Aldermen, Board of

A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. President Brian S. McCarthy presided; City Clerk Paul R. Bergeron recorded. Prayer was offered by City Clerk Paul R. Bergeron; Alderman Chasse led in the Pledge to the Flag. The roll call was taken with 14 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Alderman Sheehan participated via telecommunication. Alderman Vitale was not in attendance. President McCarthy Alderman Sheehan are you able to hear us? Alderman Sheehan Yes. President McCarthy Could you please state why you are unable to be here? Alderman Sheehan I am in Florida with family and I’m by myself. President McCarthy Thank you. Alderman Sheehan is participating by phone, and because of that, under the Right to Know Law 91:A III, we will be conducting all votes this evening by roll call. Her Honor Mayor Donnalee Lozeau and Corporation Counsel James M. McNamee were also in attendance. President McCarthy Does the Mayor wish to address the Board? REMARKS BY THE MAYOR Yes Mr. President I do. Thank you. Mr. President and members of the Board, this evening I will keep my remarks to the budget that you have found on your desks this evening, the FY 2011 Budget. I begin tonight by talking a little bit about the state of the local economy. Since my February State- of-the-City Address, Nashua’s unemployment rate has dropped from 8.2% to 7.7%, which doesn’t beat the State’s rate, but it remains lower than the national average of 10.2%. With regard to housing, significantly less new construction and growth. The median purchase price of primary homes in Nashua dropped 7.2% from 2008 to 2009. The value of construction dropped 44% or $12.7 million from calendar year 2008 to 2009. And, foreclosures are continuing to rise as we experience the lagging fallout from the recession. The monthly median gross rental cost (including utilities) for 2 bedroom units in Hillsborough County for 2009 remains the second highest in the State at $1,077. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 2 A 3-person household in Nashua earning 60% of the median income could afford, based on that income, a rent of $1,220 per month. The CPI-U Northeast - the following increases or decrease over the previous 12-month period include the total of all items was up 2.6% over the prior year. The Energy Index, which reflects prices for gasoline, household fuels, and electricity was 40.9% higher due to changes in the prices of gasoline, which is up 40.3%, electricity, up .5%, utility gas service down 12.4%, and the Fiscal 2011 Spending Cap is 2.2%, which is calculated using the CPI-U Northeast index. Let me give you a Fiscal 2010 budget recap. The budget came in under the 3.4% spending cap last year by $1.4 million. You’ll recall last year during our budget discussions, I explained that we anticipated a significant decrease in valuations as we began examining the market sales. We went through our revaluation and my hope, at that time, was to have taxes that were the same or less for most residential taxpayers. We achieved that despite the loss of more than $5 million in State revenue. With the exception of the State Adequacy Grant, actual revenues to date are less than anticipated. This year’s adequacy grant will come in as budgeted, just so you know. As we again predicted last year, we continue to expect lower returns going forward with low Fed rates, and we’ve dropped our interest income by about $500,000. Monitoring motor vehicles carefully, but believe it will come in on target. Last month showed a slight increase over March of last year, the first increase that we've had this fiscal year. Solid waste revenues from tipping fees and recycling sales have remained stable. The practice of budgeting revenues conservatively should again be beneficial at year-end. We believe, despite the decreases in investment income and catastrophic aid, we should make our estimate for total revenue at year-end. We continue to monitor these revenues carefully. We are still working on year-end projections to determine the surplus. We had a lighter winter season this year with savings in both fuel and plowing costs and we're hoping to put some unused surplus back in the snow removal contingency at year-end. After a FY09 deficit of $3.3 million in the school budget and significant cuts to the FY10 school budget of around $3.4 million, I am able to report that the school finances seem to be back on track. The CFO and COO have been meeting monthly to review the school accounts and we believe, at this point, that the school district will meet its budget target at year-end, though without much to spare. The FY11 Budget is my third budget and it is done in a most challenging time. I’ve asked my Division Directors to maintain their salaries at their current levels, and I will do the same for mine. We continue to follow the improved budget format from changes made in the last two years. We received positive feedback on the addition a couple years ago of the direct cost summary for benefits in each department and division and you’ll again find it in this year’s budget. Last year, after significant work, we were able to include the Special Revenue Funds and they are all included in this FY11 budget, as well. This year we have also presented the insurance funds differently; providing the total amount funded by tax dollars in a summary budget, and the estimated detail behind it. This is a major improvement that allows us to provide more information for both the benefits and property casualty funds that is also more in line with best practices. You will see that on pages 65-67 and 79-82 just to call your attention to that. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 3 We were not able to provide the Transit budget in the same format as other departments, as we had hoped to be able to do, but we did provide a more comprehensive budget in the supplemental funding section of the proposed budget. Like the last couple of years, my thanks go out to Rose Evans and Mike Roy for their efforts in helping me in my quest for transparency in financial reporting. And, many thanks to all the finance team members along with individuals in various divisions that worked diligently to get the budget to me in a timely fashion. In FY11, I gave parameters and guidelines like I do every year, and as I mentioned, the spending CAP for this year is 2.2%. It is important to note this is a 3-year average as required by ordinance. I know you have all heard that I requested 0% for all divisions. That was in an effort to cover the amount the school was unable to cut and with the possibility that we may have to cut more. This request was based on many factors that mirror last year’s, including, increased pension costs and decreasing state and local revenues. Despite these difficult times, I remain committed to stabilizing taxes and keeping increases reasonable. It is imperative that this happen while maintaining crucial city services and investing in our schools and infrastructure. Balancing the short-term needs and challenges against our long-term goals for the community is becoming more important as we begin to develop more strategic planning for future budgets. As we discover more of our assets in trouble, I have requested that we take a big picture view and this has resulted in a funding strategy for our capital equipment replacement, some of which we discussed last night. The budget process; first I would like to thank Mike Gilbar for his endless hours that he has put in, probably more than the last two years combined. But he and I met with division and department heads, boards and commissions to review revenue estimates and budget detail, focusing this year on ensuring that budgets made sense when compared to actual expenses from prior years. Commissioners, directors and trustees worked hard with me on this budget, however, the School Board, Police and Fire Commissions had concerns about being able to meet the budget parameters I set. After careful consideration and review, I am supporting the School Board’s requested budget increase. With a new administration struggling to correct past budget problems, it is important that we give them an opportunity to go where they need to be without the significant damage of deeper cuts. The Board of Education, Superintendent and COO worked diligently on this budget and they budgeted more realistically than has been done in the past and made many very painful cuts. I hear both sides of this issue, much like you do. Some taxpayers tell me to cut more and some tell me to give back some of the cuts made, and I’m talking specifically about the schools here. The best I can do is to support the work that the Superintendent and the Board of Education did with their proposed budget and keep in mind the big picture: if we want a vibrant, economically sustainable community, a good school system is key. I cut $226,000 for the fire truck from the budget as a Mayor’s cut, however, the Commission is supportive of that cut if the truck can be purchased within the Capital Equipment plan that I set out for you at last night’s fleet assessment meeting. This plan would restructure CERF and follow a more strategic funding model for future replacements. In addition, I shifted about $20,000 in costs from Emergency Management back to the Fire Department and I did not ask them to cut to make up those costs. With cost reductions in capital improvements that will impact all departments, I felt that fire had reasonably met my budget parameters. