Groton, New Hampshire

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STORM DAMAGE UPDATE

ROAD CLOSURES: CURRENTLY THE FOLLOWING ROADS ARE CLOSED BUT ARE OPEN TO LOCAL RESIDENTS ONLY (there are road signs explaining the closures):

SCULPTURED ROCKS ROAD (FROM THE SCULPTURED ROCKS PARK DOWN)
NORTH GROTON ROAD IS NOW OPEN WITH ONE LANE TRAFFIC WHILE ROAD CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES
OTHER TOWN MAINTAINED ROADS EXPERIENCED SOME DAMAGED BUT ARE ALL PASSABLE AT THIS TIME.

TOWN GARAGE: The Town Garage once again experienced flooding. There was about 4 feet of water in the garage during the storm. Now that the water is gone, there is sludge and raw sewage remaining along with damage to the sheet rock. This will all need to be cleaned up and repaired again.

POLICE CRUISER: There have been questions on why the Police Cruiser did not get moved in time. The forecast all day on Thursday showed rain but didn’t say severe rain and didn’t say anything about flood warnings. There was no advance warning for this flooding that the Town experienced. The first code red alert that came out was 30 minutes after the flooding had already occurred at the Town Garage and throughout the Town. The Town employees were already working in the flooding when they all got the first code red alert on their phones. Also, the Town gets emails from NH DOS when there are flood warnings and the first email we received on Thursday was at 10:22pm, which was after the flooding already occurred.

Jeremy Haney, Robert “Bubba” Ellis and John Rescigno were all at the Town House moving the equipment before any alerts when out. The water raised and flooding occurred within 15 minutes so they had this small window to move everything they could, not knowing they only had 15 minutes and that the water would rise that quickly. These men worked quickly to move some equipment and when they went back to move more the water was waist high already. The water was also moving quickly at that time. These men risked their lives in the high waters to move more items and Bubba risked his life in this moving water to move the backhoe out, which was now up to his chest. Bubba had attempted to start the cruiser, which wouldn't start, and the water was rising quickly and the cruiser was under water within minutes which wouldn' allow them the time to tow it out or jump start it. They were there and tried to move it but couldn’t at that point due to the amount of water. It was not left there intentionally and is unfortunate to the Town that it experienced damage, especially since we are beginning the interview process for a new part time police chief at the end of the month. All other Town equipment was moved in time and were not damaged.

WHERE WE ARE NOW: There were many employees, residents and contractors that were out working on the roads immediately which allowed for 90% of the roads to be passable to local residents by noon on Friday and 100% passable to local residents by noon on Saturday. The Town employees, residents, and hired contractors continue to diligently work on repairing the Town Roads. We have submitted a claim with Primex, our insurance carrier, for the cruiser along with the Town Garage as well.

Thank you for your concern and please understand that the Town did everything they could in this emergency situation that had no advance warning. Also, a huge thank you to all of the employees, residents and contractors that came together in a disaster to help out for all of their hard work, time and dedication to the Town. It is greatly appreciated.

DID YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY HAVE STORM DAMAGE?

Any local residents should call 2-1-1 if they have had damages to their homes or property due to the storm last Thursday. This is a place where you can register your information, and then the State will follow up with you individually.

There is no FEMA assistance for private property at this time, so any help that the State might offer comes from other agencies and organizations.

We are sorry to hear of damages and losses that our residents experienced. Please call 2-1-1 to report any damages that you may have.

OLD HOME DAY

Old Home Day is Saturday August 17, 2019. Please click here to view the flyer. We hope to see you all there for an evening of fun!!!

GROTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY (GHS) UPCOMING EVENTS

6/22/19 and 7/13/19 the Schoolhouse Museum (corner of North Groton Road and Halls Brook Road) will be open from 1:00pm-3:00pm. In addition to seeing the "innards" of a one room schoolhouse, you can view old photos. Items gifted to the society are displayed as well. The newest gifts were given by descendants of the Crosby Family. With many mines, mica, pigmative and feldspar, having been worked over the years here in Groton, visitors can see mining tools as well as photos of miners at work.
7/27/19 GHS will have a booth set up at the Hebron Fair
8/10/19 GHS will have a booth set up at theRumney Fair

Baker River Watershed Stream Crossing Assessment Project

You may see North Country Council assessing the streams and stream crossings in Town for the Baker River Watershed Stream Crossing Assessment Project. Click here to view the project overview.

FREE BOOKS, DVD'S, ETC:

There are books, tapes, DVD's and more that are free for the taking. These items are located in the old Groton Library at the Town House. Please read the signs and take what you want. Enjoy!!

NEW SCAM INFORMATION FROM GRAFTON COUNTY REGISTRY OF DEEDS

The Grafton County Registry of Deeds sent the following email:

Yesterday an elderly man came in to question a document that he had received in the mail. This is a new scam. I scanned the document and notified NH DOJ, Grafton County Sheriff's Dept and County Commissioners.I have blocked his name and scanned the image, feel free to post it in your offices. He was from Benton. So unfortunate.

A reminder: FBI has identified real property theft on paper as the fastest growing white collar crime.

I will be spending some time this spring getting out to the Senior Centers to promote our free and secure service Property Fraud Alert.
This is the link from our website. http://www.nhdeeds.com/grafton/GrPFA.html

Please click here to view a copy of the scam document that was sent.

LETTER FROM THE NATURE CONSERVANCY

Click here to view a recent letter that was sent to a resident regarding the Kimball Hill property.

Select Board meetings: The Select Board meetings are at 7:00pm on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month.

Town Clerk/Tax Collector
(603)744-8849
(603)744-8803 (fax)

Monday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday & Friday 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
For other times, call for an appointment

Police (Non Emergency) (603) 744-3703 (Dispatch) (603) 536-3566 (Fax) (603) 744-7894 police@grotonnh.org