Search

EMERGENCY RELIEF AND RECOVERY (GOFERR) GRANT”
e Budget Review Committee Recommends: Final Passage

UNFINISHED BUSINESS — ORDINANCES

Q-20-41
Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess
AMENDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER ORDINANCE
e Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee Recommends: Final Passage

O-20-042, Amended
Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess
Alderman-at-Large Ben Clemons
Alderman Patricia Klee
Alderman-at-Large David C. Tencza
Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire
AMENDING THE ORDINANCE ON MAINTAINING ADEQUATE UNASSIGNED GENERAL FUND
BALANCE

e Budget ReviewCommittee Recommends: Final Passage as amended

O-20-044
Endorser: Alderman Thomas Lopez
RELATIVE TO A BAN ON CERTAIN INDOOR ACTIVITIES FOR CERTAIN BUSINESSES STARTING AT
9:30 PM
e Tabled at Full Board — 12/22/2020

NEW BUSINESS — RESOLUTIONS

R-20-105
Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS
NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS
($1,500,000) TO PURCHASE TWO NEW ENGINE PUMPER TRUCKS FOR THE FIRE DEPARTM ENT

R-20-106
Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS NOT TO EXCEED THE
AMOUNT OF TWO MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2,700,000) FOR VARIOUS
IMPROVEMENTS AT THE SOLID WASTE DEPARTMENT FOUR HILLS LANDFILL AND THE
PURCHASE OF TWO REFUSE TRUCKS

R-20-107
Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS NOT TO EXCEED THE
AMOUNT OF FIVE MILLION ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($5,150,000) FOR THE

CITY’S SEWER INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM

R-20-108
Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess
APPROVING THE COST ITEMS OF A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS OF THE CITY OF NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE AND LOCAL 365 OF THE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO (“AFSCME”)
FROM JULY 1, 2017 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2023 AND AUTHORIZING RELATED TRANSFERS

NEW _ BUSINESS — ORDINANCES

PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN
Committee announcements:

ADJOURNMENT

Recognition

Honoring the Brave New World Art Project

Whereas The public art project, “Brave New World: Resilience in the time of
COVID,” inspires unity and peace with its uplifting tone. This
collaborative project was created by 80 Nashua students, Rodney Coffin,
art teacher from Nashua North; Robin Peringer, art teacher from Nashua
South and Stephanie Sewhuk-Thomas, art teacher from Brentwood
Academy. It is a much-needed ray of light during this dark time; and

Whereas Displayed on a chain-link fence outside Amherst Street Elementary
School, “Brave New World” is a series of positive messages in the form
of signs and images, saying things like “Teach Peace,” “love,” “work hard
dream big,” “You got this,” “Be Brave” and many others. The exhibit is
meant to encourage positive thoughts, motivate and remind us of our
community’s resilience as we continue to navigate the COVID-19
pandemic; and

Whereas The students and teachers were inspired by the Choose Love Movement,
particularly its Social-Emotional Learning lesson on positive thinking. It
resolves that by consciously changing one negative thought today to a
positive one, you can potentially change the course of your day, how
you feel and your life. The project is dedicated in the memory of North
student Tyler Almeida, who lived the Choose Love life as an inspiration
to all who knew him. In addition to the exhibit, the students and teachers
created a website to share the behind-the-scenes of the project; and

Whereag Thank you to these incredible students and teachers for showing us
through art we all matter and that we can get through anything as long as
we do it together; and

S20,

Therefore: I, Jim Donchess, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NASHUA, NEW

HAMPSHIRE, do hereby recognize the students and art teachers
behind the “Brave New World” art project as kind, caring, creative
citizens who exemplify what Nashua is all about.

