Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee

PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE DECEMBER 22, 2014 A meeting of the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee was held on Monday, December 22, 2014, at 7:00pm in the Aldermanic Chamber. Chairman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Ken Siegel Alderman Sean McGuinness Members not in Attendance: Alderman Michael Soucy Also in Attendance: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman David Schoneman Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown (7:15pm arrival) PUBLIC COMMENT - None COMMUNICATIONS From: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Re: HDC Appointment, Robert Vorbach MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO ACCEPT AND PLACE ON FILE MOTION CARRIED INTERVIEWS Conservation Commission Donald Cederquist (Alternate to Full Member) For a Term to Expire: December 31, 2017 Mayor Lozeau This evening I have a full group of folks for different Boards and Commissions. I will begin with Mr. Cederquist. As some of you may recall, Mr. Cederquist was appointed not too long ago as an alternate to the Conservation Commission. He has been very diligent in his attendance in that committee, as a matter of fact; the Chairman requested that we consider moving him to a full member. Not only has he done his homework, he’s never had to replace somebody on the committee because their attendance is quite good but he still goes anyway. We have an available spot on the committee and I think he brings a lot to the table and to the discussions. It’s my pleasure to offer him this evening as a full member for the committee’s consideration. Chairman Chasse Mr. Cederquist, do you have anything you would like to add? Mr. Cederquist No, sir. Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 2 Chairman Chasse I’ll open it up to the committee members. Alderman Siegel I’m very pleased that Mr. Cederquist is on the Conservation Commission. It is a real privilege to have someone with your experience and I thank you very much for taking the time and helping our city. Alderman McGuinness I am very impressed with your resume and I am particularly interested in your background in geology. I am very happy that you have been appointed. Chairman Chasse I am glad that you are going to become a fully member. I have heard a lot of good things about you. We will take up your appointment in a few minutes. Cultural Connections Committee Gerardo Zayas Jr. (New Appointment) For a Term to Expire: December 31, 2017 Mayor Lozeau Mr. Zayas is here this evening and is very interested in the Cultural Connections Committee, previously known as the Ethnic Awareness Committee. He is somebody who really spends a lot of time, as you can see from his resume, giving back to the community. He has worked with all different residents in our city. For a period of time he worked at Harbor Homes working with their clinical administration. He has been an adjunct professor, he’s very interested in the diversity in the community and is very comfortable talking about the things that he thinks are important in Nashua and how to work with the different cultures within our community to help people understand them. I am thrilled that he is going to serve in that capacity. Chairman Chasse Mr. Zayas, is there anything you would like to add? Mr. Zayas Just to thank you very much for the opportunity to present me and my background. I appreciate this and I think it will be an exciting adventure. It’s a new chapter and I am hoping to do my appointment justice for the city and for what I feel the City of Nashua can work on in a good way. Chairman Chasse I’ll open it up to the committee members. Alderman Siegel I think we are two for two this evening. Thank you very much; you have a very good background. I have to comment that I really like the committee’s new name. I think it more accurately reflects what we are trying to do and it looks like your experience and background will fit in really well and help us. Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 3 Alderman Caron I too would like to say that I was impressed with your resume and am looking forward to you participating in this committee. I agree with Alderman Siegel that the name change makes it a little better than what it was. Thank you for volunteering. Alderman McGuinness I would echo Alderman Siegel’s comments that tonight it is a two for two. You have a very impressive resume and background. We share a little affiliation with Harbor Homes as I was on the Board for a number of years. I am very happy to see that you have been appointed. Chairman Chasse Mr. Zayas, thank you for your willingness to serve, we will take up your appointment in a few minutes. Downtown Improvement Committee Mary Lou Blaisdell (Reappointment) For a Term to Expire: December 31, 2017 Richard Lannan (Reappointment) For a Term to Expire: December 31, 2017 Mayor Lozeau Both Ms. Blaisdell and Mr. Lannan are very active engaged members in the Downtown Improvement Committee. As you recall, many years ago when the district was considered for a BID district which is a Business Increment District which allows for adding additional taxes onto downtown properties in order to have a special fund like Manchester has and then have a Services Advisory Committee that would determine how that money got spent. They were both original members of that group. When that committee finished its work and we didn’t move forward with taking that approach; as you recall legislation came in to create the Downtown Improvement Committee. One of the things that I had asked the Service Advisory Committee to do when they knew that adding an additional tax was not going to go over well in the downtown – rather than wrap up I had asked them to pretend that there is no issue about the taxes or the cost, what are the things that you think we should really look at downtown. What would you report back out that could use attention. They took on that challenge and presented to the Board of Aldermen and myself in 2010 a report on what they thought were the things that the city needed. They had more than 28 meetings in the community and feedback and oversaw a