On December 20, 2014, The Exeter Area Lions Club will raffle off a 265cc Toro Premium OHV 4-Cyle Snowblower provided by Perkins Lawnmower Service. The funds raised will be used to offset the costs of food baskets for the needy during the holiday season. Tickets are 1 for $5 or 3 for $10. If you are interested in purchasing a ticket please contact Karen Baillargeon at 778-8496 or kebail@comcast.net.
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Chris Boldt to Present NH Planner-Palooza on Vested Rights in NH
Attorney Chris Boldt has once again been asked by the NH Planners Association to be one of its speakers for the 2014 Planner-Palooza on Friday, November 7, 2104 at the Concord Holiday Inn. This year, Chris will be part of a round-table discussion on vested rights with Attorneys Ari Pollack, Peter Loughlin and Stephen Buckley. Using a series of theoretical scenarios, this roundtable will explore both statutory and case law to help planners understand the applicability and scope of vested rights in the Granite State. Tim Corwin, NHPA’s Legislative Liaison, will moderate a panel of legal experts to help provide planners a strong foundation in this often confusing area of the law. For more information and on-line registration, please go to http://tinyurl.com/NHPlannerPalooza.
Attorney Pasay Selected for Promotion to Lieutenant Commander
Attorney Justin Pasay, a JAG in the Naval Reserve, was recently selected for promotion to Lieutenant Commander. He will officially assume his new rank in fiscal year 2015. Prior to starting with DTC, Justin spent several years as an active duty JAG where he served as a prosecutor, Staff Judge Advocate and defense attorney. Justin also deployed to Iraq for much of 2009 and was attached to an Army unit located in Baghdad. Congratulations, Justin!!
DTC Offers Estate Planning in our Meredith Office
DTC Lawyers is pleased to be expanding our practice in the Lakes Region to include estate planning in our Meredith office. We now have Attorney Kate Miller and Attorney Patrick Collins available to meet with clients locally there. To kick off the expansion of our practice, we presented a seminar on estate planning, free and open to the public, held at the Meredith Community Center. According to Attorney Miller, “There have been a lot of changes in the laws in recent years, and many folks don’t even know where to begin with estate planning, or whether their current documents need to be updated. The seminar was designed to provide some guidance.” Lakes Region residents who missed the seminar but would like to set up a meeting with one of our attorneys in Meredith to discuss estate planning are encouraged to contact our assistant, Laurie Brothers in our Meredith office, at lbrothers@dtclawyers.com. We look forward to welcoming new clients to our Meredith office this fall!
Attorney Chris Boldt to present 2014 Municipal Law Lecture on The Zoning Board of Adjustment in NH
Attorney Chris Boldt has once again been asked by the NH Municipal Association to be one of its speakers for the 2014 Municipal Law Lecture Series scheduled for four Wednesday evenings in September and October at venues throughout the State. This year, Chris will present The ZBA in NH, addressing the powers and duties of the ZBA in addressing variances, special exceptions, appeals of administrative decisions and equitable waivers. For more information and on-line registration, please go to www.nhmunicipal.org.
DTC Team Wins Second Place in the 2014 Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament
On August 15, 2014, the team of Mark Smith, full time adventurer, Scott Beattie, Commercial Lender, Exeter area for The Provident Bank, Erik Potts, financial planner with Baystate Financial Services, Exeter office and DTC’s Beth MacDonald, shot a six under 29 to claim 2nd. The tournament was played at Breakfast Hill Golf Club in Greenland, New Hampshire.
Please Join Us: Free Estate Planning Seminar
On September 10, 2014, DTC estate planning attorneys Charlie Tucker, Kate Miller and Patrick Collins will hold a complimentary seminar at the Meredith Community Center, 1 Circle Drive in Meredith, New Hampshire from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Learn about the basics of estate planning and recent changes in New Hampshire and Federal Law. Light refreshments will be provided. If you would like to attend please RSVP to mswasey@dtclawyers.com.