Ji Duke

Jim Donchess, Mayor
City of Nashua, New Hampshire

8 THE CITY OF NASHUA

“The Gate City"
Division of Public Words
Administration
Memorandum

To: Board of Aldermen
From: Lisa M. Fauteux, Director of Public Works
Date: December 18, 2020
RE: Referral fram Board of Aldermen — 0-20-040

Please be advised that the Board of Public Works met on December 17, 2020 and voted to
provide the Board of Aidermen with a positive recommendation concerning proposed
ordinance 0-20-40,

9 Riverside Street + Nashua, New Hampshire 03062 « Phone (603) 589-3140 « Fax (603) 589-3169

Board of Aldermen

City of Nashua
229 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03061-2019

(603) 589-3030

MEMORANDUM

TO: Board of Aldermen

FROM: Donna Graham, Legislative Affairs Manager
DATE: January 7, 2021

SUBJ.: Communications Received from the Public

Attached please find communications received from the public as follows:

From: Laurie Ortolano
Re: Request to post full Board packets online and abatement applications online

From: Jennifer McGregor
Re: Performing Arts Center Architecture

Graham, Donna

From: Laurie Ortolano <laurieortolano@gmail.com>

Sent: Friday, January 071, 2021 9:17 AM

To: Hansberry, Daniel

Ce: Board of Assessors; Board of Aldermen; Mayor's Office Email; Neumann, Jesse; Graham,

Donna; Laura Colquhoun; Beth Scaer; Norman, Rex; Kleiner, Kimberly; Mandile, Michael;
Turgiss, Gary; Turgiss, Greg; Dame, Douglas
Subject: Request to post full Board packets online and abatement applications online

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

(Donna Graham, please place this letter in the next Board of Aldermen packet)
January 1, 2021
Mr. Hansberry,

Please place this email communication in the next Board of Assessors packet.

As the Board chair, I am requesting that you ask the assessing office to place the full board packets
online on the city website. I don't believe this requires a vote of the full board, but if you believe it
does, would you please take this matter up at your next Board meeting. As it stands now, the public
has to use a right-to-know request to obtain a copy of the public packets. The clerk of the Board of
Assessors was responsible for sending the packets to any member of the public requesting the
information. For me, this was Cheryl Walley, then Lynn Cameron, then Louise Brown. All of these
people have resigned their jobs in the assessing office and left the city. I do not know who the new
clerk is.

If you simply request that the public packet be placed on the city website, this will eliminate the
workload of the clerk to individually send out multiple responsive documents to interested citizens.
This is consistent with what other City boards do with their public material. I do not have to request
the packet for the Board of Aldermen meetings as a full public packet is available on the website.
The Aldermen clerk does not have to email me anything. This request is being made in the interest
of saving time and taxpayer dollars.

Additionally, would you please request that all abatement applications be placed online and
updated every two weeks when board packets are typically produced. These are time sensitive
documents. These would not have to be redacted and this too would be consistent with what city
boards do with applications. If the Board of Assessors was receiving these applications, then they
would be in the packet. However, the Board has chosen not to review these abatement applications
so they are never part of your public packet.

Also, prior to this pandemic and Ms. Kleiner taking charge of the assessing office, these records

were available for immediate inspection, unredacted, at the counter upon request. Initially, the city

pandemic policy restricted access to the office to 15 minutes and now Ms. Kleiner's office redesign
1

Finance Committee — 01/19/2022 Page 2

house wise on Wednesdays, Thursdays and possibly Fridays. So I’m not really for that. | could probably maybe advance
to 6:30 but it could be tight at some times. | cannot go at 6 o'clock.

Mayor Donchess

Allright. So you’re saying because of your House duties 7:00 is really better.
Alderman Klee
Yes.

Mayor Donchess

Well maybe we'll take it up again then once the session is over. | don’t want to inconvenience anybody.

Alderman Comeau

| just wanted to say also initially my thought was that | had no real preference but in looking at my schedule, my son plays
a lot of high school sports that get out around 6 — 6:30 and | like to attend as many of them as possible. So 7 is less of a
conflict with that when he’s still in sports. When there’s no sports, then I’m a lot more flexible.

Mayor Donchess

That’s fine. The tradition has been 7 for many years. With two objections, why don’t we just leave it at 7.

