Candidates Night will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20, in the selectmen's meeting room on the second floor of Town Hall. The program will also be broadcast live on Seabrook's cable access Channel 22.
All candidates running for office on the town and Seabrook and Winnacunnet school district levels are invited to attend, according to the event's organizer, Owen Latham. As in years past, former Town Clerk Virginia Small and Latham will be the moderators and present the same three questions to all candidates.
This method ensures all candidates receive the same exposure prior to the election, which takes place on Tuesday, March 11.
Each candidate will have time for a brief statement answering why he or she wishes to serve in the office he or she is seeking, his or her qualifications and how Seabrook will benefit by his or her election.
The telephone number and e-mail address of each candidate are requested so residents can contact them before March 11 with questions.
Because seating is limited in the room, candidates will be given seating preference, Latham said. Residents who do not have cable service and cannot receive Channel 22 will be able to watch the live broadcast at the Recreation Center, on Route 1.
For more information on the event, contact Latham, 603-474-3732, or at owenlatham@juno.com.
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Every year about this time, town officials publish Seabrook's Annual Report. The handy book provides information about every agency, board and commission in town government. Lists of births, deaths, marriage certificates, last year's and this year's town warrants are also included.
According to Town Hall staff, the book is at the printers now and is due at Town Hall by Feb. 22. Shortly after that it will be mailed to residents. Copies will also be available at Town Hall.
This year's cover will illustrate important guests that visited Seabrook last summer: a nesting family of osprey, according to Town Manager Scott Dunn.
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Barry Miller Well and Pump Service won the bid to clean and refurbish the town's gravel pack well No. 7. The low bidder at $17,000, the company also worked on rock well 5 after it was hit by lightning last summer.
Water Superintendent Mike Jeffers hopes to clean three of the town's 10 wells. Once completed, the work should allow the wells to pump at a higher capacity. Should this happen, the town may not need to order a partial water ban this summer, but nothing is set in stone, he said.
Exploration has produced at least six new test wells that look promising and could produce more water if brought on-line permanently. The money to develop the wells would be authorized by Town Warrant Article 5.
The article asks voters for permission to transfer $1.7 million from its current account to a Water Reserve Capital Reserve Fund for use in new well development. The $1.7 million is left over from a $3.6 million article voters approved in 2003 for the installation of townwide residential water meters and a number of water studies.
Even with the possibility of more water, Jeffers said the water from the new wells would not be able to get to town faucets if the water treatment plant isn't built. The new wells — like other town wells — carry more than 10 parts per billion of arsenic, above the amount allowed by law.
Once the water ban is lifted, however, Jeffers has this word of caution. Because the town now bills for water by the amount used, residents should still be careful not to waste it.
"Once the ban is lifted, people shouldn't start watering their lawn with abandon," Jeffers said recently. "People are now paying for water by the amount they use, especially if it's over 60,000 gallons a year."
Angeljean Chiaramida covers Seabrook for The Daily News. She can be reached at 978-462-6666, ext. 3271, or by e-mail at achiaramida@newburyportnews. com.
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