Bulk Leaf Collection has been paused temporarily, as equipment and crews have switched over to snow removal and plowing. As weather permits, crews anticipate resuming Bulk Leaf Collection this week.
Bagged Leaf Collection has ended, but the Fort Eddy Road Reprocessing Center will be open by appointment only for the winter season.
More information, maps, and FAQs about Fall Leaf Collection are here: www.concordnh.gov/leafcollection.
Thanks to everyone for coming out for our 19th Annual Penacook Tree Lighting event. The tree and our downtown look great! Here is the video. Thank you for ConcordTV.
The wreaths for the Wreaths Across America event on Saturday, December 14 have arrived. The event is an opportunity to honor our Veterans, past and present. Ceremonies will take place around the city on Saturday morning, including at Woodlawn Cemetery, 130 Village Street, at 10:30 am, and at Horse Hill / River Hill Cemetery, Horse Hill Road and Elm Street, at 11:30 am.
An inaugural stroll/tour of our new Canal Street Riverfront Park will take place at noon on Monday, December 16. Stop by for a preview look!
The fencing will be coming down sometime next week, as construction wraps up for this season, to be continued in the spring. City Council has just approved changes to the parking regulations around the new park, allowing for 10 hour parking at the 19 spaces in the new parking lot and at the 30 spaces on Canal Street. Council also approved a CAT bus stop at the park.
The Penacook Library and Activities Center opened on Thursday December 5.
Branch library hours will be:
Mondays 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Thursdays 1:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Fridays 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Additionally, there will be Seniors Programming hours:
Tuesdays 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Wednesdays 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Thursdays 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
The space will be used for Library events, and by the Parks & Recreation Department for additional events, including SPARC (Sports, Play, Arts, Recreation & CommUNITY Club) program activities. The space will be available for other community uses and rentals soon.
Concord Parks & Recreation senior programming at the Center begins on Tuesday December 17. Hours will be:
Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Thursdays 9:00 am to noon.
The old Penacook Library on Merrimack Street closed on Monday, November 18. A project to collect Library memories has begun. If you have photos, stories, or thoughts you'd like to share, please send them to santhony@concordnh.gov.
If you missed the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the City has made a video available.
Work progresses on the Penacook Canal Street Riverfront Park. Although the official opening will be this Spring, construction fencing will be removed later this month [December], allowing access to the park and its walkways. Please feel free to visit the park once the barriers are down! Park walkway paving has been completed, along with fencing and railings along the riverfront and laying sod for the grassed areas. There will be some blockades placed requesting foot traffic stay off of the newly planted and seeded areas. “Canoe” style benches are expected to be installed before the winter, as well as construction of the framework for the entrance sign and interpretive signs. Signage is currently in design and expected to be installed in the spring, with other final touches (bus shelter, bike racks).
The same design team from the Canal Street Park has been hired to work on the renovation of our Riverside Park on Tanner Street. Concord City staff had an internal kickoff meeting last week with the designers. We expect their survey team to start work at the park documenting existing conditions soon. A community input meeting will be planned for sometime in the coming months. Updates will be posted here as they become available.
The Penacook Village Association's Annual Meeting will be held on Monday, November 18 at 6:30 pm at the Penacook Elementary School cafeteria, with guest speakers NH Senator-elect Tara Reardon and NH Representative-elect Jim Snodgrass, who will discuss issues related to Penacook and the State and take your questions.
The Penacook Village Association will be hosting the 19th Annual Penacook Tree Lighting ceremony on Wednesday, December 4 at Boudreau Square on Village Street. Attendees can assemble around 5:30 pm to hear carols and singing, featuring the Penacook Elementary School Chorus and Blanchard Family Singers, and watch Santa arrive courtesy of the Concord Fire Department.
The PVA will hold its annual meeting on Monday, November 18, at 6:30 pm, in the cafeteria at the Penacook Elementary School, 60 Village St.
In addition to electing Board members, we will have as guest speaker the new representatives from our State legislature. Details to follow after the election results are determined.
The 2024 General Election is on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
Polls are open from 7 am to 7 pm.
Information about the boundaries of wards and congressional and state districts has been posted on a new page on this website that includes links to current incumbents if you want to contact any level of representative.
The Ballot this year will also include a ballot question:
Ballot Question
Are you in favor of amending article 78 of the second part of the constitution to read as follows: [Art.] 78. [Judges and Sheriffs, When Disqualified by Age.] No person shall hold the office of sheriff of any county, after the person has attained the age of seventy years. No person shall hold the office of judge of any court after the person has attained the age of seventy-five years.
[A "yes" vote supports increasing the mandatory judicial retirement age from 70 to 75.
A "no" vote opposes increasing the mandatory judicial retirement age from 70 to 75.]
Sample ballots can be viewed at the City of Concord Elections/Voter Information page.
The primary election is Tuesday, September 10, and voting for Ward 1 occurs in the Merrimack Valley High School gymnasium, 106 Village Street. Parking will be available in the Merrimack Valley High School Student Parking Lot to access the gymnasium entrance. Polls will be open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.
Please note that school will be in session on Tuesday, September 10, so voters will be sharing the space with students.
