Aldermen, Board of

A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, August 13, 2013, 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 Vitale led in the Pledge to the Flag. The roll call was taken with 12 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Alderman Chasse, Alderman Tabacsko, and Alderman Caron were recorded absent. Alderman Sheehan arrived after roll call at 7:35 p.m. Deputy Corporation Counsel Stephen M. Bennett was also in attendance. REMARKS BY THE MAYOR – None RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR – None RECOGNITION PERIOD – None READING MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF JULY 8, 2013, AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CONDUCTED BY THE COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE OF JULY 24, 2013, BE ACCEPTED, PLACED ON FILE AND THE READINGS SUSPENDED MOTION CARRIED Alderman Deane I don’t know if anybody is here to speak about any of the items up above. One of them we’re being asked to take action upon which is the fourth item down. Do you think it would be appropriate to put public comment prior to communications? President McCarthy If there are no objections, we will now entertain the period for public comment relative to items expected to be acted upon this evening. PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS EVENING Fred Teeboom, 24 Cheyenne Drive I’m not here to speak on any of the communications. I’d like to speak on the resolutions. I noticed that there are some contingency resolutions for moneys transferred from contingency, namely R-116 which transfer $40,000 that’s from Department 194. There’s 118, which I think amended to $24,000 or there about. Then there is 127 which is $270,000. If you add the three together its more than $300,000. If you look at department in your budget book, you’ll find that the contingency amount, not negotiations, not police department grant, is limited to $300,000. These amounts add up to more than $300,000. Therefore, something is wrong. You can only add up to the amount allocated in the budget. If you transfer money from someplace else, you have to do a supplementary budget and then of course you have to take a look at the Spending Cap to see if you bust the Spending Cap. President McCarthy I would just point out that if you look at the title of R-116 and 118, refers to Fiscal ’13, not Fiscal ’14. They are transfers in the end of the year for the prior year’s contingency. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 2 Fred Teeboom So we’re talking about 2013? President McCarthy Yes. Fred Teeboom So not 2014? President McCarthy No. Fred Teeboom What about 127? 127 is 2014. President McCarthy Correct. Fred Teeboom The main thing I want to talk about is R-13-127. There’s $300,000 in contingency and by approving this you lock in $270,000. That means there’s only $30,000 left in contingency. It’s in motion because it’s been Introduced, the money is already frozen until you dispose of this resolution. That’s a lot of money. I have not seen anywhere here a proposal on how that money was arrived at, any budget, any contract. It’s just an amount. I think you have to understand how the amount you arrived at especially since the account has $300,000. If you approve this there’s only $30,000 left in contingency. But there’s a bigger issue. You’re asking taxpayers to pay $270,000 to build a skate park. Now the skate park is a perfectly fine park. I don’t skate; my kids don’t skate; my grandkids don’t skate. A lot of kids skate but that isn’t the point. I think the original David Deane skateboard was approved by CDBG money. I think David Deane may correct me, it’s his name, but I think it was CDBG money. This time it’s not CDBG money. The CDBG money is all gone to charitable affairs now, just about all of it. So why do the taxpayers have to pay for this? Question number one. Question number two is a larger question. This skate park has to be relocated, why? Because the Renaissance is moving in. The Renaissance is a very nice operation. They rejuvenate decaying waterfront, no question, but it’s a private company making private profit. I was at the planning board at one of their presentations. They have huge numbers of condominiums, huge community center, all private. All the public really gets is a boardwalk and a restaurant to go to. So if you are having a private company take over a public facility and it requires the public facility to be relocated then this private company ought to pay for relocating the public facility. That should be negotiated with Renaissance. If it isn’t negotiated with Renaissance then Resolution R-127 ought to say to be negotiated with Renaissance to an amount to be agreed on. I mentioned $270,000. I don’t know if it’s reasonable or not but whatever it is you should not asked the taxpayers to pay for something that’s pre-empted or occupied by a private company. At minimums, this resolution ought to state not take it from contingency. That’s real money, but to be negotiated with the Renaissance Group. Thank you. Alderman Deane I usually don’t like to butt in at this time but the fiscal note shows that the money is coming from fiscal ’13 not fiscal ’14. I’m also of the understanding that Renaissance is going to participate in a reimbursement Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 3 process to the city when the property changes hand. I just wanted for the record wanted to state that’s my understanding. Thank you. Inaudible Remarks from Mr. Teeboom President McCarthy I’m not going to allow back and forth. You made your comments. Inaudible Remarks from Mr. Teeboom President McCarthy Apparently the wording in the title does not say FY 2013, the fiscal note apparently does. When we get to it I’m sure we’ll straighten it out. Paula Johnson, 15 Westborn Drive I’m here to talk about O-13-051. I think this is pretty sad when we have to write an ordinance prohibiting members of the Board of Assessors from serving on another city elected or appointed position. I have nothing against Commissioner Moriarty but I know when I was on the Board of Ed and I ran for Board of Aldermen, the first thing I did was go to legal counsel and say to them: If I win as a member of the Board of Aldermen, what do I have to do? I have to resign. I was told when I could resign that was either the day after the election and/or right after I got sworn in. I gave my letter of resignation for when I got sworn in. I kind of blame legal counsel who is now going to be promoted to Corporation Counsel for this because he should have let the commissioner know about this. He served on the Board for two years, not a word was said as he sat on the Board of Assessors and Review and Comment. It’s really sad when we’ve got to go through this and we have to write legislation in order to make sure that we’re following the Charter. People have a duty and obligation when they run to make sure if they are crossing over and they are serving on any other board to make sure that you follow the procedures. I want to bring one other thing up here while I’m talking about this. When I was on this Board I wrote a piece of legislation, O-02-77 and the other two people on the Board that voted for it was myself, the sponsor, and Alderman Deane. The next week we had to write legislation, I felt I had to, again to make sure that we follow the rules to make sure we don’t overlap or anything, making elected board members ineligible for nomination to certain paid city positions for two years after leaving office. I felt that was so important back then and it’s almost like what Alderman Pressly did, and I applaud her for this. It comes down to common sense I guess. Common sense. Have we lost that? You can’t serve and if you want to serve you need to pick and choose. Now I want to talk about R-12-78, that’s the Southern New Hampshire Lease and Sublease. I was really concerned about this so yesterday I got on the phone and I called a dear person who sits on the Board of Education, Sandra Zeihm. I totally trust her opinion. I know all of you in the horseshoe got a copy of the e-mail I believe talking about this. I asked if I could read this into the record, and she said it was okay. “If a piece of property you own was raking in $40,000 a year while you had no mortgage, how much would that lot be worth? My opinion is why I would never sell. Would the value ever decrease? Can it be replaced? Is there another lot that duplicates that location? Does the taxpayer have the responsibility to pick winners and losers? If so, to whom do they have the responsibility: Corporate America, non-profit or service industry? I would suggest all the parties are non-profits making so no responsibility is present. For once the taxpayers should be the winners. Are you giving an interest-free loan for 15 years? In the real loan, owner financing is available if for no other reason than it avoids closing costs. If you put $720,000 in stocks or in the bank, how much interest would you earn? Better yet, how much do the banks charge for commercial loans? I promise you it is far from interest rates. If I owned that lot, I would never sell it but milk it for all it’s worth. Just my thoughts but somehow I know that it will never be considered. The mayor told me she would pay what it’s assessed for since we assessed it when she came up with a price on the land in front of the dump in her own words. Minimally someone qualified to place a value should be called in. That could cost money but in the end it might pay for itself. To rely on the expertise of those Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 4 businesses is not real estate; poor judgment at best. When the pharmacies were interested in my property in Hudson on Lowell Road they offered me a million dollars. The city has the upper