Aldermen, Board of

A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, November 13, 2012, at 7:40 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 Melizzi-Golja led in the Pledge to the Flag. The roll call was taken with 15 members of the Board of Aldermen present. . Her Honor Mayor Donnalee Lozeau and Deputy Corporation Counsel Stephen M. Bennett were also in attendance. REMARKS BY THE MAYOR Thank you, Mr. President, I do. I would begin my remarks tonight by mentioning what a great Veterans Day we had this past weekend. We had a wonderful turn out in the parade, the start of the parade having significance to the 11th day, 11th hour, 11th month, 11th minute. I think it was really well done. The 21 gun salute that set that off, I think was very inspirational to the people that had lined up and were participating in the parade. Later that evening, the Veterans Count event that was put on by Sy Mahfuz and Tom Tessier had an amazing turn out, over 740 tickets sold. The event raised over $300,000 for the Veterans Count initiative and it’s really a great showing for our community for the first event in Nashua of that kind. It’s worthy to note that they’re hoping to have it each Veterans Day, and so I think they can really build on their success. We’ll know they’re really getting everywhere they’d like to go when they need Elm Street to have the Keefe Auditorium for the event, with the 1,500 seats it’ll be double what they did. But I just wanted to send that message out there and again thank all of our veterans for their service both to community and to country and not forget the soldiers that are on active duty and couldn’t be here. I would next mention, I sent an email around today to let folks know that our tax rate has officially been set by DRA. The tax rate this year will be $21.49 per thousand, which is a 2.48% increase over last year’s rate of $20.97 per thousand. And then I would end my remarks tonight just speaking for a moment about the election. As all of you know, we certainly had unprecedented numbers so I asked the City Clerk to give me some specific numbers that I thought you might like to hear. The number of ballots cast was 42,743. Of those, 3,423 of them were absentee ballots. This is the highest number of voters to turn out for any election held in this city. When you think about that, that’s just amazing to me. We registered 7,310 new voters at the polls during the election and this was the highest number of new voters registered at the polls on any election day. So, we broke two records. And, see the Clerk is still here and looking calm, somehow. So, to put that in perspective, at the close of voting that day we had a total of registered voters of 53,916. So, therefore our turnout was 79.3%. That is just wonderful. We talk about our first in the nation primary status in New Hampshire and we talk about Nashua and our citizens throughout the state being very engaged and turning out in numbers that are high. When we see numbers like this, I think it’s something to be proud of – to know that our people are thoughtful, paying attention and making the effort to come out. And, of course, I have to mention what a great job our City Clerk did. I think all of you, like me, are proud of our City Clerk and the work that he does but I can tell you for months leading up to this the work that was done in his office and with his staff was unbelievable. He was in here nights, weekends, whatever it took. He was out in the community at events throughout the community registering voters, talking to them about the importance of voting, whether it was school kids or others. He was out there on election day, all that planning paid off – had a few interesting things throughout the day, but nothing that stopped anything or created any huge problems. We had voters that took the time to write into my office or the City Clerk’s office, and even one that dropped off a note in the office to say thank you. Some of whom commented on appreciating having a place to sit down while they were voting, which you saw in many of the polling places. Others who registered and said it was painless, which was great. And, others who felt that they got through the line in pretty good time even though it was a pretty long line. So, I wanted to thank you publicly, Mr. Bergeron, for all your efforts and for representing the city in a way that reflects so well on all of us. Really appreciated it. As always, Mr. President, thank you for your kind attention this evening. Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 2 RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR President McCarthy I think we all appreciate the City Clerk, particularly in light of the fact that I believe there are still people in line in Florida. RECOGNITION PERIOD - None READING MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARING MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE MINUTES OF THE JOINT BOARD OF ALDERMEN AND BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING OF OCTOBER 15, 2012, THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN REGULAR MEETING, INCLUDING THE NON-PUBLIC SESSION MINUTES WITH REDACTIONS OF OCTOBER 23, 2012, AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CONDUCTED BY THE PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE ON NOVEMBER 5, 2012 BE ACCEPTED, PLACED ON FILE, AND THE READING SUSPENDED ON THE QUESTION Alderman Tabacsko I have an issue with the non-public minutes. If we could make that motion without the non-public minutes there, I’d like to make a subsequent motion about those. AMENDED MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE MINUTES OF THE JOINT BOARD OF ALDERMEN AND BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING OF OCTOBER 15, 2012, THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN REGULAR MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2012, AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CONDUCTED BY THE PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE ON NOVEMBER 5, 