Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee

PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MARCH 17, 2010 A special meeting of the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee was held on Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Chairman Ben Clemons presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderman Kathy Vitale, Vice Chair Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. Alderman Richard P. Flynn Members Not in Attendance: Also in Attendance: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly INTERVIEWS Airport Authority Richard A. Moushegian (New Appointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2014 Mr. Dennis Stephens (New Appointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2011 Mayor Lozeau Thank you Mr. Chairman. I would begin tonight by letting the committee know the reason you have two appointments before you tonight is that Dr. Griffin Dalianis had to resign from the Airport Authority. Luckily I had already met with Mr. Stephens and told him that I would keep his information on file should an opening become available. We were able to quickly process him in for the committee to consider. As many of you know, the Airport Authority is almost like an antonymous board that oversees a significant budget. Right now, based on the times that we are in and the changes that they are making, it is important for those coming in to have a sense of what that is. Mr. Moushegian, as you can tell from his resume, has had a long time in government service, particularly the FAA, and is retired and able to put in the time that is necessary for the work that needs to be done, but in addition has been somebody that has consistently attended Airport Authority meetings over the years, has been very active, the members know him, he is very familiar with items that are on their agenda. I think he brings something very vital to the table based on that. Mr. Stephens as well, as you look at his resume, you will see that what he brings to the table is an eye for construction and things of that nature. His work in his own business provides him with the opportunity too to be flexible and to be able to meet with their schedule, and take on the heavy tasks going forward with what the airport has to pay attention to. Both of them not only brought to the table I think skills that are needed right now with the airport, but also both came to me saying that they would like to serve and for very different reasons, which I think is Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 2 really important. Often times volunteers are solicited by somebody you know or you meet somebody at some thing and you ask them. It is really a different discussion when they come to you to talk about serving. I am pleased tonight to present to you I think two very professional people from our community willing to serve. Thank you. Chairman Clemons I will open the floor first to Mr. Moushegian if you would like to introduce yourself and say a few words. Richard A. Moushegian I am sure you read the bio so I will just skip that. I do have friends at the airport over the years and they have encouraged me. I am also grateful to the Mayor for nominating me. I should say I have retired 3 times in my career; everything dedicated to aviation. I have been unemployed successfully of course for the last 2 years, and I am looking to provide some community service. It is just a natural advent to go to the airport, which I am kind of an airport groupie for years. I would like to spend some time to help and assist in the airport community for the asset of the airport user and the community itself. Chairman Clemons We will take questions to either candidate. I am going to let Mr. Stephens introduce himself and say a few words. Dennis Stephens Good evening. I have lived in Nashua for the last 20 years. I grew up all over the world. I was am Army brat. When my dad retired I went to school in Arkansas. I found myself here in New England 20 years ago with a move from a corporate environment where I was an engineer in major construction. I fell in love with New England and pretty much told corporate when they wanted to move me away I am here to stay, and I have been here for 20 years. The last 12 of them I have owner my own business. It is a general contracting construction business that specializes mostly in gas stations and restaurants. In fact, I built the Mobil on the Run on Amherst Street at exit 7 and I did the improvements on Broad Street at exit 6. I enjoy living in Nashua. Five years ago I discovered an interest in flying and became a pilot. I am a private pilot and have a plane at the Nashua Airport. I have been to several Airport Authority meetings to find out what has been going on with the airport. I have read all of their minutes for the last several years. I find the airport a very interesting item in the city. When I decided that I wanted to contribute back to Nashua and get involved with the city, the airport was a nice fit. Chairman Clemons Thank you both. I will open the floor to questions from the committee and other members of the board. Are there any questions? Alderman Vitale Maybe both of you can answer; what do you see going forward with the airport, its place within the city, Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 3 and also its relationship with the residents in the area (abuts both ward 2 and ward 1). How do you see that relationship? Richard A. Moushegian The approach in from runway 32 is over my house, but I enjoy aviation so I like to see the belly of every airplane. I am still 5 miles away from the airport, but I live on a hill so they are only about 400’ over me. I enjoy that and I understand that is very sensitive that whole area for noise abatement. In my aviation experience, in the last 5 years I was there, I was developing noise abatement procedures, and I am sensitive to that. Of course, I am aware of the helicopter issue that is ongoing presently. Hopefully that is resolved. Beyond that, I think I have answered your question. Was there another part of that question? Alderman Vitale I just basically how you saw the relationship with the surrounding area since it is residential and where you see the airport going and its place within the community. Richard A. Moushegian Well historically the airport has always been sensitive to the people in the surrounding community. I think they have a great reputation. They developed the proper procedures and with the forthcoming new runway, they are very sensitive to that also. It is an airport. It is like having a dump next to you if you will. It is that sensitive. That community has grown over the years too, and they are well aware of the fact that airport has been there since the 1930s. However, even consistent with that the airport Manager particularly is very strong on that issue of noise abatement, and they are doing everything possible to resolve any issues that do occur. I see that as an ongoing issue for the life of that airport. Dennis Stephens It is interesting with the size of the airport that we have with jet traffic as well as large aviation that the noise problems that have popped up over the last couple of years deal with helicopters. That is resolvable. That is an easy fix. It is just a part of community development; communications