hand and for once the taxpayers should win.” I kind of quickly read through everything today. I really have some concerns here. We’re leasing this out for 15 years. It’s going to cost $720,000 to the hospital over the course, $4,000 a month, $48,000 a year. They are going to sublease it to CVS for $2,000 so we’re going to get $6,000 out of the whole deal. When I read it, it kind of makes sense in the beginning but somehow it doesn’t make that much sense to me because the assessed value is $202,600. I went down and I looked at the cards yesterday. See, I do my homework. Who has gone out and done an appraisal on that land? Have we called in like we didn’t do it on West Hollis Street. We don’t know what that value was really on West Hollis Street. I got dumped on because of my comments on that. What is the real value downtown? That’s a prime piece of land downtown. That’s our land that belongs to us. We could sell it publicly for $3-4 million eventually if not more. But is the value? No one is telling us what the value is. It also says taxes and fees. I don’t know. I can’t find any place where I think Southern New Hampshire paid taxes on the property. There’s no tax amount on the card because the city owns it. It’s a city-owned property so the city isn’t going to pay taxes to the city. The city just makes us pay taxes to them so they can spend our money. So that’s the bottom line. You’re asking someone to pay taxes on land that belongs to the city that I can’t find a tax record card on. I went down to the Assessor’s Office. I even looked on line again tonight. So maybe you all can figure this out, but I know what my vote would be. I want more information than this lease that’s sitting in front of me. This isn’t just a quick little lease that you can digest very quickly. I don’t know how many of you really read it. I know I just skimmed through it, but that’s a value to us. There’s not too much open land, there’s not too much value left in the city here. It’s all going very quickly. If CVS wants it then they can pay the price for it. If Southern New Hampshire wants it, let them pay the price for it. Why are we leasing it then? Why don’t we just let them buy it out right now and give us what the true value is. But what is the true value of that piece of land? That’s what you’ve got to ask yourself. Thank you. President McCarthy We’ll return to communications. COMMUNICATIONS MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD THAT ALL COMMUNICATIONS BE READ BY TITLE ONLY MOTION CARRIED From: Niles F. Jensen, Chairman, Woodlawn Cemetery Board of Trustees Re: Request for Joint Convention with the Woodlawn Cemetery Board of Trustees MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND THAT THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEET IN JOINT CONVENTION WITH THE WOODLAWN CEMETERY BOARD OF TRUSTEES ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013, AT 7:30 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER MOTION CARRIED From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Request for Waiver of Permit Fees by the Boston Survivor Accessible Alliance MOTION BY ALDERMAN VITALE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE, AND THAT ALL ASSOCIATED BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FEES FOR THE ALTERATIONS PROPOSED AT 24 JENNIFER DRIVE BE WAIVED MOTION CARRIED From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Millyard Chimney Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 5 MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO TABLE THE CONTRACT AWARD FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE MILLYARD CHIMNEY MOTION CARRIED From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Lease Agreements with Southern New Hampshire Medical Center for City Parking Lots MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AUTHORIZE THE CITY TO ENTER INTO THE LEASES WITH SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE MEDICAL CENTER ON THE QUESTION Alderman Sheehan I spent some time looking at this and trying to look at the minutes. One of the things I noted was there was an image of where the different parking lots setoffs are going to be. What I would like to see us look at is sending this to committee in a timely way that gives us time to look at what if we split the lots and sold the one that’s going to be sublet. I share a similar concern that has been brought to me by a few constituents that are in real estate, which is, when you look at what that sort of property is going for and what the potential value is of it, we are giving the hospital the opportunity to profit, if you will, by subletting it. We don’t know, at least I couldn’t figure out from the minutes, where their sub amount is going to be. I think if the purpose is to permanently give the business or at least for 25 years the ability to have that lot that we ought to have a market rate, at least an assessment of what the value of that is. If it is our intention in practice to change the lot so that it is specifically to so we’re moving traffic and getting the benefit of not having them load and unload in a bad place, that’s fine. But I would like to see what does it look like if we split the two areas. I would have liked to have seen a picture of what the lots looked like when they are going to be reproposed. I would prefer this get sent back to committee and that we have time to get an assessment and a look at in the minutes of what that would look like. President McCarthy Is that in a form of a motion? Alderman Sheehan I move this gets sent back to Finance or Budget, whichever you deem appropriate. President McCarthy Finance or to Infrastructure? Alderman Sheehan Infrastructure for changing the layout, for splitting the lot it would be Infrastructure. So that would be the feasible first. MOTION BY ALDERMAN SHEEHAN TO REFER TO THE COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane I was promised that a piece of legislation would be brought in associated with this at the finance committee. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 6 President McCarthy There is a piece of legislation ready. We can either refer the communication to the Infrastructure Committee, we can have the first reading of the piece of legislation and refer that. Alderman Deane Where’s the legislation? President McCarthy It’s next on the agenda depending on this communication. I don’t know that it’s on your agenda. It was prepared at the end of last year. Alderman Deane It’s not on my agenda. MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE FIRST READING OF RESOLUTION R-13-139 ON THE QUESTION President McCarthy I’m going to assume that we’re putting the communication aside for a second to deal with the piece of legislation first. Alderman Cookson What happened to Alderman Sheehan’s motion? President McCarthy I think, given the discussion, it’s important to have both things so we can send them both to the Infrastructure Committee. I realize that we’re roping the rules a little bit, but I think it will serve our purpose in the end this way. Alderman Deane My issue to Alderman Cookson was the fact that the legislation was brought in. There was the negotiating that went on associated with the lease agreement which changed everything significantly. The existing piece of legislation that was at finance that got indefinitely postponed which was the recommendation couldn’t be amended to reflect the changes associated with the renegotiations. One of my concerns, along with many others, was the fact that this should be attached to a piece of legislation. As the Mayor said, she would follow through and bring it in. I don’t know how people are going to vote. I’m going to vote in favor of the first reading, and I’m also going to support Alderman Sheehan’s motion to send it to Infrastructure because I think it’s important for us to understand thoroughly what’s going on. It shouldn’t be rushed through, and we should follow our process that we’ve used in the past. Thank you, Mr. President. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 7 President McCarthy I don’t want to have a lot of debate about the non-debatable motion. Alderman Craffey I support my colleagues, Alderman Deane and Alderman Sheehan. This should go before the Infrastructure Committee. We did have a lengthy discussion that night. There was a representative from Southern New Hampshire. One of the things that Southern New Hampshire did say was that when they do purchase the site, it’s going to be developed. Future tax dollars will be coming forth. They intend to put a medical center on the smallest site. They intend to put a parking garage which has been promised to the city for awhile in that area and then sublease back to CVS. They intend to develop the site which in turn will generate tax revenue for us. In the long run, we will be getting our money back in the form of tax revenue. I intend to support both motions going forward. I was also concerned. I did raise the issue at Finance about having it not come in with legislation. I didn’t like the idea of being short-cutted by forcing the memo through. Thank you. MOTION CARRIED Alderman Deane I stand corrected. I have the legislation. I apologize. Thank you. R-13-139 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman Kathy Vitale AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF NASHUA TO ENTER INTO TWO LEASE AGREEMENTS WITH SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE MEDICAL CENTER Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President McCarthy MOTION CARRIED TO REFER THE COMMUNICATION TO THE COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE Alderman Deane Since it’s a contract, it doesn’t need to be acted upon by the Finance Committee or do you think the Infrastructure Committee might refer it to the Finance Committee when they’re done with it? President McCarthy I was of the impression that the contract had been approved by the Finance Committee at the last meeting and had come back to the Board. Alderman Deane I think the motion that was made was to send this to the full Board. That was the motion. The contract, to the best of my knowledge, was not approved. The motion was made to refer it back to the Board in a form of a communication when the original piece of legislation was indefinitely postponed. