Aldermen, Board of

A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Wednesday, September 9, 2015, at 7:32 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. President David W. Deane presided; City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch recorded. Prayer was offered by City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch; Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. led in the Pledge to the Flag. The roll call was taken with 15 members of the Board of Aldermen present. Mayor Donnalee Lozeau and Corporation Counsel Stephen M. Bennett were also in attendance. REMARKS BY THE MAYOR Mayor Lozeau I just wanted to take a moment to thank everybody that first of all, was willing to put their name on the ballot yesterday whether it was a poll worker or an elected official. I think all of us know that it takes a lot of courage to put your name out there and be judged particularly by people that may not know you well but are trying to do the same thing that you are by putting your name out there which is to try to pick the people who best represent their vision of how they see our city. For those who won; congratulations and for those of you who didn’t, I think what you did was an important part of the process. I want to thank everyone who came to vote. I think all of us were a little distressed that it was at 21%. I think we all would have liked to have seen that be much bigger but those that came out did so on a hot day. I also wanted to take a moment to thank our City Clerk, her first election. It wasn’t without a couple of bumps in the road but she handled it with good humor and reports all around were that she, the staff and the poll workers really did a great job yesterday so I wanted to say thank you and to everybody here tonight thank you as always for your kind attention. RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR Alderman Caron I would like to echo the Mayor’s thanks to City Clerk Piecuch and her staff because yesterday it was the hottest day I’ve ever seen inside the schools. People don’t realize that there was no air conditioning; I think it was cooler inside than outside. Those workers worked so hard and they are so dedicated. Thank you for saving Ward 7 from having to count 500 ballots yesterday. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja I would like to echo the Mayor’s thanks also to the candidates, the voters who did come out and to the poll workers. As the Mayor said I think you do have to have a certain amount of courage to put your name out there and I don’t think people realize that those individuals who were candidates in yesterday’s election also gave up probably their whole summer to do their campaigning so they were truly invested in the good of the city so thank you to all of you. RECOGNITION PERIOD – None READING MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS MOTION BY ALDERMAN McCARTHY THAT THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETINGS OF AUGUST 11, 2015 AND SEPTEMBER 2, 2015, BE ACCEPTED, PLACED ON FILE AND THE READINGS SUSPENDED MOTION CARRIED Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 2 COMMUNICATIONS MOTION BY ALDERMAN SOUCY THAT ALL COMMUNICATIONS BE READ BY TITLE ONLY MOTION CARRIED From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Solid Waste – Landfill Gas Management Service MOTION BY ALDERMAN SOUCY TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE THREE-YEAR CONTRACT TO SANBORN HEAD AND ASSOCIATES, INC., IN AN ANNUAL AMOUNT OF $12,000 MOTION CARRIED From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Wastewater – Combined Sewer Overflow Flow Monitoring Program MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE THREE-YEAR CONTRACT TO EST ASSOCIATES, INC., FOR AN ANNUAL AMOUNT OF $46,500 IN YEAR ONE, AND $36,000 IN YEARS TWO AND THREE, FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $118,500 MOTION CARRIED From: Jeffrey L. Snow, Superintendent, Edgewood Cemetery Re: Request for Joint Convention with Edgewood Cemetery Board of Trustees MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND THAT THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEET IN JOINT CONVENTION WITH THE EDGEWOOD CEMETERY BOARD OF TRUSTEES ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015, AT 7:30 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER MOTION CARRIED From: Justin Kates, Emergency Management Director Re: Suspension of Rules MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO ACCEPT AND PLACE ON FILE MOTION CARRIED From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: Emergency Medical Services Ambulance Contract MOTION BY ALDERMAN MCGUINNESS TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE THREE-YEAR CONTRACT TO AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE ON THE QUESTION President Deane I will not be supporting this. My comments were filed with the Finance Committee meeting minutes. MOTION CARRIED PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS EVENING – None PETITIONS – None Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 3 NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS Appointments by the Mayor The following Appointments by the Mayor were read into the record: Arts Commission Tina Cassidy (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2018 12 Newcastle Drive, #10 Nashua, NH 03060 Board of Assessors Mary Lou