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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P12

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
12
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__122120…

Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 12

And | agree there are some outliers that we continually need to educate and support their efforts to
make this better. It was never meant to be a punitive act against a select group of Nashua citizens who
we all support and endorse, but rather as an ordinance as one medical short-term effort to decrease the
spread before a potential complete shutdown encroaches upon all of us in the next few months. Healthy
people drive healthy businesses, we won’t have either if we continue in the way we are going.

Lastly, as a frequent patron to so many of the great Nashua businesses, | am torn in my role as a citizen
and in my role as health educator. By my allegiance and oath that | took over 32 years ago as a
physician to uphold and protect to the best of my ability ones health above all is the singular driving
force here in trying to make a difference. And for this reason, | believe we have to try this emergency
ordinance before it gets worse. Thank you President for listening.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Kevin McMann?

Kevin McMann Thank you. My name is Kevin McMann | work at Boston Billiard Club & Casino. | want to
just — coming right after Charles | wanted to sort of bring up that we certainly appreciate everything that
you have done for the community, everything that you know, your group the Board of Health has set out
to do. Unfortunately the way you opened your comments it mentions a lot of ifs and the concept of sort
of measuring the effect of a curfew like this after the fact. And based upon everyone that we see on this
call tonight, everyone that we’ve heard speak already, it seems to me that it is going to affect a lot of
people much more than it might help a few. And | think everyone here is agreeing upon that.

Two other things | wanted to underscore quickly; you Know | see stories almost daily in the Union
Leader, the Telegraph, New Hampshire Business Review about charities that are struggling. People that
are coming to charities and they don’t have the resources that they need or that they used to have. In
October alone, Boston Billiard Club gave away, excuse me, donated $326,000.00 to Nashua based
charities. Certainly the River gave away I’m sure a significant number as well. So we are talking about
just per month, several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of donations, unmarked donations going to
Nashua based charities, those would be nearly evaporated if we were to see this curfew go through.

And finally a couple of our employees have mentioned the health screener app that is part of our daily
process of each and every shift. We take that very seriously, there are repercussions if we discover that
someone has not filled it out, if someone has filled it out untruthfully, there are disciplinary actions, there
have been terminations based upon people not giving that seriousness that we want them to. So to all
the people, | appreciate your nay votes on this measure. Thank you.

President Wilshire

Thank you. Next | have someone who has identified with their hand up as iPad. Seeing no one, | will
move on to Angela. I’m sorry? OK.

Chris Wokowski 41 Kingston Drive in Nashua. | am a manager for Boston Billiard Club and | just want
to touch a couple things, you know. Working at the club like everybody from the cleaners to the
bartenders to the dealers and you know and you know Lyle touched on this and Heather and my entire
BBC family, it’s like we take pride in keeping people safe. You know if people take their masks off, we
ask them to put them back on and if they don’t, we ask them to leave. You know, all of my door staff
takes it very personal because they want to protect themselves, they want to protect everybody that is in
the club. And for the most part, we have a great clientele that comes in that follows the rules and they
understand it. They want a place to go with all the stress going on right now with home and you know
Christmas is a couple days away. So it’s, you know, Barbara touched on it and everything else and we
do a lot and where it comes to holding people accountable, you know, there should be some kind of
thing that we can work out with the Health Department for compliance and everything else.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P12

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P13

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
13
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__122120…

Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 13

We touched upon it with Kurt and everything else and | am sure he can elaborate. And another point is
you know we talk about yes the employees and you are looking at the face that’s probably going to be
someone that would be laid off if this goes through. There’s also other people, it is the trickle-down
effect, | see Dan (inaudible) on here, he’s one of my reps. Since March | do half of the ordering for the
club and | talk to my beer reps, | talk to my liquor reps and the amount of sales that they are down
because people are already like — we can’t go out or they are worried about this or that and the other
thing. If this goes through, that trickle down affects multiple people, multiple businesses, whereas our
produce company, maybe they have to make lay off because their sales are down. Nashua is a big
place which affects multiple people beyond the restaurant industry. And something to the Health
Department, they talk about big box stores, ok? We take multiple precautions wiping down railings, any
surface that can be touched. When | got to Best Buy, when | go to the grocery store, nobody comes
behind anybody wiping down products that they are touching on multiple times. And it’s not just one
person it is little kids that are wiping their nose.

