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SPECIAL BOARD OF ALDERMEN

APRIL 15, 2019

7:00 PM Aldermanic Chamber

PRESIDENT LORI WILSHIRE CALLS ASSEMBLY TO ORDER PRAYER

OFFERED BY CITY CLERK PATRICIA D. PIECUCH

PLEDGE TO THE FLAG LED BY ALDERMAN JUNE M. CARON

ROLL CALL

PUBLIC HEARING
R-19-127
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS
NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF TWO MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED
THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2,800,000) FOR POLICE DEPARTMENT

HEATING, VENTILATION, AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM
(HVAC), AND WINDOW IMPROVEMENTS

Testimony in Favor
Testimony in Opposition
Testimony in Favor

Testimony in Opposition

ADJOURNMENT

A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, April 9, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. in the
Aldermanic Chamber.

Vice President Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. presided; City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch recorded.

Prayer was offered by City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch; Alderman Ernest Jette led in the Pledge to the
Flag.

The roll call was taken with 11 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Alderman Wilshire,
Alderman Dowd, Alderman Harriott-Gathright, and Alderman Gidge were recorded absent.

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

Vice President O’Brien

The acting president would like to note that many of the Aldermen that couldn’t make it this have been
properly excused. Some are ill and we wish and hope that they are feeling better. And | do know some

people in this Chamber who are still suffering and | am glad that you’re here so thank you.

REMARKS BY THE MAYOR

Mayor Donchess

Thank you. So | am going to try to keep my remarks brief tonight because | know there are a lot of
people here would like to speak | suppose on both sides of the tobacco ordinance. But | wanted to
speak about O-19-040 which is the Ordinance following up on the Assessing Audit which creates the
position, or re-creates the position of Administrative Services Director. We have discussed in
Committee and the Committee has recommended the creation of the position with some amendments,
which are fine. But just for the sake of history, the Administrative Services Director was first created in
around 1980 Maurice Arel was Mayor and the City was re-organizing and modernizing management
within the City. And some of you | know, know about that first-hand. The Administrative Services
Director position was created to oversee City Hall Departments including Assessing, Purchasing, IT,
Personnel, etc. It remained as an effective City Hall position; a manager within City Hall for some
decades through the administrations of Maurice Arel, myself, Rob Wagner, Don Davidson, Bernie
Streeter. Then early in Mayor Lozeau’s tenure, she decided to request that that position be changed to
a so-called City Stat position and that remained in effect for some years and ultimately that was phased
out.

But in the Assessing Audit, CFO Griffin and Chief of Staff Kim Kleiner recommended that we make a
cost neutral change which was to eliminate and reorganize, to eliminate the position of Chief Assessor
and reinstitute the position of Administrative Services Director. Now in looking back to history it turns out
that at least in the 90’s when there was an Administrative Services Director, there actually was no Chief
Assessor. There was a Manager of Assessing, a person without Assessing expertise certification, but
someone who managed the people who did the assessing. Now | have told the Committee and | think
I’ve told the whole Board that as we move forward, what is going to happen, and we are going to report
to you, the Board of Aldermen later in the month, regarding all of the changes and improvements that
have taken place as a result of the audit.

In addition, in terms of procedure and work load and many of the things that are now taking place, so we
look forward to be able to enlighten you regarding all of the changes. In addition, if we determine or if
you believe that we should contract with an outside assessing firm to provide oversight beyond what is
being done; but | suggest you hear the report at least before thinking about reaching any conclusions.
We certainly can go ahead with that or if the Board of Aldermen were to recommend in the budget that a
Head Assessor be re-hired, certainly you need to add to the budget to do that, but we would certainly
proceed to try to hire such a position even though we think you should take some time and hear the
reporting and make a decision later.