Blaisdell, Alternate (Reappointment) Term to Expire: April 24, 2018 32 Webster Street Nashua, NH 03064 Board of Registrars Susan A. Waye (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2016 1 Almont Street Nashua, NH 03060 Business & Industrial Development Authority Jason B. Haviland (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2018 29 Todd Road Nashua, NH 03064 Camille Pattison (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2018 3 Farley Street Nashua, NH 03064 Review & Comment Commission Teresa Barr (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2016 26 Sagamore Road Nashua, NH 03062 Zoning Board of Adjustment Rob Shaw (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 11, 2018 14 Sweet William Circle Nashua, NH 03062 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ACCEPT THE APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR AS READ AND REFER THEM TO THE PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MOTION CARRIED Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 4 REPORTS OF COMMITTEE Finance Committee............................................................................. 08/19/15 There being no objection, President Deane declared the report of the August 19, 2015 Finance Committee accepted and placed on file. Human Affairs Committee ................................................................... 08/20/15 There being no objection, President Deane declared the report of the August 20, 2015 Human Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file. Committee on Infrastructure .............................................................. 08/26/15 There being no objection, President Deane declared the report of the August 26, 2015 Committee on Infrastructure accepted and placed on file. WRITTEN REPORTS FROM LIAISONS - None CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS – None UNFINISHED BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-15-110 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau ESTABLISHING AN EXPENDABLE TRUST FUND FOR STATE EMPLOYER PENSION COSTS AND APPROPRIATING $2,730,000 FROM FUND BALANCE ASSIGNED FOR THIS PURPOSE INTO THE EXPENDABLE TRUST FUND  Amended & Tabled – 2/24/15 R-15-158 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau APPROVING A FIVE YEAR FOURTH AMENDMENT TO A LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. FOR PARKING ON WHIPPLE STREET FOR MINE FALLS PARK Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-15-158 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-158 declared duly adopted. R-15-159 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF TAX DEEDED PROPERTY LOCATED ON MARLBORO STREET AND WESTLAND AVENUE TO PENNICHUCK WATER WORKS, INC. Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-15-159 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-159 declared duly adopted. Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 5 R-15-161 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire APPROVING AN AGREEMENT WITH THE NASHUA TOWING AND RECOVERY ASSOCIATION Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO RE-REFER R-15-161 TO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE ON THE QUESTION Alderman Wilshire The police department had sent an e-mail after the Finance Committee with some changes that they would like to see to this so I’d like to re-refer this to the Finance Committee. MOTION CARRIED R-15-163 Endorsers: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Ken Siegel Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Richard A. Dowd RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $94,500 FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY, INTO “WASTEWATER GRANT ACTIVITY, “2014 STATE HOMELAND SECURITY PROGRAM (SHSP) GRANT” Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN BROWN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-15-163 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-163 declared duly adopted. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-15-058 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown AUTHORIZING DISCOUNTED LEASED ROOFTOP PARKING SPACES AT THE HIGH STREET PARKING GARAGE FOR UP TO 8 RESIDENTS OF DALIANIS HOUSE Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-15-058 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Wilshire Alderman McCarthy did bring up at committee how they would differentiate between the roof top spaces and the other spaces. I did talk to the Community Development Director who told me that they issue uncovered parking spaces on the rooftop so they know which passes are allowed on which level. She assured that would happen. Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 6 President Deane Are their covered spots on top of the roof? No. Are you happy Alderman McCarthy? Alderman McCarthy I am. Alderman Cookson I was at the Committee on Infrastructure meeting but for whatever reason it didn’t come to mind that evening to ask two simple questions. One is why is there only eight spaces? The second question is why are we exposing our Veteran’s to the elements on the rooftop. You can expect to have snow up there and I know we will do our darndest to make sure the snow is minimal but you are exposing them to the elements come winter. Alderman Wilshire Alderman Cookson, I was asked by one of the residents of the Dalianis House who is a Veteran if we would consider taking out some parking meters behind their building. The problem I saw with that was that if you take parking meters out that anyone from Clocktower or anywhere in the neighborhood could park there. This seemed to be a more suitable option for them as it is right across the street and if they were parking on the street they would have to clear snow anyways so they were amenable to this, they thought it was a good idea and a good compromise. I talked to Vanessa Pinceiro who runs the Dalianis House Program and she thought that was an adequate number. A lot of Veteran’s don’t have vehicles so it’s up to eight and she did not feel there would be any more spaces than that. Alderman Cookson Thank you. MOTION CARRIED Ordinance O-15-058 declared duly adopted. O-15-059 Endorser: Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. REMOVING THE FIFTEEN-MINUTE PARKING TIME LIMIT ON A PORTION OF THE WEST SIDE OF ASH STREET Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-15-059 MOTION CARRIED Ordinance O-15-059 declared duly adopted. O-15-061 Endorsers: Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. Alderman Michael Soucy ALLOWING PERMITTED OVERNIGHT ON-STREET PARKING ON A PORTION OF WILDER STREET Given its second reading; Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 7 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO AMEND O-15-061 IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REPLACING IT WITH THE GOLDEN ROD COPY PROVIDED WITH THE AGENDA ON THE QUESTION Alderman Chasse The original said that they were going to allow parking on the north side of Wilder Street and if we put it in the north that would be blocking the entrance to the street because the street itself runs north and south. It won’t work on the north side so I had to amend it to the west side. MOTION CARRIED MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-15-061 AS AMENDED MOTION CARRIED Ordinance O-15-061 declared duly adopted as amended. O-15-062 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess Alderman Richard A. Dowd ESTABLISHING A 25 M.P.H. SPEED LIMIT ON BEAUVIEW AVENUE Given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DONCHESS FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-15-062 MOTION CARRIED Ordinance O-15-062 declared duly adopted. NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-15-164 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau AUTHORIZING RELEASE OF A CERTAIN LEVY EASEMENT ON 75 CROWN STREET Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President Deane R-15-165 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF SURPLUS BROAD STREET PARKWAY PROPERTY Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President Deane Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 8 R-15-166 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Michael Soucy Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $122,500 FROM THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY INTO POLICE GRANT ACTIVITY, “2015 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE GRANT (EMPG)” Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE SECOND READING OF R-15-166 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Wilshire We got a memo from Justin Kates in our packet regarding assisting in the purchase and installation of a replacement generator at the police department. It’s time sensitive because they wanted to get it before the governor and council at their next meeting on October 21st but in order to do that we need to get it passed this evening. MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-166 given its second reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-15-166 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-166 declared duly adopted. R-15-167 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau ESTABLISHING THE USE OF FUND BALANCE FOR TAX RATE Given its first reading; assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President Deane R-15-168 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau APPROVING A PROPOSED CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE AGREEMENT RENEWAL BETWEEN THE CITY OF NASHUA AND COMCAST Given its first reading; assigned to the FINANCE COMMITTEE by President Deane Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 9 R-15-169 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau AMENDING THE SPECIAL REVENUE FUND FOR ROAD AND HIGHWAY EXPENDITURES BY INCREASING THE ANNUAL FUNDING AMOUNT FROM MOTOR VEHICLE PERMIT FEES Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN MCCARTHY TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF R-15-169, REFER IT TO THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE AND SCHEDULE A PUBLIC HEARING FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2015, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-169 assigned to the Budget Review Committee by President Deane R-15-170 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF SEVENTEEN MILLION DOLLARS ($17,000,000) FOR STREET REPAIR AND PAVING Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN MCCARTHY TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF R-15-170 BY ROLL CALL, REFER IT TO THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE AND SCHEDULE A PUBLIC HEARING FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2015, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER A Viva Voce Roll