So to go to the effect to say that people can go to any place and not everybody is taking precautions
that the people in the restaurant industry and the bar industry are going above and beyond that are set
forth for us. | am sure Jim from the River, you guys sterilize your chips and you wash your cards. We
take multiple steps to keep people safe. So that’s all l’ve got to say and please vote no on this. So
thank you for your time.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Angela Consentino.

Angela Consentino Good evening, Angela Consentino, 142 Main Street, | am the Epidemiologist for the
City of Nashua, Division of Public Health & Community Services. So | would just like to review the
outbreak, cluster and watch list data that was provided in your packets and clarify some of the
information. So for some background, at the Division of Public Health, we monitor all positive cases that
live in the City of Nashua and conduct disease investigation interviews for about 70% which is where we
get all of this information from. So if you look at the table entitled “Nashua Facilities on Watch” we have
the exposure reports in Nashua from October to mid-December. These are all of the facilities that have
either experienced an outbreak, which is defined as 3 or more cases without any connection to each
other, a cluster which is less than 3 cases that are connected to each other; or are on our Watch List,
which is an infectious period exposure at a facility with potential for spread.

So these are not all of the cases in Nashua, these are just the outbreak or cluster related cases and it is
worthwhile to note that the patron cases at businesses and restaurants, bars and clubs are likely
underreported as a patron of a facility would have to know about their exposure at said facility to be
identified as part of the outbreak or cluster. So we typically see an increase in patron cases when an
outbreak or cluster is made public as people can identify their exposure to that facility. So, since
October there has been a total of 145 exposure reports with 424 total cases associated with these
exposures. 19 of these reports are associated with restaurants, bars, night clubs and social clubs. Of
these 19 exposures on our Watch List, 13 are in restaurants, bars, and clubs that are open late and 6
are in diner or coffee shop type locations. There was a total of 57 cases associated with those
outbreaks; 75% of those cases were in staff and 25% of those cases were in patrons. There are
approximately 297 contacts associated with those cases. That is an average of 6 restaurants, bars or
clubs that were impacted per month, for the past three months and approximately 100 residents that are
quarantined a month due to exposure at a restaurant.

| would like to reiterate that the numbers that we have on patron cases and contracts associated with
restaurants is likely underreported and the true count is likely higher as the patrons have to be able to
identify their exposure in order to report it. And then | also just want to briefly talk about, there’s been a
lot of mention about the New York Times Contact Tracing Article, | just want to clarify that we do track
transmission types of all cases in New Hampshire.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P13

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P14

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
14
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__122120…

Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 14

As of last night, 14.4% of New Hampshire cases were due to contact with someone with COVID-19:
14% were clusters (inaudible); 5% were travel associated; 9.8% were community transmission and the
remaining 56.6% was unclear or unknown. So for a case to be categorized as transmitted via
community transmission, it’s likely that they would have told the person conducting the interview that the
only places they had gone or the only people that they had seen had been at the grocery store or
pharmacy or some other community based business. For a case to be categorized as “unclear” or
“unknown” the person had no idea where they may have gotten sick and they had no contact with
positive cases that they knew of, they could not pinpoint a specific place or time. And these unclear or
unknown cases are likely community based as well and this is the category where individuals who were
exposed at restaurants, bars or clubs would likely fall into. Thank you.

President Wilshire

Thank you. Next | have Matt Soleyn? Matt, are you on?
Matt Yes, | am on, can folks hear me?

President Wilshire

Yes we need your name and address for the record, please?

Matt Soleyn Hey Matt Soleyn | am at Digital Drive in Nashua, New Hampshire. So let me turn off the
video because it is going to lag. So can everyone hear me clearly?

President Wilshire
Yes.

Matt Soleyn Great so | just want to say it saddens me to hear from a lot of the people who have talked
about how they are going to lose income or have their jobs at risk here and worry about how to pay the
bills. | heard a lot of folks who said they worked at the Boston Billiard Club & Casino. | was actually just
there a couple of hours ago myself. | was not worried about getting COVID-19, | think they've done a
good job along with a lot of other restaurants implementing good sanitation. Everybody has to wear the
mask there, etc. And | think that, you know, it’s going to be tough for those people. We are talking
about going into basically this is the week of Christmas, people are going to have bills to pay come the
end of the month, January rent. And you are saying that you are going to shut down basically
businesses at 9:30 killing those people’s jobs and | think that’s just terrible.

