Free Shows at the Town House

The Orange Pond Players are back! Jim and Kristen Collins-Laine are holding their annual theater camp again this summer. The camp performs two live shows in the Orange Town House. Both are free of charge and open to the public. And we're putting both events on the town calendar.

 

On this Friday, June 28, the campers will be performing an hour-plus show of short sketches and improv exercises beginning at 2:30 p.m.

On Saturday, July 6, the cast will be performing a single play in the afternoon — they are in the process right now of co-creating the script and scenes. "We won’t know for sure until the script is done at the end of this week how long the July 6 performance will be," the Collins-Laines write. "But we’ll probably give it two hours, even if all that time isn’t needed, starting at 2 p.m. We’ll pass along the name of the play and some description of it as soon as we can, and we’ll be putting up notices around town."

The show will be followed by potluck / cast party at the Town House, the potluck refreshments provided by families of the cast. Again, free and open to the public.

Paving on Tuttle and Cross

Scott Sanborn, our Road Agent, says:

Please be advised that paving work is scheduled to begin this Thursday June 27, and expected to be completed by the end of Friday, June 28.

The impacted area will include Tuttle Hill Road between Cardigan Mountain Road and the intersection with Cross Road, and also the currently paved steep section of Cross Road. Be prepared for delays, and if possible, you may wish to find an alternate route of travel during this time.

I may be reached at any time with any questions or concerns: 667-8237.

An Update from our Senator

Dorothy Heinrichs gave these informal notes of last night's Select Board meeting.

State Senator Jeanne Forrester visited to give an update on the 2012-2013 legislative session.

Medicaid Expansion did not pass but instead has been sent to committee for a four month study. The study will be completed in time to allow for action within the deadline. She voted to restore funding for hospitals and the public university system. She voted against gambling and against the gas tax. She has opposed the Northern Pass Project and is working with constituents to slow down the approval process for both Northern Pass and the wind farm projects to allow residents to have a say.

The board approved a building permit for a single family home on Williams Road, reviewed an abatement request, sent Orange’s junkyard regulations back to the zoning and planning boards so they can revise and update them and bring those changes to Town Meeting in March for a vote.

Trash YTD numbers: trash 36.38 tons; zerosort recycling  15.56 tons

Large Trash Reminder

Friday, July 19, has been set as the day for the annual large trash pickup. (As always, we've put it on the calendar.)

As before, no hazardous material, paints, chemicals or fluorescent bulbs. In addition, residents may meet the truck and pay for extra items as follows:

• Tires: $15 each
• Items containing Freon: $35 each
• Televisions and computer monitors: $25 each

 If not paid for at the time of collection, the items will be left for the owner to dispose properly.

Wind Turbine Update

Sandi Pierson sent us this report. If you want updates emailed directly to you, send a request to townoforangenh@gmail. (It's her Select Board Secretary email, but her reports are not related to Select Board business.) She writes:

Currently there are three proposed projects  that, with the existing Groton Wind Farm, would total over 100 turbines. Miles Sinclair, a Board member in Groton, told me the Spruce Ridge proposal was given the OK by the Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) to erect a 200-foot meteorological tower to gather wind data. A wind farm on Spruce Ridge would directly affect the 13-mile Elwell Trail between Newfound Lake and Cilleys Cave. I have hiked this trail twice and am averse to losing its remote flavor.  (Perhaps many do know that there is a wolf preserve in the Elwell Trail area  (in Alexandria, but not too far from Orange). I'm glad I was aware that the area had a  wolf preserve  because when I was in my tent one night at the foot of Mowglis Mountain, I  started hearing their otherworldly howls coming out of the woods!!!)
 
Senator Jeanne Forrester (who, by the way, will be at tonight's Board meeting) has introduced legislation for the OEP to have an outside review of the site evaluation process for wind farms. The review is due by December 31, 2013. 
 
Sandi Pierson
 
P.S. As an aside, here in the office is a 1985 map proposing no less than 80 turbines in Orange on the Tug Mountain and Pinnacle ridge. The town said thanks but no thanks through our Zoning Board. If anyone remembers the turbines that once adorned the ridge heading up 118, they were in Canaan and stopped short of the Orange town line near Bryant Pond. Let me know if you would like a copy of this "historical map." 
 
The issue in my opinion is that legislature was passed at some time so that energy projects would  no longer go before the town for approval but, instead, they now go before the state SEC.  The town is basically left out of the loop. For instance, at the last town meeting, both Grafton and Alexandria solidly voted in opposition to the Wild Meadows Project. But it actually means nothing. If anything, I would consider it "advisory" to the politicians.