Dover Download

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with City Clerk/Tax Collector Jerrica Vansylyvong-Bizier about the Nov. 3 midterm election. She previews the long ballot, which features races for governor, U.S. Senate, State Senate, and State Representative, plus two questions, including the school tax cap. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the pair run through the six ward polling locations. Vansylyvong-Bizier explains absentee voting, which requires a reason and, under a 2025 change, an ID or notarization. She stresses that absentee voting is not early voting, since those ballots are counted on Election Day. She also outlines same-day registration requirements: photo ID, proof of citizenship, and proof of Dover residency. Encouraged by a 35% primary turnout, she predicts a general election turnout in the upper 60s and 400 to 500 new registrations. She walks listeners through election night, from unofficial tallies and ballot adjudication to the roughly 1 a.m. wrap-up and the handoff of results to the Secretary of State via police dispatch and a state trooper. Finally, she explains how residents 18 and older can work the polls in their own ward.

In This Week in Dover History, we revisit Oct. 25, 1956, when merchant Meyer Siegel left court after fighting a restraining order that barred his Central Avenue store from opening on Sundays, only to arrive and find the store in flames. The fire destroyed the building, and Siegel's would not reopen for two years, but the store eventually thrived and opened on Sundays.

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Dian Maruca, executive director of the Dover Housing Authority, as part of the podcast's continuing look at local nonprofits and social service agencies. Maruca, who has led the authority since March 2026 after joining as deputy director in 2023, shares how a teenage landscaping job at the Newmarket Housing Authority grew into a career in subsidized housing. She says that hands-on experience shapes her respect for her maintenance and administrative staff.

Maruca explains that the authority's mission is to provide safe, decent, affordable housing, with residents paying 30 percent of their gross monthly income. She outlines its public housing for seniors and people with disabilities, its family properties, and its voucher program. She also describes how staff quietly transfer aging residents into units where they can age in place. All waitlists are open except the Housing Choice Voucher list, which has been closed for several years because of tight federal funding. She notes a recent rise in applicants declining units, which hurts the authority's funding.

Maruca also clarifies that the authority is quasi-governmental and independent of the city, overseen by a board of commissioners. She closes with ways to donate or volunteer and directs listeners to DoverHousingAuthority.org.

In This Week in Dover History, we revisit 1677, when 34 Dover residents petitioned the King of England to keep the town under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, reflecting their concerns about shifting political control in the aftermath of King Philip's War.

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Director of Planning and Community Development Donna Benton about the FY28-33 Capital Improvements Program, presented to the City Council and Planning Board on Oct. 7.

Benton explains that the program connects the city's long-term needs with its financial responsibilities and launches the annual budget process. Departments are told that requests should reflect needs, not wish lists, yet submissions still exceed what reserves and debt limits allow.

The pair discuss how projects are ranked high, medium, or low, with safety concerns coming first. They also cover how staff capacity and "project fatigue" from visible work on Court Street, Henry Law Avenue, and Central Avenue influence timing.

Parker stresses that the plan is open to change, but changes have consequences for financing, grant matches, and related water and sewer work. Benton notes that early discussion centered on four projects awaiting congressionally designated spending, along with Broadway, Horne Street, and the Community Trail.

The Planning Board holds its first public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 13, the City Council takes up three resolutions on Oct. 28, and a final vote could come in December. The 225-page plan is available on the city website, with hard copies at the Planning Department, City Hall, the City Clerk's office, and the public library.

In This Week in Dover History, we look back at Dover's evening school, which opened in 1877 in the Morrill Block with 80 students. Over the following decades it grew to serve immigrants learning English and young mill workers, with help from local mills and World War I-era Americanization efforts.

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Director of Media Services Mike Gillis about September's board, committee and commission meetings.

The Planning Board tabled proposed zoning amendments after two public hearings and eight months of work, choosing to weigh public feedback before revisiting them in October. Board members also questioned a request to convert rental units at 54 Back River Road to for-sale units, focusing on long-term affordability. Applicant John Randolph withdrew the request, leaving the project as originally approved.

The City Council's Sept. 2 workshop covered the water system and the July 1, 2027, switch to toters for curbside trash pickup, with residents starting with 64-gallon carts. The related ordinance is now with the Ordinance Committee. On Sept. 9, the council adopted three ordinances, including parking provisions, along with a City Hall tower lighting policy modeled on the city's flag policy. It also approved the sale of tax-deeded property, a rare step. On Sept. 23, the council tabled the paraeducators' contract pending more financial information.

The School Board set its budget calendar, with Superintendent Christine Boston presenting Nov. 23, and approved a generative AI plan. The Zoning Board heard an unusual appeal over whether Tuscany Drive is a legitimate road, which the city attorney said fell outside its jurisdiction. Looking ahead, the council and Planning Board meet jointly Oct. 7 on the capital improvements program.

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Margaret Joyce and Jed Allen of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce about the 42nd annual Apple Harvest Day. What began as a small craft fair on Orchard Street with about a dozen crafters has grown into a signature event often described as Dover's homecoming, with roughly 250 vendors, two food courts, a road race, an apple pie contest and entertainment on two stages. The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the 5K road race starting at 8:30 a.m.

Construction on Henry Law Avenue has required some changes. Activities in the lower portion of Henry Law Park, including bouncy houses and the train ride, won't happen this year, but the chamber relocated most vendors, giving priority to crafters and longtime returning vendors. Upper Henry Law Park will still feature a stage, animal ambassadors, yard games and Children's Museum activities, and a sensory space will be available at Fish Ladder Park. The guests also set the record straight on rumors: Apple Harvest Day is happening.

To ease congestion, free parking is available at 100 Liberty Way off Exit 9, with three times as many shuttles as last year running until 5 p.m. A new bike valet will operate near the Church Street parking garage. Joyce and Allen also credited city public safety staff, sponsors First Seacoast Bank and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, and the many volunteers who make the day possible.

In This Week in Dover History, we look back to Oct. 12, 1985, when a group of downtown business owners known as the Apple Corps launched the first Apple Harvest Day. The inaugural festival drew thousands with apple-themed breakfasts, a pie contest, a craft fair, a petting zoo, a Dover High School Band parade and tethered hot air balloon rides over Henry Law Park.