Also, there is as the physician mentioned that they had limited data so | know that New York City did
some analysis on their cases and they only had 1.4% linked to indoor dining and drinking, that’s less
than 2 out of every 100 cases. So | believe that the Aldermen, they need to vote against this measure.
It's going to cause irreparable economic harm and damage to our community. If they vote for this
measure and it passes, they will be responsible for killing jobs in our town and that’s not good. Also
what is going to happen too if businesses in Nashua have to close down at 9:30 whether it is a
restaurant or a gaming facility, they are going to get hurt because people are just going to go to their
competition. People are going to say, well if the place closes at 9:30 I’ll go to Manchester, go to Salem,
go to Portsmouth, some other town. So we are going to actually kill the City of Nashua and that
business is just going to go elsewhere.

So it doesn’t make any sense you know, how can you think it’s OK if somebody shows up at 9:15 it’s
fine but come 9:31 they are going to get or spread COVID, it just doesn’t make sense. | am for the
Aldermen to vote against this measure. And I’ll mention also, so | am part-time poker player, which is
why | was actually at Billiards today. | don’t rely on that income to pay my bills, but | know a lot of people
that do. They play professionally and if they can’t play poker because they have to close down earlier,
they won’t make as much income or any income and they rely on that income some of them to feed their

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P14

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P15

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
15
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__122120…

Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 15

families and pay the rent. So you are putting a lot of people out of work who might not be eligible for
traditional unemployment insurance type programs. So that’s my commentary. | hope the Aldermen
vote against this and | hope we can keep the economy strong in New Hampshire.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Next we have Tyler R.?

Tyler Ramraf My name is Tyler Ramraf | live at 34 Tufts Drive. | would like to vote no regarding this
ordinance. My objection is based on the lack of stated measured intent in their proposed (audio cuts
out) ordinance for how these measures will positively affect Nashua. In the ordinance document there is
no explanation using evidence or evidence based assessments for a statewide closing at 9:30 is
appropriate but at 9:29 it is not. You are going to use the threat of Government forcing coercion to
restrict the movements and businesses (inaudible) people explanation of incremental or arbitrary
thresholds is not just appropriate but required. The intended benefit of this is only alluded to with cited
documents and imprecise language. Thank you very much.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Is there anyone else from the public that wishes to speak at this time?

Don Wayland Don Wayland here, 12 Lincoln Ave. Nashua. It’s great to see the restaurant, bar owners,
the casino folks here and | am sure there would be more represented if they weren’t out busy running
their businesses, which most of it happens at night. So we should really be supporting our small
businesses they are the lifeblood of our community, they really are. Voting yes on this is going to make
—is allowing the Aldermen, the Board of Aldermen to pick winners and losers. And | don’t think that’s
fair. | think you should vote no on this, 100%. | think let people choose on their own if they want to go
out. Most people haven’t been going out but you are affecting people’s livelihoods. This is their job,
they need to make money. The Board of Aldermen folks haven't lost any money because they are not
trying to shut down whatever business they are working in. So you are impacting a lot of people by
trying to shut that down. Vote no; | think it’s absolutely a terrible idea to have a curfew. Thank you.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Next | have Mallory?

Mallory Fogal Hi, Mallory Fogal | live in Merrimack, 332 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack, New
Hampshire. | work for Boston Billiards in Nashua. | just, | don’t really understand the curfew that is
about to be placed over Nashua. | think that if it does get placed, all it is going to do is just directly hurt
Nashua businesses only because the people that are frequenting Nashua businesses are just going to
expand to other towns; Merrimack, Manchester, other places. | think that Boston Billiards specifically
and other places are going to be really hurt by this. | get wnen Massachusetts did a state-wide but for
just to single in on City it doesn’t really seem like it is going to help with limiting the spread of COVID-19,
it will directly affect a lot of people that I’ve worked with for years. | just think there needs to be more
planning in place, | don’t think this is the right route to go to help stop the spread of COVID. | think it is
just more going to directly hurt a lot of the Nashua citizens and people that work in Nashua. That’s
pretty much all | have to say. Thank you.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Mike Apfelberg.
Mike Apfelberg Yes good evening Aldermen, Mike Apfelberg, | am President of the United Way of

Greater Nashua and for the purposes of transparency | will also acknowledge that we are recipients of
charitable gaming revenues from Boston Billiards as | believe is the Front Door Agency Maryse Wirbal

