nce
e Guida
Hah
V
z
%
o
fot
bene
'
Concept Plan
MAIN STREET PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
EMS Nite
(p--
ve puamL cine
Y.
SST
®
SIVAS NTISA
4
i
4
aod
Second Floor
ome
wo
be
av
anal
set
@
bee
hed
y)
A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Wednesday, September 12, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. in
the Aldermanic Chamber.
President Brian S. McCarthy presided; City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch recorded.
Prayer was offered by City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch; Alderman Gidge led in the Pledge to the Flag.
The roll call was taken with 13 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Alderman Wilshire and
Alderman Jette were recorded absent. Alderman Schmidt and Alderman Klee arrived after roll call at 8:18
p.m. and 8:20 p.m., respectively.
Mayor James W. Donchess and Corporation Counsel Steven A. Bolton were also in attendance.
President McCarthy
Alderman Wilshire is unable to join us this evening, Alderman Klee and Schmidt are at a meeting of the
County Delegation and hope to be here shortly.
REMARKS BY THE MAYOR
First yesterday we held the State Primary and here in Nashua | want to say that our City Clerk Patricia
Piecuch and her staff performed admirably as usual. We had a lot of people vote, especially on the
Democratic side, more than were expected and we also had a group of newer or new moderators and clerks
at the various wards, so the ward workers are not quite as experienced as they could be, they are gaining
that experience quickly now. But City Clerk Piecuch and her staff did a great job of running a very smooth
election. | know they were here very late last night and very early in the morning. So | wanted to thank her
and commend her on another great job in making sure that the elections here in Nashua run smoothly.
Second Mr. President | wanted to mention that we have the escrows on the budget to be voted on. |
appeared and talked in some depth with the Budget Committee about these at the last meeting of the
Budget Committee, but | wanted to mention a couple basic of things about them especially for Aldermen
who have not been here through this before. What we are doing is we are reallocating money that had been
previously appropriated for various purposes but which was not spent during the course of the fiscal year.
This is money that, again, had previously been appropriated, when the cap was in effect this was already
cap qualified money because it was already appropriated under a cap. | will remind the Board, which I’m
sure you know, that this year we passed the budget which was up only 1.6% nearly a million dollars below
what the cap maximum would have been had the cap still been affected and one of the lower budgets we
have seen in quite some time.
The principal, the vast majority of the proposed escrows will go into various reserve accounts, the Capital
Equipment Reserve Fund which is future expenditure on equipment that the City will ultimately need as well
as a building reserve accounts, risk reserve accounts, other ways to save money for the future. So the
money that is being directed into these reserve accounts is really being devoted to the tax payers in the
sense that saving a dollar now means that we won't have to spend a dollar later, or appropriate a dollar
later. And | think it is a conservative way to go, it is following the procedure that the City has adopted and
implemented for a number of years. So | hope that the Board will follow the recommendation of the Budget
Committee and recommend the escrows, | think there is one amendment but pass the recommendation of
the Budget Committee.
Next Mr. Chair, we have tomorrow the Mohawk Tannery meeting with the neighborhood over by the tannery,
the Little Florida and the other streets around the tannery and anyone else from the public or the Board of
Aldermen, hopefully some Aldermen will, | Know you will, but you are obviously invited and encouraged to
attend. That will be at the Amherst Street School at 7:00 and at that time the purpose is to meet with
neighbors to get their input as to how we should proceed with respect to the recommendation or the
proposal of the EPA regarding the capping or clean-up of the old tannery site.
Board of Aldermen 09-12-2018 Page 2
We are going to get in a lot more detail about this tomorrow, but suffice it to say that there is no agreement
or deal or anything with the developer or the EPA; to approve any kind of proposal like this would require
multiple Aldermanic votes on various issues, bonding, re-zoning, the creation of a TIF. All of this would
require public input, some of these official public hearings, Aldermanic votes, Planning Board would
probably go there a couple different times. My point being that there isn’t and there couldn’t be any
agreement, what we are trying to do is just find out what people think we should do at this point. Should we
do the capping thing or should we try to hold out for some maybe a longer term or more different solution.