2012 BE ACCEPTED, PLACED ON FILE, AND THE READINGS SUSPENDED MOTION CARRIED Alderman Tabacsko I went through the minutes with the redactions, and I appreciate getting both copies: the redlined copy and the non-redlined copy. I just had the chance tonight to provide it to the city attorney. There were several instances where the redlined copy indicated that it would be redlined, and the redaction was not actually made. So prior to approving that, I’d like to give this one last chance to let staff take a look at that and make sure that it’s what we want it to be. President McCarthy Do you want to make a motion to hold those minutes until are next meetings? Alderman Tabacsko Yes. MOTION BY ALDERMAN TABACSKO TO TABLE THE MINUTES OF THE NON-PUBLIC SESSION UNTIL THE NEXT REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING ON THE QUESTION Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 3 Alderman Deane Are these minutes available for public viewing? President McCarthy No, they are not because they are still sealed. Alderman Deane None of these minutes are? President McCarthy The sets that are being accepted with the exception of that set. We have not taken action on the nonpublic session and the redactions need to be cleaned up before we do that. MOTION CARRIED COMMUNICATIONS – None PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS EVENING - None PETITIONS – None NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS Appointments by the Mayor The following Appointments by the Mayor were read into the record: Board of Registrars Kathryn Fogal (Reappointment) For a Term to Expire: December 31, 2015 105 Colburn Woods Nashua, NH 03063 Fire Prevention Code Board of Appeals Daniel Gagnon (Reappointment) For a Term to Expire: October 31, 2015 28 Fairmount Street Nashua, NH 03064 Ronald A. Deblois, Jr. (Reappointment) For a Term to Expire: October 31, 2015 120 Proctor Hill Road Hollis, NH 03049 Nashua Airport Authority Gordon T. Jackson (New Appointment) For a Term to Expire: August 31, 2017 59 Cheyenne Drive Nashua, NH 03063 Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 4 Nashua Housing Authority Selma Pastor (Reappointment) For a Term to Expire: October 14, 2017 24 Stark Street Nashua, NH 03064 Review and Comment Commission Kevin Moriarty (Reappointment) For a Term to Expire: December 1, 2015 22 Raymond Street Nashua, NH 03064 Leslie Mendenhall (Reappointment) For a Term to Expire: December 1, 2015 14 Fowell Avenue Nashua, NH 03060 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT THE APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR AS READ AND REFER THEM TO THE PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MOTION CARRIED REPORTS OF COMMITTEE Budget Review Committee ................................................................... 10/30/12 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the October 30, 2012 Budget Review Committee accepted and placed on file. Finance Committee............................................................................... 11/07/12 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the November 7, 2012 Finance Committee accepted and placed on file. Human Affairs Ad Hoc Committee ....................................................... 10/22/12 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the October 22, 2012 Human Affairs Ad Hoc Committee accepted and placed on file. Human Affairs Committee..................................................................... 11/01/12 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the November 1, 2012 Human Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file. Jt. Human Affairs/Planning & Economic Development Committee ...... 11/08/12 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the November 8, 2012 Joint Human Affairs Committee and Planning & Economic Development Committee accepted and placed on file. Committee on Infrastructure ................................................................ 10/24/12 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the October 24, 2012 Committee on Infrastructure accepted and placed on file. Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 5 Planning & Economic Development Committee ................................... ............... 11/05/12 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the November 5, 2012 Planning & Economic Development Committee accepted and placed on file. WRITTEN REPORTS FROM LIAISONS – None CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS - None UNFINISHED BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-12-73 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly AUTHORIZING THE FILING OF APPLICATIONS AND EXECUTION OF GRANT AGREEMENTS WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR GRANTS UNDER THE URBAN MASS TRANSPORTATION ACT OF 1964, AS AMENDED, FOR FISCAL YEARS 2013 AND 2014 Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-12-73 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-12-73 declared duly adopted. R-12-74 Endorsers: Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman June M. Caron RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF $85,000 FROM DEPARTMENT #194 “CONTINGENCY”, ACCOUNT #70112 “CONTINGENCY, EDUCATIONAL PRIORITIES” INTO VARIOUS SCHOOL ACCOUNTS Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-12-74 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-12-74 declared duly adopted. Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 6 R-12-75 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER AND REDUCTION OF $86,711 FROM PUBLIC WORKS FULL-TIME PAYROLL ACCOUNTS Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE FOR INDEFINITE POSTPONEMENT OF R-12-75 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-12-75 declared indefinitely postponed. R-12-79 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko RELATIVE TO THE RECLASSIFICATION OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM CHDO FUNDS AND FUNDING THE 45-47 CHESTNUT STREET PROJECT Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-12-79 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Craffey This is a very good thing for this neighborhood. It takes a piece of property that was destroyed by fire and puts it to good use for housing in that neighborhood. It helps to free up property that would otherwise probably be vandalized and homesteaded by people that we would not want there. MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-12-79 declared duly adopted. MOTION BY ALDERMAN VITALE TO WITHDRAW FROM COMMITTEE R-12-62 AND R-12-63 FROM COMMITTEE ON THE QUESTION Alderman Donchess What are those resolutions? President McCarthy R-12-62 and R12-63 concern conservation easements in the vicinity of Parcel Avenue. Alderman Cookson I won’t be supporting this motion. I received an email this email from Attorney Bennett. I have also had discussions with you at the last Infrastructure committee meeting indicating that these would be taken up. Upon a conversation with Attorney Westgate as well as our Legal staff and the question from Attorney Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 7 Bennett in his email this morning, asked if we would be taking these up tomorrow evening. With much hope they will be, but that will be the will of the Committee and not my own. President McCarthy Have you conversed with Attorney Westgatet? Alderman Cookson I have not had the opportunity to confer with Attorney Westgate. Alderman Donchess I did not understand Alderman Cookson’s question. May I ask him to clarify? President McCarthy They are tabled in the Infrastructure Committee and there is a possibility, but not a definite commitment, that they will be taking up at tomorrow evening’s Infrastructure Committee Meeting. Alderman Cookson I believe what I said was, it will be the will of the Committee and not my own. So if the Committee would like to take it up tomorrow evening, they can choose to take R-12-62 and R-12-63 from the table. Alderman Pressly If this is going to come up tomorrow evening, why are we doing this tonight. I had the impression there was no particular rush to move this along, I may be incorrect in that regard. Also, if yourself and others had known this was coming up, I thought we tried to announce it at the beginning of a meeting so the public could speak to it. President McCarthy I did not know until late today there was a possibility that would be taken from Committee. Alderman Pressly Did you announce it at the beginning of this meeting? President McCarthy No I did not. Alderman Deane Who contacted you late this afternoon driving this situation? President McCarthy Sue sent me an email that it had been added to the Outline because there had been discussion of it. As far as I know, I was not privy to any of that discussion. It maybe in emails on my city account that I have not looked at yet. Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 8 Alderman Deane So, who is driving this? Can I ask Alderman Vitale through you sir? Alderman Vitale It’s a motion that I think is time to bring forward. That is why it is given to me. I believe there has been ample opportunity to have discussion and I agreed to make the motion and bring it forward. Alderman Deane Who did you have your discussions with? Who asked you to do this? Alderman Vitale Nobody asked me to do this. Alderman Deane So, who did you have discussions with? Alderman Vitale I’ve had discussions with various people at various times. I cannot go back and give you an exact time, place or location. MOTION FAILED UNFINISHED BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-12-24 Endorser: Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly REGARDING CHANGES TO SIGNS IN THE HISTORIC DISTRICT Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN SHEEHAN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-12-24 MOTION CARRIED Ordinance O-12-24 declared duly adopted. O-12-25 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire UPDATING THE TRAFFIC ORDINANCES TO REFLECT FINAL BROAD STREET PARKWAY PLANS Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN PRESSLY FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-12-25 Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 9 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Pressly I would like to comment that some kind person has put a map of these changes in the Chamber anti room. I encourage everyone to take a look. It’s the changes that are going to take place on Palm and Pine Streets. It is a very clear, very visible map. It’s very helpful in understanding what is going to be happening there. Whoever put it up, thank you. Alderman Cookson Question to you Mr. President. I know at the last Infrastructure Committee Meeting, we discussed whether this required a special Board of Aldermen meeting because of the timing in trying to get the construction done before the end of November. I’m assuming that based on seeing it on this evening’s agenda that it did not require any special meeting and that no construction has been done? President McCarthy The weather, the week after that meeting unfortunately precluded doing any work prior to this meeting. If you recall, we had a fairly substantial storm. I followed up with the administration to see if that was necessary. The prognosis was, if there was construction that would be done this season, it would be done after this meeting, so it was not going to be an issue to take it up tonight. Alderman Cookson Thank you Mr. President. Alderman Deane Although I do not support this project, I supported this ordinance. When I saw some of the work of our former Aldermen, and some of the parking limitations and things like that, I think this really cleans up that area. Mr. President, what is left to be done there that would button stuff up for the winter? Do you know off the top of your head? President McCarthy I do not. Alderman Deane Maybe I will take a drive by tomorrow and take a look. When people live in that environment, the sooner you make the ground hard to walk on again and get rid of the