From Hardin to Humvee

A timeline of public records, rising tax values, full exemption, and why the next stop is 91-A

In a small town, the biggest stories do not always arrive wearing a ski mask.

Sometimes they arrive in a moving truck.

Sometimes they arrive with a résumé, a new station pitch, a vehicle fund, a hiring push, and a line in the minutes about a “new humvee” showing up for Trunk or Treat.

That does not prove wrongdoing. But it does raise a fair public question:

How did Ossipee go from hiring Donald Babbin to backing a new police station, shifting vehicle explanations, advertising up to $71,000 starting pay, and casually debuting a Humvee in the public record — while the future police-station property moved from private utility ownership to fully tax-exempt town use in roughly two tax cycles?

That is where the story gets interesting. And where rumor should stop, and records should begin.

The background timeline compiled in the Babbin file follows the same Georgia → Montana → Ossipee path outlined here.

2020: Georgia — Babbin’s name is already in a public shooting record

Before Ossipee. Before Montana. Before Chickville Road.

In September 2020, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that during a foot chase in Brunswick, a suspect fired numerous shots toward police, and Lt. Donald Babbin returned fire, killing the suspect. The case was treated as an officer-involved shooting investigation and referred on after independent review.

That does not, by itself, establish misconduct. But it does show Babbin was not arriving later in New Hampshire as some unknown administrator with no public trail behind him.

2021–2023: Montana — not maintaining a department, but building one, then leaving it under a cloud of conflict

By 2021, Babbin was in Hardin, Montana, where public reporting described him as taking on his first job heading his own department and effectively building a police department from scratch. In 2022, reporting said misdemeanor charges were pursued after a complaint involving alleged excessive force and a refusal to take a complaint; those charges were later dropped. In 2023, Babbin said county officials had tried to “dismantle” the agency before he left for a job closer to home in New Hampshire.

That matters because this is not the profile of a chief coming off a quiet administrative post. It is the profile of someone whose most recent public role already involved building, equipping, defending, and fighting over a department.

That is where the Ossipee chapter begins.

2023: Ossipee — the vehicle story starts, and it starts weird

By November 8, 2023, Ossipee budget minutes show Babbin discussing police budget needs. One line jumps off the page: radio maintenance had increased by $500 due to “changing the vehicles from vans to Tahoe’s,” and Babbin said he bought a $900 radio for the new Tahoe vehicle.

Now here is where the eyebrows start stretching.

Older Ossipee planning materials describe the police department as having three cruisers and a four-wheel-drive vehicle. That does not sound like a fleet built around vans. It sounds like cruisers and one utility-type vehicle.

So when the minutes suddenly say the town is moving from “vans to Tahoe’s,” the public is left with a very reasonable question:

What vans?

This is not proof of anything sinister. But it is the first sign that the fleet explanation may not be as clean as the town would like.

2023: Ossipee — the money pipeline for police vehicles is formally built

That same cycle, the town created a Police Vehicle and Equipment Expendable Trust Fund and raised $50,000 for it, with the Selectmen acting as agents to expend from the fund. Later budget cycles discussed adding more money for a new Tahoe, and then more again for continued vehicle funding.

That matters because it shows vehicle spending was not an afterthought or a surprise emergency. A dedicated pipeline was created for it.

Once that fund exists, the public has every right to expect straight answers on what is being bought, what is being replaced, and why.

2023: 43 Chickville is still private property — and still utility-owned

Before it became the new police station, 43 Chickville Road was still being carried as private property.

Based on the tax bills reviewed for this post, the 2023 bill shows:

• Owner: NH ELECT COOP INC

• Location: 43 CHICKVILLE RD

• Acres: 2.800

• Land value: $92,500

• Building value: $306,000

• Total assessed value: $398,500

• First bill due: $3,781.00

At that point, this was still a taxable private parcel on the books.

That matters because it gives readers a clean starting point before the police-station pitch ever became public.

And it matters for another reason: when the town later pitched the building, officials emphasized that the property had been owned by the Co-op, that it had an on-site generator, a communications antenna, a radio room, and a large technology room, much of which they said the Co-op was leaving behind.

That does not make anything improper. But it does make the property’s utility history part of the story, not a side note.