survey going out to 5,000 of the general population, 500 to the merchants and there was a return rate of double digits on those which is pretty unheard of for surveys. They were willing to serve on the Downtown Improvement Committee when it came along. They have been in here more than once from time to time on issues that have been important, particularly Marylou as the Chairman of the group. Marylou owns a business downtown, her husband owns a business and a property downtown and Rich owns a few properties downtown. I think they are people that take pride in their business, in our community, and in our downtown so it’s my distinct pleasure to again offer them for your consideration for reappointment. Chairman Chasse Ms. Blaisdell, do you have anything that you would like to add? Ms. Blaisdell Just to say thank you for reconsidering me for this reappointment. I do enjoy serving on this committee and I think we have done a lot of good work for downtown and we have a lot of work ahead of us that we are all eager to undertake. Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 4 Chairman Chasse Mr. Lannan, do you have anything that you would like to add? Mr. Lannan I would like to echo what Marylou said. I think we are the only two of the three people that served on both committees. There is a good mix of people and there is excellent attendance. We’ve never had a meeting where we didn’t have a quorum. I’ve enjoyed being on it. I have 10 retail tenants that I talk to and see what they want and try to share that information with the Board. I appreciate the opportunity. Chairman Chasse I’ll open it up to the committee members. Alderman Siegel Thank you for volunteering, I appreciate it. I guess we got off to a little bit of a rocky start at the Budget Committee Meeting a little while ago and I’d like to clear the air on that. I appreciate the fact that we did finally get that budget and I suspect that part of that was just a relative misunderstanding about how the process works. Hopefully going forward everything will go smoothly and I do appreciate the effort because it is a lot of work. I was at one of those meetings as apparently everyone who reads the Telegraph found out. Chairman Chasse Do you people have a mission statement for your group? Ms. Blaisdell We just have the ordinance that we work under. The group has never written a mission statement. I was never aware that we should develop a mission statement. Chairman Chasse I just thought you might have had one. I’ll go on record by saying I’m not very happy with the committee because I feel that it took away from the Board of Aldermen, some of our decisions. Things that we should be doing and you people have taken it over now. A case in point is when we tried to remove those parking spaces on Quincy Street it was for the better of the city because the people who worked late at the post office did not have any place to park and it wasn’t a good thing to have them out there and paying into the meters if they are employees of the post office and that’s the only place they could put their car. I know that some people from your committee rocked the boat about us removing those because revenue came into play but nobody ever said how much money and we had to find out in order to get the ordinance to go through. The other thing is that I went to the Mayor’s office the other day and I was saying I thought there was supposed to be no parking downtown. During the time they were having the meetings over here I was under the weather so I missed quite a few meetings. I said how come the parking meters from Crosby’s Bakery all the way to Elm Street don’t have bags on them. Come to find out, I was told it was zone 3. All the bags further down Temple and Pearl Streets all had bags. I don’t think we did any good for the people that are coming downtown. Next year, if Alderman Donchess is going to do that again, I will be the biggest supporter for all the bags. It’s free parking downtown for a few days. Paying for parking close to Main Street should not have happened. I don’t know what your feelings are on that. Ms. Blaisdell With regard to the Quincy Street parking, I don’t have any comment on that. As far as parking in the zones Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 5 downtown, the original committee when we started out we did in depth research on parking in downtown areas. We talked to traffic engineers and parking engineers up and down the eastern seaboard on how their downtown handled parking meters and pricing. We did extensive research on our own and brought it all back to the committee and reviewed it to really try to understand parking. I think we know more about parking today than we ever did before and I really didn’t understand that there really is a science to parking and there’s a lot of logic that goes into why parking districts are developed and why it costs more to park in one are than it does in another area. I was always under the assumption that a parking space was a parking space but that really isn’t true. As a downtown retailer, my eyes have been opened to parking and I understand it in a much different manner. I understand that free parking is looked at as a gift to citizens. As a retailer who is downtown 7 days a week now, it’s not a gift. It’s not really used by our consumers who come down to dine and to do business downtown. When there is free parking it is used more by a lot of people who work downtown so the cars will sit there for 4+ hours per day in the same spot. It is human nature that if it’s free people are going to use it but it takes away spots from diners and people going into retail stores. That’s why you will see a lot of us not being in favor of the Main and the side streets being free. I think the free parking in the garage has been fantastic. We’ve really pushed that to our customers this year. That’s my opinion and not the committee’s opinion about why we might be vocal about free parking downtown. We really direct our customers to the garages. I know my business, as well as other businesses downtown, pay for their customers parking during this holiday season. The committee is a group of people with a lot of various opinions and we are vocal