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 8 President McCarthy Then I’ll refer the legislation to the Finance Committee as well. Resolution R-13-139 referred to the FINANCE COMMITTEE and the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President McCarthy. From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Corporation Counsel Appointment MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND REFER THE APPOINTMENT TO THE PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MOTION CARRIED PETITIONS - None NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS Appointments by the Mayor The following Appointments by the Mayor were read into the record: Art Commission John Egan (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2016 7 Beverlee Drive Nashua, NH 03064 Donna Metzger (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2016 25 Columbia Avenue Nashua, NH 03064 Business and Industrial Development Authority David M. Denehy (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2016 56 Sherri Ann Avenue Nashua, NH 03064 Karen Tehan (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2016 80 Concord Street Concord, NH 03064 John Stabile (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 13, 2016 48 Lutheran Drive Nashua, NH 03063 Ethnic Awareness Committee Jared Barbosa (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2016 3 Cecile Street Nashua, NH 03060 Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 9 Janeth Orozco Sanchez (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2016 9 Forge Drive Nashua, NH 03060 Historic District Commission Robert Sampson (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2016 18 Sargent Avenue Nashua, NH 03064 Michael S. Tehan (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2016 80 Concord Street Nashua, NH 03064 Review and Comment Commission Jean C. Gottesman (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2016 18 Indian Rock Road Nashua, NH 03063 Zoning Board of Adjustment Jonathan Currier (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 11, 2016 6 New Searles Road Nashua, NH 03062 Gerard A. Reppucci (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 11, 2016 17 Badger Street, Unit 1 Nashua, NH 03060 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY 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 ................................................................. 08/08/13 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 8, 2013 Budget Review Committee accepted and placed on file. Finance Committee............................................................................. 07/03/13 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the July 3, 2013 Finance Committee accepted and placed on file. Finance Committee............................................................................. 07/17/13 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the July 17, 2013 Finance Committee accepted and placed on file. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 10 Finance Committee .................................................................................... 08/07/13 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 7, 2013 Finance Committee accepted and placed on file. Committee on Infrastructure ............................................................... 07/24//13 MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON THAT THE REPORT OF THE JULY 24, 2013 COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE BE ACCEPTED, PLACED ON FILE AND THAT THE PETITION FOR STREET DISCONTINUANCE FOR A PORTION OF AN UNNAMED STREET OFF MARMON DRIVE BE GRANTED MOTION CARRIED Planning & Economic Development Committee .................................. 07/16/13 There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the July 16, 2013 Planning & Economic Development Committee accepted and placed on file. WRITTEN REPORTS FROM LIAISONS – None CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS – None UNFINISHED BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-12-78 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Richard A. Dowd AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF NASHUA TO ENTER INTO A GROUND LEASE AGREEMENT WITH CVS MANCHESTER NH, L.L.C. Given it second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY FOR INDEFINITE POSTPONEMENT OF R-12-78 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-12-78 declared indefinitely postponed. R-13-116 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF $40,000 FROM DEPARTMENT 194 – CONTINGENCY INTO THE DEPARTMENT 162 – STREET LIGHTING, GENERAL FUND OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH STREET LIGHTING ABOVE THE AMOUNT BUDGETED IN FY2013 Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO AMEND R-13-116 IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REPLACING IT WITH THE GOLDEN ROD COPY PROVIDED WITH THE AGENDA ON THE QUESTION Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 11 Alderman Deane Alderman Chasse’s not here. I know he’s probably sitting at home wondering why. The $40,000 was amended down to $39,200. That was the amendment. Thank you. MOTION CARRIED MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-13-116 AS AMENDED MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-13-116 declared duly adopted as amended. R-13-118 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman Richard A. Dowd RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF $33,143 FROM DEPARTMENT 194 – CONTINGENCY INTO DEPARTMENT 150 – POLICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE PAYROLL AND NON- PAYROLL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HIRING OF TWO POLICE OFFICERS ABOVE THE 177 POSITIONS BUDGETED IN FY2013 Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO AMEND R-13-118 IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REPLACING IT WITH THE GOLDEN ROD COPY PROVIDED WITH THE AGENDA ON THE QUESTION Alderman Wilshire Initially the resolution came in at $33,143. It was amended down by $8,969 dollars which I believe will come in a form of another resolution in the future. No? Alderman Deane No. It was amended down to $24,174. There are other transfers that have to take place into their payroll lines to cover some other costs. They do have unexpended appropriations but that has to be done legislatively because you can transfer out of payroll but you can’t transfer in. Alderman Wilshire I kind of thought that’s what I was getting out, but thank you for clarifying. Alderman Deane You’re welcome. MOTION CARRIED MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-13-118 AS AMENDED ON THE QUESTION Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 12 Alderman Moriarty I’m curious if this recommendation for final passage was unanimous, was there some discussion that I missed. It’s fairly small numbers but given the overall payroll budget, I thought that in 2013 that one of the problems was there they were far under the 177. Now it sounds like they’re over the 177. When we had the budget review not this spring but the previous spring, they were like 15 short or something. Why are they over 177? President McCarthy Because if you go back and read the discussions of the budget committee when the budget was passed last year, we authorized them to try to keep up with 177 and said if they went above that we would take care of it. Alderman Moriarty Okay. Thank you. MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-13-118 declared duly adopted as amended. R-13-127 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly RELATIVE TO THE APPROPRIATION OF $270,000 FROM ACCOUNT #70100 “GENERAL CONTINGENCY” INTO A NEWLY CREATED EXPENDABLE TRUST FUND “DAVID W. DEANE SKATE PARK RELOCATION CONSTRUCTION” TO COVER A PORTION OF THE COST TO RELOCATE THE SKATE PARK FROM THE BRIDGE STREET SITE TO A LOCATION NOT YET DETERMINED Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO AMEND R-13-127 IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REPLACING IT WITH THE GOLDEN ROD COPY PROVIDED WITH THE AGENDA ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane What the original piece of legislation did was it created another expendable trust fund. We have an existing expendable trust fund that receives the cell tower fees that are brought in. We decided to amend the use of that expendable trust and instead of creating another one, just transfer into that one. That was basically the amendment that was made. MOTION CARRIED MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-13-127 AS AMENDED BY ROLL CALL Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 13 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Cookson Just a little off topic, if I might, with regard to the cell tower located at the facility. Do we know what’s going to happen to the cell tower and if it stays in that vicinity will the fund still be going into this particular expendable trust fund? Alderman Deane The tower is staying and the fees that are collected for the rental will still be utilized for the same purpose and placed back into the trust account and used for its original, intended purposes. We are using some of the funds that currently exist in this fund as well. Alderman Moriarty I’d like to reiterate that it’s my assumption that when the property that the city currently owns gets sold to Renaissance Nashua that the profits that come into the city that that’s going to offset this purchase. That’s my belief. Alderman Deane That’s my understanding. A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows: Yea: Ald. Wilshire, Ald. Dowd, Ald. Melizzi-Golja Ald. Moriarty, Ald. Donchess, Ald. Sheehan, Ald. Deane, Ald. Vitale, Ald. Craffey, Ald. Cookson, Ald. Pressly, Ald. McCarthy 12 Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-13-127 declared duly adopted as amended. R-13-131 Endorsers: Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman June M. Caron APPROPRIATING $158,283 OF FY13 REVENUE INTO THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION CAPITAL RESERVE FUND Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-13-131 BY ROLL CALL ON THE QUESTION Alderman Moriarty I was hoping Alderman Dowd could just say a few words on behalf of this. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 14 Alderman Dowd The Board of Aldermen set up a capital reserve fund for the revenues from the vocational education so we could have monies available to replace the technology department equipment as it aged and needed to be replaced. That was set up some time ago. Originally the funding was just sitting there. The Board of Aldermen, at the request of the Board of Education, set up this capital reserve fund. The monies that we are transferring into that this year are the revenues that we received from the surrounding cities when they send people to those vocational ed courses. Alderman Deane And I believe Alderman Dowd also told us that this is going to be incorporated in next year’s budget, and these transfers are no longer going to be necessary. Alderman Dowd That’s the understanding, yes. A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows: Yea: Ald. Wilshire, Ald. Dowd, Ald. Melizzi-Golja Ald. Moriarty, Ald. Donchess, Ald. Sheehan, Ald. Deane, Ald. Vitale, Ald. Craffey, Ald. Cookson, Ald. Pressly, Ald. McCarthy 12 Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-13-131 declared duly adopted. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-13-045 Endorser: Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. AMENDING THE PARKING RESTRICTIONS ON THE WEST SIDE OF CHAUTAUQUA AVENUE Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-13-45 MOTION CARRIED Ordinance O-13-45 declared duly adopted. O-13-046 Endorser: Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. UPDATING THE PARKING RESTRICTIONS ON CENTRAL STREET Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-13-46 Alderman Donchess I just wanted to mention to the Board that this legislation sponsored by Alderman Craffey is designed to assist a gentleman who appeared before the Infrastructure Committee and who operates a market near Central Street. He is burdened by the fact that people park on Central Street long term with big vehicles Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 15 and his customers cannot get to his store. The purpose here is to assist his business, make sure he can operate, to create short term parking so that his customers can come and go without being blocked by long term parking. He made a very good appearance and was very convincing, along with Alderman Craffey, so I enthusiastically support this resolution. President McCarthy Could you explain what large vehicles mean in that context? Alderman Donchess For some reason semi trailers park there or large trucks at various times, as well as cars. They double park. The point is to give him relief from that burden. Alderman Craffey He has numerous deliveries during the day that come by tractor trailer. What this did was not only helped him out but it straightened out the whole parking issues along that whole Central Street. With the introduction of Broad Street Parkway coming in, we had one hour parking, we have two hour parking, half hour parking. What this did was straighten out all the parking of the whole area. What was happening is you had people that were parking there for the whole day in front of his store. What this did is not only give him 15 minutes parking in front of his store, which is the standard for most small grocery stores across the city, it limited two hour parking in front of most houses there. He would have deliveries there during the day that had to double park. With school buses coming down the street, they would pick the kids up three cars out, dropping them off. They would also have a hard time making a right hand turn out of Palm Street. You had a hard time seeing around the corner when the pedestrians are there. With the park down the street, and Bronstein Apartments across the street, you had kids and pedestrians crossing all over the place. That store is a very, very store. There’s a lot of kids in the neighborhood. This piece of legislation I brought in was more for traffic safety and pedestrian safety as well as to help the business in the area. These people came up here, started this business. It’s a business that wants to flourish, I’d like to see it continue to flourish. Thank you. MOTION CARRIED Ordinance O-13-46 declared duly adopted. NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-13-132 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Richard A. Dowd RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $35,000 FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INTO PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES GRANT ACTIVITY “FY14 TUBERCULOSIS PROGRAM OF GREATER NASHUA” Given its first reading; assigned to the HUMAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE by President McCarthy Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 16 R-13-133 Endorser: Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja APPROVING THE COST ITEMS OF A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE NASHUA PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND THE NASHUA PUBLIC LIBRARY EMPLOYEES, AFT, FPE, LOCAL #4831 FROM JULY 1, 2013 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2015 AND AUTHORIZING RELATED TRANSFERS Given its first reading; assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President McCarthy R-13-134 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Michael J. Tabacsko Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Richard A. Dowd RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $200,000 FROM THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND $40,000 OF LOCAL MATCHING FUNDS INTO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GRANT ACTIVITY – “BROWNFIELD’S CLEANUP REVOLVING LOAN FUND PROGRAM” Given its first reading; assigned to the HUMAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE by President McCarthy R-13-135 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Diane Sheehan ESTABLISHING POLLING TIMES FOR A SPECIAL STATE PRIMARY ELECTION ON SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 AND A SPECIAL STATE GENERAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 5, 2013, BEING HELD FOR THE PURPOSE OF FILLING A VACANCY FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN DISTRICT 35 (WARD 8) Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE SECOND READING OF R-13-135 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-13-135 given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-13-135 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-13-135 declared duly adopted. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 17 R-13-136 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Diane Sheehan ESTABLISHING POLLING TIMES FOR THE MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 5, 2013 Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE SECOND READING OF R-13-136 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-13-136 given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-13-136 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-13-136 declared duly adopted. R-13-137 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Kathy Vitale AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE OF AN EASEMENT FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE MANCHESTER STREET BRIDGE OVER HARRIS POND Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President McCarthy R-13-138 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau RELATIVE TO THE RE-APPROPRIATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2014 ESCROWS Given its first reading; assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President McCarthy NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-13-048 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy PERMITTING ADMINISTRATIVE TRANSFERS WITHIN DIVISIONS INSTEAD OF ONLY WITHIN DEPARTMENTS Given its first reading; assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President McCarthy O-13-049 Endorser: Mayor Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja ALLOWING OVERNIGHT ON-STREET PARKING ON OLD HOUSE LANE Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President McCarthy Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 18 O-13-050 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE BY ESTABLISHING A GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT ZONE OVERLAY DISTRICT TO INCLUDE THE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT ZONES FOR FOUR HILLS LANDFILL AND THE GILSON ROAD SITE Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN VITALE TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF O-13-50, ASSIGN IT TO THE PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND THE NASHUA CITY PLANNING BOARD AND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER MOTION CARRIED O-13-051 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly PROHIBITING MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ASSESSORS FROM SERVING IN ANY OTHER CITY ELECTED OR APPOINTED POSITION Given its first reading; assigned to the PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE by President McCarthy PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT Jim Cutter, 86 Palm Street. Open letter to Alderman McCarthy which all of you have. Dear Alderman McCarthy, The 1949 Building Permit Ordinance Art. IX-Administration, Sect. 36. Plats. Called for actual dimensions to go on plot plans; but, was not enforced for the 88 Palm Street permits causing our problem. You have heard me say Curtilage (RSA 627:9(I) the outdoor area immediately surrounding the home I protected by the 4th Amendment of the Constitution. With that in mind, anyone who holds public office and does not uphold the Constitution depriving someone of their Constitutional rights is committing a Federal Crime. New Hampshire Law, RSA 45:8, Supervision (per Chief Executive), has ‘he shall cause the laws and regulations of the city to be executed, etc.’