Human Affairs Committee

HUMAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MARCH 19, 2015 A meeting of the Human Affairs Committee was held Thursday, March 19, 2015, at 7:00 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire, Chairman, presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja, Vice Chair Alderman June M. Caron Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Also in Attendance: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman Sean McGuinness (Arrived at 7:22 p.m.) Chairman Wilshire Tonight we plan to start putting together the resolution for the Community Development Block Grant which is why you were all invited here tonight. From here it goes back to the full Board and then referred back to us and then back again to the full Board. PUBLIC COMMENT Ms. Pamela Hour – Bridges Domestic & Sexual Violence Support I just wanted to come back to answer any questions you might have after reviewing our request. I know that there was a video and I know that it is difficult to see big problems in a video so we wanted to illuminate what is really going on in that kitchen. It has been over 30 years since that kitchen has been put in so it’s really a disaster. The floor is chipping. The kids at the shelter are getting splinters and injuries; it’s definitely a safety concern. The dishwasher can’t even be opened and here we have five to six families in that house and it makes it very difficult. The oven was donated about ten years ago and it really doesn’t fit in the space and it’s on its last legs. The drawers and cabinets are unhinged and we can’t even install the safety latches and we have babies and small children living at the shelter so that’s a great concern, especially under the sink with chemicals. Recorder’s Note: A video of the damaged kitchen was shown to the members of the Board. Ms. Cathy Duffy, Girls, Inc. Many of you have toured our lovely building and experienced our falling skylight in the month of February. That’s just a highlight of what we have been dealing with for the last 40 years. We have been in the Housing Authority building for approximately 40 years and we didn’t own the building and this year the Board of the Housing Authority voted to gift it to us. In the time that we didn’t own it we were responsible for minor repairs and maintenance and the only major projects that have been completed were the kitchen which the city helped us with and years ago the bathrooms and the gym floor. They really need to do a whole energy efficiency program, new lights, new heating, new plumbing and new electric but mostly we need to create a program space that is current and exciting and safe for the girls. Our request to you is for $250,000 as part of a $1.5 million campaign. We have already raised $350,000 privately and we have been asked to submit a full application for tax credits and a full application to Jane’s Trust which would help. The need is critical because we have over 100 girls a day and we run a pre-school. The building is used for community rentals such as basketball and soccer and we have a church that does church services there. The fact that we have been here so long proves how important our programs are for girls. The city has always been supportive of us and we’ve never gone out on a capital campaign and we are hoping that you will help us with this huge project. I am going Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 2 to change the stripes as recommended by your committee. Alderwoman Brown What I found most noticeable was that mezzanine that can’t be used at all because of the design and the safety issues. Those concrete walls, even walking by it, someone would get scraped. Ms. Duffy As part of the renovation that we have asked the city to help with includes taking down that mezzanine which would create a computer café there and putting drywall over those walls in addition to building a second story so there is more program space down below with office space being above. Mr. Bill Stoughton, President, Habitat for Humanity I am joined by Jennifer Skibber who is our Director of Development. Our application is for money to abate asbestos, lead paint and demolish the old soup kitchen building on 42 Chestnut Street. We are building a home project across the street in partnership with the city at 45 Chestnut Street. We are about ¾ of the way done with that and it will be finished by early summer. We are very excited about the possibility of continuing to work on Chestnut Street. We do it best when we can work in a neighborhood for a sustained period of time; you really see the difference in the neighborhood when we can take rental properties that are run down and turn them into owner occupied properties. We would love to do that with Chestnut Street. We are going to raise the money to build the new structure on our own but we do ask for your help to give us the starting point. I looked at your list of fiscal 2016 eligible activities and I said how we do against that scorecard and I think we do pretty well. We are creating low-income housing. Our sweet spot is for people who are in the 30% to 50% of median income range. In almost every circumstance they could not afford to be a home owner. They would be in either a rental or rental assisted situation. The other thing we are doing is we are taking the soup kitchen building, a property that is currently not on the tax rolls and we are going to build a structure that when we turn it over to our partner families it is going back on the city tax rolls and it will start paying back the investment that we are asking you all to make. We are building energy efficient housing. Our current Chestnut Street project will be Energy Star certified. We do that not because we want to get the little label or the certification, but because we want to make this home affordable for our homeowners for its entire lifetime and that means building it efficiently at the beginning so they are not spending their money on energy and maintenance. We are removing a building that is full of