Correction: Voting day hours

A number of sharp-eyed Orangeites pointed out that the times were reversed in the earlier post about voting.

Voting day, March 9, has the usual schedule: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Want to Be Contacted for Eventual Broadband?

Alasdair Dunlap-Smith, who serves on Orange’s ad hoc broadband committee, sent a couple links to the New Hampshire Electric Co-op’s site. This one lets you sign up to be contacted when NHEC starts offering broadband to our town.

According to the NHEC site, the current prices in the co-op’s pilot project area are $89.95 for one gigabyte per section, upload and download speeds; and $49.95 for 25 megabytes per second, upload and download. (Those prices are monthly, presumably.)

The slower, cheaper plan’s download speed is comparable to the speed I’m getting with DSL on Cardigan Mountain Road. NHEC’s upload speed would be much faster. Ours is just 1 mbps with DSL, 25 times slower.

—Jay

Town Meeting Will Be Held at the High School

Our great Selectboard Secretary sent these notes along with the minutes of the board’s joint meeting with the Budget Committee. (As always, you can view meeting minutes in this site’s Documents section.

Article One on the warrant is the election of officers. Voting for officers will be done at the Orange Town House on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, 11a.m. to 7p.m., with the same COVID-19 procedures as the 2020 voting days.

“Traditional Town Meeting,” the following day, Wednesday the 10th at 7 p.m., is the gathering of townspeople to deliberate and vote on the rest of the warrant articles. This cannot be done at the Orange Town House—its size simply will not accommodate the safety requirements that are necessary during this time. Town meeting on the 10th will be held at the Mascoma Valley Regional High School auditorium. By statute, if a town meeting is held out of town, the town must provide transportation, for those who request it, from the traditional place of voting [Orange Town House] to and from the place of voting [high school]. We are presently looking into options. When you receive your town report by mail in February, all plans will be in place and they will be included with your report.

Hopefully next year I will be emailing you instead with the plans for our customary pot luck community supper that has always preceded town meeting. Until then, we shall remain resilient, hopeful, and vigilant!

Every five years, the town votes to have the Moderator appoint an ad hoc salary study committee. The committee consists of five Orange residents, two of whom may be officers or employees of the town (excluding members of the Select Board, Tax Collector, Treasurer, Town Clerk, and Select Board Secretary), to study the salaries of the Town officers and employees and report their findings and recommendations in the next annual Town Report, including a warrant article that they deem appropriate. Moderator Dan Hazelton asks that you contact him if you have an interest in being on the committee. Dan can be emailed at dmhazelton@hotmail.com.

 Another ad hoc committee this year will be the updating of the Orange Hazard Mitigation Plan; it is funded by a matching grant, but, as in  the past, the “in kind” volunteer hours that townspeople and officers put in have always paid our half—which results in no town money needing to be raised to pay for the update. Please consider volunteering. Contact the Select Board for more information. From what I understand at this time, the meetings will be held at the Town House with the option to participate with Zoom. Details to follow.

Town Office Open for the 2021 Election

Sandi sent us this list of open offices and their terms. The filing period starts tomorrow, January 20, and continues through 5pm Friday, January 29. Candidates must file a Declaration of Candidacy with the Town Clerk, Michelle Goffreda, to get their names on the ballot. She holds regular office hours on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30. In addition, she’ll be at the Town House on Friday, January 29, from 3 to 5.

Voting takes place on March 9, with Town Meeting the next day. As always, you can find dates on the calendar.

Select Board 3 years

Town Clerk 1 year

Treasurer 1 year

Tax Collector 1 year

Deeding Agent 1 year

Road Agent 1 year

Budget Committee 3 year

Cemetery Trustee 3 years

Trustees of the Trust Funds 3 years

TWO Planning Board Members 3 years each term


High-Speed Internet Is Coming Soon!

The NH Electric Coop plans to bring blazing-fast internet to Orange. This is a very big deal, allowing our town to remain rural and beautiful in the years to come, while increasing residents’ ability to earn a living by telecommuting. Not to mention downloading a movie in seconds!

Alasdair Dunlap-Smith, who serves on Orange’s ad hoc committee on the internet, explains the news. (I inserted a couple of notes in italics.) -Jay


The New Hampshire Electric Co-op (NHEC) has formed a new subsidiary to deliver high-speed fiber-optic internet service to towns like ours. NHEC already delivers electricity to a majority of Orange residents. This new internet service will be available not only to those customers but to most, or all, of the rest of us as well. 

NHEC expects to offer download and upload speeds up to one gigabit per second. (That’s a download speed about 40 times faster than what most of us are getting.)