and we appreciate your listening to our opinions. The committee’s intention is to never take away any authority or decision making by the Board of Aldermen in any way. We basically make recommendations to you and you must approve them. Chairman Chasse I understand the story about when it first got started on the parking and I understand some of the workers were there but now is a perfect time because I did work on Main Street and I worked for Aubuchon and Dennis would not let us park in the garage. This is a perfect time for you people to get all of the business owners and say tell your employees to move their cars out of there especially when there is free parking. I understand perfectly well the attitude of if there’s free parking; I am going to take it. Ms. Blaisdell I understand. Alderman McGuinness I appreciate your perspective. With respect to the parking, would you agree or not agree that just having free parking creates a promotional thing for the city for the short weeks that you might have to suffer through some of the objections that you mentioned. I think in general, the exposure that the free parking gets is a good thing. Ms. Blaisdell I think offering free parking in all of the garages is excellent and the surface lots are also free. I think Main Street and the side streets, again, the way I get around that is we pay for parking or we will take a few dollars off their bill for parking. I think next year we should promote it more strongly that there is free parking in the garages or to check with your local merchant for free parking. Mr. Lannan I think the promotional part of it is really important and it probably started too late this year and I think there was some confusion. I am in favor of the free parking in the garages and surface lots. I agree that it would be nice to tell your employees not to park there, they don’t have to and a lot of them don’t listen. Some do and some don’t. Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 6 Alderman Siegel Just a minor clerical point, Mr. Lannan, your address is listed as 70 Taggart Drive which I believe is an office address, is that correct? Mr. Lannan I have always used my office address but I would be happy to share my residential address. It’s 11 McGrath Road, Pelham, NH. Alderwoman Brown Thank you for all of your hard work and the hours you contribute to the Downtown Improvement Committee. I don’t see the Infrastructure Committee discussing flower pots or the banners that we have. I believe your roll is very important. I understand that Alderman McCarthy is the main liaison and Alderman Donchess is the alternate liaison for your committee. How many Aldermen usually attend your meetings? Mr. Lannan Alderman Chasse is the alternate liaison. Ms. Blaisdell Alderman McCarthy is usually there every time. Alderman Siegel Just a clarification, it’s not the Infrastructure Committee that had any interaction, it’s was the Budget Committee and the Budget Committee will interaction. Alderman Schoneman I want to thank both of you for volunteering. I’m glad to see that Ward 3 folks step up and volunteer. I don’t always agree with some of your positions but I think dialogue and communication is the right thing to do. I don’t mind putting money in a meter but one of the things that attracted me to Nashua was going downtown and putting a nickel in the meter and having it mean something. This is a city but it was quaint. Chairman Chasse We will take up your appointment in a few minutes. Historic District Commission Mariellen MacKay (New Appointment) For a Term to Expire: December 31, 2017 Robert Vorbach (New Appointment) For a Term to Expire: December 31, 2017 Mayor Lozeau Mrs. MacKay reached out to me who has served our community for a time at the State House and chaired the Legislative Delegation and has always been actively involved in the community. I first met her when she was involved with foster parents in our community probably almost 30 years ago. Mariellen was interested when she was not successful, sadly, this last time in her campaign for State Representative. She called me immediately and said what can I do and how can I help. Mariellen lives on Webster Street as you can see on her resume which is outside of the Historic District but in that general vicinity and she is very familiar with our Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 7 treasures that are there and the issues that come up from time to time. I know her to be very thoughtful, considerate, dedicated, and willing to do her homework. Those are the kinds of people that I look for all of the time. Mr. Vobach, even prior to me looking to have an architect on the Historic District Commission, had called me and wanted to come in and meet with me about being one of the few architects doing business in Nashua who also lives in Nashua. I know that there was a meeting about a month ago regarding a subject matter that he was interested in and he came in and spoke and provided public comment on a measure before some of the Aldermen and I think people were pleased that he did that. I called and asked him if he would be interested in being the architect on the Historic District Commission because ours had moved away and he graciously agreed to do that. I like the idea of someone that lives local, is an architect here in the city, and lives right on Manchester Street. I am pleased to offer both of them for your consideration. Chairman Chasse Mrs. MacKay, would you like to add anything to that? Ms. MacKay Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you, Mayor Lozeau, for the nomination. I’ve lived here for 32 years. My husband has lived here all of his life. The home we live in borders the Historic District; my backyard is in the Historic District. My home was built in 1890 and it’s a gorgeous old home and I love it. I want to give back to the community. I’ve done it for years. It’s an interest, it’s a pleasure and it’s an honor and I look forward to the opportunity to serve my fellow citizens here in Nashua. Chairman Chasse Mr. Vorbach, would you like to add anything to that? Mr. Vorbach I am thankful for the opportunity. I have been here for 24 years and have established Vorbach Architecture for the