Board of Aldermen 11-26-2019 Page 20
Alderman Dowd
The passing of the bond does not mean we are selling bonds or expending that money. It gives the
authority to move forward with that amount of funding for a project. And again several time constraints
relative to this project, the decision has been made by the people that are authorized to make the
decision the Board of Education and the Joint Special School Building Committee to build a new
school. Nobody has any concerns with Fairgrounds and Pennichuck evidently because we haven't
heard anything on those.
The way the steps are put in place is the motion came before this Board, got referred to a Public
Hearing. The Public Hearing is to take comments in favor and opposition, and we will hear that before
the Budget Committee meets. Whatever action the Budget Committee meets then goes to the full
Board of Aldermen on all 3 bonds, not just the school bond. The Full Board of Aldermen will make their
decision at that point in time. And all bonds require 10 votes so once the bond is passed, then that
doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is cast in concrete, we have a lot of work to do. It does allow
us to go into the detailed design phase and there are numerous opportunities for input before any
shovels hit the ground. So the process has to be completed because of the way it’s gone through this
past year. There have been 9 opportunities during the past year for people to give input. We need to
turn on the architects to do their work or because of the timeframe involved so | think there is plenty of
opportunity for people to have input. Remember, the City is comprised of 70,000 to 80,000 people. |
know that some people have concerns, but on anything we do as a City there are always people that
have concerns. We listen to them; we try to incorporate concerns and alleviate their concerns but that
doesn’t mean that we stop the train.
Alderwoman Kelly
Thank you. Is this my response to or can | go into my other remarks as well when I’m done? Does it
matter?
President Wilshire
You can do both.
Alderwoman Kelly
So | appreciate your explanation and | think a lot of people around the horseshoe understands this but
a lot of times the public isn’t fully aware. We can be talking about something for months before they
even understand what is going on. | think that’s a continual thing that | hear at least from my
constituents, “So | didn’t know about it until it was in the Telegraph” you know we all have busy lives.
I’m just trying to figure out a way to make sure that people can get their comments out there and feel
like they are heard, especially on really big projects like the DPW or the School Building.
Can | go to my remarks? | actually just wanted to thank the children from the Boys & Girls Club |
thought that was a really great presentation and | would echo Alderman Lopez’s recommendation that
we hear from them and kind of walk through those potential action steps with them. | think they did a
really good job not only identifying things but weighing out how we might help them improve the city
that they live in. That was a nice bright spot for the — evening.
Happy Thanksgiving. One of the things | wanted to do was to shout out to the agencies in the City, we
have an incredible group of agencies that help everyone, especially as we go into the holidays. We
have the Soup Kitchen, we have the Children’s Home, Harbor Home, End 68 hours Hunger, our
community | see everyday examples of people who are coming together, and | appreciate seeing that
at the Holidays and even when it is not the Holidays. So thank you.