The general election is Tuesday, November 5, and Concord Area Transit (CAT) bus service is offering a free, round trip Voter Shuttle service on November 5. Anyone can be picked up from a requested location and dropped off at the polls. The service will come back a short time later for the return trip. To reserve a seat, call CAT at 603-225-1989 to schedule the service no later than 2:30 pm November 4. If you need a ride to the September 10 primary, call CAT and they will try to assist.
The recording of the August 7 PVA meeting "Community Power Program – What this means for Penacook" is available here:
Those of you who have already received in the mail a document from Community Power of New Hampshire regarding changes to your electric bill may have questions, and a helpful resource is this seven-minute video:
The video outlines the available options and how to make changes. If you don't make any changes, you will be automatically entered into Community Power, which will launch with your meter reading in October (which you'll see on your November electric bill). The service website where you can make changes or opt-out is available at https://www.communitypowernh.gov/concord.
Your electric utility will not change. Community Power will appear on your monthly electric bill as your electricity supplier. You can always opt-out by submitting a notice before your next utility meter read date. Community Power is a non-profit organization that accesses the power market and can provide rates lower than those of Unitil and Eversource.
There are cost savings associated with Community Power compared to our current rates. The default service option that you will be enrolled in is called Granite Plus. This chart identifies Granite Plus and the other options available, along with costs:
The repainted tennis courts at Rolfe Park are now available. The two tennis courts also now have four pickleball courts painted for use with portable pickleball nets. These before and after photos show the upgrade:
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on August 9 for our new Penacook Community Center, which will house the Penacook Library and Activity Center. The video from the event is here:
More details will be provided soon on the opening of our new library branch and a schedule of planned Library and Parks & Rec activities.
Concord TV recorded the informational meeting "Community Power Program – What this means for Penacook" on Wednesday, August 7 at 6:30 pm. Thank you, Concord TV!
The Penacook Village Association is hosting a free informational meeting "Community Power Program – What this means for Penacook" on Wednesday, August 7 at 6:30 pm at the Merrimack Valley High School auditorium, 106 Village Street, Penacook. The City has joined as a member of the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire to allow residents an option for lower-priced electricity supply, scheduled to start this October. Representatives from Concord's Energy and Environment Advisory Committee will present information about the program and answer your questions. Information can also be found on the City's web page here.
On Saturday, August 17 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Concord and the Penacook Community Center (PCC) are sponsoring an open house preview of the new center at 76 Community Drive with a free Summer Carnival. You can take a tour of the rebuilt PCC facilities and enjoy carnival games and the new playground. Fun for all ages, and a great way to find out what the new center has to offer.
Concord City Council will hold a public hearing at its August 12 meeting, 7:00 pm in City Council Chambers, 37 Green Street, regarding a zoning amendment that would give the Planning Board authority with a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to allow new buildings up to 90' tall (about 8 stories) in and around Main Street in downtown Concord. The current regulation of an 80 foot height limit for Concord's downtown buildings was put in place so as to not obstruct views of the State House dome from the highway, and has also served indirectly as a protection for the historic buildings.
This same zoning regulation applies to the historic buildings in Penacook's village center, and it will be confirmed that the amendment ordinance language will exclude Penacook.
The City's April 17, 2024, report to the Planning Board states at page 5 that the "impact to historic buildings is difficult to predict." The goal is for the new ordinance to remove unpredictability and not incentivize demolition of historic, architectural, or culturally significant buildings. You can send your thoughts to the City Clerk, cityclerk@concordnh.gov, or attend the meeting on August 12. The proposed ordinance and other related documents can be found here.
A full measure and list property revaluation as mandated by the State of New Hampshire is beginning in Concord. The last full valuation occurred in 1990. Representatives of Vision Government Solutions Inc., who will be carrying photo IDs and wearing identifiable neon vests, will be conducting interior and exterior inspections of all properties to verify the accuracy of information currently listed. The goal of this project is to ensure that all city property assessments are at full and true market value, to provide fairness to all taxpayers. Properties where improvements have been made that aren't reflected in the current data (adding a bathroom, finishing a basement, etc.), will see their valuations increase to reflect those improvements. Inspections are scheduled to start in the City's South End and will continue through next year. You can visit the City's revaluation web page for more information, including a map of the neighborhoods and list of addresses where inspections will occur.
Property revaluation can sometimes cause concern or confusion. If the revaluation raises your property assessment above its current level, that doesn't mean your taxes will increase by the same percentage. For example, if your property is currently assessed at $250,000 and the revaluation determines it is now valued at $500,000, that does not mean your taxes will double. It just means your property value has doubled. After the City and School Districts determine their budgets each spring, the NH Department of Revenue Administration will set a tax rate with the objective of generating sufficient revenue to cover the budgets. Residents always have opportunities to weigh in on the budget process.
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Penacook Village Association is exempt from federal income tax under sec. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code. Contributions to the Penacook Village Association are deductible under sec. 170(b)(1)(a) of the code. Tax ID 27-0511386.
Penacook Village Association, P.O. Box 6174, Penacook, NH 03303 | Copyright 2019, Penacook Village Association