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P15

Board Of Aldermen - Agenda - 3/22/2016 - P3

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 21:35
Document Date
Tue, 03/22/2016 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Agenda
Meeting Date
Tue, 03/22/2016 - 00:00
Page Number
3
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_a__032220…

R-16-017
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
Alderman Ken Siegel
Alderman June M. Caron
Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
Alderman Tom Lopez
RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $70,000 FROM THE STATE
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES INTO PUBLIC
HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES GRANT ACTIVITIES “FY17 AND FY18
TUBERCULOSIS PROGRAM OF GREATER NASHUA”
e Human Affairs Committee Recommends: Final Passage

R-16-018
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja
Alderman Don LeBrun
Alderman Ken Siegel
Alderman June M. Caron
Alderman Richard A. Dowd
Alderman Tom Lopez
RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $120,000 FROM THE STATE
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES INTO PUBLIC
HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES GRANT ACTIVITIES “FY17 AND FY18
IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM OF GREATER NASHUA”
e Human Affairs Committee Recommends: Final Passage

R-16-019
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
Alderman June M. Caron
Alderman Ken Siegel
Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.
Alderman Don LeBrun
Alderman Tom Lopez
RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF $170,000 FROM THE STATE
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES INTO PUBLIC
HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES GRANT ACTIVITIES “FY17 AND FY18 STD & HIV
DISEASE CONTROL”
e Human Affairs Committee Recommends: Final Passage

UNFINISHED BUSINESS —- ORDINANCES

O-16-003
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman Ken Siegel
Alderman Don LeBrun
ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT OF ORDINANCES
e Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee Recommends: Final Passage as Amended

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Board Of Aldermen - Agenda - 3/22/2016 - P3

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P16

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
16
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__122120…

Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 16

spoke previously. | think it’s important to know that before | speak. | wanted to address unintended
consequences and two factors which | think are important to take into account when deciding whether to
pursue a curfew or not.

The first is my interpretation of what might occur when we drive patrons of these businesses that would
be affected to outlying or neighboring communities. Of course we do not have a statewide curfew, we
are talking about a Nashua specific curfew which means that we could very easily be driving patrons to
places like Manchester, which are also COVID hot spots with much, much looser ordinances as it
relates to the wearing of masks and social distancing. My best guess is that there is a good chance that
we might actually be importing more COVID-19 into our community as a result of that than we actually
might be deterring as a result of the ordinance, | would expect that you would take that into account in
your thinking.

The other factor which | would like you to consider are the social determinants of health. Maryse
addressed the potential for an uptick in people seeking or needing assistance, Welfare assistance.
We’ve heard from any number of people who have said point blank that they are at risk of losing their
jobs, of course, the stress that goes along with that and the need to take advantage of the Welfare
System as a result could very well affect people’s behavioral health which in turn can affect their
physical health. And | know that our Board of Health is well aware of the social determinates that go
along with health consequences.

So | would like for you to take those two factors into account when you decide on this Ordinance moving
forward. Thank you very much. Have a good evening.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Next | have Ray Ealy?

Ray Ealy Thank you for hearing me. | am in favor of this ordinance but let me say | don’t want anybody
to lose their job. That’s not what this is about. This is about that there is a virus out there that is
infecting more and more people. And the virus is very simple, if you can get people to stay apart, and
protect themselves, there will be fewer people that get infected. And the thing about thinking about our
jobs today is short term, but the numbers are growing and this thing is getting worse. And at some
point, it is going to come on us anyway. So we are short-term — and | understand everybody wants to
keep their job, believe me, | get that.

But what the Government has to think about is it a good idea to have people out there working so they
can make a living when they are actually spreading the virus more. Because that’s what we are really
doing when we are coming together and we are insisting that we stay together, we are spreading the
virus more. And either you are helping the virus or you are not helping the virus. And right now
insisting that we change nothing is helping the virus and | think we may regret that one day, because the
numbers are rising. The hospitals are filling up and at some point we are going to be under something
anyway. So | just don’t want that to happen and | don’t know if people are hearing, but they got a new
version of it out in England and it’s 70% more contagious and we got to deal with that coming too. So
it’s just — | get it about the jobs, maybe we can find a way around that, but the bottom line is this thing is
coming and in doesn’t care about the Holidays, it doesn’t care about any of that. I’m done, thank you for
hearing me.