with the neighbors, neighbors knowing who to contact, and the Airport Authority and the airport manager knowing what actions to take. The airport is going to change a lot over the next few years; with the runway extension, the relocation, addition of potential hangers. It can’t do any of this stuff unless it melds in and grows within the City of Nashua. The airport is right in the center of Nashua. Everything the airport does from clear day activities to instrument days where flights come in lower and under power, needs to be worked out with the city. I think some of the items that I am looking for to get involved in is improving communications not just with the neighbors but the businesses around the airport, making sure they are involved in the future development and which direction the airport is taking to grow with Nashua. Alderman Vitale I will say that in the past sometimes notification goes to abutters and obviously sometimes the abutters aren’t the ones that are affected the most. How would you feel about how you would notify more than Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 4 just the abutters as to what is going on – neighborhood notification? I know that can come through an Alderman, it can come through the city, but I know in the past sometimes notification is only to the abutters and people even across the street from them would only find out if they happened to talk to those abutters. Richard A. Moushegian I know it has been a practice by the Airport Manager to advertise these issues, and I know it is a requirement to notify the abutters. There is no reason why that can’t grow to include a greater community. As an example, when they tried to build that development there on the few acres of land at the end of runway 14 we had what 100 people show up. Certainly notification worked in that case. Alderman Vitale Right. Richard A. Moushegian So I don’t see any reason why it should be restricted. Dennis Stephens What kind of notifications are you referring to? Alderman Vitale Awareness. It is really just awareness, but I know in the past only because my house also happens to be across the street from an abutter, and I know if I wasn’t involved and see things come up, there would be no notification. If you didn’t happen to catch it in the paper or whatever, the only way that you do find out is by talking to the direct abutter. Dennis Stephens In this day and age one of the best resources is the Internet. There is an airport webpage. I have been on it a lot. It is kind of behind the times just a little bit. I think if you catch up I think that we could manage that a little more effectively. Also for those people who are interested in the airport and would like to know information, I have been very amazed myself every time I am interested in a topic or subject and have made that known and contacted the airport manager’s office, they are very friendly and open with information. It is just a matter of I think both parties addressing that effort to communicate. Mayor Lozeau If I could Mr. Chairman I would just add a little piece. One of the things, as Mr. Stephens just pointed out, about the Internet is we can certainly continue to make it more user friendly. I know that many of you have noticed the changes on the city web site and more information getting out there. There is also a piece that I think needs to be two-way communication. We’re looking at doing something on the city web site for people that live next to the landfill or the airport or other places where the city is a very large neighbor, where they might be able to go on that site and see hey what is going on at the airport this weekend, what is going on at the landfill; is something down, is something not working. Let us know if you heard something, you are concerned, you have a question. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 5 We are looking at developing an interactive piece to some of those bigger components in the city where we have some responsibility. Even Holman Stadium and the bandshell we have talked about putting things out there; what is up for the weekend so if people want to plan for company over the weekend they are not going to do it on an aviation weekend when they have the Blue Angels coming in (I am exaggerating). I think the awareness can change, but I also think that some have to take some responsibility to look for information too. Richard A. Moushegian Just as a side, it is interesting what you say Mayor. The airport is a tremendous asset to this city. It is also one of the best kept secrets in the city. I bet you that 60% of the people don’t even know where the airport is, and yet it is so beautifully located. It is an asset. It is a toy that just grew into a business and it is managed beautifully. Have we taken advantage of the nature of that airport I don’t know, I suppose that is for us to find out and work on. Alderman Deane Thank you. I didn’t get your bios because I am not a committee member. I notice you both live in the city and you have looked back I guess Mr. Stephens stated he looked back and read some minutes. There was talk of bringing in cargo planes into that airport. Where do you stand on that issue? Richard A. Moushegian That was an issue I think about 10 years ago. Alderman Deane I just heard how the airport isn’t being utilized to its full extent, has to change with the times, and so on and so forth. I don’t know if that is something that is going to be brought back into the mix or what your opinion is of that. Richard A. Moushegian I think my opinion is it is a community airport. We have commercial development around the airport. As I said it is more like a hobby/toy that has grown into a business, but we had the issue with this cargo aircraft about a service group for the USPS that wanted to come in, and the concern was noise. They wanted to come in and take off around 2:00 a.m. and of course that was unacceptable. My position would be the same. I wouldn’t tolerate that. I would vote against that. Alderman Deane Mr. Stephens? Dennis Stephens The airport’s size/length of runway limits the size of the airplanes coming in. Pretty much there are ways to get around that by reducing the amount of fuel in the wings and load up the cargo and make short hops. I see the Nashua Airport as a community airport. I see it helping the community progress through local flights not cargo across the country to the West Coast to international and that kind of stuff. I never see that happening at the City of Nashua airport. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 6 I am not too sure I am qualified to answer that question for you. I would have to bring that before the Aldermen and the rest of the city to find out what your thoughts are, what the community thoughts are, and assess that with what are the advantages to development and progress within the City of Nashua to what are the disadvantages; noise and that kind of stuff. My initial thought was resist it, don’t approve it, let’s network this and see if there is an advantage to it and how it is going to benefit the city. That is our airport. It is ours to use as we want to use it. One of the things I would want to do is take advantage of that. It is something for the City of Nashua to monopolize on. Mayor Lozeau Part of the question is the timing issue. To have a cargo plane come in in the middle of the day when any other plane comes in is one thing. I think one of the things that Alderman Deane is trying to get to is it is in a residential area and having them come in in the middle of the night is a little bit different than the middle of the day. Can you speak specifically to how you would feel about things happening.. Dennis Stephens Our airport shuts down at 9:00 p.m. the ATC buttons up and goes home and opens up again at 7:00 a.m. I wouldn’t be for any type of commercial activity when the tower is not open. Also the fact that we are a community airport, everything we do there from construction to additional hangers to allowing planes in and out of the airport is subject to melding with the community. Alderman Deane Mayor I notice these are two new appointments and Mr. Dalianis has resigned. Was there an open position over there or is somebody just not being re-appointed or… Mayor Lozeau John Gill’s position had expired and he expressed an interest not to be re-appointed. The remaining members are Mr. Britton, Mr. Davidson, and Mr. Rosenblum. Alderman Deane Mr. Stephens you own a plane so you pay tie-down fees? Dennis Stephens Yes I do. Alderman Deane Mr. Moushegian do you own a plane? Richard A. Moushegian No. Alderman Deane I take it that you have spent some time obviously attending meetings and researching meeting minutes, Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 7 and actually contacted, I believe the Mayor said that you contacted the Mayor’s Office about your interest in serving in these positions. Other than all of the wholesome reasons why you want to serve what other reasons are there? You know the giving back to the community and an interest in aviation. Are there any other reasons why you specifically – are there any issues at that airport currently that are bothering either one of your gentlemen? Richard A. Moushegian No. I guess it is just a good fix for me. I am type A. I don’t like retirement. I want to keep busy and aviation has been in my blood I suppose you could say since I was 5 years old. I just think I gravitate to it. I am very familiar with the airport and the function and very happy with the way it has been managed. There is growth to be considered. That is an issue where the board will have to make decisions. As Dennis says, the Aldermen will have to ultimately make a decision also. I would like to be part of that that is all. I have no goals in mind other than to serve. Dennis Stephens I don’t see any issues that I am directly looking to go resolve and I don’t have an agenda. I do have a very strong interest in the airport, its overall operation within the city, its communication with the businesses at the airport the community around it and the development that is going to go forward. I think we are facing a very crucial time over the next 3 years that airport will be turning upside down. I would like to be a part of that. I would like to help in any way I can and try to make it something that everybody can be proud of with the development that is going to take place there. I also look at a potential untapped marketplace. The businesses there have all been there and they are all in their own little silos throughout the airport. Let’s bring them together, let’s improve communications, open things up, find out what the businesses need, find out what the community needs around us, and make sure that is part of the next 3 years. Alderman Deane You said the airport is going to be turned upside down. What do you mean by that? Dennis Stephens Brand new runway. It is going to be longer and shifted 50’. Richard A. Moushegian Well it is going to encourage certainly more activity. We had some growth in the corporate jets and of course just based on the economy that is somewhat weaning. We have had about a 10% reduction in profitability in that regard and then it shows its ugly head in the field consumption area. There is very little in the present economy we can do to attract people other than to keep things going. It is just a great community airport, beautifully located. It is an offshoot from Manchester. Planes come here because it is basically free. There is a potential asset there if we want to tap that. There is growth going to occur and it is going to have to happen in 3-5 years I would assume because of the economy. We have to be ready for that. Dennis Stephens I live in Nashua and I see airplanes flying over my head and I normally think there is a lot of activity, but Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 8 we have the second busiest airport in New England with the first one being Bedford. It is a general aviation airport and there is a lot of activity with Daniel Webster and education and a lot of activity with corporate jets. It is a matter of making sure that whatever development that occurs at the airport stays invisible to the residents of Nashua. That would be my goal over my ten years as a director is aid and help that development, but make sure the airport stays invisible. Not so much in a not knowing you have one, but the airplanes flying around. Alderman Deane Thank you. Chairman Clemons Are there any further comments or questions? I just want to say thank you to both of you. I think you have, Mr. Moushegian you have a lot of experience with aviation and I think this is a great fit. Mr. Stephens from what I have heard tonight you have an open mind and I think you are going to be good on the authority. Thank you both for coming tonight. We will take up your appointments in a little bit. Chairman Clemons Next on the agenda was the Hunt Building Board of Trustees and the appointee was Claire McGrath. We received a communication that she could not attend this evening. Hunt Building Board of Trustees Claire McGrath (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2014 New England Rail Coalition Mayor Lozeau I am guessing Alderman Pressly needs no introduction. The legislation was passed by the full board for us to have membership. This is a proposal that Alderman Pressly had asked me about not long after she became an Alderman, informed me that she thought we should be part of the group especially with how things are going with rail today, and that she would be interested in being a member to serve. I was very happy to appoint somebody that was a driving force behind the interest and had a willingness to serve in this capacity. Thank you. Barbara Pressly (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2013 Alderman Pressly Thank you. I started attending their meetings long before I thought about running for office again. It is really a very interesting group. I learned about it because I attended the New Hampshire Authority meetings up in Concord. This group was formed by the Conservation Law Foundation, the office that is formed in Concord. The initiation did come from New Hampshire. The purpose of it is to bring all of the New England states together and even beyond to work together as a team for rail. As many of you know, the obstacles are quite great for New Hampshire. However, one of the things that we do not have that this group would serve is cooperation between the states. It is an interesting group. One thing that they do do specifically when there is legislation before Congress, they do, as a group, Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 9 send letter and then all the names are signed. When that does happen what I would intend to do would be to send a copy of the letter to the Mayor and to Brian McCarthy the President just to review it. The timeframe is very short so there isn’t time to bring it to the full board, but it is usually a letter endorsing legislation to fund passenger commuter rail. I think the value is in working with the other states we don’t have too many groups that really do this on this level. Most of the members right now are environmental groups because almost every environmental group in the country supports passenger rail because of savings on the environment. They are expanding. There are lots of planners, but I think it is a wonderful way – it takes about half a day – actually I go with someone else and we go by bus into a rail meeting in Boston. It takes about half a day. I would be pleased to have anyone else that would like to go and attend. It is an interesting thing to participate in, and I would expect to report back to the committees to let you know what is happening. Chairman Clemons Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the committee? Well I want to say that I think the choice for this is obvious and I fully support it. Barbara I think this is going to be a good venture for the city and hopefully we can get commuter rail out of it. Thank you. Planning Board Thomas C. Ireland (New Appointment) Term to Expire: March 31, 2013 Mayor Lozeau A\s you know, planning and zoning boards are particular challenges to find appointments for any number of reasons not the least of which is the time and the skill set to bring to the table. I have talked to this committee now many times about what I look for in a planning and zoning board member and I have talked about sometimes the skills that you want to have on a planning board would bring inherent conflicts of interest to the people that may possess those skills. I really concentrate on somebody that has an understanding of the community that is objective that is willing to do the heavy lifting homework, site visits, paperwork, and to get a sense of that. Since I have been Mayor I have developed a process by which I meet with people interested in wanting to serve on planning and zoning whereby I meet with them and talk to them after they answer a particular set of questions and then I ask them to meet with my representative on the planning board so that without me present they have an opportunity to talk candidly about expectations and typical cases. Then if they make it through that and they are still interested, Dave Connell from the Local Government Center who is the former city attorney and our city attorney meet with candidates to talk to them between 1-2 hours about responsibilities and what it all means. When they finish that if they are still interested, I am happy to appoint them. When Mr. Ireland expressed his interest to me to serve in this capacity, he sold me on something that I don’t think he knows that I have used before for members coming in, which is an ability to balance the competing needs and demands that you see in the planning board. You have the residents that surround a particular development and what their rights are as neighbors and community people, you have the owner of the property who has a right to develop their property, and then you have the law, which is pretty black and white on a lot of what can and can’t be done. Somebody that has the ability to see all of those competing interests and demands and be able to come away feeling like they have done their due diligence and they can make a good decision I think is the right person for this. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 10 When Tom came in to see me he talked about the balance that he strikes with his company, and I will let him talk a little bit about that for you. Hopefully you will see in him what I have seen in him. The position that I am offering him is a full position on the board. We have some vacancies coming up on the planning board and I am trying to get ahead of them a little bit. I started some months ago, but the process as I have described as you can likely appreciate is not a quick process. With that Mr. Chairman, I would like to introduce Tom Ireland. Chairman Clemons Thank you. Before I open the floor to you Mr. Ireland, I want to just say we are running a little bit late and the Finance Committee meeting will commence immediately after. Thomas C. Ireland As the Mayor was mentioning the balance connection when we talked originally had to do with my experience in work. I have been in the medical device industry for 18 years, and throughout that timeframe most of which has been within quality assurance, and the three morals if you will of the residents and the abutters, the developers and their needs, and then the regulations and things, almost uncannily mirror each other in terms of the type of things that we do related to the patients, related to our internal requirements, and what our customers need in terms of physicians and then the law. The FDA has very strict rules, but they don’t always tell you the best way to do those things. If you follow the news at all, Boston Scientific has been under some FDA scrutiny over the past couple of years and it has been a very hard road. Through that hard road we are starting to come out of it, but I think we have been better off for it. For me personally to come across an opportunity where I can apply the skills that I have done to balance those three in a different avenue that with medical devices, I looked at as an opportunity I wanted to pursue. That is why I am here. Chairman Clemons Thank you. I will open up the floor for committee questions. Alderman Flynn I wanted to be honest. I don’t have the resumes with me. I have read the resumes. I read the resumes last night. I did think in your particular case where you had this I imagine there were pretty good challenges dealing with the FDA. I myself have had some experience with writing ISO regulations and then trying to live within those ISO rules. It is challenging. It is interesting, but in the end you recognize the value of laws and regulations being in place and the need to really look hard at understanding why those things were written the way they were and how to apply them or what the purpose was for them. I thought you had an excellent background and just when I read that one particular paragraph I thought I think those would be nice qualities to have if I were going into this job because it does require a delicate balance. I think like I say when we were doing ISO 9000 I thought not only was it a challenge for myself personally but it was a challenge from within to figure out how to appropriately apply it to not strangulate the process but be able to come up with some balance to operate well, but operate with rules. I think that is probably what they try to do upstairs as well. I have been there a few times. I was there for the McMulkin dealership and a few other things. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 11 I won’t say I am always enthused about the decisions, but I understand. They clearly explain how they came about their decisions. I have been a person who walked away understanding at least the process was not just a mandate but was fully explained to me. Best of luck. Thank you. Alderman Deane Thank you. Could you describe to me what your plan is when you attend these meetings? Will you be speaking on a regular basis? Will you sit there and ponder thoughts and votes? I brought this up to the last couple of candidates and I am of the opinion there are two very strong and opinionated members on that board who in my mind seem to control the board. They control the dialogue and I could only contemplate what else may take place. Then there are other members that sit there and vote and hardly ever say a word. I agree with what Alderman Flynn had to say in a lot of different ways and the Mayor alluded to it earlier. There are laws that people have their rights to develop their land, but sometimes it is not just that simple. A lot of those cases it is not that simple. I was wondering how you are going to, when and if appointed, how you are going to operate upstairs during the meetings. I can agree to disagree with you, which is fine. I think it is important not only to myself but to the people that are adversely affected by the decisions that are made by that board to understand where the members are coming from. In many instances they only hear from two people and the rest of them don’t speak a lot publicly. I think a lot of people just walk away disgruntled and not understanding how they came about their reasoning. It is not like I am asking you to explain in deep reason why you voted the way you voted, but at least people can get an idea of your position and what drove you to vote that way. Thomas C. Ireland To that point, in a lot of the instances that I have dealt with being audited, if you allow someone who is essentially challenging and trying to find fault with what you have done, if you allow them to take over the conversation and essentially drive their point without the backup information and the prep work; site visits and everything else that might be done, if you allow them, personally and then from a business standpoint, you are in trouble even if you are right. You have to stand up and listen because that is the key, you have to listen to what they are saying so that essentially you can utilize what points they are trying to make and then essentially show them how you are right, and bring them off the edge of writing your company up, writing your products up, telling you essentially you have done a bad job. Not every audit is like that, but sitting across from the FDA or European regulators it occasionally gets like that. If I find myself in a situation where there is a dominant force driving an opinion that I am not agreeing with in those instances that is definitely the time to get involved. The ability to say that I will always be the person speaking or always be the person sitting back a lot of it depends on what I have already learned from the preparation and the conversations that are already going on. If it is not going the way that I think it should and whether that would benefit one person or another it gets down to speaking up for what is right. I have kind of prided myself on having gotten out of sticky situations because of the ability to speak up when it is the right time and speaking with enough authority of understanding that we need in order to get through the situation. Alderman Deane You are aware of the educational requirements by ordinance? Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 12 Thomas C. Ireland I was informed of them in brief. I couldn’t speak to every point of… Alderman Deane No you are just aware of it though…okay. Thomas C. Ireland Yes. Alderman Deane Thank you. Alderman Pressly Thank you. Would you plan to physically visit every site of every application and maybe get out and walk the land? Thomas C. Ireland I plan to make that a part of the role that I am fulfilling. Will I see every single one of them I couldn’t tell you definitively that is going to be the case, but I plan to. That is my intention because again to the point I was making earlier, that is the best way to gather up and prepare information that is needed in order to come in with an informed set of facts, understand the opinions that might be in front of the board, the expert testimony, the applicants, the general public, and be able to balance that with what I have learned independently. Alderman Pressly I have learned over time that what is in a picture or a map is not what you really see when you get there and I am sure you believe that too. One thing I have also learned with zoning is that sometimes although the law is that abutters must be notified, in fact we discussed that with the airport, but often times the abutters really don’t know about it. That type of situation is if one abutter is a condo because the notification goes to their association and sometimes depending on the quality and the communication skills of the association, sometimes they notify people who live there and sometimes they don’t. You can even have situations where we have had a couple of cases where the neighbors just didn’t find out, not because they weren’t notified, they were out of town; the house was being sold so the new people didn’t know about it. I guess the question is I think it is important that you not assume that because no one comes to object that there aren’t reasons to turn something down. Thomas C. Ireland Agreed. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 13 Alderman Pressly And so we rely on the zoning board to use their good sense. The case in point as some of you know about the tower up on Columbia Avenue – there is a cell tower right on a building lot right next door to someone and for whatever reason they didn’t find out about it. It is a totally inappropriate thing to be there. Nobody came to the zoning. The answer was gee nobody came to object this application. It is really, in my mind, the role of the Zoning Board to sometimes serve as the community person and don’t always assume that everybody knows. Maybe with the airport the impact might be a mile away of 5 blocks away. I just want to point that out. I would hope that you would not assume because no one shows up to object that there isn’t good reason to deny something. Thomas C. Ireland Understood. Alderman Pressly Do you sort of agree with that? Thomas C. Ireland Well I think the situation where you are going out for a site visit in that case you are looking at a situation where someone does live there and you have to think about it from their perspective as well as the person trying to develop and then balance all of that forward. I have read a lot of the minutes and there are typically things that say no one in favor no one opposed that comes forward on some controversial type issues or at least ones that may be perceived that way. Once that building goes up there is going to be some controversy so it needs to be taken into consideration during the time that we have to review it, understand it, and then make an appropriated informed decision. Alderman Pressly Thank you. Chairman Clemons Is there anything further? Again, Mr. Ireland, thank you for expressing your interest. I appreciate your wanting to be involved in the community. We will take up your appointment momentarily. Alderman Deane Mr. Chairman I have one quick question of the Mayor. Are there any