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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P21

By dnadmin on Mon, 11/07/2022 - 07:44
Document Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Page Number
21
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__041220…

Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 21

fact is that anything related to the viatic use of the right of way, the owner of the fee interest has no right to control the city.
You can determine that with or without the agreement of the fee owner.

Now non-viatic uses. If the property owner or the owner of the fee interests objects, well then perhaps if it is a non-viatic
use and the court determines that as such, that objection could be recognized by the court and the court could order the
non-viatic use not take place.

Alderman Cathey

Thank you. | thought that might be the case and | would not want the city to place barriers where a property owner would
then say, | don't want a non-viatic use purpose in front of my building. So in theory, we could place the barriers there and
then the property owner who owns both San Francisco Kitchen and Wingate’s could say no to extended outdoor dining
and then therefore we have barriers with nothing for extended outdoor dining behind them, which seems like a waste and
defeats the purpose if it's just going to sit there empty. It also feels like the property owner might then think, well if the
barriers are going to be there anyway | might as well allow extended outdoor dining when he might not want that. And so
| think it behooves the city to find out what the property owner wants before we - or what the property owner wants in
relation to non-viatic use before we go ahead and set up the barriers in that particular location. | think that should apply to
all of the property owners generally but in this specific case, we should know before we place barriers.

President Wilshire

I'm going to call on Alderman Klee because | think she might have an answer for that.
Alderman Klee

| do and thank you for bringing that point up. As | said, | had spoken to him and he was in agreement with it. What the
agreement he thought had been made was originally Wingate Pharmacy had told San Francisco Kitchen they could put
tables there only from 5 to 10 and had to remove them. If they put the table up against their very large plate glass
window, that it was a not a shatterproof and that it could break and it could hurt someone and that was her risk. Who's
gonna want to do that? Who's gonna want to take that on? So for all intent purposes, she really could not do that. They
came back and said that she did not have to move the tables. That's what was told to the owner of the property. She did
not have to move the tables and the property owner said he would assume all liability. The truth is, | also said to him, well
if you put a table there knowing that there is a liability, | will contact the city and ask them to certify that someone is not
being put into danger and therefore | don't think that that table really should or would be able to be put there.

| gave him my plan, my idea. He liked it very much. He did not want to say no to San Francisco Kitchen but he has two
mentors that he absolutely loves. He thinks that they're very good. Wingate has been extraordinary to him and did not
want to irritate or aggravate them in any way, shape, or form. He has been trying to work with them. | said to him if we
put the barriers up, would she be allowed to put the tables up? He said yes. But to add to this, that's when | said to him |
want to make sure that Wingate is protected in this and that they have a handicapped spot because they were losing the
one that they had in front of them. That 15 minute parking, they're the ones that use it mostly for the pickup and the drop
off. | wanted to ensure that they were taken care of and that they weren't harmed by this and that's why | put forward
those other two items. So yes.

Alderman Cathey

Thank you.

Alderman Lopez

So no shock to anybody here that this has been a very tricky issue and that communication has been very difficult in a lot
of areas. What | have found as the Alderman representing downtown is that there has been a lot of passion on the side of
people advocating for the removal of the barriers and a lot of pressure on people who state that they need it for their
livelihood. | have heard from Wingate’s repeatedly. | have tried to accommodate them last year on a number of
occasions and more specifically here, | think, we did accommodate their needs for parking for most of the street. But | do
think that it's not fair to a business that needs enough space to actually benefit from it, that we removed one to benefit a
business that now has access to a lot more parking.

| also found that unfortunately a lot of the restaurants that were spoken to and several of the businesses as well were not
given entirely accurate information as | would see it. They were told things about pharmacies that don't have any parking
and we're not aware of the municipal parking behind that pharmacy. The individuals from the pharmacy have represented

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P21

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P22

By dnadmin on Mon, 11/07/2022 - 07:44
Document Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Page Number
22
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__041220…

Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 22

relationships with a lot of different restaurants as positive and engaging where those restaurants have to meet categorize
those is very different. There are a number of people that had asked me to support outdoor dining that were represented
on the petition that was presented to this Board opposing outdoor dining, including San Francisco Kitchen. That petition
was represented as being business owners and concerned property owners on Main Street were a number of the
individuals who signed did not represent the businesses, several business owners said that they didn't fully understand
what was being asked to them. Being a host and a welcoming establishment that's trying to operate a business and
having somebody present who is not taking subtle hits, they regretted signing in order to have that person leave because
ultimately they had to answer for that in a lot of other ways.