2024: Ossipee — the new police station pitch goes public

At the May 14, 2024 joint Planning Board and Conservation Commission meeting, Jonathan Smith told the room that the Co-op building at 43 Chickville Road was “literally perfect,” said it was about 6,100 square feet, and said the price was $699,000. He also said the plan was to sell the old station at 7 Dore Street, use $260,000 in ARPA funds, and make the move happen with “zero tax impact.” The minutes also say the Co-op had already vacated the building, and that the property came with an on-site generator, communications antenna, radio room, and technology room.

Chief Babbin backed the move publicly. The minutes say he called it a “huge opportunity,” said the building was likely worth closer to $1 million, and argued the current station was outdated, lacked privacy, and kept costing money to maintain. He also said they could “technically” start there tomorrow.

That pitch matters because it framed the move not as a luxury, but as a fiscally responsible no-brainer.

And whenever government says something is basically free, cheap, perfect, and urgent all at once, taxpayers should put one hand on their wallet and the other on the records request form.

2024: 43 Chickville jumps in value before and during the town takeover

The tax bills make the Chickville story much stronger.

Based on the first 2024 tax bill reviewed for this post, the property was still shown under NH Electric Co-op, but the assessment had already jumped:

• Owner: NH ELECT COOP INC

• Land value: $214,500

• Building value: $328,400

• Total assessed value: $542,900

• First bill due: $3,106.00

Then, based on the second 2024 tax bill, the ownership shown flips to:

• Owner: OSSIPEE, TOWN OF

• Same location: 43 CHICKVILLE RD

• Same total assessed value: $542,900

• Second bill due: $3,914.00

• Total 2024 tax shown: $7,020.00

That means the tax bills themselves appear to place the ownership change between the first and second 2024 billing cycle.

That is a clean, readable public paper trail: private utility property at the start of 2024, town-owned by the second bill.

And it is not just an ownership story. It is also a valuation story.

In one year, the property appears to move from $398,500 to $542,900. That is a jump of $144,400, with the biggest increase on the land side at first, and then a much bigger building-value jump later.

That does not prove something improper happened. It does mean the public should want to know why.

2024: “Literally perfect” still needed renovations

If the building was sold as nearly turnkey, the public paper trail got a little less magical later.

The town later issued an RFP titled “Minor Renovation at 43 Chickville Rd, the new Police Station.” The work included moved door locations, moved interior walls, added second-story floor area, and new flooring.

That does not make the move improper. But it does make the original “we could start tomorrow” pitch look more polished than precise.

And it also matters to the tax story. Because once a building is renovated, reconfigured, or gains more finished or usable area, the public has every reason to ask whether that is what drove the later jump in building value — and if so, where that is documented.

Late 2024 into 2025: Ossipee — the department stops looking smaller and starts looking bigger

By late 2024, budget minutes show the department was still in the process of being moved to the new station, with radio and repeater work being relocated as part of the transition.

By March 2025, the department’s own hiring flyer was advertising:

• Full-Time Police Officer

• Detective

• Starting pay up to $71,000

• Detail pay of $70 per hour

• New equipment

• Take-home vehicle program

• Brand new police facility

That is not the look of a department shrinking down to basics.

That is the look of a department in active recruiting-and-expansion mode.

And by August 2025, planning materials were already discussing the chief’s goal of adding onto the building and growing toward a 12-person department.

Whatever was supposedly being “dismantled” in Montana, Ossipee’s own planning record was already talking about building up.

2024–2025: the vehicle explanation changes, then the Humvee appears

The fleet story also changed.

In one set of minutes, the town was changing from vans to Tahoe’s. In a later explanation, the shift became Chargers to Tahoe’s, with Babbin saying Tahoes were needed because Ossipee has about 70 miles of dirt roads, officers carry too much gear for Chargers, and Chargers lack enough ground clearance for local conditions.

Read that next to the older materials and you get a problem.

In one place: vans.

In another: Chargers.

In older planning materials: cruisers and a 4WD vehicle.

That does not prove deception. But it does prove the public explanation is not consistent on its face.

Then, in the October 14, 2025 Selectmen’s meeting minutes, the record states that “Chief Babbin mentioned that the Detectives and his wife and the Police Admin. will be doing Trunk or Treat this year with the new humvee.”

That is a remarkable first public appearance for a police vehicle.

Not: here is the procurement record.

Not: here is the grant or surplus transfer.

Not: here is the operational need.

Just: new humvee, trunk or treat, detectives, wife, admin.