NHEC has already completed gigabit fiber-optic internet service to four towns in New Hampshire with CARES Act funding. The cooperative will not ask the Town of Orange to contribute funds; nor will our electricity bills be increased to pay for the project.

While the buildout of internet service to all NHEC towns could take several years to complete, priority will go to towns such as Orange that are included in the federal grant. NHEC expects to have a public schedule available in the coming months. For updates, check the NHEC website. (We’ll post the news on the town website as soon as we get it. If you’re a subscriber to this site, you’ll be getting an email.)

Absentee Ballots Processing

TOWN OF ORANGE, N.H.  PUBLIC NOTICE

PARTIAL PROCESSING OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS

N.H ELECTION LAWS  2020, CHAPTER 14

Partial processing of absentee ballots will take place at the Orange Town House on Thursday, October 29, beginning at 7:00 p.m. until completed.

The Town Moderator, Clerk, and Supervisors of the checklist will be present.

Daniel Hazelton, Moderator

Michelle Goffreda, Town Clerk

Voting in Orange

A Canaan resident reported on Saturday that a man driving a New York registered car came to the door of her home and claimed that the names of her family had been removed from the checklist; they could not vote this year, the man reportedly said.

If that happens to you, please report it immediately to the Orange Town Clerk. Only the Supervisors of the Checklist can remove a voter’s name.

Speaking of which, you have until Monday to ask for any changes to the Checklist. Here’s the official notice:

The Supervisors of the Checklist will be in session Monday, October 26, 2020, 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM at the Town House. No additions or corrections to the checklist shall be made after this session until election day on November 3rd.

If you already voted by absentee ballot—or plan to in the next few days—you can track it through this official New Hampshire website. If you haven’t requested an absentee ballot yet, you’d better hurry. (You’ll find the absentee ballot request form here.) While the state will accept requests until Monday, November 2, you obviously won’t get your ballot in time to vote. Once you do receive your ballot, you can put it in the mail and hope it gets in by 5:00 p.m. November 2. A safer bet: take it to the Town House during Town Clerk hours. (See the calendar.)

Vote YES on the NHEC ballot

If you get your electricity from the New Hampshire Electric Co-op, check your mailbox for a member ballot. It asks you to vote on a bylaw amendment that will allow the co-op to provide affordable high-speech internet access to towns such as Orange.

Several internet-savvy folk in our down have formed an ad-hoc committee on internet infrastructure. The committee recommends voting YES on the amendment. The Orange Selectboard also unanimously decided to vote YES on the ballot the Town received.

Primary Election Results

You’ll find them here. Amy Tirpaeck notes that the 2 Republican write-in votes for Sheriff were sent to the State as a part of Orange’s results. While they’re not included in the sheet, those two votes definitely were counted and reported.

Thanks to all the volunteers and officials who made this election come off without a hitch.

Dan Hazelton's note for Orange absentee voters

Dan, who’s Orange’s town moderator, notes that you have the option of turning in your absentee ballot on Election Day. Just make sure you drop it off by 5 pm. “Otherwise,” he says, “the voter will need to come in and vote in person.”

Absentee Ballot? Confused Voter? New Voter? Here's What You Need.

Thinking of voting absentee by mail? The U.S. Postal Service has warned New Hampshire (among 46 other states) that the state’s recommendation to mail ballots 7 days in advance may not be early enough to make it to the Town Clerk. Mail in that ballot at least 15 days in advance, says USPS. For the general election on November 2, that means getting your ballot in the mail by October 19.

Which also means acting early to request a ballot. You find the request form on the Forms page of this site, Orangenh.US.

After filling out your form, you can skip the mail and drop the ballot off on Election Day. Town Moderator Dan Hazelton recommends absentee ballots—that way you won’t even have to go inside—and Town officials are working to make the process as safe and easy as possible.

Confused about state voting regulations? Here’s a one-pager.

Finally, the Supervisors of the Checklist will be in session at the Town House to register new voters from 6:00 to 6:30pm on Monday, August 31, 2020. This is the last date/time to register to vote prior to the New Hampshire State primary election on Tuesday, September 8. No change of party affiliation can be accepted at this meeting.

How to Vote Absentee in the Coming Elections

The New Hampshire primary falls on Tuesday, September 8, followed by the general election on Tuesday, November 3.

If you haven’t yet registered to vote in New Hampshire, you can do it with the Town Clerk between August 6 and September 2. (Check the calendar for Town Clerk hours.) Don’t want to register in person? You can ask Michelle to send you a form.

To vote remotely, download this form and drop it off or mail it to the Town Clerk. The state legislature just eased up on the rules for voting absentee; concern about the coronavirus is now a valid excuse. After you turn in your request, you’ll get your ballot in the mail. Then follow these instructions carefully.

