You may not realize it, but every member elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from a district in Merrimack County also becomes a member of the Merrimack County Delegation. The delegation votes on the budget and various county expenditures proposed by your county commissioners.
We would like to bring the citizens of Merrimack County up to date on capital improvements being made to our county facilities, including our correctional facilities, county attorney’s office, administrative offices and the county courthouse. These major projects will benefit our county for many years to come.
First, most of the buildings in the Concord campus on North Main Street have been taken off Concord Steam and converted to other heating systems since that has become the most expensive provider and will no longer be available after next year.
This is part of a larger program to realize savings on energy and heating costs in all county facilities. The county has started to replace lighting in all our buildings with low-power and high-efficiency LED lights; install new, energy-efficient windows; replace outdated and inefficient HVAC systems and controls; and convert inefficient heat plants to natural gas and bio-mass heating systems.
This work, which began in July, is anticipated to reduce the county’s utility budget by 27 percent, as well as to reduce future maintenance costs.
Secondly, the old county jail in Boscawen, known as the McKenna Building, is being renovated and redeveloped to serve as a community corrections center. This facility is expected to be completed in 2017 and will allow approximately 70 inmates, males and females, to access treatment, counseling and work-release programs, and provide those incarcerated with an opportunity to become responsible citizens.
The delegation has strong hopes that this will be an effective tool to work with offenders who have substance abuse and mental health disorders, and will help them to be more successful when they return to our communities.
Lastly, the state is working with Merrimack County to build a new superior court in Concord behind the existing historic courthouse on North Main Street. The contracts for this project are now being finalized and it is anticipated that cost savings will be at least $1 million when compared to the original project proposed on Hazen Drive.
Your county employees, whom we think are among the very best in the state, and your legislators, who do their county duties for the same $100 a year that they are paid to be in the House, have been working hard to improve the efficiency and operations of county facilities to serve the people of Merrimack County now and into the future.
(Rep. Dianne Schuett of Pembroke is chair of the Merrimack County Delegation. Rep. David Luneau of Hopkinton is chair of the Merrimack County Facilities Subcommittee.)