Selectboard Meeting Agenda – 12/31/25

SELECTBOARD 12/31/2025 Leave a comment

TOWN OF WALPOLE

SELECTBOARD MEETING AGENDA

December 31, 2025

at 10:00 AM in the Town Hall


SELECTBOARD MEETING

PAYROLL

  • Payroll Register totaling $37,445.50 dated 1/2/2026 and the 941 Payroll Tax Transfer of $7,481.15

SELECTBOARD MEETING MINUTES

  • Asset Management Plan (AMP) Grant Hearing – December 18, 2025
  • USDA Grant for Walpole Fire Station Expansion Hearing – December 18, 2025
  • Community Facilities Grant Agreement MoU Hearing – December 18, 2025
  • Selectboard Meeting – December 18, 2025
  • Selectboard Non-Public Session – December 18, 2025
  • Special Selectboard Meeting – December 28, 2025

COMMITTEE REPORTS

  • Planning Board Meeting Minutes – December 9, 2025

TIMBER INTENTS

  • Map 7 Lots 6 and 8
  • Map 9 Lots 29 and 30

OLD BUSINESS

Pending Further Actions: Town Hall Generator, Old North Main and High Streets Bridges/Culverts, School and Union Street Drainage, Reservoir Dam ARPA Grant

  • Cemetery Trustees Encumbrance Request

NEW BUSINESS

  • Town Hall Heat Pump Water Heater Quote
  • Town Hall Generator Installation Quote
  • 2025 Municipal Assessment Data Certificate
  • Drummond Woodsum Rate Structure Notice
  • US Conference of Mayors Survey
  • Town Hall Use on Voting Day
  • Thank You Cards

NON-PUBLIC BUSINESS: RSA 91-A:3 II (a)

**Any recording, audio or visual, and/or other devices must be declared at the beginning of the meeting**

Planning Board Meeting Agenda – 1/13/26

PLANNING BOARD 12/30/2025 Leave a comment

Walpole Planning Board Agenda

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Town Hall

7 pm

Roll Call: Appointment of alternates if needed.

Call to order: 

Minutes: Review minutes of the December 2025 meeting.

Old Business:

Public Hearing: 

Ideal Location LLC, owned by Greg Gay, 1134 Main St., North Walpole proposes a building of 2,100 square feet at Town Tax Map 27, Lot Sub 1, for office space and parts inventory. 

Public Hearing 2:

Community Facilities and Services is the final section of the updated Master Plan that needs Planning Board approval. 

Reminder Re-ups: Jason Perron, Trevor MacLachlan.

January 2026 Clarion Now Online

Uncategorized 12/30/2025 Leave a comment

I am waiting to hear from the printer to pick up the hardcopies to get in the mail to all residents in Walpole, North Walpole, and Drewsville. With the printer’s holiday schedule, as I noted in the December issue your January issue, with 20 pages, may not arrive until the 2nd or 3rd. But if you click this link, or on the front cover below you can read January on-line now.

The lead article is the delay in mailing tax bills. Bills were mailed on December 29. As noted in the CLARION (last year and on page 17 in this issue) — Internal Revenue Code Section 164(a) states in part: “…a) General rule. — Except as otherwise provided in this section, the following taxes shall be allowed as a deduction for the taxable year within which paid or accrued: (1) State and local, and foreign, real property taxes. Thus if you itemize deductions you can take the deduction for the final tax bill of 2025 on your 2025 tax return.

Stay safe and well – HAPPY NEW YEAR – RAY BOAS, Publisher

David Howell Art Exhibition in Keene

COMMUNITY NEWS 12/26/2025 Leave a comment

A new art exhibition, Of Rock and Brush, is currently on view at Ann Henderson Interiors in Keene.

The exhibition features the work of David Howell, a Walpole resident and longtime member of the Walpole Artisans Cooperative. A former U.S. Geological Survey research geologist and Stanford University professor, David has been painting throughout his adult life, and this show highlights the intersection of his scientific career and artistic practice.

The exhibition opened with a successful showing on December 6th, and the artwork will remain on display at 41 Central Square in Keene through January, with plans underway for an additional event later in the month.

