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9/22/2016 PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO R-16-068

RESOLUTION

AFFIRMING THE CITY OF NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE AS A WELCOMING CITY
AND TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WELCOMING AMERICA INITIATIVE

CITY OF NASHUA

In the Year Two Thousand and Sixteen

WHEREAS, fostering a welcoming environment for all individuals, regardless of race,
ethnicity or place of origin, enhances Nashua’s cultural fabric, economic growth, global
competitiveness and overall prosperity for current and future generations;

WHEREAS, Nashua has long been recognized as a hospitable and welcoming place
where individuals, families and institutions thrive and the contributions of all are celebrated and
valued;

WHEREAS, Nashua is committed to continue building a welcoming and neighborly
atmosphere in our community, where all people including immigrant newcomers are welcome,
accepted and integrated; and to encourage all residents of Nashua to do their part in reaching out
and welcoming all who live, work and visit Nashua;

WHEREAS, community efforts that promote understanding and collaboration between
long-time residents and foreign born community members are crucial in encouraging and
ensuring a welcoming environment;

WHEREAS, Nashua encourages its business leaders, civic groups, other government
agencies and community institutions and residents to join in a community-wide effort to expand
prosperity and inclusion for all residents by implementing policies and practices that promote
understanding and an appreciation of diversity; and

WHEREAS, the cities of Manchester and Concord are both Welcoming Cities, and
Welcoming Week, an annual series of events to connect neighbors and serve communities, is
September 16 - 25, 2016.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Aldermen of the City of
Nashua that the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen of the City of Nashua recognize and affirm
the City of Nashua, New Hampshire as a Welcoming City to reinforce that all are welcome in
Nashua and participate in the Welcoming America Initiative by executing the attached
“Commitment to Participate in the Welcoming Cities & Counties Cohort”, which sets forth the
City’s role under the Welcoming America Initiative.

AMERICA,

COMMITMENT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
WELCOMING CITIES & COUNTIES COHORT

As representatives of local government, we recognize that cities and communities that proactively welcome
newcomers and take steps to ensure their successful integration will be strategically positioned as globally
competitive 21* century leaders.

We therefore resolve to participate in the Welcoming Cities and Counties Cohort and commit to taking the
following initial steps toward creating an environment that is receptive to immigrants, and that unlocks the full

potential of all members of the community:

¢ Advance a municipal or county-level proclamation or resolution declaring our locality to be a

welcoming one

° Find ways to institutionalize welcoming efforts through the adoption of policies and practices that

promote inclusion within local government and the broader community
¢ Join a cohort of cities and counties that have pledged to become more welcoming
© Appoint at least one key municipal staff contact for the project

¢ Participate in three conference calls each year to share and learn from promising practices from

other Welcoming Cities and Counties

¢ Participate in an annual in-person meeting with other Welcoming Cities and Counties (dependent

upon available travel resources)

City or County Name: Date:
Agency:
Representative Name: Signature:

Executive Name: Signature:

A special meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Wednesday, September 14, 2016, at 6:45 p.m. in the
Aldermanic Chamber.

Vice President Lori Wilshire presided; City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch recorded.

Prayer was offered by City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch; Alderman Sean M. McGuinness led in the Pledge to the
Flag.

The roll call was taken with 13 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Alderman Brian S. McCarthy,
Alderman Daniel T. Moriarty were recorded absent. Alderman Clemons arrived after roll call at 6:50p.m.

Mayor James W. Donchess and Corporation Counsel Steven A. Bolton were also in attendance.
COMMUNICATIONS

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON THAT ALL COMMUNICATIONS BE READ BY TITLE ONLY
MOTION CARRIED

From: Brian S. McCarthy, President, Board of Aldermen
Re: Special Board of Aldermen Meeting

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON TO ACCEPT AND PLACE ON FILE
MOTION CARRIED

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR
THE INTRODUCTION OF A COMMUNICATION RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS PREPARED
MOTION CARRIED