So this has been a very contentious issue. | think when you have two neighbors who need the same resources and the
same aspects, it is the role of the city to arbitrate and to manage with structured guidelines so that there aren't
expectations that compete and interfere with each other and so that there is a communication that people put out in the
heat of the moment that they can't necessarily retract later. | respect greatly what Lina and Ruben Gomez have had to
put up with being essentially the focal point of much of our discussions. In addition to them also trying to run businesses
and | appreciate that they came in to sustain San Francisco Kitchen after the previous owners were essentially ready to
sell it. | think it's been a positive influence downtown. Wingate’s has certainly had its history downtown as well and | don't
think we should be making legislation or policies that absolutely deny one or the other access but | also think that there's
been a lot of articulation around compromises that really weren't made. | received an e-mail even today from Mr. Wingate
requesting that | just absolutely say no and indicating that he's absolutely opposed to it despite constant articulation of
compromise and interest.

| think when it comes to business and it comes to passions that individuals have, compromise is not as easy as it sounds.
| think that we as Aldermen have seen that and none of these situations are particularly simple or straightforward. We've
referenced King Solomon's decisions a couple of times and his choice was a little bit risky as | recall it and | think we need
to be very careful and very mindful of this. So in looking at the amendment that Alderman Klee is offering and listening to
the testimony from the Gomez, | think adding a parking space back is fair to give them enough space to do what they
actually need to do with the space. | think if the property owner is willing to let them put the tables out there, it will be
used, and | think we have been compromising and made accommodations for Wingate’s to a reasonable extent that
they're not the only business on the block. So | will support the legislation. | am as Alderman Jette pointed out fully aware
that there can be further conversation about making adjustments and that type of thing. | also support the future plans to
recoup some of the expenses that we lose from parking revenue by charging restaurants. | just think we need to make
sure we have a plan for where that money is going. We have to have a clear understanding of what we're charging for
and that has to go through the same transparency processes that we use for everything else. Thank you.

Alderman Thibeault

Thank you Madam President. So you know we've heard a lot about some of these restaurants on Main Street not paying
Nashua taxes. Well the Gomez’s live in Ward 6. They live here in town and | don't know if they own or not own their
home but if they're renting, that tax is being put into their rent. So they are Nashua citizens. They live here. In their own
words, in the e-mail that they sent to all of us, they said that they felt bullied by people on their block. They felt like they
were being looked at differently than a Martha's, or Michael Buckley's restaurants, right. You Know they haven't been
there as long owning this business. They weren't eligible for the - and she didn't bring it up tonight, but she’s brought it up
before. They weren't eligible for the COVID loans that some other businesses got. And so it's taken more than just, you
know, a COVID free couple of months and even though we're not really COVID free, but you know what | mean. COVID
free enough that people can go into their restaurant. It's taken them a lot longer to recover from that. Like | said, no one's
going to Billy or Michael but they feel like they need to bully them.

| don't think giving them one spot back so they can try to really establish their restaurant even more with them as the
owners get back on their feet. | know supply chain has been tough. Everything's gone up in price. They have a great
establishment there and | would like to see them get that spot back and | think it was a great idea to add the handicap
spot back as well. | think that was perfect because we need one on that side in that area so thank you.

Alderman Sullivan

Thank you, Madam President. | just wanted to say | cannot support this amendment nor this legislation as a whole and I'll
speak to the amendment first. | did read the e-mail today and now I'm trying to keep track of side conversations that were
had and now we want to make an amendment to this amendment because of side conversations that were had. | can't
support that.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P22

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P23

By dnadmin on Mon, 11/07/2022 - 07:44
Document Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Page Number
23
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__041220…

Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 23

Overall, | can't support this legislation because | listened to the people. | read the e-mails. | heard the concerns from
public safety. | think there is an idea out there. | just don't think this is the one. Hats off to all my colleagues that spent
hours upon hours times that number of people trying to come up with a solution. | just can't support this one. Thanks.

Alderman Comeau

Thank you, Madam President. On the amendment, | personally kind of feel like I'm in between both the Gomez's and Mr.
Wingate. I've had what | feel like is a good relationship with both of them and the analogy of King Solomon was brought
up and where | have a decision to make who to side with. Unfortunately for my relationship with Mr. Wingate, I'm going to
side with the Gomez on this because they are my constituents and | have been an advocate since | was elected to the
idea of us being representative of the citizens of our Ward. | plan to vote for the amendment because they are my
constituents and | will support their request.

