Category Archives: Uncategorized
Reminder: Cub Scout Mum Sale
The Walpole Cub Scout Pack 299 has started taking orders for their Mum Fall Fundraiser. All proceeds from this fundraiser pay for scout activities and registrations. This year the sale will start August 7th, and go through September 7th, unless we sell out before then.
This is a very popular fundraiser and we have a limited number of mums to sell. Please place your order early to make sure you get your Mums! Last year we sold out quickly.
Mums are between 15 to 18 inches in diameter and are planted in 9.5” pots. Colors available are red, white, yellow, orange-bronze, and purple/pink. We are selling them for $20.00 each.
Mums will be available for pick-up on Sunday, September 20th, on the Walpole Town Common between 9:00 and 10:00am. You can place your order by finding a Cub Scout from Pack 299 or you can call Debbie Pawelczyk at 603-445-5475.
Water and Sewer Meeting Minutes – 7/22/26
Town of Walpole, New Hampshire
Water and Sewer Meeting
July 22, 2026
Selectboard Present: Carolyn Vose, Chair, Cheryl Mayberry, and Steven Dalessio
Staff Present: Mark Houghton, Jodi Daigle, Jenna Rzasa of Tata and Howard, and Sue Bauer, Recording Secretary
Call to Order: Ms. Vose called the Water and Sewer meeting to order at 5:00 PM in the Walpole Town Hall.
Review of Current Open Projects – Mark Houghton
Wells: The rehab of the River Well planned for 2026 could have started last week, but it was postponed until later. Given the boil water order now in effect, it is good the well is not down for repairs. The well will be cleaned and rebuilt.
Sewer Pump Stations: The ARPA Grant was used for new generators for each of the pump stations and the Watkins Hill well. The old generator from Watkins Hill, which was too small, has been installed at Town Hall so there is now emergency power. It is not large enough to run the air conditioners.
Other Active Infrastructure Projects:
Mr. Houghton reported that two pumps are out of service and waiting for seals. It is about six months wait for the parts delivery. The pumps are old and need to be replaced so that the system can be more reliable, but they are expensive.
The meters need to be updated to the new meters which can send readings via cellular. It will eliminate meter reading eventually when everyone is switched. Again, the new meters will be phased in because of funding limitations.
Today water tested straight from Watkins Hill well tested positive for E. coli. But, once the water was treated, it tested negatively. However, any positive test means there must be a boil water order until the water tests negative twice. This well is very near the stream which is all black from the recent heavy rains. Mr. Houghton noted that this is only the second time in the history of Walpole water that there has been a boil water order. The other time was 2005, right after the flooding.
This led to a discussion of funds available for infrastructure. Ms. Mayberry needs to review and sort out the Water and Sewer finances because there are some numbers that look strange in the historical data. Finance reports were provided for the meeting. Mr. Houghton also requested quarterly reports going forward.
Ms. Rzasa reviewed the presentation she did a year ago for water recommending rate increases. The increases are needed if the water-sewer department is applying for grants for future work, to start planning for future infrastructure needs, and to be consistent with state water rate recommendations.
Mr. Houghton asked if Ms. Rzasa is available to prepare a comparable report for sewer. Part of the work would be negotiating with Bellows Falls to set sewer rates that will work for both systems. Ms. Rzasa will create an estimate and get back to Mr. Houghton.
New Water Rates
Mr. Dalessio moved to change the residential base rates (for the first 500 cubic feet per quarter) to:
| Service size (inches) | Charge ($/quarter) |
| ¾ inch | $40.00 |
| 1 inch | $82.50 |
| 1 ½ inch | $200.00 |
| 2 inch | $350.00 |
| Water usage over 500 cubic feet per quarter will be billed at $0.08 per cubic feet. | |
Ms. Mayberry seconded the motion. With Mr. Dalessio, Ms. Mayberry and Ms. Vose in favor the motion passed.
Mr. Dalessio moved to change the commercial base rates (for the first 500 cubic feet per quarter) to:
| Service size (inches) | Charge ($/quarter) |
| ¾ inch | $55.00 |
| 1 inch | $110.00 |
| 1 ½ inch | $200.00 |
| 2 inch | $350.00 |
| 3 inch | $400.00 |
| Water usage over 500 cubic feet per quarter will be billed at $0.11 per cubic feet. | |
Ms. Mayberry seconded the motion. With Mr. Dalessio, Ms. Mayberry and Ms. Vose in favor the motion passed.
Action Items
- Ms. Rzasa will prepare an estimate to do an analysis similar to the water project but for sewer. This will include negotiating with Bellows Falls.
- The new water rates will be applied to the third quarter of 2026 bills. The bills for the second quarter are currently being printed.
