Board of Aldermen 02-16-2021 Page 9
better job of keeping streets clear during snow storms than applying rock salt after the storm
begins. And it also saves money.
At City Hall, the Assessing and IT Departments have put new assessing search and analysis
tools on the City’s website and have put many documents online. Nashua, as a result, has the
most open, accountable, and transparent assessing department in New Hampshire. Thank you
to Administrative Services Director Kim Kleiner and new Chief Assessor Rick Vincent for these
improvements.
A Greener Nashua
Nashua is also doing its part in fighting global warming. Our City Energy Manager, Doria Brown,
has stepped up the Green Action Plan. LED Street lights. Solar panels installed on the Lake
Street Fire Station, also on the transit garage, on Conway arena, and on three schools, Dr.
Crisp, and Fairgrounds and Pennichuck. Converting our two high schools to LED lighting.
Hybrid buses. These projects are reducing the City’s energy use and saving money.
Since 2016 we have actually reduced our greenhouse gas emissions from Public Works vehicles
and from Nashua Transit buses by 1,661 tons of carbon per year — that’s down 40%. We are
also working on a host of other energy saving projects.
Affordable Housing and Homelessness
As always, no matter how much we move our City forward, there will always be more work to
do. We need more affordable housing. Housing demand is strong, and rents and the values of
Nashua homes have risen dramatically in the last few years. But there are still many people in
our community who are struggling to pay the rent or the mortgage. We have worked with a
private developer to build 150 units of workforce housing on Marshall Street, and we are working
with the Nashua Housing Authority to redevelop the Bronstein Apartments to include 200
affordable units. The Housing Authority has been clear about one aspect of this project from the
beginning. Although a temporary move willbe required, all current Bronstein residents will be
guaranteed to be able to return to Bronstein in a new and better apartment.
Alongside this need for more housing, we are seeing a rise in homelessness across New Hampshire.
Mike Reinke and the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter are working with St. Patrick’s parish to convert
the former St. Patrick’s School on Spring Street into housing for homeless individuals and families.
Another great project is Infant Jesus and Family Promise working together to add transitional housing for
families who are in need in the former Infant Jesus School on Crown Street. Family Promise is an
established nonprofit that has had remarkable success in providing the support that families need to get
themselves back on their feet.
There’s More Work to Do — Let’s Get to It
The last year has been difficult for everyone. But we will recover even stronger by continuing to work
together in the ways that Nashuans always have. We are all neighbors and friends. We want our families
to build meaningful lives with the health and safety we need, and the individual freedom and the local
control that we deserve. And we want our young people to have the opportunities they need to build
