; SP- IWR° CONTRACT REPORT 78-4... , UNDER ... - IWR - U.S. Army

Eleven days later, March 19, 1937, the Corps of Engineers held
an open meeting at the town hall in Franklin for everyone in the
region who might be affected by a proposed dry bed reservoir that
might be built just upstream from Franklin (Franklin Journal
' Transcript). Colonel Jacobson, representing the New Hampshire
Water Resources Board, presented a comprehensive flood control plan
which included the provision whereby the town of Hill would be
relocated. The village of Hill would be sacrificed to protect the
larger population centers downstream. The meeting was not well
attended by Hill representatives, either because they had not
heard about it or because they did not perceive any real threat
to themselves or their community. _
Just prior to this public meeting, the Director of the New Hampshire
Planning and Development Commission, Fred Clark, visited the
selectmen of Hill and explained that there was a good possibility
that the people of Hill might find themselves an unfortunate but
necessary sacrifice for the protection of downstream residents and
the common good. He explained that there was a good possibility
that the residents might be displaced by a .flood protection project.
Clark went on to propose an idea to build a new carefully planned
community as an alternative to the town's total extinction.
The selectmen listened politely, but found it difficult to believe
that any real threat to their community actually existed. This
was the first official word they had received of the impending
project. (See Photograph 9).
Knowing there was no way to push his idea of building a new community,
Clark left the town's selectmen with his concepts and plans. After
his departure the three selectmen began to talk among themselves
at various selectment:s meetings. Two of the three were young, under
thirty--one a farmer, the other the new owner of the crutch factory
which employed about a half dozen people. They represented, a new,
younger leadership for the town which had filled the vacuum left
by the death of the town boss Mr. Woodard.
The selectmen realized that approximately 30% of their total tax
valuation of $616,000.00 would be lost if the town were inundated.
It was questionable whether the village could survive that amount
of loss and continue to exist as a town. Creating a new community
appeared to be a viable alternative to extinction. If the town
was to be dissolved, the remaining parts of the community which
would not be inundated by the reservoir would become part of Bristol
or Franklin, five miles to the north and south of Hill.
At this point, realizing the town's possible financial dilemma,
the selectmen took the initiative to approach the State legislature
to propose a bill which would reimburse the town for their projected
tax loss for the lands and property that would be flooded. At the
beginning of the 1939 biennial session of the legislature, sympathetic
legislators introduced a bill which would pay back any losses, that '
18