From: Mayor Jim Donchess
Re: Daniel Webster College

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON TO ACCEPT AND PLACE ON FILE
MOTION CARRIED

DANIEL WEBSTER COLLEGE PRESENTATION
Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University
Mr. LeBlanc

l’ll give you a brief background of the events of the last five days. As you know, Daniel Webster was facing
some financial difficulties related to its parent ITT which is a very large for profit chain of about 43,000
students. Daniel Webster is a wholly owned for profit subsidiary of ITT but it’s on a federal |.D. number for the
purposes of receiving and processing title 4 funds; federal aid to students. There was some hope that they
would be able to draw down student aid for the fall and that would give them enough revenue to have some
breathing space to find a solution as ITT was going into a death spiral. It became clear to people in the U.S.
Department of Education that if ITT declared bankruptcy that those dollars were not flown to Daniel Webster
but they would flow to ITT in Indiana and then theoretically back to the campus. Their fear is that those dollars
would make it to Indiana and never come back to the campus. They halted the ability of a Daniel Webster to
pull down dollars last Thursday. That’s effectively cutting off oxygen to the organization. Friday morning we
had a reach from ITT and also the Department of Education asking if we were willing to take on the teach out
and the appeal for working with us was our proximity and also our willingness to take all of the programs, all of
the students and all of the employees. There are other schools that are in conversations with Daniel Webster
but they wanted pieces and that was going to be too chaotic for everybody. We agreed to take over the teach
out and thus began a furious series of meetings through the weekend, conference calls, calls with the

Special Board of Aldermen Page 2
September 14, 2016

Department of Education’s technical team culminating in Sunday night an agreement with ITT for us to take
over the teach out responsibilities. That does not include any deal on the property so the property remains part
of ITT for the moment, at least. We received the necessary regulatory permissions from NIASK, the crediting
agency on Monday from the New Hampshire Commission on Higher Education and completed the process.
We are keeping all of the employees on except the president, ITT terminated its president and it terminated all
of Daniel Webster employees today. That was not part of the plan, it wasn’t in the MOU; we were hoping for
more time. We got a call late yesterday afternoon asking if we could put all of their employees on their payroll
by tomorrow morning which is a big feat. We scrambled our HR team and the only way we could do it that
quickly is we are taking everybody on as a temporary full-time employee which means they will have no break
in salary, they become our employees tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. and we are also able to give them medical
benefits. That will carry us through a transition time when we can get our HR teams on campus and go
through the process of actually on-boarding people over the next three months. We expect to take most, if not
all of the employees on. Obviously there is no school for which they would recruit so there are six people in
admissions but we think they are really good people and we can use them in other capacities. We have made
an offer to ITT for the property and it is the only communication for which we have not received a response and
we don’t know what that means. Of course if they are heading towards bankruptcy, which everybody expects
as early as tomorrow that becomes complicated, although they only have one principle creditor who has
collateralized the whole of the campus. There is a path to procuring the property. We've been asked if we
would keep the campus there or move it. We just haven’t had time to think about that yet. There are some
facilities that are very attractive to us; we love the aviation programs that are there. Proximity to the airport is
important for that but there is a lot of overlap with programs at the Manchester campus. The way a teach out
works is that it’s a commitment from us to see all of their seniors through to graduation as Daniel Webster
College students so NIASK extends their accreditation only for that purpose until August and we get them
across the finish line. Anyone with 90 credits or more will get a Daniel Webster diploma. Anyone with 90
credits or less is automatically an SNHU student unless they elect to transfer and we will counsel them on that
and give them all of the support and guidance that they need. We guaranteed their actual tuition which is
lower than ours. ITT already collected hundreds of thousands of dollars of tuition payments which we will
never see so we have eaten that expense. Will Zemp, who is my Chief of Staff, has already moved down to
the campus with a team of people from financial aid services, etc. to system transition. Our goal right now is to
get students squared away and give them an experience that is as good as or better than what they would
have had with ITT and then move through the second and third phase questions. The second phase question
is what will happen with this property and it should come to us. One of the ways that we can think about that:
and we would welcome an on-going conversation with you about that...there are a lot possibilities there and
we understand the importance of the college and its presence in Nashua but there is no Daniel Webster
College any longer so what else could be there including an SNHU Nashua presence and that’s very much a
possibility.

Vice President Wilshire
Thank you for stepping forward so quickly to alleviate the concern of the staff and the students.
Alderman Dowd

Thank you for stepping in. You have a phenomenal campus in Manchester. Are the students that are going to
school here have access to your facilities in Manchester?

Mr. LeBlanc
Right now we are just trying to make sure they have access in Nashua and keep the lights on. We will start to

bring in services. We have buses that we run and we will bus them all up. We will hold a welcome bar-be-que.
We don’t want them to feel like second-class citizens.

Special Board of Aldermen Page 3
September 14, 2016

Alderman O’Brien

Thank you for stepping in. We have students that are in housing there and my concerns are that you haven't
discussed how they are going to eat and what happens when life/safety issues such as sprinkler systems and
keeping up to the codes? Also, what about campus security?