Board of Aldermen 04-09-2019 Page 2

The Chief Assessor’s position was one that was very difficult to fill last time; one applicant is one reason
for what was recommended in the audit. The number | think is 190 residential abatement requests; 190
is in line with previous revaluation years. There are another 190 or so commercial abatement requests
but they are in different in character in the sense that seeking, there’s a business really that has evolved
regarding seeking commercial abatements. Some property owners just file on every property every
year. There are people out here who offer their services free of charge to any commercial owner who
wants to seek an abatement and like a contingency fee on an attorney, agrees to take a share of the
profit or the savings. So there is a bit of business and | think the residential are different in character
from the commercial in the sense that the residential are really people who on their own individual
homes believe they were improperly assessed. Certainly they should pursue the abatement process as
far as it takes them; there are some abatements that are being granted and others denied by the Board
of Assessors.

We have instituted some deadlines and other things in the office to try to handle the work flow, to try to
complete as many of the abatement requests as possible by July 1, when abatement requests go up to
the Board of Land & Tax Appeals or the Superior Court. We met with Commissioner Stepp who is the
DRA Commissioner and her staff. She has said that Nashua is in compliance with all of their
requirements right now and certainly we are going to continue to work with them, as every City and
Town has an obligation too, to make sure that the assessing goes well. But again they reiterated that
we are in compliance with all of their requirements. So | would ask that you enable us to move forward
as quickly as possible with the improvement of City Hall Operations that will be accomplished by the
creation of the Administrative Services Position; not only in Assessing but in other areas and that you
pass Ordinance O-19-040.

The only other thing | was going to mention Mr. President, is the bond issue for the landfill. This will
enable us to expand the landfill, so-called Phase III, to extend its life by 10 to 15 years. Right now there
is maybe a year to a year and a half left on the life of the landfill. The next stage, which has begun,
Public Works has begun to seek to license Phase IV which would extend the landfill for another 40 years
or so. But the landfill is a valuable asset, this has of course received the recommendation of the Budget
Committee and | ask you to consider it favorably. And of course | am available for questions or
comments but that is all | have Mr. President.

Vice President O’Brien
Do any members of the Board have any response to the remarks of the Mayor?

RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR - None

RECOGNITION PERIOD - None

READING MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARINGS

There being no objection, Vice President O’Brien declared the minutes of the Board of Aldermen
meetings of March 25, 2019, March 26, 2019, and the public hearing conducted by the Committee
on Infrastructure on March 27, 2019, accepted, placed on file, and the readings suspended.

COMMUNICATIONS REQUIRING ONLY PROCEDURAL ACTIONS AND WRITTEN REPORTS
FROM LIAISONS

From: Larry D. Goodhue, CEO/CFO, Pennichuck Corporation
Re: Annual Meeting of Sole Shareholder

There being no objection, Vice President O’Brien accepted the communication, placed it on file,
and referred it to the Pennichuck Water Special Committee.

Board of Aldermen 04-09-2019 Page 3

PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS
EVENING

Vice President O’Brien

Folks may | give you a caution. We'’ve had something like 23 people sign up. The period that is allotted to
this is supposed to be 15 minutes. We have a very active agenda this evening. But | want to hear and we
all do want to hear what you have to say. So when | call you up, please give your name and your address
and express your opinions before the Board. However, if somebody else also came up and expressed the
same opinion, it would be appreciated if you recognize that somebody else has already spoken and that
would be fine as well too and we will try to get through the list. So that being done, | will now call Andrew
Olding to come forward.

Andrew Olding It’s Andrew Olding.
Vice President O’Brien

Olding, thank you. May | ask sir, to you and to others, if | murder the name, your forgiveness please, thank
you.

Andrew Olding You are forgiven. So | am Andrew Olding, | live at 8 Royal Crest Drive in the south part of
Nashua and | wanted to speak against the smoking bill that is in front of you today. There’s a bunch of
points that I’m sure other people are going to be making here tonight. But the big one that | wanted to
focus one is one that | brought up when this was first brought on this floor the night of the Mayor’s State of
the City address. In that address, the Mayor spent a lot of time talking about wanting more young people to
move to the City. If you want young people to move to the City, treating 18, 19, and 20 year olds different
than you treat 21, 22, 23 and so on year-olds when it comes to the purchase of tobacco. When the rest of
the State doesn’t operate this way outside of a couple cities, is not the way to do, this is not the way to grow
Nashua. Thanks.

