New City Hall hours begin July 11
Beginning Monday, July 11, City Hall will be open four days a week, Monday through Thursday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. City Hall will be closed on Fridays.
The new hours of operation reflect the passage of the annual budget, approved by the City Council June 1, 2011, and are expected to save the City about $12,000.
The unions that represent City Hall employees agreed to the change, which shifts the work week for those employees from five to four days, Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information, call 516-6000.
City seeks volunteers for Open Lands Committee
The City of Dover is seeking Dover residents interested in volunteering to serve on the Open Lands Committee. The Open Lands Committee is comprised of resident volunteers and is tasked with identifying and preserving open land. These undeveloped properties contain special natural resources such as forests, critical wildlife habitats, drinking water supplies, farms, and scenic areas.
The Open Lands Committee members work closely with staff from the Planning Department to reach out to local landowners to share information about the benefits of land preservation. Among the many benefits of conserving open lands is preserving community character, helping to keep water clean, saving places for wildlife, and avoiding additional municipal expenditures required by new development. In addition to preserving land, the OLC also monitors the protected parcels to make sure that the land is being properly conserved.
The Open Lands Committee has enjoyed considerable success since established by the City Council in 2000 as a subcommittee of the Conservation Commission. More than 700 acres have been preserved through the efforts of the Open Lands Committee, in partnership with local, state and federal land preservation groups.
If you support the idea of conserving special places in Dover and have the time and energy to provide, please consider volunteering to serve on the Open Lands Committee.
Please contact City Planner Steve Bird at 603-516-6008 or s.bird@dover.nh.gov if interested in serving on the Open Lands Committee.
The Planning Department has a Facebook fan page in which residents can learn more about projects and applications. Additionally, the Department has a twitter feed @DoverNHPlanning.
Dover recognized for Commute Green participation
City of Dover residents, employees, and volunteers were recognized recently for joining other communities across the state to reduce vehicle miles traveled during the 2011 Commute Green New Hampshire Challenge.
The City registered a team in the event and encouraged residents and staff to use commuting options, such as walking, biking, carpooling, telecommuting and using public transportation. The Commute Green New Hampshire challenged employers, municipalities and schools to reduce 50,000 vehicle miles traveled from May 16-20 as part of the statewide challenge. Participants exceeded that goal, logging 64,731 miles.
The Dover team from the University of New Hampshire’s Gregg Hall was recognized as the school with the highest percentage of students participating. Dover resident John Pelletier was recognized as the individual who traveled the most miles by transit, 340 miles. Pelletier, also an avid cyclist, volunteered to assist to plan the event locally. Woodman Park School participated in the event as part of the Safe Routes to School program, with staff volunteers leading walking school buses, pledge forms and prizes.
“The Dover Department of Planning worked locally to plan this event in conjunction with communities across the Seacoast who hosted the challenge and breakfast events, in an effort led by the Strafford Regional Planning Commission, Rockingham Planning Commission, UNH, SABR and COAST,” said Michele Alexander, Dover Sustainability Coordinator, and event staff liaison.
Local sponsors came out in full force in support of the event. The annual Commute Green week traditionally culminates in a free breakfast event for commuters as a tie-in to the National Bike-to-Work Day. Holy Rosary Credit Union and New Hampshire Coffee Roasting Co. sponsored breakfast at the Chestnut Street Dover Downtown Transportation Center, C&J sponsored coffee and doughnuts for commuters at the Exit 9 Park-N-Ride, and Adelle’s Coffeehouse next to City Hall in downtown Dover offered any customer arriving on a bike a free small coffee during morning event.
Residents looking for more information can visit the Resident Resource page on Sustainable Dover web, with links to the state How to Commute Green website, and links to information on area transit and bike routes.
For more information visit http://www.dover.nh.gov/sustainability.htm or contact the City of Dover Department of Planning and Community Development at 516-6008.
Web page features sustainability resources for residents
The City of Dover has created an online resource of sustainability information for residents as part of the Sustainable Dover initiative. Residents interested in helping the environment, as well as making home efficiency improvements, can find a host of resources on the sustainability page.
