Were You There?

Saturday, December 10th, saw the launch of the gundalow Piscataqua in Portsmouth. This was an historic event, and I was happy to participate. For those readers, who aren't aware, I am on the Board of Director's for the Gundalow Company. The company has a mission of preserving and enhancing the maritime history and environment of the Piscataqua region.

The Piscataqua (gundalow, not river or region), was born out the hard work of many people. I joined the Board in 2009, and remember the first meeting I attended was spent looking at a the drawings and blueprints for the new boat, which at the time was still a desire, and not a reality. The Board had been working on this dream for some time already, and looking back it is impressive to see the Piscataqua in the Piscataqua.

Countless hours have been put into the creation and fundraising of and for this vessel. It is amazing to have been a small part of it, and there are many people who are due a great deal of thanks for their efforts and resources. 

I have enjoyed being on the Board, as it really allows myself the opportunity to interact in different ways with different people in the Seacoast. It also allows me to be a part of the launch of something that hasn't been launched since the 1980s, and really hasn't been common since the 1880s. I am taking some liberties here, but really, two centuries ago gundalows were common transportation features, today only two working ones exists, and they are located down the road here in New Hampshire.

In the industrial revolution gundalows were common. They were riding up and down the Cochoecho, the Piscataqua and most other rivers in the new world. These vessels are flat bottomed and convey goods from port to port and offered a similar function to the tractor trailer trucks might today. The transportation of these goods has evolved, or in some cases devolved.

One reason I love being on the Board is the sense that we are educating people to this alternative mode of transit. Anyone that has read this blog will know that I am a supporter of the idea that we are ruining out of oil, and I believe we need to reawaken ourselves to the reality of other modes of transit. Modes other than automobiles. I think, beyond the awareness we are building about the fragility of the Piscarqua River's ecosystem, we are also going to be building awareness of the value of wind powered transit.

Overall for me the best part of Saturday's launch was not the pleasure of riding the Piscataqua on her first tour, nor was it the thrill of being with 1,000 people celebrating the launch. The best part was sharing it with my 13 year old son. He fussed about going, and he flittered about the cold when we got to Pierce Island. That said, when we saw the Piscataqua sitting in its cradle and poised for launch he started to change When we were able to join the crew and other board members onboard he really got excited.

It is great to see a child get excited about a wooden boat. A vessel that is built for education and not for excitement or thrill riding. That was pretty cool. I can't wait to see school kids riding, and learning aboard the Piscataqua . It will be a very good addition to the region.

When you get a chance to visit the Piscataqua at Prescott Park, enjoy her majesty and celebrate her mission.

Imprints

I have said, before, that I started out as an intern with the City. Since then I morphed into other roles, as a paid employee. Over the years I have seen my fair share of interns come and go. I always compare them to my perception of how I did (perfect, of course).

This week is the last week (hopefully for now), of employment with the City for our Sustainability Coordinator, Michele Alexander. Michele is a bright, enthusiastic, smart person who honestly wants to serve the public interest. Michele is leaving because the funding for her position runs out on June 30th. We haven't been able to secure funding through grants, and the general fund could not sustain the position when comparing it with others that we have within the municipal corporation.

Michele started out as an intern. She came to me while finishing her Master's in Public Administration at UNH. One thing early on that stood out with Michele was her intelligence and maturity. She is older than many of our past interns, so comparing maturity is not fair, but really is life? Michele brought the ability to reason, and to question with logic. She has been willing to pitch in and grow in the organization and truly has accomplished both.

Michele's first task was to work with staff to document tasks we have and how we complete them. I am a systems thinker and I like the idea of developing standard operating procedures. Michele took that bull and ran with it. She interviewed the employees and sat down and came up with bullet point based project/task steps. These will continue to be useful in the future as they help define what is expected when we process a development application or draft a letter.

The next project Michele worked on was to develop a work plan template. This project encouraged the department to think about projects before they get beyond the proposal stage. In other words, with the work plan template, when a project gets suggested, we can use the model and fill in questions regarding funding needs, and availability, also we can look for connections to the Master Plan and decide what key resources are required. In the end myself and others can then review the project request and decide if we have the time and other resources to complete the project in the best manner possible.

