As we enter the summer season one of our favorite places to visit in downtown is the Rochester Farmer's Market every Tuesday and Thursday from 3-6 pm. Whether you want the freshest berries, greens, home baked goods, canned goods, or are looking for hardy perennials or herbs, it's the place to be. As we as a society become more interested in knowing where our food is grown and look to go directly from farm to table, local farmers markets become an important social and economic segment of our community. They also celebrate our heritage as a farming community. If you know of anyone interested in participating, please contact coordinator Pam Talon at 603-332-1765 or email talondpjs@metrocast.net. 

Design Committee volunteers at Rochester Main Street are pleased to announce they received notification late last week that the Central Square Project received a $10,000 Cultural Conservation Grant from the NH State Council on the Arts, Conservation License Plate Trust Fund. The purpose of the grant is the re-patination of the statue of Parson Main, located in Central Square in the heart of downtown. The re-patination process will complete the work recommend by Rika-McNally Associates that was undertaken by the city in 2007. That work centered on cleaning and repair work on the granite base of the statue and outlining future repairs to the statue.  The statue is listed on the National Historic Register as a contributing object in the Downtown Rochester National Register Historic District and was also the subject of a NH inventory of Public Statues done in 2002. Parson Main was the first permanent minister in Rochester, also serving the local residents as a doctor, lawyer and advocate. 
 
Volunteers at Rochester Main Street are working on a Central Square upgrade to include restoration/refurbishment of the fence, resetting of the wobbling granite steps in the walkways, new appropriate street furnishings, specially designed banners and an improved landscape treatment requiring minimal maintenance. The volunteers are working in cooperation with the City of Rochester, Public Works, and Historic District Commission in the planning and execution of the project.  The volunteers wish to thank all the businesses and organizations in the community who so graciously took the time to write letters of support for the application, and our local legislators who have continued to support the arts in this tight budget cycle. The Conservation License Plate Fund is only made possible through the sales of the NH Conservation License Plates, known more commonly as "moose plates". The grant is administered by the NH State Council on the Arts for the NH Department of Cultural Resources, with no matching funds required.         
 
Currently community volunteers are working on the refinishing of the fence, with three sections having been completed to date. Work on the fence is expected to continue throughout the summer. Kerry McMahon of Salmon Falls Iron Works is working on the restoration materials while the volunteers are doing the refinishing of the fence. The project is expected to be completed by June 30 of 2011, with work ongoing throughout that time. Total project cost for the work on the square is expected to be approximately $30,000. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to this project or volunteer assistance, then please contact the Rochester Main Street office at 603-330-3208 or email director@rochestermainstreet.org. The Parson Main/Central Square Project is supported in part by a grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts.
 

Dover - Federal Savings Bank has joined the Business Finance Authority (BFA) to offer the organization's Capital Access Program (CAP) to qualifying small businesses in the state of NH. This loan program is specifically designed to provide financing for small businesses operating in a struggling economy that don't necessarily meet the requirements set forth by most conventional banks. "We are constantly researching products and programs that will provide credit access to business owners in our communities," according to FSB Senior Vice President, David McArdle. "Combined with our strong relationship with the Small Business Administration, we are able to offer our customers more lending programs with affordable and flexible financing terms that help to sustain and hopefully grow their businesses," he added.
 
The BFA was created in 1992 to foster economic development and create employment in NH. CAP allows those businesses considered to have more than conventional risk, which are typically start-ups or expanding, to obtain loans up to $100,000 from participating banks, including FSB. The program is open to both existing and new companies in the state of NH with annual sales of less than $5 million. Since 1890, Federal Savings Bank has operated as a true community bank. Named "Business of the Year" by the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, the bank has offices in Dover, Barrington, Durham, Portsmouth and Rochester. The Bank offers a wide array of both personal and business banking services and recently introduced an online banking platform for business customers. For more information, call toll free at 1-800-462-2265, visit www.fsbdover.com or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FederalSavingsBank.
 

Construction to continue on cofferdam Rochester, NH - During the week of June 21-25, construction activity on the North Main Street Bridge will continue to focus mainly on span one on the west side of the historic, 127-year-old bridge. Construction planned for the week includes:
· Completion of the sheet pile cofferdam around the base of span one. The cofferdam is a temporary structure that will be used to keep water out and provide a stable, dry environment for repair of the brick and granite arch.
· Completion of the plywood staging for workers repairing the outside surface of the bridge, including a debris catcher to prevent
construction and demolition materials from falling into the river.
· Begin construction of a sediment basin to filter out soil and sludge from water pumped from around the base of span one. The basin will collect the sediment before the filtered water is returned to the river.
· If time and weather allow, crews also may begin demolition of the concrete sidewalk on the upstream side of the bridge.
Inspection results:

A closer inspection of the bridge during the past two weeks indicates some more work may be needed than originally anticipated. That includes additional repointing (replacement of aging mortar) in the brick arches because time, water and road salt have caused more damage to the mortar than first was thought. The inspection also revealed that telephone, electrical and gas lines are all located within the sidewalk on the downstream side of the bridge. This could complicate removal of the old sidewalk. Additionally, modern safety standards recommend the separation of utility lines. Pending discussions between the city and Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) and Unitil, plans are to move one of those lines. Work began on the bridge on June 1 and originally was expected to be complete in mid-September. The additional repair work required on the brick arches is not expected to impact the construction schedule, although timing of the utility line changes could. For more information about the bridge rehabilitation project, visit the Rochester Public Works Department bridge web site or the Facebook page.