Call was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman McCarthy, Alderman Dowd, Alderman Schoneman, 15 Alderman Chasse, Alderman Caron, Alderman McGuinness, Alderman Cookson, Alderman Soucy, Alderman Donchess, Alderman Moriarty, Alderman Siegel, Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja, Alderwoman Brown, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Deane Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-170 assigned to the Budget Review Committee by President Deane MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE FIRST READING OF RESOLUTIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS PREPARED MOTION CARRIED R-15-171 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau ESTABLISHING POLLING TIMES FOR THE MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 3, 2015 Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE SECOND READING OF R-15-171 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-171 given its second reading; Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 10 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-15-171 MOTION CARRIED Resolution R-15-171 declared duly adopted. R-15-172 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman June M. Caron AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY AT 141-143 BURKE STREET, TAX MAP 11, LOT 158, FOR A PURCHASE PRICE OF $4,200,000 Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE, the NASHUA CITY PLANNING BOARD, and the BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS by President Deane R-15-173 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF FOUR MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($4,200,000) FOR THE PURCHASE OF 141-143 BURKE STREET Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN DONCHESS TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF R-15-173 BY ROLL CALL, REFER IT TO THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE AND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2015, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER A Viva Voce Roll Call was taken, which resulted as follows: Yea: Alderman McCarthy, Alderman Dowd, Alderman Schoneman, 14 Alderman Chasse, Alderman Caron, Alderman McGuinness, Alderman Cookson, Alderman Soucy, Alderman Donchess, Alderman Siegel, Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja, Alderwoman Brown, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Deane Nay: Alderman Moriarty 1 MOTION CARRIED Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 11 NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-15-063 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy PROVIDING AN EXCEPTION TO THE LAND USE CODE FOR CITY HIGHWAY PROJECTS Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN MORIARTY TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF O-15-063, ASSIGN IT TO THE PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND THE NASHUA CITY PLANNING BOARD AND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER MOTION CARRIED O-15-064 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman Richard A. Dowd AMENDING THE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL ZONING DISTRICT TO AN OVERLAY ZONING DISTRICT AND AMENDING THE PERMITTED USES TABLE TO INCLUDE RAIL Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN MORIARTY TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF O-15-064, ASSIGN IT TO THE PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND THE NASHUA CITY PLANNING BOARD, AND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER MOTION CARRIED O-15-065 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy AMENDING THE ZONING MAP BY ADDING TWO TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (TOD) OVERLAY DISTRICTS Given its first reading; MOTION BY ALDERMAN MORIARTY TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF O-15-065, ASSIGN IT TO THE PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND THE NASHUA CITY PLANNING BOARD, AND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER MOTION CARRIED Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 12 O-15-066 Endorser: Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderman Sean M. McGuinness ESTABLISHING A PROCESS FOR LOCATING MOTORIST SERVICES DIRECTIONAL SIGNAGE RELATED TO HIGHWAY SIGNAGE IN THE CITY RIGHT-OF-WAY Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE and the BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS by President Deane PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Nathaniel Durgin, 4 Victoria Drive I moved to Nashua in 1987, the year that Nashua got the award for being the best city in the country to live in. In 1997 I left and moved to Florida and again Nashua got the award for being the best city to live in the country. I came back to Nashua and I invested in Nashua. I am a real estate investor and I own a small company in Merrimack that sells nuts and bolts. The reason I am here is that as an investor I have purchased four additional homes in Nashua that I rent out. I try to rent them out to a clientele of professionals who move into the area and I try to keep the properties in a higher level condition to attract professional people and obviously to get better rents for the apartments. There was a show last night on the Travel Channel called “Hotel Impossible” and the episode name was called “Bite Me” and it’s pretty disgusting for