. Nashua ordinance under Admin. Of Govt., Art. V, Office of Mayor, Sect. 5-37, General Duties has, ‘he shall perform those duties prescribed by the City Charter (see Section 45).’. Section 45 has, ‘he shall enforce the ordinances of the city. Since Mayor Lozeau will not give me an appointment we request you talk to her. We will need to know within a week what she is going to do to help us with our problem. Very truly yours, Jim. Dave Wendt, 4 Melissa Drive This past Saturday, I was looking through the highlights in the Nashua Telegraph and came across an issue that was just describing the amount of holdups in the city, holdups meaning people with guns, knives or whatever sticking somebody up. They said it was the most we’ve ever had in this city in a long period of time. Something like seven in the last five days. So I clicked a little bit further and all of a sudden I came to this one piece that said that in the period from August 4 through August, it said the 10, but it was the 10th when I was looking at this in the morning so I’m going to assume it’s the 9th, we had 148 crimes in this city. Now I’ve been sitting in this Chamber for a lot of days, and I have not heard one person, one alderman even minorly upset about the amount of crime that’s taking place in this city. And then we hear the police aren’t solving them. What’s going on? We see two or three pictures in the paper. Nobody’s solving these crimes. But let’s just take this 148. We divide it by 5, that’s 29.6 crimes per day times 66, it means we have almost 11,000 crimes in this city annually which means you divide it by the amount of people, 85,000, you’re odds of being hit are 1 in 8. Nothing is being done about this. We hired two additional policemen. They drive down Northeastern Boulevard 45 m.p.h. on the cell phone. They’re obviously not calling for direction to go to the location of crimes. I don’t know what Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 19 they’re doing. Then you look and to put the icing on the cake here, we had nine murders or nine deaths in six days. Lawrence, Mass. had ten all of last year. I would advocate that this Board needs to ask at every meeting how many crimes did we have on a per day average, what has been our average on convictions, what has been our average on putting these people away. Something has got to be done. They say we have a drug problem, and you look at where the crime is taking place on the crime map, it’s not there. It’s not in the pine streets. It’s over in different locations; I’m going to leave it at that. But something in this Chamber, somebody needs to start addressing the crime rate. I think the police chief should be in here, or somebody. I thought he was here today because of a police car sitting downstairs. But there’s a lot of crime taking place and when you start saying 1 in 8, that’s a terrible number. Thank you. Fred Teeboom, 24 Cheyenne Drive First of all I would like to re-address R-13-127. I was kind of disappointed that no one amended the resolution to state the source of the money to FY13 instead of Fiscal 14. These things tend to get lost. Fiscal notes get lost, only the wording of the resolution remain. The other one is I wish someone had amended the resolution to state that if there were money from the sale that would reimburse the taxpayers’ contingency fund. None of that was done. It’s disappointing. Anyway what I really want to talk about is the fact that the city will soon own a railroad. Let me clarify that. The city will soon own 60 feet of track of rail track, split by PanAM Railways last week, volunteer services and the New Hampshire Holocaust site will soon become the New Hampshire Holocaust Memorial at Rotary Park, opposite what used to be Simoneau Plaza. The New Hampshire Holocaust Memorial is nearing completion finally after four years. By far the greatest amount, the cost, volunteer services donated. The city did donate. They donated the grading of the site; it’s ongoing right now, prepared the parking area, access to the site all of which was adopted through the Memorandum of Agreement that the Board unanimously adopted back in 2010. By far, by far the greatest amount is the volunteer services and donations. Now the site sits on 18,000 square feet of land. When it’s done it will be donated back to the city. That’s why I’m saying the city will soon own 60 feet of rail track. It consists of a brick path, railway path, four very large granite monuments, parking area, benches, landscaping, fences. Very impressive. The first in the state, the only one in the state. I devoted four years of my life to that. I’m very proud of it. So are a lot of people. In the future we hope to have a bridge connecting the north and the south side of Rotary Park. That would cross Salmon Brooke. In the future, we hope to have a survivor statute, a bronze survivor statute. There’s one shadow that hangs over the development and I want to bring that up, once and only once. Very liable sources came to me that one alderman and one citizen have claimed that I made a deal, that I made a deal with the mayor, Mayor Lozeau, for this site in exchange for my vote for the Broad Street Parkway. Nothing is further from the truth. I supported the Broad Street Parkway. I think it’s a fantastic project. I sponsored the bond for the Broad Street Parkway. You can’t support it any stronger than that. I did that long before Mayor Lozeau even announced her candidacy the first time around, before I even knew Mayor Lozeau. I didn’t vote for Mayor Lozeau the first time although I did vote for her the second time. I think she’s a fantastic mayor and does fantastic things. I will not mention the name of this alderman. I will not mention the name of the citizen. I could, but I won’t. I hope the citizen and this alderman sitting right here, right now, will come forward and say you were misguided; you were mistaken; there was no deal made for this site. I hope they are big enough to admit it. Thank you. Paula Johnson, 15 Westborn Drive I want to talk about August 27 that there’s going to be a Zoning Board meeting and what’s going to be happening at 511 to 515 West Hollis Street, that piece of land that’s right by Riverside. Venture Nashua, LLC is looking to develop that land. Its eight acres of land. They want to develop one acre right now. That’s a toxic waste dump that used to be with the city. We’ve gone through this over and over and over again in that area. I was hoping that Alderman Tabacsko would be here because I think it’s really his obligation and his duty to inform everybody outside of the abutters to get to this meeting. I don’t mind doing this, I’ve done this in the past with my husband putting out flyers to get people to come to the meetings. My biggest concern is that’s going to be what’s sitting underneath there. Who’s going to be the Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 20 ones to observe and make sure that if they decide to build it’s going to be cleaned up properly? They used to burn the trash. I’ve asked many of native Nashuans what was over there. It was a toxic dump site. One acre of land, then you’ve got seven acres left. What are they going to do with the seven acres? Where is it going to leach to? Who’s going to oversee this? I’m hoping that Alderman Tabacsko will get this message please and ask him to please notify people outside the abutters where the Zoning Board won’t do it. There’s no signs up there at this point in time letting anybody know that something’s going to be possibly building over there. I think that really has to be brought to everybody’s attention there at this point in time. We’re building so much in this city and every time you build, there was always a landfill or a dump somewhere in the city and asbestos all over the place. We as citizens really need to take a look at what’s the next building and if there’s any toxins on any of the ground because the one thing we don’t want it to do is leach anyplace. Thank you. REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Alderman Pressly As you know it’s been a long time since we’ve met. I want to tell you about a wonderful day that I had Saturday, July 13. It was Nashua’s Horse Pond Fishing Derby. It was a really fun, fun day and to see this. There were 100 children ages 5 to 12 and they all were fishing around the pond. It was really a wonderful day and a very special thing that the Horse Pond Fishing sponsors this every year. It’s a great thing. Make sure to go next year when they have it. The other thing I want to remind everyone that this Thursday, August 15, I’ve reserved the third floor to have a citizen’s forum to discuss the exposed riverbed along the Nashua River. It’s at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is more than welcome. The