City Briefly

Concord does good
Donations galore!
City Manager Tom Aspell must have been jumping for joy while writing this week’s memo due to all the nice things Concord residents have been doing.
While wiping away tears of gratitude from his eyes, Tom writes that the Concord Human Services Department recently received some very generous and timely donations. He writes, “The department was surprised and pleased to receive 25 beautiful Easter baskets from Alice Blodgett of Friends of Forgotten Children. As Alice left the parking lot, an anonymous donor arrived with a large bag of hygiene products for the pantry.”
That’s on top of the phone cards donated by Carolyn Tracy, retired recreation director, given just the day prior.
Oh, and there’s even more. According to Tom’s memo, Beaver Meadow Golf Course Manager Sid Chase delivered a large donation of food that was collected from the course’s driving range promotion.
He continues, “To cap off this display of generosity, just as the department was running out of the original 25 Easter baskets, Deb Bourbeau of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services dropped off 10 more baskets, another wonderful surprise. Many thanks go out to all of these donors.”
City, you’ve made Tom proud.

Prepping driveways!
They’re baaaaack
Tom wanted you all to know that Continental Paving is back to cleaning up from last year’s projects on Dwinnel Drive, Short Street, Prince Street and Federal Street as of April 13.
“Work will consist of cleaning up behind the curb, raising the covers up for the paving overlay, and prepping driveways and joints at the ends of the streets. Work is estimated to be completed on all streets by the end of May, weather dependent,” Tom writes.
Let’s hope the pesky weather stays out of the way.

Construction time
Fisherville Road
In his memo, Tom writes, “Construction of the Phase I improvements continue with curb and sidewalk construction along Fisherville Road.”
Yippy skippy.
He continues, “Next week’s work will include constructing sidewalks from Scott Avenue to Bog Road, behind the newly installed granite curbing; and continuing to address punch list items remaining from winter shutdown. R.H. White has begun installation of a new gas main at Sylvester Street, working north to complete the gas main section just south of Bog Road.”
Tom then puts on his best authoritative voice and writes, “As always, traffic delays are to be expected. As a reminder to the traveling public, please slow down prior to entering the construction zones – delays are frustrating but speeding through a work zone is costly and dangerous.”
Yes, dad, um – we mean, Tom.

Tae kwon do talk
Board breaking
Moving on from all that construction talk, Tom writes that this past Tuesday the Recreation Department’s Tae Kwon Do class celebrated its last class with a board breaking ceremony. According to Tom, Instructor Daniel Jung helped students prepare for this accomplishment and then all of the students, ages 5- to 10-years-old, broke boards.
We’re sure Tom was jealous he couldn’t get in on that board-breaking action.
For more information on the next session of Tae Kwon Do, which starts on April 28, visit onconcord.com/recreation or call 225-8690.

Fascinating!!
Street sweeping
According to Tom, on Monday, the contracted street sweeper began early morning sweeping in the metered downtown area, followed by sweeping of the residential areas.
Wait! It gets even better! “For the past couple weeks, the General Services Department staff has been blowing the sand off the sidewalks in preparation for the street sweeping. The sweeping will take two to three weeks to complete.” Wow, Tom. You really got swept away with this one.

Vibrant parking news
Paint the town
What’s more exciting than watching paint dry? Reading about paint drying.
Tom writes, “For the past couple weeks, General Services Department staff has been re-painting parking stalls as weather permits. After the parking stalls are complete, the crew will begin re-painting arrows and other street markings.”
According to Tom, the crosswalks are contracted out and will be re-striped after July 1.

New toy for tree crew
Chip away
The General Services Department has all the fun. According to Tom, the department recently purchased a new chipper for its tree crew. The new chipper replaces one that was approximately 16 years old and has many new safety features and added capacity to promote greater production and efficiency, our beloved city manager notes.
“The new chipper can chip a tree that is 16 inches in diameter in a matter of seconds,” Tom writes, clearly impressed.

Now open:
Beaver Meadow
Good news for golfers! Tom writes in his memo that Beaver Meadow Golf Course is scheduled to open for its 113th season on April 14, weather permitting. The Pro Shop hours of operation, once the course opens on Tuesday, are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and weekends from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Golf on!