President Wilshire

Thank you, next | have Michael Buckley.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P16

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P17

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
17
Image URL
https://nashuameetingsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/nm-docs-pages/boa_m__122120…

Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 17

Michael Buckley Thank you President Wilshire, Board of Aldermen, thank you for the opportunity to
speak. I’ve listened to a lot of people; a lot of people had a lot of good things to say. There is a few
more things to consider, some of it will be redundant but | understand what the last gentleman’s
comments were and appreciate them as well as Dr. Cappetta, good comments. But you know when you
force people out of the bars, | mean let’s face it, with the timing of this I’d say it’s really, it will affect my
business of course like Michael Somers said if it’s a 9:30 curfew, people will think, Oh | can’t really, |
don’t want to bother going at 8:00 or 8:30 because I’m going to be forced out of the restaurant. We will
see an impact from it, no doubt. We've already been impacted greatly and our numbers are not good
this year. | appreciate what the Mayor and the City has done for the downtown this summer and that
was fantastic. But that was a few months that helped us for those few months but previous to that and
since then with the cold weather it has been really drastic.

So I'll start by saying or reiterate the fact that if you close the bars in Nashua people will go to
Manchester or go to Hudson; they'll go wherever, they will go other places. But where | think they will
really go, you have a group of young people that are at bars and having a good time and feeling good,
they are going to go to people’s houses. They are going to be, hey you know, let’s all go back to my
place and you are going to see possibly, you know, 10, 20, 30 people in somebody’s apartment without
masks which | think is far worse than what we are talking about here with some structure in these
establishments. Keep in mind, bar owners are business people too. They are entrepreneurs, a lot of
them are younger entrepreneurs, a lot of them are struggling like the rest of us. They have been
struggling for a long time now and some of them are probably on the brink.

So I'd like to say, you know, if there’s people that have been not conforming or abusing what is going on
and you see things, have you tried to work with these people? How hard have you tried to work with
them? Remember they are the business people of tomorrow, a lot of them, they are business people
right now. We don’t need to be driving anybody out of business especially when the alternative is going
to people’s apartments or wherever else they are going.

So | would stress maybe working with them. If you have really problem proprietors then maybe you
need to take some action if that’s the only choice you have. But | don’t know what has been tried so far
but I'll implore you to work with people versus destroying, you know, maybe their business or livelihood.
You know, we’ve seen this in other municipalities across the country, other states, other cities, where
they’ve done this or more drastic measures in a lot of areas and it doesn’t seem to have impacted the
spread at all. The spread continues to rise regardless. All they have managed to do is put people out of
business. From what I’ve seen, correct me if I’m wrong, | haven’t seen the cases come crashing down
when they close all these restaurants and the bars down. In some places it is complete shutdowns and

it still doesn’t seem to change it.

So that needs to be kept in line. You can be putting people out of business needlessly, you know? It’s
still up for debate as to whether it is going to help at all. I’m sure all of you have been into the grocery
stores or Home Depot and everywhere else right before these last couple of storms. | mean could it get
any worse, there were people on top of people. People on top of people with all the cashiers stuck at
their posts for hours on end, touching their masks, touching your food, everybody in the store is
touching stuff, putting it down, the person behind them is touching the stuff after they touch the mask. |
don’t see that as any better than what we are doing in the restaurants where we are working very hard
to do everything that’s been required of us so far. So | think that we are under stricter control and we try
to work with that control, a lot harder than a lot of other industries.

So those are just some points | wanted to make. | know that all the Aldermen got my letter. | had already
written several days ago a letter of disapproval of this curfew and | know you have all read it. Several
Aldermen have reached out to me and commented on it. | appreciate that consideration of that letter as
well as my remarks tonight. Thank you.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P17

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P18

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
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Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
18
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Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 18
President Wilshire
Thank you. Is there anyone else that wishes to speak? Ok name and address for the record please?

