At the end of 2025, Keene will cut a position intended to prevent unruly college parties, after Keene State told the city it cannot keep funding its share of the costs.
Keene State’s capacity to contribute will end Dec. 31, according to City Manager Elizabeth Ferland. At that point, Keene Police Chief Steven Stewart says the community liaison specialist position will be cut.
Ferland said the city received official notification from the college on Oct. 10, about three months after the N.H. Legislature cut funding for the state’s public university system in the 2026-27 budget by 15 percent.
Representatives from Keene State did not provide comment to The Sentinel by Friday afternoon.
The community liaison specialist came out of the social host ordinance that Keene city councilors adopted in late 2020 in response to reports from neighbors of disruptive parties in off-campus residences.
Under the ordinance, which applies to students and non-students alike, party hosts are expected to keep reasonable noise levels, ensure drinking laws are followed and that a party does not become unruly. A party is considered “unruly” when there are five or more people there plus two disruptive activities, which could include rioting, drinking violations, property destruction, blocking roads or driveways, making excessive noise, disorderly conduct, public urination, or fire or building code violations.
Hosts who are first-time violators face a $300 fine. A second violation within a year ups the penalty to $500 and a third to $1,000.
The community liaison specialist, which is funded evenly between the city and college, manages all things related to the social host ordinance. Amanda Trask’s part-time (20 hours per week) position includes holding office hours for students, as well as outreach and prevention efforts, Chief Stewart previously told The Sentinel.
When the role was added in 2020, it cost about $30,000. The current cost is about $31,500.
Now that the position will be cut after Dec. 31, Trask’s duties will also include transition planning, according to Stewart.
“As part of the transition process, we’ll look to determine which functions [of] the liaison specialist can be shifted within our current structure,” he said in an email Thursday.
The college will continue to pay for half of a second, full-time, much-longer-standing position, the Keene State College liaison officer, according to Ferland.
Stewart said that there is some redundancy to the two police department roles.
But there are key differences, too. “The [liaison] officer retains traditional police duties and can often have his time consumed by emergencies or lengthy investigations.
The specialist is more focused on data tracking, landlord notifications and as an educational/informational resource to [the] KSC community,” Stewart wrote.
Both the community liaison specialist and the college liaison officer are part of the Keene Police Department’s Bureau of Special Services, which also includes a property officer, a social worker, nine part-time crossing guards and other positions. The personnel budget for this bureau is $730,278.
In the years since Keene adopted its social host ordinance, residents have reported mixed results, with some saying they’d seen less partying and others still experiencing the same disruptions.
“A lot has changed since this position was first created,” Ferland said, citing declines in college enrollment in recent years.
“Since then, several of those properties have been converted back into apartments available to the broader community. With fewer students living off campus, there have been fewer quality of life issues (noise, parties etc),” she said. “This role evolved over the years, most recently it included some scheduled office hours on campus. Given the changing dynamics, now is an appropriate time to re-evaluate the position and determine what duties, if any, should continue.”
Sophia Keshmiri can be reached at 603-283-0725 or skeshmiri@keenesentinel.com.
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