A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber.

President Brian S. McCarthy presided; City Clerk Patricia Piecuch recorded.

Prayer was offered by City Clerk Patricia Piecuch; Alderman David W. Deane led in the Pledge to the Flag.

The roll call was taken with 14 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Alderman-at-Large Daniel T. Moriarty was recorded absent.

Mayor James W. Donchess and Corporation Counsel Steven A. Bolton were also in attendance.

REMARKS BY THE MAYOR

Mayor Donchess

First I’d like to welcome all of our guests to the Aldermanic Chamber. In a number of years in city government, I can’t say that I’ve ever seen or certainly a bigger crowd that we have tonight. I wanted to mention that we have a lot going on downtown. Just this past weekend, Positive Street Art put on their arts festival in French Park and Renaissance Park. We had the dinner on Main Street put on by Great American Downtown. Both were extremely well attended. Both had a lot of energy, and a lot of people, and a lot of enthusiasm.

We also have a lot of residential conversions going on. We have the Franklin Street conversion with Brady Sullivan converting the former Nashua Corp. to 200 units of housing. Just today Brady Sullivan bought the next building on that row – 44 Franklin Street which has been owned by a group of local people for and with that acquired an additional 100 units of parking.

More recently, we’ve had a little bit further in time we had Clocktower, way 25 years ago and Cotton Mill Square. With this acquisition today with the acquisition by Clocktower of the Picker Building, we’re seeing an increasing pace of residential development in downtown. Alphagraphics is building 3 new units above their store for the first time the re-establishment of residences above some of the retail. We have music festivals. We have the Farmer’s Market. We have the dance party. Back in July, the Latino Festival. We’ve seen a lot of new people and businesses come to downtown to join those who have been here for so long. Martha’s did a big conversion in the Merchant’s Exchange building – a big renovation many years ago. Since then, we’ve seen a number of changes – MTs and Surf. More recently, Riverwalk, Riverside Barbecue, the Flight Center, JaJaBelle’s, and Camaraderie have joined all of the long-standing businesses that we’ve had. I believe that if you spend time downtown, you can feel new enthusiasm, new energy, and you can feel that the pace of change. A positive change is accelerating and gaining momentum.

Now we have before us the performing arts center to replace the former anchor Alec’s Shoes. I believe and I think many of the people here agree that the conversion of Alec’s to a city community performing arts center will dramatically reinforce the positive changes that we know are occurring. Now the purpose of the performing arts center, underlying purpose, is of course to provide entertainment but more important than that to build a stronger, healthier economy downtown and citywide. We want to add to our tax base, increase our ability to raise taxes for the benefit of all services. We want to develop a downtown and a community that can compete for entrepreneurs, for young talent, for new families, and new residents so that for everyone – for native Nashuans and for new residents alike Nashua is city that people love to live in.

Now the performing arts center will bring 50 to 75,000 new people downtown. Two or three performances a week with 400 or 500 people or more attending. It will be run as a business. It will be commercially viable. Now as you’ve read in the newspaper in the last few days, we have a potential partner with the Currier Museum from Manchester. Probably the State’s leading artistic institution. This will bring $1 million that formally we were afraid would go back to Manchester back to Nashua and the Currier is joining us and is enthusiastic about this partnership. The Currier believes that the performing arts center on Main Street is a fantastic project. They want to be part of that. When has that happened in Nashua before?

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Today by coincidence and I swear I didn’t see this person out but we had a meeting about another subject and I ran into the man who was the chair of the first board of directors of the Capital Arts Center in Concord who was responsible for raising money and getting the thing off the ground to begin with. He pointed out that the Capital Center has transformed downtown Concord over the past couple of decades. If you know Concord and you think about it, the Capital Center is actually not really in the middle of Main Street or middle of downtown. It is south by a couple of blocks. Maybe three but right around the Capital Center, you’ve seen two major office projects, residential development, plus the Red River Theater, plus a new place for Gibson’s Book Store, and a lot of other things that have occurred right around the Capital Center. This former chair of that board believes that this transformation was caused by the redevelopment of the Capital Arts Center. His comment was, “that the Nashua performing arts center would bring incalculable benefits to the City of Nashua and that Main Street at the corner of Pearl is the perfect place.” Those were his words for this opportunity.

I have heard some people are skeptical and I certainly understand that but I don’t agree with running Nashua down. We are a great city with tremendous potential. Now we know that the Capital Center in Concord is a success. That community is half the size of Nashua. We know that the Palace in Manchester is a success. The Capital Center is twice the size of what we’re talking about. They’re even in Plymouth – a community that has 1/6th or 1/7th the size of ours. The have the Flying Monkey. A successful performing arts center. The Music Hall in Portsmouth is successful. A community ¼ our size. Tupelo in Londonderry is successful. A community 1/3 of our size. So this idea that Nashua just can’t work it, it’s just too skeptical, it’s got too much doubt, it’s just never is going to work. I just don’t believe that. Why is it that Concord, Manchester, Plymouth, Portsmouth, even Londonderry can make these performing art centers a success? Why can’t Nashua do the same? I think there is no answer to that question because I think and I think the evidence and the facts show that we would have an equal or a better success right on Main Street in Nashua.

