Friday, December 30, 2011

City of Dover News

Dover Download round-up: New City Council and School Board to be sworn into office Monday; City offices closed Monday; Sign sweep planned; and more
City Manager | Executive


City Council and School Board inauguration is Monday

The newly elected City Council and School Board will be sworn into office on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, at City Hall.

City councilors will gather at 5:30 p.m. at the City Manager's office to take the oath of office, choose a deputy mayor, and adopt a series of procedural rules.

School Board members will meet at 6 p.m. in the second floor conference room at City Hall to be sworn into office. School Board members will also choose a chairperson, vice chairperson and secretary.

Following the swearing in of the newly elected officials, an inauguration of for both bodies will be held at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at City Hall.

Don Briand will serve as master of ceremonies. The Rev. Marc Gagne of Parish of the Assumption will read an invocation and close with a benediction.

Dover Fire and Rescue will be on hand to play the bag pipes and drums. Julia Boudreau will sing the national anthem. Judge Stephen Morrison will conduct the oath of office.

A reception with light refreshments will follow the inauguration ceremony.


City offices closed on Monday

City administrative offices, including City Hall, will be closed on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, for the New Year's Day holiday.

City Hall is closed on Fridays.

Regular hours will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012.


Dover Recreation offers fitness classes

Dover Recreation is set to begin a new session of fitness classes to help kick off the New Year.

New session dates are available for Pilates, Body Sculpt, Tai Chi and Yoga as well as Zumba classes.

All classes begin in early January and are held in the fitness studio at the McConnell Center in downtown Dover.

For information on dates, times, instructors and prices, visit www.dover.nh.gov/rechome.htm or call 516-6401.


Trash pickup not delayed by holidays

Curbside trash and recycling pickup is not delayed by a day this week or next week.

Trash pickup will follow its regular schedule this week and next week, and is not affected by the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays.

For more information, contact Community Services at 516-6450.


City of Dover to remove illegal signs the week of Jan. 9, 2012

The City of Dover Department of Planning and Community Development will remove illegal and unpermitted temporary advertising signs citywide during the week of Jan. 9, 2012. The sign removal is part of a review of zoning compliances around the community. Illegal and unpermitted signs include those on utility poles, or in the right of way. This clean-up is the fourth conducted by planning staff in the past year.

The clean-up is in response to violations of City ordinance regarding the placement of signs in public rights-of-way and medians, on utility poles and attached to trees. Illegally posted advertising signs may create a safety hazard for traveling motorists and can be unsightly for residents. Such signs detract from the legitimate business signs approved under the City's established permitting process.

“I am confident that we will continue to see less signs than we have in the past,” said Christopher Parker, Director of Planning and Community Development. “I am always happy to see that the sweeps take less and less time to complete as we have more and more compliance from business and property owners. We have seen dramatic reductions in these illegal signs. I hope that this trend continues and we have only a handful of illegal signs at the end of the day.”

Parker added that the goal of the sweep is to reward those business owners that have properly placed and permitted their signs.

“We hope to remove the safety hazard, improve aesthetics and also ensure that those that follow the rules the community has established for signs are followed,” he added.

This will be the first sign sweep conducted with the City’s recently hired Zoning Administrator, Tim Corwin. Corwin joins the City staff on Jan. 3, 2012.

“This sweep is a good way for Tim to see how seriously we take zoning and code violations in Dover.” Parker explained.

Business owners who have placed these illegal signs are advised to remove them in advance of the City's clean-up effort.

All confiscated signs will be held for 30 days and then recycled or destroyed. Signs can be claimed by owners within 30 days, after paying a reclamation fee. Repeat offenders will be subject to prosecution and fines.

For more information, please contact the City of Dover Department of Planning and Community Development at 516-6008.


Reminder: Citywide winter parking ban in effect

A citywide winter parking ban is now in effect. It concludes on April 1, 2012.

During the ban, no vehicle can be parked on any city street or sidewalk between the hours 1 and 6 a.m., and is not limited to nights with snow in the forecast.

Vehicles parked in city controlled parking lots must display a winter parking permit which can be obtained free of charge, 24 hours a day, at the Police Department.

Vehicles found in violation of the winter parking ban will be issued a $15 parking ticket. Cars found interfering with snow removal may be towed.

In addition, an emergency parking ban for the downtown area will be declared when needed to facilitate snow removal.

The emergency parking ban will normally occur a day or two after a significant snow storm to allow crews to clear the sidewalks and road edges of the snow pushed from the travel lanes during the storm. The emergency parking ban will be announced by 3 p.m. each evening to take effect at 1 a.m. the following morning.

When the emergency parking ban is in effect, any car parked on a downtown street will be towed. Notification of the emergency parking ban will be conducted through local media, the City of Dover web site, cable channel 22, as well as through an e-mail or automatic phone notification system.

Restaurants, bars and other late night business are encouraged to sign up for the e-mail or automatic phone notification by contacting the Parking Bureau at parking@dover.nh.gov or by calling 516-2277.

On the nights that an emergency parking ban is declared, employees of downtown businesses may park in any city controlled lot without obtaining a winter parking permit.

Streets included in the Emergency Parking Ban area: Chestnut Street; Main Street; Chapel Street; School Street; First Street; Second Street; Washington Street from Belknap to River Street; Central Avenue from Sixth Street to Silver Street; Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Streets (Central to Chestnut); Henry Law Ave from Central Avenue to George Street; Broadway from Central Avenue to St. John Street; Hale Street; St. Thomas Street from Central to Locust; Locust Street from Hale to Washington Street.

A map is posted at dover.nh.gov/policepdf/DnTnSnowEmergencyMap.pdf.

Anyone wishing more information on either the Winter Parking Ban or the Emergency Parking ban can contact Parking Bureau at 516-2277.


Time to register your vehicle? Save time online

Did you know you can save yourself time and a trip to City Hall by registering your vehicle online?

Online vehicle registration renewal is easy, safe and secure. You can register online by providing a PIN number or your license plate number. Your PIN number is provided by the City of Dover and can be found on your renewal notice.

For more information on the E-registration process, visit our web page here.


Budget Revealed is your window to the City's budget

The City's new resource for residents, Budget Revealed, is where you will find a host of resources intended to provide detailed information about your government, including how the City's budget is created and managed. Detailed information about spending, including payments made by the City each month, purchase orders, City wages and the annual budget and related documents are all readily available. Budget Revealed will continually be updated with the most recent fiscal information. In addition, other content and multimedia are provided to help explain how local government functions.

Visit Budget Revealed at www.dover.nh.gov/budgetrevealed_home.htm.


Missed the meeting? Catch it again online

Don't forget: If you missed the live City Council, School Board or Planning Board on Channels 22 and 95, you can catch it again, online and on demand.

Simply visit the City's website at http://www.dover.nh.gov/dntv to begin watching meetings on demand. Online meetings are organized by agenda item for convenience.

City of Dover, NH
288 Central Avenue
Dover, NH 03820
PH: 603.516.6000

www.dover.nh.gov

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