“Our goal was to create a place for residents to find local and relevant sustainability information,” said Michele Alexander, Sustainability Coordinator for Dover. “After extensive research we culled the most user-friendly and comprehensive information sources together on one web page. The page offers links to information on energy efficiency, fossil fuel use reduction, local food, public transit and other green travel options including bike route information, the city recycling program, residential composting, zero waste, permaculture, and sustainable landscaping.”
Additional links on the site provide access to ongoing workshops through the Dover Public Library and the Greater Seacoast Permaculture Group, which hosts events on solar power, designing and building rain barrels, and other residential-related sustainability topics. The Children’s Museum is also included in the list as a resource for children.
The Energy Advisory Committee, the public advisory group overseeing the City sustainability planning efforts, assisted in this effort. More information on the Sustainable Dover initiative can be found on the City of Dover website, and the Sustainable Dover Facebook page.
“Residents seeking to lower their energy-related expenses or to become more environmentally-friendly in their everyday living can visit this webpage to access information tailored to their local area,” said Alexander.
For more information please contact the City of Dover Department of Planning and Community Development at 516-6008 or email m.alexander@dover.nh.gov.
Summer reading programs for children and teens begin July 5 at the Dover Public Library
“One World, Many Stories” is the theme for this year’s Children’s Summer Reading Program. This five-week reading adventure is for children ages 5-12 and will begin on Tuesday, July 5 and continue through Tuesday, Aug. 9. The program is designed to encourage children to make reading an enjoyable part of their summer activities.
Sign-ups begin on Tuesday, July 5, and continue throughout the program for Dover Public Library cardholders (including non-resident borrowers). Children must come to the library in person to register and to receive their personal booklet or reading log and special pencil for recording books/minutes read, and a voucher for a free ticket to a Portland Seadogs baseball game! Children will then return with their booklets or reading logs (after recording books/minutes read) to earn stickers and prizes.
Besides reading, many exciting things will be happening during the five weeks of the program.
•Lindsay and her Puppet Pals will be at the library on Thursday, July 7, at 10:30 a.m. to help “kick-off” our summer program with adapted folk tales from around the world.
•“Drop-in” story times will be conducted every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
•A “Make-it, Take-it” craft table will be here all day, every day with all the supplies needed to make crafts to take home.
The following special classes will be held for learning how to play games or make cultural crafts from other countries (registration required):
•Learn to play Mancala (Africa) on Tuesday, July 19 at 2 p.m.;
•Learn to play Bocce (Italy) on Tuesday August 2 at 2 p.m.;
Create a “God’s Eye” (Mexico) and a “Mayan Weaving” on Thursday, July 28 at 2 p.m.
Children are invited to explore “One World, Many Tails” during the program! They may sign up for a “Paws for Reading” session. Goldie, a Certified Therapy Dog, and her handler, Karen, will be in the Children’s Room on Saturday, July 9, from 10:30-11:30 a.m., Tuesday, July 19, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 6 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Goldie loves a good story but needs someone to read it to her. If interested in helping Goldie and practicing reading aloud, sign up for a 15-minute reading session during one of these times (and don’t forget to cross off 15 minutes on your reading log or record the book you’ve read to Goldie in your reading folder.)
Also, all are welcome to join us in the Lecture Hall to meet Jane and her dog Sasha from the Cocheco Valley Humane Society. They will visit the library to talk about pets and pet care on Thursday, July 14, at 10:30 a.m. Pets as “purr-fect friends” and choosing the pet that’s right for you will be discussed. Come and discover the valuable work being done at CVHS and how this work serves the animals in our community.
In addition to the above programs, the library’s Monday Movie Madness will feature free movies in the Lecture Hall every Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. beginning on July 11. Everyone is welcome. Feel free to bring your own refreshments.
Here is the line-up:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, July 11, rated PG;
Gnomeo & Juliet, July 18, rated G;
Rango, July 25, rated PG;
Despicable Me, Aug. 1, rated PG;
Yogi Bear, Aug. 8, rated PG.