Jeffrey Creem Hi I’m Jeff Creem from 7 Celeste Street in the north end of Nashua and | am here to speak
in opposition to the proposed smoking ordinance. | think for a few people in the room probably know on
Thursday the House is going to vote on HB 2 and in there is the definition of what tobacco products mean
which actually differs from the definition we’ve got in the ordinance here. Specifically in the House Bill that
excludes products that are basically certified by the FDA to be used for smoking cessation and that’s not
really in our definition. So we will end up denying young adults ages 18 to 21 with the ability to purchase
products that they might want to actually have access to in order to basically stop smoking

| guess I'd further go to say that there’s a portion of this Bill that has re-education camp for cases when
people are repeatedly going back and violating the ordinance. And in general most of the people who will
be going through this will have already gone through 12 or now maybe 13 years of Government education
and that still hasn’t sunk in, so | don’t really think that additional Government re-education is necessary.
Thank you

Melissa Creem Hil am Melissa Creem, 7 Celeste Street. | am also opposed to this bill, | agree with AJ
and my husband that you are not encouraging young people to move to the City. There are 18, 19, 20
years old, they are old enough to go to war for this country; they are old enough to have a cigarette, they
are old enough to have a drink as far as I’m concerned. Leave them alone, stop meddling in their lives,
they are 18, they are adults.

Stacie Laughton | am Stacie Laughton, Ward 1 resident off of Broad Street in Nashua, 507 Broad Street,
Nashua, New Hampshire. I’m not going to read all of these that | have put out, | had written up something
but in the observance of time | am just going to basically say because | have seen the previous public
hearings and | am sure everyone has the same things that | was going to say, have already been said.

Board of Aldermen 04-09-2019 Page 4

You’ve all heard it. | am going to say | support this Ordinance. | can say from personal experience that
when | was 18, yes | thought it was cool, | thought that it was something that you know, it was pleasurable |
thought. In recent times | have decided to give it up. If | had been forced to wait until | was 21, when my
mind was more mature, and thinking more appropriately, | would have said “No, | will not smoke”. | support
this Ordinance because we must protect our young people. What | saw in the last Hearing when there was
a resident who brought up a bag full of e-cigarettes that were collected at our High Schools, | was appalled.
| feel as though that should not be going on in our schools. We already have a problem with drugs in our
schools; we have problems with a lot of things. We must protect our youth. We must protect their minds
until they are fully developed. This is not about taking freedoms away, this is about protecting our young
people. And if you are afraid that by voting for this in favor that you may not get re-elected because your
people might think you are taking freedoms away, don’t be afraid of that. Stand up for our young people,
protect them and pass this Ordinance and | hope that the Mayor when it gets to his desk that he signs it
and we make this an effective law in the City of Nashua. And let’s make Nashua the prime example of
protecting our youth. Thank you.

Janet Valuk Good evening, my name is Janet Valuk and | live at 41 Roy Street in Ward 6. And | did talk
last week to many of you that were here, but not all of you were here so | am just going to highlight a few of
what | said last week in lieu of the time and the number of people that do want to speak. First of all,
nicotine is highly addictive, in fact it as addictive as heroin and cocaine according to the National Institute
on Drug Abuse. The Addiction Center reports that according to recent research that the five most addictive
drugs in order are: Heroin, Alcohol, Cocaine, Barbiturates and Nicotine, in that order. It may seem like we
are focusing on vaping right now but | want to emphasize that the FDA reports that the significant rise in E-
Cigarette use among student populations has resulted in overall tobacco product use increases of 38%
among high school students and 29% among middle school students, between 2017 and 2018 which has
negated the declines that we have seen in previous years.