alternates on the Planning Board currently? Mayor Lozeau There are. We’re actually down to 1 alternate on the Planning Board right now. I am working on that diligently. I have one that just resigned, not officially yet, but… Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 14 Alderman Deane Who was that? Mayor Lozeau Mr. Jurewicz. Alderman Deane In my time on this board we have always had – we have had a lot of problems, but I mean with appointments. It always seemed that the alternates would be put up into a full member appointment… Mayor Lozeau This position was offered to Ms. Belknap as an alternate to move to a full position. She wasn’t able to do that at this time. She is hoping to be able to do that over the next couple of months. She started a new job recently, and as soon as she gets her sea legs there because I still have a vacant full position that is available. As you know Alderman Deane I am relentless in working on planning and zoning. I know that you are curious about an alternate that I moved from the Planning Board to the Conservation Commission, and I considered all of that when I made the decision I made. Alderman Deane Mayor I don’t question your work ethic. Mayor Lozeau I know that. It is just that it is a challenge. My first priority is getting full board members seated and then hopefully having alternates as you have described that can just be moved into full positions. Alderman Deane I have served through the time when we had some extensive problems on the third floor with both of these boards, one more than the other. It is just a touchy situation for me anyway because I look at people and it is like the decisions that these folks make affect the areas in which the applications are being submitted for. It always seems when you talk about sea legs it was almost like it was in the past when you could – I don’t think the process that you are using was the same process that was used in the past. In fact, I would go to the bank on it to say that wasn’t what happened. I was always under the impression that you had the alternate and then the alternate if they were willing would go up into a full position and then the new appointees would go into the alternate and get their sea legs or whatever you want to call it, understand the whole process, acclimate well – they didn’t have to attend every meeting but they got to acclimate, review, and watch the process. It made them, in my eyes, it just seemed to make them better members as time went on because they garnered that experience of what the board was doing and how they functioned and things of that nature. Alderman Pressly I would like to know what the role of the staff is these days. I know it used to be that before a planning board meeting they would meet with the department staff and there would usually be recommendations. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 15 Does that still exist? I would like to know if the candidate is willing to maybe vote against what the staff recommends occasionally. Mayor Lozeau Each of the members that I interview understand the process and know that the staff makes recommendations. I don’t think we have had any members of the zoning board or the planning board, and in this instance tonight it is the planning board, that have been unwilling to vote against a recommendation of staff. I don’t think they do so lightly. It depends on what all of the facts are. Yes the staff still plays a pretty significant role in doing a lot of the heavy lifting and putting the packets together and getting the backup information and making a recommendation. Alderman Pressly I guess the question would be if in your judgment and based on what you believe, would you be willing to vote against the recommendation of the city staff? Thomas C. Ireland Again, that is going to be something to add to the pieces of information. I have recommendations from various departments when I need to make a tough decision as well. My R&D counterparts they want to keep their product out there and I am dealing with a situation where they are highly recommending that I do not put the product on hold/recall it that type of thing – it is a very tough decision, and I totally understand what they are going through, and in many cases work to find ways to mitigate the concerns that they have, but still meet the regulations and requirements and everything we need. Ultimately to the point about these are people’s residences, these are what people see every day when they walk out the door, you are dealing with people’s lives, the quality of life, and I have to balance that every day. There is a global policy where we work where we put everything in terms of patient care first. That is kind of the guiding policy and you have to take everything else around it. Like our master plan is our policy, but we have everything else around it we have to bring into play in order to make the appropriate decision. That will be a piece of the puzzle that we will take into consideration strongly of course because they are expert in what they do, but it will be a piece of it. Alderman Pressly Thank you. Chairman Clemons Thank you. COMMUNICATIONS – None PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT - None APPLICATION TO LICENSE HAWKER'S, PEDDLER'S, ITINERANT VENDOR'S LICENSE - None Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 16 APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR Airport Authority Richard A. Moushegian (New Appointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2014 Mr. Dennis Stephens (New Appointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2011 Building Code Board of Appeals John Rudolph (Reappointment) Term to Expire: March 31, 2013 Kevin T. Slattery (Reappointment) Term to Expire: March 31, 2012 Cable Television Advisory Board Paul F. Johnson (Reappointment) Term to Expire: January 1, 2013 Child Care Advisory Commission Patricia H. Howson, PH.D. (Reappointment) Term to Expire: October 13, 2012 Historic District Commission Frank H. Mellen (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2012 New England Rail Coalition Barbara Pressly (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2013 Planning Board Thomas C. Ireland (New Appointment) Term to Expire: March 31, 2013 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS: TO THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY, RICHARD A. MOUSHEGIAN FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE AUGUST 31, 2014 AND DENNIS STEPHENS FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE AUGUST 31, 2011, TO THE BUILDING CODE BOARD OF APPEALS, JOHN RUDOLPH FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE MARCH 31, 2013 AND KEVIN T. SLATTERY FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE MARCH 31, 2012, TO THE CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY BOARD, PAUL F. JOHNSON FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE JANUARY 1, 2013, TO THE CHILD CARE ADVISORY COMMISSION, DR. PATRICIA H. HOWSON FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE OCTOBER 13, 2012, TO THE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION, FRANK H. MELLEN FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE SEPTEMBER 30, 2012, TO THE NEW ENGLAND RAIL COALITION, BARBARA PRESSLY FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2013; AND