Maybe there is a completely clean explanation. Surplus. Transfer. Donation. Temporary use. Fine.

But if so, the public-facing sequence is still bad.

After a dedicated vehicle fund, a changing Tahoe story, and years of vehicle justification, the first visible mention of a Humvee lands in the minutes like a Halloween prop with government plates.

That is not proof of corruption.

But it is absolutely proof that the public deserves the paperwork.

2025: 43 Chickville becomes the Police Station — and becomes fully exempt

This is where the tax story stops being background scenery and becomes the main road.

By the 2025 tax bill reviewed for this post, the property is no longer just listed to the Town of Ossipee.

It is listed to “OSSIPEE, TOWN OF POLICE STATION.”

And the assessment jumps again:

• Owner: OSSIPEE, TOWN OF POLICE STATION

• Location: 43 CHICKVILLE RD

• Land value: $214,500

• Building value: $544,500

• Total assessed value: $759,000

• Tax status: EXEMPT

• Amount due: $0.00

That is not just a reduced bill. That is not just a partial credit.

That is full exemption.

Town selectmen’s minutes from January 27, 2025 also state that the board received a clerical abatement for 43 Chickville Rd., that the town had purchased the property, and that it was now exempt.

So in roughly two tax cycles, 43 Chickville appears to move from:

• $398,500 private utility property in 2023

• to $542,900 during the 2024 transition

• to $759,000 fully exempt police station in 2025

That does not prove something improper happened.

But it absolutely gives the public a clean set of questions:

• Why did the assessment jump so sharply before the purchase was complete?

• Why did the building value later jump from $328,400 to $544,500?

• Was that later jump tied to renovations, reconfiguration, added finished area, or another valuation change?

• What exact date did title transfer?

• What exact date did exempt status apply?

• Was the second-half 2024 tax bill paid, later abated, or otherwise adjusted because the town became owner?

• What documentation supports the shift from taxable private utility property to fully exempt municipal use?

That is no longer just a vibes problem.

That is a tax-bill problem.

Why the public should also ask about the utility angle

One part of this story deserves more sunlight than it has gotten.

This property was not just “some building.”

It was a Co-op property with utility-related infrastructure that town officials themselves highlighted: antenna, radio room, generator, technology room.

So the public question is not “does that prove anything?”

The public question is:

Why was a utility-owned property with communications infrastructure the answer to the police-station problem, and what exactly came with it — by deed, by equipment list, by easement, by use rights, or by operational handoff?

And for residents already tracking separate town questions involving utility easements, communications equipment, call-box costs, or other special warrants, this overlap makes the paper trail more important, not less.

That is not a conclusion.

That is a reason to ask for the documents.

And then there’s Main Street

The tax-kiosk screenshots reviewed for this post appear to show 45 Main Street tied to Babbin in prior tax history, while 41 Main Street next door appears under Karen I. Rines, Trustee in later records.

That does not prove a bad deed, a bad arrangement, or a bad act. It is an optics point, not a criminal charge.

But in a small town, optics matter because they show how close the circles are. And when public officials, property records, controversial decisions, and registry-of-deeds proximity all start clustering on the same Monopoly board, it becomes even more important to deal in records, not shrugs.

So what does the timeline actually show?

It shows this:

Babbin’s public record before Ossipee already involved a Georgia officer-involved shooting and a Montana department-building job that turned into a public conflict over authority and complaints.

In Ossipee, he quickly became part of the push for a new police station sold as financially smart and nearly turnkey, on a property town officials described as coming with utility-grade communications infrastructure.

A dedicated police vehicle fund was created, then repeatedly fed.

The public explanation for what vehicles were being replaced changed from vans to Chargers, even though older town materials describe cruisers and a 4WD vehicle.

By March 2025, the department was publicly hiring with starting pay up to $71,000, detail pay at $70 an hour, new equipment, and a take-home vehicle program.

By late 2025, a “new humvee” appeared in the minutes without a plain-English procurement explanation.

Meanwhile, 43 Chickville Road appears to move from a private utility parcel assessed at $398,500, to $542,900 during the town takeover, to a $759,000 fully exempt police station. The town’s own January 2025 minutes confirm the purchase and exempt status.

That is enough to justify scrutiny.

Not gossip.

Not rumor.

Not Facebook-law-school outrage.

Scrutiny.