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Graham, Donna
EET ET Oe

From: Bill & Chris Wenrich

Sent: Monday, March 21, 2022 6:55 PM
To: Board of Aldermen

Subject: Downtown Concrete Barriers

CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.

Dear Board of Aldermen,

We strongly feel that the concrete barriers should not return to our downtown streets for several
reasons.

First and foremost is the delay in response time by our first responders. Even with four lanes,
navigating normal traffic in downtown streets can be a challenge for our first responders but with
concrete barriers reducing that space to two or even three lanes is a recipe for disaster. In an
emergency, every single second counts -the difference between life and death - no exaggeration.
The idea that the city - and especially the mayor - would put the luxury of additional outdoor dining
above emergency response time or the safety of its precious citizens is absolutely insane. Just
imagine if it is your child or parent or spouse who is lost - FOREVER - due to a delay in emergency
response, and why?; because outdoor dining was valued above public safety? Where is the
perspective? What are the priorities? This is not being dramatic; this is facing reality and being
proactive. First responders constantly train and make all kinds of preparations to make response
times as short as possible because they know that people's lives are depending on what they do to
get to an emergency as quickly as possible; and the city thinks it's okay to reduce those response
times for the sake of outdoor dining? Anyone who has lost a loved one because help didn't/couldn't
arrive in time to save them knows how gut-wrenching and heartbreaking it is and that pain never goes
away and neither does the second guessing on what could have been done differently. Imagine a
child trapped in an inner-city apartment fire; a restaurant customer choking on food; a kitchen
accident where the chef is bleeding out; a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle and has life-threatening
injuries; any number of scenarios could play out and every single second counts in every situation.
Just as our wonderful first responders are always on the ready, the mayor and the Board of Aldermen
need to be proactive, make smart decisions, and do everything they possibly can to put the safety
and wellbeing of Nashua's citizens above everything else and not put up barriers that keep first
responders from getting to the people who desperately need them. Our fire and police officials have
provided information to you on delayed response times due to the concrete barriers; you should listen
to them. The lives of Nashua's citizens are in your hands. Please do the right thing.

Emergency response time should be the only reason required to not bring back the barriers but if the
possible loss of life isn't enough for the mayor and Board of Aldermen, read on.

There are far more businesses downtown than just the restaurants. These businesses have lost
precious income and parking spaces and certainly regular customers because of the inconvenience
of getting to their businesses. It's disrespectful to these businesses who are expected to sacrifice and
compromise for the restaurant owners. Why should these businesses have to compromise after they
have been the ones who have suffered through the pandemic just like everyone else but with no
special accommodations made for them.

There are plenty of other restaurants in the city where there is appropriate outdoor dining without
making a mess of the downtown. When each of the downtown restaurants first opened, they knew
their original footprint for operating their business and had space enough to serve their customers. If
they want outdoor dining now that the pandemic is winding down, they should just use the limited
sidewalk or alley space they have without inconveniencing everyone who frequents downtown and
the other businesses; or maybe they should just move out of downtown and find another location that
will accommodate their outdoor dining without ruining our downtown.

We, ourselves, do everything we can to avoid the downtown area with the barriers up. It's very
frustrating sitting in a traffic jam idling our gas and time away just so that diners can eat and drink in
the street instead of on the sidewalk or - if you can imagine - inside the actual restaurant. (As an
aside, what is the advantage of dining in car fumes and filth kicked up from moving vehicles? If they
think it's to dine in the fresh air, they should think about what they're actually breathing and eating just
a few feet from the slowly moving traffic. It can't be healthy.)

Lastly, the barriers are ugly. No matter how they're painted, they will still be ugly. They make our
downtown look like an uninviting construction zone. Not one more penny of the hardworking
taxpayers’ money should be spent on these bad-idea barriers. The mayor should stop obsessing over
this bad idea, stop wasting everyone's time and the taxpayers’ money on it, and concentrate on better
serving all of the citizens of Nashua.

So please stop shopping for better-looking barriers; they're a waste of money, our money, the
taxpayers' money, and a bad idea for the majority of the businesses and citizens. Sell them to a
construction company and get some money back for them. They served their purpose during the
pandemic and, hopefully, the restaurant owners are grateful that everyone else sacrificed for them
during the pandemic. It's time to get back to normal and be considerate of everyone who values our
beautiful downtown and aiff of its wonderful businesses.

But above all, please get rid of the barriers for the safety of our citizens; for the first responders who
need every possible second to do the job we entrust to them, to save lives.

Thank you for listening.