lead paint, it has asbestos in it although not as badly as we feared. It’s an old building and the structure is weak. We looked at could we rehab that structure and the answer is no, it’s not safe. We employ local trades, our electricians, plumbers, excavators and foundation people are all from the community so we are creating or retaining jobs. We use volunteer labor and donated materials wherever we can to assist our homeowners in having an affordable home that they can buy. One of the things that we are very proud of is the leverage that we can bring to your assistance. We are about ¾ of the way done with 45 Chestnut Street in one years’ time; we poured the foundation in April of 2014. Since that time we have had 275 individual volunteers come out and build with us at least for one day. Those volunteers have contributed 5,500 hours of labor. For the first time, for the home funded project, we are placing a value on that volunteer labor. We are using the HUD labor rates, the Davis-Bacon labor rates. Almost all of the volunteers are unskilled laborers, we are teaching them what to do but using those rates those volunteers have contributed over $100,000 to 45 Chestnut Street. We would expect similar contributions at 42 Chestnut Street and that’s the leverage we would like to bring to this project. We have pictures in the application but I will pass out plans. All of the plans are conceptual. The lot is a very narrow lot and we wondered if we could even get homes on that lot but we think we can. It’s an over/under duplex and it’s called a shotgun style house. In each of the upper and lower floors there’s a long hallway down one side and all of the bedrooms and bathrooms are off of that hallway. It’s very attractive from the street and with some changes I think it will fit in very nicely with that neighborhood. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 3 Alderman Caron When you talk about energy efficiency, do you consider solar panels for any of these buildings? Mr. Stoughton At Greater Nashua Habitat we have not although other habitats around the country are doing that. If we were to get a donation then we would love to do it because it would be a great way to cut the energy costs. We can certainly solicit some of the solar providers in the area to see if they would do a demonstration project. Our homes tend to be what we call safe, decent and affordable homes. They don’t have garages or dishwashers; they are starter homes. Alderman Caron I just saw a home that was rehabbed and they put solar. No one’s in it yet but they are already getting a return. It is expensive but when you talked about energy efficiency that is one of things I thought of. I do applaud you for your work. Alderwoman Brown I live in that neighborhood so I have driven down that street many times and I have seen the teams working together and it is very impressive. I think it would be wonderful for the neighborhood. I’ve gone to your store, is that providing monies for that? Mr. Stoughton It provides more cash for us than anything else. Our restore has been open slightly more than one year, maybe close to two years. The store takes in donated materials, furniture, building supplies, appliances and then re- sells them to the public. We take the net proceeds from that and it does flow into our building program. I think we are on the order of $40,000 per year out of the restore right now. We have ambitious goals, we’d like to see that grow but to put that in context, not for a duplex but for a single home, our costs are on the order of $150,000 to $175,000. It’s a very significant funding source but we still need to raise a lot of other funds in order to build that house. Our funding sources are donations from individuals and corporations, grants from other charities, assistance from governments such as you are providing and mortgage repayments. Our homeowners get a zero interest mortgage for 25 years. We take that cash that comes back in and that helps fund new construction of additional homes. That’s our sustainable model. Then there are restore proceeds. Alderwoman Brown Do you have an estimate of the value of the property when it is completed and approximately how much tax income that would bring to the city or is that premature to ask? Mr. Stoughton I do not but we could probably come up with some estimates and I’d be happy to supplement the record for you with that. A ballpark figure, but not the duplexes on Chestnut Street but a typical Habitat home might have a fair market value of $240,000 and I don’t know what the tax revenue would be on that in Nashua, the city portion versus the school portion but it’s certainly more than what you have been receiving from the soup kitchen property. Chairman Wilshire My guess would be about $4,500, maybe $5,000 in taxes. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 4 Mr. Stoughton I’d like to invite any of you to stop by 45 Chestnut Street and thank you for your kind words about its appearance but I promise you it’s going to look better once it thaws because we are about to put a nice porch on the front of that structure. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja I’ve received these copies and we will have them included with our minutes but I’m curious how many square feet are there on each level? Mr. Stoughton It might have been noted on the drawings. I think it was about 1,300 square feet. Mr. David Villiotti, Executive Director, Nashua Children’s Home The Nashua Children’s Home has served the at-risk children and youth of this city since 1903. Last month I explained how the Nashua Children’s Home by its very existence impacts the special education budget of the City of Nashua to the tune of about $800,000 per year by keeping Nashua kids in Nashua that require out of home placement that are identified with special education needs. We do this in a way that maintains the membership of Nashua children with their families and maintains their ties with the community as well. We are seeking funding for repairs to our roof and our chimneys to the tune of about $45,000 and these are non- weather related repairs. We needed these before the winter started so we will continue to need them afterwards. If you can see your way clear as you have in past years to fund this project we would be appreciative of that. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja I came over to the building and it was great to see the new flooring from our past projects with you. It looks great and I hear that the gym is going in? Mr. Villiotti Yes, it is going in within the next weeks or months. Chairman Wilshire Just so you are aware, the project that they are requesting funding for is on Concord Street, not the Amherst Street facility. Alderman Caron You said Concord Street, right? Mr. Villiotti Yes. Mr. Shawn Nelson, Executive Director of Nashua PAL (Police Athletic League) I am here tonight to speak to R-15-116 to look for additional funds to complete a project that we were funded for last year. The short story is that we had a contractor come to our building and spec out a handicapped Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 5 accessible ramp that would cut a new entry to our building at the PAL center entrance to Ash Street. It would create a roof structure that would allow that ramp to not access a flat surface but a slanted structure that would keep our young friends off of our roof and allow ADA accessibility to our building which is something that we have thought about for a long time but have not been able to prioritize until now. This would allow for not only our kids to have additional access to the building to their families. We have too many times when family members just can’t get into the building when we are doing something spectacular and we want to stop that with this project. We were already funded with $18,500 and we are looking for an additional $7,800 to complete the project. Unfortunately the contractor had quoted us a price of $18,500. That building is an asset to the community in many ways. Chairman Wilshire I agree that building does get a lot of use, thank you. We thought it was a good idea last year when we funded it and just because the price came in a little higher, I don’t think we have changed our minds about that it’s still a good project. The thing about this resolution is that this is part of the current year funding so the FY 15’ so this doesn’t go into the next resolution that we are going to be putting together for the FY 16’. This is a separate resolution and I’m pretty sure we will take action on it this evening and send it off to the full Board, probably in two weeks. COMMUNICATIONS – None UNFINISHED BUSINESS- None NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS R-15-116 Endorsers:Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown Alderman Ken Siegel Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess Alderman Sean M. McGuinness Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy PROVIDING ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) FUNDS TO THE NASHUA POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE MOTION BY ALDERMAN MELIZZI-GOJA TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE MOTION CARRIED R-15-122 Endorsers:Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Richard A. Dowd RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $400,000 FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INTO GRANT ACTIVITY “TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM (TAP) GRANT” AND TO AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF MATCHING FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $100,000 MOTION BY ALDERMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 6 ON THE QUESTION Chairman Wilshire The total is $500,000; it’s $400,000 from the State of New Hampshire DOT and $100,000 that will come from the Broad Street Parkway funds. The city was awarded a $500,000 TAP Grant to connect the Heritage Rail Trail and the Mine Falls Park recreation area. The project will connect the eastern end of the 1.3 mile Heritage Rail Trail via a 450-foot paved trail along Everett Street, across Ledge Street, and over a 90-foot pedestrian bicycle bridge to Mine Falls Park recreation area. The grant proposes to reuse the historic Baldwin Street Bridge, if possible, which was removed during the construction of the Broad Street Parkway to span the Nashua Canal in accordance with the wishes of the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. The 20% match from the city has been carried as an allowance in the Broad Street Parkway as the project proposes to reuse that bridge at the southern terminus of the parkway and implements the idea of improved pedestrian connectivity over the canal as reflected in several of the international design competition layouts. Once constructed, the project will provide direct access for non-motorized users in the city’s most dense and diversely populated neighborhood which is safe, reliable and convenient versus a currently inaccessible 325 acre recreation area, Mine Falls Park. The project is supported by the Master Plan, the 2012 Nashua Tree Streets Neighborhood Plan and the 2014 Community Health Improvement Plan. Alderman Caron I think this is a great idea. We’ve seen the development of Mine Falls Park over the years. I think if it is money we have from the parkway then it’s a good use of our funding so I’m in. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja I would agree with Alderman Caron. As we talked about the parkway many years ago and other potential development in that area, one of things was how that part of the city could have access to the park. Alderwoman Brown This is an exciting project and I’m so glad it’s in Ward 4. Alderman McGuinness What exactly are they doing? Are they paving the area as part of this improvement? Chairman Wilshire The project will connect the eastern end of the 1.3 mile Heritage Rail Trail via a 450-foot paved trail along Everett Street. Alderman McGuinness I think it’s a great idea; I just wanted to picture what it might look like at the end of the road. Alderwoman Brown I think that also includes building a pedestrian bridge. Mayor Lozeau The resolution before you for this project, the greatest cost is simply to put the bridge across the canal. There’s Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 7 no paving of anything in the park, it’s all about making that connection. We were fortunate enough to get that grant and people are very excited about it. I think that one of the added benefits to it is that the children walking to school down Ledge Street or to the Boys & Girls Club, that’s a very narrow sidewalk and you see kids walking in the street even when the sidewalk is plowed. To be able to have them walk on the canal side through the park could be a real safety boom. Some people will say what about if the kid falls in the canal, I don’t know, I think I’d take my chances with a kid falling in a canal instead of stepping in front of a moving vehicle. We are hopeful to use the old trestle bridge from Baldwin Street. Alderman McGuinness Well, $.5 million sounds like a lot of money but it’s a piece of architecture that has to be done right and it’s about the connection. Mayor Lozeau It’s a lot of good work. When they took apart that bridge all that was left were the trestles so you have to build a bridge deck which is really the big expense. The reason that it was looked on so positively is the funds come from – it used to be the Safe Routes to School’s money and now it’s really about pedestrians throughout the city. Alderman McGuinness I particularly love the idea of connecting it with Mine Falls. MOTION CARRIED NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES - None GENERAL DISCUSSION Chairman Wilshire This is the point in the meeting where I would like to start putting together the resolution for CDBG and HOME Funds and what I would like to do is invite Ms. Carrie Schena to come up and I think the Mayor might have some information for us. Mayor Lozeau The letter that I just distributed is a synopsis of the funds that have come in and the recommendations of myself and the staff that works on these projects. It reflects some of the requests from staff throughout the city and unfortunately we have more requests than there is funding so I tried to be respectful of that. You will see in the first paragraph that the CDBG money went up by 6.5% which results in an award of $597,835. You will see that the HOME Program had a reduction of 4.5% which is $265,151. In addition, the City’s Section 108 loan, which was a $2 million loan that went out for Cotton Mill and that was repaid early so we used some of that money that was repaid that we earned on interest to pay for something that was involved with Jackson Falls, we had to have an inspection done so funds from that paid for it. The remaining amounts of $50,619 are funds that can’t be used the way we use the other ones with some discretion. They have to be used the same as other CDBG money so we are able to add that money to the $597,835. I know that you also have a number that Manager Schena gave you as it related to reprogramming money from last year which I think was $57,257. The letter walks through with regard to this year’s CDBG Annual Action Plan as proposed for your consideration. Program Administration, which as you know is capped at the 20% so that number comes in at $121,167. Project deliver for the construction oversight that is provided is $116,260. Housing Improvement Program, we would like to put $75,000 in there and we would like to maintain its designation as a revolving loan pool so that way as people pay that money back it stays in that fund. Then there are several of the CDBG activities that require additional Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 8 funds to complete the projects. Last year you will recall that we have a list of items that the committee and the Board approved and in that included the Centennial Pool lining for $35,000. The total cost is $110,000 and we were able to escrow $35,000 in last years’ budget so we are asking for an additional $40,000 so that project can be completed. Court Street you may recall a couple of years in a row you granted us $5,000 to fix the sidewalk in the front of Court Street because it has that tilt and it creates challenges particularly during the winter. We had hoped to add onto the library work that was being done. The bid came in incredibly high and in addition, the Director of Public Works is concerned that the stairs need to be done as well. It’s a project that requires a lot of attention which is probably going to be closer to the $40,000 mark. So, I am giving up on that for right now and instead what I would like to do is take the $4,650 that’s left in the Best Retail Practice Program because our request that’s in for façade improvement for that, that application doesn’t take all of the remaining money and then use the $5,299 that is left from the Foster Square Project that’s completed and then pool it with the $5,000 from Court Street for a total amount of $14,949 and either use that to see if there is something we can do with the entrance at Court Street or ask you to let us use it for Railroad Square improvements. What I mean by that is if you have been to Railroad Square lately, particularly after this winter, you can see that city sidewalk that wraps around Railroad Square is in really bad shape and we have used a lot of the Best Retail money and other façade money for both the Layton Building and Fody’s Tavern in that general area for work so we would like to look at potentially doing work on either the exterior of Court Street if we can do it in this $15,000 range which is not a fact in evidence right now or that $15,000 be used for Railroad Square. The last request is the Labine Park. We all agreed that we needed to do something about those tennis courts. In mid- December we were able to take the fence down that was around the tennis courts that was very damaged and left it just as open land. The superintendent would like a flexible court