Property Tax Billing Update

Uncategorized 12/26/2025 Comments: 3

Walpole property tax bills will be mailing on Tuesday, December 30th. For property owners that wish to pay their tax bills before the end of the calendar year, stop by the Selectboard Office to drop off the payment or place the payment in the mail with a date stamp of December 30th or 31st.  The tax amount due can be found at nhtaxkiosk.com or contact the Selectboard Office for assistance.

The Selectboard Office will be open normal hours on Dec. 30th and 31st (New Year’s Eve). The Town Hall will be closed on New Year’s Day. It will reopen on Friday, Jan. 2nd at 8 AM.

Zoning Board Meeting Minutes – 12/17/25

ZONING BOARD 12/20/2025 Leave a comment

Zoning Board of Adjustment

December 17, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the January 2026 meeting for corrections. 

Role Call: Present board members: Chair Tom Murray, Vice-Chair Dave Edkins, Clerk Pauline Barnes, Shane O’Keefe, William Sommers. Alternate Don Sellarole. Absent: Myra Mansouri.

Call to order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm.

Minutes: Review of minutes of  November 2025.

Mr. Murray made two additions. He said under old business he said he would discuss more about ADUs. He reminded the secretary to put the unapproved minutes notice at the beginning of all minutes. Ms. Barnes made a motion to approved the amended minutes. Mr. Sommers seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Permanent Posted Meeting Time.

Mr. Murray talked with the staff at Town Offices and offered two laminated signs that would permanently be posted on the outside bulletin board at the Town Hall and on the bulletin board outside of the Post Office. It said Zoning Board meeting third Wednesday of every month at the Town Hall at 7 pm. Mr. Edkins suggested it say Zoning Board of Adjustment and Ms. Barnes thought (ZBA) should also be included. Mr. Murray will add these to the permanent laminated signs.

Old Business: 

In regard to a joint meeting with the Planning Board, Mr. Murray and Ms. Barnes attended a meeting in November about ADUs. At that meeting new state mandates for ADU ordinances were the topic of discussion.

Mr. Murray distributed a copy of a letter written by Town Counsel Jeremy Hockensmith. It was sent after the Planning Board Chair emailed him about a list of new state mandates regarding ordinances about RSA 674:71 to 73, ADUs or Accessory Dwelling Units. The Chair wanted to know if Walpole’s Zoning Ordinances required the Planning Board to comply with some changes. Mr. Hockensmith replied with 16 suggested revisions to the Ordinance. For example, one of them was “Per the new statute, definitions of “attached unit” and “detached unit” should be added. I would add another definition of “existing structure” to read as follows: “a structure existing before 2025.”

Mr. Murray talked about following up with the Planning Board. Mr. Edkins didn’t think it should be Zoning Board of Adjustment participation as it’s the Planning Board’s job to write ordinances not the ZBA. But since the Planning Board is planning to work on a new ordinance. Mr. Murray and Ms. Barnes offered to be part of the group as “knowledgeable citizens,” not as Zoning Board of Adjustment members. 

New Business:

Pauline Barnes and the Board will work on prioritizing menu on left side of the ZBA web site content.

Ms. Barnes prepared a suggested menu to put on the left-hand side of the initial page on the web site. The purpose of doing this, Ms. Barnes said, was to make it easier for townspeople to navigate the web site and better understand how to fill out the applications.

1. Zoning Ordinances

2. Variances

  • Definition
  • Application

3. Special Exceptions

  • Definition
  • Application

4. Expansion of a Non-Conforming Use

  • Definition
  • Application

5. Appeal of Administrative Decision

  • Definition
  • Application

6. Fees

7. Meeting Minutes

8. Board Bylaws

The rest of the Board liked what Ms. Barnes has done however they thought the last three, fees, meeting minutes and Board Bylaws should be in another order. Mr. Sellarole thought fees should be last. Mr. O’Keefe thought Bylaws were important and showed procedure so it should be number 6. That made Meeting Minutes between the two, so it remained as 7. The final three entries would now be: 6. Board Bylaws, 7. Meeting Minutes, 8. Fees. The next step is to talk to the staff in the Town Offices and having the menu changed after definitions have been written and applications copied. Also applications should be checked for updated information such as fees.

