Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 6
you've got more in it than | do right now. Let's go for it. It comes back to kicking things down the road. We've kicked
things down the road in this city for far too long. We kicked the performance center down the road since | moved here in
the early 90s. We've talked about projects that I've only seen to come to fruition in my adult life that were starting to
formulate when | was a child. Please support the proposal from the Task Force and the recommendation from the
Committee. | hope to be dining downtown this summer outside. Thank you.
Craig Hermle
My name is Craig Hermle, 12 Brittany Way, Nashua. | think the prior speakers have summarized my position ultimately.
I'm not in objection to downtown dining all. | am 100% against anyone getting something for nothing. I've been in
previous meetings where the statements have been made that the restaurants have been suffering through COVID and
barely getting by. Well the entire town, the entire State, the entire country has suffered through it. As a gig worker, | can
tell you that | too have suffered and | didn't get a financial reimbursement from the government as I'm sure some of the
restaurants have this past year. I'm not at all opposed to downtown dining. | think it's a great thing to do get people
outside. However, it should be paid for especially if you're expanding your footprint to the extent it was last year impeding
the traffic in the roads. If you want if you want the space, pay for it. Thank you very much.
Rich Lannan
Hi. Rich Lannan, 11 McGrath Road Pelham with offices in Nashua. | do own two buildings on Main Street. They're
mixed use buildings. | have retailers. | have restaurants, residents, offices, and so forth. But I'm speaking for myself. |
not speaking for or against my tenants there as | think I've spoken many of the meetings in the past. | am very much in
favor of the expanded dining, but a little different. Lately, I've been thinking about some of the opposition and some of the
reasons why some people are against it. One of them is obviously is the traffic and the fact that the traffic is slowed down.
It bottlenecks. Others including (inaudible) talked about it's all about the restaurants and it's all about downtown. It's not
about the residents of the city.
m
| agree with all of that, except that downtown is just that downtown Nashua but downtown's everywhere is not supposed to
be a thoroughfare. It's not supposed to be Amherst Street, Daniel Webster Highway, or Everett Turnpike. Its downtown.
The traffic is too fast. Downtown is not a 30 or 40 mile an hour zone and | think it's proven that the traffic has slowed. |
guess heaven forbid that it takes two, or three, or four minutes longer to go an extra mile from north/south or south/north
on Main Street and downtown has become much more vibrant. There's no question that the restaurants probably have the
most direct benefit in their pocketbook. This is not just about the restaurants. This is about the restaurants as retail but
it's about people coming downtown. It is no question that the expanded outside dining but really the barriers by slowing
the traffic down has been talked about as far as parking spaces, there's so much parking in the downtown area. | mean,
again, if you don't park right in front of a store that seems to be a problem and | don't know why. If you park in a mall
parking lot, you're gonna walk a lot further than walking from one of the garages. So | think making Main Street two lanes,
slowing the traffic down, and if you're looking just to go north/south, there's plenty of other ways to go.
And really this is about downtown recess the vibe for the whole city, which is all the residents of Nashua and beyond. |
just think what we saw in the last couple of years. It was because of COVID it was happening, but there's not a lot of
good things that come out of COVID but | think this was one of them that shows what can happen...
Donna Graham, Legislative Affairs Manager
30 seconds
Rich Lannan
...and what could make downtown more vibrant. If a downtown thrives and it shows by all the new stores and new
restaurants that have come into downtown just over the last couple of years, a thriving downtown makes the whole city
better. So | urge the Board to please vote this. This new plan, compromised plan, and vote for that this evening in a
positive way. Thank you for your time.
Lou Juris
Good evening. Lou Juris here. You’ve got an opportunity this evening to approve resolutions that include improving our
sewer system. Monies for a situation with Pennichuck - the water company. The police (inaudible) a police issue police
contract for the cops. You know, of course, the teachers, our associated professionals who've worked through this
pandemic whether it was remote, hybrid, caring, instructing our students during this time, checking on their emotional well-
being, and going through the start and stops and everything that it's affecting their personal life, and certainly their health
