Aldermen, Board of

A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, May 11, 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 Flynn led in the Pledge to the Flag. The roll call was taken with 11 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Aldermen Clemons and Tabacsko, and LaRose were not in attendance; Alderman Clemons arrived after the roll was taken, Mary-Ann Melizzi-Golja arrived after roll call at 7:40 p.m. President McCarthy Alderman Tabacsko is away on business travel and unable to attend. Alderman LaRose is in the hospital, and we wish him a speedy recovery. Alderman Melizzi-Golja is stuck in traffic and will be joining us. Her Honor Mayor Donnalee Lozeau and Corporation Counsel James M. McNamee were also in attendance. REMARKS BY THE MAYOR Thank you Mr. President. Based on the last two weeks of budget meetings, I think everybody has heard from me enough so I will forego comments tonight, and see you all tomorrow night. RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR - None RECOGNITION PERIOD R-10-24 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Board of Aldermen RECOGNIZING OFFICER JOE BROWN OF THE NASHUA POLICE DEPARTMENT Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN SHEEHAN THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE SECOND READING OF RESOLUTION R-10-24 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-24 given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN SHEEHAN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-24 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-24 declared duly adopted. READING MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARINGS MOTION BY ALDERMAN CLEMONS THAT THE MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY THE HUMAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF MAY 3, 2010, BE ACCEPTED, PLACED ON FILE AND THE READINGS BE SUSPENDED MOTION CARRIED Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 2 COMMUNICATIONS – None PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS EVENING - None PETITIONS – None NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS - None REPORTS OF COMMITTEE Finance Committee .............................................................................. 04/07/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the April 7, 2010 Finance Committee accepted and placed on file. Human Affairs Committee .................................................................... 04/12/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the April 12, 2010 Human Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file. Human Affairs Committee .................................................................... 04/19/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the April 19, 2010 Human Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file. Human Affairs Committee .................................................................... 05/03/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the May 3, 2010 Human Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file. Planning & Economic Development Committee ................................... 04/20/10 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the April 20, 2010 Planning & Economic Development Committee accepted and placed on file. CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS – None UNFINISHED BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-10-13 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Clemons Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $145,868 INTO SPECIAL REVENUE ACCOUNT #342-6483 “HIV PREVENTION SERVICES GRANT” FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 3 Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN CLEMONS FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-13 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-13 declared duly adopted. R-10-14 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Jeffrey T. Cox Alderman Richard LaRose Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja REQUESTING DESIGNATION OF AN “AMHERST STREET ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION ZONE” Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN COX FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-14 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-14 declared duly adopted. R-10-15 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Jeffrey T. Cox Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Richard LaRose Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Diane Sheehan REQUESTING DESIGNATION OF A “NORTHEASTERN BOULEVARD ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION ZONE” Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN VITALE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-15 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-15 declared duly adopted. Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 4 R-10-16 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Jeffrey T. Cox Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $364,000 INTO SPECIAL REVENUE ACCOUNT # 341-6455 “FY 2011 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS GRANT” FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-16 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-16 declared duly adopted. R-10-17 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Jeffrey T. Cox Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $364,000 INTO SPECIAL REVENUE ACCOUNT # 341-6456 “FY 2012 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS GRANT” FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-17 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-17 declared duly adopted. R-10-21 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons Alderman-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Jeffrey T. Cox AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION OF APPROXIMATELY .36 ACRES OF LAND AND BUILDINGS AT 43, 51 AND 53 PINE STREET AND 22 LEDGE STREET, TAX MAP 85, LOTS 58, 59, 62 AND 63, FOR THE PURCHASE PRICE OF TWO HUNDRED TWELVE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS ($212,850) Given its second