Alderman Moran

So | had a conversation with Miss Gomez and | was one of the Task Force members that voted for the limiting of the
space. At the time, | thought it was going to create two spaces. After getting the e-mail from Director Cummings, that's
clearly not the outcome of what | thought | was voting for. So even though | was very concerned about amendments
being brought forth today, this one’s not so bad because it gives me the opportunity to rectify a mistake that | made. So I'll
be supporting this amendment because of that.

Alderman Jette

Thank you, Madam President. | think we're losing sight of the fact that when people talk about, you know, taking space
away from San Francisco Kitchen, or giving them a space, or giving a space to Wingate’s, | think we're losing sight of the
fact that those spaces are not ours to give. We can decide to put up barriers and | think Attorney Bolton always chooses
his words very carefully and he always cringes when | attempt to repeat what he said and | screw it up. My understanding
is from what he said that tables and chairs are - he refers to “non-viatic” use. Well tables and chairs are non-viatic use.
So, you know, the city cannot take a space in front of Wingate’s and give it to San Francisco Kitchen. Okay. What the
city can do and this and what this motion is going to do is put a barrier up in front of Wingate’s. So Wingate’s loses
whatever parking that barrier blocks.

Now whether or not San Francisco Kitchen can put tables or chairs there is going to be up to the landlord. Now | would
rather than hearing, you know, your conversations that an alderman has had with the landowner about what he will do or
won't do, | mean no offense but what you said is he's changed his mind at least once, maybe twice, maybe three times.
So | don't know what the final outcome is going to be but if we put barriers up in front of his property, it's certainly going to
make it easier for him to say to San Francisco Kitchen well the space is there, you might as well use it. | think what we're
doing is we're picking winners and losers. | would rather...

President Wilshire

No comments from the audience, please.
Alderman Jette

| would rather we - | mean the ordinance does say there is provision in the ordinance for the Mayor after the Parking
Manager, and Department of Public Works, and the Infrastructure Committee, the Mayor can make adjustments. | would
rather that the landlord, and Wingate’s, and San Francisco Kitchen come up with an agreement among the three of them
and say okay if you do this, this is what we're going to do, or it's okay with us for you to do this.

| feel the same way about the barriers in front of Casanova and Gentle Dental. There are barriers that we're going to put
in front of those two businesses that are going to, you Know, remove that extra parking there. We're doing it because of
an e-mail we got from JaJa Belles. There is no parking space in front of JaJa Belles. Unless her landlord - the same
way, the landlord says okay well the city put barriers there so you can put tables and chairs there because it's not being
used for any other purpose. | think that | would rather see the landowner and the tenants resolve this themselves rather
than our imposing this on them.

As far as the narrowing of Main Street, you know, we can put a barrier at the beginning of the corner of Main and Factory
on the north sides to reduce the lanes on Main Street. But as far as the use of that non-viatic space between the barriers
in the sidewalk, | don't think we should be doing that. I'm going to vote against this amendment. Not to mention, you
know, we were here till 11 o'clock one night, one o'clock another night working this out, and now here we are its 9:30. |

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P23

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P24

By dnadmin on Mon, 11/07/2022 - 07:44
Document Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Page Number
24
Image URL
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Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 24

don't know how much longer we're gonna be here arguing about this. | would rather we just, you know, adopt with the
committee came up with and let the Mayor use the power that we've given him in the ordinance to make adjustments.

President Wilshire

Mayor did you want to chime in on that?

Mayor Donchess

Well just a clarification. | mean in the Task Force discussions, the viatic right issue came out and | guess it was first
raised by Alderman Cathey. The Legal Department looked at that and the landowner in the case of a non-viatic use does
have the authority to say no. The idea that we would put out barriers without any tables there, we're not going to do that.

| mean, we're going to ask for - the procedure I've talked with Director Cummings about is we're going to ask the
restaurant to gain the authority of the it's not the tenant. It's the owner of the property gain the permission or consent of
the property owner before we put the barriers up. | mean we cannot put up barriers and have no tables. We're not going
to do that and we have to kind of work all this out before any barriers go up because we can't put up some, and wait, and
put up others. | mean we're gonna have to have a complete plan and then go in and put barriers up where we have the
plan from the Aldermen and owner's consent. And where we have both, we'll go forward. If the owner says no, you know,
we're not going to risk litigation over this. So again, we're not going to put up there where there's not owner's consent.