final time at the beginning of 2009. I have experience with projects in Historic Districts such as Nantucket, Lexington, Boston, and Hollis. I have been before those types of committees and understand their purpose. As a professional, my commitment is here. I am building a practice here and that will continue. I look forward to giving back to my city as an architect because I believe we have tremendous potential. We are the Gate City and we should be committed to design excellence regardless of the project. Chairman Chasse I’ll open it up to the committee members. Alderman McGuinness Mr. Vorbach, you profession is appropriate but I’m particularly interested to know that you live and work here in Nashua so you have a vested interest. Ms. MacKay, I am very impressed that you served the state for two years as a State Representative and I am pleased to support you on this appointment. What do you think of that job? Ms. MacKay I was blessed to meet some of the most incredible people and I will still remain connected to those people. Party politics have no place in the State House. You cross party lines because people are people. I am married to a Republican. It’s all about getting to “yes.” Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 8 Alderman McGuinness Thank you for your service. Alderman Caron Thank you both. I think that this committee is very important to the city and we need to never lose sight of where it all began. Alderman Siegel I think we are very privileged that Mr. Vorbach is not just interested in the Historic District but has experience with it, lives in Nashua, and is an architect. Alderman Schoneman Thank you to both of you for volunteering. You are both from Ward 3 and I think it looks good for our neighborhood. I think the Historic District is an asset to the city. Alderwoman Brown Thank you both for volunteering to do this. Chairman Chasse We will take your nominations up in a few minutes. Hunt Memorial Building Board of Trustees Stacy Baxter (New Appointment) For a Term to Expire: December 31, 2019 Mayor Lozeau As you know, the Hunt Building has really come a long way in the last few years with having a full complement of trustees as well as the money that the city has invested in that building. It’s important to have people that recognize its value and are willing to do some of the heavy lifting, whether it’s for events or lease out the office space. Mrs. Baxter came to my attention from another member on the Board Cail Belavance, who invests a significant amount of time in the history of Nashua and doing things that are period conscience in the Hunt Building and Mrs. Baxter has been a behind the scenes helper. I am happy to present her for your consideration. Alderman Siegel Thank you for volunteering. Ms. Baxter I absolutely adore the Hunt Building. Alderman McGuinness Thank you for volunteering. I have a question, because you are a flight attendant, how can you schedule things so that you can make meetings? Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 9 Ms. Baxter Thankfully, I’ve been doing this for 24 years so I have some seniority so I can maneuver my schedule to accommodate my requirements here. Alderman Schoneman Mrs. Baxter is someone else from Ward 3 and I’ve gotten to know her and I think you are very well qualified. It’s really a beautiful building with historical and architectural value. Chairman Chasse We will take your nominations up in a few minutes. Nashua Housing Authority Mariellen MacKay (New Appointment) For a Term to Expire: October 14, 2019 APPLICATION TO LICENSE HAWKER'S, PEDDLER'S, ITINERANT VENDOR'S LICENSE - None APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE FOLLOWING APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR: TO THE BUSINESS & INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: MARK PROLMAN, FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE APRIL 30, 2017; TO THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION: DONALD CEDERQUIST, FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2017; TO THE CULTURAL CONNECTIONS COMMITTEE: GERARDO ZAYAS JR., FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2017; TO THE DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE: MARY LOU BLAISDELL AND RICHARD LANNAN, FOR TERMS TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2017; TO THE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION: MARIELLEN MACKAY AND ROBERT VORBACH, FOR TERMS TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2017; TO THE HUNT MEMORIAL BUILDING BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MARILYN SOLOMON, FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2018, AND STACY BAXTER, FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2019; TO THE MINE FALLS PARK ADVISORY COMMITTEE: DAVID SILVA AND PETER TESTA, FOR TERMS TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2017; AND, TO THE NASHUA HOUSING AUTHORITY: MARIELLEN MACKAY, FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE OCTOBER 14, 2019 ON THE QUESTION Chairman Chasse Does anyone have any problem with any of the appointees? There were none. MOTION CARRIED UNFINISHED BUSINESS – None NEW BUSINESS - None TABLED IN COMMITTEE R-14-054 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Diane Sheehan ESTABLISHING A TREE STUDY AD HOC COMMITTEE  Tabled – 8/25/14 Personnel – 12/22/14 Page 10 O-14-017 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau ADOPTION OF AMENDMENTS TO MERIT EMPLOYEE RULES AND REGULATIONS EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2014  Amended & Tabled 4/21/14 O-14-020 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Diane Sheehan Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown ESTABLISHING A GREELEY PARK ADVISORY COMMITTEE  Also assigned to the Board of Public Works; Tabled 4/24/14 O-14-025 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Ken Siegel AMENDING THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE TRUSTEES OF TRUST FUNDS  Tabled – 8/25/14 DISCUSSION - None PUBLIC COMMENT - None REMARKS BY THE ALDERMEN - None POSSIBLE NON-PUBLIC SESSION ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared closed at 7:52pm Alderman June M. Caron Committee Clerk, Pro Tem