So | am looking forward to meeting with the neighborhood and getting their input, getting their thoughts now
that they have met with the EPA and met with at least one developer, proposed developer, and find out what
they think about how we should go forward and really — the neighborhood could reach a consensus, | think
that’s the direction we should actually proceed
Next Mr. President now you sometimes accuse me of filibustering so | don’t want to go on too long here, but
I’ve got another topic that | wanted to touch on, which is the assessments. Now the notices have gone out
to all the properties. At the end of the week, the assessment notices will go out to all the commercial,
meaning the shopping malls, the multi-family apartment complexes, the industrial properties, all those
notices are going to go out at the end of the week. The total value of the City is likely to climb by over $2
billion dollars from about $8.3 billion current assessments to $10.5 billion or thereabouts.
Now as we have discussed before, this is not something that we undertook because we wanted to. We
undertook this because there is a State Law and even a provision of the State Constitution which requires
that every community re-evaluate, reassess every 5 years. That means take everything to 100% of fair
market value. This has been done in Hollis recently, Merrimack, and other communities all around New
Hampshire. We hired KRT because at the beginning, and this all gets a little bit technical, but the
equalization ratio for commercial properties was in the mid-90’s, meaning that the approved sales, the
qualified sales that had been analyzed suggested that commercial properties were on average assessed at
90% of fair market value whereas the residential properties were more like 80%. Had those numbers held,
we would have resulted in a large and significant shift of the burden from commercial on to residential,
because the commercial values would have gone up a little bit while residential values went up a lot. So the
portion of the whole represented by the residential values would have climbed.
But, | think we made the right decision, you approved it, to hire KRT, experts in developing the income
approach and other ways of evaluating commercial property. They looked at some of the sales that had
been previously been disqualified and in the end, commercial values have gone up nearly as much as
residential. But what has happened is that within the residential sector, there has been a lot of dispersion as
to what has happened in terms of the value of properties. We have properties that went up not at all, or the
assessment on which went down a little bit. On the other hand there are properties where the assessment
went up 25%, 30%, 40% or 50%.
Now obviously this is unfortunate for the people whose values are going up so much. But this is what the
market, beyond Nashua and in the City reflects, that homes that sold for $200,000.00 five years ago might
be selling for $280,000.00 today. Because the total value of the property is going to go up, the tax rate is
going to go down, no question about it. We are projecting, it is now at $25.79, it will go below $22.00 and be
somewhere between $22.00 and $21.00, probably closer to $21.00 than to $22.00. So the tax rate is going
to go down probably more than $4.00. As aresult the idea that if your assessment goes up 20%, your
taxes are going to up 20%, that clearly is not going to hold. But kind of in the middle of the spectrum, where
an assessment might go up 22% or 23%, you might see the taxes go up a little bit, several per cent.
For people whose assessments went up 10% or 15%, their taxes are going to actually fall. For someone
who stayed the same or went down, those taxes will go down significantly. For someone whose
assessment went up 40% or 50%, unfortunately their taxes will go up quite a bit and that is an unfortunate
part of this. One reason that we sought a delay, just because we didn’t want to see anyone pay higher
taxes, but this is what the market suggests and State Law really demands.
What we need to ensure is that anyone who has a problem regarding their assessment and believes that it
is too high or too low, | probably won’t see too many of those complaints, but believes that their assessment
Board of Aldermen 09-12-2018 Page 3
is not right or that the assessment of some of their neighbors is too low and we have gotten that and you
may hear that tonight actually, there is a process to follow which is to go to a KRT meeting, one of which is
being held tonight in Ward 5, lay out the facts and ask them to review your property or the other property
that you want them to look at and they will do that. They are moving through the Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9 but you can go to another Ward, you know they are trying to get mostly people from each Ward to go to
that meeting so that works most efficiently but you can go to any one.
Ultimately, they will look at your property, the City Assessors will review it and ultimately if you still disagree
there is a process of an abatement request that can be formally made, then the Board of Assessors will
review. If you don’t agree with their conclusion, you can appeal to the Board of Land & Tax Appeals or to the
Superior Court. This is laid out in State Law. And | have tried to make it clear to anyone who has raised this
and there have been certainly a few people that we as elected officials cannot get involved. |, as Mayor, in
two terms before and one term now, | have never intervened in any single assessment case. Why?
Because this cannot be a political process, it has to be based upon the facts, a very complicated set of
criteria which the assessors apply.
