5 minute read
Happenings
Cowal Joins NHMA as Municipal Services Counsel
Please join NHMA as we welcome our newest staff member, Jonathan Cowal, to the team.
Jonathan Cowal provides both legislative and legal services to NHMA’s member municipalities. Before joining NHMA, Jonathan served as a prosecutor in both Rockingham and Hillsborough County. Jonathan received his bachelor’s degree from Bridgewater State University and is a 2015 cum laude graduate from New England School of Law in Boston. Jonathan worked briefly as an associate attorney at the law firm of Falbo, Solari and Goldberg in Winthrop, Massachusetts before becoming an Assistant District Attorney for Essex County in 2015. Please join us in welcoming Jonathan Cowal to the NHMA team as our Municipal Services Counsel.
Time to Update Wage & Salary Survey
The time has come again for all member municipalities to review, update and verify their wage and salary information in the Members Features box on NHMA’s landing web page: www.nhmunicipal.org. Please look for “Municipal Wage Data” in your Member Features box as the spot to update this important member information. Every year, NHMA asks our members to update their member compensation information for the online wage survey. The information members provide allows for an annual report of the wages and salaries paid to New Hampshire municipal employees and elected officials. NHMA makes the survey data available to members through its website: www.nhmunicipal.org. Municipal members can use this online tool to make sure that their compensation scale is competitive with other municipalities with comparable populations and budgets. Responding to the wage survey is voluntary, but NHMA encourages all cities and towns to complete it every year, since widespread participation makes the data more useful. The 2022 wage survey will be available for data entry until May 31st!
After Each Election, Update Your Information with NHMA Please Update Your Municipal Roster by May 31st!
Most towns are beginning to hold their town meeting starting in March, so this is a good time to remind members to update their municipal roster. Since town meeting means reelections and new elections, we ask that you take a moment to update your information for our New Hampshire Municipal Officials Directory.
The time has come again for all member municipalities to review, update and verify their information in the Members Features box on NHMA’s landing web page. If you think you have a member account with NHMA, but can’t see the Members Features box shown above, then click the NHMA logo in the upper left-hand corner like a reset button. If your Members Features box appears, then you have membership rights. If your Member Features box does not appear it is likely that you do not yet have a member account with NHMA. Please consult with your Account Administrator, typically someone in supervisory role such as town manager or human resource director, in creating a member account for you.
To maintain the accuracy and timeliness of all submitted information, each municipal member is expected to have one or two persons handle these updates. The deadline is May 31st.
Updating this information each year helps NHMA make sure it can effectively communicate and engage with municipal officials from across the state on legislative activity and opportunities for workshops, webinars, conferences, and other educational and training events.
Deadline is May 31st. This gives the six municipalities with elections in May plenty of time to complete this assignment. As always, we thank you for your help in making the Directory as complete and up to date as possible.
HAPPENINGS from page 5
*NEW* New Hampshire Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) Registry
New Hampshire actively supports the use of AEDs in public and private settings. NH RSA 153-A:33 requires owners to register devices with the Department of Safety within 30 days of acquisition. It has been proven that AED devices significantly improve the chance of survival with a patient experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). It is important to make AEDs accessible in emergencies. Furthermore, the ability to direct 9-1-1 callers to a nearby AED can save a life.
New Hampshire has partnered with PulsePoint AED to manage the registry of AEDs and their locations. PulsePoint is a public, non-profit organization and its core mission is to improve cardiac arrest survival. PulsePoint AED registry integrates with NH 9-1-1 allowing Telecommunicators to inform callers of the exact location of nearby registered AEDs via GPS coordinates.
To enter a new AED, please visit https://aed.new
NHMA Offers Customized “On-Demand” Training Services!
Zoom platform. Thanks to COVID-19, we’re doing things a little differently with our “OnDemands” training. Instead of having a legal services attorney travel to your city or town, we’re now offering “On-Demands” as virtual presentations via the Teams or
Attendees would log in to the training program from the comfort of their home or office and attend virtually, with the ability to ask live questions of the presenting attorney. Please contact us at mailto:legalinquiries@nhmunicipal.org for more information!
NHMA will offer this alternative method of training on a date and time that would be suitable for your board and staff, and you could always invite surrounding member municipalities to participate and contribute to the total cost. The cost is: $400.00 for a 2-hour, virtual On Demand (1 attorney); $550.00 for a 2-hour, in-person On-Demand (1 attorney); and $725.00 for a 3-hour, in person On-Demand for law enforcement (two attorneys).
If interested, please Download Fillable PDF On-Demand Order form on our website and follow instructions.
We represent towns and ci�es throughout the state and bring value to our clients through decades of experience and adhering to the budgetary constraints under which municipali�es operate. We emphasize preven�ve and �mely legal counsel to our clients with a view toward avoiding problems that result in li�ga�on.
Special counsel services include:
Telecommunica�ons Appellate Water U�lity & Infrastructure Tax Assessment Labor & Employment Growth Control Police Eminent Domain Li�ga�on Land Use & Planning Environmental
Also available for conict counsel services
OFFICES IN EXETER, PORTSMOUTH, MEREDITH & CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE
WWW.DTCLAWYERS.COM DONAHUE, TUCKER & CIANDELLA, PLLC
E‐mail: info@DTCLawyers.com Toll Free: (800) 566‐0506 For inquiries please contact Christopher Boldt or Sharon Somers