reading; Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 5 MOTION BY ALDERMAN PRESSLY FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-21 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Chasse I have some residents out there that have inquired about this. They were wondering if these properties were being purchased for the Broad Street Parkway. I just want to let them know it is not the Broad Street Parking. At the Committee on Infrastructure meeting, it was stated it is a possibility they could be used for that – at least it was in the minutes. This is for the revitalization of the properties if that is correct Mr. President. That is correct right; it is for revitalizing the properties? President McCarthy That is my understanding. I will let the Mayor comment. Mayor Lozeau Thank you Mr. President. I would just add that it is to try to secure that area and hopefully rebuild the Labine building. If not, have the city own that parcel and the adjoining three parcels for whatever we might want to do with that corner, but you are correct, it is not for use with the Broad Street Parkway. Alderman Chasse Thank you. Mayor Lozeau You are welcome. President McCarthy Is there any further discussion? A Viva Voce Roll Call was requested, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Clemons, Alderman Vitale, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Pressly, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Cox, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Flynn, Alderman McCarthy 10 Nay: Alderman Deane, Alderman Chasse, Alderman Cookson 3 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-21 declared duly adopted. Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 6 R-10-22 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Richard LaRose Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Jeffrey T. 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 second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO AMEND R-10-22, IN ITS ENTIRETY, BY REPLACING IT WITH THE GOLDEN ROD COPY PROVIDED WITH THE AGENDA MOTION CARRIED MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-10-22 AS AMENDED MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-10-22 declared duly adopted as amended. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – ORDINANCES - None NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-10-25 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau ADOPTING THE 2010 – 2015 CONSOLIDATED PLAN, THE REVISED CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN, AND THE DOWNTOWN NASHUA NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION STRATEGY AREA Given its first reading; assigned to the HUMAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE by President McCarthy R-10-26 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF $15,000 FROM ACCOUNT 591-86005 “FY2010 GENERAL CONTINGENCY” INTO ACCOUNT 503-11 “BOARD OF ALDERMEN, PAYROLL – FULL TIME” Given its first reading; assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE and the PERSONNELL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE by President McCarthy Alderman Pressly Mr. President, I would like to speak to this resolution. If you would like I will wait until the comment period if that is more convenient. President McCarthy Now is fine. Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 7 Alderman Pressly Thank you. I wanted to give some explanation and explain early on the purpose for this. I have great respect for the employees that we do have throughout the city; however, in my time here it has been really frustrating to get information. I have also learned that our legal staff really serves many masters. In trying to get information particularly about the school deficit I have encountered nothing but delay, delay, delay just in obtaining what turns out to be public records that should be open to anyone and everyone. I do believe that the Board of Aldermen is the group of people that is the final say on the expenditure of all of the city’s money, and that we have a responsibility to do due diligence in our research and be able to get answers that are true to us and not have opinions that are divided or conflicted. I have been told by some people in trying to get information that they cannot give it to me because they are conflicted with other departments in the city. I think that is a real problem and I feel that if we, as the Board that approves all of the expenditure of tax dollars; we absolutely must have a certain level of independence. Therefore, I have sponsored this. I hope that the full Board will consider it, and please understand I think that the two employees that we have now are extraordinary. Every time I see them they are working and working hard. This is not a reflection on them whatsoever, but it is a reflection on the needs of the Board of Aldermen today to get information that we need in a timely way to do our job. I wanted to explain that because we are in the budget process right now, and it seemed appropriate to explain it to you up front. Thank you very much. NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-10-17 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons Alderman-at-Large Mark S. Cookson Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Richard P. Flynn RELATIVE TO DISCLOSURE OF PARTICIPATION IN AND REASONING FOR RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Given its first reading; assigned to the PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE by President McCarthy PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT James Cutter, 86 Palm Street, Nashua Dear Alderman McCarthy, since requesting an Aldermanic investigation to solve our problem, I have read my letters to you at the Aldermanic meetings so you could not say you did not have time to do your investigation. Another reason I have done it is to help anyone in the television audience who may have a same problem. My last two letters of April 13th and 27th are all you need in your investigation so when you announced at the end of the last meeting we would need to go to court to resolve our problem, I knew I had been wasting my time because you never listened to me or reviewed my letters to be sure you heard correctly. Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 8 You have not listened to me because of the city attorney whom you believe can do no wrong. It is a mistake because I have quoted the laws that could be used to correct our problem. But the city attorney keeps avoiding the fact building permits were approved in error because he prefer to be the defender of the city departments rather than concede mistakes were made. If you have discarded everything I have given you, think again, and ask the building safety department for copies of the 88 Palm Street building permits and all of the other items I have given you. Thank you very much. REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Alderman Deane Thank you. I wanted to give my reasoning on two of my votes this evening for what it is worth. The CDBG, I don’t think that contingency should have been touched. I think it should have been left where it was. I hope there are not any problems. The Labine building; when that grant came in I was under the impression through the discussions we had at the committee level, that was going to be used for going to some of these blighted areas and addressing some of the significant issues that we find, and now we have bought a burned down building that is crumbling upon itself and some additional lots. I don’t get it. I am kind of disappointed. I thought the money was going to be used to go in and take care of some of these blighted homes that are boarded up and either go through and inspect them and either tear them down or try to get the first time homeowners into them or whatever the case may be, but now we have some grandiose dream down in that corner. I thought the Labine building was nice looking; it served a purpose in that neighborhood. I am not a structural engineer, but just driving by the place it is not hard to tell there are significant structural problems with the way the facility current sits, ,not including all the water that it has taken on since the fire. I don’t get it sometimes, but the majority rules. Alderman Vitale I would like to invite anybody in Ward 1 that would like to join me for coffee tomorrow at Starbucks at 6:00 p.m. if they would like to come and discuss anything in Ward 1 that they would like to call to my attention. Thank you. Alderman Clemons Thank you. I would like to speak to R-10-22, which was the CDBG resolution for 2011. In relation to the contingency, the contingency that is in there, $67,518 is one of the largest contingencies that I have seen in the CDBG resolution in some time. In addition to that, there should be some extra money that may come at the end of the year because of an absence of an employee so there may be some savings there, and this contingency line may go up above $80,000, which would be the highest that it has been at in several years. I think this was a responsible resolution and I was happy to support it. Alderman Craffey I just wanted to mention that the Tree Street Crime watch is on May 19th at 7:00 p.m. at the PAL Center on Ash Street. Thank you. Alderman Deane I didn’t want to get into a banter with my colleague down the end of the horseshoe, but I think if you go back and look at the requests that were made and the requests that weren’t fulfilled, I think it is good to Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 9 sit on a little bit of money in case something happens. You have been on this Board for two years right? Is this your 2nd or 3rd CDBG legislation? Contingency is always an important thing to have in hand because there are those times where you look at some of these projects, you have all of these unknown issues that come up, and people are coming back; they have dug into the project they are doing and found they have other significant issues that need to be addressed. It is always good to make sure that those who receive the funding have a little backup in case something does happen, and that they can turn back to the grant to hopefully help them out and help them complete their projects. Thank you. Alderman Melizzi-Golja Just an FYI; next Saturday, May 22nd at 1:00 p.m. there is going to be a meeting for abutters to the Nashua Technology Park. It is going to be in the old H.P. building. There will be signs directing people to the location of the meeting. Once again it is next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for an update on what is happening there. President McCarthy Do you know which of the buildings it is going to be in? Alderman Melizzi-Golja It is Building 2 on Innovation Way, the center section, but they have it signed. President McCarthy Okay. That was Building 1 when I was there. I don’t know whether it is now 2 or… Alderman Melizzi-Golja It is the center doorway. President McCarthy Any other remarks? Once again I would like to wish Alderman LaRose a speedy recovery, and I would ask you all to join me in wishing Alderman Pressly a Happy Birthday on this coming Thursday. Committee announcements: Alderman Cox Committee on Infrastructure tomorrow evening here in these Chambers at 7:00 p.m. The Service Advisory Committee also known as BID will meet at 7:45 a.m. in room 208 here in City Hall on Friday. Alderman Clemons The Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee will meet here in the Aldermanic Chamber at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Bd. of Aldermen – 05/11/10 Page 10 Alderman Deane A continuation of a Budget Review Committee meeting that started earlier will be taken on tomorrow evening immediately following the Committee on Infrastructure meeting. Alderman Pressly I was just going to comment thank you for your nice words, and to let you know that I am the eldest member of the Board by just a few months with Alderman LaRose. I have one comment; I hope you all will always respect your elders. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE MAY 11, 2010 MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BE ADJOURNED MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Attest: Paul R. Bergeron, City Clerk