A Special Meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Wednesday, September August 8, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. in the
Aldermanic Chamber and via Zoom teleconference which meeting link can be found on the agenda and on the City’s
website calendar.
President Lori Wilshire presided; Legislative Affairs Manager Donna Graham recorded.
Prayer was offered by Legislative Affairs Manager Donna Graham; Alderman June M. Caron led in the Pledge to the
Flag.
Let’s start the meeting by taking a roll call attendance. If you are participating via Zoom, please state your presence,
reason for not attending the meeting in person, and whether there is anyone in the room with you during this meeting,
which is required under the Right-To-Know Law.
The roll call was taken with 12 members of the Board of Aldermen present: Alderman Michael B. O’Brien, Sr.,
Alderman Patricia Klee, Alderwoman Shoshanna Kelly, Alderman Richard A. Dowd, Alderman June M. Caron,
Alderman Thomas Lopez, Alderman David C. Tencza, Alderwoman Elizabeth Lu, Alderman Jan Schmidt, Alderman
Skip Cleaver (via Zoom), Alderman Linda Harriott-Gathright, and Alderman Wilshire.
Alderman Benjamin Clemons, Alderman Ernest Jette, and Alderman Brandon Laws were recorded absent.
COMMUNICATIONS
From: Susan Lovering, City Clerk
Re: Certificate of Sufficiency - Citizens Initiative Petition Proposing to Amend the Charter Relative to the Nomination
and Confirmation of Appointments to the Nashua Board of Police Commissioners
President Wilshire accepted the communication, placed it on file, and scheduled a public hearing on Thursday,
September 16, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in the aldermanic chamber.
From: Tim Cummings, Economic Development Director
John Griffin, Chief Financial Officer
Cheryl Lindner, Chief of Staff
Re: Vision for usage of ARPA Funds & Guiding Principles
President Wilshire accepted the communication and placed it on file.
PRESENTATION
American Recovery Program Act (ARPA)
President Wilshire to recognize Mayor Donchess.
Mayor Donchess
Thank you Madam President. So we as you know have received an allocation of American Rescue Plan Funds or
“ARPA’ as it is sometimes referred to. We have an allocation of $8,000,000 per year for two years for a total of $16
million. Now there are regulations and guidance which restrict our use of the funds so we want to make sure that we use
the funds in a way that is consistent with those regulations. Now what we have for you tonight is a presentation as to
several ways that we think we could allocate the money with the underlying idea that we would like to do something that
makes a significant impact on the community in one area or another rather than kind of just spreading everything around
that we really don’t see much of a concrete result. So you'll see several approaches that we could use to make a
significant impact in areas that we think would benefit the city.
Of course, ultimately it is the Board of Aldermen that is required to approve the allocation of the funds so we obviously
will want to work with you closely as to how we should go about this or what approach you think might make the most
sense. One thing that is in all three — we’re going to give you three different alternatives. Of course they can be
adjusted. The one thing that’s in all of them is that there is $1.2 million in year one that would go for revenue
replacement for the deficit in the school lunch program caused by the fact that the school lunches have been free for the