Number two, this is an item that we haven’t really raised before. You see tonight’s a pretty short agenda — four items. We
typically and | suspect tonight, although, I’m not sure, we usually have someone come in on each of these items to give
you more explanation than is in the Memo. Many of the memos are self-explanatory. Now in the years before | was
Mayor, | was on the Board of Aldermen and on the Finance Committee. The position of the Mayor at that time was that
staff members should not be inconvenienced and would not come to the Finance Committee at all. In my years on the
Finance Committee, only once that | recall that any member of the staff ever came in and that had to do with the
committee’s refusal to approve a purchase unless it was equipment and the equipment manager came in. It was kind of a
standoff for about a month but finally that person came in, offered the explanation, and we approved the purchase.

So my policy was the reverse — have someone come in on every contract but | have heard some comments from some of
the Directors that there are a lot of night meetings tends to burn people out coming in once, twice, three times a week and
even if it’s by Zoom. We have Camille of Transit here personally at 7 o’clock. So | wanted — and | don't really have
anything specific other than to ask the open question is if we have items where someone has a question, fine we bring
someone in. If there are items where it seems no one really has an issue, no one really has anything additional to ask
beyond what’s in the memo, would it be possible to forego the Division Director or Department Director coming in to
explain the item?

Now Kelly Parkinson is on, right? Kelly are you here.

Kelly Parkinson, Purchasing Manager

Yes, I’m here.

Mayor Donchess

So Ms. Parkinson is the Purchasing Manager so she’s here no matter what on all items and has a basic explanation about
everything because she’s prepared all this paperwork or has helped prepare it and understands each item. She would
always be here. It’s just like an additional person like in the case of Transit - Camille who is the Transit Director. Her
name is Camille Correa. We always have an additional person come in from the department. My question is what is your
reaction to this dilemma or this issue should we continue to bring people in or can we forego that time and again.

Alderman Klee
We do have three new people on this and obviously Alderman Jette is new to Finance as well. The truth is there are a lot

of questions that get asked at the meeting. | personally think that it’s something we could do on our own homework wise.
| had mentioned to prior to the meeting that if there’s something that you learn, it might be something you want to ask and

and expected contractor delays has prevented the opening of the office with no reopening date
determined. Additionally, the Mayor has City Hall completely shut down to the public with no
opening date insite.

Posting the applications online would cut the workload for multiple employees of the city. If they
are not easily made publicly available, here is the current process:

1. aright to request has to be submitted daily or weekly to receive email copies of abatement
applications and documentation that are received by the city. As you know the deadline for
abatement applications is March 1st.

2. The assessing office sends the request to the legal office.

The City Attorney has to respond in 5 business days.

4, The Attorney is requiring a full month just to obtain the documents. (the legal office is not
saying the public will receive the documents within the month, only that it will take them a
month to get them). Shockingly, this is the time the new RTK legal coordinator responded to
Ms. Colquhoun to obtain the applications received by the city as of December 18, 2020. Her
email and city response is attached.*

5. Because the legal office is processing the request, once they receive the documents they will
then have to redact any personal information.

6. Ifthe applications are posted online by the assessing office, no redactions are required
(consistent with how other boards are handling applications)

7. Ms. Perry, the legal clerk, has to create a tracking number for the RTK

8. Ms. Perry is then required to log the request in an excel spreadsheet and document the RTK
details across about 10 excel fields.

9. As in the case of Ms. Colquhouns request, and typical for RTK's that are being processed by
the legal office, the attorney writes another letter to state that redactions must be done and
they will need "X" more time.

10. Ms. Perry must update the excel spreadsheet with the updated letter and response time.

11. The legal office then delivers the responsive documents along with another letter written by
the attorney informing you that the responsive documents are provided.

12. Ms. Perry must update the excel spreadsheet with the letter sent by the legal office and
documents that the responsive documents were delivered. Sometimes a new RTK number
must be generated and an entirely new spreadsheet entry must be created.

ww

* Please note to add insult to injury, the legal office will not accept a request for all future
applications received for the March 1st deadline. In other words, the requester has to

continually write RTK's to obtain the application because the legal office will not hold a right-to-
know for future documents received because RSA 91-A does not require them to produce
documents that are not in their possession.

