Board of Aldermen — 2/19/2019 Page 5
In our emerging Railyard District east of Main Street we have approved plans for more than 200
units of new housing and we are beginning work on a new plan for the properties, some of them
City-owned at the western end of the mill yard bordering Mine Falls Park. This is a promising
site for homes for new downtown residents. We are working with Neighbor Works and with
Habitat for Humanity, to create more affordable apartments and home ownership opportunities
on Kinsley Street, Pine Street and on Paxton Terrace.
The Elm Street Middle School property may present another housing opportunity. We will be
proposing a feasibility study, but once the new Middle School is completed, the 200,000 square
foot Elm Street Middle School could be added to the tax rolls and could potentially provide
hundreds of housing units for our people. However, we first need to develop a step by step plan
regarding the future of Elm Street.
From Day 1, we have tackled the opioid crisis and there have achieved meaningful results. In
February 2016 we convened the Mayor’s Opioid Task Force. In November 2016 we launched
the City’s Safe Stations Program. Anyone who is seeking help can report to any Fire Station in
Nashua any time and get help with an addiction. So far, over 3,000 have reported and have
received treatment and help. The opioid crisis is still with us. And certainly one tragic death is
one too many. But in 2019 fatal overdoses were down about 20% from the peak years of 2015
and 2016.
My personal commitment is to the City Government that you deserve, a City Government that is
more accountable and inclusive. In order to be accountable, we have held Town Hal Style
Meetings in every Ward every year. We have Coffee with the Mayor gatherings every month
with a growing number of participants; the most recent just last week. These public forums are
a great opportunity to discuss ideas and concerns. In Nashua we believe in mutual respect and
we value and include all Nashuans, we do not divide people between us and them. We have
just us, all Nashuans.
We have officially become a welcoming city. Our Cultural Connections Committee under the
leadership of Deepa Mangalat and Sylvia Gale is reaching out to all of Nashua’s Communities.
We have resumed holding an annual fall event which we began when | was Mayor before,
Nashua’s Multicultural Festival. We have held two Pride Parades and we are looking forward to
our third, which | predict will be bigger than our first two and that will be on June 27".
This coming August, we are planning a celebration of the 100" Anniversary of Women’s
Suffrage, the passage of course of the 19" Amendment which granted women the right to vote.
If you would like to get involved in that celebration, please talk to Cheryl Linder.
We are also working to build stronger neighborhoods. For the second year, we will be running
our “Your Voice, Your Choice” project in the Tree Streets. This past year, with the help of
Shaun Nelson and Nashua PAL, and working with neighborhood residents, we developed ideas
for about a dozen possible projects. Then neighborhood residents voted to determine which
project should go ahead. Tree Street residents voted for a project we had never thought of and
that is a Futsal Court, which is an enclosed soccer court which is on Ash Street, right across
from PAL. Now that the Court is complete, it is a great place for kids to learn and strengthen
their skills, right in the neighborhood. We are looking forward to working with Tree Street
residents again this spring on our second “Your Voice, Your Choice” project.