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 4 I made about $400,000 in Mayor’s cuts to bring the Police department budget in line with the 0% increase I asked for. This included $340,000 to overtime and $60,000 in various other line items where I felt there was room to cut given actual expenses over the last few years. While I do not take this action lightly with regard to public safety, with other departments providing the requested reductions, I did not feel I could support their requested increase of 2.1%, and I am confident that public safety needs can still be met. Let me share some highlights of actions taken in this budget aside from School, Police, and Fire. Public Works-Parking: As you know, with your support, we reorganized the management of the parking operation this past year to address concerns about the maintenance of the parking garages on Elm Street and High Street. Significant improvements have been made and we’ve had some positive feedback overall. R-08-63 relative to bonding for city facilities includes the renovation of those garages. Design of the renovation project will begin soon, and we are hoping to have the construction done this year. Wastewater: This year we commissioned Veolia to complete a performance audit and we expect to make some of the recommended changes with this budget proposal including net metering to use a methane powered generator to feed excess generation back into the grid and designing an improved sludge dewatering unit to reduce sludge disposal costs. Information Technology: The proposed budget maintains the level of funding needed for a 5-year replacement cycle of computers going forward. It also includes additional software licensing costs. This budget reflects a large increase due mainly to ERP implementation and a shifting of software maintenance costs from individual departments directly to IT. About $159,000 was in shifted costs from a number of other departments and $207,000 due to software and hardware first year maintenance costs. ERP will be in the implementation stage in FY11 and will take up a significant amount of staff resources as well as the added costs mentioned above. We have independent project managers on board planning the next phases of the project, which will be completed over the FY11 and FY12 years. Emergency Management: I mentioned last year that my intention for this year would be to hire an emergency management director. This budget does that. We can no longer expect a city of this size to deliver emergency management services as a secondary responsibility by existing staff. One more item about the schools: This budget reflects 100% of the $1.8 million anticipated contingency for retirements. In previous budgets, an offset for catastrophic aid was built-in, and that’s no longer the case in this budget. There are now more realistic special education budgets. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 5 Contingencies: You’ll see a significant decrease to overall general contingency, recognizing that we are trying to keep costs down and budgets within each department will have to be managed appropriately. We eliminated the separate police contingency grant of $64,000, and will fund any local matches needed from the general contingency if necessary. Capital Improvement Projects: Unfortunately, with the tight budget, we have cut the CIC project funding significantly and this concerns me greatly. As you know, I talk constantly about the importance of investing in our infrastructure. I’ve had to make some difficult choices in light of these challenging times. In this budget we have limited our dollars to $1,000,000 for paving, $350,000 for school, $50,000 for Fire for deferred maintenance projects, and $100,000 for the Manchester Street Bridge replacement. And we have also included the Wastewater capital improvements inclusive of the remaining CSO projects. Now, it probably comes as no surprise to you that we have lots of challenges being faced in this FY11 budget. I’ll remind you of a few of them. The past state revenue cuts of $5 million, now we had that revenue cut last year of greater than $5 million and the legislature did it for two years. So, we face that additional $5 million and actually when it all shakes out it is closer to $6 million last year and $6 million this year. That is significant. We also have potential cuts in the state budget that the Governor has recently announced: $400,000 loss in Meals and Rooms Tax, over a $200,000 loss in catastrophic aid, and additional costs of about $500,000 if the states share of retirement costs is reduced from 25% to 20%. Those dollars are in addition to what I already mentioned. We currently have two multi-year contracts that will expire this June; Communications and the Library. At the end of FY11, twelve contracts will expire, so we’ll have a very busy year with negotiations. Implementation of a new Capital Equipment Replacement model that will require changing CERF rules and thoroughly reviewing potential replacements for cost efficiencies. Let me talk a little bit about the estimated revenue-areas for potential concern. Over the past year we’ve been monitoring our estimated and our actual revenues, of course. Our main area of continuing concern is the reduced rate of return on our investments. Motor vehicle registration revenue appears to have stabilized at this point. As I continue to mention, there is a theme here. The uncertainty of state revenues will continue to be a major concern. Now, I had hoped to bring in a tax rate increase that was around 3% because I understood just how big these numbers were and how deep we’d have to cut in order to not have a tax increase this year. But with the Governor’s latest round of proposed cuts, it may be closer to a 4% increase. At this stage, it’s too difficult to speculate, as legislative action on the state level is still uncertain, as is our revenue picture at this time. Prior to wrap-up, it is my intention to give you our best estimate of the surplus to be used against taxes, as well as a better estimate of the tax rate. Some people will say to you, you know if there is still room, bring it up to the cap or override the spending cap and put more money in the budget. If we do that, the numbers that I just talked to you about, the potential 3% or 4% increase, will go up significantly. Remember that every $1.7 million equals 1% on the tax rate. Some on-going budget goals; I’d like to continue a strategic approach to addressing long-term needs, capital and cultural assets, maximize our efficiencies in delivering city services, and extend the capital equipment replacement model to facilities because we don’t yet do that. I want to ensure Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 6 that the ERP implementation is successful by providing support and keeping the project plan in front of the cabinet, and continue to use and improve the cost modeling and analysis developed in FY09 for union contract negotiations. This approach continues to allow us to negotiate with a better understanding of the long-term consequences of each contract. We continue to provide more financial information on our web site to help taxpayers understand how their taxes are calculated, as well as what they are getting for each tax dollar they spend. I continue to hold over one of my goals from the beginning, which is hosting a Budget 101 session for city employees to help them understand the fiscal realities of the company they work for, and I don’t want to lose sight of it so I keep it in this message, and in addition, the other one is determining whether or not a biennial budget is feasible. Right now, it hasn’t been worth looking at because with things so unstable, I’m not comfortable projecting out that far. Like