RSA 91-A

Mr. O’Keefe handed out a couple of copies of RSA 91-A. It was the NH Attorney General’s analysis of the Right to Know law. Mr. O’Keefe said he wanted a Zoning Board of Adjustment agenda posted every month. However, posting an agenda is not a requirement of the Right-to-Know Law. He said he wouldn’t attend a meeting if he didn’t know what was on the agenda of a meeting. If there were a meeting about something happening on the road where he lives, he be interested in attending. But if there is no agenda, he wouldn’t bother to attend a meeting. 

Adjournment

Mr. Edkins made a motion to adjourn. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion carried. It was 7:45 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Recording Secretary

Giving Tree Thank You

Uncategorized 12/20/2025 Leave a comment

Dear Walpole community:

Thanks to so much generosity from so many people, the 2025 Community Giving Tree provided a brighter holiday season for over 50 local children.  We would first like to thank the school counselors for recommending families to us. We would also like to thank River Valley Church, the First Congregational Church of Walpole, St. John’s Church, St. Peter’s Church, The Hungry Diner, Diamond Pizza, the Walpole Town Library, Mascoma Bank, and the Savings Bank of Walpole on Westminster Street for displaying tags and collecting gifts.  We would also like to thank the “Toys for Tots” program based at the Savings Bank of Walpole in the Shaw’s plaza for providing many extra toys so that parents could choose several more gifts for each of their children besides those that they requested.  We also need to thank the Community Fund and many individuals who sent us donations, as we personally purchased over $800 worth of gifts for tags that were not taken as well wrapping paper for the parents to use.  Finally, we want to thank EVERYONE who chose tags and purchased gifts.  This whole project is a perfect example of small town holiday spirit.  THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who helped in any way!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and yours!  We hope that 2026 brings you peace, joy, and good health!

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Jeanne Cloues and Marcia Weil

Giving Tree Project coordinators

Selectboard Meeting Minutes – 12/11/25

SELECTBOARD 12/20/2025 Leave a comment

TOWN OF WALPOLE

MEETING OF THE SELECTBOARD

DECEMBER 11, 2025

Selectboard Present: Steven Dalessio, Chair, and Cheryl Mayberry

Staff Present: Sarah Downing, Manager of Administration, and Sue Bauer, Recording Secretary

Selectboard Absent: Carolyn Vose

Call to Order: Mr. Dalessio called the Selectboard meeting to order at 6:35 PM in the Walpole Town Hall.

Accounts Payable

Ms. Mayberry moved to approve the Accounts Payable Check Register totaling $81,131.05 dated 12/15/2025 including $24,050 payment to Pelow and Sons for paving. Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the Accounts Payable was approved. 

Ms. Mayberry moved to approve the Accounts Payable Check Register totaling $43,365.03 dated 12/02/2025 for payments to Health Trust for the December billing. Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the Accounts Payable was approved. 

Ms. Mayberry moved to approve the Accounts Payable Check Register totaling $804,108.98 dated 11/25/2025 for payment to Fall Mountain Regional School District December billing. Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the Accounts Payable was approved. 

Ms. Mayberry moved to approve the Accounts Payable Check Register totaling $100,000.00 for the Village of North Walpole dated 12/15/2025 and $369,000.00 for the Walpole Fire District dated 12/16/2025.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the Accounts Payable was approved. 

Payroll

Ms. Mayberry moved to approve the Payroll Register totaling $34,242.29 dated 12/12/2025 and the 941 Payroll Tax Transfer of $6,729.39.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the Payroll was approved. 

Selectboard Meeting Minutes

Selectboard Meeting – December 3, 2025: Ms. Mayberry moved to approve the Minutes of the Selectboard meeting of December 3, 2025. Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the Selectboard minutes were approved.