A party for all participants and their families will be held on the library lawn on Wednesday, Aug. 10, at 10:30 a.m. After refreshments, Sammie Haynes will entertain us with her interactive musical show. Sammie is an award-winning children’s musician whose performances have enchanted national audiences for the past 15 years.
The Teen Summer Reading Program theme is “You Are Here” and also runs from July 5 to August 9. For every two hours of reading completed, participants will be given a raffle ticket—and will get to choose which prize to put in for. Lots of great prizes will be offered throughout the five-week program—including gift certificates to local business, fun-pack gift bags, and much more. The first 20 kids to sign-up get a free book.
You choose what to read — novels, magazines, graphic novels, comic books, nonfiction — whatever you might enjoy.
Middle school readers are eligible participate in both the Children’s Program and the Teen Program. Drop by the library’s reference desk to sign up for the “You Are Here” Teen Program, visit online at http://library.dover.nh.gov, or call 516-6082. Come in person to the Children’s Room to sign up for “One World, Many Stories” or call 516-6052. Don’t miss all the fun! Plus, it’s a proven fact: kids who keep reading over the summer do better in school in the fall.
COAST expands bus services for the summer
As gas prices remain high and warm weather brings increased traffic on Friday nights, the Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation (COAST) is launching expanded summer bus service on its two most popular routes. The expanded schedules, first launched successfully last summer, provide increased flexibility for people seeking an alternative to the expense of driving their cars through summer traffic.
As many people continue to look for travel alternatives, improved frequency of bus service on Friday and Saturday evenings can meet that need. This summer, COAST will again be expanding its Friday and Saturday bus schedules for Route 2, which travels through Rochester, Somersworth, Dover, Newington, and Portsmouth. Also included in the summer expansion is service on COAST Route 1 throughout the day on Saturdays. Route 1, which operates through Dover, Somersworth, and Berwick, normally operates only during the weekdays. Routes 1 and 2 connect hourly in Dover, providing a popular option for residents of Berwick and downtown Somersworth to access Rochester, Dover, the malls, and Portsmouth.
The service expansion began on Friday, June 24, and will continue every Friday and Saturday through September 3, 2011.
“COAST is committed to improving service and we are excited to provide this expansion during a busy travel season again this year,” stated Executive Director Rad Nichols. “With service operating through the hearts of eleven communities, COAST makes it easy to enjoy local shopping, dining, and area events,” adds Nichols.
Riding the bus is becoming a more popular option amongst Seacoast residents. Passenger counts in COAST’s previous fiscal year were a record-high 410,000. Trends this year indicate COAST may top 440,000 passenger trips by the end of the fiscal year in September, 2011. Ridership is increasing tremendously as people seek to stretch the value of their dollar. Jeremy LaRose, COAST’s Manager of Operations, stated, “When you put together the expense of gas, parking, and maintaining your car, it makes a lot of sense to save that money by riding the bus.”
While the expanded service is a significant improvement for passengers, LaRose says the work isn’t finished for COAST. “The expanded service represents our best efforts as a public agency to get the most out of our budget. There’s still a great need for more frequent service year-round, and we intend to find a way to make that happen,” said LaRose. COAST is largely funded through agreements with the communities it serves, which provides necessary matching dollars for funds through the Federal Transit Administration.
Those local community funding agreements have remained in place despite challenging economic times, as communities understand the importance of public transit. “Without the strong support of both our riders and the political leadership within the communities we serve, COAST wouldn’t exist,” said Nichols. He continued, “Our goal is to keep working to find ways to fund permanent, year-round service improvements.”
The Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation (COAST) has provided public transit service to the Seacoast New Hampshire region since 1982. Over 11 million passengers have boarded COAST buses. COAST is a public, non-profit transit system that relies primarily on federal and local government support to operate.
For complete information on the expanded routes, schedules, and service, visit COAST’s website at www.coastbus.org. If you’ve never used the bus before, feel free to call their dispatcher for help getting started. Dispatchers are available Monday through Saturday starting June 25th, between 6:00AM and 8:00PM. Call 603-743-5777 (TDD: 1-800-735-2964). See you on the bus.