This is a cause for concern because tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in
the United States and nearly all tobacco products contain Nicotine. As adolescent brains are still
developing, Nicotine exposure during youth and young adulthood can change the way the brain works
leading to a lifetime of addiction and in some cases, causing long-lasting effects such as increased
impulsivity and mood disorders. Studies also find teens who use e-cigarettes have an increased risk of
trying combustible cigarettes.

While completing switching from combustible cigarettes to E-Cigarettes may potentially benefit addicted
adult smokers, no tobacco product, including E-Cigarettes is safe for a teenager to use. For each teen and
young adult prevented from becoming an established smoker, this will save them an early loss of life, lost
wages due to illnesses, costly medical care, lower productivity and increased disability. And we don’t know
all of the issues with vaping but | do know last week the FDA is investigating whether or not E-Cigarettes
may trigger seizures in some people who use the Nicotine vaping devices. They said Wednesday that it
had reviewed 35 reports of seizures among E-Cigarette users, mainly in young people. And they did stress
that it’s not clear whether or not the vaping was the cause of that, but they encouraged the public to report
information about the issue.

The Surgeon General reported on December 18" that this is his fourth in ten years from his office quoting
him, “Il am officially declaring E-Cigarette use among youth an epidemic in the United States”. In closing I’d
like to leave you with the same statement that | made last week, this is not a war on tobacco. It’s not a war
on the stores that sell tobacco or the people that are already smoking. This is in defense of the brains of
our children and young adults. And if it is the money that might be lost by the stores, it is so important,
please think about our youth’s health, not about the profit. I’m asking you to please not put money above
health. Nashua can be an example as Keene, Newmarket, Dover and our neighbors to the south, the
entire State of Massachusetts has now gone to 21; to send a message to the State that this should be done
state-wide.

And just to let you know what a problem this is in Nashua, as the person that spoke before me said, | guess
| am considered the bag lady now. This is what was confiscated from students at both Nashua High South

Accounts Receivable — Billed, Net

Accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amounts. The allowance for doubtful
accounts is our best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in our existing accounts
receivable, and is determined based on historical write-off experience and the aging of
account balances. We review the allowance for doubtful accounts quarterly. Account bal-
ances are written off against the allowance when it is probable the receivable will not be
recovered.

Accounts Receivable — Unbilled, Net

We read our customer meters on a monthly basis and record revenues based on meter reading
results. Information from the last meter reading date is used to estimate the value of unbilled
revenues through the end of the accounting period. Estimates of water utility revenues for
water delivered to customers but not yet billed are accrued at the end of each accounting
period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Inventory

Inventory is stated at the lower of cost, using the average cost method, or market.

Deferred Land Costs

Included in deferred land costs is our Company’s original basis in its undeveloped land-
holdings and any land improvement costs, which are stated at the lower of cost or market.
All costs associated with real estate and land projects are capitalized and allocated to the
project to which the costs relate. Administrative labor and the related fringe benefit costs
attributable to the acquisition, active development, and construction of land parcels are
capitalized as deferred land costs. No labor and benefits were capitalized for the years ended
December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Deferred Charges and Other Assets

Deferred charges include certain regulatory assets and costs of obtaining debt financing.
Regulatory assets are amortized over the periods they are recovered through NHPUC-
authorized water rates. Deferred financing costs are amortized over the term of the related
bonds and notes. Our Company’s utility subsidiaries have recorded certain regulatory assets
in cases where the NHPUC has permitted, or is expected to permit, recovery of these costs
over future periods. Currently, the regulatory assets are being amortized over periods ranging
from 2 to 25 years.

