Board of Aldermen Page 5
August 9, 2016
side with free speech and that’s what happened with the Alton man who got stifled and silenced and got
arrested. The New Hampshire Supreme Court says we can say, so if | think someone is smirking at me
and making a face or somebody here when | am speaking making a comment about me even later on in
the meeting, guess what, | have the New Hampshire Supreme Court on my side now. At the last
meeting | made a comment that someone was smirking and he went “point of order,” and | think | should
have an apology for that. Oh, that’s right; you don’t give apologies on this Board. Open to the public,
anyone can attend a public meeting. They can make notes, tape record, take pictures and video tape
because it’s open to the public but minutes of the meeting; minutes shall be kept of all public meetings.
The David W. Deane Skateboard Park Committee is a public meeting. There were meetings before and
there should have been minutes since this last time but there weren’t. Then back in January of 2013, |
noticed as | was doing some research, not only do they use it for skateboarding but they also have a
picture in here using their BMX bike. | had asked questions at the last meeting. What are the
demographics of the people who are going to use this park? Since it’s down on Bridge Street I’ve heard
Litchfield, Hudson, downtown people from Nashua; we don’t know. How do we know that there is not
going to be another invasion in that part of Nashua which none of us were even told about. Vhen | was
at the Infrastructure Committee meeting | had brought in pictures of what it looks like when they have
events here. It gets really tight at the boat ramp and although you are going to give more parking to
everybody it is very crowded there. People park at the Y, as Alderman Cookson would know. | hope |
am not boring anybody and that | can have your undivided attention. | don’t think this is fair and maybe
we should start putting this in other people’s neighborhoods. The congestion there is unbelievable so
now they are going to put a round peg in a square whole. As | did some more of my research |
happened to see what Mayor Donchess had to say about this area. Nobody knew about this and there
has been no Ward meetings and | Know my Alderman said that he was hoping to have a meeting in May
for all of us to find out about this but that never happened because obviously they couldn’t get a meeting.
Every time they set a date it was cancelled. The Mayor said “over time the city is gradually transitioning
this area.” Transitioning, it’s almost like the transformation that is going on in this country. “What is now
the public works garage into recreation area with Stellos, the Y and now the skateboard park.” This was
on July 26". Even when the Mayor had the neighborhood meeting back in January or February after you
got sworn in that you talk to us about this transition in this area? Not a word has been said to any of us.
He then says “I am sure in the end we will move the public works operation to Burke Street.” (Probably
about $40 million of our taxpayer's money.) “This would enable a more recreational area near Stellos.
What more recreation are you going to put in there? How much more can you put in there? We already
know that Conway Ice is going to get another sheet. Maybe this time you will sell the property for fair
market value instead of a buck a year at the taxpayer's expense. “I think overall we are reducing the
congestion over there in the sense that once public works functions have moved and the garage trucks
and everything else and we make this purely recreational.” “l think in the end we have reduced the traffic
congestion.” Oh really! “There has been a three year search and | don’t think that we are going to come
up with another location, there is not really any alternative.” A three year search, there hasn’t been any
minutes to any meetings in three years and in three years we’ve had two Aldermen; one of them left and
then we had Alderman Soucy and now we have Alderman LeBrun. Where was the transparency? | am
also going to blame Lozeau and people on the Board who knew about this like Alderman Deane who has
been on that committee since day 1 and he is an Alderman-at-Large and he has a responsibility to tell us
because he is an Alderman-at-Large if they had meetings. When you want something done on your
behalf and you want everybody to be happy then you have meetings even if you are an Alderman-at-
Large. Alderman Cookson did that when we were buying the property up by the landfill because nobody
was letting us Know. Then he organized a meeting. Alderman Deane could have organized a meeting
but that didn’t happen. Where are the meeting minutes? This is a rigged system. The people in this
neighborhood have to endure more traffic and skateboarders. How is it going to affect 505 West Hollis
Street or the people at the Pratt Home? The Y is in favor of it, well good, how much does the Y pay in
taxes in this city? We need to have more of a discussion on this before this goes through because if not
| will start talking and finding out how to file an injunction. | will go under the right-to-know law that this
was kept as a deep, dark secret. I’d like to know where the other locations were and exactly who were
the members of the committee because there was definitely a member of the Board of Aldermen,
Alderman Deane. | also believe Lisa Fauteux was on there. Can we have the right-to-know in this city
