Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Legislation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Merrimack council backs letter urging lawmakers to limit DOTroad reclassification
Summary
The Merrimack Town Council approved a letter to the Public Works & Highways Committee supporting House Bill 561, saying the New Hampshire Department of Transportation should not reclassify or revert state roads to town ownership without municipal consent.
The Merrimack Town Council voted to send a letter to the public works committee urging support for New Hampshire House Bill 561, which would bar the Department of Transportation from discontinuing, reclassifying or reverting certain state highways to towns without local consent. The council approved the letter after a staff briefing and remarks from Rep. Bill Boyd and sponsor Councilor Nancy Harrington.
The letter, read into the record by the council chair, argues that a stateinitiated reclassification that transfers maintenance responsibilities to towns would be "unfair and unjustifiable" and could impose significant fiscal burdens on municipal budgets. It cites the townmanagerbriefing and the council's estimate that transferring a road could cost Merrimack between the DOTestimate and the townestimate in per-thousand-dollar impacts.
Councilor Nancy Harrington, who filed the bill, described it as a response to "a problem we found ourselves in that was going to be guaranteed to cost us" and said the bill was intended to prevent the state from "dump[ing] the responsibility for this road, the maintenance, the plowing, the lights, the paving" onto municipalities. Representative Bill Boyd, speaking as a resident and legislator, told the council he would press for study and municipal input in the legislature.
A motion to approve the letter as written, with permission for minor adjustments and for the town chair/manager to sign, passed by voice vote (7-0-0). The council asked staff to circulate the letter to residents and encouraged public comments to state legislators on the bill as it moves through the Public Works & Highways Committee.
The action is procedural: the council expressed formal support and authorized sending the letter and related documents. The council did not adopt any local ordinance or commit town funds beyond minor administrative work to finalize and sign the letter. The town will monitor the bill's progress in the legislature and follow up as needed.