Dan Latham 13 Beaver Street in Nashua. And what I'd like to say is I’d like to advocate on behalf of
Nashua. | work for a company called Horizon Beverage and we distribute wine and spirits and | travel
most of the state. And | think it’s very unfair that Nashua is the one under the spotlight right now. This
is the jewel of the state. What they did when we opened up when we opened up downtown and | think it
was April we were the envy of everybody because | think you are taking out of the equation the people
who run the businesses down here who live here. We took it so seriously and professionally, | couldn’t
be more proud and going to see other cities like Manchester lagging behind us and other cities, we
really take out hats off —| take my hats off to the people who work and live in Nashua in the restaurant
industry. And | do think it is unfair that we are being targeted. | also sent a letter to the Board of
Aldermen and Mayor Donchess. | hope you read it. It was pretty brief but | just wanted to advocate for
Nashua and | think you should challenge, you challenged it once before, challenge them again. They'll
do the right things. They made us proud, they'll do it again, this is a great City. That’s all | have to say.

President Wilshire

Thank you. It looks like | have someone named AA Ron that would like to speak. Name and address for
the record?

Aaron Howard My name is Aaron Howard, | live at 366 Main Street in Nashua. | work at Boston Billiard
Club. | would like to point out a couple of things. One of the foundations of this proposal is that
somehow people from Massachusetts because they have a curfew they are flooding the border and they
are crossing the border to come to the southern towns of New Hampshire in order to be entertained
because everything is closed in Massachusetts. Well | can tell you from personal experience as a
manager at Boston Billiard Club that we are less busy now than we were before Massachusetts
instituted their curfew. Think about that. The foundation of this proposal is not based on something that
is actually happening.

| would also like to point out that as it was publicly acknowledged, we did have cases within the staff of
Boston Billiards. The current system is working. Everybody that comes into the restaurant has to leave
their name and phone number. As soon as we identified cases, we closed down. We reopened, we
strengthened our protocols and the chain of transmission is broken. And this is the largest, maybe not, |
think it’s the largest food and beverage establishment in Nashua but if not the largest one of the largest,
we broke the chain. The current system worked. And my last point is that except for the Board of Health
Members, nobody has spoken in favor of this and | would like to ask the Aldermen, as elected officials,
to listen to your community and please vote no.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Is there anyone else that wishes to speak that has not already spoken? Aaron Penkacik?

Aaron Penkacik Perfect, you’re the first one in my entire life that has pronounced that correctly. So | am
the guy that has been quoted at least three times now in the newspaper for a statement | made in a
previous meeting with the Board of Aldermen where | said that | felt like this was a knee jerk reaction to
a problem that we didn’t Know what the solution was. And | stand by that statement. I’ve been doing
more research since that time and | see no evidence scientifically ...

unidentified Person Interrupts
Aaron Penkacik. Pardon me? | see no evidence, scientifically or otherwise that supports that a curfew

would do anything to help curtail this virus. | get that this virus is a serious thing and | have relatives
who have contracted it and friends who have contracted it.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P19

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
19
Image URL
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Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 19

But all you are doing with a random curfew is causing people to pack into the facilities that you are
trying to protect earlier in higher densities and there’s no evidence to support that this makes any sense
in doing. So! remain saying that this is a knee jerk reaction to a problem because you don’t have any
other ideas to solve it. And that’s not the way to solve these kind of problems. We need to be
thoughtful about this. We don’t need to just do what Massachusetts has done and think that that’s the
right thing. You know, I’m done.

President Wilshire
(inaudible) McNichols? You’re on mute.

A McNichols (inaudible) Drive Nashua. | want to start out by saying that | don’t go to bars, | don’t work
in bars, | don’t Know anybody that works in a bar and! am wholeheartedly against this curfew. If we are
going to allow sports kids to gather, churches, congregations, with even larger amounts in closer
quarters than you are talking, | think it’s difficult to justify saying though at 9:30 we are going to cut that
off. If church started at 9:30 would we cut that off too? Are we not going to have midnight mass on
Christmas because it’s after 9:30. And | think we have to understand too that this goes beyond just the
spread of COVID. We have what was brought up before charitable gaming, which is incredibly
important to the City. We have parents who are incredibly stressed out teaching their kids at home and
trying to handle remote learning. Again, my girls are in college, | don’t have a pony in this race and | am
open minded enough to understand that this is not the solution. Unless you are going to shut everything
down which we don’t want, | think picking and choosing an hour and putting people out of work is not
the answer. Thank you.

President Wilshire

Thank you. Is there anyone else who has not previously spoken that wants to speak to the Board?
Name and address for the record?