Alderman Dowd

Yes and I'm gonna be brief so we’re not here til one in the morning. I'm going to support the amendment because one of
the things going into this whole plan that concerned me was trying to be as fair to all the individual business owners as
possible. | think we've done that in all the compromises we made adding parking, and taking care of Franklin Street, and
all these other things.

| think what we've done to San Francisco Kitchen is a detriment to a small business trying to get on their feet being new
owners. | think that that we need to support them and just like any other small business downtown. | feel that | represent
not just the people in my Ward - and many, many people in my Ward want the extended outdoor dining that haven't put it
on Facebook or e-mails. They just talked to me. | feel that | also represent the entire city. When | cast the vote, it's for all
taxpayers. It's not segregated into Ward 2. And by the way, Mr. Wingate is a constituent of mine and I'm going to vote for
the amendmert.

Alderman Klee

Thank you again once again, Madam President. | would have loved to have done that conversation over e-mail to all of
us at the same time but because of Right to Know, that just can't happen. So | had the conversation the way | had the
conversation with him. | even did a quick little e-mail out to him basically saying this is what I'm going to do and so on so
that he had it in writing exactly. | did cc Alderman Lopez because it is his Ward on it but | didn't put any other Aldermen
on simply because it would be wrong. Again, side conversations have to happen because of Right to Know. | can't have
that conversation with more than a majority on this committee. So that's why those happened. It wasn't trying to be
sneaky, trying to do something that would be underhanded, or anything of that nature. | did it the way | had to do it legally
and so on.

Like Alderman Dowd, | have heard from many constituents verbally. They are now getting paranoid to send e-mails.
They don't want to put things on Facebook because of having threatened. They feel that their e-mails are going to be
pulled and then it's going to become public knowledge. They don't want to put on Facebook because they're being bullied
and this is real and this is happening. So that's why they give you a call, or they stop you in a restaurant which is what
happened in one particular case. We have these conversations and don't get me wrong, | have received from my Ward
constituents such as Mr. Miller that they are not in favor of this. So I'm not just hearing those that are in favor. | think it's
pretty even as to who wants it and who doesn't want it. Then there are those who don't speak out. So there are those
who don't want it who don't speak out, they just aren't going to bother and there are those who do want it and won't speak
out for it.

| think this is a good and fair compromise. We had put this through just having that one little space is all it would do. As
the Mayor said once we approve this, if Mr. Hardy comes back and says | absolutely will not give them permission to put
the - then there would be no need to put the barriers up. But if he said if the barriers there and | will do it and so on. | just
believe that putting the handicapped spot, keeping the 15 minute parking space helps and it's exactly what he had asked
for. | think this is a compromise, compromise, compromise and no one gets hurt.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P24

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P25

By dnadmin on Mon, 11/07/2022 - 07:44
Document Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Page Number
25
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__041220…

Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 25

| do want to add to what Alderman Thibeault said. San Francisco Kitchen got no PPE. They got none of that stuff
because they could not prove that they had any revenue because they bought it just as COVID hit. They had no earnings.
So therefore they had no losses as far as the COVID monies and all that was concerned. So the one business, at least
one of the businesses downtown, that did not get any of that leg up, or a hand up, or whatever you want to call it was San
Francisco Kitchen and | don't think we should continue to hurt them over and over again when we can do this compromise
of putting a handicapped spot there. We're only taking one extra space from what we just approved. That's it. One
space is what's being affected by this. They don't lose a 15 minute parking and they gain a dedicated handicapped spot.

| think this is a win/win all around. So thank you very much.

Alderman Cathey

Thank you, Madam Chair. Gosh this is not an easy topic to figure out. There's a lot of variables at play, but to make my
job more easy, | like to stay in my lane and as a city we can only give so much. We're only allowed by law to do so much
and I'm not going to authorize barriers here, barriers there when | or we haven't heard on the record from a property
owner because | think it creates too much confusion. It's just not something that we should be doing. I'd rather have a set
plan before we lay down barriers and get permission from the property owner about what we're going to do. | think doing
it ahead of time is short of putting the cart before the horse and it's sort of arbitrary and so for that reason just on
procedural grounds, I'm not going to support it because I'd rather know for sure what we're doing moving forward. Thank
you.

MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD TO MOVE THE QUESTION
MOTION CARRIED

President Wilshire

So we are considering now Alderman Klee’s amendment.

Alderman Cathey

Roll call.