TO THE PLANNING BOARD, THOMAS C. IRELAND FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE MARCH 31, 2013 Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 17 ON THE QUESTION Alderman Deane I think it should be duly noted that every one of these people live in the City of Nashua. MOTION CARRIED Hunt Building Board of Trustees Claire McGrath (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2014 APPOINTMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Ira F. Harris Lecture Trustees Judith Cudhea (Reappointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2011 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE RE- APPOINTMENT OF JUDITH CUDHEA TO THE IRA F. HARRIS LECTURE TRUSTEES MOTION CARRIED UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS – None NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES O-10-15 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane RELATIVE TO ANNUAL UPDATES OF THE PURCHASING MANUAL MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE ON THE QUESTION Chairman Clemons Would the primary sponsor like to say anything? Alderman Deane What this does is we have had some significant changes in our NROs and for members of the Finance Committee when you look at your documents that are presented to us through our agenda; it states in most cases what NROs are exercised during the process. What I have is, and it is no fault to anyone I guess, I just think it is important and probably easier for all of us if we have a question on an NRO we can pull out our purchasing manual and look at our purchasing manual. The last update that we had was on 10 December 1999. When you read C under Duties, it just gives the Purchasing Manager the ability to update the manual when any purchasing ordinances are changed. It is done annually then provided to the Finance Committee. Instead of going through this book looking for something you can go through this manual and read it. I just think it is a helpful thing and best for Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 18 everyone to have it updated annually instead of letting it lapse. It is no fault of this administration or the last administration. I think it has been quite a few years. Chairman Clemons I know the Mayor had expressed that she would like to say a few words. Mayor Lozeau I appreciate it Mr. Chairman. I think it is unfortunate that we have to put an administrative process like this into the ordinance, but as Alderman Deane pointed out, it has been quite some time since the manual has been updated and it certainly should be updated on a regular basis. At the very least it should be reviewed. When I took office and met with the CFO and the Purchasing Manager at the time, some of the things that I asked them about was what did they see that needed to be done. Mrs. Anderson had quite a list of items that needed attention and review; both financial policies as Alderman Deane knows because he has brought to my attention his interest in seeing the financial policies updated as well as the purchasing manual, which was brought to my attention. At that time, we put it on our list of priorities of things to do, and as you know we got a new CFO, a new Purchasing Manager, and some of those things as they were learning their job did not get the attention that I would have liked them to have right away, but I don’t think we were any the worse for it. I have no objection to the legislation’s intent, but I would ask the committee to consider a change. In the line where it speaks to, and I am sorry Alderman Deane I had intended to give you a call ahead of time so you didn’t hear me say it tonight, but… Alderman Deane That is fine. Mayor Lozeau Instead of saying “reviewed and updated annually”, what I would ask the committee and the sponsor to consider is “which shall be reviewed annually and updated as necessary” because I don’t want to leave a message here that you have to update it every year even if there is nothing to update. The second change I would ask is I think the language “and then provided to the Finance Committee” should be taken out of the ordinance, and let me explain why. It is not that I have any objection to the Finance Committee having the document, frankly I think anybody that wants it should have it, it is a public document. By the end of this month, that document should be completed and it will be posted on the city web site and be available to anybody who wants it. Should a member of the Finance Committee or any other Alderman or any member of the public want a printed version of it we can take care of that and make sure they have it available to them. I just don’t think an ordinance is a place where you dictate what committee members have or don’t have. There may be members of the Finance Committee that don’t want a copy of the purchasing manual. I don’t want to add to the responsibilities of the staff to be able to keep track of, after I review it or update it I have to make sure I get copies and they have to be distributed to everybody. I think this group can appreciate and I hope the Finance Committee can appreciate that is a tough thing to keep track of. AS Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 19 a matter of fact I have staff right now that has spent a few months now going through all of the ordinances and resolutions looking at the things that I am supposed to be providing to the Board of Aldermen and that the CFO is supposed to be providing just because I think it is just easy for these things to get lost. I understand that you can’t count on administration after administration updating things so I think that is a reasonable thing to do because the responsibility then rests with the purchasing manager who should be consistent whether it is a new one or not. I would appreciate striking the language as I have described. Alderman Deane I have no problem with the first amendment. If there aren’t any changes to the manual then no there is no need to update it. That language can be pretty much – we can flip those couple of words. I don’t have a problem with that. I look at the responsibilities and duties of the Finance Committee, if somebody sitting on this board doesn’t want to know or doesn’t want to understand what the NROs are that they are operating under in approving tens of millions of dollars worth of purchases under, I am concerned about that. This little 30-page document I don’t think is that big of a deal to provide to the people that sit on the Finance Committee and the Finance Committee is a totally separate board from the rest of the committees of the Board of Aldermen, totally separate. It is not like the rest of the committees that were created. I think getting an updated version of this to the members of the Finance Committee if needed I don’t think is that big of a deal, but that is just my opinion. MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO AMEND O-10-15 BY REPLACING THE WORDS “WHICH SHALL BE REVIEWED AND UPDATED ANNUALLY” WITH THE WORDS “WHICH SHALL BE REVIEWED ANNUALLY AND UPDATED AS NECESSARY” ON THE QUESTION Chairman Clemons I would just like to say that as a member of the Finance Committee, I don’t necessarily have to have a copy given to me every year. It is something that I would be able to access or get if I wanted one, and certainly as a member of the Finance Committee I do want one. I don’t think it is necessary that a copy has to be given to me especially if it is going to be on the web site. Then it is at my convenience whenever I want it at home or if I do there is a certain section I can print that out and have it. I kind of agree with the Mayor on that. I will go along either way, but my suggestion would be to further amend it. Alderman Chasse Shouldn’t we vote on this one first and then you can make a second amendment? Alderman Deane You have to vote on this first. It is the motion that is on the floor. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 20 Chairman Clemons Is there any further discussion? Alderman Flynn You know I was on the Finance Committee for four years and from this big book I used to print out and I kept copies of that and I used that and referenced those quite a bit because all of the requests that come through Finance, the Purchasing Manager usually cites the NRO that was applicable for whatever reasons. I think I took my diligence; I took my time to try to understand which ones were used, which ones were applicable, and why they were chosen. I never knew there was a purchasing manual I don’t think in those four years. How did you know there was a purchasing manual? Did you know it Alderman Clemons that there was a purchasing manual? Chairman Clemons Yes. Alderman Flynn How did you know that? Chairman Clemons I think I was made aware of it in my first term. I think it was Alderman Bolton that made me aware of it. Alderman Flynn Like I say in four years I never knew there was one although like I say I did take my time and did want to understand what was the particular parameters that applied to this purchase to understand why we were approaching it in this particular way to justify who we were going to award the bid to, but I never knew there was a purchasing manual. I don’t know if that would help me or not because I don’t know what is in it. How did you know there was a purchasing manual? Alderman Deane It was the first thing I was given when I got on the board. Mayor Lozeau On the Finance Committee or on the board? Alderman Deane On the board. We had the aldermanic introduction to city government meeting and we were given large piles of manuals and things of that nature. It was pre-CAFRA and we were given budget books of that current year because there was still 6 months of that fiscal year left, given purchasing manuals, all sorts of phone numbers and instructions and other documents. The book that we had was in a three ring binder and it was codified through the city clerk’s office once a year, and then they came out with this book that had the Charter and everything else in it. I was given a small book like this also with the City Charter in it that I still have. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 21 Alderman Flynn I would just say that for my own sake I do appreciate, Alderman Bolton was always very good at understanding that stuff. I figured he was doing the same thing as me; he was doing it the hard way going through this big book. Actually I didn’t go through it I printed out what I thought I would need for that year until I happened to misplace it, but I printed out what I thought was appropriate. This seems like a good idea to have something that is a little bit…I had appropriate training I thought. When I first came on as an Alderman I actually thought they did a very good job of giving us an orientation. I had no objections to that, but you don’t know what you are missing. You just don’t hear that. If your hearing isn’t that good you just don’t hear that noise, you just miss out on it. It sounds like a good idea to get something distributed to make it a little bit easier for the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee is a very interesting committee. You really see how the city goes about its work at trying to identify the appropriate and responsible ways to spend money. I enjoyed my time on that committee, but I think that book sounds like a nice idea to get into the members’ hands. Mayor Lozeau Mr. Chairman if I could, it isn’t whether I thought some people wouldn’t want it, it is just people use tools in different ways. You found a way to get the information that you needed. I got involved this year with orientation of having division directors present an additional evening for people. I have done it twice now, providing more information. I asked the City Clerk’s Office to coordinate a little bit, and, of course, the Legislative Manager does an orientation for the board as well. I think maybe the answer is we should be looking at an orientation for the Finance Committee as I think it is fair, as Alderman Deane pointed out, that it is a different committee. Now I know that because it is the only one I chair. We could look at maybe having a bit of more information available to members because there is probably more that you would like to know that you might not know that we have that is more than a purchasing manual. What I am concerned about is the responsibility being the staff’s responsibility to do this and then distribute it. I think members should take some responsibility in this. Now if you don’t know that it is there it would be hard for you to do that. I agree with that. But now that we are putting a little light on it, putting it on the web site, because I think frankly it is more than just the Finance Committee. When you get a look at the purchasing manual there are people that did and do business with the city that should be available about what the rules are, and it is a play book on how things get done. It should be easily accessible to people to see what that process is. I have no objection to every member of the board having one and anybody who wants one to have one. I just don’t like the idea of legislating some staff responsibilities on this level in the ordinance. That is why I took the time to point that out tonight. Alderman Pressly Thank you. As a member of the Finance Committee I will speak up. I am delighted that you mentioned that you would have an orientation because I have been tempted to ask for a training class. I don’t have the financial skills that a lot of the members on the committee have, and I been overwhelmed… Alderman Chasse Point of Order – this has nothing to do with the ordinance. Personnel – 3/17/10 Page 22 Chairman Clemons I have allowed a little bit of latitude Alderman Chasse, and I realize that… Alderman Chasse You are going to get the same ordinance at the Finance Committee meeting when you can bring this up. Chairman Clemons That is true, but I will allow Alderman Pressly to continue. Alderman Pressly Well the subject had been the value of having this booklet and I think it would certainly be valuable for me and more information and I think the Mayor mentioning a training of some sort or an orientation would be very welcome. Thank you. Chairman Clemons You have all heard the motion. Is there any further discussion? MOTION CARRIED Chairman Clemons The motion on the table is now to recommend final passage as amended. Is there any further discussion? MOTION CARRIED DISCUSSION ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN VITALE TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared closed at 8:15 p.m. Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Committee Clerk