Aldermen, Board of

A special meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, May 7, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. President Brian S. McCarthy presided; Deputy City Clerk Patricia Piecuch recorded. Prayer was offered by Deputy City Clerk Patricia Piecuch; Alderman Moriarty led in the Pledge to the Flag. The roll call was taken with 11 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Alderman Dowd, Alderman Tabacsko, Alderman Sheehan, and Alderman Craffey were not in attendance; Alderman Vitale and Alderman Pressly arrived after roll call at 7:05 p.m. Her Honor Mayor Donnalee Lozeau was also in attendance. R-13-109 AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND THE CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE REFUNDING BONDS OR LOANS NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS ($30,000,000) TO REFINANCE ALL OR A PORTION OF CERTAIN OUTSTANDING LOANS OF THE CITY OBTAINED THROUGH THE STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUND ADMINISTERED BY THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE INTEREST COST AND OTHER SAVINGS Chairman McCarthy Before I ask for public testimony in accordance with the provisions of NRO 5-28, I’ll ask the Mayor to give us an overview of the legislation. Mayor Lozeau I appreciate the opportunity to come here tonight with something that is actually good news. This resolution before you for consideration is allowing the city treasurer the authority to take a look at existing loans, state revolving loan fund dollars, any bonds, things like that in solid waste and wastewater that may be able to be refunded. I used that term because that’s apparently the term of art. You and I in the real world would use the term refinancing at a lower rate. As you know we were just very fortunate enough to get our last bonds that we sold out at 2.4 percent. We think there may be a real opportunity here to see some significant savings if we’re able to look at these as well. That’s why that’s before you tonight, and I think it’s always good news when we have an opportunity to look at saving some real dollars. Mr. Chairman, if you wouldn’t mind indulging me just for a moment, a little bit off topic. Some of you may know I have a commitment tonight at the Board of Education for their budget committee meeting. I didn’t realize that these two things were happening at the same time. I just wanted to take a moment to say that I won’t be able to be here for the following Budget Committee meeting. I read in the paper today that potentially the sidewalk legislation might be taken up. I would just ask if that might be able to be held for another time when I’m able to participate in the discussions. I appreciate that, and I appreciate you letting me scoot out to the next meeting. Thank you. President McCarthy Let the record show that Alderman Vitale and Alderman Pressly have arrived. Testimony in Favor – None Testimony in Opposition – None Spec. Bd. of Aldermen - 05/7/13 Page 2 R-13-111 AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF ONE MILLION DOLLARS ($1,000,000) FOR THE PURCHASE OF PUBLIC SAFETY PORTABLE RADIOS Chairman McCarthy In accordance with NRO 5-28, as a sponsor of the legislation, I’m going to ask Mr. Mansfield to familiarize us with what’s in it. Bill Mansfield, Radio Systems Manager The reason why we’re coming back to you for additional funding for part of the radio communication system was we were afforded an opportunity from Motorola. There was a public safety agency that had ordered 400 radios from Motorola. When they received the radios they decided at that point in time they didn’t want to utilize the radios, and they wanted to upgrade to a different type of radio. Motorola took the radios back and returned them of course. The entity ended up purchasing additional radios. That left Motorola with approximately 400 radios that they needed to pretty much get rid of. I was approached by Motorola because they know we’re looking into upgrading our communication system. They approached us and offered us a deal on these radios at 50 percent off. Our normal discount that we get is 25 percent off these types of radios. These radios would be Apex radios being specifically for public safety, meaning police and fire. This will replace all of the portable radios that police and fire have at this point in time. All the radios that we do have are no longer repairable. If we get one in that needs to get repaired, if we can repair it in-house, what ends up happening is we just shelve the radio because it can’t be repaired at all. We looked at the deal and presented it to the radio committee that we have in the city. They agreed that this is a way that we should go and that we should try to pursue getting funding for these radios. The cost of the radios themselves is $986,654 - $986,000 for the most part. That includes everything. It includes the accessories, speaker microphones, batteries, antennas, chargers. That would outfit everybody in police and fire with new radios. Again this cost savings is an additional $500,000 off of what we would already have received through the WISCA contract that we get 25 percent off. This is a substantial savings to the city, and I feel it’s a viable purchase. Chairman McCarthy This would represent about a $500,000 total savings over our normal discount agreement? Mr. Mansfield Correct. Testimony in Favor Fred Sheldon, 7 Grand Avenue, Nashua. I have a couple of questions. How many radios? Is the warranty fully extendable for five or ten years so we won’t be paying an extended warranty and saving? If they don’t work, can we get something else that works better? Will this be able to put all the departments in communication if we have a natural disaster? All departments will need to community with each other. They couldn’t in New York, but will we be able to do that here with other departments if that happens? There’s no sense saving money if we can’t utilize it effectively. Thank you. Spec. Bd. of Aldermen - 05/7/13 Page 3 Testimony in Opposition – None Testimony in Favor – None Testimony in Opposition – None AADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE MAY 7, 2013 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BE ADJOURNED MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared adjourned at 7:12 p.m. Attest: Patricia Piecuch, Deputy City Clerk