Contributions in Aid of Construction
Under construction contracts with real estate developers and others, our Company’s utility

subsidiaries may receive non-refundable advances for the cost of installing new water mains.
These advances are recorded as Contributions in Aid of Construction (“CIAC”). The utility

14

Board of Aldermen 04-09-2019 Page 5

and North since September. There’s a large amount and the majority of the students in the High Schools
are under 18. But also a survey an academic survey that was administered showed that 61.5% of youth
who reported current use, get their devices from someone that is legal other than a parent. Thank you very
much for your time. As you can see | am very passionate about protecting our youth and hopefully this
important ordinance that Alderman Jette is proposing will pass. Thank you.

Justin O’Donnell Thank you Mr. President, members of the Board of Aldermen, my name is Justin
O’Donnell and | live at 355 Main Street in Nashua. Some of you may know me, | have run for federal office
here in New Hampshire several times. | am again seeking federal office in 2020 as an independent
candidate and | usually campaign on a platform of leaving all legislative and policy decisions to the most
local level possible, which would be Boards like yourself in a Town or a City. However, just because | want
to make those decisions at the most local level possible to keep the State and Federal Governments from
meddling in people’s lives, to give the most local control doesn’t mean that exerting as much local control
as possible is the right answer.

Now | understand all the fears and the hopes that we can do something to better the health of the children
and our teens in our high schools. However emotions don’t make for good public policy. Emotions ignore
the facts. Emotions don’t recognize that this bill you are voting on does not ban possession, it doesn’t even
penalize anyone for possession. It only penalizes students for the attempt for the purchase. It only
penalizes 18 to 21 year olds if they attempt to purchase it and these stores that will sell it to them. It also
exempts on-line sales, it doesn’t prohibit anyone from purchasing anything on-line unless the distributor or
retailer is in Nashua. Because an outside business doesn’t care what your laws are, they care about their
profit margin and that’s it. Overseas sellers from China and Europe will ship the vaping products, I’ve
purchased them on-line myself, there is no age verification, they don’t care as long as you pay. They don’t
care where it comes from.

Our concern is about the kids in the schools who are getting access to these when it already illegal for them
under 18 to purchase them in the first place. And the studies show they do that these students get their
vaping products and their tobacco products from people other than parents over the legal age, the same
people they get their alcohol from and their marihuana from, things we’ve already banned and made illegal
for kids under the age of 21 yet still hasn’t stopped. All this Bill will accomplish is to create an anti-business
environment by driving those sales outside of Nashua because it’s not illegal in Merrimack, it’s not illegal in
Hudson for 20 year olds and 19 year olds. It’s not illegal in Manchester for anyone. You'll create a black
market, you'll create an increased value for those who do travel to purchase them and bring them back to
the kids who want them. You won’t solve the problem you'll create a bigger one. This Bill has no teeth of
enforcement. This Bill doesn’t solve the problem; it just creates new ones. It is a Bill proposed on emotion
to do something good without recognizing that the public policy is more important and noting how it is going
to affect the community as a whole.

Our businesses in Nashua, some rely on tobacco sales, small independent family owned convenience
stores that operate a tiny margin of profit to begin with rely on the fact that we are competitive and people
from Massachusetts drive up here to buy their tobacco by carton at a time because we haven't legislated
away their ability to do what they want. You will create a patchwork of regulation, you will create a disparity
in law between Nashua and Merrimack and other States. And while | usually advocate for the most local
level of control if you are going to do something like this, one it has to have teeth to enforce it and two it
would have to be State-Wide because as of now there is no incentive for someone who lives on the border
to just not drive to Merrimack, Hudson, Manchester, it’s not that difficult to get them and bring them back to
Nashua when there is no punishment for doing so. So this ordinance as amended is a waste of everyone’s
consideration as far as I’m concerned because it will change nothing.

And | understand the concerns; | agree with the concerns. | started smoking at 16, I’ve been quitting for 13
years now | say. It is incredibly addictive, it’s very difficult to overcome. But if we are going to argue that 18
year olds aren’t emotionally or mentally mature enough to make that decision for themselves, then why do
we let them vote? Thank you.