Mr. LeBlanc

In our MOU we have licensed the campus as is and we have retained all of the staff and the contracts. All of
the operations will continue uninterrupted; they will get better because we will actually attend to issues that |
think have been neglected. There was an appalling amount of deferred maintenance, broken HVAC and other
things that we are going to need to fix even just to make it acceptable.

Alderman Lopez

| would also like to thank you and everyone who has worked on doing this. It’s incredibly difficult for students
who are living on campus trying to focus on their education to try and deal with something like this. One of the
concerns that | have is how information is being passed on from ITT and the evident trend in how they are
making their decisions. I’m not sure what you meant by terminating the employees wasn’t part of the original
plan. | hope it wasn’t part of the MOU that we are relying on for them to take care of their property. Do you
have any concerns about the disposition of the property and is there any way the city can help?

Mr. LeBlanc

Just to be clear, we were not party to any of ITT’s discussions or planning about how they were going to
handle their employees. They just asked us yesterday if we could get them on the payroll tomorrow. They
communicated that via e-mail to all of their employees today and | don’t think there is any communication left.
There is no one answering the phone. It’s effectively shut down; they laid off 8,000 of their employees, they
were down to 80 and the rest were terminated today. We are not sure who is managing the offer on the
property. In terms of help, | don’t know how you or | can reach into that state of affairs at least at the moment.
If it goes into bankruptcy then it’s easier because at least there is a process. Should we get the property it is in
our offer, contingent on us understanding better some of the hazardous waste issues. There is apparently a
significant asbestos question. It was an asbestos dump. There was a $2 million reserve set aside for
asbestos abatement and that has disappeared. City access to other sources of funding that can help with this
might be helpful but in the meantime we will take up all of the direct operating costs and pay their taxes to the
City of Nashua. Going forward you will have a lot of local creditors who have not been paid and they will have
to deal with the bankruptcy proceedings of ITT. Our expenses take up tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.

Alderman Siegel

| also thank you for the swift action that you took. | am concerned about the disposition of the property and
what happens to a presence in Nashua. Are you aware of the noteholder, do you have any communication?

Mr. LeBlanc

We have not had access to any of that information. Our understanding is that there is one primary creditor that
has collateralized the whole of the campus; Cerberus Capital. They are apparently tough guys by all reports.
We don’t know how it will play out. The good news is there is only one primary creditor. They could look at our
offer and clear the way with the bankruptcy court if they say that’s acceptable. The bad news is there is one
creditor that could freeze the whole thing.

Special Board of Aldermen Page 4
September 14, 2016

Alderman Siegel

What timeframe...| assume since you are actively putting money into maintain the facility and bring it up to
snuff, what timeframe do you anticipate either migrating towards an acquitting or migrating away from that
building because you can’t come to some appropriate resolution with the existing creditor?

Mr. LeBlanc

Our license extends to the end of the year. It’s a license and not a lease because under advice of counsel a
lease could pull us into their bankruptcy proceedings. They can, with 30 days’ notice order us to vacate should
they be able to sell the property. We were willing to take that risk because most people feel like that’s an
unlikely scenario given the court proceedings. We are working furiously on a plan B just to make sure we have
that in our pocket should that occur. The classrooms are not so much an issue for us; it’s actually the housing
for students that would be a challenge.

Alderman Siegel

Is it within the realm of possibility that you could just take the note over? | would assume that would be their
best case scenario where they are not losing money but getting a different payee.

Mr. LeBlanc

Except that we think the value of the property today is far less than the note or at least that’s what we have
been able to discern thus far. We would be overpaying for it at this point. We have brought in experts in real
estate counsel and have done a pretty detailed analysis which we have shared with them so we will see.

Alderman Schoneman

| work at the airport and | appreciate what you and the school have done. Daniel Webster has been a fixture at
the airport and has done a lot for the aviation field. It’s been a very well-known school nationally and
internationally for the aviation purpose. Does SNHU have an aviation program?

Mr. LeBlanc

No and there’s points that we are not excited about in this process but what we are excited about is that we
have been moving towards stem fields and mechanical engineering. We have reached out to the engineering
faculty to see what our vision is. The state of their facilities is pretty dismal. Our expectation is to support,
grow and improve all of the stem programs; particularly the engineering and aviation programs. There is an
enormous projected need for air traffic controllers. There is a lot of interest but we just sort of haven’t had a
chance to really look at it yet. It could happen on-site with at least some of the buildings that are there.