However, Ms. Colquhoun and I requested the email! copies of the Board of Assessor public packets
and the Assessing clerk sends those to us without requiring that we submit bi-weekly requests for
the information. In other words, the assessing office is willing to accept a predated request for
future information and fill the request. But because the request for the public abatement
applications and documents are being forwarded to legal, they will not accept a request for future

documents.
2

I believe the legal office should be accommodating to these types of requests because city hall
remains closed (unlike any other city hall in the state), the public cannot access these records at the
counter any longer and Ms. Kleiner's office redesign has made record retrieval difficult. Given
these extraordinary times, the legal office could accommodate this future request, but is choosing
not to. While Mr. Neumann is correct that RSA 91-A does not require the governmental body to
produce records not in their possession, the legal office is well aware that these documents are kept
(time sensitive March Ist deadline) and reported and the requested documents for 2020
abatement applications are clear and reasonably described public records. The attorneys are
justifying their salaries and complaining about workload by creating more unnecessary paperwork.

So, steps 1-13 have to be repeated for the 3 months to receive all the applications. This seems
totally absurd. While we hired a new RTK legal coordinator, we did not add legal clerks or staffing
and this position. It would not be surprising for the legal office to request more clerical support as
they spin up the paperwork and the required tracking to waste taxpayer dollars.

I am so disappointed that this is how a newly hired RTK legal coordinator is justifying his job on
the back of our tax dollars.

A simple request by you to just post the applications bi-weekly online is their original form will
eliminate all these costs and quickly put this time sensitive public information in the hands of those
interested in understanding how their government functions.

Laurie Ortolano
Al Berkeley Street.

Ms. Colquhoun's RTK request:

From: Laura Colquhoun <lauracolguhoun2(@gmail.com>

Date: Fri, Dec 18, 2020 at 10:35 AM
Subject: Information Needed
To: Brown, Louise <LouiseBQnashuanh.gov>

Louise,

Please provide electronic copies of 2020 abatement applications and supporting
documentation received by the city as of Friday December 18, 2020.

I would like weekly email copies of all 2020 abatements submitted to the Assessing
Department. I should not have to submit a weekly Right-to-know to obtain this data. I am not
required to submit biweekly RTK’s to receive the public information for the Board of Assessor
meetings and if the office were opened, I could review these applications upon walk-in.

Thank you for your assistance.

Mr. Neumann's response to Ms. Colquhoun's request.

December 29, 2020
Laura Colquhoun
30 Greenwood Drive Nashua, NH 03062

Via email only to lauracolguhoun2@gmail.com

RE: Right-to-Know Request received December 18, 2020
Dear Ms. Colquhoun,

The City is in receipt of your email request dated December 18, 2020, under NH RSA 91-A,
the “Right-to-Know” law. The request is for the City to “provide electronic copies of 2020
abatement applications and supporting documentation received by the city as of Friday
December 18, 2020. I would like weekly email copies of all 2020 abatements submitted to the
Assessing Department. I should not have to submit a weekly Right-to-know to obtain this data.
I am not required to submit biweekly RTK’s to receive the public information for the Board of
Assessor meetings and if the office were opened, I could review these applications upon walk-
in.”

The City will gladly fulfill all Right to Know requests for non-exempt public records within its
current possession. However, under NH RSA 91-A, IV, the City must make available, upon
request, only reasonably described records that are within the City’s files and immediately
available for release. Further, the City is not required to assemble information into a form
in which it is not already kept or reported. In light of this, the City respectfully declines to
honor any standing requests for future records not presently in its possession.

Due to prior Right-to-Know requests, and other Legal Department obligations, and other
Assessing Department obligations, and duties and the renovation of the assessing department.
The time reasonably necessary to gather and review the requested documents is on or before
January 26, 2021.

Sincerely,
/s/ Jesse B. Neumann
Jesse B. Neumann Attorney/RTK Coordinator

ce: File # 2020-415