It has to be based upon the merits of each case, we cannot have a situation of where if you talk to the Mayor
or you talk to the right Alderman you get lower taxes. That would undermine the complete integrity of the
system, mistakes can be made but those mistakes will be good faith mistakes and not based upon who you
know, or who you are or anything like that based upon the objective evaluation of KRT, of the assessment
people, the Board of Assessors and the Land & Tax Appeal or the Superior Court.
So | know that was a little long but | think it is a matter of great concern to the community and | think we
need to make it clear that everybody is doing their best to give everyone a fair hearing to make sure that all
taxes are based upon fair market value and that this is not a process where the Board of Aldermen or the
Mayor or individual Aldermen can intervene to try to influence an individual assessment either the
assessment of the person who is complaining or an assessment down the street that they think is wrong.
Finally, | thank you for not giving me the hook Mr. President and finally, Saturday we have the multi-cultural
festival at the Elm Street Middle School, which | think will be great. We have a lot of different cultures
coming in with food and entertainment from 12 to 4. | hope everybody who has any free time that day can
consider trying to attend. That’s all | have Mr. President.
RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR
Alderman Lopez
| just wanted to echo the sentiment of appreciation towards City Clerk Piecuch and her staff. | know
Ward 4 had a particularly large turnout for a State primary and there were some new moderators and
clerks, but she shepherded them through it and | just wanted to express that appreciation.
| also wanted to acknowledge that this was a pretty conservative budget season and | raised some
objections to maybe it was a little too stark in terms of some programs that were addressing our most
needy. But it was through the leadership of President McCarthy and Alderman Dowd that assured us
that we were on the right track and there was a purpose for this and | think without that leadership we
would not have a plan with all of the property revaluations. The sticker shock that is being, that you
know property owners are feeling right now was something we were warned about, we were planning
for, so | appreciate that.
Also | wanted to thank the Mayor for his comments regarding the tannery and willingness to meet with
the neighbors tomorrow.
Board of Aldermen 09-12-2018 Page 4
Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja
Yes, | would also like to echo the thank you to the City Clerk and all of the workers. | know it is a long
day and | know some of them were working even prior to the election counting ballots and doing all of
the work so thank you.
Mayor Donchess you mentioned the criteria that was used to determine the property values and | was
asked where someone could find that information. Is it posted anywhere on line?
Mayor Donchess
There are so-called property cards, it is now an online record but it used to be on a card, so it’s called a
property card. You can see the property card for each property on line and get the basic information.
But of course the most basic criteria are how large the house is, what neighborhood it is, how many
square feet, how many rooms. But deeper than that you have questions of the grade of the property,
which has to do with the quality of the construction, there is a depreciation factor which includes a
couple of kind of subsets, one of which is condition, average over good, excellent, based upon the
improvements and the quality of the improvements that are made. Each house and each room can
have a different condition, the kitchen might be average, the bathroom upstairs might be excellent.
Also they often estimate the year, the affected built year, in another words if a house was built in 1920
but got upgraded to kind of 1960 standard, now that is also looked at together to determine by the
assessor. That’s why | am saying it is hard for us as lay people who don’t have training to get into all
that and try to decide how all those factors work together and how that should come out. | mean some
people have raised the issue of — well somebody got a building permit and the value wasn’t upgraded.
Sometimes that is a mistake in analysis, sometimes other things came into play.
So the point is that | have tried to answer what some of these criteria are, but the point is that we
cannot and should not, in my opinion, ever get into trying to decide how this all applies to one house,
because that’s why we have the Board of Assessors, that’s why we have the KRT, that’s why we have
these professional people. That's why we have the Board of Land & Tax Appeals and everything else,
because we want to keep the thing based upon the merits, the facts and not make it look like, which we
would never try to unfairly do anything, | know. But we don’t want to make it look like the Aldermen are
getting into or the Mayor is getting into in deciding for his or her friends, who gets what. We don’t want
that, we want it to seem and we want to be, which is it is and also appear, to be totally on the up and
up.
Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja
Thank you and the reason that | ask this is because | have been asked by people, well how do |
prepare to go in and talk to them, | don’t have any sense of how they even arrived at this decision. So |
will tell them to look at our minutes from tonight and they will at least have asense. The people that
have talked to me have said — | could go in and talk to them but | don’t even know what kind of facts to
bring.
