Hooksett Economic Development Committee Meeting - January 21, 2026
Hooksett Economic Development Committee Meeting - January 21, 2026
The Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) met on January 21, 2026, to discuss updates on the Exit 10 sewer extension project, review a presentation for the upcoming tax increment financing (TIF) bond informational meeting, and receive a development update from staff. The meeting focused on finalizing materials for the March 10, 2026 town vote on a $9.5 million TIF bond to fund sewer infrastructure across the Merrimack River.
Discussion Items
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Exit 10 Engineering Design Update:
- The town engineer has left, and a new agreement with Underwood Engineering is in place to secure remaining easements, including those needed from DOT to cross Route 3A.
- Staff recommended prioritizing a sewer line up Quality Drive to serve Target, Kohl’s, and Home Depot (the “low-hanging fruit”) before extending north toward Kimball Drive and Market Basket. Elevations must be verified to ensure gravity flow without pumping.
- The Martin’s Ferry force main replacement project (approximately 4,500 feet of directional drilling and 4,000 feet of gravity line) is scheduled to open bids on January 22, 2026. Twenty-one firms pulled plans, and all permits and easements are in place. The estimated project cost is $9 million (for the river crossing bond? unclear), but the overall TIF bond request is $9.5 million.
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TIF Bond Informational Meeting Preparation:
- A public informational meeting is set for Monday, January 26, 2026, at 5:00 PM at the Hooksett Library. The committee reviewed a PowerPoint presentation designed to explain TIF concepts, the history of the Exit 10 TIF district, and the specific bond request.
- Members suggested adding slides to show:
- The growth in assessed value (baseline $206 million, incremental $36 million as of 2025) and corresponding tax revenue generated.
- The breakdown of the $12.5 million total project cost reduced to a $9.5 million bond by applying $2.5 million in remaining funds from the 2017 bond and $2.1 million in sewer commission contributions.
- A clear statement that the bond will be repaid solely from future incremental tax revenue within the TIF district, with no impact on existing property taxes.
- Discussion included inviting local business owners (e.g., Dunkin’ Donuts, Kohl’s) to share how sewer access would support development and potentially increase attendance. The committee decided to reach out informally.
- The presentation will be recorded and made available on the town website and social media; a segmented version will be released later to address common questions.
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Development Update:
- New listing: 14 Central Park Drive (west side of Exit 10) has 40,000 sq. ft. of second-floor office space available, subdividable to 3,100 sq. ft. Medical storage and training uses are possible.
- Granite Woods (Hackett Hill) has conditionally approved a land condominium for a 500,000 sq. ft. building divided into three units (100,000 + 400,000 + undeveloped), but no tenants are confirmed.
- Old Dominion has broken ground on Technology Drive; site clearing and road work are underway.
- Brady Sullivan plans to submit site plans in March for phase two and three, including approximately 11,000 sq. ft. of commercial space (two buildings). A potential restaurant user was mentioned during a DOT scoping meeting.
- Zoning amendments on the March ballot include: restricting automotive uses in the Performance Zone, clarifying that warehouse uses in Industrial zones do not include self-storage, and rezoning five parcels in Mixed Use 5 to Industrial.
- Other projects: Panera at Exit 9 is under construction; Irving station at Exit 9 is being remodeled; a new car wash approved at the old Auto Host site has raised concerns about market saturation.
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Town Council Update:
- EDAC must schedule an annual update to the Town Council. Members recommended preparing a summary of recent discussions (Exit 10 outreach, business development, etc.) and key accomplishments (e.g., Marman expansion, Old Dominion groundbreaking).
Key Outcomes
- Slides for the January 26 TIF bond informational meeting will be revised to include additional charts on assessed value growth, tax revenue impact, and the project cost reduction breakdown. The presentation will be posted online in full and in segmented form.
- Committee members will invite local business owners to attend the meeting and share their perspectives on sewer needs.
- EDAC will prepare an annual report for the Town Council, highlighting recent economic development activities.
- The meeting adjourned after approving the general direction of the presentation and outreach plan.
Meeting Transcript
Speed it up though. We have one pen. All right. So we're called to order. We'll start with the Pledge Allegiance. Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible. All right. Attendance starting Sullivan, Council Rep. Michelle Gannon. Dave Scarapetti. Anthony Poole, Chair. Alden Bushman. Great. Staff and other departments. Gentlemen, welcome. Thank you for coming. I don't think anyone else, sewer department, anyone else was joining us tonight. I didn't have that. So I think we're ready to rock and roll. No appointments. So we'll jump right in to our discussion starting with exit 10 engineering design update. Grant's getting that ready to rock and roll. Hmm. Interesting. Oh, it started. It came on. There we go. I did it. I guess I drive that a minute ago. We don't need it for this. I'm just getting started. All right. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Well, as far as a uh update on the engineering, as you well know, our our previous engineer, our town engineers left in doing my best to pick up the pieces. We have um developed a new agreement with um uh with underwood engineering. Um which um yeah basically just kind of provide the services needed in order to get those remaining easements done and things of that sort. And um uh what else is there? Um working with uh DOT because there's uh there's a handful of uh easements needed from them in order to obviously get across Route 3A and to the other side as it goes to both the uh Baz Pro Walmart side to um the Dunkin' Donut side uh of that. So um but also um um we st I still have to have that discussion with the sewer commission regarding um uh and um regarding the possible new location of the um the uh line down quality drive if that's something that could be done uh either in addition to the current plan um uh once it gets over the river or in lieu of one of the branches that comes off of there. So um again that's a discussion that will will need to take place with uh here he is it uh motion to no mic that's definitely talking to back of the space. No, but that's a discussion that uh I guess we we need to have with regard to you know how how does that happen? Yeah, you know, and and how easy it or how hard is it uh um again with us uh just talking about um the concept of relocating the uh um once the line goes over to the quality drive Kimball Drive section of the uh exit 10 uh whether it falls the um the line that it's um that is designed to go right now or what would it take in order to bring it down quality drive, you know. That I can answer. So I've already been in discussions with Mr. Mercy here about that at Underwood Engineers. It's not a big lift, it's actually a pretty easy lift because it's obviously a hill. Um so we can redesign that very quickly.
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