anybody that has seen it and it was based here in Nashua and it involved real estate and that’s the reason I am here. I have been fighting the city for over two years; it began in May of 2013 and it was six months after I purchased on 10 Unicorn Way. It was a distressed piece of property that I bought through Home Path and I paid $205,000 for it but it needed a lot of work. The house had been abandoned and they couldn’t sell it. The pipes burst, the ceilings collapsed, the front wall of the home had literally fallen off. I am paying an assessed value of about $350,000. I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this house and I did a lot of the work myself trying to get this house ready to rent out. It’s a struggle for me even though you might think that I own four properties, I am just like you; I have a tough time paying my bills every month. The reason that I am here is that I went one year without being able to rent this home because of the people that you saw on that show last night and I think it’s disgusting. Not only what they did to the people that are living in those quarters but the residents around the neighborhood of Broad Street. I am talking about the show that highlighted the situation at 507 Broad Street in Nashua which is called the Country Barn Motel. I came out of a broken home and I was homeless at age 17, I slept in my friend’s car for a couple of winter nights and a park bench for a couple of nights. I know what it’s like to be homeless and I know what it’s like to be at the bottom of a situation. I was lucky enough to pull myself out, I didn’t alone; I had help from school teachers and priests. I was able to afford with a very low income a rental in Peabody, MA and every time we drive through that square I say to my wife that this was the worst period of my life. We didn’t have bed bugs and we didn’t have the situation that you saw last night; the conditions were a lot better than the conditions that were shown on that show last night. The thing that really troubled me about the show is that they didn’t talk about toilets. There are no toilets in those sheds or cabins as they call him and in 2013 I wrote to the city and asked for information as far as the zoning issues surrounding this property and the direction of the (inaudible) that are shown in the advertisements because they were advertising these on Craigslist. They have sinks in them and they have water lines that run along the ground or had right next to electrical lines feeding water and electricity to these cabins. I have a copy of a report that was done by this City Hall’s Zoning Department’s Code Enforcement Officer that told me there were no violations in that camp ground and this was at the time when these cabins were first built. The pictures that he sent me of the inspection were God awful; it was exactly what was shown on that show last night. It has rooms with bed bugs on the filthy mattresses, extension cords running up over doorways, it was atrocious to see this and I was told that there were no violations. I Googled the Country Barn Motel and I found articles dating back 1984 in the Telegraph that says Zoning Board battle against motel renewed. Steve Bolton was the Corporate Lawyer for the City of Nashua at the time and he was quoted “until now, this case was fairly low on his officer’s priority list.” Nothing happened. Again, another article was Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 13 published on June 8th by the Telegraph and it said “flagrant building and zoning violations are being charged against the owner of the Country Barn Motel” who at the time was Ferdinand Lavoie. I asked the City of Nashua the results of that court case and I was told to get a lawyer and I don’t think as a taxpayer; I pay over $42,000 in taxes per year to the City of Nashua that I need to hire a lawyer to ask a simple question about the outcome of a court case. I spoke to Steve Bolton and when he had left office the case had not been heard. I don’t know but I think the case was just dropped. I did bring this issue up to the city and never got any type of response. I don’t believe it ever made it to the Mayor’s office; I think I was stopped just before the Mayor’s office. My wife and I came in here and asked to see the documentation on what they are paying taxes on, the 509 and 511 Broad Street because 507 doesn’t even exist in the City Hall records. 507 Broad Street is what the address shows for Country Barn Motel. If you try to get a police report on the Country Barn Motel you probably won’t find it because it doesn’t exist. The girl that works there, if you watched the show, said that the police are there almost every day, that the SWAT team and this was filmed back in March. It’s a disgusting situation that is going on over at 507, 509, and 511 Broad Street. I had a two year battle that in December of 2014, I quit, I can’t do this anymore. This is exactly what all of the people in the neighborhood told me they went through. They asked the city for information or for a resolution to this problem and they got nowhere. What I am asking the Aldermen or the city is number one I think you need to act on what you saw last night. To me, as an investor in Nashua, I think all of you have made an investment in the city too just for the fact that you are sitting here. You have taken the time out to come here and try to help the city. The