saw horses, it just makes it more pleasant. Alderman Donchess I am going to vote no on this. I want to explain the reason why. It’s the same reason I voted no in Committee. The changes that are made here are fairly significant. Four traffic lights were making two significant streets downtown for at least one block one way. We are taking parking off the streets. I think what was required in terms of presenting this to the Infrastructure Committee Meeting was for the map, and I’m glad the map is there in the Aldermanic anti-room now, but I think what was necessary was for this to be prepared in enough time so that the map of the changes could be presented to the Infrastructure Committee and the traffic engineer, whoever is behind this, whoever has developed these changes, be available to explain the rationale for these changes and respond to questions by any of the Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 10 members of the Infrastructure Committee, the Board of Aldermen or the public. These are significant changes. I think, at least are my standard, to do the proper due diligence as a member of the Board of Aldermen, I need to have this explained. It’s not that I cannot read the legislation but it does not say why we need all four traffic lights. I think probably these are good changes, but I still think there needs to be a presentation. The way this happened was the Ordinance was proposed, it came up at 10:00 p.m. at an Infrastructure meeting and there is no map and no presentation. To me, that is not the way the City should be doing business. This should have been proposed a month or two months earlier. This project has been around for years so that we could properly investigate, ask questions and probably in the end approve the changes that have been made. But because there was no presentation, no map, no traffic engineer it just seems like we are expected to vote on this because it is already in the works. So without the type of investigation or information that I suggested, I will vote no. Maybe a sole vote, but I still intend to vote no. Alderman Chasse I just want to tell Alderman Deane, if he decides to go take a look at it, don’t go on a Saturday. They had Kinsley Street tied up last Saturday. They had Hollis Street tied up. It’s amazing how they can rip the tar up and put it right back down. It was a big traffic jam all the way back up to Main Street on Hollis Street. These guys were doing some amazing work and they are fast at it. It may take you out of your way for a little bit, but it is almost ready to be buttoned up. Alderman Craffey I have to agree with my colleague, Alderman Chasse. I was home most of last week and did a lot of driving around in the neighborhood. It was just amazing watching the crews work. It was clock-work. They kept traffic moving right through the area. As far as the parking, Alderman Deane, we are finally getting rid of some of these antiquated loading zones and parking within three feet of a corner. I disagree with Alderman Donchess, maybe because this is my second term on the Board, but first term this was all laid out for us in a presentation. We had a meeting at Palm Square where this was all laid out to us. Maybe this is a disadvantage for you not having that, but this was laid out at a public hearing and the people were able to ask questions. There was not a traffic engineer, but this was all laid out for us in our last term. Alderman Cookson I was going to say that I don’t disagree with Alderman Donchess. I wish we could have had more information in a format that would have been able to make you vote in the affirmative that evening. We did have Mr. Vancor from Hayner Swanson stay with us that evening to specifically address the issues associated with this particular ordinance. I thought he did a good job of at least getting us up to speed. We attempted to use technology to have the intersection available to look at, although it may not have been the best presentation of the intersection and intersections with West Hollis and Kinsley. We did attempt to make that available. But what was lacking was the true essence of, these are the impacts, these are the changes that are going to happen as a result of this legislation in a map format. Now that it’s available to us, I have not seen it yet, I did vote in the affirmative that evening. I am going to support it this evening. But hopefully we will be able to get the information to the members prior to, so they can have the best information available to make a decision. I respect your position and hope we can improve upon it in the future. Alderman Moriarty I would like to ask one question. If we pass this, will the construction actually occur as we were told at the Infrastructure Committee Meeting. Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 11 President McCarthy What you were told, was that it was up to the weather. Alderman Moriarty Will the weather permit? President McCarthy I’m not sure how anybody in this Chamber can be aware of that. Alderman Moriarty I have a whole list of issues with the bill. Many of them were mitigated. I am on the Infrastructure Committee and I was at that meeting where this came up. As much as I wanted to ask a million questions it became apparent that in the interest of the residents down near Palm and Pine Streets, I agreed to hold my nose and vote yes in order to get it through, and hope that the engineers that were in charge did a good design of drafting it so that the construction could get done so that those residents could make their lives a lot easier. I was willing to take that confidence in our engineers and just defer my responsibility to vent things like this. However, now that the weather seems to not be cooperating, if it truly is not going to cooperate and there is no longer a rush, then I would like to take a look at it and actually will vote no and I would like to send it back to Infrastructure Committee Meeting so I can spend my time thinking about it. That is why I started out asking the question, will