Finally, as an intern, Michele worked to rehab the Community Trail. She saw the need to champion that project and pulled various resources together last summer to develop the work plan for the trail and then gather outside resources to conduct clean up events, organize the grand opening and perform other tasks that helped move that project on.

So, that's that. Her intern career in a nutshell. From September to November Michele hung around as a volunteer. In November, I found some money to fund a sustainability coordinator position and she jumped at the chance to hang around more, much to our luck.

As an intern and as an employee she has stood out. She will go further than the rest of us, if she wants to. I have said a few times to her, that I expect one day to open up a planning journal or magazine and read about something she is doing or perfecting. I can't wait for that time.

I can fill the rest of this blog entry with useless skills and meandering that interns have brought to us, or I could talk about how I had to fire one once (it is a good story, so I'll save it for another blog entry). Instead I'll leave you with this: at the start I said that I have judged interns by my perception if how I did. No longer, now I can judge them by Michele's imprint.

That is pretty cool.

Cleaning Up with Pride

How did you spend your weekend? Maybe some mulching, maybe some planting of flowers, maybe some raking? Did you do this at your house, or in downtown Dover? If both you are dedicated.

I spent Saturday morning leading a great group of volunteers outside of City Hall pruning, mulching and raking. There were probably 15 of so people at the height of involvement and the volunteers did a great job. Drive by the Central Ave side and check out their work. All involved should be proud.

Clean up day, or its proper title "Dover Pride Clean Up Day" is probably my favorite community day here in Dover. It is great to see so many people from all sections, sectors, and walks coming together for the common goal of sprucing up our downtown. As in years past this was a family affair, not just my family - my sweet wife lead a group of volunteers on the brick walk way from Washington Street to Orchard Street - but it seemed that almost everywhere you looked there was a family working side by side.

We (all volunteers) did a lot of work. The City looks great. Check out Henry Law Park, where plantings/trees were trimmed, flowers planted, and mulch freshened. Continue onto River Street, where the view was opened up tremendously and you can see the beautiful river that much clearer. Walk the Community Trail or Joe Parks Riverwalk and see the wonder of nature in the heart of downtown, and swing through the Transportation Center or Library, where visitors will now be met with spruced up plants and trees. All of it looks tremendous (If I missed your area, I apologize - truly).

I challenge us all to appreciate what has been completed here, and dig in and help next year. Better yet don't wait until next year. Take pride in your neighborhood and get together with your friends and families and pick a Saturday, clean up your neighborhood park or other amenity and then have a barbecue and get to know everyone you might pass by daily that much better. It doesn't have to be a 4 hour commitment, just get in and get it done.

You can take pride in your community every day and grow and become more connected to it, by just reaching out, even a little. Take a walk, and don't ignore that piece of trash or debris, pick it up. Let your kids - or dog - play at the park, and look for litter. Smile and be part of the community.

Taking ownership in the place you live is an important lesson that everyone can learn. We try to teach our children to be aware and educated about life, do we do the same about community? Hopefully. The more people are involved and the more people are aware of the community around them, the better that community will and can be.

Master Plans

The City of Dover, as with most communities in New Hampshire, is required under state law, to routinely develop and evaluate a comprehensive or master plan for itself.

A Master Plan is a set of statements about land use and development principles for the municipality with accompanying maps, diagrams, charts and descriptions to give
legal standing to the implementation of ordinance and other measures of the
Planning Board.

The plan should lay out a physical plan which takes into account social and economic
values describing how, why, when and where the community should build, rebuild and preserve.

With this blog entry I hope to go over the various chapters and the process involved with reviewing and implementing the Master Plan. You can review Dover's Master Plan online.

Process
There are eight smaller steps that make up four major components of Master Plan development The first segment in preparing a plan is to determine the vision for the Community. We have accomplished this in the past through telephone and hand surveys, speak out sessions and focus groups.

The second component is to outline and evaluate different outcomes, whether they be land uses or infrastructure options. From there, you select a preferred alternative, and recommend that alternative within the MP.

