Board of Aldermen 04-13-2021 Page 26
It has only been around for about a year and a half so we need to be cautious and | think our Board of Health
needs the support of the Aldermen in making sure that when we talk about masking ordinances, we are talking
about a decision that is safe, not necessarily popular for the City of Nashua.
We were on the front lines when this was blowing up in Boston and Massachusetts. We have managed to
maintain a very safe and effective response to it. We have managed to protect our businesses to the extent that
some of the efforts that we have made to allow to them to survive COVID have turned out to be wildly successful
such as the Downtown outside dining. So we need to be able to give them the ability to be healthcare
practitioners and make recommendations that are informed. | have asked them to identify specific criteria that
could be used such as exposure rate, number of people vaccinated and those kind of things. So that discussion
will be 12:30 tomorrow. It is on the City’s Webpage and | think we’ve all gotten emails about it.
Additionally, with regards to the barriers, | am sorry to Alderman Klee for not helping her with her clean-up, | was
actually in the middle of volunteering/segwaying in circles around Positive Street Art while they were painting.
And they are doing an outstanding job and | think it looks really, really good. | have heard from some businesses
that they would have liked to have some direct input on the designs that were going right in front of their business
and because of the backsides of the barriers haven’t been painted, the idea was we could do those future years.
They would have preferred a decoration. So | talked to the Mayor, | talked to Director Cummings, they are both
supportive of the idea of those restaurants reaching out to Positive Street Art and contracting the artists directly to
do a more customized look on the inside. That is up to the restaurants, if they want to pay for that, that’s fine. |
think the City has been more than supportive in what it has already contributed to and | think the barriers really
need to get up. The best thing you can for a business right now as the weather starts to get warm is to get people
sitting in your seats and using your services in a safe way.
So that’s very encouraging. People have given me a lot of positive feedback about that. Not exactly as positive
of feedback as the bulldozer that is parked in the former Alec’s Shoe Store site. | think people imagined that we
were going to drape a giant blanket over that and then pull it back and there would suddenly be a Performing Arts
Center. And it was a little heart breaking for people who have family history or memories attached to Millers to
watch the front loader scraping away at the Alec’s Shoe Store sign. So yeah | mean it is demolition, it is change,
it is frustrating. But the promise that we have ahead of us and the project that is moving forward is very exciting
as are other projects that are happening downtown. There’s a lot of development that’s happening from local
businesses. We have the Soup Kitchen’s project, we have additional housing projects coming on line. So there’s
a lot of really good and interesting things happening downtown.
So | guess to conclude, | would remind people to be careful in driving downtown. It is not the Daniel Webster
Highway. We don’t want to have more car accidents and people injured. So just be mindful of pedestrians. If
you are looking for a more rapid and direct route to get over the bridge, consider the Broad Street Parkway.
Thank you.
President Wilshire
Alderman Harriott-Gathright.
Alderman Harriot-Gathright
Thank you Madam President. | too want to echo the sentiments of our Mayor to the family of the 17 year old
which | am sure is very difficult for them. But just to let them know that we, as a City, really are standing with
them. And secondly, | didn’t speak to the $1.5 million that’s going to the Fire Department. But | did sit in on that
meeting, | was in on the meeting when Deputy Chief spoke to that and it was kind of weird how we couldn’t
actually just pay them directly we have to go through the Health Department in order to pay the firemen that work
in giving out the vaccinations and directing traffic and all the many things that they do for the City. So | just want
to acknowledge that they do a lot and I’ve been in the lines for vaccination at one point and really got a really
good look at some of the things that they do there. So | just want them to know and for the community to know
the work that they day beyond their regular firemen’s work, let’s put it that way. So kudos to them.