Board of Aldermen 04-09-2019 Page 6

Joerel Nieves Hello everyone my name is Joerel Nieves, | am 18 | go Nashua South. | live at 9 Forge
Drive. | am going to leave all the big facts to them, they got all that. | am just here to say that this bill will
prevent our youth to you know make it harder for them to find ways to get it and that’s really all | had to say.
Enjoy the rest of the time.

Desne Bueso Hello my name is Desne Bueso | live at 86 B Kinsley Street. | am here to support this new
law. | believe that | represent the youth here in Nashua and from personal experience | know that a lot of
high schools, middle schools, they all have access to this. And they all start addiction early and | do
believe that we are the future and if we keep this up it will not end well. And | do believe that this may not
ban anything as the gentleman said before me, but it is a first step in getting somewhere, because you
must take steps forward to get to your destination. Thank you.

Albee Budnitz Hello I’m Albee Budnitz, | live at 27 Wheaton Drive here in Nashua. | first will reiterate or not
reiterate but | am here to support Mr. Jette’s Bill and | will support everything that Jan Valuk said prior. | just
want to make maybe 2 or 3 new points. | think the most important point, well one that was brought up
earlier, vaping is not FDA approved for tobacco cessation, it may be at some point, and that’s being looked
at but it is not approved for tobacco cessation right now. Number two, by increasing the age to 271, it will
not solve all problems, but it is part of a community-wide, comprehensive program that has proven with
combustible tobacco use to be probably the second most important advance that we’ve made in the last 70
years in public and population health after vaccination which is another story but we won't get into that
tonight.

But | teach Public & Population Health to 3“ and 4" year medical students at Dartmouth University of New
England and this is what they are getting. Two more points, one is that increasing the age to 21 has been
shown and | have the backup data for that, to reduce initiation of use by 12 to 17 year old kids by 20% to
30%. That in turn results in remarkably reduced morbidity and mortality later in life. It is not like opioids
where you die then at 18 or 20 or 30, you don’t die until you’re old, at 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s and | am well
beyond those decades, so fortunately haven’t smoked. But it will save that morbidity and mortality for our
youth when they get older.

Finally, just to reiterate Jan’s point, the brain is not fully developed until the mid-20’s, maybe the early 20’s
for girls, mid-20’s for boys. And those brains are unbelievably susceptible to Nicotine which is a gateway
drug to opioids and alcohol. Thank you.

Mike Apfelberg Good evening, Mike Apfelberg, 7 Edson Street, proud resident of Ward 3 speaking here in
support of the tobacco 21 legislation. So you know according to Stanford University and the National
Institutes for Health, as Jan and Albee mentioned, the brain is developing through the age of 25. And up to
that point in time, it is therefore more susceptible to becoming addicted. Addiction is a brain disease, we
have come to learn this. The problem with Nicotine is that every time you take a hit off of a cigarette or a
vaping device, every hit that you get of Nicotine corresponds to a hit of Dopamine being released in the
brain and that is what makes this drug Nicotine so addictive in and of itself.

Now Nicotine has not necessarily been proven to be carcinogenic but it has been shown to have a strong
linkage to cancer. It is definitely known to create cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal diseases, it
decreases your immune response and it can have harmful effects on your reproductive life in later years.
One of the things that we’ve heard as an argument, why we should not move forward with this legislation is
because you can do a lot of things at the age of 18. How many times have we heard this evening and on
social media, you can send kids off to fight for us in war at the age of 18. | would remind you there are
some things you can’t do at the age of 18. And there are reasons for that. You cannot purchase and
consume alcohol, you cannot go to a nightclub, you can’t drive a school bus, you cannot adopt a child, you
can’t fly a commercial airplane, you can’t rent a car, you cannot buy a handgun or ammunition for that
handgun according to Federal Law. In Massachusetts at least, you cannot purchase marihuana.

