Portsmouth must do more to reduce negative impact of Brick Market work: Letters
Portsmouth must do more to reduce negative impact of Brick Market work
June 14 — To the Editor:
Day after day, for more than two years, the Brick Market construction has had a negative impact on businesses within blocks going in all directions from the corner of Daniel and Penhallow streets in Portsmouth.
Some businesses have been in this area for decades, others for a couple of years. No matter, the strain is felt by all. The pandemic compounded this.
I will take Ceres Bakery as an example, though my concern is for all the proprietors. Penny Brewster has owned her business since 1980, and has been on Penhallow Street since 1983. The noise, dirt in your face, blocking of street traffic and parking is more than she should have to tolerate! And you know this project has a long way to go before these streets and sidewalks are back to some semblance of order.
This morning I rode through town at 6:10. Pickup trucks lined Penhallow Street. I biked around and came back about 7:45 just as Penny was entering her business. This is what I saw; trucks from pickups to an 18 wheeler, a large equipment trailer on one truck, some sort of “cherry picker” (but twice the size) was extended up to the roof at the corner of Daniel and Penhallow. Dozens of workers scurried around or stood watching as a scene from a Richard Scarry book evolved. Traffic was blocked.
Another work day for Penny Brewster, another day of lost revenue because the area is not accessible! I couldn’t safely ride there on my bike and pedestrians were in the middle of confusion.
The city needs to do a better job in mitigating the impact on the many small businesses in this area. We shouldn’t be harming small businesses for the sake of a big development.
I know McNabb Industries is paying for the parking spaces. Big deal! Those vehicles that come in early morning and sit there for hours while owners are working should be parking at the metered lot two blocks down towards the bridge. Mark McNabb can pay for those spaces and that would free up parking for customers who are the ones who have to park “off site." The city has to make this change now!
Mary Lou McElwain
Portsmouth
Eco-municipality? Petro-municipality would be more honest for Portsmouth
June 10 — To The Editor:
According to the Portsmouth city website: The City Council voted unanimously to declare Portsmouth an eco-municipality in 2007 and signed a resolution which fully acknowledges Portsmouth's commitment and desire to become more sustainable using the four sustainability principles from The Natural Step by making thoughtful, insightful decisions that will benefit the community as a whole. The first of the four steps is:
Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels and extracted underground metals and minerals.
That was 15 years ago and, as far as I can tell, we still haven’t taken that first step. To say that we are moving towards reduction of dependence on fossil fuels at a glacial rate is an insult to glaciers which, sadly, are receding at a much faster pace than we are taking meaningful action to prevent them from doing so.
I understand the political reality that a sizable portion of the community views bikes as either exercise equipment or as toys for kids. They believe that streets are only for cars, that the only respectable way for an adult to travel even the shortest distance is in a 4,000-pound steel cage, and that bicycles are entirely impractical for everyday transportation. I know this is untrue because I have been using my bike as my primary mode of transportation in all kinds of weather for the past 15 years because it is so convenient, cost effective, and practical. Riding a bike in Portsmouth is so much faster and easier than having to wait in traffic and search for parking.
What is needed to get people out of their cars and onto bikes is a paradigm shift. And that takes leadership. But if what I am suggesting is too quixotic can we at least choose a moniker that better reflects our reality? Petro-municipality would be more honest.
Jonathan Sandberg
Portsmouth
Rye town workers need better office space as soon as possible
June 14 — To the Editor:
I have lived in Rye for nearly 30 years and when I recently went into town hall to get a 2022 beach sticker, I was shocked! The town clerk and her small staff were working in horrendous conditions, large boxes making an already cramped area fundamentally unsafe.
Rye is a small town with many natural and human resources; the town hall has been a vexing issue for a number of years. In fact, the TD Bank property in the center of Rye is scheduled to become an annex to the town hall by the end of 2022. I can't help but ask why the town clerk and her staff couldn't have moved into the bank before it was gutted when its configuration as a bank could easily have been adapted to the needs of the town and its administrative staff.
I am hopeful a recent change in the town administrator will address the awful working conditions I observed in Rye's town hall and will keep voters informed about the fiscal and building decisions in a timely and forthright manner.
Ronnie Flaschner
Rye
Here are some commonsense ways to prevent firearm violence
June 15 — To the Editor:
Every day 124 people are killed by firearms in the United States. The recent headlines of mass shootings, school shootings, and the increase of suicides and homicides during the pandemic has brought this issue to the forefront again. We must intervene as a unified public to decrease this senseless violence.
As a father, pediatrician, and responsible firearm owner, I support commonsense measures to prevent firearm violence.
A bipartisan panel of senators in Washington, D.C. has announced a proposal to decrease the threat of firearm violence. This reasonable proposal includes improved safety measures at schools, funding for mental health initiatives, expanded background checks for firearm buyers under age 21, and expanding background checks to include convicted domestic violence abusers.
There is a long history of responsible firearm ownership in Maine and New Hampshire. Families have been hunting and fishing together for centuries. This bipartisan effort is a good balance of protecting constitutional rights while taking real steps to keep weapons from those seeking to cause harm.
What are some individual actions we can take to protect the innocent? We could make a major difference if each of us acts:
1. Contact your U.S. senator to tell them you support the bipartisan proposal to curb firearm violence.
a. New Hampshire residents: Jeanne Shaheen (202) 224-2841; Margaret Wood Hassan (202) 224-3324.
b. Maine residents – Susan Collins (202) 224-2523; Angus King (202) 224-5344.
2. Secure all firearms. If there is a firearm in your home, especially if children live there, make sure it is locked with the ammunition separate from it.
3. Talk to your kids about firearm safety. The ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Campaign urges parents: If your child is going to play at a home where they have not been before, ask if there is a firearm in that home.
Dan Hale, M.D., FAAP, SFHM
Kittery, Maine
Dr. Hale is a board member of the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
(Sources: CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association)
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth must do more to reduce harm of Brick Market work: Letters
