A few weeks under my belt
With the first few weeks of January under my belt, it's time for another update on City Council happenings. It's been a busy few weeks, with a few highlights I wanted to share. This update includes brief items from our last two regular City Council meetings, info on economic forecast for the area, regional challenges with homelessness, and goal setting. There is a NH DOT public meeting in Dover on January 30th to discuss the Spaulding widening project. And lastly, our next regular City Council meeting will be Wednesday February 14th. Read on below for more details and don't forget to get out and enjoy what Dover has to offer (like the Community Trail as an example).
City Council Meeting Updates - At our January 10th meeting, we received a briefing on the Comprehensive Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2017 (overall the City is in good shape), and heard updates on the activities of several boards and commissions. At our January 24th meeting, we held public hearings on several items and heard concerns from community members on the proposal to extend parking meter hours to 8pm. The council voted to leave the parking hours unchanged. Our next regular meeting will be Wednesday February 14th at 7pm. As always, you can attend in person, or follow along at home on Channel 22 or online via webcast. Agenda and meeting materials are posted online.
Economic Forecast Update - Last Thursday, several members of City Council joined members of the Great Dover Area Chamber of Commerce to hear an update on economic projections for Dover and the region. Brian Gottlob of PolEcon Research presented his findings followed by a joint discussion and Q&A with Assistant City Manager Chris Parker. Some of the key messages I left with included that Dover is overall doing well and poised to continue, that economic development approaches need to flip (used to be about attracting businesses that draw people, now it's about attracting people that draw/support businesses), and that community amenities (social, natural, etc) are key. Brian also wrote a brief article in the Dover Radar that summarizes his forecast, it's worth a read! (See Page X10).
Homelessness - This past Thursday I attended an After Action Review designed to glean lessons learned from the Warming Center/ Shelter set up in Rochester during the record cold over the New Year. The Tri-City Mayors are also planning further discussions on how the region can collaborate on this issue and I look forward to getting involved and learning more.
Goal Setting for 2018-2019 - City Council members held a goal setting workshop for the 2018-2019 term this past Saturday. It was a great discussion and chance to share things we've each been hearing from members of the community. Once summarized, the goals identified in the workshop will help guide our efforts for the coming term.
NH DOT Spaulding Update - For those who travel on the Spaulding Turnpike, NH Department of Transportation will be holding a public meeting on the widening project on Tuesday January 30th at 6:30pm in the Dover City Hall auditorium (details available here). Please attend if you are able, or pass along any concerns you'd like me to raise. I'll plan to provide an update in a future blog as well.
Budget preparations - As we roll into budget discussions, it's also a useful time to refresh on the city budget process and summary documents (available online).
Please don't hesitate to reach out with any comments, concerns, questions, or ideas about topics in front of City Council or that you'd like to see addressed. Thank you all.