last year, I will attend budget meetings to present each division budget with the respective division directors, which will provide for an opportunity for you to ask questions about some of the decisions that we have made within this budget in a forum designed for this type of discussion. The budget that I deliver to you tonight for FY11 proposes a total combined annual budget of $257.8 million, including Special Revenue and Enterprise funds. The General Fund budget is $223.4 million, an increase of 2.1% over the current year. It comes in at approximately $1.3 million below the Spending Cap. This is a responsible budget in difficult times. While we are all aware of communities and state’s that are cutting their budgets significantly, which in most instances is resulting in severe reductions in services in areas like public safety, public works, education, health and welfare, this budget strikes a fair and reasonable balance between needed services and affordability. This is a greater accomplishment than many may realize in the face of more than $6 million in lost revenue. Much like last year, it is not about what we are allowed to spend; instead it continues to be about what we can afford to spend. I remain committed to keeping our city financially strong and economically viable. I thank you for your lengthy and kind attention this evening. RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR President McCarthy Are there any responses to remarks of Mayor? RECOGNITION PERIOD - None READING MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING - None Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 7 COMMUNICATIONS MOTION BY ALDERMAN LAROSE THAT ALL COMMUNICATIONS BE READ BY TITLE ONLY A Viva Voce Roll Call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Clemons, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Deane, Alderman Pressly, Alderman LaRose, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Cox, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Chasse, Alderman Flynn, Alderman Cookson, Alderman McCarthy 14 Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Contract Award for Sewerage Improvements MOTION BY ALDERMAN CLEMONS TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE, AND APPROVE THE CONTRACT AWARD TO FL MERRILL CONSTRUCTION IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,189,837.50 AND THAT THE PROVISIONS OF NRO 5-90(F) REGARDING THE RECONSIDERATION PERIOD BE WAIVED ON THE QUESTION President McCarthy Is there any discussion? If not would the Clerk please call the roll? A Viva Voce Roll Call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Clemons, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Deane, Alderman Pressly, Alderman LaRose, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Cox, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Chasse, Alderman Flynn, Alderman Cookson, Alderman McCarthy 14 Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED From: David W. Deane, Chair, Budget Review Committee Re: Proposed Policy and Procedure for Request of Information on Departmental Budgets MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE, AND REFER TO THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE ON THE QUESTION President McCarthy Discussion? Would the Clerk please call the roll? Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 8 A Viva Voce Roll Call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Clemons, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Deane, Alderman Pressly, Alderman LaRose, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Cox, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Chasse, Alderman Flynn, Alderman Cookson, Alderman McCarthy 14 Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS EVENING President McCarthy No one has signed up. PETITIONS - None NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS - None REPORTS OF COMMITTEE Excerpt of Finance Committee on R-10-19 .......................................... 04/21/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the excerpt of the April 21, 2010 Finance Committee report on R-10-19 accepted and placed on file. Human Affairs Committee .................................................................... 04/07/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the April 7, 2010 Human Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file. Committee on Infrastructure ................................................................. 03/24/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the March 24, 2010 Committee on Infrastructure accepted and placed on file. Planning & Economic Development Committee ................................... 04/06/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the April 6, 2010 Planning & Economic Development Committee accepted and placed on file. School District Budget Deficit Ad Hoc Committee ................................ 03/30/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the March 30, 2010 School District Budget Deficit Ad Hoc Committee accepted and placed on file. CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS - None Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 9 UNFINISHED BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-10-19 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Michael Tabacsko Alderman Jeffrey T. Cox Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Diane Sheehan AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL ACTIONS RELATED TO A LAND EXCHANGE AND PROPOSED LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE YMCA FOR PORTIONS OF PARCELS ON RIVERSIDE STREET (LOT E-1358 AND LOT E-1359) Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN TABACSKO FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-19 ON THE QUESTION President McCarthy Is there any discussion? Would the Clerk please call the roll? A Viva Voce Roll Call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Clemons, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Pressly, Alderman LaRose, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Cox, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Chasse, Alderman Flynn, Alderman Cookson, Alderman McCarthy 13 Nay: Alderman Deane 1 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-19 declared duly adopted. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – ORDINANCES - None NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-10-22 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons Alderman Arthur T. Craffey Alderman Richard LaRose Alderman Michael Tabacsko Alderman Jeffrey Cox Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO APPLY FOR THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS GRANT, FISCAL YEAR 2011 Given its first reading; Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 10 MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF R-10-22, ASSIGN IT TO THE HUMAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010, AT 6:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER ON THE QUESTION Is there any discussion? If not, would the Clerk please call the roll? A Viva Voce Roll Call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Clemons, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Deane, Alderman Pressly, Alderman LaRose, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Cox, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Chasse, Alderman Flynn, Alderman Cookson, Alderman McCarthy 14 Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED R-10-23 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau RELATIVE TO THE ADOPTION OF FISCAL YEAR 2011 PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF NASHUA GENERAL, ENTERPRISE, AND SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF R-10-23, ASSIGN IT TO THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE AND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2010, AT 7:00 PM AT THE NASHUA HIGH SCHOOL NORTH AUDITORIUM ON THE QUESTION President McCarthy Is there any discussion of that motion? If not would the Clerk please call the roll? A Viva Voce Roll Call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Clemons, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Deane, Alderman Pressly, Alderman LaRose, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Cox, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Chasse, Alderman Flynn, Alderman Cookson, Alderman McCarthy 14 Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES - None PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT President McCarthy There are nine speakers signed up. When I call your name please come to the microphone, give your name and address, and your comments. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 11 James Cutter, 86 Palm Street, Nashua Open letter to Alderman McCarthy; Dear Alderman McCarthy, I should not be here tonight because my letter to you at the last Aldermanic meeting proved without doubt the City is responsible for our problem. I had 12 attachments with it. Three of those were New Hampshire Criminal Code Statutes to support my letter. You pay little attention to me when I speak, do not go over my letters afterward, make sure you may have heard correctly because you do not believe the city attorney can make a mistake. Since September 2006, I have written to the city attorneys about 10 times complaining the building permits are the source of our problem, and each time the attorneys avoided the fact the permits had been approved in error as he did not want to concede the city was wrong. TV viewers are getting to know me, and several have commented that you do not listen to me when I quote the laws. Most importantly when I got the Assessing Department to correct the 88 Palm Street Tax Map to have it agree with the Deed I proved the city building inspectors, public servants, should not have approved the building permits when they did not agree with the Deed. Lastly, Curtilage, RSA 627:9, based on our Bill of Rights contained in our federal and state constitutions demands our neighbors return our land after the city fulfills its obligation to notify them. Very truly yours, James Cutter. Thank you. Kimberly Muise, 839 West Hollis Street, Nashua Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Kimberly Muise and I reside at 839 West Hollis Street with my husband and two children. I speak to you tonight as a Mother, a volunteer, a taxpayer, and a fifth generation citizen. As a volunteer, I have witnessed changes within our schools. Basic supplies are scarce, books, paper, glue only to name a few. Parents of a 5th grader were taking books at an elementary school. Calculators used as part of the curriculum did not have batteries. Teachers could not assign homework due to a shortage of books in some classrooms. The cuts of paras over the past years has created less opportunity to provide our struggling and exceptional students with good education. Our schools are already declining. The quality of education from when my son was in 1st grade to him now as a freshman has changed. My son is at Nashua South, and a few weeks ago was honored for high academics. He wants to attend a good college within the science field, and most colleges he will apply to will require more science credits than he will be allowed to take under this 7 credit system proposed. He doesn’t need a math study hall that is little more than babysitting our children. He finishes his work most of the time within the class with the extended block system. My daughter is entering middle school and although she is a hard worker, she requires more structure and help. My concern for her with the growing class sizes is she will be lost within the shuffle. So children who strive will be held back from doing so and children who want to but need the little extra, won’t get the opportunity. Where does that leave us as a community? Our city has changed and diversity has created challenges, and instead of meeting these challenges head on we try to avoid them. How we respond to these challenges will define how strong Nashua really is. Will companies want to relocate or form their businesses here? Will families of all different cultures, education, and income levels want to live here or will we provide our children with the necessary resources to become our doctors, lawyers, business owners, and city leaders of tomorrow in a competitive society or will we choose to keep our tax rate low, provide the minimum of education at best, and allow our achievers and ambitious to leave the city? Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 12 As Aldermen you are faced with difficult decisions. Constantly as taxpayers we hear about the Spending Cap and how it is the duty to the taxpayers of Nashua to uphold the Spending Cap. My question is, is it ever discussed at what expense we will uphold the Spending Cap? Do residents ask will you uphold the Spending Cap even if it means the value of our city’s educational system, even if it means declines in our property values, even if it risks Nashua being a competitive city in the future? Most of the time the Spending Cap is put in terms of black and white, a solid line drawn in the sand if you will, but is anything truly black and white? Errors were made and we must recover, but not at the cost of education. The taxpayers and the children of Nashua should not pay for those errors. Over the past 3 or 4 weeks a group of Nashua residents got together to see if Nashua citizens truly believed in the value of strong education. Talking neighbor-to-neighbor, parent-to-parent, co-worker- to-co-worker, we found that citizens of all incomes, cultures, and ages believed a solid education is a fundamental necessity within our city, and that the Spending Cap is not a solid line drawn at all costs. Many parents cannot be here this evening due to school vacations, our Nashua High School band being in Disney, and short notice, but as you listen to the citizens speak tonight I hope that you will consider the importance of education upon our city, our children, and our future. Thank you. President McCarthy Thank you. Jim Donchess, 4 Rockland Street, Nashua Mr. President, Mayor Lozeau, and members of the Board of Aldermen, the last speaker was Chris Crawford who is president of the student body at Nashua High. I think he got called away on something, but he was intending to speak about the cuts at the high school that are being proposed for this coming year. It is unfortunate that we are going to miss him, but I will hopefully cover for him to some degree. I’m here as a citizen of Nashua because I am concerned about the Nashua schools. Many cuts have been made year-after-year after year, and many people I think in the city don’t realize the degree to which that has happened. As Kim just mentioned to you, many of the schools don’t have enough books, not enough paper. Another example would be that we now have about 100 less teacher aides than we did a few years ago, and this is at a time when teacher aides are needed more desperately than ever. There are more special ed kids, more non-English speaking or English as a second language kids, more problems in the schools than used to be the case 10 or 20 years ago. Now we were recognized, and the city web site says this, as most desirable city, the best city in which to live in 1987 and in 1997 both, and I believe a big reason for this was that the Nashua schools were recognized as being quality schools. The organization that Kim speaks for and that I’m appearing for is called Nashua Schools Back to the Top because we want to make sure that Nashua schools are excellent schools. Now what is being proposed in the current budget, and the problem we have here is that these cuts have been made so many years now that the state of the schools now, without the drastic cuts that are being proposed, right now the schools need help now. The additional drastic cuts that are being proposed include some of the following; as Kim mentioned and as Chris Crawford would have spoken to, at the Nashua High School for the first time ever or in many decades, the number of credits that Freshmen and Sophomores are going to be allowed to take is going to be reduced by 8 to 7 credits because 15 teachers are being laid off. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 13 What is that going to do for the high school students? Well if you’ve been reading the newspapers, and this is what Chris would have addressed, you will read that getting into college now is more difficult than it has ever been in the past. Many colleges have reported that they received a record number of applicants. Chris’ first choice was G.W., George Washington, because he is very interested in politics. Actually he’s a conservative Republican and he hopes to take political science. He wanted to and will take political science and attend school in the nation’s capital. He would have told you that the reduction from 8 to 7 credits limits the opportunity of the high school students because it means they can’t get in as many AP courses, they can’t take an extra science course, they can’t take a band and science or math, and he would have told you that he’s not sure he would have gotten into his college, the college of his choice, had he been limited in this fashion. Now it seems to me that we should be encouraging ambition, hard work, and the desire to make something of yourself among our high school students. To tell them now that even though you’re a student who wants to take an extra science course because you want to become a doctor or you want to take an extra math course because you want to become an engineer or you want to take music, which is a very valuable thing to pursue in addition to AP or advanced math, you can’t do that now, you can’t do that because the best city, the best place to live in 1987 and in 1997 can no longer afford to let you take 8 credits, can no longer afford for you to use your abilities to their fullest. We, in our organization, do not believe we should do this to our high school students. In addition to that, the drastic cuts being proposed will raise class sizes at the middle schools after class sizes have already been raised over a period of years. Why is this important because any teacher will tell you that, and parents and students as well, the most important element of education is individual attention given by the teacher to the student. Now as class sizes rise or are raised, individual attention goes down, especially when you’ve got 100 less teacher aides than you did a few years ago. What other cuts are being proposed, the REACH program, which helps advanced elementary students, is being eliminated for some grades, and there are other programs and positions that are being cut. We know it is hard times. We get that, but the way to advance this community especially after all the cuts that have already been made in the schools, the way to assure us a bright future is not to cut the schools, cut the high schools, cut the credits, cut the horizons of our kids. The way to get ahead is to invest in education, give these kids a good education, and if we want to be a desirable community, we need good schools. I’ve already gone on too long. I was covering what Chris was going to cover, but if you talk to people who have kids in the schools especially those who are ambitious for their children, there are people talking not about moving to Nashua anymore, but about leaving, moving to Hollis, moving to Brookline, moving to Merrimack, wherever, because of their concern about what’s going on in the schools. So let’s return, let’s stay a community where people want to come, let’s stay a community where we give our kids a good start in life. What we are asking from you is to add enough money to the budget to keep education as it is; same level of service next year as this year. We are not asking that things be added, that courses be added or anything else, simply that enough money be invested to keep education as it is. That is our request of you. We hope you will consider it. I apologize for going on a little longer than I had hoped because Chris was going to take half of this, the whole high school subject matter, but I thought it was important and wanted to cover it for him. Thank you for your attention. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 14 Susan Haas, 18 Watersedge Drive, Nashua Mayor Lozeau, Mr. President, Board, we all know that, as a city, the greatest gift we can give our children is a quality education. We all also know the benefits and value a quality education brings to our city. As a retired educator and guidance councilor, I am gravely concerned about the educational dilemma and shortfall our city is faced with. I am concerned that as Superintendent Mark Conrad cited in his remarks to the Rotary Club this spring, Nashua, compared to other cities in New Hampshire, ranks only a few cities from the bottom in costs per pupil spending on education. I am concerned by the significant loss of qualified teachers and other critical support staff. Some are choosing to leave because they are discouraged. Others are leaving because their jobs have been eliminated. I am concerned the class sizes are increasing, that ELL services are being reduced, and that students who need extra academic support will not receive what they need by law because of cuts to support staff. I have been proud of our efforts to reduce the drop out rate and our efforts to have increased our advanced placement numbers. As a parent of two Nashua graduates, I was proud of the educational choices and opportunities they both received. I never once felt that their education was inferior or that it was compromised. We all know that the quality of education drives the value of our tax base. I am concerned that, because of the Spending Cap, we are seeing fewer tax dollars spent on education today than our city spent in 2005. For the sake of our children and for the integrity of education in Nashua, please consider overriding the tax cap. When I hear that young families are making conscious choices to move out of Nashua because of the educational system it makes me very sad. As Jim Donchess just pointed out, there was a time when Nashua ranked number 1 in the nation as the best place to live, and one of the considered factors was the quality of our school system. You are hearing from a variety of concerned citizens tonight. Please listen carefully to what they have to say. They are simply proactively fighting for quality education in Nashua, and so am I. Thank you. Laura Whalley, 31 Bicentennial Drive, Nashua I have no prepared remarks. I’m also horrified by public speaking so you are just going to have to bear with me. This was an important enough issue, and I care about this community enough to do it anyway, despite my horror. My husband and I have lived in Nashua for almost 20 years so I definitely feel this is my community, and I have a lot at stake in the success of this community. We have an 8-year-old son who currently attends private school in Nashua. When people find out I’m concerned with the public school system and want to help out in that regard, they often give me a funny look, and say what do you care, you’re all set, your Son goes to private school, why are you concerned? My response is how could I not be concerned. This affects our entire community and anyone who is part of this community should be concerned whether they have school-aged children or not. This is something that affects the entire community as a whole. Any community that has a dysfunctional school system is headed for big trouble, and that is the case in Nashua. I worked as a Speech Pathologist in the Nashua School District from 2005 to 2007. During that time, I watched us literally hemorrhaging talented, dedicated teachers, and I saw the affect on the school community, on the morale, and unfortunately I saw the consequences for our students. Eventually I left as well. I know, personally, of two families in Nashua who have relocated only because of the school situation and concern about that. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 15 I am urging everyone present to consider the petition that is being submitted, and to really think about putting back into the educational system. If we want to attract businesses and families back to Nashua, this has to be our priority. It’s not just about the kids it’s about the community. Thank you. Allison Ayer, 60 Dorchester Way, Nashua Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Allison Ayer. I reside at 60 Dorchester Way in Nashua. I am a third generation Nashua resident. My grandparents and my parents were both born and brought up in Nashua. In fact, last January I gave birth in the very same hospital where my father and mother were born to twin sons so I have a long history in Nashua, and I’m proud to be from Nashua. My grandparents, my parents, and my brother and I all attended Nashua public schools. My mother is a retired public school teacher from Nashua. I was brought up having Nashua be an important part of my life and the Nashua community being an important part of my life. I attended college and law school out of state, but when it came time to choose a permanent place for my family and I to live, I chose Nashua because I believed in the community and I was proud of being brought up here, and I believed it would offer wonderful opportunities for my own children. One of the major reasons Nashua has prospered over the years; several people have brought up, the fact that Nashua has been voted the best place to live in the nation twice is because of its educational system. In fact, because I am a product of the Nashua public school system, I can speak to that. I went away to a private college and my roommate in college just by happenstance, attended private school, a local private school in Nashua. I can say without doubt, I was better prepared than she was to attend a