Category Archives: Hot News

A Civil Engineer with a law degree is running against Harry Judd for a three year term on the Board of Selectmen. Marshall is 56 years old and lives on Sharon Drive with his wife Debra. Bruce Marshall administered the construction of millions of dollars worth of New Hampshire road and bridge construction while employed with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation from 1987 to 1999 as a Contract Administrator. He also has hands-on experience in the construction industry with everything from surveying and layout to heavy equipment operation as a licensed Professional Civil Engineer. For more than four years, Attorney Marshall was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire.
Attorney Marshall was counsel to the New Hampshire Department of Transportation for everything from employment matters to contract drafting and construction litigation. Attorney Marshall also handled numerous environmental issues for the NHDOT, often in cooperation with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. For the last fourteen years, Attorney Marshall has developed a construction law practice, representing dozens of contractors in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. Attorney Marshall’s practical knowledge of the industry allows him to communicate with clients as one contractor to another or one engineer to another, thus reducing overall litigation costs. He also represents engineering firms as well as developers and owners.

Attorney Marshall’s construction law experience includes everything from obtaining development approvals to drafting of contracts, overseeing the work, addressing construction issues as they arise, payment issues, binding, and related litigation.

Harry Judd, also an attorney, has been on the Board of Selectmen since 2002.

Tax Rates Drop Slightly But Assessments Jump Double Digits So Taxes Rise

$10,000,000 Bond Issue Proposed for Elementary School [PDF]

The Selectmen on July 1 announced that a comprehensive settlement was reached with PSNH, ending 8 years of litigation over the assessment of Merrimack Station. The settlement resolves all matters in dispute and restores the relationship the Town and PSNH, now known as Eversource Energy, enjoyed for over 50 years. As with any settlement, this represents a compromise between the positions held by each party given that PSNH claimed more than $14,000,000 was owed.

In summary, the settlement provides:

1. All outstanding disputes, from 2014 through 2018 are resolved.
2. Being scheduled to start another trial, Bow will not incur the expense of more litigation, which could have been well over $250,000.
3. The assessment on Eversource property in Bow (after the sale of Merrimack Station and Garvin Falls Hydroelectric facility) are stipulated for tax years 2019 through 2023.
4. Eversource agreed to not challenge property tax assessments for tax years 2019 through 2023.
5. The Town will reimburse PSNH $10 million for overpayment of taxes.
6. No additional interest will be paid on the overpayment amount.
7. Thanks to prudent planning by the Town officials, $4,250,000 will be paid in 2019 without additional tax increases. The payments will be:

a. $3.25 million July 10, 2019
b. $500,000 on August 1, 2019
c. $500,000 on December 31, 2019

8. The remainder will be refunded as credits against future property tax obligations of Eversource over four years. The credits will be:

a. $1,550,000 in 2020
b. $1,400,000 in 2021
c. $1,400,000 in 2022
d. $1,400,000 in 2023

If the taxes owed by Eversource are less than the credit, the Town will pay Eversource the balance.

To offset the inevitable reduction in the value of Merrimack Station, Town officials have worked to attract new business investment. Examples of success are the Exel warehouse on Route 3-A and the newly constructed Coastal Forest Products facility on River Road. Since the fall of 2018, over $27 million of new property investment has been constructed in Bow and added at least $725,000 to the tax base at the current rate.

We are confident our business development zone will expand in the years ahead and serve to offset the decline in the assessed value of the Merrimack Station,” said the statement from the Selectmen.

The Selectmen said they were “confident the business district will continue to grow. At the same time, it must be recognized that there will be years of austerity as we transition away from relying on one large commercial taxpayer for the majority of our tax base.”

Property values have risen across Bow and a new re-assessment of properties with higher values will help offset the tax loss of Merrimack Station.

Here is the article that appeared in The Bow Times newspaper regarding the 2019 School Budget.

School Budget for February, 2019

Town and School Elections will be held on Tuesday, March 12, 2019.

The polls are open from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM at the Bow Memorial School.

Town Meeting (in person) will be held on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at 6:30 PM at the Bow High School Auditorium.

School District Meeting (in person) will be held on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 7:00 PM at the Bow High School Auditorium.