possible goals that I hope could be accomplished during this time when the lowering of the river is currently taking place, it goes back up in October so we have about six weeks to observe what’s there and to have a plan. I’m hoping that we can find a way to clean up the exposed riverbed. I hope all of you got a chance to take a look at it. It’s quite interesting and impressive, hoping we can photograph the historic granite walls and that we can document the condition of the riverbed, the granite walls and the riverbed vegetation along the way. I’m pleased to announce that Mr. Collis Adams who’s the Wetlands Bureau at DES is planning to be with us Thursday night. He seems sort of pleased that the community is excited about this opportunity to do something at this site because of the lowering of the river. I hope you all will come. Thank you. Alderman Cookson First off it’s good to see everybody again. It seems like forever since we’ve been in the Chamber so it’s good to see everyone. The Board of Public Works has moved their meetings to an evening start time. They are beginning at 5:30 p.m. The next Board of Public Works meeting is actually scheduled for next Tuesday. I just wanted to make sure that everybody knew that, August 20, 5:30 pm.. It’s over at the Department of Public Works Admin building. Again this is the second time they’ve had an evening meeting. I have to be honest with you, the July meeting was very well attended by the public. I would expect the same thing for the August meeting. We received a communication I think it was last month with regard to Mr. Patenaude given an extension of the President and CEO of Pennichuck Corporation. I know that one of the tasks that we had charged Mr. Patenaude with when we were going through this exercise was that of a succession plan. We were hoping that within two years that we would have a succession plan. Mr. President, I would really appreciate the opportunity or the invitation be extended to Mr. Patenaude or their Board to join a future Pennichuck Water Special meeting so that we could truly understand where he is in that process of succession planning. I was actually surprised that their Board offered him an additional year of service in this role. I thought he was much closer to identifying a successor that apparently he is. If that’s possible, if you’re planning on scheduling a meeting of that group, of that special committee, I’d certainly like to again extend the invitation to Mr. Patenaude to join us. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 21 President McCarthy I actually had our legislative assistant working today on finding dates when Mr. Patenaude and Mr. Leonard are available so we can schedule a meeting. Alderman Cookson Wonderful, we were thinking about the same thing then I guess. Thank you so much. Alderman Craffey The Nashua Police Department is sponsoring their 25th Citizens Academy. Come and learn how your police department works, how and why they do their jobs and what they do. Get a handle on and look at their equipment and meet the men and women behind the badge. The eight week program begins on September 25 and ends on November 13. If you’re interested please contact the Community Policing Coordinator, Ed Lecius, at 594-3544. A couple other announcements for the area here. We have this Saturday we have the downtown music festival between High and Pearl Street. We’ve got the Tree Streets Crime Watch at the PAL Center at 5 2 Ash Street on the 21st. The website has been updated now that I’ve been told that now reflects my correct address for those people who are looking for my correct address. It had been incorrect on the website. Other than that, Mr. President, I’d like to make a motion to suspend the rules. MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF A COMMUNICATION FROM MR. CUTTER PLACED ON OUR DESKS THIS EVENING MOTION CARRIED Alderman Deane I’d like to say hello to my granddaughter, Shya, because she gets mad at me when I don’t say hi to her if she’s watching. She probably is. They just moved back from California because of other opportunities here in New Hampshire. Thank you. Alderman Sheehan Just to touch back a little bit about what Fred Teeboom said. I think that most of us who are familiar with Mr. Teeboom are familiar with the fact that he worked in that line as an engineer so of course he would be a full supporter of a project like that just from his background. So I found that rather surprising. But I did want to say that last week Alderman Melizzi-Golja and I had the opportunity to attend Nashua Night Out which is a program that is put on by the police and the first responders. There were a lot of people there and they were having a great time. The kids were getting to try out all the different equipment and things that make it not seem foreign when they do end up seeing a policeman or a fireman. Getting to try on bulletproof vests and seeing demonstrations by the K-9 is a great opportunity. The other thing is for people to remember that this is the weekend coming up for the Greeley Park Art Show at Greeley Park which is in Ward 3. I encourage people to come. Even if you’re not going to acquire a piece of local art, it’s nice to see it. It’s like a portable museum that shows up once a year so I encourage people to turn out for that. Thank you. Alderman Donchess I think that the gentleman who spoke during the public comment period regarding crime or the crime issue in Nashua makes a good point. I know that I have, and other members of the Board and Budget Committee, have supported funding the police department to the point where they could reach 177 officers and now can go to 179. At least my intent, and I think the intent of others, was to try to increase Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 22 police presence in the tree streets and potentially in other neighborhoods where we know that crime can occur. We keep reading and it’s hard to sort it all out. There’s been reports about the Nashua, Manchester area seeing a 61 percent increase in crime. I don’t think such a large figure applies to the City of Nashua, but I think it would be helpful to meet with the Police Department, the Police Chief, and talk about whether they have been able to increase the presence of police officers, how they might be able to do better with that and regarding their perspective of the crime issue in Nashua. Therefore, I would ask the President to consider at some point setting up a meeting. I don’t know what the best forum, whether it be the Budget Committee or the full Board or whatever, but in my opinion we should meet with the Police Department to go over the issues that were raised during the gentlemen during the comment period. President McCarthy I will be happy to do that, but I would point out than other than what we’ve done which is to fund the police budget, this Board has absolutely no say in the operation of the Police Department. The Police Chief reports to an independent Police Commission and we can’t tell them what to do. We can’t do anything but support them. I think what we need to meet with is the commission and understand what they think their duty is to the community and how they’re going to get that done from the department. Alderman Donchess I agree with your point, Mr. President, but I for one would like to be able to ask: Have you been able to increase presence now that you have 179. What about the bike patrols? I consider myself a supporter of the department, but I would like to be able to ask them what we are getting for the extra money and the extra officers. President McCarthy I’ll be happy to do that. May I suggest that people who have questions they want the department prepared to answer over the next couple of days e-mail me those questions, and we’ll send them some things we want to talk about. I know there are some topics that I would like to discuss regarding civilian positions and getting more cops back out on the street and not in the civilian positions. I’m sure there are other questions people would like to ask. Alderman Moriarty I need to complete a project or a task that I have been obligated to do here, and I’ll start by reading this letter. August 13, 2013, to the City of Nashua Board of Public Works. TThe mature trees that currently line Main Street are an integral part of the beauty and character of Nashua's downtown. Two blocks of beautiful, healthy, mature trees were cut down as part of the ongoing sidewalk program leaving those blocks barren and uninviting. The remaining two blocks of trees need to be protected. Prior to the sidewalk repair project there had been no reports of significant problems caused by the mature trees. The decision to remove the trees was not adequately publicized and public comment was not sufficiently considered. The Board of Public Works needs to listen to the public who now are becoming increasingly vocal about the devastation being made to Main Street. We the undersigned request the Board of Public Works to vote against continuing this misguided approach and for them to modify their future downtown improvement plans. It is not too late to do what is right. Respect Nashua's rich history. Save the trees on Main Street. Sincerely, 534 signatures of which 283 are from New Hampshire. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 23 With that said, it’s no secret that I have some strong opinions about the Main Street project. I wish it was brick. I think the brick would honor Nashua’s tradition of being a New England town. It looks like it was made in the 80’s and it would look better if it looked like it was made in the 1880s. I think some efforts should be put towards preserving the trees that we have. It’s also my opinion that the statement that the roots are interfering with utilities is greatly overstated. For one, we didn’t hear any problems until this project began. And two, just like with the bridge, there were lots of unforeseen issues with underground utilities. We didn’t even know about those hidden cold hoppers until we dug through the ground. At the same token, we didn’t know the tree roots were interfering with utilities until the trees were dug up which was done after the decision was made to cut the trees down. Also in my opinion, the statement that the trees are heaving the bricks is also somewhat overstated particularly on the west side of Main Street between Pearl and East Hollis. You can walk along there and there’s huge expanses where there’s no trees at all but yet the bricks are heaved due to frost heaves, salt and general at least six years of neglect. People tripping over the bricks it’s not the bricks’ problems; it’s the lack of maintenance. But all that aside, I don’t disagree that we need a face lift and I don’t claim the current trees are going to live forever. In fact the act of replacing the sidewalks pretty much dooms them, disturbance of the trees, by laying down the cement and what was going to kill them anyway but that could be done a little more graciously. But put aside my opinion, what’s important is to listen to the opinions of others. In the past recently there are people certainly that like the way it’s going. I met ten of them. I like to say I’ve met only ten. Some people actually like the specific design, but I think some people that like what they see it’s somewhat analogous to someone who hasn’t had a haircut in three months and hasn’t shaved in a week. They finally show up to work after seeing a barber and you say: “Hey, you look nice.” So some of it is simply of a contrast to the neglect and maintenance and improvement. Of course there’s a lot of people who beg me to please make this stop. That’s really the petition that was on line. That was not my idea. That was a lot of other people wishing something would be done. So I said: “Okay, I’ll do something hopefully.” But I realize the shop owners are not in some nefarious plan to destroy Main Street and anger all the constituents of Nashua. That just doesn’t make any sense. Of course they want things to improve and of course they want things to look nicer because they want to bring in business. Now you would imagine that you could possibly after you’ve gone half way through pay thousands of dollars and hire somebody to poll the people and all nine wards. Just go door-to-door and ask them questions, ask what’s on their mind. Just let them offer their opinion of what they think. I’m going to offer to the Main Street shop owners, to the Board of Public Works, to the Downtown Improvement Committee, the Mayor, as the Chairman of the Board of Public Works, I’m going to offer this to you for free. From the several hundred people I’ve spoken to, it’s not 50-50, it’s not 60-40. It’s been like 95 percent of the people who have made a comment about this are against what’s going on. It’s huge. It’s overwhelming. Even if you count the people who made no comment and say that was split 50-50, it’s still somewhere between 75 percent and 95 percent of the general public are not happy with what they’re seeing. Maybe they don’t understand all the intricacies of it, but nevertheless, if you’re a business person and you want to care about the people that are coming to your business and you want to know what their opinion is, if you’re an elected official and you want to care about the opinions of the constituency, I think it’s time to pause and reconsider if there’s possibly another way to proceed. Thank you. Alderman Wilshire I would like to assure the citizens of Nashua that the Police Department is solving crimes. I would be interested too to have them come in, the commission and maybe the chief and talk to us but I believe they are solving crimes. At the last meeting or possibly the June meeting, they did talk about the crime rate at the commissioner’s meeting. It’s not just Nashua that crime is up; its state wide that crime is up. Please rest assured that they are working and solving crimes here in the City. I also would like to piggy- back on what Alderman Craffey said with the 25th Citizens Police Academy. People that go through this academy really, really enjoy it. I would like to encourage the public. If you’re interested at all, it’s really a good opportunity to get to know your police department. Thank you. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 24 Alderman Donchess Just to clarify, I agree that the Police Department – I know that they are solving crimes. I’m not suggesting they’re not solving crimes. I just want to make sure that we understand what their efforts have been so other people do as well. Hopefully we can continue to work together with them successfully. Alderman McCarthy I wanted to address Mr. Teeboom’s remarks of a little while ago. Some years back at the end of one term when the Broad Street Parkway project had been languishing for 30 or more years, I had introduced a piece of legislation intended to get us to either go forward or cease and desist on that which ultimately became a multi-year study to look at the costs. In the gratitude of retribution for having done that, I was made the liaison to the original study committee, a position that Mr. Teeboom took over in the following term and pursued that with a great amount of vigor to conclude that the original project was economically untenable and to work at getting back to a project that we could afford to do. I have no question that he was convinced as we went through that process that the end result was worth the investment. I don’t for one minute buy any concept that Mr. Teeboom may have traded that for the Holocaust museum site which I think has been on the drawing board for ages anyway. I would thank Mr. Teeboom for his work in advancing the Holocaust Memorial at the same time, but that supposition is ludicrous in my opinion. This Saturday at 8:30 AM there will be a cleanup on the Nashua River to remove some of the water chestnuts in the shallower areas. We have been engaging with a contractor to harvest them in the deeper areas but they can’t get up near shore. There is a cleanup effort scheduled for Saturday. People who would like to participate in it who have either kayaks or canoes or very small boats can either simply meet at the Mines Falls Park Boat Ramp out by Stellos Stadium at 8:30 a.m. if you have any questions contact Kathy Hersh at 315-0012 first. Lastly, I wanted to go over the list of birthdays. Alderman Moriarty has a birthday coming up on August 20. Alderman Cookson on August 28, and Alderman Melizzi-Golja on September 8. In addition to that there’s a variable epidemic at the table in front of me. Mr. Bergeron’s birthday is coming up on the 17, and last but not least, of course, although it failed to make the agenda, somehow, our legislative assistant celebrates her birthday tomorrow. Committee announcements: ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE THAT THE AUGUST 13, 2013 MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BE ADJOURNED Inaudible remarks from the Audience President McCarthy We’re well past the public comment period. Inaudible Remarks from the Audience President McCarthy Go ahead. Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 25 Alderman Deane I want to listen. MOTION WITHDRAWN Michael Coyle, 6 Brickyard Lane I apologize for being late. I came this evening for specific reasons, two in general. I follow the aldermanic chamber very carefully over the last few months and found that the civility within the organization has improved and I want to commend all of you on this. I am very troubled by one or two individuals who consistently arrive at this forum to make their own point. I will not pull any punches, and I will ask for some time and they can rebut. One person is Paula Johnson who I have the utmost respect for. I think at times her approach towards the Board has been questionable. At the same time Mr. Teeboom who has done much for the city and been a great asset at times has been disruptive. I think there’s a new voice in Nashua to be heard. We need younger, brighter blood on the Board. How do we attract them? Well first thing is we have to make sure the people on the Board are aware that they are just custodians of the city. So if they’ve been on a long time, I admire you all for all the long hours you put in and for which you accomplish. I think there is also a newer breed which could be the old new and I refer to myself. I’m 64 years old, I’m going through some health issues. I have retired and I love this city immensely. I’ve lived here for 30 years. It is my home, and I am very proud to call it my home. I think overall that we need to address the civility. I also think we need to take the city in a different direction and some may question why. There are many bright people in this room right now. I think we’re moving at a very fast rate of speed with many projects and that’s great. That’s really good. I think it’s important, but I also think the center’s point of downtown being the capture point has become a point in the outer city limits in regards to what’s happening there. When you look at downtown it’s very important for our economic growth and for us to return to the era of 1987 and 1997 when we were recognized as one of the finest communities in the country. That is a real accomplishment. I am prepared along with you to return that to its status. I will not announce for office until I have a clean bill of health, but I will support aldermen who have the train of thought that we need to change. The change can be simple. The change can be going out into our community and looking outside of downtown. People who come downtown