Board of Aldermen 04-12-2022 Page 28
wanted the window shrunk to Memorial Day to Labor Day and the city wanted the first of May to the middle of October.
So we compromise and cut two weeks off of the end. 5% decrease or something like that. So yeah, this is a compromise
but it's not much of a compromise.
There's more we could have done. It was suggested that businesses should be able to pay for the space. Some of the
people said that they shouldn't. So we compromised and they're paying nothing. So it hardly seems like much of a
compromise at all. So for those reasons, | can't support this unless more significant changes are made to it.
Alderman Klee
Thank you, Madam President. I'm gonna go backwards from the last speaker to - | think that was disingenuous and |
know you meant it a joke Alderman Comeau that only the paint color was picked. You can look right at what Director
Cummings has said. Yes through my amendment | did undo that particular area of the 20 feet, but | did add the
handicapped parking space. They added two spaces back to 100 Main Street. They removed the barriers at 105 West
Pearl Street. They removed the variable message board sign and | believe that was a very long conversation as well as
removing the orange barrels everywhere using the alternate channelizing devices as needed. And yes, paint the barrier
red brick color and install reflective white tape everywhere. So | think to say that all that work because of one thing that
was taken out was reduced and that was very unkind for a committee that you are on as well as others.
I'd also like to say that | absolutely 100% agree with Alderman Gouveia that we should have done this earlier. At this
point, we should be doing that. The truth is, it was the sitting Board of Aldermen’s fault for putting it off and for saying,
let's look at it more. We literally kicked the can down the road. So you're absolutely right. We should have, we didn't,
and now we are where we are here. So to your point, | absolutely agree with it.
As far as will people come, | can tell you that | have a colleague up in the State House whose daughter goes to Rivier
College. She's an athlete there and they come to games. He called me one day and said to me, oh my god, | love your
extended downtown dining. He was at Martha's. They were sitting in the street and he lives in Hampton. He is a State
Rep. and a Selectman there. He was just blown away by it. He's told four of his friends who have now come to Nashua.
So | don't believe build it and they will come but word of mouth will spread. If you're in this area, you gotta check it out.
So | do think it will bring more attention to Nashua. God knows we're getting a lot of attention on the negative side,
probably from all this going back and forth and so on. | do think that is the case and I'm proud of our downtown. I've been
here now for 37 years | think and I, too, have seen a lot of changes just in that 37 years long before you were born and |
still think you're just graduating from high school but anyways, I'll put that aside.
The thing is | have seen a lot of changes. | do believe that when Michael Buckley, and when Martha's became alive, and
Fodie’s went all the way to the other end, we had restaurants coming in and out and so on. When Villa Blanca left in the
middle of the night and Fratello’s came in and saved us for that. They did that because they knew it was a vibrant kind of
building. | know Fratello’s had made some rather unkind comments on their way out but the truth is, the restaurant that's
there now, | think, Felicimo, wouldn't have come if they felt that Nashua didn't have something to offer. So | do think it's
not a building and they will come. | do think there will be word of mouth and | do think this is a positive step forward. |
think there has been a lot of compromise. | think we continue to do compromise. So thank you.
Alderman Moran
Thank you, Madam President. Just a couple of things. So | wholeheartedly believe that fees need to be charged and |
think it was a risk benefit of the fact that it's going to be so short to implementation that we couldn't get enough restaurants
on board with for what the fee would be. We need the city to develop a fee schedule, etc. to come back to the Board and
we'd just delay it further. So it was a risk benefit on why we took that action.
I'll tell you, I'll be the first Alderman that submits an ordinance to rescind this if we don't have fees in place by the next year
two because | do believe we need to pay for that extra space. | do think it's a bit disingenuous just to say that we should
have took an action further, quicker. | mean | think the executive branch got a good taste that this Board is different than
the previous boards and that we have a lot of differing opinions and that gives each single Alderman a chance to insert
their opinion whether they support this or not. No matter who votes on this at the end, everyone had a piece to suggest
on this compromise plan. There was information taken in to make this plan palatable to a wider population. So | think that
we should have our ability to do our job despite the previous Board kicking the can to this Board. Thank you.
Alderman Lopez
Can | move to question?