MOTION BY ALDERMAN KLEE TO AMEND TO RETURN TWO FULL SPACES IN FRONT OF 127 MAIN STREET
(SAN FRANCISCO KITCHEN) AND SHORTENING THE LENGTH OF THE BARRIERS ON THE NORTHWEST
CORNER AT FACTORY STREET AND MAIN STREET BY 20 FEET FROM THE NORTH SIDE AND RETURNING
THOSE TWO SPACES; AND ALSO IN ADDITION TO ALLOW THAT BEYOND THE TWO SPACES THAT ONE BEA
DEDICATED AND SIGNED HANDICAPPED SPOT TO BE PLACED IN FRONT OF THE WINGATE PROPERTY AS
WELL AS TO MOVE THE 15 MINUTE PARKING BEHIND THAT, BY ROLL CALL

A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows:

Yea: Alderman O’Brien, Alderman Klee, Alderman Moran, Alderman Lopez,
Alderman Clemons, Alderwoman Kelly, Alderman Comeau, Alderman Dowd,
Alderman Thibeault, Alderwoman Timmons, Alderman Wilshire 11

Nay: Alderman Sullivan, Alderman Jette, Alderman Gouveia, Alderman Cathey 4

MOTION CARRIED
MOTION BY ALDERMAN MORAN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-22-022 AS AMENDED

Alderwoman Kelly

| wanted to start by thanking Alderwoman Klee for bringing forward a compromise. | think that this whole exercise has
been, you know, compromise and listening to the downtown. | know that | probably have a unique experience. Most of
the people who will sit on this Board do not go to downtown 9 to 5 Monday through Friday and | have really done the
homework in terms of talking to the business owners. Every time | walk around to get lunch, we have some discussions.

| think had been uncharacteristically quiet on this. | wanted to really listen and let the committee's do their work. | think
there's been a lot of pros and cons. | feel both sides of that every day in my work and being downtown. | think that where
we have landed is right for the downtown. | think there's been a lot of deliberation, a lot of public input, and that

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P25

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P26

By dnadmin on Mon, 11/07/2022 - 07:44
Document Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Page Number
26
Image URL
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Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 26

compromise. We really have listened to many of the businesses who had concerns and these amendments have
addressed as many as we really could. Is it perfect? No but I'm a recovering perfectionist so | think if you wait for perfect,
you're gonna get in the way of progress. So | think this is the right way forward for now and | really want to see us as a
city continue to look at how this becomes more of a permanent cultural shift for our downtown and what that looks like.

So | I'm looking forward to voting yes on this and | encourage the rest of the Aldermen to do so as well.

Alderman Gouveia

Thank you, Madam President. This was definitely a lot of spirited debate and discussion between both the Task Force
and members of the community. We came up with a plan and is it perfect, no. At the end of the day, | personally can't
support it still due to the fact that we're talking about $115,000 estimated that this will cost and we're not going to recover
a dime from it from any of the businesses that are going to be utilizing it. | can't get myself to say that's right. We had
compromised throughout the program and it was good to see that it could happen. We went through the procedure but at
the end of the day, | can't get myself to go to my Ward who most of them are honestly indifferent on the issue and tell
them that they're going to have to foot the bill on this as much as everybody else. | just can't find it inside me to vote yes
for it and I'm also a lot like Alderwoman Kelly. I'm downtown five days a week. | work for a downtown business. I’m
based right off of Main Street. It's tough now with parking and you put these barriers in, | don't know what it's going to be
like once the barriers go in. So we'll see. | think it will just be played for as we keep going through but as of right now, |
just can't support it at all.

Alderman Dowd

Yes through you to Alderman O’Brien - the king of the House up there. When restaurants and businesses downtown
make more money, they pay business profits tax is that correct?

Alderman O’Brien

That is correct.
Alderman Dowd
And part of the business profits tax comes back to the city. Is that correct?

Alderman O’Brien

That is correct.
Alderman Dowd

So they are paying. That's a misnomer that they're paying nothing. The city is getting money back for their expanded
business and that goes for regular stores as well as restaurants. So that is not true. They are paying.

Alderman Thibeault

Thank you, Madam President. | think we're at a point now we're trying to figure out where Nashua is going to go.
Someone had mentioned earlier, you know, evolving and changing as a city and I've heard people say that they like being
either the gate city or a quainter city. | think we honestly we’re right in the middle where are we going to go and evolve as
a city or are we gonna go backwards a little bit? Some of us who have been around here a long time know when Main
Street was not flourishing and that it took restaurants to bring it back. You know, and Michael Buckley of Michael
Timothy's has done a lot of helping get that back. Martha's who's been here way before my time, | believe, you know, |
love going down to Main Street. 30 years took my first drink at Martha's.