the weather cooperate and allow us to do the construction. If it is, I don’t want to be a pain in the neck, I want to go ahead and help the residents. If it’s not going to cooperate, I would much rather sit down and understand this. To Alderman Chaffey’s point, this has been presented in the past and all the material is there, then why did we not have that material in front of us. It would have been a simple task to have the map and the stuff for us to see at that meeting when the material is being presented. I do not discount the fact that it was presented in the past, but when we asked for it, I got the impression the information did not exist. Nevertheless, I decided to vote for it because I wanted to be cooperative. There are a lot of things about this project I don’t like. I’m going to vote no. Alderman Sheehan Last year we had road crews working until December. I don’t think that a week’s forecast would prevent us from making the neighborhood more livable for this season. I would hope that everyone would support doing that for the neighborhood. I want to just put out there, that I did serve last term as well on Infrastructure. For anybody who is watching, this legislation is clean-up of what is needed for the decision of record. This was the plan that was approved. This is what we have to do. This is what we agreed to when we expended Federal Funding. It is not a thing that is opened for discussion. This is what was approved. The reason we have it now is because the construction went faster than predicted and so what should have been done in the spring was able to be moved up for the benefit of the neighborhood. I understand some people would have liked more information and I get that, but on October 9, when we got the information initially at first reading, that is the time you go through it and if you don’t understand the map or have questions, there is still ample opportunity, we are here a month later, to ask for that. I am happy to meet with anybody. I know I had made recommendations that arrows be on the maps, but the maps have been there and is not something that is new or a surprise. It is simply based on the decision of record. It eliminates all the little layers of parking restrictions we have had. It is going to open up more parking and make it easier for people who live in that neighborhood or people who travel through it. I will be supporting it. Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 12 Alderman Deane Was it required to remove all the parking restrictions on these two roads because of the Federal money we received for the Broadway Parkway project? President McCarthy You’d have to look at the Environmental Impact Statement which is where the things that were in the record of decision are documented. Alderman Deane So you don’t know? President McCarthy No. Alderman Moriarty That reminds me of a question that came up during the Infrasctuructre Committee meeting. I don’t know if this is a question for Attorney Bennett. Given that there is a record of decision, that there is a plan, are we even allowed to make changes to this? Or, if we do make changes do we have to pay back the $30 million that was asserted as a fact during the Infrastructure Committee meeting? Attorney Bennett I have no idea. That came up at Infrastructure. I could not look into, but I did not have time to look into it because it was not brought up until this eleventh hour. President McCarthy Motion is final passage of O-12-25. Alderman Donchess I am not trying to persuade other people to vote no on this. I look at the changes and I cannot identify anything that I think is bad, although I think we needed a presentation. I am not trying to hurt the neighborhood. I know this is going to go through. I am just saying, just in brief response to Alderman Craffey, I respect that you as the Ward 4 Alderman, have been into this for a few years, you support it and I’m sure for good reason. I am someone who is not party to any of this. I was not on the Board. I did not see any of these presentations. In my view, when you bring something before the Board of Alderman there needs to be an explanation as to why. I can look at the maps, I can at the website, but still, I would have asked had I known there was going to be no presentation, which going in I did not actually know there was not going to be a presentation. There are questions I would have asked to clarify what and why we are doing this. That opportunity was not afforded and I think it should have been. Alderman Deane Where would I find a Record of Decision? How would I access that? Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 13 President McCarthy I would talk to the Public Works Department. I’m sure they have that on file. Alderman Deane I will put a request in. President McCarthy Actually, the Record of Decision, if I understand it correctly, will simply say that the EIS has been approved, so the details are actually in the Environmental Impact Statement. Alderman Deane So the parking changes here part of the Environmental Impact Study? President McCarthy I would ask EIS first because that is where all the project details are typically given. Alderman Deane What is your acronym again?. I did not hear it. President McCarthy EIS. The Environmental Impact Statement. Could the clerk please call a roll? A Viva Voce Roll Call vote was taken which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Dowd, Alderman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Caron, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Sheehan, Alderman Deane, Alderman Vitale, Alderman Craffey, Alderman Cookson, Alderman Pressly, Alderman McCarthy 12 Nay: Alderman Chasse, Alderman Moriarty, Alderman Donchess 3 MOTION CARRIED Ordinance O-12-25 declared duly adopted. NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS - None NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-12-27 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess Alderman Diane Sheehan AUTHORIZING STOP SIGNS ON COURTLAND STREET AT ITS