private college notwithstanding the fact that she attended a private school. I believe in the Nashua public school system. But I have to tell you as a young person raising children, I have a group of about 6 friends who all attended Nashua public schools, four of us live in the area, and the reputation of the Nashua public school system is that it is in decline. This is not a threat, this is not asperational, this is real. Of the four of us who are within a 10-mile radius, I am the only one who chose to live in Nashua, the only one, and the primary reason for that is the educational system. This is real. This is a real concern. Hard working, middle class families are choosing to raise their children in adjacent communities that do value education, that are putting money into their school systems, that value the future of their children, and Nashua needs to seriously consider the economic consequences for not placing those same values in its educational system. I don’t want to repeat what several people have said tonight, but this is just basic economics, property values are declining. Mayor Lozeau addressed it tonight; part of that reason is just a general economic recession. That is true, but part of the reason property values are declining in Nashua is because there is a message that education is not valued, and it needs to change. I would ask that you consider the realities, the affect on property values, the consequential decrease in the tax base, the further decline in revenue that will just result in further budget cuts, further educational decline, a cyclical affect. And again as several people have requested tonight, I request that you consider overriding the tax cap and putting those funds back into our educational system. Thank you. Gabriel Keyl, 3 Chapel Hill Drive Good evening everybody. I’m Gabriel Kely, and I currently attend Nashua High School North. I am a Freshman. This issue affects me directly because it affects Freshmen and Sophomores of next year - I’ll be a Sophomore. I’m not going to get to take 8 credits at my school. I find this unfair because the Freshmen and Sophomores, without this change, only get to take 2 alternative credits. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 16 It’s even more important for us to have some sort of choice as to what we want to do individually rather than what the school wants us to do. I can testify to what the budget cuts have already done because as people have said, calculators are without batteries when we take them out to use them, and books are falling apart as well as the chairs off desks. I have ambitions to go to college and am a big part of the marching band at Nashua North. I have a great community there. It begins with band camp in the summer, and by the time we’re in school we already have our friends even when we are just coming in as Freshmen. Even though I’d like to go to college, I don’t want to go to college being a major in music, but this community, and this music are still so important to me. I have friends who are also in the same situation as I am quitting band and music because they have other things they want to do like AP Calculus or any kind of class. I’m in the trumpet section. We’ve only got two people; myself and somebody else, planning on returning to the trumpet section next year. Anybody who has ever been in band knows you can’t just take out an entire section instruments and hope the band will survive. It doesn’t work that way. Can you imagine a band with no trumpets? I plan on taking language next year, and it’s really important that you get your four years in. I have some friends that are just cutting language because it’s really important to them to stay in a certain subject. We’re Freshmen and Sophomores, and it’s really important that we explore all the different areas of what we want to take so that we have a good idea of what we want to do in college. I have considered taking on-line courses so that I can get my 8 credits, but it’s just not fair that I have to do this, and it’s also really tricky. It’s just not a fun procedure. There are dozens of stories like mine of people wanting to take on-line courses, and actually people will call us down individually from our classrooms to the guidance office to work things out. It’s bad enough to only be able to take two credits of my own choosing next year, but 1 is just over the top, and study hall is not going to be a sufficient replacement. Believe me, the assembly we had to tell us about alternative credits was just out of control, and that was 15 minutes with administrators controlling everything in an auditorium. Can you imagine this in a cafeteria? It would be like an extra lunch period. I worry for my safety with all these people walking around all over the place. It’s going to be really hard to keep a controlled classroom like that. I have a lot of friends that have also considered cutting back on a course. I’m actually one of them. I’m just going to stick to band even though I took band and chorus this year. If I had enough electives, I’d be in a much different situation. It’s not right that I have to sacrifice just because I’m young. This was not my mistake, but I’m paying for it. We are not asking to add money to the budget we are just asking that we keep what we already have. I’m really hoping that everybody will consider the affects that cutting the budget will have since it’s already so depleted. I thank you for listening. Maria Barry, 16 Columbia Ave. Good evening Mayor Lozeau, Mr. President, members of the Board. I’m Maria Barry. I live at 14 Columbia Ave. I’m the mother of four children in the school system. I’m also an active volunteer in the schools. I don’t want to repeat what other speakers have said, but I do want to say that I support the addition of more funds into the budget to support our schools and so as not to have the drastic cuts that were proposed by our Superintendent of Schools. In particular, I’m very concerned about what’s proposed for cuts at the high school. By limiting the credits we’re really limiting their ability to be well rounded and we’re limiting their chances to prepare for competitive colleges and universities. For example, students who may want to go into pre-med Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 17 or engineering who need to double up on math and science just to get into the universities of their choice, won’t be able to because the credits are limited as Freshmen and Sophomores. I had a study hall in high school. I’m sure many people did. Students already have a good deal of study time built into their classes because of the way block scheduling works. Twenty to thirty minutes of the average 90-minute is study time so students already have study time built into their day. Adding a study is really not necessary. It’s a waste of everyone’s time. I’m also concerned about the increasing class sizes at the middle schools. Right now my son, for example, his classes are 28-30 students each. There isn’t much room to grow there. Teachers will be receiving overage payments when their classes I believe go over 30. There isn’t a lot of room there, and it does take away from the individualized attention to the students who need it most. I feel very strongly that that our students need for us to add this back into the budget, but also our community as well, as many speakers have said. Just as an example, when I was out meeting with other parents and other community members (I was one of the many people who went out circulating this petition that’s going to be presented) so many people said to me well we don’t want to see our taxes increase, but actually we’ve seen them go down. I myself experienced an 8.5% decrease in taxes in 2009. We don’t want to see our taxes increase, but if we could just see them stay level. I think a lot of parents feel that way. Just keep the taxes as they are to pay for this because we certainly don’t want to move out of Nashua and we don’t have the money to enroll our children in private schools. Often times we really feel that to get the best education our options are limited. I urge you to strongly consider the addition of funds into this budget to improve our education. Thank you. REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Alderman Flynn I just wanted to mention there was an article in the Telegraph this week talking about what’s going on with the MacMulkin ongoing battle and the third floor. You can’t make this kind of stuff up. It’s the most bizarre thing you could imagine. It’s been going on since 2003. In 2003, somehow no one bothered to mention there would be parking on the third floor of this