HOOKSETT — The Town Council appointed 18 residents to nine boards and committees Wednesday night.

Appointments were based on nominations the councilors made at their June 13 meeting.

The appointees were:

-- Matt Mercier, Marc Millville, Peter Farwell and David Pearl as full members of the Cable Franchise Advisory Board.

-- Cindy Robertson as a full member and John Turbyne as an alternate to the Conservation Commission.

-- Kathie Northrup as a full member of the Heritage Commission.

-- Dustin Raiche as a full member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

-- Richard Marshall and David J. Rogers as full members and Donald Winterton and Robert Duhaime as alternates of the Planning Board.

-- Joanne McHugh as a full member of the Police Commission.

-- Tom Walsh as a full member of the Town Hall Preservation Committee.

-- Merrill E. Johnson as a full member and Raymond Bonney as an alternate of the Recycling and Transfer Advisory Committee.

-- Richard Bairam as a full member and Phil Denbow as an alternate of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

All terms, except those for the new members of the Cable Franchise Advisory Board, will expire in 2015. The Cable Franchise Advisory Board is not a permanent body.

The town still needs one full and two alternate members for its Heritage Commission, and one full member for its Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

At its June 13 meeting, councilors asked Police Commissioner Joanne McHugh to return on June 27 to answer questions about the commission. McHugh, in her third year on the commission, serves as its chairman.

She had asked to be reappointed to continue implementing recommendations from an independent audit of the department last August. The audit had identified a lack of communication between department members and Chief Stephen Agrafiotis, who resigned in February.

Councilor Todd Lizotte asked if McHugh had seen improvements following the audit.

McHugh responded that morale has risen.

“People are taking initiative and want to get additional training,” she said. “They see themselves as not only being promotable, but as continuing to stay in the community. I think it’s all a very good sign.”

Lizotte said he had noticed the optimism as well, when he played on a team with police officers in a benefit softball game last Friday.

“In the dugout, that was one of the most interesting things,” he said. “Even though we were in the midst of the game, there was a lot of chatting about the future and initiatives that are taking place to show them the skill sets that can propel them forward. It was really good to be a part of that.”

- - - - - - - -

Katie Lannan may be reached at klannan@newstote.com.