- Ms. Mayberry will review the financial records for the infrastructure for Water and Sewer and let Mr. Houghton know how much is currently available.
- Ms. Mayberry will have Finance start preparing quarterly reports for Mr. Houghton.
- Mr. Houghton wants to be sure that calculations for affordability include both water and sewer when sewer rate increases are calculated.
- Once Ms. Rzasa has recommendations for sewer rates, the group will reconvene and determine new sewer rates.
Adjournment: Ms. Vose declared the meeting adjourned at 6:34 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Bauer, Recording Secretary
(Note: These are unapproved Minutes. Corrections will be found in the Minutes of the July 30, 2026 Selectboard meeting.)
“Behind the Seams” at the Walpole Historical Society – 8/1/26
An event every Saturday, 12:30 pm at the Museum
Please join us this Saturday for “Behind the Seams.” Elisabeth Roos will bring her extensive professional experience in museums to a discussion of how to create an exhibit of textiles, using the garments in the Walpole Historical Society collection as an example. What stories will the collection tell? Elisabeth will conclude with insights into how the design and sewing techniques used by makers of historical garments have influenced the contemporary art which she now creates.
* * *
The collections of the Walpole Historical Society contain thousands of items: clothing of all descriptions and eras, photos, pamphlets, books, tools, business ledgers, furniture, minutes of civic organizations, souvenir china, kitchen implements, even some vehicles. These objects have entered our collections through myriad sources: individuals and families donating family heirlooms, eagle-eyed folks at the Transfer Station or the Library Book Sale, basement and attic explorers, collectors seeking a home for their treasures. The Walpole Historical Society collections contain the commonplace and the rare and everything in between–all representing possible stories to discover. Please visit www.WalpoleHistory.com.
Walpole Community Power Fall Rate Update
Things have changed in the New Hampshire Electricity market. In the past, the utilities would buy all their power for six months and would charge customers based on their purchases. It was expected that they would not make or lose any money on the energy supply portion of the electrical bill. In the past, they would adjust the rates for the next period, to make sure they did not lose or profit from the energy supply.
In 2024 the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) changed the rules, requiring the utilities to buy only a portion of the power they needed ahead and buy the rest in the daily markets. This has resulted in the utilities losing about 50 million dollars over the last year and a half. Liberty, Unitil, and Eversource should have raised their rates to recover their losses as they did in the past, but the PUC would not approve rates that would have recovered the losses.
In Liberty’s case they lost about nine million and requested a .21 rate per kilowatt hour for the next rate period from August 1 through January 31, 2027. The PUC did not approve this rate, but they did approve a rate of .15835. While this will help recover some of the millions, it will not make Liberty whole.
You might ask why the PUC is taking these risks? It is a good question, but the PUC continues to require the Utilities to buy a portion of electrical power on the open market. This could increase the losses for all the states utilities.
Walpole Community Power is a member of the Community Power Coalition of NH (CPCNH) which does not have to have their rates approved by the PUC. However, CPCNH must set rates to meet their costs.
CPCNH rate for the fall period, August 1, 2026 through January 31, 2027, will be .14729. This represents a modest savings over the Liberty rate of about .01 per kWH.
Walpole Community Power still feels that the CPCNH membership is in the long run beneficial. At some point the PUC is going to allow the Utilities to recover their losses. CPCNH has introduced more competition into the market.
August Clarion Now Online
And ready for delivery to all postal addresses in Walpole, North Walpole, and Drewsville — 1,549 total copies. August usually a slow month, so just 16 pages this issue, but still what is happening, and you should be aware of. Remember, for a color experience with both pictures and ads, do visit the on-line edition.
For now CLICK THIS LINK for the AUGUST issue, or on the front cover below. Stay safe and well, yours, RAY BOAS, Publisher
Town Clerk’s Office Notice
The Walpole Town Clerk’s Office will be open Thursday morning (July 30th) until noon but will be closed Thursday afternoon (July 30th only).
Cinde Warmington in Walpole
It’s a rare opportunity! Cinde Warmington, our Democratic candidate for Governor, is coming to Walpole. She will relate her vision for the granite state and answer your questions.
Time – 7 PM, July 23 at the home of Adrian Basora, 67 Old North Main St in Walpole.
Questions – John McCollister 402-689-5486
Urgent: NHDES Boil Order Notice
[Editor’s Note: I have been told that the water at the Watkins Hill Well may have had a positive test for bacteria. However, the system sample in the Village tested clean. Regardless, the order applies to all town-supplied water in Walpole, south of the Cold River. It does not apply to North Walpole, which has its own water system.]
The Walpolean 
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