By Joseph Edgerton
Staff Writer

January
• At a Jan. 10 meeting, selectmen vote down a request from the New Hampshire Trail Dawgs Snowmobile Club to allow only snowmobiles on Class VI roads during the winter. The roads are not maintained by the town, and have no signs forbidding snowmobile use, but residents and town officials speak out in opposition to the snowmobilers.

Jimmy Lehoux and the Lehousiana Boys played at the first Ponderosa Festival at Arthur Champagne's Pembroke property in October. (File Photo)

February
• An I-89 extension through Pembroke is killed by the House Public Works Committee on Jan. 28. The bill, which called for an an extension from Route 106 to I-89 is dismissed because it was not included on the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission 10-year plan.

March
• The school board proposes an operating budget of $19,282,375, a 6.4 percent increase from 2004. Part of the budget is to be allocated towards two programs - the $16,195 Pushing Your Limits Program, which is an orientation program for Pembroke Academy freshmen, and the Adult Education/ High School Diploma program, which is estimated to cost $12,836.

. A Pembroke School District meeting finishes in a record 45 minutes. The voters, nearly 30 in number, unanimously approve the $19,282,375 operating budget after little discussion. The tax rate, including local school and state school rates, is expected to increase by 1.6 percent.

. Voters approve the creation of a TIF (tax increment financing) district in town. The district consists of nine properties which in 2004 had an assessed value of $6,333,912, or 1.2 percent of the town's assessed value. Voters also approve raising $25,000 for maintenance and renovations to the police station in addition to agreeing on an operation budget of $6,100,806. The budget will be $5.11 of the total tax rate, and is a $10,929 decrease from the previous year.

April
. Raymond West, 58, of Pembroke, won $500,000 in the March 30 Powerball drawing.

May
. A cooperative composed of Pembroke, Allenstown and 25 other towns renews a contract with the Penacook incinerator. Pembroke pays $370,000 a year to dispose of its waste at the incinerator, which is being used as an alternative to the Canterbury landfill. The landfill was purchased in 1999 for $650,000 and has an estimated life expectancy of 23 years. Its proximity to wetlands makes obtaining permits and licenses difficult.

. After two years of planning and fundraising, more than 50 volunteers work with the Pembroke Action League for Schools for over two days to build a new playground at the Pembroke Village School. No taxpayer money was used for the project.

. Pembroke Detective Sgt. Wayne Gilman and Allenstown Lt. Shaun Mulholland discover a marijuana-growing operation in Pembroke. Police say the operation, conducted in the apartment of Jillian George and Jared Ally, had the potential to produce tens of thousands of dollars. worth of the drug.

. Travis Young, 17, a senior at Pembroke Academy, is arrested after threatening in class to shoot a teacher and students. He is banned from the building. The conditions of his $10,000 personal recognizance are to stay away from the school and surrender any guns at his home. Police remove several guns from the home as a safety precaution.

June
. Pembroke Academy graduated 216 students June 11.

July
. Pembroke, Allenstown and Bow police officers step up certifications for all-terrain vehicle patrols. Each department has two ATVs, and each has a goal of training all of their officers for ATV patrol. Pembroke's ATVs cost $6,000 apiece, and the officers riding them average two summons per patrol. The patrols started in March and typically cover 40 miles of trails.

August
. Pembroke police crack down on pot, making their third arrest since spring of people growing marijuana.

September
. A survey conducted by the Pembroke Police Department shows traffic and drugs top residents - concerns. Chief Wayne Cheney, Lt. Scott Lane and Hesser College Senior Alen Cote provided citizens with a chance to be heard. Of 435 surveys distributed around town, 98 were returned. The survey showed 23.8 percent of the respondents said drugs and traffic were their main concerns, and 57.7 percent said the fear of crime has not caused them to change their activities.

. A sewer moratorium is imposed in Pembroke and Allenstown after the Suncook Wastewater Treatment plant reaches capacity. The plant was erected in 1975, and has a design capacity of 1.052 million gallons. Until the moratorium is lifted, new development in either town, business or residential, must use a septic system.

. Pembroke resident Arthur Champagne applies for and receives a permit allowing him to have concerts on his 132- acre hay farm. Champagne plans for anywhere between 200 and 1,000 fans to attend, and invites country musicians Jimmy Lehoux and the Lehouisiana Boys as well as country singer Tracilynne.

October
. Arthur Champagne holds the first-ever Ponderosa Festival at his Pembroke farm. He sells food to more than 250 fans in attendance. Most brought their own lawn chairs and blankets for the afternoon concert. The Jimmy Lehoux Band as well as Tracilynne and American Pride play, and Champagne says the concert is a success.

. The ongoing sewer moratorium continues to be a cause for concern to residents in Pembroke and Allenstown. Because of the moratorium, new connections to the sewer system are virtually impossible. A Manchester-based septic company estimates the cost of a private septic system to be be nearly $11,500. Allenstown conservation commission member Laura Bonk says the moratorium won't stop development; it will instead encourage sprawl.

. The Suncook double-decker bridge is offered for sale to the highest bidder. The catch? The purchaser must remove the bridge in sections and reinstall it in a different location in a manner that will reflect its historical value. The bridge, which was constructed in 1931 to provide a path for Routes 3 and 28, is to be replaced by a $13.6 million dollar span that will take two years to complete.

. Pembroke selectmen discover that the town is charging commercial trash haulers just $41 per ton, whereas neighboring towns charge as much as $54.50 per ton. As part of a cooperative with the Penacook incinerator, Pembroke pays a flat rate of $38.65 per ton of trash to the incinerator. Town officials are concerned the low rate may tempt commercial haulers to charge more than the fair share of comingled trash between Pembroke and other communities to Pembroke.

November
. After 74 years of service to Pembroke and Allenstown, the Suncook bridge is to be sold for scrap. Because there were no offers to buy the bridge from the public by the Oct. 20 deadline, the metal truss, two-level bridge is to be torn down. Anyone purchasing the bridge would have to pay $330,000 for removal, and an additional $147,000 to remove the smaller connecting supports.

. Pembroke's tax rate is set at $23.63 per $1,000 of property value. The tax rate increases by 57 cents, or 2.5 percent from the 2004 rate. The town rate, local school rate and county rate are all raised, while the state school rate stays the same.

. Elmer J. "Al" Rule, Jr., 50, of Bow, is murdered in his driveway by neighbor Joseph E. Grigas, 22. Grigas shoots rule in the head three times before turning the gun on himself. Grigas died from a head wound. Rule was a police dispatcher and former soccer coach at Pembroke Academy. Grigas was a corpsman in the Navy and worked for a family truck repair business in Bow.

. Pembroke selectmen vote to increase the tipping fees charged to commercial haulers by 10 percent, in an effort to remain competitive with other communities in the trash cooperative. The new commercial hauler's rate is set at $42.94 per ton, up from the previous $41 per ton. The average amount charged to commercial haulers by other towns in the cooperative is $43.23.

December
. Two apparent instances of child stalking in six days trigger a joint investigation between the Pembroke and Allenstown police departments and other law enforcement agencies. On Dec. 1 a 10-year-old boy tells police that a man in his late teens to early 20s followed him at a distance in a red Ford Taurus sedan.

. Neither Pembroke nor Allenstown town officials have prepared a warrant article calling for a new wastewater treatment facility. The cost of the new facility is estimated at $7,760,000, but a construction timeline has yet to be determined. The engineering stage may be complete by 2006.