Alderman Schoneman

There is a move at the airport to begin thinking about the airport’s strategic plan and how it fits in with the city.
Daniel Webster is an integral part of whatever that plan would be and we are hoping that there can be some
continuation of the aviation program. They used to have a flight training center there and that might not be
feasible to get going again but anything that can be done to keep students involved in that career path would
be good for everyone.

Mr. LeBlanc

We don’t need to be persuaded on that front. It makes sense to keep those programs there because there is
an airport there and we understand the importance of the college to the city. When we are at a place where

Special Board of Aldermen Page 5
September 14, 2016

there is clarity about what our options are we are happy to engage with the city and think through that in a very
collaborative way.

Vice President Wilshire

Thank you so much for coming and | hope to hear more positive things about SNHU.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ADJOURN
MOTION CARRIED

The meeting was declared adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

Attest: Patricia D. Piecuch, City Clerk

September 9, 2016 J 1m Donche SS

Mayor + City or NASHUA
Ms. Barbara E. Brittingham, President
Commission on Institutions of Higher Learning
New England Association of Schools & Colleges
3 Burlington Woods Drive, Suite 100
Burlington, MA 01803-4514

RE: Daniel Webster Coliege
Dear Madam President:

As Mayor of the City of Nashua, I am writing relative to the hearing to be held on September 22, 2616 by the
New England Association of Schools and Colleges regarding Daniel Webster College.

The City of Nashua requests that you allow time for Daniel Webster College to develop a transition plan to
new ownership prior to taking any action affecting Daniel Webster College’s accreditation. The City of
Nashua is encouraging non-profit institutions of higher learning to merge with or acquire Daniel Webster
College in a way that will keep the Nashua campus open. .

and want to make sure that they can continue their education i in an’ uninterapied fashion.

Furthermore, for decades Daniel Webster College has been an important educational institution in Nashua.
This was particularly true. before the college was acquired by ITT. We hope that by returning Daniel Webster
to a non-profit status with a strategic merger or acquisition with a strong public stitution, that long tradition

can be continued.

Daniel Webster has a strong. Aviation Sciences program and. long term association a with the Nashua Airport. It
is a pivotal player in educating qualified candidates for jobs i in the aeronaitical and engineering fields. These
jobs are with employers such as BAE o jati traffic: controllers and airport personnel.
The biggest concern expressed bye em : finding qualified people to fill skilled
Positions. With its strong programs, in aviation. scienvees ‘and engineering, Daniel Webster can be a key player
in meeting those needs. DG ae

Tam sure you can appreciate t the City. of Nashua’ s sensitivity to any y discussion that would negatively impact
Daniel Webster College’s accreditation. ae Ce

Tn closing, it is-our hope that New England , Association of Schools & : Colleges will maintain Daniel Webster
_ College’s accreditation in order to develop time for a merger or acquisition plan to be developed.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this proposal and if I can be of any additional assistance please
do pobieyitate to contact me at your € earliest convenience.

Jim Donchess
Mayor

Ce: Michael Diffily, President of Daniel Webster College
Edward MacKay, Commissioner of Higher Education
Brian McCarthy, President of the Board of Aldermen

229 Main Street > PO Box 2019 » Nashua, New Hampshire 03061-2019
603.589.3260 « fax 603.594.3450 * NashuaMayor@NashuaNH.gov
www.NashuaNH.gov

Board of Aldermen Page 7
September 14, 2016

Ms. Martha C. Alvarado, 18 Gettysburg Drive

| come from Colombia and | attend an English class and | also do a lot of volunteering for the Nashua
community. | became a US citizen in 2009 and now | am able to go out and vote.

Ms. Jennifer McCormack, 4 Casco Drive

| am here in support of the Welcoming resolution and | wanted to know the Board of Aldermen that
welcoming work is already happening at the library. It’s one of the goals that we stated in our strategic
plan for the next five years and one of the activities under there is being host of the Cultural Navigator
Team. It’s a fantastic team of volunteers working towards immigrant integration and partnership with the
library and the Adult Learning Center and proud to be friends of all of these people. Embracing diversity
and being welcoming only makes us stronger and richer as a city and a community. I’ve only lived in
Nashua for three months but the fact that this is before the Board and | can support it makes me really
proud to be not just your library director but a resident too.