Mayor Donchess
Well | think the KRT people are very .. this meeting process is very informal. You go in, | mean | haven’t
done it, but people go in and talk with them. Give them what you have, you know, maybe there is a
sale from a few years ago, maybe there is an appraisal from a bank, maybe you look at the property
card and it says you’ve got 4 bedrooms and you’ve got 3. Maybe you took out the swimming pool last
year, you know something. Whatever you think, maybe you haven't done anything to the house in the
last 70 years. Whatever the person thinks might be reflected unfairly, go talk to them and they will
respond to you and then they will follow up if you wish.
Board of Aldermen 09-12-2018 Page 5
| mean there are numbers on how many people have gone in and it has ranged from like 150 down to
about 50 in the four Wards that have been held so far. Then there are numbers on how many people
walked out saying — Ok well I’m ok, maybe I’m not thrilled; but also on the number of people who’ve
said — well I’d like you to take another look and review my thing and get someone to go out to the house
or whatever. And there are people certainly who are doing that and they have a perfect right to do that
and | don’t think they should be intimidated by the idea that there is some type of formal requirement as
to how or what they have to say. They should go in and talk with the KRT representative, hear what
they have to say and then respond.
RECOGNITION PERIOD
R-18-072
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Board of Aldermen
RECOGNIZING DOUG PRICE AND NAMING THE PICKLEBALL COURTS AT FIELDS
GROVE PARK “DOUG PRICE PICKLEBALL COURTS”
Given its first reading;
There being no objection, President McCarthy suspended the rules to allow for a second
reading of R-18-072
Resolution R-18-072 given its second reading;
MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-18-072
MOTION CARRIED
Resolution R-18-072 declared duly adopted.
READING MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the minutes of the Board of Aldermen
meeting of August 14, 2018, accepted, placed on file, and the reading suspended.
COMMUNICATIONS REQUIRING ONLY PROCEDURAL ACTIONS AND WRITTEN REPORTS
FROM LIAISONS
From: Mayor Jim Donchess
Re: Report on Surplus and Overlay 2019
There being no objection, President McCarthy accepted the communication, placed it on file and
referred it to the Budget Review Committee
PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS
EVENING
Melbourne Moran, 30 Dickerman Street. Just a very pointed speech by the Mayor, very articulate. | am
here to discuss the Ordinance regarding the land debris or debris into the streets. | really don’t think
that the Police should be inflicting such laws. There are much more important things going on in the
City, up to $1,000.00 as a good neighbor, | live in Ward 7, | don’t need up to $1,000.00 over my head to
be a good neighbor, to be honest. That’s all | have to say. | hope you understood that.
Board of Aldermen 09-12-2018 Page 6
COMMUNICATIONS REQUIRING FINAL APPROVAL
From: Mayor Jim Donchess
Re: Contract for Landfill Gas Management Services
MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE, AND AWARD THE
THREE-YEAR CONTRACT TO SANBORN HEAD AND ASSOCIATES FOR AN ANNUAL AMOUNT
OF $12,000
MOTION CARRIED
From: Brian S. McCarthy, President, Board of Aldermen
Re: Performing Arts Center Steering Committee Appointment
MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND CONCUR IN THE
APPOINTMENT OF ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
STEERING COMMITTEE FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2019
MOTION CARRIED
President McCarthy
| would mention have also asked Alderwoman Kelly to participate in some of the sub-committees. By
Ordinance we have three Aldermanic appointments but the subcommittee structure has more people on
it so | have asked her to participate on the committee that | had been on because I’m not sure how
much time | will be able to spend with that committee at this point.
PETITIONS — None
NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS
Appointments by the Mayor
Tax Increment Financing Advisory Board
Rob Caro (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
141 Canal Street
Nashua, NH 03064
Michael Cerato (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
4 Water Street, Suite 201
Nashua, NH 03060
Eric Drouart (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
52 Main Street, Unit 206
Nashua, NH 03064
Chris Lewis (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
670 North Commercial Street
Manchester, NH 03101
Tia Phillips (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
2 Clocktower Place
Nashua, NH 03060
Board of Aldermen 09-12-2018 Page 7
Arthur Spilios (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
15 Technology Way
Nashua, NH 03062
Ex Officio Members
Tim Cummings, Director (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
Economic Development Division
City of Nashua
229 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03061-2019
Sarah Marchant, Director (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
Community Development Division
City of Nashua
229 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03061-2019
David G. Fredette, Treasurer/Tax Collector (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2019
City of Nashua
229 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03061-2019
There being no objection, President McCarthy accepted the Appointments by the Mayor as read
and referred them to the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEE
Budget Review Committee ............ cc ccccccccccceccctnneeeeeeeeeeesettneeeeeeeeseeeessneeees 09/06/2018
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the September 6, 2018, Budget
Review Committee accepted and placed on file.