INTERSECTION WITH CHESTER STREET Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President McCarthy Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 14 O-12-28 Endorser: Alderman Diane Sheehan PROHIBITING THE CITY FROM CHARGING FOR THE COSTS OF CERTAIN OFFICIAL VISITS AND CAMPAIGN EVENTS Given its first reading; assigned to the PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE and the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President McCarthy Alderman Deane Since that has financial ramifications, can you send that back to the Budget Committee as well? President McCarthy Sure. O-12-29 Endorser: Alderman Diane Sheehan AMENDING A PARKING ZONE ON A PORTION OF LOWELL STREET Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President McCarthy PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT Stacy Laughton, Selectman and New Hampshire State Representative Elect. I would like to address the Board this evening. I would like to echo some of the things the Mayor said about the election. I appreciate the hard work that the City Clerk and all the selectmen and moderators put into it. It’s an honor to stand before you tonight as a representative and a Legislator elect. I am willing to reach out to anyone here so we can move our city forward. As I said during my campaign I would always be a big supporter of rail and I will always look out for what is in the best interest of my district in the city and the state. I just wanted to address you this evening and have an opportunity in a public forum to thank the voters for coming out and supporting me. If you would like any more information from me or would like to collaborate with me on different things, I would be more than happy to do that at any time in my term. Thank you. REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Alderman Pressly I believe congratulations are in order for Superintendant of Parks and Recreation to Nick Caggiani for finding a wonderful Christmas tree. If you haven’t had a chance to see it, it’s up. It was up in time for the parade. It is really a beauty. We always have wonderful trees, but this one is particularly gorgeous. Thank you to him for that. I would also like to point out a great event that took place, that did not get a lot of coverage and visually was absolutely wonderful. That was the Chamber of Commerce gala. It was their eighth annual. It was Halloween. It was outside of Holman Stadium. They set up murals all the way from first base to third base. Many people could not see it because it was inside Holman. But the art work and the murals were absolutely fabulous. There were 149 panels and they were depicting the various architectural buildings within the city. I just got these tonight and I will try to have some copies made if you would like to see them. They came from the Chamber. The only article I saw in the paper, was the Union Leader that did have a picture of the construction of it. It was a wonderful event. As you know I am quite a fan of murals. These are going to be used by the Peacock Players by their theater groups. This is something to think about. There are some great places in the parking garage or other places in the City to have some really nice murals and panels. Thank you to the Chamber of Commerce. It was a very exciting event. I enjoyed it very much. You can pass these around after the meeting. They do not need to be entered into the record. There are great photographs. Thank you. Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 15 Alderman Cookson My daughter and I had a very wonderful Veteran’s Day parade. We appreciated the opportunity to march in it and then visit some Vets at the American Legion Coffee Post III. It was a fantastic event. Thank you. Alderman Craffey Thank you for marching in the Veteran’s Day Parade. It was a great event. Great turnout. I want to say thank you to our City Clerk. I stopped by Ward 4. He was there checking up on the troops, making sure everybody was not overworked. That’s an understatement. It was very well run. Nobody had any questions. The moderator was not pulling his hair out like he was a couple of years ago. Thank you to all the Vets. I want to thank all the local businesses in the area who went overboard this year to honor the Veterans and all the returning Vets, both active duty and National Guard. Alderman Vitale It was my pleasure to march in the parade in honor of our Veterans also. I would like to thank them and all of our residents who came out in support of our Veterans. Alderman Deane I did not march because I was physically unable to do so. I enjoyed the parade. I’m glad we were represented by folks that went. Mr. President we had two memos in our packet. One was from you pertaining to the recycling committee and one was from the Mayor pertaining to Community Happenings. I would like to suspend the rules and place these on file with our agenda. If we are going to get memos, I think it’s important that they get put on the Agenda just so we have record. If somebody says, when are you going form the recycling committee, you can say, on November 13, Full Board Meeting there was a memo in your packet. If we attach it to something it holds for a better record. That is my motion Mr. President. MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO SUSPEND RULES TO ACCEPT THE TWO COMMUNICATIONS THAT WERE IN THE PACKET From: Brian S. McCarthy, President, Board of Aldermen Re: Recyling Committee From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Community Happenings MOTION CARRIED Alderman Sheehan I too missed the parade the for first time this year. I’m glad we were well represented. The change of date threw me. I did want to thank Clerk Bergeron, who the last hour on a few issues on Ward 3 went above and beyond. Also thank Bobby LeFleur at New Searles School for once again inviting myself and some of the other Aldermen to read to the students. I look forward to it every year. I got some older students this year so I got to change it up. I usually do the same books. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the students. They enjoyed hearing about what we do. They had a lot of questions about what actually is the Board of Aldermen which I was very happy to answer. I just wanted to thank the students for having me. Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 16 Alderman Tabacsko I was also at New Searles School last week. I had third graders this year. I have been with the real little ones and the fifth graders and now the third graders. I have to say the third graders were very enthusiastic. They had lots of questions. It’s always an enjoyable experience and I am glad to have the opportunity to do it. Alderman Donchess I wanted to agree with the sentiments that Mayor Lozeau expressed about the election and Mr. Bergeron’s work. There were a couple of facts that I did not realize and I was hoping to ask a question about those. I think it was 7,000 people who registered the day of the election and 3,000 absentees. Are these growing trends that more people vote absentee and register on the day of the election or is this a constant thing from election to election? City Clerk Bergeron The absentee numbers are actually pretty consistent with what we experienced four and eight years ago. The number of people who registered at the polls was 2,000 more than did so four years ago, 1,000 more than did so eight years ago. It’s like everybody decides to wait the last minute because it’s so convenient. Then they get there and realize it’s not quite as convenient as they thought it was. It was a number that even I did not expect. Alderman Caron I would like to send my condolences to the principal at Dr. Crisp School, Jane Quigley lost her dad last week. Jane has been involved in the community for a long time. Secondly, I did take the time to go work in Ward 7 and Paul’s main staff that works all the time, did a wonderful job. I have to say that all the volunteers, all those people who were brought into work that day and at the table we had eight people because we divided the book up so much there were not a lot of problems. The two issues that I saw while I was there were quickly resolved because people did not understand that they had to follow the rules. Rules are rules and the staff had to follow them. Both of them were concerning ID. Once they got the message from the selectmen or the moderator, they did a very good job. It was a very busy day and I think it’s the first time that anyone who has worked election, felt that 6 o’clock came and then it was 8 o’clock. It went by so fast. There was not a lot of down time. Also I would like to thank my colleagues for the emails and get well wishes for my recovery. Hopefully, I will be able to attend a few more meetings. Alderman Chasse I’m glad she is back. I had a piece of candy on my desk. I walked in the parade also. As a veteran I do not know what the problem is, but Memorial Day parade has more people that come to the parade versus the Veteran’s. I didn’t see anything in the paper. I know there was confusion out there. Was the parade going to start at 10:30 or 11:00. I received phone calls the night before to find out what time the parade was starting. I hope in the future they can at least put it in the paper and let us know the exact time. As for getting the crowd, seeing it was going to be a Sunday I thought we would have had a huge crowd, but there were a lot of empty spaces all throughout the whole route. It’s for the Veteran’s, can’t say too much about that. Alderman Melizzi-Golja Unfortunately, I had a family committment and I could not be in town for the weekend to be in the parade. Thank you to the Veterans. As other’s have said, thank you not only for your service to country but continued service to community. Also, thank you to Mr. Bergeron and his staff. I also volunteered on Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 17 election day and was doing registration and new voters. I was in the City Clerk’s office that morning and saw all the absentee ballots that had some people totally buried behind their desk. I was amazed you were able to get all those out by the end of the day. A question to follow-up with Alderman Donchess; one of the things we were talking about at Ward 9, if people hadn’t voted, they were purged from the record so there were some people registering as new voters because they were no longer there. That was one of the common questions. I’ve been voting but I’m not there. The answer we were given is was, you must have been taken off the record at some point because you we not voting on a regular basis. We saw a lot of people coming in that accounted for them registering as new voters. I don’t know how many of those you think you had. It was interesting. People were very disappointed they had to register and were considered a new voter. It was a very busy day and your staff did a great job. Alderman Dowd I was not at the parade and if I was my knees would not allow me to walk in it. I was at an amazing celebration in Foxboro, Mass, followed by cheering for additional Patriots. That was an amazing tribute to Veterans. The Patriots have set aside a seat that will never be used. It is set aside for the MIA’s from all of the conflicts and all the wars. It has a plaque on it and will remain that way. They had a full field flag hundreds of Veterans holding that flag. It was quite an event. Another thing. It is not relative to discussion this evening, but something reminded me in the discussion that having been part of another Board before. We certainly have a right to discuss any motions and we have due diligence, but I would ask when we talk about city employees, that we are very cautious not to cast dispersions on the work they do. Sometimes it is inadvertent and may not seem like it here, but I know in talking to city employees, when they listen to what happened at the meeting, they take it that way. I would just ask that we be very cognizant of that when talking about work that is done by city employees. Presumably we hire very