So it's definitely something that | want to see evolve, and grow, and change, and the only way to do that is to look forward.
You have to start somewhere and | think this is the start of seeing if something like this works and to see how we're going
to evolve it in the future with the Master Plan. Main Street, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is going to be Nashua’s
Main Street. So | think we got to keep moving forward. Someone spoke about moral courage. | think on both sides you
could say that because | know on the other side, we're gonna get hit with e-mails, yelling at us for our vote whether we
sided or didn't side with it. So | don't blame anybody for voting on either side because they're going to get the same
pressure that I'm going to get from people out there too because not 100% of my constituents are for or against barriers,
right.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P27

By dnadmin on Mon, 11/07/2022 - 07:44
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Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 27

Speaking of moral courage, my mother is against this 100% and she would kill me for my vote as a Nashua citizen that
she is. | hope she's in bed and she's not watching this because | will get a call. It will probably be about 60 minutes
tomorrow yelling at me for my vote, but | am going to support this. Thank you.

Alderman Gouveia

Thank you, Madam President. With all due respect to my colleague in Ward 2, yeah sure you might get more tax but
there's nothing to prove that we're gaining more money from that tax that would be there if the barriers weren't there.
Would people still be coming downtown to eat? Yeah, | think so. | do. | don't feel people are coming just downtown.
They eat in expanded dining. Part is okay but full is better and when you can pay off something in full and it doesn't affect
the taxpayer, | think that's better.

We're in year three now. We've now in year three going to start talking about what fees are going to look like for this
project when really it should have been looked at last year. I'll give a break on the first year because that was real COVID
innovation. | think it was a great idea. In atime where restaurants were in a full capacity, it was absolutely brilliant to
accomplish something like this to make sure it can still happen. We're now in year three and | think we need a fee scale.

| think it's long overdue before | cannot still support this. Thank you.

Alderman Lopez

| want to request a roll call and make a quick comment.

As this goes, | think a lot of the pressure really speaks to how downtown is used. There's this four lanes, bad two lanes,
or four lanes good, two lanes bad mentality. | think | miss quoting Animal Farm but we do have to look at pedestrian use
in downtown as a factor. It was commented multiple times by members of the public like | don't even know why we have
the midpoint crossings. Those can go away. | mean when you have four lanes, you really need the midpoint crossing if
you are the pedestrian and we've had a number of pedestrians that have been injured, or hurt, and we've even had a
couple of car accidents that have been trying to avoid people over the years. | think the midpoint crossings have done a
lot to mitigate. The Fire Department is a little famously said they prefer to not have them there in case they needed to
pass through that section. The Fire Department will also respond in an extremely timely manner on Ash Street, for
example, which is a one way street and does remarkable response times throughout most of the downtown area. So |
think it is important to consider that yes, outdoor dining is the current use that's being looked at but our city's master
planning and our overall plans for how downtown is going to be used does need to adjust for the fact that people in cars
shouldn't be in the same place unless they're in the cars. When you have outdoor dining, the barriers that are keeping the
cars from encroaching on the diners are an obvious and important safety concern when you look at the national trend of
the last couple of years of cars driving through crowds. That's an unfortunate reality and that's why the Traffic Department
insists on those barriers.

But they also reflect how people use Main Street because they are referred to as barriers mostly by people who are
driving through and see the outside of them. They are referred to as extended outdoor dining by people who are inside
the barriers enjoying shows, getting to see each other, listening to music, all that kind of stuff. So | would encourage
people in Nashua on either side of the issue to use the outdoor dining if it is approved tonight period because if it is an
amenity that is going to be there, it's also a different way to experience downtown. It's also a different way to use the
spaces that we have and as the owner of SFK commented in her own comment, they're welcoming. The restaurants want
to have you there. They want to see and they're an opportunity for you to see others too. That's | think ultimately what we
need to decide in terms of downtown whether we’re using it to travel or whether we're using it as a destination. Thank
you.

Alderman Comeau

Yes, thank you, Madam President. It will probably not come as a surprise to anyone in this room that | cannot support this
legislation for a number of reasons. First and foremost, we use the word “compromise” a lot and based on the definition, |
suppose this is a compromise. But | look at the work that the Task Force did, you know, over the course of probably over
20 hours when you add it all up, and then you multiply that by the number of people involved, and that's a lot of man
hours. The end result of that now with this amendment is basically that we picked a paint color. So that's the result of all
that work.