city has a black eye over this and there’s more to it too. Two of the people who sat at that table if you watched it last night; I think but I’m not sure what a Commissioner of the City of Nashua does, whether it’s a paid position or not but they are tied into the City of Nashua. Tim Lavoie, God Rest his Soul, I think was a decent human being and my condolences go out to his family. I reached out to Tim and asked him to take the 22+ signs that were along my 50-foot property; they stuck the signs on the fence and they said “no trespassing,” “no hunting” and “smile you are on camera.” I went a year not being able to rent this home because of the signage they put along the fence and I was not able to remove it, otherwise I was going to be arrested. They called the police on me two times. The first time was after they strung a rope from one corner to another and tied orange banners to them and I took them down. I got a call from the police department saying that I took down property markers. I explained to them that they were harassing me because I was bringing these issues up to the city. They claimed also that some of my property is on their land. There was a day that I was power washing the fence and they called the police and they asked me to stop and I did. Two weeks later I was power washing the fence again and they called the police and the police came and I said enough is enough, I am going to power wash this fence, you can arrest me right now but I don’t believe this is right; it was terrible. I sent Tim an e-mail on December 22nd asking him to take the signs down. The tenant that I had rented the house to had mentioned that he had relatives coming over to visit for the holidays so I asked Tim to take the signs down and he did and that was it until I saw that episode last night. I have not said a word to anyone about the situation over there and I just moved on. My problem is that they removed all of the shrubbery that was on their side of the fence that exposed my property to the camp ground and they did that in retaliation of me bringing this up. That was done in May of 2013 and it has not come back yet. I am asking the city to in memory of Tim Lavoie; I think the city needs to address the homeless issue in this city. The city pays a ton of money to Motel 6, Lillian’s Motel; they don’t pay money to the campground that was shown on last night’s show but they pay it to a lot of different apartment type housing. I am not saying to shut these things down. I call it the Tim Lavoie challenge to the City of Nashua to get something together to work with Tim Lavoie and Dan Gagnon and try to get them to work with entrepreneurs to help these people get back on their feet. I think deep down that’s what Tim Lavoie wanted to do and he wanted to continue with his father’s legacy. I lost over $25,000 in available rent by having that house vacant for a full year because of what they did to me. I am not looking for anything bad to happen; I want something positive to happen. I want to know from the city, number one, is this a proper place for a campground, is it a proper place for a motel and is it zoned properly? I was told they were “grandfathered.” My understanding of “grandfathered” is that if a law is put in place today and I had something that was existing the day before today that was a perfectly legal operation that became not allowed then I would be allowed to continue my operation until I either passed away or handed it down to family members. What does “grandfathered” mean and how does it apply to this motel and the zoning? I Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 14 mentioned 507, 509, and 511; I always wondered why they call the campground 507 yet the city shows 509 and 511 as being the correct addresses of these properties. I believe that 507 was grandfathered but when it was sold to the family back in 1973 that they lost the right to grandfather that motel. The family purchased that land 1973 and I think; would that have ended the grandfathering of that property? Furthermore, 511 is the address that was purchased in 1979 and that was the property that the city filed suit against them. They took a barn and a house and connected the house to the other house and made it one big motel and then took the barn and converted it into another motel. I believe that was what the city was fighting with them on. There was no grandfather issue on 511; 511 is the property that comes up behind my property and behind Majestic Drive and behind Unicorn Way. In the show when the guy was standing in the field and there was a house behind him that was my house clear as a bell. Picture that from the inside looking out. When you are in the shower in the back of the house there are people in a campground 10 feet away. What can be done to resolve these issues? I call it TLC, the Tim Lavoie Challenge to help people. Thank you very much. Ms. Paula Johnson, 15 Westborn Drive I was kind of sad yesterday that only 10,000 people came out to vote out of 50,000 voters in this city. The first thing I’d like to talk about is Mr. Cutter, poor Mr. Cutter. This Board is almost done with and we will be electing a new Board come November and in January the new Mayor will be sworn in. Do you think this man before winter and the snow comes again that he can get in and out of his driveway? I think it’s sad, an 83 year old man and we treat him