By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

On Tuesday, May 10, the voting booths at David R. Cawley Middle School held nearly twice as many voters as last year, and the people of Hooksett were largely supportive of the town's requests.

But despite a unanimous recommendation from the town council, the hotly contested Article 4 - which asked for $1.5 million to turn the former Hooksett Village School into new town offices and a community center - was narrowly rejected.

The article needed 60 percent of the vote, but came up just short with an 828-670 count.

Out of the total 1,498 votes cast on the question, 899 were necessary to reach the 60 percent approval mark.

"It looks like it's back to the drawing board," said Dawn Stanhope, co-founder of the Community Economic Development Corporation of Hooksett (CEDCOH), the nonprofit group that worked with the town to develop the Village School project.

"It would be a shame to see that building just sit there and go to waste."

Stanhope and Town Councilor Douglas St. Pierre echoed similar sentiments, expressing some concern over the electorate's decision: Stanhope wondered about the specific rationale of voters who didn't support the article, while St. Pierre urged those who voted against Article 4 to "step up" and contribute to finding a beneficial plan for the building.

Town Councilor Michael DiBitetto said the council has no immediate long-term plans for the Village School building in lieu of the article's defeat, but added that the council will likely need to act on the matter this year.

Operating budget
While town hall employees won't be getting new offices, many Hooksett employees are breathing a sigh of relief as the town's operating budget was passed by a slim 33-vote margin, 738-705. The new operating budget, independent of separate warrant articles, will be $13,479,837, more than $1 million over last year's default budget.

"It's a good thing," said Town Councilor Mike DiBitetto. "The voters were supportive of the money articles this year."

Anti-growth petition wins
Voters also approved an amendment to a zoning article aimed at controlling the rate and timing of development in Hooksett. Amendment 9 of Article 2, submitted by petition and not recommended by the planning board, was convincingly approved by a 976-516 count.

Restrictions outlined in the amendment include the limit of building permits issued in a given year to 2 percent of total dwelling units in Hooksett from the previous year. Also controlled by the amendment are the number of residential building permits issued to one party per year (five) and the number of permits designated only to landowners building their own home (25 percent).

Town officials, however, were skeptical about the ultimate success of the amendment.

Hooksett Planning Board Chairman Dick Marshall said implementing these restrictions will likely lead to court action, adding that he doubts the new rules will survive legislation.

DiBitetto was similarly concerned about the amendment's potential in the state court, saying, "One thing I don't like to see is good money supporting bad law."

Werksman in
Stuart Werksman will be Hooksett's newest town councilor at large, following the resignation of Mary Ruel. He received 358 write-in votes.

The rest of the articles
Other articles approved by voters included Articles 16 and 17, which will allow the town to enter into a lease/purchase agreement for two new fire engines. And with the approval of Article 12 (821-639) the town will enter a lease/purchase agreement for a vacuum sweeper/catch basin cleaner for the Hooksett Highway Department.

The library will receive $90,000 for an update to its heating and air conditioning system, the fire department will get two new fire trucks.

One of the few articles rejected by voters, Article 5 asked for $410,000 for construction and expansion of the sewer system on Deerhead Street, Bartlett Street and Fairview Circle.

Also failing were a request for $9,000 for aerial photography for town planning and $40,000 for starting public cable TV access.

Strong turnout
Of 8,191 registered voters, 1,498 placed votes for an 18 percent turnout. That's about triple the turnout for the Hooksett school vote in March.

Last May saw a 12 percent turnout, with 819 people voting of the 6,638 registered. More than 1,500 people registered last fall for the additional people registered to vote during the Presidential election.