Pretty boring Selectmen’s meeting tonight. That’s a good thing. One item of interest though was a letter proposed by Parks and Rec director Ethan Hipple to our State Senator Jeb Bradley. Ethan drafted the letter and was asking for board endorsement.
The letter encourages Jeb to vote against an impending senate bill that would repeal the state law against discharge of firearms in public places. Ethan reports that the association of parks and rec directors has looked into this and has determined that passage would essentially allow anyone to fire their gun, presumably into the air, at will. At the beach, at little league games, you know – anywhere. Pretty much just like cowboys from a cattle drive when they arrive in a new town and get a little whiskey in them.
Good wholesome fun.
Or like news clips of celebrating militias in the Middle East firing their AK47s in the air. Good harmless fun. We all know how assault rifles have made those places safe. No worries.
The Selectmen, after making sure there was an existing provision for ceremonial discharge (military funerals, ceremonial rally’s etc.), were in agreement. So am I.
But what if they pass it anyway? I think the appropriate thing to do is have a few people show up at every public appearance of Jeb and other approving Senators to fire their guns. Riding a horse would be a nice touch.
wolfeblog 
Did the Board discuss its priorities for the coming year?
No, except to th extent that they reviewed the Master Plan. Relative to what you are interested in, the Town Manager reported on a follow up with the fire chief to inform the board that a new call firefighter was added to the roster, bringing the total to seven. Apparently this person is a former Wolfeboro firefighter now employed by Rochester. The TM also reported that they will be attempting to add more call firefighters in the near future.
That would bring the number of on-call “members” including the non-firefighter Chaplain and the non- firefighter EMT to seven (7) . It brings the number of on-call firefghters to five (5).
The Town of Wolfeboro’s “2007 MASTER PLAN SUMMARY” which highlights the recommendations and actions that are required to implement the “2007 Master Plan” can be found on the towns website at the Town Planner’s page:
http://www.wolfeboronh.us/Pages/WolfeboroNH_Planning/index.
It downloads as a pdf file that you can view in Adobe Reader.
The Master Plan is an important document to be familiar with because the Board of Selectmen rely on it heavily in making their decisions and the Board has specific responsibilities under it including appointing the Master Plan Implementation Committee. The Master Plan is also important because its main purpose is to guide municipal land-use planning. “All New Hampshire communities are required by state law, RSA 674:1 and 2, to develop a Master Plan as the foundation of municipal land-use planning. It provides the policy framework for justifying land-use regulations as well as the basis for evaluating development proposals. The master plan also offers an opportunity for forging community consensus on growth and development issues.” (Wolfeboro Master Plan Summary 2007, page i)
“Wolfeboro’s master plan is unique in that it goes well beyond serving as the foundation of land-use regulations. This master plan includes “Bricks and Border” projects that are inextricably linked to the land-use recommendations put forth this plan.” (Wolfeboro Master Plan Summary 2007, page i)
Anyone, who wants to see the big picture plan for Wolfeboro, should take the time to peruse this relatively short and easy to read summary of our Master Plan.