No name Yeah for the record | live in Nashua, I’ve been living in Nashua for about a year and a half, |
moved here from Boston. | agree with the previous speaker, | think we don’t have a significant risk in
Nashua and | think it’s kind of idiotic to assume that 9:30 (audio cuts out) is the right timing, it’s like 9:29
you were safe, 9:30 you are talking about getting COVID. And we don’t have a significant outbreak
here, and people pretty much live very cautiously and from a distance. | don’t an obvious need of you
posting that, that’s all.

President Wilshire

Thank you. Alright, | am going to make a last call, if anyone who has not spoken yet and wishes to
address the Board. Shaun? Name and address for the record.

Shaun | would like to speak. 236 Manchester Street, Nashua. | just have three things to state. First, |
was at the Pheasant Lane Mall today at 11:30 shopping. And there were so many people down there,
OK? So | don’t know how you can rule out restaurants and businesses at 9:30 when you can’t even get
a parking spot at the Pheasant Lane Mall. And if you want to enforce things, you should be looking at
something like that and not at restaurants.

The other thing | have is where did the time of 9:30 come from? | haven’t heard any data on that to
support that. Ok? And | am against this, | don’t think it’s fair and there’s not enough data to support a
decision even the Board of Health just said so, OK? It’s a theory, it is shared across everywhere, but
you need data to make a claim. It needs to be sufficient data like when they release a vaccine before we
are the only town and city in the State on the border, one of them, that’s shutting down. It doesn’t make
any sense. And that’s all | have to say.

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Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P19

Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 12/21/2020 - P20

By dnadmin on Sun, 11/06/2022 - 22:49
Document Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Meeting Description
Board Of Aldermen
Document Type
Minutes
Meeting Date
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 00:00
Page Number
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Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 20
President Wilshire
Thank you Shaun. It looks like | have a Jeff Watt?

Jeff Yes hi, thanks for listening to us tonight and thanks to the rest of my colleagues for chiming in. | am
Jeff Bois, Stella Blu on Pearl Street in Nashua. | think it’s been fairly well articulated how many jobs will
be lost. | think it’s also important to consider that it’s a pretty tight knit industry so there are many
couples, married couples, parents that both work in this industry and this will affect whole families
obviously, children and others. In addition to that, | think it’s important for the Health Department and
for the Board to understand a little bit more about how we operate. | mean are you in the restaurants,
have you gone to restaurants, have you spent the whole night and see how we control our patrons? |
think there’s very few industries that can affect their guests like we can. We take their name and their
number when they come in. We tell them where to sit, we tell them basically how much they can drink.
We tell them how long they can stay, we clean, polish, sanitize everything they touch, no one touches it
except for them and the server. We have a lot of control so | guess my recommendation, obviously |
am in opposition of this is to work with us not against us.

Again we have a lot of control over how our patrons interact with us and each other. If you are not
together with someone when you come in, you don’t get sat with them. We are following all of the CDC
Guidelines as far as how close in proximity you can sit. And others have said it is a fraction of our
guests that we are seeing now that we saw even a month ago, never mind two months ago when we
had the outdoor dining, which again was (inaudible) by Nashua to pass. So again, you know, | think
what was striking to me is how the Health Department started the last call which was basically saying
there is absolutely no evidence that this will work but we’ve got to try something. Well | don’t think we
can just try anything, | don’t think hope is a strategy. | think hope and optics isn’t a reason to make this
decision. | think if you follow the science, you follow the data and not just generic data about cases.
Data about the decision you are making and how it affects those lives. Thank you.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Anyone else? Name and address for the record?

Emily 92 Harris Road in Nashua. | work at Boston Billiards for Kurt and Sue Mathias. | find it extremely
infuriating that this conversation even needs to be happening and how detrimental this is going to be for our
economy, for our business, again that we are a gaming facility and a lot of our profits go to a lot of people.
Kurt and Sue are there constantly, making sure that everything is the way that it is supposed to be, the
guidelines, masks, we again as someone has said, when people are not wearing their masks, they are
asked to leave. We don’t give them another shot, we (inaudible) for the safety of my fellow coworkers,
employees and also people that are coming in there. So to me, it’s very infuriating that this is a
conversation that needs to be happening. Thank you.

President Wilshire
Thank you. Anyone else?

unidentified Speaker

Hold on, | spoke before but | didn’t use my three minutes, do you mind if | take 30 seconds just to reiterate
something?

President Wilshire

If you have something new to add? Name and address, please?

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