If you plan to vote in person, we’ll update you on the Orange voting procedures through this site. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, Trish Weekes took this photo of a luna moth requesting an absentee ballot at the Town House.

Photo by Trish Weekes, Orange, New Hampshire

Photo by Trish Weekes, Orange, New Hampshire

Do You Live on Tug or New Colony? Let Scott Reach You.

From Road Agent Scott Sanborn:

The permanent road and embankment repairs stemming from last summers flooding (hard to believe it's almost been a year!) will soon be getting underway. For the most part, roads will remain passable, if one lane at times. However, on New Colony Road and Tug Mountain Roads there are more likely to be delays and/or short periods of complete closure. We will, of course, do everything possible to minimize these, and to avoid them during commuting hours.

In the interest of keeping everybody on these roads "in the loop", I would like to set up an email address list for each. I ask that all residents on Tug or New Colony, or other parties that use those roads on a regular basis kindly send me an email at scsanborn@myfairpoint.net with your name(s), and which of those two roads you wish to be on the list for (or both). We will do our best to let you know ahead of time via email when delays may be expected. We will also post information here on orangenh.us.

Thank you for your anticipated understanding.

The Warrant Articles Passed Unanimously

All, that is, except for Article 1, which got a single no vote. Sixty-three Orangeites voted—a remarkably large turnout. All 63 voted yes on Article 2, and the vote on Article 3 was unanimous as well. That means the Town can now pay to fix our roads from last July’s flood.

Below are the articles, which also served as the ballot. Click here for Scott Sanborn’s list of road repairs.

 i.     The first question will be “Do you approve of the optional special town meeting procedures?  YES or NO”

 

                                             ii.     The second question will be Article 1 from the Warrant:  “To see if the town will vote (1) to raise and appropriate $1,187,000 for the purpose of restoring, repairing, and improving roads which suffered significant damages during the flash flood of July 2019, (2) to authorize the issuance of not more than $1,187,000 of bonds or notes in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Finance Act (RSA 33) and to authorize town officials to issue and negotiate such bonds or notes and to determine the rate of interest thereon, and (3) to authorize town officials to apply for, accept and expend FEMA grant monies of up to $890,250 in partial reimbursement of the Town’s aforesaid road restoration, repair and improvement expenses.
2/3 ballot vote required.  Recommended by the Select Board 3-0.  Recommended by the Budget Committee 3-0.
YES or NO”

 

                                           iii.     The third question will be Article 2 from the Warrant:  “To see if the town will vote to appoint the Board of Selectmen under RSA 35:15, I as agents to withdraw and spend funds from the Road Improvement and Repair Capital Reserve Fund, only to carry out the purpose for which the fund was established.  Said fund was established at the 2020 town meeting for the purpose of improving roads and making repairs to damages caused by catastrophic weather events.
Majority vote required. Recommended by the Select Board 3-0.  Recommended by the Budget Committee 3-0.
YES or NO”

Final Zoom Meeting on the Warrant Articles: Tuesday at 6

 At 6:00pm Tuesday, May 26, the Select Board will host the second live Zoom meeting to report on, consider and address comments received from the public. The Board will then discuss and possibly amend the meeting procedures or warrant articles in response to public input. If the warrant articles get amended, the Board will announce their final form at the end of the meeting, and I’ll post them on Wednesday.

To access the Zoom meeting on May 26, go to https://zoom.us/j/96636096258, or dial 929-43-2866. Meeting ID: 966 3609 6258

And don’t forget to vote on Wednesday, May 27. Voting begins outside the Town House at 6:00pm; in order to vote, you need to be registered in the Town of Orange and show up before 7:00pm. You’ll be able to vote from your car, though voters on foot will also be welcome. To protect our Town officials and volunteers, please wear a mask.

For details on the warrant articles and Wednesday’s vote, see this earlier post.

Jay

Here's the Full List of Needed Road Flood Repairs

Road Agent Scott Sanborn submitted this report after last night’s Zoom meeting on the proposed bond issue. FEMA is to reimburse three-quarters of the estimated $1,187,000 cost—provided the warrant articles pass with a two-thirds vote on May 27. The vote will take place outside the Town House from 6pm to 7pm. If your car is still in line after 7, don’t worry—Town Moderator Dan Hazelton assures us that registered voters showing up by 7 will still get to vote. For details on the voting (and on the Zoom meeting on the 26th), see this post.

And here’s the post that explains what the warrant articles are all about.

Summary of Flood Repair Work_052020_Page_1.jpg
Summary of Flood Repair Work_052020_Page_2.jpg