Ms. Manasi Kakade, 14 Baldwin Street

| was born in India and | have been living in the United States for thirteen years. | am an engineer, a
marketer and an entrepreneur. | coach fellow professionals on how to communicate their ideas and
expertise with clarity and confidence so they can be even more of contributing citizens to this country.
My husband is a research scientist so we are both contributing to Nashua. | strongly support this
initiative because there are many immigrants like me who want to be part of this city and feel welcome.
Thank you for bringing this forward.

Mr. Syed Jafri, 50 Majestic Avenue

| was born and raised in Pakistan and have been in the United States for the last 23 years, more than
half my life now. | have been a resident of Nashua for the last 11 years. | did my Masters in Business
from Rivier University and have given 30 donations through Red Cross as a way of an initiative to pay
forward to the community | live in. | have been at working at local masses and churches and soup
kitchens, and | would highly request the committee to declare Nashua a Welcoming City to create an
environment that is collective and welcoming to newcomers from all around the world. Thank you.

Mr. Muhammad Akbar, 9 Clydesdale Circle

| came to the United States about 29 years ago. | was in Louisiana and then all the way to South Dakota
and then to Nashua. This is the place that | stayed most. This is my 15" year already. | support the
Welcoming City for Nashua. | think | feel welcomed already before this imitative took place. | love our
community, and | love all the support that | get from the community. | have volunteers for the Islamic
Society of Greater Nashua. | am volunteering as its president. | also volunteer for our people who come
from Myanmar. | speak the same language even though I’m from Bangladesh. If they need help for
anything, calling anywhere because they can’t speak English, | interpret for them. | also do taxes for
them personally. | also help them if they need help if they can’t pay rent or need a car. | really like this
initiative. This should be the welcoming city a long time ago. | felt that all the time. | thank you,
Honorable Mayor Jim Donchess and the Board of Aldermen and President. Thank you.

Ms. Gloria Timmons, on behalf of Linda Gathright, 28 Marian Lane

| live at 3 Rodean Drive in Nashua. On behalf of Linda and the Nashua Community Conservation on
Race and Justice, we welcome America here. I’ve been here all my life. | can’t give you stories about
when | came which is probably decades through the passage of slavery back in the day. Jim Donchess
and the Board of Aldermen; thank you and welcome America.

Board of Aldermen Page 8
September 14, 2016

Mr. Jared Barbos, 77 Lawrence Road

| just want to say | am standing in front of you today as a proud, proud Nashuan speaking in favor this
wonderful, wonderful piece of legislation. | am a proud Nashuan. | was born in Lowell, Massachusetts,
but raised in Nashua for over 20 years of my life. | just want to say | wear several hats in the community,
and recently received my dream job as a guidance counselor at Amherst Street Elementary. | serve as
President of the Nashua Soccer Council and Co-Chair, along with my friend and colleague, Liz
Fitzgerald, of One Greater Nashua, and through One Greater Nashua was able to develop a soccer
program called “Latino Hispanic International Football Association Soccer Club.” The soccer club was
developed was based on the community needs and to combat the pay to play system to play athletics
and to close opportunity gaps. The vision of the soccer program started with my father. A Brazilian
immigrant, a former professional soccer player and a master educator of the beautiful game who spent
countless hours with Nashua’s youth. It was he who truly raised me to believe that it didn’t matter where
you were from, how much money you had or your gender. Anybody could and deserved to play the
beautiful game, and to never give up on a goal. Thank you very much.

Vice Chair Wilshire recognized the following individuals who wished to be recognized in attendance but
did not wish to speak: Mohammad Mustake, Nuv Karim, Abdul Manah, Mohammed Ali, and Ashikur
Khandaker.
PETITIONS

Petitions for Street Acceptance (4)

The following Petitions for Street Acceptance were read into the record: Annabelle Court, a portion of
Cherrywood Drive, Moonstone Court, and Tamora Court

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON TO ACCEPT THE PETITIONS FOR STREET ACCEPTANCES AS
READ, REFER THEM TO THE COMMITTEE OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND THAT PUBLIC HEARINGS BE
SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER
MOTION CARRIED

NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS

Appointments by the Mayor

The following Appointments by the Mayor were read into the record:

Nashua Airport Authority

Farrell T. Woods (New Appointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2017

162 Bush Hill Road

Hudson, NH 03051

Nashua Arts Commission

John F. Egan (Reappointment) Term to Expire: September 1, 2019

7 Beverlee Drive
Nashua, NH 03064