Non-Public Selectboard Meeting – December 3, 2025: Ms. Mayberry moved to approve the Minutes of the Non-Public Selectboard meeting of December 3, 2025.  The minutes will remain sealed.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the Non-Public minutes were approved and remain sealed.

Committee Reports

Ms. Mayberry brought to the chair’s attention the following committee reports:

  • Conservation Commission Meeting – December 1, 2025

Mr. Dalessio acknowledged these minutes.

Property Tax Refunds

Ms. Mayberry moved to approve the Property Tax Refund for Map and Lot # 024-019-000 of $2,612.50 for a double property tax payment during a home ownership transfer.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the motion was approved.

Old Business

ARPA Grant Agreement for Reservoir Dam Project: Mr. Dalessio explained this is an amendment to the grant because of the change in plans.  Before signing the amendment, the Selectboard needed to talk to Fuss & O’Neill to confirm the details.  Ms. Mayberry moved that the Chair sign the ARPA Grant Agreement amendment.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the motion passed and Mr. Dalessio signed the amendment.

Department Budget Meeting: The Department Budget Meeting will be on Friday, December 12th. Three people will not be able to attend.  Meals were planned and the schedule reviewed.

Asset Management Plan (AMP) Public Hearing: This public hearing has been posted for Thursday, 12/18/2025 at 5:30 in the Town Hall.  The grant needs to be closed.

Fire Station USDA Grant Agreement and MOU Hearing: This public hearing has been posted for Thursday 12/18/2025 at 6:30. There are two different documents and two different hearings. 

New Business

MetLife Termination Letter: Walpole will cease using MetLife vendor services as of 12/31/2025 in preparation for switching to Reliance Standard. Ms. Mayberry moved the Chair sign the letter notifying MetLife Walpole will cease using their services on 12/31/2025.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the motion passed and Mr. Dalessio signed the letter.

Reliance Standard, W-2 Service Agreement: The new insurance group will create W-2s for employees receiving benefits.  Payments are made directly to the employee.   Ms. Mayberry moved to have the Chair sign the agreement so Reliance Standard can prepare W-2s on benefits paid to employees.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the motion carried, and Mr. Dalessio signed the agreement.

NHRS User Access Forms: Ms. Mayberry explained that Town must change users.  Ms. Mayberry moved to have Chair sign NHRS User Access Forms.  The first removes Mr. Kreissle as a user and the second adds Ms. Mayberry.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the motion passed, and Mr. Dalessio signed the forms.

Scheduling: There are two items.  First, the date of the Budget Hearing will be February 12, 2026, with a snow date of 2/13/2026.  Second, the Town Offices will close on December 24, 2025, at noon.

Non-Public Business RSA 91-A:3 II (a)(b)(c)

Ms. Mayberry moved to enter into Non-Public Session pursuant to RSA 91-A:3 II (a)(b)(c) at 7:03 PM.  Mr. Dalessio seconded.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the motion was approved.

The meeting was reconvened at 7:22 PM.

Ms. Mayberry moved that the Non-Public Session Minutes be sealed. Seconded by Mr. Dalessio.  With Ms. Mayberry and Mr. Dalessio in favor, the motion was approved.

Note of Gratitude: Mr. Dalessio thanked the Police Department, Fire Department, and EMS for a recent search and rescue in Drewsville.  They all did a great job!

Adjournment: Mr. Dalessio declared the meeting adjourned at 7:23 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Sue Bauer, Recording Secretary

(Note: These are unapproved Minutes. Corrections will be found in the Minutes of the December 18, 2025 Selectboard meeting.)

Reminder: Walpole Players New Year’s Eve Party

Uncategorized 12/18/2025 Leave a comment

Walpole Players New Year’s Eve Party reservation deadline is December 20th and approaching faster than Santa’s sleigh! Make your reservation today! walpoleplayers.events@gmail.com

Walpole Players Annual Meeting – 1/4/26

Uncategorized 12/18/2025 Leave a comment
Walpole Players Annual Meeting. Sunday, January 4th at 4:00 pm in the Helen Miller Theater at the Walpole Town Hall. Open to the public - all are welcome! We are always open to new ideas and new faces. Come play with us!