Oh, Tom Aspell, you've outdone yourself again. This week's memo from the city manager is a whopping four pages of municipal goodness. We've included some the highlights, of course:
We've got some good police officers
Concord Police Officer Nicole Murray received a certificate of appreciation earlier this month for her efforts to keep traffic under control near city schools. The Greater Concord Safe Community Coalition honored Murray at its annual police appreciation breakfast on Sept. 21.
During the 2009-10 school year, Murray completed 60 school-zone patrols, the most of any officer in the department.
Way to go, Officer Murray.
Ohhh, here come the dump trucks!
We've been (unsuccessfully) begging the Cruel Oppressor for a dump truck for months, which is probably why we were so excited about this update.
Cyn Environmental of Dover arrived in Penacook recently with lots of heavy equipment, to continue cleaning up the former tannery site on Crescent Street.
The job involves excavating 7,000 cubic yards of soil, according to Aspell's memo. About 2,700 tons of that is expected to contain rotted leather and other contaminated debris.
Once the property is cleaned up, work can begin on a new office building for Concord Hospital's Penacook Family Physician's Practice. The clean-up will take about three weeks and is being funded by $400,000 in federal stimulus money.
State of the State
Sick of the construction on North State Street? You're not going to like this, then.
Aspell writes that work is continuing to install a new sewer line near the intersection with Lake Street. Traffic will be squished into a single lane next week from about 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The public,”Aspell says, “is advised to seek alternate routes if possible.”
It's been a good month for ball players in our fine city
Last week, the Concord High School Softball Boosters Club donated $5,000 to the city's Recreation Department to help rebuild one of the softball fields. Work has already started on the new infield and the old dugouts will be torn down soon. This winter, students at the Concord Regional Technical Center will build new dugouts.
In his memo, Aspell extends “special thanks” to the booster club and to Concord Athletic Director Steve Mellow for organizing the fundraising efforts.
In other ball field news, the Concord National Little League is getting ready to start construction on a new field at Russ Martin Park. Construction started last week.
When it's done, the field will feature a new parking lot, a concession stand, a press box and bathrooms. The field, Aspell assured the budget conscious, will be located on city property but will be built and maintained with private money.
And now, some great news for bookworms
Can't get enough of the library? Then you'll want to log on to “CPL News,” a website devoted to the life and times of the Concord Public Library.
The site will include information about new acquisitions, current programs, staff book reviews and more.
To see for yourself, go to concordpubliclibrary.net/news.