qualified people. We have to lay some trust in their abilities to perform their duties the way they are supposed to. I just think we owe them that. Alderman Wilshire I would also like to thank Mr. Bergeron for the great job they did. The lines at Ward 4 were incredible. I did not go there to work. I was going to hold a sign for someone. Then they ended up needing a little help so I just stepped in. it was amazing to me. It was incredible how many people were signing up to vote. I was thrilled to see that. Great job by your and your staff, Paul. I send my condolences to Sue Lovering on the loss of her brother. Welcome back to June. We missed you while you were out. I was unable to attend the parade, but my two year old granddaughter thoroughly enjoyed the marching bands. I thank them for being there. Thanks to all the Veterans. I also attended a meeting last week on Community Gardens that divisuallized Nashua. They had someone from UNH Cooperative Extension. It was pretty informative. Check out their website. I’m sure they have something on Community Gardens there. Lastly, I have been at Nashua Children’s Home for 20 years now and I have never been asked to talk to the kids and the students about local government. This year there was such an interest I met with three different groups. Two classrooms of students and I met with the girls in the Independent Living Program. I never saw such interest in my 20 years from kids as I did this year. It was great. President McCarthy I would like to extend our condolences to our Legislative Assistant. Those of you watching at home will see she is not here. She lost her brother over the weekend and our thoughts and prayers are with her. I was not able to go to the Veteran’s parade this year because I was at the same celebration with the same Patriots that Alderman Dowd was at. It was quite impressive in terms of the commitment to the Veterans. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we want to thank them immensely for their service. I thought it would have been much more interesting if they had a breeze when the flag was out. That thing was barely under control with the calm breeze. It was a flag of some 45,000 square feet that covered the entire football field. It was an interesting time. Lastly, I wanted to comment that after the election last week I did have conversations with both of our Senators elect; Counselor elect Pignatelli and with some Bd. of Aldermen – 11/13/12 Page 18 members of delegation. I will be organizing another get together, probably in mid December probably with the new delegation after their organizational meeting on December 5. I look forward to that and will probably do something similar to what we did last time, make it a little more social and less formal than some of the other meetings that we have. Committee announcements: Alderman Cookson Infrastructure tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. Alderman Wilshire Human Affairs Ad Hoc Committee on Monday, November 19, 7:00 p.m. room 208. President McCarthy I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN DONCHESS THAT THE NOVEMBER 13, 2012 MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BE ADJOURNED MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Attest: Paul R. Bergeron, City Clerk Board of Aldermen City of Nashua 229 Main Street Brian S. McCarthy Nashua, NH 03061-2019 President, Board of Aldermen (603) 589-3030 TO: Board of Aldermen FROM: Brian S. McCarthy, President, Board of Aldermen DATE: November 9, 2012 SUBJ: Recycling Committee Dear Colleagues: I am not quite ready to submit a full list of names for the recycling committee, but expect that to appear on the next agenda. In the interim, I have had several discussions with legal about the committee. Their conclusions are: 1) Meetings of the committee are also meetings of the Board of Public Works, and must be noticed as such, and the meeting of that board called to order separately. 2) This is not a subcommittee of the Board of Aldermen as such. The result of that is that I will assume the committee will elect its own chairperson, as do other standing committees. We had discussed this at our last meeting, but the legislation is silent on the point, so assuming that we agree on this point, we will simply proceed with that plan. Brian McCarthy, President /  &c/vialee l£ozeau MAYOR To:. " " rmen \ From Öartjfciee Lozeau Date: November 9. 20:2 Re: Community Happen ngs As many of you are aware, there has been significant discussion as of ate about how best to 'nform the Board about things happening within the community. Perhaps it would be helpful to remind members of what currently exists for information sharing. On the City websVte ca'endar there is a !.ink (small blue box) on the top right hand side that says "Community Calendar." This links you to the NH Events Community Calendar. This ca endar ets you see wha* is happening in Nashua and throughout the state. It is used frequently by non-profits to showcase their events. We added this 'ink back in 2009 when trying to find a way to have some k;nd of centra : ca endar. 1 also am aware of the civic calendar that Sue Lovering puts together, which is a result of inv'tat'ons rece'ved or requests by Aidermen to add events As far as e-mail invitations, those are forwarded to the Board by Sue Lovering as appropriate. With regard to invitations sent to my office for me as Mayor, do not believe it proper to pass those along to the Board As an invited guest it wou d be inappropriate for me to assume I could inv:te others. Occasionally invitations arrive addressed to Mayor and the Board of Aldermen wh ch are then forwarded to Sue Lovering. Lastly, a question has been asked about press releases from my office being sent to the Board. A press releases coming from my office are forwarded to the Board. Thai has been and will continue TO be, my current policy. I hope you will find this information helpful. 229 Main Street PO Box 2019 Nashua, NH 03061*2019 603.589.3260 fax 603.594.3450 • NashuaMayor@NaahuaNH.gov