with disrespect. I don’t understand the big deal. Put up a sign that says No Parking from 9:00 – 5:00 so he can get in and out of his driveway and they can have the spot the rest of the time. Put up a sign from November to May that there’s no parking because of the snow. What’s the big deal? Supposedly this fall the Broad Street Parkway is going to open up, who knows? It’s a mess in that area. What’s going to happen when the traffic gets worse over there? You can’t do this for this man? You have more respect for Marguerite’s Place than for this man. He pays taxes and they are non-profit. Why don’t you all put on your big girl and big boy pants and do what’s right. When I was at the Senior Center I wanted to ask Alderwoman Brown a question and she said to me “You can’t ask me a question, I’m not going to answer one.” I am glad you are not running because that’s disrespectful because you get paid with my taxes. The next thing I want to talk about is R-15-172. $4.2 million for Burke Street, are we going to revisit this? When I was on the Board of Aldermen we were looking at buying this place for Public Works but happened was that we didn’t buy this place. Alderman McCarthy This is not that piece of property this is a different site. Ms. Johnson But it’s close to it. Alderman McCarthy But it’s not the same building that we looked at. Ms. Johnson Right, but it’s still on Burke Street. When we looked at it back then for the Department of Public Works building, the residents didn’t want these heavy pieces of equipment going down the street so instead we bought the building on Riverside, that moldy building for over $2 million. No one is disputing this right now but now I guess we are revisiting the same thing. So this year we have to get a new Health Department and we didn’t get the ratty old building on Elm Street. Remember who we vote for come November because $4.2 million to move Public Works again because we tied it up at the landfill that we Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 15 can’t move it over there and with that it’s going to be a $4.2 million bond not-to-exceed. I also remember when I was an Alderman that Bernie Streeter wanted to bond money to pave the roads. The lifetime of the surface is only five years. If you bond this for ten to twenty years you are paying money and I know interest is low but that doesn’t mean you have to bond. Now we are going to pay for something continually our kids and grandchildren are going to pay for the life of a road that doesn’t exist anymore. This is not-to-exceed $17 million, that’s over $21 million worth of new bonding and the next budget is going to be a tough one. The Broad Street Parkway is going to come on-line. We need people to move to the city here and not exiting the city. We’ve got seniors and people with disabilities who can’t afford their taxes anymore. In eight years we have not had a break of one year without a tax increase; our taxes have gone up an average of 2.5%, that’s a lot of money. I don’t know if any of you saw me on MSMBC or CNN or New Day or Inside Edition and I said that Nashua is the retail capital of the state. We can raise our wages to $15.00 per hour for retail but then they are going to lay off people so it doesn’t matter. We have people working retail and people working in restaurants and that’s what Nashua is about. The quality jobs are all oversees and we haven’t brought them back yet. So we are going to bond our roads but had the money for sidewalks as people exited with CEO for 9 years, Dare to Begin in this city which nobody came to begin and we wasted money and the money should have been put in our roads. How many linear miles could we have done with the bricks and cement for the sidewalks downtown? Shame on us and shame on this Board for allowing all of this to go on. REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Alderwoman Brown I would like to correct a comment that Mrs. Johnson said. She had addressed me at the Senior Center and said she had question for me. I said simply “no thank you” and the reason why I did that is because she has been consistently verbally abusive and has criticized and harassed me and I chose not to engage in that behavior. Alderman Siegel I’d like to thank Mr. Durgin for coming in here and sharing his story. I can tell you that it’s extraordinarily upsetting to me to hear this. I would like all of the information that you have and I would like your contact information. I will take it upon myself to personally try to follow up and see whatever we can do. I know before the Finance Committee I had previously brought up the issue of 23 Temple Street and trying to find a way to have our less fortunate welfare clients not stay in a location which jeopardizes their health and safety. At the time I checked the police reports to find which places in the city were hot spots that were also being used for client shelter. At that time the Country Barn did not show up. You are a hard working businessman and as a businessman I appreciate what you are going through. I’m so angry because business people get paid last, every other bill gets paid first so you don’t deserve and if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. Thank you very much for coming before the Board of Aldermen and we are there to help. Alderman Moriarty I would like to begin by congratulating my colleague Alderman Jim Donchess for a