come from there and want to but at the same time when they walk into the city and they see the improvements downtown they question why a street is not fixed, a light is not repaired, why they do not see a policeman more often. Where are we visible? We are visible downtown. You leave it to the aldermen to capture a large portion of the comments of the people outside the city limits. So what do I propose? I propose that the agenda for the upcoming Board is to look at how they are going to be more visible, how they will interact with their wards such as Mr. Moriarty at a ward meeting which went well. The turnout was okay, it was a little bit poor at times too. This is important. It cannot be a censorious point of view downtown. Downtown the way I look at it, we have many good things going on. We need to stop congestion. We need to improve our efforts with crime. I know this evening you voted in regards to the CVS situation. I’m late, I apologize. I do not know the outcome. But I assure you if that was purchased at a fair price, you have taken a major first step in the fact that you will help eliminate crime by limiting congestion and getting organizations in that area. So I think it’s very important. The second part is I think downtown we must address the homeless people there. Somebody would say to me: Mike, they’re always going to be there. Why are they approached? How are they approached? Do we generally care about or do we accept the fact that there are going to be homeless in our city? That’s a sad state of affairs. When was the last time you walked up to a homeless person and talked to them and did not have fear. It’s very important that we look at this. There will be homeless. We need to help them. If they want help, we should give it to them. If they don’t want help, should we fall them by this wayside? No. We should try to provide a civil approach that will help them aspire to a different level. If they generally need help then we should turn them into the services of the city. Okay? I read faces very well. I’m a professional salesman. I couple people know me here and know that I’m very nervous this evening. But I made my living by reading people. I’ve come to some meetings and there’s been some looks on faces. Madam Mayor gave me a look one night and I called her out and I felt bad. She’s got a Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 26 tough job. She really does because she’s got guys like me who sit in the background and we could go this way or that way or this way. I’m tired of that. I’m tired of it. I apologized to her. I believe Paula, you need to understand. I would like you to consider a truce with the city. (Inaudible remarks from the audience) Mr. Coyle No. I would like you to consider a truce with the city. Fred, I would like you to do the same thing. What you bring to the city is very important but there are differing viewpoints that must be addressed. You have the right to do it. You need to try to get passed this little bit of a bottleneck you got. Last but not least, our city is on the presidios of a probably one of the greatest moves that we can make. We have started many projects that are coming to fruition. I question the new logo and some people may say why would you do that? I may be the outlier; I may be the inliers. The problem is everybody had a good feeling meeting in regards to this a couple of days ago and I was happy because all the people that worked hard on this project recognized their efforts. But again it’s the censorious view of downtown and the Board. Okay. I would like to see there be another approach, and I will personally be talking to the Nashua Telegraph in regards to this. I plan on visiting with them to talk to them about a different approach. Do not stop the work you’re doing. Continue. Continue to strive to be the best but keep in your mind that you’re custodians of the city. That’s what you are. You have no rights. You have rights as a citizen and as a taxpayer. Tenure? I think the Board needs to look at tenure. I really do. Okay. There’s wise people here. They’ve been here for awhile but you know you give up your life. What else is there? You become stale. You don’t have a chance to breath. I ask you to step back and genuinely feel could you leave your office but still be a major player in molding the future with a new politician in the area. Okay. So I apologize for being late. I apologize for the length of my speech. I apologize that I may have called some people out unfairly and I have no intention in doing that. But I will tell you I was watching this on TV and I specifically came because Fred and Paula were here. Okay. We have to stop this. It’s not sniping. It’s more like you want to do good but it comes across the wrong way. Okay. So please try to the truce that you can. I look at the City of Nashua from a global point of view. Okay. We need to do that. Why look at a global point of view? Because we’re competing daily with our surrounding cities. Okay. I believe and I said this before and nobody was happy with it, we are part of the fiscal crisis because we are using money from the government in regards to the Parkway that was awarded to us many years ago. Okay. And we feel it’s important. I would have like to have seen that we stop. I would have like to seen as a good faith gesture that we turned around and delivered that back to the government. There’s the statement of a first class city. Because if you look the microcosm across our country and the State of New Hampshire, how many Broad Street Parkways projects are there? Thousands? Ten thousands? Hundred thousand? Because they have been grandfathered in. It is all this way. There is nothing we can do about it, but we need to be prudent on how we spend the money. Okay. I did a lot of traveling, and I’m getting a little bit diverse here. When I was in Albany I had time because I was on the road and being on the road you have down time. You have down time. You make it because you have to recharge your batteries. I stopped in an Albany building where they were taking brick by brick the building apart. Okay. And they were doing the right thing. I’m sure we’re well aware of this. They were using those bricks on another building and they were refacing the building. The building that was there they were going to make it into just an open space land. Can we do that? Yes. Many people are doing that right now. These are the approaches that we need to do. You might want to consider that with the Millyard stack. I would like to see more thought go into this in the future. We are a world class city and we need to act like it. Everyone in this room goes home at night and wants to do good for the city. If you go to sleep at night and you felt that you did one right thing that’s important. How many nights do you go home and can you consciously say that to yourself? Are you not troubled? Did I offend somebody? Did I do the right thing? Did I step on somebody’s toes? Hey, it’s life. I’ve made those mistakes and I’ve been a bull in a china closet. I’m learning as I get older. I’m learning from the young kids. I’m learning from seasoned veterans. I’m learning from public officials in Washington. Our system in the United States is a little bit broken, but we have the greatest country in the world simply because people are fighting to get in our shores. Think about that. They are fighting to get into our Bd. of Aldermen – 08/13/13 Page 27 shores, illegally or whatever, whereas the American public has now turned and said if you’re not going to protect us, we’re going to gravitate and go to France. We’re going to live in different areas. It happens. It happens. We need to stop that. We’re microcosmic of the world right now. I think we can do better. I admire everyone in this room. I appreciate your time. I will leave you with one thought. If you walked into a room and you had prejudice going on, how would you solve that? Well one way I thought of it, and I tried it, is to take ten people and get into a darkened room in and auditorium and have them blind folders and have them brought in through different doors and then have them sit down. For two minutes, just remind quiet. At the end of that people some will be fidgety but they are concerned about security but you okay them with security. At that time somebody would speak up and they would say in the dark everyone is the same color. A very important statement. In the dark everyone is the same color. Then I would have had the lights turned up very slowly and I would have them take off the blindfolds. And then the prejudice may start but I didn’t see that. I saw a different approach. I saw people willing to reach out. As they walked out of the room they didn’t gravitate to their normal friend or normal social class. They kind of stopped and looked and said this is interesting. What are we doing. Why do we have their prejudices? Why do we not agree? Why do we not move ahead? It’s an interesting concept. It’s something that the city needs to do as they go through the process. We need to remember that time is money and we need to understand that there’s a new wave going on. The most positive thing that transpired recently is the Telegraph. The Telegraph is going its job. It’s very important. Okay. I think they’re doing a great job. I admire them. Okay. Some people left; that’s their right. Okay. I’m speaking too long but let me just finish with keep the good work up, do not be affronted by guys like me. Do not be affronted by some people who come all the time and try to mill in your business. Be true to yourself, be true to your feelings, and love the City of Nashua. I thank you very much for your time this evening. MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared adjourned at 9:13 p.m. Attest: Paul R. Bergeron, City Clerk