Exeter residents push to jumpstart turning 'missing tooth' into downtown park

EXETER — A group of residents have formed an unofficial committee to jumpstart turning a vacant lot, known as the “missing tooth” in downtown Exeter, into a park.

The committee includes a who's who of Exeter, from author Lara Bricker to real estate agent Florence Ruffner.

Dave Short, of the town's Conservation Commission, gave the Select Board an update Monday night on behalf of the group.

He also requested the board's approval to allow them to apply for a state permit "to ready" the property at 23 Water St. for future improvement.

The town's Select Board, however, did not take a vote and continued the discussion until their next meeting. Several members expressed concern they were asked to make a rush decision without having all the information. The board accepted the land donation for the future public park overlooking Exeter River in December, in what they said was also a rush decision.

Short said the group is trying to move the project forward “without using any tax dollars.”

“(We) are willing, if the board so chooses, to serve on an ad hoc committee to move this thing forward,” said Short. “… Right now, what we’re proposing is what I want to call creating a blank slate with no negative impact upon the town."

Calling it “base-level work,” Short said they plan to get the site stabilized by filling in a 35-year-old foundation hole (the remnants of a building that burned to the ground in 1999) on the property. They also want to grate the land and install a fence by the river.

Keith Whitehouse, of the landscaping company Yeti Land Care, and Bell & Flynn construction have agreed to do the work for free.

However, to take advantage of this donation, Short said they need to do the work during their off-season, which is right now.

“Fortunately, or unfortunately, with the weather, that off-season is coming to an end pretty quick,” Short said.

Short said the work would get people excited about the future park and give them a boost in efforts to raise funds for the project.

“If we can get this first phase out of the way, then we can take our time and really think through the design process,” he added.

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Exeter Select Board members air concerns

Select Board Chair Niko Papakonstantis and other board members said they were happy to see volunteers excited about the park but expressed concern with the process.

He said the process from the get-go has been “rushed” and “hasty.”

When they accepted the land donation, he said the plan was to have the town manager work with department heads and the community to develop a formal plan for the future park. He expressed concern that an unofficial committee, not approved by the Select Board, is developing plans without input from other residents and town department heads.

“My biggest pause right now is just making sure that we’re including everybody that wants to be included to work on this,” he said.

Selectwoman Nancy Belanger said she is “concerned” about the speed of the project.

“We have a process, and we are way beyond the process right now,” she said. “I feel like, first of all, we were rushed into accepting this property or not, and we did it because we listened to people… We accepted it, with the understanding we were going to take a good, strong look at this and not rush into anything.”

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Residents push to move park project forward

Lara Bricker called the proposed project a win-win for the town and the volunteers. She said she doesn’t want the town to lose the opportunity of free work “by getting too caught up in the process.”

“We do have a group who are very enthusiastic and ready to work," she said. "We’ve got all sorts of people… people from all walks of life ... that would really like to see this beautified.”

Short said the group has proposed “a very, very small part of what needs to take place down there.”

“The real work is going to start after that, and that process is going to be slowed down,” he said. “Yes, this does seem a little rushed, but I think it’s a necessary relatively minor first step that needs to be taken.”

Florence Ruffner said the conversation was “getting blown out of proportion.”

“To have all these resources, to save the taxpayers money,” she said, “I just don’t understand what the issue is. Nobody said they're gonna go in and decide how the park is going to be done.”

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Board to decide park plan on March 4

Papakonstantis requested the group come back at the next meeting on Monday, March 4, to present the board with a formal plan that lays out the specific scope of work proposed.

"It's tight, but we're trying to (make it) work here," he said, referring to the project timeline.

Selectwoman Molly Cowan said it is “important” to lay out the details of the project before the board could approve it.

“I understand that some people might think that this is a no-brainer,” she said. “… It is helpful to have an understanding… of all those things laid out in a process, in a scope of work, like we would do for anything else.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter residents push to turn downtown vacant lot into park