commanding victory yesterday. What will possibly continue to be my reputation of 14-1 votes, I call attention to R-15-170, it’s the $17 million bond for street repair and paving. In addition tonight we have R-15-173 which is a $4.2 million bond for purchasing property which will probably be followed by a maintenance repair upgrade bond for $6 million at some point. Then we have R-15-169 which amends the current special revenue fund for road and highway expenditures. It increases the expenditure by $300,000 and it does that by taking some revenues that are currently used for paying the general fund so if we increase that special revenue fund by $300,000 then it’s going to remove $300,000 of revenues from the general fund which means that’s going to have to be replaced by tax dollars. I’m not commenting yet on the validity of these Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 16 three items which add up to $31 million + but let’s just keep an eye on it and not spend next year’s money this year and then next year spend it again. President Deane Just so the public understands, the vote that was taken this evening was to allow the public to come down and speak to these resolutions; it wasn’t to approve or disapprove. Alderman Moriarty Yes, I understand that. Alderman McCarthy I do want to thank everyone who came out to vote yesterday although the turnout was lower than we would have liked. I did want to address Mr. Durgin’s question about grandfathering. The general concept is the government can’t take value away from a piece of property without compensation so when we do anything that changes the available uses if there is an established use that does not conform to that it is excluded from that regulation until such time as the use is abandoned and has been abandoned for some time. It doesn’t end with the owner. When the property is transferred if the businesses are going then the ability to continue that is sold with the property. I suspect the difference in addresses probably doesn’t make any difference because while there may be multiple addresses assigned to that I suspect it’s a single parcel of land that has been in continuous use for that purpose. I will tell you that I am familiar with the issues we have with that property. Former Alderman Vitale had try to take some issue with this which I think is probably what generated the reports that were no violations that we could find at the time but I think it’s worth revisiting. I think the city has been out there on numerous occasions over the years and has never found anything while they were there that constituted a violation. Mr. Durgin That’s kind of the same response I’ve been getting from the city which is totally unacceptable. The issue of 507, there was a campground and a motel on 507. They have expanded and it’s not a grandfather issue it’s zoning issue. 511 and 509 are not zoned for a motel; they are in a residential zone. I disagree with your comments that it’s a continuation of the use that was in place before the zoning laws. 507 is gone out of the city records, there’s 509 and 511 and what’s going on there does not belong there. Alderman McCarthy If the parcel was a single parcel when the motel and campground were established on it then that parcel, regardless of how many addresses it has on Amherst Street is subject to the grandfather rule and if a piece of it was split off and sold that would not affect the ability to do that. I am not saying we shouldn’t do something about it. I think there may be violations that we need to look at but all I am saying is that I don’t believe we have a basis to shut them down on zoning. That’s something we need to have the City Attorney look at again. Mr. Durgin I apologize for cutting over you but I agree that you need to look at an enforcement issue over there. President Deane What you are seeing defies logic over there. Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 17 Mr. Durgin Yes. President Deane It has for a long time. Mr. Durgin You need to watch the show. Alderman Soucy I was just going to bring up the point that the concerns this gentleman brings up definitely warrants further investigation but this is not the period to be going back and forth on a debate on that. President Deane Nobody objected to hearing Mr. Dargin’s comments. Alderman Soucy I am now. President Deane Well, better late than never. Committee announcements: Alderman Wilshire The Human Affairs Committee that was initially scheduled has been cancelled as there is nothing on the agenda for us to take up. Alderman Donchess There is an Infrastructure meeting scheduled for tomorrow night and I believe another special meeting has been scheduled for September 14th at 7:00 p.m. President Deane Mayor, your birthday is next week. It’s the last time we can talk about your birthday. Alderman Chasse There’s a Personnel and Administrative Affairs Committee meeting scheduled on the 28th and I’d like to extend a special invitation to Attorney Bennett to attend. Attorney Bennett I will be out of town. Board of Aldermen – 9/9/15 Page 18 Alderman Chasse Okay I will work with Sue on that. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE THAT THE SEPTEMBER 9, 2015, MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BE ADJOURNED MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared adjourned at 8:43 p.m. Attest: Patricia D. Piecuch, City Clerk