DTC Attorneys Present Seminars for Planners and Local Officials on Telecommunications Infrastructure and Broadband
Attorneys Rob Ciandella and Kate Miller presented two programs on “Telecommunications Infrastructure in NH” and “Making the Connection: What Communities Need to Know About Broadband and Telecommunications,” sponsored by the Central NH Regional Planning Commission in Concord and Bow on June 10, 2014. The seminars supported the work of local planning commissions to develop broadband plans for their communities. The presentation covered the basics of cable TV franchise law, wireless facility permitting and the importance of a robust planning process for protecting and enhancing broadband opportunities in our cities and towns. Enhanced broadband opportunities in our communities will bring greater economic development, strengthening the local and state economies. The take-away message from the seminars: planning and enacting legislative initiatives at the local level, including telecommunications zoning ordinances, selectmen’s ordinances and Master Plans, are key to fostering greater deployment of broadband infrastructure, including facilities of cable TV operators, competitive internet service providers, incumbent and competitive telephone companies.
Finally, Some Good News from the IRS for Small Non-Profits
By Katherine B. Miller, Esq.
For years, I have represented small non-profit organizations as they have struggled with an unwieldy form to apply to the IRS for recognition of tax exempt status. This application process is necessary for organizations to be deemed tax exempt pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) (for charities) and the other subsections, such as 501(c)(4) for social welfare organizations. Currently, there is only one IRS form, Form 1023, which is used by large, well-heeled private foundations and the smallest, local organizations alike.
For small, struggling non-profits, the same form is also required for reinstatement, if the organization’s tax exempt status is revoked by the IRS for failure to file the appropriate documents with the IRS for three years in a row. For those organizations, completing the whole application a second time can be a real hurdle.
Now, the IRS has announced it has a draft Form 1023-EZ, just like other “EZ” tax forms, to make it easier for small organizations. The draft form should be available on the IRS website shortly, www.irs.gov
Not only will this make it easier for small organizations to be recognized as tax exempt by the IRS in the first place, it will provide a streamlined process for applying for reinstatement, should the organization’s tax exempt status be revoked by the IRS for failure to file annual reports. This should be a real improvement for small organizations, and should allow more of their dollars to go to their tax exempt purposes instead of towards paperwork. Now that’s what I call good news!
DTC Receives Workforce Housing Coalition Employer Leadership Award
DTC was recently recognized by the Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Seacoast at its Annual Celebration and 2014 Leadership Awards presentation. DTC received the Employer Leadership Award as an active community participant going the extra mile over the years to ensure that workers in the Greater Seacoast Region of New Hampshire and Maine have more housing opportunities available to them.
The Coalition specifically recognized DTC for its early and persistent support of the Coalition’s efforts to raise the area’s workforce housing deficit to the attention of our communities and their leaders. Ashlee Iber, Executive Director of the Coalition, in presenting the award to DTC, cited DTC’s early sponsorship with the NH Charitable Foundation, the NH Housing Finance Agency and other like-minded NH public and business organizations, to underwrite Communities and Consequences, a documentary film produced by Jay Childs and Justin Frances, as well as the companion book written by Peter Francese and Lorraine Stuart Merrill, the ongoing forums and local zoning changes that resulted, as well as DTC’s many advocacy efforts in multiple Seacoast communities on behalf of affordable housing projects.
In accepting the award on behalf of DTC, Michael Donahue acknowledged the Coalition’s many achievements, including two recent successful Mill conversion projects in Dover, as well as ongoing initiatives the Coalition and its active Board of Directors had undertaken in the past year, and urged those in attendance to continue to support, at the grassroots level, workforce housing opportunities in the City of Portsmouth, where many of the younger workers NH needs to retain hope to reside.
More information on the Workforce Housing Coalition, the Annual Celebration and its ongoing initiatives can be found at www.seacoastwhc.org. If you need assistance or are considering a workforce housing project please contact Attorneys Mike Donahue or Sharon Cuddy Somers or, in their absence, Stephanie Guy, DTC’s Land Use Paralegal.