BUDGET CENTER
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012
THURSDAY
Ambulance services said really feeling the pinch
MEREDITH — “Something’s got to give,” said Justin Van Etten, owner of Stewart’s Ambulance Service, which serves the towns of Meredith, Center Harbor, Sandwich and Moultonborough, “but we’re not there yet. Van Etten said that the company’s writeoffs for non-payment of services rose from about $327,000 in 2009 to $513,000 in 2011 and he anticipates another increase when the books are closed on 2012. “That
40 Vehicles Under $11K
VOL. 13 NO. 136
LACONIA, N.H.
527-9299
See Page 3
FREE
Ashland selectmen have had enough of public comment at meetings; from now on, put it in writing BY GAIL OBER
THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
ASHLAND — After a particularly rancorous selectman’s meeting on December 3, board Chair Jeanette Stewart took the recommendation of the town administrator and put a stop to the public comment portion of future meetings. Residents who want to address the board can still put their concerns in writing and send them to any board member or Town Administrator Paul Branscombe. Residents can also ask through Branscombe to be put
on the agenda for an upcoming meeting. Stewart said each piece of correspondence would be acknowledged at the next meeting and the appropriate department would be notified of the concern or comment. Branscombe said yesterday that he recommended stopping the public comment portion of the meetings because they have turned into a “feeding frenzy” with personal comments often directed at town department heads or individual selectmen. “Unfortunately, in recent weeks it’s turned into a circus,” he said yesterday. “We lost civil-
ity. Part of our job is to restore civility.” Video tape of the December 3 meeting shows about 15 people sitting in the town library. The hostilities began when two woman addressed the board separately. One discussed a piece of property on Highland Street that the town has been dealing with for months and one was a woman who was dissatisfied with the way the water erodes the road near her property. The comment period descends into relative chaos when Director of Public Works see ASHLAND page 11
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Kaylee Lemire performs as “Ariel” during a dress rehearsal for Gilford Middle School’s production of “The Little Mermaid Jr” on Tuesday evening in the high school auditorium. The N.H. premier of this Disney-inspired musical will be Thursday night at 7 p.m. TIckets are $5 and will be sold at the door. The curtain will also rise on Friday and Saturday nights at 7 p.m. and there will also be matinee performance on Saturday at 2 p.m. Two entirely separate casts of young actors will be featured over the weekend and they will alternate performances. Gabby Podmore also stars as “Ariel” (Karen Bobotas/for The Laconia Daily Sun
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