which would cost about $150,000 and I told him it was not in the cards right now but for $75,000 we believe that he could get it in relatively good shape. The $50,000 that we are requesting tonight would match the remaining $25,000 that last year you said we could use the money towards Labine Park and towards the tennis courts at Sergeant’s Avenue. The tennis courts at Sergeant’s Avenue are going to cost $15,000 so we are asking to keep that $25,000 and add $50,000 in new dollars to that project. On the back side you will see the HOME Program laid out. Grant Administration at $26,515 which is capped at 10% of that grant. The Homebuyer Program at $55,000 and the Affordable Housing Development at $108,759.46. We added a note there about the resolution for the Salmon Brook Senior Housing Project and that speaks for itself on what the allocations are left. I think overall that does a pretty great job at getting a few things done this year and completing a few other projects. Last year money was put aside for Bicentennial Park and that re-design is going out to bid. Last year when we put it out to bid it came in at over $200,000 and that was a bit of a problem considering that we could bring it in at $30,000. We don’t want a new park we want a more accessible park so we are hopeful that we will be able to do that. I think the other items on last years’ list are well underway. Chairman Wilshire On Court Street, it would be an addition $9,949, is that correct? Mayor Lozeau Yes, it would be reprogrammed money. It’s reprogramming the $4,650 that’s left, the $5,299 that was left in the Foster Square Project because that’s complete and then reprogramming the $5,000 that was already allocated for Court Street. The entirety of bullet #2 is prior programmed funds that we are asking to reprogram. Basically, I call it Court Street exterior work and I meant to add in there or Railroad Square and that’s why money had already been allocated for Court Street. All together it’s a total of $14,949 and it is all prior funds. For Labine Park, it is $50,000 in new and for Centennial it is $35,000 in new. If I am correct we are looking for $85,000 from the city this year in new money from this years’ allocation. I think that’s the smallest amount that I have ever asked for, just for the record. Chairman Wilshire I guess I am having trouble with the Court Street number. I know the number that you are asking for but where Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 9 I am putting it I think is throwing me off. Ms. Schena It would become part of the language in the resolution but it shouldn’t affect the bottom line. Chairman Wilshire I am excited about the Salmon Brook Senior Housing Project and the fact that they have 31 project based vouchers is very exciting. Mayor Lozeau It’s pretty much unheard of. I kept an arm’s length of that project because I used to work for that agency. Alderman Caron On the pool lining, if you get these funds are you going to do it before the summer season or after? Mayor Lozeau I think the superintendent would like to do it before the season but I am not sure that he will be able to do it before the season. Partially that is because of how bad the winter was and how much time they will have to do some of what they would like to do ahead. Alderman Caron Would it keep him from opening the pool? Mayor Lozeau No, it would not. Chairman Wilshire I am not going to make any recommendations for funding because my employer has requested funding. I will help facilitate whatever motions need to be made. Ms. Schena I don’t think it was sent in time to get on the agenda but I was copied on an e-mail earlier today from Maryse Wirbal of the Front Door Agency. I did make copies. Chairman Wilshire She did send an e-mail saying that she was unable to be here this evening due to a previous commitment. MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ACCEPT TWO COMMUNICATIONS THAT WERE SUBMITTED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS PREPARED ON THE QUESTION Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 10 Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja The first communication is the Mayor’s memo dated March 19, 2015, regarding fiscal year 16’ CDBG and HOME City Requests and the memo we just received dated March 19, 2015, regarding Maryse Wirbal’s inability to attend this evening but addressing the Front Door Agency’s CDBG request. MOTION CARRIED MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO ACCEPT THE TWO COMMUNICATIONS AND PLACE THEM ON FILE MOTION CARRIED Alderwoman Brown Chairman Wilshire, are you working from an excel spreadsheet? Chairman Wilshire Yes. Alderwoman Brown Is that on-line or was it in the packet? Chairman Wilshire No, I just made up my own just to keep track of the numbers. I believe what is available to us is $713,711.21. We’ve already allocated 15% of the entitlement to public services and that’s the money that went to Review & Comment and that was $89,675 and then we have all of our applicants and the Housing Improvement Program that the Mayor requested at $75,000, Grant Administration which is money to fund the Urban Programs Department to carry out all of these projects and Project Delivery which is doing all of the bids and work that it takes to get these projects through. The Mayor has requested Parks & Rec for the Centennial pool at $40,000 and a request for $50,000 for the Labine Park tennis court project. I will open up the floor to anyone who wants to make any motions, suggestions or recommendations for funding. Alderwoman Brown I think I would need more time to look at everything as a whole since we didn’t have this memo from the Mayor. What has the committee done in the past in this situation? Chairman Wilshire We have just put down some numbers, we get a resolution drawn up and then it goes to the full Board and the full Board refers it back to us at which time we can make any revisions, additions or deletions. We have plenty of time moving forward. Tonight this gets a resolution on the table. It’s not cut in stone, we can make recommendations to fund things and we can change that when it comes back to us based on having had more time to think through the requests. We have kind of a tight timeframe. You got the schedule of what has to be done when. Alderman McGuinness Essentially you would need $85,000 in new money to do everything the Mayor wants to do here tonight, is that correct? Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 11 Chairman Wilshire That is what she requested out of the $713,000 that is available. Alderman McGuinness So at the very least someone might, as a standing member of the committee, offer that as a resolution but it doesn’t mean you are necessarily endorsing it. It could be subject to future analysis and discretion of the Board of Aldermen. Chairman Wilshire That’s correct but it’s not just the Mayor’s request, it’s the six applicants that applied. Alderman McGuinness Yes, I understand. Chairman Wilshire There’s not enough money to fund everything so we have to recommendations that fall within the dollar amount that we have available to us. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja Chairman Wilshire gave us the total amount that we have and she gave what was taken out. Could you just give us the number of what is left and what the total number of requests are? Chairman Wilshire The money we have available is $713,711.21. The requests come to $822,905 and that’s based on 50% of the requests from Girls, Inc. They requested a $250,000 over two years so I only put half of it for this years’ calculation. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja That $822,000 includes the Mayor’s requests that were presented to us this evening? Chairman Wilshire That is correct. Ms. Schena Does that also include the public service dollars that were already…the 15%? Chairman Wilshire Yes, that’s part of the total of the $822,000. Alderman Caron Isn’t It about $89,675? Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 12 Chairman Wilshire Yes. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja This committee has had several conversations about the Centennial pool lining and we’ve already given them part of what they need, we gave it to them last year so I think that all of us understand that it’s something that you do or you don’t. MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO RECOMMEND $35,000 FOR THE CENTENNIAL POOL PROJECT ON THE QUESTION Alderman Caron I agree with my colleague because it’s been a while since that pool has been upgraded and it was built in 1953 or 1954 so in order to keep it viable; it’s better to take care of it now and since we have that money and it’s being held out because of the cost I think we should get it done. Even if we don’t get it done until after the season; I don’t see a problem with that. MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire The Boys and Girls Club have requested $66,395 for safety enhancements to their building. Does anyone want to make a motion on that? Okay, seeing none we can come back to that. The next one is Bridges, they have requested $34,297 for kitchen improvements at one of their shelters and that was the video we saw this evening. MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO RECOMMEND $28,000 FOR THE KITCHEN IMPROVEMENT AT THE BRIDGES SHELTER MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire Next is the Front Door Agency; the roof at their C Street Project. The roof is 18 years old and wasn’t replaced with the highest quality materials. Alderwoman Brown I’d like to go back to the Boys and Girls Club. Chairman Wilshire Their request was for $66,395. Do you have a motion Alderwoman Brown? Alderwoman Brown I recall that the major part of the improvement was to have a secured entrance from the daycare center in the back. I know that is a very critical issue but I also know that we are short by almost $100,000. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 13 MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN BROWN TO RECOMMEND $50,000 FOR THE SAFETY ENHANCEMENT AT THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER NASHUA ON THE QUESTION Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja In terms of looking at the items we have, can you point out where you are coming up with your figure? That’s actually not our job, I retract the question. Chairman Wilshire I think if we give them some funding it’s up to them to figure out how to use it. It is better that we let them do it. MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire Again, I am not voting. Alderman Caron My question is line 8, 9, 10, & 12; are those set in stone? Chairman Wilshire Are you talking about the housing improvement, the grant money? Alderman Caron Yes, right. Chairman Wilshire They are max’s. Well, the Housing Improvement Program, no; that’s not cast in stone anywhere. We used to give them $150,000 towards different projects. It’s for low income homeowner’s, like if their furnace goes or something like that. I believe it is money well spent. The Mayor came in and asked for $75,000 which is half of what it had been in prior years. I think last year it was $100,000. Ms. Schena It was $125,000. Chairman Wilshire The Grant Administration pays the salaries for the staff who manage that department and the Project Delivery is just what it says. They have to go out to bid. Those are capped by HUD. Alderman Caron My question is would it make it easier for us and maybe Carrie could give us what the balances are, if we motion for those numbers be approved so that we have a better feeling of what we have left. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 14 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO FUND THE HOUSING IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AT $75,000, THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION AT $121,167, AND THE PROJECT DELIVERY AT $116,260 MOTION CARRIED Ms. Schena The total that is left $198,609 and to recap that was all the funding available less the 15% for Public Services, $50,000 for the Boys and Girls Club, $28,000 for Bridges, $35,000 for the Centennial pool lining and then the three items that were just voted on. Chairman Wilshire What’s left is the Front Door Agency, Girls, Inc., Habitat, Nashua Children’s Home and possibly some contingency in there. We are back to the Front Door Agency. Is there a motion? Seeing no motion there let’s go to Girls, Inc. MOTION BY ALDERMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO RECOMMEND $10,000 TO THE FRONT DOOR AGENCY FOR ROOF IMPROVEMENTS MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire I abstained from voting. Next is Girls, Inc. MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO RECOMMEND $75,000 TO GIRLS, INC FOR OFFICE SPACE SAFETY UPGRADES ON THE QUESTION Chairman Wilshire Is that $75,000 for this year or split over two years? Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja They are requesting $100,000 this year. Chairman Wilshire No, they are requesting $125,000. Alderman Caron My motion is for $75,000 this year. MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO RECOMMEND $75,000 TO GIRLS, INC FOR OFFICE SPACE SAFETY UPGRADES AND RENOVATION PROJECT MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire Next is Habitat for Humanity. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 15 Alderwoman Brown Can you update us on what we have left? Ms. Schena There is $113,609 left. Chairman Wilshire Okay, so we have Habitat for Humanity the purchase of the old Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter and the demo of that project and asbestos abatement. MOTION BY ALERWOMAN BROWN TO RECOMMEND $90,000 TO HABITAT FOR HUMANITY ON THE QUESTION Alderwoman Brown That building is an eye sore in that neighborhood and I’ve seen the improvement that the other two projects have had in that area and I love that it brings the community together having volunteers working on it. I think it would be a good investment. Alderman Caron I’m trying to be the bad guy here but we have so little money and with so many agencies in need to give one agency the full amount, I think someone else would be cut short. I wouldn’t mind bringing it up by $10,000. Alderwoman Brown Do you think $75,000 would be good? Alderman Caron I could live with that because the only other one here is the Children’s Home and I think that’s important too. Out of what’s left, the $113,600, did we take out the contingency of $5,000? Chairman Wilshire No, there is nothing in contingency. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja That would bring it down to $108,609. Ms. Schena There’s also a consideration that the current fiscal year contingency, the committee recommended final passage to fund the gap for the PAL Project out of that but there would still be a little over $3,000 left in that and that was basically the last project that had to be bid out of our current projects so we really shouldn’t have any other unforeseen costs related to active projects. That’s one thing we could consider. We could move it from fiscal year 15 into fiscal year 16. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 16 Chairman Wilshire The thing about this is that there may be some income during the year that we could use for contingency as well. Alderman Caron It’s just good to have some contingency. MOTION WITHDRAWN MOTION BY ALERWOMAN BROWN TO RECOMMEND $60,000 TO HABITAT FOR HUMANITY MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire The above motion carried without my vote as I abstained. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja What is the amount we typically keep in contingency? Ms. Schena It varies every year. I’ve seen it around $6,000 upwards to $10,000. It’s supposed to be for anything unforeseen related to the projects that are funded or if there were some significant event that happened during the fiscal year that somebody might need to seek extra funding. Alderwoman Brown So what we have left is the Children’s Home request for $45,000 and contingency. We approved money for the pool lining but there weren’t any motions for Court Street or the Labine Park. Chairman Wilshire Court Street doesn’t come out financially because it’s reprogrammed funds that don’t affect the bottom line on this resolution. It still has to be included. Ms. Schena I think you might have to make a motion for it to be included in the resolution but Court Street would not affect the bottom line number. MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO TAKE $3,000 LEFT IN CONTINGENCY FROM THIS YEAR AND COMBINE THAT WITH $4,000 FROM THIS YEAR FOR A TOTAL OF $7,000 FOR CONTINGENCY ON THE QUESTION Ms. Schena The balance in the fiscal year 2015, which is our current year contingency, is $2,343. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 17 Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja We can take that and roll it forward into contingency, right? It doesn’t have to be programmed for an actual project. Chairman Wilshire It doesn’t affect the bottom line on this resolution because it’s not new money that we are using. Ms. Schena I think if you wanted the resolution to speak to that this balance should roll into next years’ contingency… Chairman Wilshire Then you could make a motion for that but it wouldn’t count in the bottom line, just like the Court Street funding. MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO RECOMMEND $2,343 IN THE CURRENT CONTINGENCY BE COMBINED WITH $4,657 OF NEW MONEY FOR A TOTAL OF $7,000 MOTION CARRIED Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja I have $48,952 for new money that’s left. MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO RECOMMEND $35,000 TO THE NASHUA CHILDREN’S HOME MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire I did not vote on the previous motion. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja We still have $13,952 left. Ms. Schena I have that as well. Chairman Wilshire I am going to go through these numbers just to make sure we are on the same page. We are recommending 15% for public services at $89,675, the Boys and Girls club at $50,000, Bridges at $28,000, the Front Door Agency at $10,000, Girls, Inc. at $75,000, Habitat for Humanity at $60,000, and the Nashua Children’s Home at $35,000. We have also funded the Housing Improvements Program at $75,000, Grant Administration at $121,167, Project Delivery at $116,260, Contingency at $4,657, the Centennial pool at $35,000 and the Labine Park tennis courts at $50,000. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja I don’t have any motions for Labine Park. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 18 Chairman Wilshire Okay, so then we don’t have as much money left as we thought. What is the committee’s pleasure? If we were to fund the Labine request we would have a $36,000 deficit. Alderwoman Brown So at this point we don’t have any motions for the Court Street exterior request and the Labine Park? Chairman Wilshire Correct. Labine will affect the bottom line, the Court Street will not but if you would like to make a motion to fund those from prior year funds, I would accept that and it can get put into the resolution. MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN BROWN TO RECOMMEND $4,650 FROM FY 11’ FOR THE COURT STREET RENOVATIONS, $5,299 FROM FY 12’ AND $5,000 FROM FY 15’ MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire Now we have the Labine Park tennis court and we have $13,000 for that and that’s not going to do it. If we wanted to do something we could the remainder in that account and then come back once the resolution is put together and tweak it or we can tweak it tonight and put the resolution through the way we want it to go through. What is the committee’s pleasure? Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja How much would we be short for Labine Park? Chairman Wilshire We would be short by $36,000. In FY 15’ $40,000 was allocated towards Sergeant’s Avenue tennis courts and/or Labine, of which $15,000 is needed for the tennis courts. The $50,000 request will be pooled with the remaining FY 15’ $25,000. What am I missing here? We could give them the $15,000 for the tennis courts and take the rest of it out of contingency. I don’t know what I am missing. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja In FY 15’ $40,000 was allocated for Sergeant’s Avenue or Labine Park, $15,000 was needed for the tennis courts because the $25,000 is the difference between the $40,000 allocated and the $15,000 used; that equals $25,000 remaining. Ms. Schena Out of that $40,000 for FY 15’ $15,000 of it is going towards the tennis courts so there’s only $25,000 left of that that is available towards Labine so the Mayor is requesting an additional $50,000 to put that project total at $75,000. So we are using $25,000 of FY 15’ money that is available plus the additional $50,000. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja Okay it’s written in the present tense only because it hasn’t been done yet but in reality it is past tense. The total project for Labine Park we are looking at $75,000 at the end of the day. Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 19 Chairman Wilshire Correct. The new request is for $50,000 and we don’t have $50,000 unless we cut it from somewhere else. We can allocate the $13,600 or whatever we have left and then we can come back when the resolution is put together and we can tweak it. MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO RECOMMEND $13,952 FOR THE LABINE PARK TENNIS COURTS MOTION CARRIED Chairman Wilshire Next we have the HOME Funds. The HOME entitlement for FY 16’ is $265,151 and out of that the HOME Grant Administrative portion is $26,515 and that’s the max. The Home Buyers Assistance Program, the Mayor recommends $55,000 and the Affordable Housing Development at $108,759.46. There is an amount of $35,103.54 that is going to the Salmon Brooks Senior Housing Project. I think the recommendations that the Mayor had given the committee are good. Ms. Schena The Salmon Brook total amount that was in the other resolution that’s already been passed is $74,876.54 so a portion of that, as recommended in the memo, would come out of the CHOTO set aside funds because they are a qualified CHODO and the remainder out of just the general Affordable Housing Development line. The $108,759 that’s identified in the memo would be separate from that. Chairman Wilshire That’s for projects not identified yet. MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO ACCEPT THE ALLOCATION OF THE HOME PROGRAM FUNDS AS OUTLINED IN THE MAYOR’S MEMO AND AS THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED ON THE QUESTION Chairman Wilshire I think it’s good; the HOME Funds are really a bonus for the city. We get a good bang for our buck and I’m very exciting to see the 31-units project based vouchers going towards that project. MOTION CARRIED PUBLIC COMMENT - None REMARKS BY THE ALDERMEN Alderman Caron The commissioner’s on Review and Comment all met with their agencies within the last two weeks and the commissioner’s will be meeting on March 30th to go over all of the funding that was allocated to make sure that everything is in place. On April 2nd there will be a general meeting with all of the volunteers and they will be given a review of all of the money that was allocated and to talk about if there was any discussion or changes. I will say that it went well. We made some adjustments, the commissioners facilitated and we allocated the money a little different. Instead of playing dollar for dollar, each person was able to make their Human Affairs – 3/19/15 Page 20 recommendations and they were right on target for what they would allocate to the agencies. It worked out really well. There might have been a $500 - $1,000 difference with what they felt the particular agency would like. I think the commissioners did a good job of making some adjustments and changes in how the money was being allocated to the agencies. POSSIBLE NON-PUBLIC SESSION - None ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Committee Clerk