DuckBites

I have moved to an unusual area of New Hampshire. It turns out that the area is completely privately owned, and supplies its own fire, security, and road services. There is a yearly fee that is quite low compared to taxes. ( www.eastmannh.com/ )

Some interesting sales points that were relayed to me:

1) There has been no reported crime for as long as anybody can remember. Some dimly remember some incident in the late 1980s.
2) No traffic accidents are on record on the 100 or so miles of roads.
3) Though with a reputation for being decidedly upscale, the prices within the complex are quite reasonable, or even less than external counterparts.
4) When built, only private money was used to supply water, sewage, telephone, electricity, and later cable coverage.
5) A privately created dam was erected to make a small named "pond" into a "lake", though the word "pond" still shows up on most official state maps.

Notice all the private data points? No tax money was used to create a very nice resort area with a championship golf course, myriad lake facilities and buildings; private hiking trails; and many private roads. In the winter, the roads are plowed and maintained by private contractors at much less expense than the county and town pay.

Security has two pick up trucks, and the fire department has a single antique fire engine that apparently finally saw use just last year after some idiot burned their house down.

There are several club houses, boat ramps, bridges, docks, and so on. Nobody locks their bicycles inside the property. Everybody waves friendly greetings to each other. We're in close proximity to several moderately sized and interesting towns (New London & Newport). Twenty minutes away, much larger cities show up (Lebanon & Claremont). Dartmouth University is a half hour drive. Concord is 45 minutes. Boston is 90 minutes (at speed). It's a cool place to live.

Eastman was built in 1972. When buying land, you don't have to worry about water, cable, or electricity. All are at the street. For you land hunters, you understand what that means. No wells to drill means between $5,000 and $10,000 of savings.

There are several sections of Eastman, each with a different character. For example, a bunch of large Condominiums circle several lake front areas, including near the wooden bridge and cove area. In the North Cove area, houses are spaced further apart, and have more wooded views. Hiking trails criss-cross the whole property, including a seven mile long lake trail. My only quibble is the lack of mountain bike trails. But since there are 30+ miles of unpaved roads inside Eastman, there's not much to complain about.

All of this bliss would seem to be heaven on earth for most people. But there is trouble in paradise. So much trouble, apparently, that the Eastman Board of Directors wants to "invite" the local Grantham Town Police department to patrol the roads inside Eastman and issue traffic tickets!

Why is this? Because of some complaints - and a perception - that there is too much speeding going on inside Eastman. Oh yes, apparently dump trucks from local sand pits use Eastman as a shortcut to I-89 which is adjacent to the main entrance.

When queried, two board members could not produce ANY documented complaints. None. They apparently didn't document any thru-trucking complaints, either. But, based on this perception of a problem, they hired a firm to do a study of the traffic speeds inside the community.

Looking at this study, I was struck by the fact that overall, most of the speed restrictions were observed to very close to the 85th percentile. Meaning, basically, that there is no problem in fact. The next thing that is noticeable is that the three "worst" areas are already in the jurisdiction of the police!! These areas are near the golf course and boat ramp, which apparently were seized in the 80's by the state when they nationalized all bodies of water within New Hampshire that were of a certain size.

Obviously, asking the police to start patrols will do nothing to "help" any traffic problem. As for thru-trucking, well, that's not a traffic problem, that's a trespass problem. The police will not do anything about a trespass problem unless asked to do so by a property owner. Further, since there are three separate jurisdictions, such help is harder to obtain. And let's face it. Cops would rather bust meth-labs and eat donuts than stop somebody on a trespass.

My conclusion is that we have a bunch of nanny-staters who want to abdicate their responsibility to protect the assets of Eastman and turn it over to the local cops. All to no effect - BUT - giving them a way to deflect the blame for the problems onto somebody else.

I am so livid about this prospect that I have started a website. I hope I hear from my fellow residents and stop this travesty.