Finance Committee. 20... .0c ccc ccecccececcccececceeceeececeeceeaeeceeaeseeaueeeaeeeeaaevevaneenaners 08/15/2018
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 15, 2018, Finance
Committee accepted and placed on file.
Finance Committee. ...... cc. cceccccceccccececceeeecececeeceeaeeceeaeseeaueseuaeeeaaevevaneenaners 09/05/2018
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the September 5, 2018, Finance
Committee accepted and placed on file.
Human Affairs COMMIttee........ ee cceceecccceececeucceeueeeeuueeteaeeetaneeetaeeeranees 08/20/2018
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 20, 2018, Human
Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file.
Committee on Infrastructure.............ccccccccecccececcececceeececeeceeaueceeaeeesaueeetaneeraneers 08/22/2018
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 22, 2018, Committee
on Infrastructure accepted and placed on file.
Substandard Living Conditions Special Committee. .............c cece ecccceeeeeesteteeeees 08/09/2018
There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 9, 2018, Substandard
Living Conditions Special Committee accepted and placed on file.
SCHOOL SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS:
2100 | FOOD SERVICES 227
2120 | SUMMER FEEDING PROGRAM 229
2201 | DRIVER’ EDUCATION 230
2204 | SUMMER SCHOOL 231
2207 | ADULT CONTINUING EDUCATION 232
2212 | ATHLETIC REVENUE FUND 234
2217 | SCHOOL FACILITIES RENTAL 235
2222 | AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM 236
2227 | NORTH STUDENT SHOP 237
2232 | SOUTH STUDENT SHOP 238
2247 | CULINARY ARTS 239
2252 | DAY CARE 240
2257 | SPECIAL EDUCATION - LOCAL TUITION 241
2258 | SCHOOL CTE TUITION FUND 242
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION - (Blue Section) 243
APPROPRIATED EXPENDABLE TRUST & RESERVE FUNDS 245
CAPITAL EQUIPMENT RESERVE FUND (CERF)
PLANNED REPLACEMENTS 249
NASHUA AIRPORT AUTHORITY 250
FINANCIAL SERVICES 252
POLICE 253
FIRE 254
PUBLIC HEALTH & COMMUNITY SERVICES 255
PUBLIC WORKS 256
PUBLIC SERVICES 258
PUBLIC LIBRARY 259
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 261
TRANSIT GRANTS 262
URBAN PROGRAM GRANTS 263
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 265
SOLID WASTE 266
ADJOURNMENT
Board of Aldermen 09-12-2018 Page 8
CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS — None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS — RESOLUTIONS
R-18-065
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
Alderman Linda Harriott-Gathright
Alderman Ken Gidge
Alderman Richard A. Dowd
Alderman Patricia Klee
Alderman-at-Large Brandon Michael Laws
Alderman Tom Lopez
Alderman June M. Caron
Alderwoman-at-Large Shoshanna Kelly
Alderman-at-Large David C. Tencza
Alderman Jan Schmidt
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $43,456 FROM THE UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INTO POLICE GRANT ACTIVITY “2017 JUSTICE
ASSISTANCE GRANT (MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL)”
Given its second reading;
MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN KELLY FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-18-065
MOTION CARRIED
Resolution R-18-065 declared duly adopted.
R-18-067
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman Ken Gidge
Alderman Richard A. Dowd
Alderman Patricia Klee
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
DESIGNATING RAIL TRAIL AS CLASS B TRAIL UNDER NH RSA 231-A
Given its second reading;
MOTION BY ALDERMAN O’BRIEN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-18-067
MOTION CARRIED
Resolution R-18-067 declared duly adopted.
R-18-068
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman Richard A. Dowd
Alderman Patricia Klee
Alderman Linda Harriott-Gathright
Alderman Ken Gidge
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
RELATIVE TO THE RE-APPROPRIATION OF FISCAL YEAR FY2019 ESCROWS
Given its second reading;
MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD TO AMEND R-18-068 IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REPLACING IT
WITH THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS RECOMMENDED BY THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE
MOTION CARRIED