So why is that we limit those things to people for later years? It is because we know that adolescents are
not ready to make each and every decision in life. And so that could include the smoking of tobacco

Board of Aldermen 04-09-2019 Page 7

products. You are also going to hear, and you’ve heard this argument about well you can go to Hudson,
you can go to Merrimack. You know, | understand that argument, be can also be the first, we are the
second largest City in the State and we can be the first of those two large cities to prohibit this and we can
be the first then to lead a movement to hopefully make this a State-Wide initiative. So | do hope that you
will consider supporting this legislation as it is written or as it might be amended. Thank you very much

Jon Shaer Good evening everyone. So | am personally not a resident of Nashua but | am here
representing the convenience stores. | am the Executive Director of the New England Convenient Store
Association and | have a number of members specifically Shell at 190 Amherst Street. So as | said | am
the Executive Director of the New England Convenient Store Association. And what we have is we have a
vape problem, we do, we clearly have a vape problem nobody is questioning that. Nobody is questioning
the harmful effects of Nicotine or JUUL or any of that — granted. What we are here tonight to talk about is
whether or not raising the age to 21 is an effective policy. Is it going to solve the problem, balanced with
what hardships is it going to create for both adults here as well as the businesses here. 20.8% of high
school students, in the latest National Youth Tobacco Survey are vaping, are using E-Cigarettes. Cigars,
cigarettes, smokeless, have all fallen since 2011.

So the logic here is if an 18 year old, 18 year olds are still in high school largely and therefore raising the
age essentially blocks that pipeline. | guess that makes sense logically, but the logic is flawed because it
isn’t an effective obstacle because it doesn’t address really important loopholes such as on-line access,
cross border sales or even the social sourcing frankly that it seeks to plug. In fact at the State SB248 which
was a similar bill to raise the age to 21, our Association did not oppose and we didn’t oppose it because it
was State-Wide. We do oppose this because an individual City or Town for that matter does not effectively,
it will not effectively do what it seeks to do because there are just too many other loopholes, it doesn’t take
much to go to another town to buy these products. And someone earlier said about the black market, it will
happen. What it also will do is it will harm the convenience stores, my members, because these sales are
now going to be exported to these other towns.

And it is not just the tobacco sales, it is the bread, it is the milk, it is the gas, it is everything else, it is the
market basket as we refer to it. So this Board, which is certainly has the people of Nashua in mind, should
also | hope have the businesses of Nashua in mind. The people that hire and invest in their community and
that business will be exported. | should say retailers do stand with tobacco, there is a 97% compliance rate
in this City among retailers, they are doing their job. What you may not know, maybe you do maybe you
don’t, but the State took in $245 million dollars in tobacco related revenue in the latest fiscal year; spent
$140,000.00 on tobacco control programs, a paltry $140,000.00. No wonder we have an epidemic. | mean
| do a lot of cities and towns all over New England and often | hear “kids don’t know it is addictive, parents
don’t know what to look for’. | have no doubt, | have no doubt — when New Hampshire and other States
are spending so little on education and cessation programs.

So here we are, let’s raise the age and let’s in effect punish the retailers and | know that isn’t the direct
reason for doing it but it is effectively what happens, when there are alternatives. And finally, and
somebody mentioned it earlier, this Ordinance does not address use and possession. Someone said there
is no teeth and that’s true. So if all we are going to do is raise the age and continue to point the finger at
the those that are selling it and not point the finger at those people that are using it, possessing it and using
it when they shouldn’t be, what are we telling our youth? Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. If you get ‘em great,
smoke ‘em. | see Officers in the audience; they wouldn’t be able to do a thing. So | leave you with that.
Happy to answer any questions.

Vice President O’Brien
Thank you, we don’t have a question period but thank you sir for comments.
David Garofalo Hello my name is David Garofalo, 15 Spit Brook Road here in Nashua, New Hampshire. |

own and operate Two Guys Smoke Shop. At Two Guys Smoke Shop we don’t sell cigarettes, we don’t sell
vape, we don’t sell chewing tobacco; we sell cigars. But we are grouped in with this, with all other tobacco.