building, no one got the approval from the fire department for parking on the third floor, and no one knew there was going to be parking. In 2005, there was another big twist; somehow there was a minor change, and they officially allowed the change from parking on the roof to the addition of a third floor. That was considered a minor change, never went before the Planning Board. When you go through the minutes it’s not even on the agenda that evening (May 2005) and not included in the minutes of that meeting. It’s kind of an attachment to the notes for that meeting. All through that a number of residents were very involved trying to get answers from the city. About that time I came on the Board. I was elected in the fall of 2005 and came on board in 2006. Nothing really good has happened since then. At one time I thought we were going to, as a Board, look into what kind of problems happened. We created an ad hoc committee, but the circumstances of being taken to court and the City being a partner in all of that meant we pretty much got squashed in being able to look into that matter. Now this week I see the State Supreme Court got involved and made a ruling. I was at the court both days. I believe Alderman Teeboom was there 1 or 2 days with me when Justice Sullivan was going over the case. There was some talk about perhaps working out an agreement. They left the room. I don’t know what happened. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 18 Now there is a contention that there was an agreement signed and no one knows for sure what’s on that agreement. Even though the City of Nashua had its lawyer there, he didn’t ask for a copy of the signed agreement. Even though MacMulkin had its lawyer there, he can’t provide a copy of the signed agreement. Justice Sullivan can’t find a copy. The lawyer for Mr. Banks says he didn’t ask for a copy. Of course the Court can’t find a copy. It’s just the most bizarre case. You could never write how this could possibly have turned out. It’s certainly going to be a long-term blight I think on that neighborhood. When I was first married, I thought that was a perfect spot for me to raise my family over ether on Superior Drive. I couldn’t really afford a home quite that nice at that time, but I thought it was an excellent place to bring up a family. I didn’t really appreciate that my neighbor would be the automotive village. I certainly now an glad that I made other decisions that worked out pretty well in fact for an excellent place to bring up my family. For those people that live in that neighborhood, it’s very very disappointing to see that another strange unexpended twist – no one can find the copy and the Judge had to rule I guess based on recollections of people and what people had to say. All of these professionals, all of these people being paid to do their jobs with all of their experience, no one asked for a copy or no one received a copy or no one can find their copy – whatever you want to say – it happened. The other thing I was going to mention quickly is that I have seen people in my neighborhood, I think they are from the Census Bureau, wearing green outfits or green hats. I think that’s who they are. I don’t think anything is going to happen in New Hampshire or New England, but there are going to be stories after all is done about people who are handing out either their bank accounts, social security numbers, other personal information through some kind of scam or something going on. There will be stories about that. Don’t let yourself become a victim of that. You don’t have to give your Social Security number or your credit card information or anything about your banks. Just be aware before you end up being taken. It is going to happen somewhere. People are just too smart and always try to find some way to take advantage of the weak so be aware of that. Thank you. Alderman Chasse This Saturday at 12:30 p.m. is the groundbreaking ceremony for the labyrinth at Common Park. Unfortunately I cannot make it, but I hope one of you can make it and perhaps you can take a picture of the Mayor digging up some dirt. President McCarthy Unfortunately the Mayor will not be there either, but I will. Alderman Chasse That would be a nice picture. I’m going to have that one framed. Thank you. Alderman Tabacsko Thank you. I wanted to congratulate everyone who was involved in the Earth Day activities over at the landfill this past Saturday. They put on an extremely informative and great event all the way around. The weather was perfect for it as well. Tours of the outback in the landfill were of particular interest to me, but all of the displays, etc. just my congratulations. I know there was a lot of coordination and effort that went into that and everybody that was involved did a very fine job. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 19 Along similar lines, I’d like to thank everybody that was involved here – here is a classic case of last Tuesday, a week ago today, I was reminded by a constituent of a conversation we had had back in the fall about a crosswalk that didn’t exist. As of this afternoon that crosswalk is in, the signs are up. This sidewalk connects Alderman Cox’s ward with my ward across Conant Road at Forsythia and McKenna. There are walking trails on the one side and sidewalks on the other. This is a great way for a couple of neighborhoods to be able to access each. I’m sure the residents there really appreciate the fast turnaround on this. My thanks to everybody that was involved in that. Thank you. Alderman Pressly Thank you Mr. President. I have two items. One is regarding the arts. On May 8th from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. there is going to be a spring dance in support of the International Sculpture Symposium. The cost is only $15. I hope that you will all come. Here is a poster for it that is also up in the hallway. This is one of the arts that the city has benefited from so I hope you all will consider attending. The second item – I would like to thank the people in the audience who came out tonight in support of the schools. I know many have already left, but I for one share their concerns as I know we all do. The thing that really does not come out, and the only area that I would consider separate funding is the fact that nobody really talks about what has caused a major trauma at the school. We know that there is an economy that is very difficult, we know of the financial difficulties across the nation, but specifically what is happening in our school is a result of two well-paid city employees that somehow managed to mismanage the budget process and have created a $6 million deficit. To have our students suffer for the mismanagement of city employees I think is quite different and should be considered in a different way than the economy and the other troubles that affect our community. I for one think that we have to really take their concerns seriously. If we can’t have time to form a proper Aldermanic committee, that some of us should sit down and start talking, maybe form an informal group, as to how to deal with this. But I for one think it is absolutely totally unfair that our school system has just been cut at the knees because of the mismanagement of two well paid city employees that had other jobs lined up and ran off leaving the school department with a $6 million deficit. I think we need to look at this a little bit differently and work together to see if we can’t find some other way to deal with it. Thank you. President McCarthy We have a formal committee to discuss how to deal with the budget. It is the Budget Committee Alderman Pressly. Alderman Sheehan Hi. Thank you. I would like to just touch on the Pennichuck shutdown for the French Hill water main improvements that are going to occur tonight. The first of three shut downs is scheduled for tonight from 9:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m., and it is one of three shut downs that the project will require. The shutdown will affect Granite Street, Lock Street, and Orange Street. The work is being done at night because of business, daycare, and schools that would be affected by a daytime shutdown. A second shutdown will occur at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday April 28th on Granite Street from Summer Street to Lock Street. The water should be restored by 3:00 p.m. After this shutdown everyone in the construction area on Granite Street will be connected to a temporary water main. The chief complaint should be the interruption of a good night’s sleep because of the noise. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 20 The next two nights that it will happen will be in July and will not be in the same neighborhood. That information comes from Pennichuck Water Works. Alderman Deane Thank you. There seems to be some misinformation/misunderstanding of Department 581 – School Department. I look in the Mayor’s proposed budget and the department requested $93,425,591 and the Mayor did not adjust that. That’s a 5.6% increase. That is not a cut. That is an increase. Alderman Pressly did allude to a little earlier there was some mismanagement and lack of oversight of the 2 individuals that were charged with understanding and disseminating information to this board as well as their board pertaining to contracts that were approved; we have plenty of money don’t worry about it. It seems some of the folks that spoke this evening I have seen before. They were rallying for us to approve the teachers’ contract. We did it, and come to find out they don’t have enough money. It’s unfortunate it seems like every year there is problem after problem and we continue to deal with these as they come along. The Mayor, in her remarks, mentioned a biannual budget. I have one long word for that; forget about it. All we have to do is look towards Concord and see what happened there. I can’t understand it. I am a strong proponent of living year to year, not going out and having these significant increases in the operating budgets and then finding out that all of a sudden the State of New Hampshire finds out there is something terribly wrong with the economy, when it seemed like the rest of the world understood it a while ago, and they are approving operating budgets of over 17%, revenues drop, people are out of work, and the revenue stream that this city had been receiving all of a sudden dries up. As the Mayor stated earlier, when you become dependent on those State revenues, and all of a sudden they go away of the Legislature extends those periods of not sharing the revenues this city generates through the businesses that we have to fill in their own holes, that’s where there are a lot of problems. I think it’s nice that people want more money for the school district and want their taxes to level out or go up or whatever they may seem to do. We heard this back in 06 and we set an account up for people to make contributions to the school district if that is what they chose to do with their money. It falls under the Board of Education to operate how they want to spend that money. I believe to date in the last 3 years or so there was $2,400. That is all that was brought in. It’s going to be interesting times, but I just wanted to raise the point that the Mayor didn’t cut the school budget. There is a 5.6% increase. They have problems covering costs and it is mainly due to contractual obligations that were made. One other thing I wanted to add Mr. President if you don’t mind. To Alderman Sheehan, we have a Budget Committee after this meeting. I didn’t know if she wanted to spend another hour on the phone this evening and attend or whether she wanted to hang up when we’re done with this meeting. Could you ask her that? President McCarthy Alderman Sheehan do you intend to attend the Budget Review Committee meeting by phone after this meeting? Alderman Sheehan I can yes. Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 21 Alderman Deane Thank you. Alderman Clemons Thank you. I just want to say thank you to the folks that came out this evening to speak in regards to the Mayor’s submitted budget. They spoke passionately, and I think it will be an interesting process to see where the budget goes and what we can do with it. I certainly share a lot of the concerns that were raised this evening. Some of the concerns stem from a lot of different areas. Some of them are previous cuts that this board has made in the past, some of it is related to the state not being able to manage its budget, and also the economy. I think we have a tri-fector of problems, and it is our duty to solve them. That is what I intend to do in a fashion that is in the best interest of the entire city. I don’t want to make any promises this evening to anyone regarding where I will stand at the end of the budget process, but I certainly will be looking very closely at it. Thank you. President McCarthy I need to make a couple of comments. First I did want to make the Board aware that Mr. Cutter has been appearing before us at virtually every meeting, and tonight alleged that I or we don’t listen to him and don’t read any of the things that he has given us. I have listened carefully to him and I have read virtually everything that he has presented to us. I have met with Attorney Clarke, I have met with Attorney McNamee, I’ve read the opinions that were produced by Corporation Counsel’s office both under this administration and the previous one regarding the situation there, and I don’t believe from what I understand from our attorneys that we have any authority to do anything for this. The opinion of our attorneys has been that this is a property dispute that must be arbitrated in the Superior Court of the State of New Hampshire and that the parties should retain council to do so. I am convinced that is the case, and that is why we have not taken any action to deal with that situation because I don’t believe that this board has any authority to do. I do want to thank all the people that came out tonight to talk to us. This is certainly a difficult time for us from the perspective of the balancing that has to take place when this board considered the budget. By way of that I did want to address a comment that was made both this evening and when we held one of the vision sessions regarding the fact that most residential taxes went down. It would seem that the simple solution is we could have left the taxes so they were level last year and that would have provided relief in the budget, but in fact that is another case where we don’t have that authority. We get to set a budget and from that a tax rate is calculated, which levies what needs to be raised by taxes proportionate with the values of properties. Last year the amount we raised by taxes went up. What happened was that the assessed valuation of the residential properties with respect to the commercial properties went down substantially, and, therefore, what wasn’t paid by the residential properties was picked up by the retailers and by the employers in Nashua in their tax bills. Were we to set the budget so that residential taxes stayed approximately flat that tax increase on our retailers and on our employers would have been more substantial than it was. The concern that we have there is that we wind up driving what is a very lucrative half of our tax base that pays for education and yet demands no service from it out of Nashua. It is a complex balancing act that we’re called upon to perform based on the way taxation is done in the State of New Hampshire. I don’t think anybody for a moment thinks that this is not a serious issue. I am very concerned about the state of the school system in New Hampshire and in Nashua. I raised my two kids here, they are both products of the Nashua schools, and I would hate to deny them the opportunity to come back and Bd. of Aldermen – 04/27/10 Page 22 live in this community with the same kind of advantage. I am sure that this board will take very careful account of the impact that we have on education as we consider the budget. Committee announcements: Alderman Deane The Budget Review Committee will meet at 9:00 p.m. this evening. President McCarthy Do you want to announce any of the other ones? Alderman Deane No thank you. Alderman Wilshire The Human Affairs Committee will meet Monday, May 3rd at 6:00 p.m. in these Chambers. Alderman Cox The Committee on Infrastructure will meet tomorrow evening here in these Chambers at 7:00 p.m. President McCarthy Are there any other announcements? Alderman Tabacsko May 4th at 6:00 p.m. in the Auditorium is the Service Advisory Committee’s second public input session for what is commonly referred to as the BID Committee or BID District. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE APRIL 27, 2010 MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BE ADJOURNED A Viva Voce Roll Call vote was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Clemons, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Deane, Alderman Pressly, Alderman LaRose, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Cox, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Chasse, Alderman Flynn, Alderman Cookson, Alderman McCarthy 14 Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Attest: Paul R. Bergeron, City Clerk