Tag: new_hampshire

LONDONDERRY — Embattled Town Manager Michael Malaguti is resigning after three years in the position.

According to his contract, Malaguti is required to give a six-month notice, making his last day in office April 24, 2025, unless the council decides on an earlier date.

“While I believe I have enough support on the Town Council to continue my service, I have decided that clinging to a job I love would come at too great a personal cost,” Malaguti wrote in the letter. “This is the right moment for me to move on.”

Malaguti submitted his letter of resignation on Thursday afternoon to the Town Council before emailing and informing the different department heads in town that evening. The rest of the Town Hall employees were made aware Friday morning, according to a spokesperson at Town Hall who agreed to speak on background.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Malaguti said that while his letter speaks for itself, he wanted to thank the town employees and residents who make the community a wonderful place.

He added that he knows those who will continue working in and for Londonderry will continue to do their jobs with dedication.

“Public service is sometimes hard, and messy, and bruising, but it is always worthwhile,” Malaguti said. “I know my colleagues who continue in public service in Londonderry will do so with the same unflappable professionalism they have always displayed.”

Residents called for Malaguti’s resignation after Fire Chief Bo Butler resigned on Oct. 7. Butler, during his resignation speech, did not blame Malaguti, and instead said it was his own moral compass that was driving the decision.

Even so, the calls for Malaguti’s resignation intensified after Firefighters Local 3160 said Malaguti had threatened Butler with repercussions for being over-budget on firefighter overtime spending.

Malaguti published a statement to the town’s website refuting those claims on Oct. 8.

Butler said he resigned because he was asked to cut the on-call shift personnel from 13 firefighters to 11 due to a trend in spending on overtime budgets that would have put the department $200,000 over budget at the end of the first quarter.

While Malaguti did not give a direct reason for his resignation in his letter, he did say it was time to leave the position. He closed the letter by saying he was proud to see how much work he and his colleagues in town have accomplished and how much more there is to do.

“I close by returning to a refrain I have sometimes used over the past three years, and which I continue to believe,” he wrote. “The future of Londonderry is bright, and its best days lie ahead.”

LONDONDERRY — The owner of a historic barn located at 2 Litchfield Road has received approval from the Historic Heritage Commission to tear it down.

And at least one member of the commission wasn’t happy about it.

“I’m a little emotional about this,” said member Laura Schenkman. “I got on the commission to preserve history. They met the requirement. That’s what we’re voting on and there’s nothing that supersedes that. If we allow our emotions to get ahead of us, then we will be here until midnight.”

The public hearing was held after the commission had previously dismissed the demolition request in July. At that meeting, the commission said barn owner Richard Flier could request demolition again after getting a licensed engineer’s report regarding the safety of the building.

On Friday night, Flier and his lawyer Laura Gandia submitted the report to the commission, saying the findings were extremely similar to what Zoning Administrator Nick Codner and Assistant Building Inspector Brad Anderson had previously submitted to the commission.

“He said, because of these issues, any attempt at remedial work would be unsafe for those involved due to the existing deterioration in structural instability and is not recommended,” Gandia said.

The report noted several major areas of concern, including the stone foundation being reduced to rubble, the majority of the roof being rotted, and roof beams sagging to the point of imminent structure failure.

The main reason Flier needed permission for the barn’s demolition was because the building is in a Commercial III zone, a town historic overlay, and has a historical easement that was placed in 2006.

The easement became the subject of discussion at a June 2023 Town Council meeting, where the town ultimately kept it. This makes it more difficult to update the exterior of the barn and building because renovations must meet the preservation standards of the easement.

Attendees of the public hearing defended the structure. Elizabeth Gillis, a resident and business owner in town, spoke about how the barn had initially attracted her to the property years ago and she had originally thought of purchasing the land to make it into a business space.

Former Town Councilor Deb Paul had previously owned the building, and said during public comment that she had spent approximately $70,000 in fixes for the building. She urged the commission to demand Flier build a similar barn in its stead, saying she had to face stipulations like that when she had been the owner.

“One of the things that I was hoping is that you would put restrictions that he must replace it with a barn that looks exactly like the barn that was taken down and hopefully encourage Mr. Flier to use some of the pieces of the beams within the new structure that he plans on using,” she said.

Commission member Jim Butler said he agreed the building needed to be demolished, and knew that he could not speculate on what the property would be used for, but hoped that Flier would not use the vacant land to build commercial property.

“That intersection is extremely dangerous and I’m concerned about having that barn taken down,” Butler said. “I’m concerned that if we take that barn down, something could go in there that would create more traffic for that intersection.”

The next step in the process will be with the Demolition Delay Committee, who will also have to grant approval for the demolition.

HAMPSTEAD — The town’s big 275th celebration Saturday was jam-packed with events for residents and visitors alike at Meetinghouse Park and the Town Green.

There was everything from living history with blacksmiths and shoe makers to live unicorns and midway games.

A dozen food trucks kept the crowd happy as they listened to a lineup of musical acts that included the Reunion Hill Band, U.S. Navy Crosswind Woodwind Quintet, the Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Trio and the Black & Bluez band

Colonial games and the 18th Dover Colonial Militia overnight revolutionary encampment, complete with cannons and muskets firings, offered a historical touch to the day.

Swag from the Hampstead Historical Society and Hampstead Public Library, such as “Images of America: Hampstead” books, 275th T-shirts and Beverage Koozies were snapped up by the appreciative crowd.

Of course, the 275th celebration ended with a big fireworks display.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Virginia-based political marketing company has agreed to pay a $40,000 fine to settle allegations that flyers it designed during the 2022 New Hampshire state primary violated the law.

Forms submitted to the U.S. Postal Service identified the owner of the 189,000 mailers as “Robert Burns for Congress,” but Burns had nothing to do with them, and they lacked the required “paid for” language, the attorney general’s office said Thursday. Burns won the GOP primary in the 2nd Congressional District but lost to incumbent Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster in the general election.

The attorney general’s office investigated the matter but decided not to bring criminal charges in part due to questions about whether federal law would have preempted the state law at issue. In agreeing to the settlement, Deliver Strategies did not admit to criminal liability. A lawyer for the company called the matter an unintentional postal form error made by a vendor.

“None of the mail pieces received by New Hampshire voters contained any false information and all were in compliance with federal law,” Bill Christie said in a statement.

In addition to the fine, it agreed to train employees about compliance with relevant laws.

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