NH Affiliate of Action for Healthy Kids