I'm reminded of | joke with my kids. They said they wanted a cat and | said no. So we compromised and cat's name is

Gizmo. You know, there's people that wanted to come up with a plan that involved four lanes of travel. The city wanted
two lanes of travel. So we compromised and got two lanes travel. There were people that wanted no barriers. The city
wanted 100% barriers. So we compromised and got 95% barriers. There was a growing contingent of people that

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P28

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Document Date
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 00:00
Meeting Description
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Meeting Date
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Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 28

wanted the window shrunk to Memorial Day to Labor Day and the city wanted the first of May to the middle of October.
So we compromise and cut two weeks off of the end. 5% decrease or something like that. So yeah, this is a compromise
but it's not much of a compromise.

There's more we could have done. It was suggested that businesses should be able to pay for the space. Some of the
people said that they shouldn't. So we compromised and they're paying nothing. So it hardly seems like much of a
compromise at all. So for those reasons, | can't support this unless more significant changes are made to it.

Alderman Klee

Thank you, Madam President. I'm gonna go backwards from the last speaker to - | think that was disingenuous and |
know you meant it a joke Alderman Comeau that only the paint color was picked. You can look right at what Director
Cummings has said. Yes through my amendment | did undo that particular area of the 20 feet, but | did add the
handicapped parking space. They added two spaces back to 100 Main Street. They removed the barriers at 105 West
Pearl Street. They removed the variable message board sign and | believe that was a very long conversation as well as
removing the orange barrels everywhere using the alternate channelizing devices as needed. And yes, paint the barrier
red brick color and install reflective white tape everywhere. So | think to say that all that work because of one thing that
was taken out was reduced and that was very unkind for a committee that you are on as well as others.

I'd also like to say that | absolutely 100% agree with Alderman Gouveia that we should have done this earlier. At this
point, we should be doing that. The truth is, it was the sitting Board of Aldermen’s fault for putting it off and for saying,
let's look at it more. We literally kicked the can down the road. So you're absolutely right. We should have, we didn't,
and now we are where we are here. So to your point, | absolutely agree with it.

As far as will people come, | can tell you that | have a colleague up in the State House whose daughter goes to Rivier
College. She's an athlete there and they come to games. He called me one day and said to me, oh my god, | love your
extended downtown dining. He was at Martha's. They were sitting in the street and he lives in Hampton. He is a State
Rep. and a Selectman there. He was just blown away by it. He's told four of his friends who have now come to Nashua.
So | don't believe build it and they will come but word of mouth will spread. If you're in this area, you gotta check it out.

So | do think it will bring more attention to Nashua. God knows we're getting a lot of attention on the negative side,
probably from all this going back and forth and so on. | do think that is the case and I'm proud of our downtown. I've been
here now for 37 years | think and I, too, have seen a lot of changes just in that 37 years long before you were born and |
still think you're just graduating from high school but anyways, I'll put that aside.

The thing is | have seen a lot of changes. | do believe that when Michael Buckley, and when Martha's became alive, and
Fodie’s went all the way to the other end, we had restaurants coming in and out and so on. When Villa Blanca left in the
middle of the night and Fratello’s came in and saved us for that. They did that because they knew it was a vibrant kind of
building. | know Fratello’s had made some rather unkind comments on their way out but the truth is, the restaurant that's
there now, | think, Felicimo, wouldn't have come if they felt that Nashua didn't have something to offer. So | do think it's
not a building and they will come. | do think there will be word of mouth and | do think this is a positive step forward. |
think there has been a lot of compromise. | think we continue to do compromise. So thank you.

Alderman Moran

Thank you, Madam President. Just a couple of things. So | wholeheartedly believe that fees need to be charged and |
think it was a risk benefit of the fact that it's going to be so short to implementation that we couldn't get enough restaurants
on board with for what the fee would be. We need the city to develop a fee schedule, etc. to come back to the Board and
we'd just delay it further. So it was a risk benefit on why we took that action.

I'll tell you, I'll be the first Alderman that submits an ordinance to rescind this if we don't have fees in place by the next year
two because | do believe we need to pay for that extra space. | do think it's a bit disingenuous just to say that we should
have took an action further, quicker. | mean | think the executive branch got a good taste that this Board is different than
the previous boards and that we have a lot of differing opinions and that gives each single Alderman a chance to insert
their opinion whether they support this or not. No matter who votes on this at the end, everyone had a piece to suggest
on this compromise plan. There was information taken in to make this plan palatable to a wider population. So | think that
we should have our ability to do our job despite the previous Board kicking the can to this Board. Thank you.

Alderman Lopez

Can | move to question?