The third component is the implementation of the plan. This can be changing regulations and guides, or performing infrastructure (capital) improvements.

The fourth step is the monitoring step. You need to evaluate the implementation and how it has impacted a community. This component flows back into the community visioning component as you move through the cycle.

The Chapters:

Land Use Analysis – 2007

The place we know as the City of Dover will become a different place in the course of our lifetimes. In some small way, it may even be different tomorrow. By evaluating the past and making recommendations toward the future, we can ensure that the community develops and grows in a managed and meaningful way. This plan is a statement of what the Dover community hopes to be, and how it might get there.

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Recreation – 2009

Recreation is an integral component of a healthy, sustainable community and should receive commensurate investment. In Dover, it is believed that Recreation issues are complex and require high attention, wise decisions, sensible implementation, and collaboration among different city departments. The goals established in this document here are similar to those in the past (2000). The mission of Recreation in Dover may not change much with each Master Plan update, but the ways in which Dover accomplishes those goals may.

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Natural and Historical Resources - 2000

Dover’s natural resources are a critical consideration in establishing a proper approach for land management. Understanding natural resource values provides a rational basis for determining which areas of the City are more appropriate for protection and open space and which areas are more suitable for development. Natural resources such as slope, soils, and vegetation, wildlife, and water resources add to Dover’s character, provide recreational opportunities and contribute to the quality of life for Dover residents. These natural resources also provide both opportunities and constraints for growth. Steep slopes and wetlands, for example, are less suitable for development, while better drained, flatter areas are more suitable. On the other hand, these well-drained areas may be associated with groundwater areas that require protection. Thus, the natural resource base of Dover provides an important factor as the basis for local land use decisions. The following is a description and analysis of Dover’s natural resource base.

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Community Facilities and Utilities - 2009

The City of Dover and its employees are recognized as providing a high level of effective services. The Dover government is a large, complex organization delivering a wide and diverse range of services to the residents and businesses of the City. City business is conducted by the City Council managing about half of the budget and the School Board managing the rest with only bottom line funding approval by the Council. By definition it is a bureaucracy and, like most other bureaucracies, our City government and its activities has evolved over time to meet the new demands placed on it by growth. Sometimes that growth has been slow and steady and sometimes it has been very rapid such as we are currently facing as we enter the new millennium. In either case, attention has sometimes been focused on meeting the new needs rather than finding ways to deliver existing services in the most efficient way. The City and School budgets have been developed separately without first setting limits for combined growth and identifying areas of mutual need and possible joint efforts to hold costs down. This has resulted in adding new people, facilities, equipment, and activities at ever-increasing costs. Efforts at last minute budget cutting to hold cost down have sometimes been misdirected to things such as deferring necessary maintenance or new programs, which eventually resulted in higher costs. Dover needs to change that approach to managing its business.

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Open Space - 2000

Dover has a long history of placing a priority on environmental protection and management. Open Space and Recreation Plans were developed in 1973, 1978, 1988 and the 1988 City-wide Master Plan contained a detailed chapter on the open space and recreation needs of Dover. This chapter serves as an update to the 1988 Master Plan and integrates the information and recommendations contained in previous plans with the most recent needs that have been identified in Dover.

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Transportation - 2000

This chapter of the City of Dover Master Plan is intended to set policies and goals while providing a comprehensive vision for transportation. Dover will invest in, maintain and properly manage or regulate a coordinated, safe, efficient, and effective transportation system that promotes the long-term goals of its citizens and businesses expressed in this Master Plan. The City acknowledges this system to consist of public and private infrastructure such as roads, bridges, sidewalks, parking facilities, trails and transit centers as well as services such as transit, taxis, and traveler information resources. This system will enhance the quality of life for residents and the quality of experience for visitors and tourists while preserving the character and strategic advantages of the City for current and future generations.

Conclusion

Phew. As you can read, there is a lot involved with the Master Plan. We are constantly reviewing this living and dynamic document as we make budget and policy decisions. My hope is that you will see us update the Open Space and Natural Resources chapter over the coming months. If you are interested in assisting, please let me know.