Respectfully,

Bill & Chris Wenrich
35 Greenwood Drive
Nashua, NH 03062

Graham, Donna

From: Gouveia, Tyler

Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2022 10:12 AM
To: Graham, Donna

Subject: Fw: Downtown expanded dining

Hi Donna,

| hope all is well. Could you please send this email out to the full board or attach it in the next meetings
packet?

Thank you!
-Tyler

Tyler Gouveia

Ward 1 Alderman
603-809-1786
gouveiat@nashuanh.gov

From: Jaclyn Leonardi |

Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 9:20 PM
To: Gouveia, Tyler

Subject: Downtown expanded dining

CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is

unknown.
Good evening Tyler. Feel free to forward this to the entire board.

| have mixed feelings on the expanded dining. | do appreciate the liveliness it brings to downtown and the
vibrant atmosphere. | have concerns about increased emergency response times and traffic congestion.

I'm a spontaneous shopper. If there is a spot, I'll run into Jajabelles for a slice of banana bread or I'll check out
what Glorious Possibilities has to offer. If there are no spots in front of the store, | don't stop. | will use the
garage but only when | have a longer purpose for being downtown.

If the BOA chooses to move forward, | am vehemently opposed to spending more money. We have already
purchased barriers. There is a cost to install and remove them. There is a loss of parking revenue. We do
NOT need to spend money on parklets or alternative types of seating. The city needs to figure out it's plan for
the next 5-10 years and make decisions with that in mind. Wasting millions on parklets for three years is

irresponsible.

Thank you for your time,
Jaclyn Leonardi
Butternut Dr Nashua

Graham, Donna

From: Ge
Sent: hursday, March 24, 2022 10:59 AM

To: Board of Aldermen; Graham, Donna
Ce: kdbill@aol.com
Subject: Committee for barriers is a stacked deck / RESPONSE REQUESTED

CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.

Dear Nashua Aldermen,

After attending the meetings last night (3/23/2022) where you added people onto the joint task force for discussion /
recommendation about expanded outside dining, and hearing the majority of speakers agree, you have created a
"Stacked Deck" and not a "Jury Of My Peers” to make a recommendation / compromise on the issue.

Every person of the 5 outside of Aldermen on this Task Force has a business downtown or is a former employee (Great
American Downtown) and NOT ONE person is from outside of less than a mile of real estate on Main Street. Even the
recommendation of the last 2 people added came from a downtown business.

| am officially requesting that you add 2 Nashua Residents that have expressed an interest in serving on this committee
immediately and add them into the Task Force at the beginning of the next meeting on March 30, 2022.

They should have NO CONNECTION to any business downtown,

Also, we keep talking about "people in restaurants that may have a medical emergency” and have delayed response time,
we are (again) neglecting the downtown residents.....the people living on 3rd and 4th floors on not only Main Street but the
side streets that could be adversely affected by a diminished response time for any emergency vehicles.

Again, this is to point out the lack of INclusivity of Nashua residents being considered “Stakeholders” of any decision
made and added into the discussion and represented on this Task Force.

| am ready to serve on this committee as previously indicated to you both in previous emails, testimony at previous
meetings and again last night. Then, there is only 1 more that needs to be recruited / added onto this Task Force.

| look forward to hearing back from you on this request in order to prepare for the next meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Karen D. Bill

95 Parnell Place
Nashua, NH 03060

Graham, Donna

From: JimC

Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2022 11:05 AM
To: Wilshire, Lori; Board of Aldermen
Ce: Graham, Donna

Subject: Downtown barriers.

CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.

Dear Board members,
Tam in favor of removing the downtown barriers permanently,

Increasing restaurant seating to the detriment of other business classes is not_in
the province of any government.

Other downtown businesses could be more successful but for the lack of parking.
The widespread parking complaints heard over the years prove the existence of a
downtown parking problem for all businesses.

So please tell your constituents how making parking even more difficult will
help THOSE businesses.

Or tell us you SIMPLY DO NOT CARE about
them!

I find it ironic that the PAC extravagance is taking the place of a business that
fled the city, at least partially, if not entirely, for lack of parking. The
inescapable conclusion is that if the limited parking that IS available disappears,
more will follow.

Please place this email/letter in the Next Board of Aldermen Meeting Packet.
Sincerely,

Jim Cassidy
12 Laredo Cir

Graham, Donna

From: JULIE SMITH

Sent: Sunday, March 27, 2022 7:10 AM
To: Board of Aldermen

Subject: Jersey barriers in the inner city.

CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.