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Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 29

MOTION BY ALDERMAN LOPEZ TO MOVE THE QUESTION
MOTION CARRIED

MOTION BY ALDERMAN MORAN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-22-022 AS AMENDED, BY ROLL CALL

A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows:

Yea: Alderman O’Brien, Alderman Klee, Alderman Moran, Alderman Lopez,
Alderman Jette, Alderman Clemons, Alderwoman Kelly, Alderman Dowd,
Alderman Thibeault, Alderwoman Timmons, Alderman Wilshire 11

Nay: Alderman Sullivan, Alderman Comeau, Alderman Gouveia,
Alderman Cathey 4

MOTION CARRIED
Ordinance O-22-008 declared duly adopted as amended.

NEW BUSINESS — RESOLUTIONS

R-22-023
Endorsers: Alderman Patricia Klee
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons
Alderwoman-at-Large Shoshanna Kelly
Alderman Richard A. Dowd
Alderman Derek Thibeault
Alderwoman-at-Large Gloria Timmons
Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
RELATIVE TO THE ADOPTION OF THE NASHUA ARTS AND CULTURAL PLAN
Given its first reading; Assigned to the PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE and NASHUA
PLANNING BOARD by President Wilshire

R-22-024
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess

Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
Alderman Richard A. Dowd
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
Alderman John Sullivan
Alderman Patricia Klee
Alderman-at-Large Melbourne Moran, Jr.
Alderman Thomas Lopez
Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons
Alderwoman-at-Large Shoshanna Kelly
Alderman Alex Comeau
Alderman Tyler Gouveia
Alderman John Cathey
Alderman Derek Thibeault
Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire

APPROVING THE COST ITEMS OF A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE NASHUA

BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS AND THE NASHUA POLICE PATROLMAN’S ASSOCIATION FROM JULY

1, 2022 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2026

Given its first reading; Assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President Wilshire

R-22-025
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
Alderman Patricia Klee
Alderman-at-Large Melbourne Moran, Jr.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 4/12/2022 - P30

By dnadmin on Mon, 11/07/2022 - 07:44
Document Date
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Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
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Page Number
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Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 30

Alderman Thomas Lopez
Alderman Richard A. Dowd
Alderman Derek Thibeault
Alderwoman-at-Large Gloria Timmons
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO APPLY FOR AND EXPEND THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT
(“CDBG”) AND HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023
Given its first reading; Assigned to the HUMAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE by President Wilshire

R-22-026
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess

Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
Alderman-at-Large Melbourne Moran, Jr.
Alderman Thomas Lopez
Alderwoman-at-Large Shoshanna Kelly
Alderman Derek Thibeault
Alderwoman-at-Large Gloria Timmons

AUTHORIZING FIRST AMENDMENTS TO DEVELOPER AGREEMENTS FOR BRONSTEIN REDEVELOPMENT
Given its first reading; Assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President Wilshire

NEW BUSINESS — ORDINANCES

O0-22-011
Endorsers: Alderman Alex Comeau
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
Alderman John Sullivan
Alderman-at-Large Melbourne Moran, Jr.
Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons
Alderman Tyler Gouveia
Alderman John Cathey
AMENDING THE ZONING MAP BY REZONING LAND SITUATED NORTH AND SOUTH OF LAKE STREET AND
WEST OF PINE STREET FROM LOCAL BUSINESS (LB) TO LOCAL BUSINESS WITH MIXED USE OVERLAY
DISTRICT (LB/MU)
Given its first reading; Assigned to the PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, NASHUA
PLANNING BOARD, and SCHEDULE A PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE MAY 17, 2022 PLANNING AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE by President Wilshire

PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIG COMMENT

Karen Bill

Karen Bill, 95 Parnell Place. | think you've done a great disservice to the residents of Nashua. | agree with the Aldermen
that said during the pandemic was one thing. Last year - I'm sure somebody probably thought that at some point in time
the pandemic would be done and there should have been forethought in this governing body about discussions about
where Nashua should go. There's a whole great article, again, on - oh what's the word? Their bollards — b-o-I-l-a-r-d-s
that Cincinnati took down their barriers and went with these bollards because barriers are so ugly. So you can look it up.
If you Google it, it'll come up.

To have only fox in your hen house - nobody outside of Main Street. Michael Timothy's. Laurie Ortolano brought you
numbers. Surf - $750,000. Show me how much more they paid in business tax please Alderman Dowd? Honestly.
Martha’s - over half a million. MTs - $666,000. We, the residents, and taxpayers, and renters because rents go up when
taxes go up. We have paid for that. We. Would you do it on Daniel Webster Highway? You probably think oh my god,
what crazy person would think that? Think about it.

Safety. Somebody living in Mary's house, excuse me while I'm speaking now, you point it out.

President Wilshire

No you don't get to do that.

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