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Existing Highway Department garage/maintenace facility
The Highway garage/maintenance facility consists of a wooden structure dating from 1930 or possibly earlier, (No exact date has been verified.) located behind the Fire and Police Stations and Town Hall and abutting what is now a residential neighborhood. The total building is 2,670 square feet; the two bay portion of the building is the only heated area and amounts to 1,140 square feet. At one end is the salt storage area of 330 square feet, and on the other end there is a 360 square foot storage area for hanging a spreader, and keeping lawn mowers, grass trimmers, and hand tools. There is a lean-to of 840 square feet where three vehicles are partially covered. The tight space limits the amount of salt and sand that can be purchased and stored. The salt storage bin, open on one side, holds about 55 tons and, depending upon the size of a
storm, the Department might haul about 44 tons in a day. One year there was no local source for additional salt and the Town was on a waiting list in Boston; the Highway Agent managed to get one load that had to be used sparingly. The sand is outside, totally exposed. Sometimes it freezes and the large chunks will not go through the spreader screens. In a couple of very wet and cold years the sand pile froze solid, and chunks had to be brought inside to thaw before the sand could be used.
Description and discussion of current and proposed facilities
The existing wooden structure used by the Highway Department does not meet environmental or workplace-safety regulations. The building itself is not fire-resistant. Recently it was necessary to replace the cracked furnace. There is no exhaust system similar to the one employed by the Fire Department. There is no bathroom and, while there is water, there is no sink There is no area where workers can have lunch, supper, or get something warm when coping with winter night snowstorms. The floor drain had to be blocked to adhere to EPA standards because there is no oil-water separator. (Remedies for improperly connected floor drains available to North Hampton were: 1) permanently seal the floor drain (the option North Hampton took); and 2) connect to a registered holding tank). The sealing of
the drain with concrete does not, of course, remedy the possible contamination from seventy years' usage on the site. Now inches of salty water must be swept out of the garage after it melts and before it reaches electrical outlets. The washing and rinsing of vehicles after storm duty is difficult as door locks, windows, and control cables freeze up, and there is little space in the heated portion of the garage and no drainage. At present sand is stored outside of the Highway Garage; and salt in a bin attached to the Garage that is exposed on one side. New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services [DES] notes that salt storage facilities can have a greater potential for causing water pollution than its application on roads. It states in Environmental Fact Sheet: Road Salt and Water Quality [FYI at http://www.des.state.nh.us/factsheets/wmb/wmb-4.htm ] "for maximum environmental protection, salt storage facilities should be roofed and paved, with adequate drainage controls to prevent runoff water from contacting salt."
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