Town of Holderness Municipal Government

Welcome to the Town of Holderness, New Hampshire. Here in Holderness we have a classic Town Meeting - Board of Selectmen form of local government which operates the Town. On the second Tuesday of March each year a day long election is held at Town Hall to elect representatives onto town boards, including the Board of Selectmen (to run the Town), the School Board (to run the Holderness Central School - our kindergarten through eighth grade school), the Library Trustees (to run Holderness Library), and the Fire Wards (to run the Holderness Fire Department). The next evening, on the second Wednesday of March we gather at the Holderness Central School gymnasium to conduct our annual Town Meeting to decide all important issues within town government, including the appropriations for all Town Departments and voting on the major policy decisions for the year. All citizens are invited and encouraged to participate.

The five elected Selectmen usually meet every other Monday evenings at 5:00pm at a public meeting at Town Hall to vote on the policy and administrative items of the Town. Currently the Town employs the following fulltime personnel: a Police Chief and four Patrol Officers to enforce the law; a Fire Chief to direct the Fire Department, a Compliance Officer to enforce the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance; four Public Works Department truck driver/laborer to undertake winter and summer road maintenance; a Transfer Station Attendant to operate the Solid Waster Transfer Station and Recycling Facility; and three fulltime employees at the Town Office: the Town Administrator, the Town Clerk/Tax Collector, and the Municipal Secretary.

We have many Town boards and committees, some permanently established and some ad hoc in nature, which are charged with specific duties and tasks to make Holderness a special community. A partial list includes: Planning Board, Budget Committee, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Master Plan Committee, Conservation Commission, and Recreation Committee.  

We encourage you to contact the Town Office (telephone 603.968.2145 or email us here). Or stop in - we're open Monday thru Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm, on the lower level of the Town Hall at the corner of State Route 175 and Route 3 and would welcome the opportunity to answer any questions concerning Holderness you may have. We seek to make Holderness a special place to live or visit.