By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

An $18 million business development bond is likely to attract the most attention at the upcoming deliberative session of Hooksett’s Town Meeting.

But voters this year will also see a $1.5 million request for sewer upgrades, a proposed $14.3 million operating budget, a proposal for a Hooksettonly ambulance service and a $500,000 request to turn the Village School building into town offices.

In total, 24 warrant articles will be up for discussion at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, at Cawley Middle School. Voting day is May 9.

Village School
The historic Hooksett Village School building on Main Street has been mostly vacant since students last walked out in June 2004.

Officials are now proposing using $500,000 of surplus revenue to convert about half of the building into town offices.

Last year, voters rejected a $1.5 million proposal to turn the building into half town offices and half community center.

“We’re certainly not getting too grandiose,” Town Council Chairman Michael DiBitetto said of this year’s plan, which is based on last year’s designs.

“What we did was pare out all of the things we didn’t have to do.” If voters approve the expenditure, all the employees in the current town hall would make the move to the Village School by the end of the fiscal year, said DiBitetto.

Ambulance
Both the town council and budget committee are supporting a $156,207 request to launch a Hooksett-only paramedic ambulance service to be built into the fire department.

At recent public hearings, Fire Chief Mike Williams said a town-only ambulance could give residents 24-hour service, and operational costs could be covered by revenue generated from the service. The $156,207 would include the first six months’ wages for four new paramedics.

If the proposal passes, officials plan to purchase an ambulance using impact fees.

For the past 36 years, Hooksett – along with neighbors Pembroke and Allenstown – has employed Tri-Town Ambulance.

A town council subcommittee looked into creating an in-house ambulance service several years ago, but ultimately didn’t recommend the move.

Sewer request
Members of the sewer department are pulling for a “yes” vote on Warrant Article 4, which asks for $1.5 million to upgrade Hooksett’s wastewater treatment facility.

The first leg of a three-phase plan to double the sewer capacity at the plant – from 1.1 million gallons per day to 2.2 million – is already underway at the facility and was sparked by a $3.5 million bond approved by voters in 2002.

The money would go toward purchasing and installing a new water clarifier, which the state Department of Environmental Services is now requiring, and which sewer officials hadn’t anticipated until the project’s final phase.

The $1.5 million request is recommended 5-3 by the town council. Some town councilors have suggested that such improvements should be paid for solely by residents hooked to sewer.

The sewer request is worked into the proposed $18 million TIF bond, and if that plan passes, Article 4 would be nullified.

Firefighter raise Hooksett’s firefighters, who have been without a contract for a year, are hoping for a 12 percent raise over the next three years.

The firefighter’s union and the town council agreed to a deal that would mark a salary increase of 6 percent in the first year, and 3 percent in the subsequent two years. Under the agreement, which needs voter approval, unionized firefighters would also pay more for health insurance premiums.

The contract is estimated to cost about $177,000 over the next three years.

Other articles
The proposed $14.3 million municipal operating budget, endorsed by the budget committee, includes higher anticipated fuel costs, a move of a parks and recreation department member from part-time to full-time and a the addition of a firefighter.

The proposed budget marks about a $200,000 increase over the proposed default budget.

Officials are also proposing a 4 percent raise for the town’s nonunion employees, spending $105,000 to complete the HVAC upgrades to the Hooksett Public Library, and spending $50,000 for the remaining half of the north/ south highway feasibility study.