Board of Aldermen 04-09-2019 Page 8

Apparently it looks like vape seems to be the problem but we become one of the unforeseen consequences
with this. Currently the legal age to purchase tobacco in the United States is 18 and New Hampshire and it
is 18. Today the City of Nashua is considering overstepping its boundaries as far as | am concerned in
trying to overstep the State and National Laws.

Talking about rights, you are considering taking away a 20 year adult rights. A person who can go into
legal contracts, an adult who can be sued or sue somebody; an adult who can vote, join the military, go to
war, get married and divorced, serve on a jury, have children and | believe can adopt a child even though |
heard contrary here in New Hampshire. These adults have rights and can do all this but for some reason
think they shouldn’t be allowed to make a decision to buy a tobacco product or not. That would only be in
Nashua, New Hampshire. If they do commit this crime, they would be charged as an adult, but |
understand that has been taken off the docket here today also and that’s because it turned out to be a in
illegal act Unrealistic and inappropriate legal act for a 20 year old adult who can use tobacco product now
and suffer legal consequences if they continued effectively encouraging to circumvent the law and exercise
rights currently available to them today.

Talking about money, this action would have a direct negative fiscal impact on the State Tax collected in
addition to our very own Nashua Retailers such as myself. Retailers will experience a sales decline of a
legal tobacco product to a legal aged adult and only in the City of Nashua. The City would not only restrict
the rights of a Nashua adult, 20 years old, but at the same time, hurt the Nashua businesses only. The
brick and mortar retailers who are already struggling, like all brick and mortars, to compete on-line.
Consumers can buy in the next City or buy the products on line with no consequences. It won’t stop
anybody who wants it, it will just take away the sales away from the retailers in the State including myself.
It will hurt New Hampshire businesses and nothing more. As many adults from neighboring higher State
tax, such as Massachusetts, currently purchase tobacco products in New Hampshire, the revenue lost for
the State will be considerable. | do the highest cigar sales in the United States of America, maybe the
World, at Two Guys Smoke Shop with cigars and we will be directly affected in a major way. Nashua is a
border City and the reason why | moved my business from Massachusetts to New Hampshire.

| look at other costs, Law Enforcement if they are to somehow try to control this, the cost that would happen
and the time and man hours that it would take away from the violent crimes and drug epidemic we have.
Also the increased tensions would be taking away man hours from them. Talking about the law at the
same time you should look at possible law suits that could happen if this action was to take place. The
Attorney General in New Hampshire believed that Nashua was over-stepping its boundaries and that’s why
the change we have from last week into what we have here today. New Hampshire uses Dillon’s Rule
which is not the home rule status, meaning Nashua Government may engage in activity only if it is
significantly sanctioned by the State Government. This is not, this action that is going to take place.
Nashua cannot make it a crime to possess and use tobacco, once again a reason for the change to
someone in New Hampshire. But I'll go as far as to say that this would also happen if the age was changed
in the State and we will have to let the courts decide on that. A yes vote would only hurt the sales to
retailers here in Nashua, New Hampshire and not stop the use or the possession for sure. | expect it to be
unconstitutional with the sales as well. There is no upside.

Lastly employees, part-time summer help that | may hire from year-to-year that is typically somebody going
to college and with me is one of my employees that started with me when he started college. He went
through his college years and then decided to stay with us. He’s now with our company for 25 years and
he’s not the only one. Please leave these actions to the State and Federal Government where they belong.
This is not and should not be a Nashua Board of Aldermen issue. | believe you are over-stepping your
boundaries and trying to hurt small businesses within your City only. That is not the position here that
should be taken. You are here to help us, | hope, that’s why | moved up here. US Congress has
introduced a Bill to do this nationally and has added age verification for on-line vaping products, which
doesn’t exist right now. Right now 70% of tobacco products excluding cigarettes is sold on-line; 70%, the
other 30% is for the struggling brick and mortar retailers that are out here.