DO-IT articles are money well spent

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

To the Editor:

The Milford Downtown Ongoing Improvement Team/DO-IT is asking Milford residents to consider voting in support of warrant articles 16 and 17 on March 9.

Warrant Article 16, Pumpkin Festival, Holiday Decorations and Plantings, allocates $15,000 for police, fire, ambulance and public works personnel necessary to the coordination of the Milford Pumpkin Festival, as well as providing funds for the annual plantings on the Oval, bandstand, stone bridge and the holiday decorations at Christmas.

The Pumpkin Festival has become an important annual event organized by DO-IT and its volunteers that not only brings the community together but also brings in significant revenue to the town of Milford. According to economic data from the New Hampshire Department of Travel and Tourism, the Milford Pumpkin Festival has an annual economic impact on our local economy of approximately $1.9 million.

Warrant Article 17 asks voters to allocate $15,000 to support DO-IT’s operating budget. Although DO-IT’s focus is the Milford downtown, our programs and events support the town as a whole and result in a positive economic impact on Milford.

The total value of DO-IT’s activities in 2009 alone to the Town of Milford total $2.38 million – in other words, for every $1 of the $15,000 warrant article, the town receives back $159 reinvested into Milford’s economy.

The $15,000 warrant article represents 20 percent of DO-IT’s total operating budget. The remainder of our $75,000 annual budget is funded through private donations, grants, sponsorships and fundraising events. DO-IT continues to invest in the Oval area, winning awards and grants for our downtown and attracting businesses and visitors. This year will see the start of improvements to South Street, including a widening of the road to make it safer for traffic and undergrounding of utilities, which is the result of a Transportation Enhancement grant secured by DO-IT.

TRACY BARDSLEY

Executive Director, DO-IT