GRA: Excerpts from Conservation Commission Memo

Conservation Commission Blasts Kindergarten Site
Excerpts from the Goffstown Conservation Commission Report of July 13, 2005

	"More than half of the proposed site...would lie within the wetlands conservation overlay district...passed by the voters of Goffstown, and they were not informed that the proposed school site would be a violation of that setback."
	"...State Department of Education Administrative rules...clearly state that wetlands and wetland setbacks are not buildable land."
	"The site does not follow the intended use for recreation and conservation that was clearly indicated in the Goffstown Master Plan Chapter 8 (Objective P2.2, Action Plan # 3), when the HUD funds were used to purchase the land, or when the voters previously authorized the purchase of the land. These facts were not disclosed to the voters in the presentations of Article 24 of the 2005 Town Ballot. (They) are not just reasons to overturn the historical intent of the property's use."
	"The current transfer under consideration is for 26 acres which is 30% more than the "approximately 20 acres" that was in Article 24 of the 2005 ballot."
	"Proper protocol has not been followed to allow the transfer of this land by the Board of Selectmen."..." By not following these procedures, the transfer warrant article was placed on the ballot without allowing the relevant facts to be discussed in a public forum. During the deliberative session, attempts to discuss the factual details were suppressed. Voters did not receive the proper technical information about the site, and instead were given inaccurate information such as 'there are no significant wetlands'."
	"...concerned about the location of the proposed school to nearby power lines and EMF fields."
	"The state's requirements for a school of 200 students call for a contiguous area of 7 buildable acres. The largest contiguous buildable area on the proposed site is only approximately 2.5 acres."
	"Although the applicants [the school district] currently claim that they are only looking at the site for a 10 room kindergarten, previous presentations clearly indicated that the kindergarten would be expanded to an Elementary school... Expanding to a 500 student school would require 10 contiguous buildable acres to meet the state requirement."
	"Least impacting alternative analysis is a threshold requirement for both the State of NH and Federal agencies that issue natural resource impact permits. Part of that process is to compare other potential sites. This application should compare using the nearby town-owned site at Map 5, Lot 24 [Ed note: Map 5, Lot 24 is the DPW property located adjacent to the transfer station], which the Conservation Commission considers a more appropriate location. The site does not have wetlands, nor is it constricted in contiguous acreage for either a Kindergarten or expansion to a Elementary School"
	"We conclude that construction of a school building on this site is an inappropriate use of the property, and strongly urge the Planning Board to reject the subdivision." [The Planning Board nevertheless recommended the subdivision to the Board of Selectmen]


Dedicated to Securing A Truly Perfect Location for Goffstown's Future Kindergarten & Elementary Schools