Board of Aldermen 2-06-2020 Page 24
period, | can assure the public and ensure this Board. Our Committee that we meet originally was once or
twice a month and we are literally meeting weekly and you know Deb and | and a few other people that are
here on the Capital Campaign Committee, | mean there is not a day goes by that there is not conversations and
there is not a day goes by that one us if not multiple many of us that are meeting with potential donors.
Being around like | said for all 40 years in Nashua I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in business and made a
lot of friends and | have never had one person that I’ve talked to about donating to this have said “no”. And I’ve
talked to a lot of people. I’ve been successful in getting donations so far, and a lot of them like Deb has
explained thoroughly, it is a big number, especially when we are talking 5, 6 and 7 figures, it takes time for
some of these businesses and people to make decisions. Again | haven’t had a “no” yet; it has either yes done
or it is in the process and | am very confident that we are going to raise as Deb said, $2.5 million plus.
Just a couple quick clarifications, Deb probably had a 20 minute thing and Thank God that Mayor Donchess
already said most of the things that | was going to say earlier so | totally turned direction with what | just said. I'll
finish up here, as far as the Bank of America. Bank of America | know has reported that $250,000.00 and there
was conditions put on that and everything, that’s not accurate. Basically the $250,000.00 we already have half
of it, it has already been given. The other half | think is next year. So that has been committed and the
condition and | think they even mentioned a condition. The condition is no different than if somebody in here
donated $5,000.00 which is or you know or !0, 15, $25,000.00. It is not a written condition and they did not give
us any written conditions. The condition is in the contract. If, for whatever reason, unfortunately this things
fails, you get your money back. So the only condition which is not a written condition, if we do give them the
$250,000.00 back just like everybody else gets their $10, $25 or $50. So it’s some misconceptions out there in
that regard. We are going to continue no matter what circumstances you put on us, but not having the time, we
just don’t see why there was ever a timetable to begin with. It’s there, and we would encourage you to vote to
eliminate that but the Committee will continue no mater was is done. The Committee is going to continue
working hard and | assure you, this will get done. Thank you.
Paul Shea So good evening, my name is Paul Shea, | am the Executive Director of Great American
Downtown. We have a mission centered around Economic and Cultural Vibrancy here in our downtown which
of course impacts the broader community. | am also a resident of Nashua. | live in French Hill since 2009,
we've lived there on Toll Street. Ona personal level | am very enthusiastic about this project. But | also came
this evening to convey the support of our Full Board of Directors. The meeting has gone on long and I’ve
already sent you a promo letter kind of conveying that and why we feel that we are in support of lifting the time
limitation, so that the work can continue to the success of this project and | wanted to come up to reiterate that
simply.
A couple important items to correct that have been discussed tonight: in terms of filing, we file annually our
taxes with the State of New Hampshire. There is a threshold of $500,000.00; we’ve looked at this because our
organization has continued to grow. This scope of our programming and thus our budget and it is a threshold
of $500,000.00 when you get into nitty gritty detail work that needs to be submitted. The simple 990 filing with
the State of New Hampshire along with the form certifying that information is accurate, it is generally the
practice for lower revenue operations. Much of the activities taking place this year, | cannot imagine that the
threshold was exceeded last year.
Another item, we have talked about the scope, audience size that was recommended in terms of the project by
the Webb Consulting Group. The Executive Summary of the Report does actually outline a 500 to 700 person
space. So pushing the envelope to a 750,000 space helps to maximize this investment and in conjuncture with
feedback from the operator, it is a good move.
It was touched upon this evening of whether or not the space will be flexible and meet the recommendations of
the consulting group to be a convention and event space. This design continues to incorporate the
recommendation of the Webb Group which calls for flexible floor plan on the lower level with the telescopic
seating. | was very happy to get to kind of test out those chairs yesterday at 201 Main Street. Lots of great
options but with that, this design continues to meet that recommendation of the group.