Aldermen:

| want to let it be known that | want them gone. First, | want to share the link to Alderman Comeau's
talking points, which | support:

httos://eomail6.com/web-version?p=266e7c99-97de-1 1ec-9258-
0241b9615763&pt=campaian&t=16459816298s=6 1405ffde8c8162ccd5eaf92e6fb783 1dbb4af4687e3

e73c94c3f961b695ad96

And | want to emphasize as a taxpayer that exclusive use of city property should NEVER be gifted to
anyone at the taxpayers’ expense, ever. | don't care if it's to restaurants, other businesses, clubs or
private citizens. While | don't think the city should be in the landlord and rental business anyway, |
oppose the cherry picking of businesses allowed to occupy city property, rent-free or

otherwise. Otherwise means exclusive use under any contract that did not go.through the proper
process allowing public input. County Commissioner and former Alderman Michael Soucy made
some good points in a recent meeting regarding this. If there is an overwhelming public desire to turn
Main Street into a pedestrian Quincy Market-like neighborhood, it should be thoroughly researched
and accepting of all public input before any decisions are made. The Jersey barriers should be gone
in the meantime, regardless of how long that process takes.

Lastly, the matter can be yammered about all the time until someone dies because an ambulance or
other emergency vehicles were stuck in traffic. Since you have contro! over future contracts with the
police and fire departments, it's clear that the free speech of members of their chain of command is
being chilled. Everyone knows it's all about response time and one does not need to be an expert to
know that response time suffers in the modified landscape being promoted.

Please return downtown Nashua to the way it was prior to 2020 and be open to reasonable and polite
discussion with ALL interested parties regarding any desired(to few or many) changes going forward.

Julie Smith
18 Bangor St

Graham, Donna

I a
From: Laurie Ortolano Qa
Sent: Sunday, March 27, 2022 9:02 AM
To: Board of Aldermen
Cec: Graham, Donna; Cummings, Tim; Sullivan, Matthew; Rourke, Kevin (Police); Buxton,
Steve
Subject: Alderman Thibeault’s comments at the Task Force Meeting

CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.

Ms. Graham - Please place this email in the next BOA packet.
Good Morning Honorable Board Members;

I listened to the Task Force barrier meeting on Wednesday evening March 23, 2022. Mr.
Thibeault comes across uninformed, prejudicial, and curt. One wonders why he chose
public service. He is not my Alderman and therefore I will not be addressing him
personally.

His comments regarding safety were beyond ignorant. Comparing Main St to Amherst

St. and DW Highway is misguided and misapprehended. The location of the hospital is

an important factor here. Also DW Highway and Amherst St have pulled over space to

open a lane during traffic when emergency vehicles must pass. With the barriers up on
Main Street, there are stretches that there is no place for cars to move over.

What is astonishing to me is that Mr. Thieault has no understanding of risk assessments.
These are important studies performed when personal and public safety are being
questioned. I don't believe the City has been willing to perform a risk assessment and it
should have.

Additionally, lumping people opposed to masks as the one who appear to be opposed to
barriers is simply ludicrous and lacks logic. This is a prejudicial, broad brush statement
that shouldn't be expressed by an elected official in a public meeting. While this does
provide us a view of the officials thought process, the statement is ill conceived,
unintelligible, and offensive.

I supported wearing masks; I don't support downtown barriers. Mr. Thibeault has stated
that his Ward largely consists of Senior Citizens. My general observation is that Seniors

were concerned about covid safety and complied with mask wearing. I see no evidence

or parallel that all senior citizens want barriers.

This is an apples and oranges comparison and more importantly, destructive because it
allows Mr. Thibeault to cast aside the views of people and undervalue their public
comment because Mr. Thibeault inextricably links masks and barriers.

The Board should censure these comments in support of Nashua citizens, public
comment and the voices of those who elected you.

Sincerely,

Laurie Ortolano

41 Berkeley St
Nashua, NH 03064

NEW BUSINESS — RESOLUTIONS

R-16-073
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $46,592 FROM THE UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INTO POLICE GRANT ACTIVITY “2016 JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT
(MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL)”

R-16-074
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja
RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF $25,000 FROM DEPARTMENT #179 “LIBRARY,” ACCOUNT
CLASSIFICATION 51 “SALARIES AND WAGES” AND ACCOUNT CLASSIFICATION 52 “FRINGE
BENEFITS” INTO DEPARTMENT #183 “ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT”

NEW BUSINESS — ORDINANCES
Q-16-018
Endorser: Alderman June M. Caron
ESTABLISHING TWO FIFTEEN MINUTE PARKING TIME LIMIT ZONES ON PORTIONS OF
ARLINGTON STREET AND GILLIS STREET
Q-16-019
Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess
INCREASING SEWER USE FEES RATES AND CHARGES
PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN

Committee announcements:

ADJOURNMENT

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