I would like to take a moment to debunk some of the myths or the misunderstandings that I think have been circulated in opposition to the idea that we can have a commercially viable successful performing arts center on Main Street. First of all, the idea has been floated that Nashua is just blowing up debt. We’re just going crazy. That is just going out of control. That is exactly the opposite of the truth. We are actually paying off debt. We pay off $19 million of debt every year. Come June 30 without any further borrowing, we will have $24 million less of debt that we did when I entered office less than 2 years ago. As I said, we’re paying off $19 million of debt.

Now the performing arts center which could cost debt of $15.5 million is not going to be built right away. We need to raise $4 million first and it would be built over a couple of subsequent years. During that time, we will continue to pay off $19 million of debt every year. If this were to take place in a couple of years, we would have paid off an additional $38 million of debt for a total of $60 some million. We’re going to borrow 15. Is it possible that other projects would come forward? It’s possible but we would have to consider those on their merits, consider our ability to pay at the time. The bonded indebtedness in this budget is down $1.5 million. That’s out of pocket because we have reduced debt. So this idea that Nashua with its AAA bond rating is just exploding in debt is totally and absolutely false.

The analysis I just gave you does not include the paving bonds. Now we haven’t even borrowed those yet. We’re trying to pave the streets. Those have a separate unrelated, separate non-tax, non-property tax source of support. That being the Highway Block Grant that comes from the State of New Hampshire a small portion of the automobile registrations that we collect downstairs. Again, none of that money has even been borrowed yet. The projection is to borrow $30 some million over 5 years with an independent source of revenue while again we’re paying down debt at the rate of $19 million a year.

A second myth is the Daniel Webster College auditorium could work as an alternative performing arts center. That is not accurate. First of all if you’ve been there, and I remember Judy Carlson testified at the public hearing – she’s been there. I’ve been there. Tim Cummings has been there. It is a very small theater with no back of the house. It is less adequate than our high school auditoriums at North and South. It’s part of a larger administration building. It would be very difficult or impossible – probably more expensive than here to convert that and it doesn’t meet a fundamental goal that we’re trying to achieve which is a more economically vibrant Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 3

downtown building a stronger, healthier downtown economy adding vitality and strength to downtown. Off Pine Hill Road will not do that at all.

Another myth is that there has not been a feasibility study and that we don’t know anything about what we’re doing. That is false. We did a two-year feasibility study paid for initially in large part by the NH Charitable Foundation because they saw the potential for this kind of project. Two years we engaged Duncan Webb a leading or maybe the leading consultant on performing art centers in the nation. He does not build centers. He does not operate them. He serves as a consultant to communities so he can give them straight advice. He has advised other communities such as Peterborough not to proceed because they didn’t think they could be financially viable. What he told us was that we should not build something as we originally thought of 1,200, 1,500, 2,000 seats because that would not work. What he told us was that we can successfully operate given the market, given all of the circumstances a performing arts center with flexible space in the 500 to 700 seat range. He developed a business plan. The report says how much it will cost to operate this. How much he thinks it will bring in and he recommended that we develop and raise a $4 million private endowment which would be used to supplement the cost of the center. The proposal that you have before you is contingency except for the purchase of the building but proceeding with the vast majority of the project is contingent on raising $4 million in the private sector.

Finally there’s been this myth that there is no private involvement. There’s no private partnership. Well that is not true. First of all we have the Currier who wants to join with us. They are certainly a private institution. They’re not the government and it is contingent upon raising $4 million from our own citizens and from businesses in Nashua. So Mr. Chair I know I’ve gone on a little while but I want to advocate that the Board of Aldermen pass this and give Nashua a chance to succeed just like all these other communities. We are better than them and the idea that we can’t succeed when they can is I think totally, totally wrong. So we’ve seen the energy, the enthusiasm really heat up in downtown Nashua over the last few years. I hope that we don’t throw a big bucket of ice water on that enthusiasm now. Instead I think we should build on what’s already happened and make downtown Nashua an even better success than it already is. Thank you Mr. President.

I did say though before I conclude that I would mention another item – I’m sorry – the downtown parking plan overnight parking that we are going to be moving forward with presenting a plan we think on September 27th. Parenthetically that’s another thing that’s helping downtown. We think we can present a plan to the Infrastructure Committee at that time. Thank you very much Mr. President.

President McCarthy

I’m going to ask as we go on that we keep applause to a minimum because it actually wreaks havoc with our poor Legislative Assistant when she listens to the tapes. If you want to applaud, provide someone to do the transcriptions.

Are there any responses to the remarks of the Mayor?

RESPONSE TO REMARKS OF THE MAYOR - None

RECOGNITION PERIOD

R-17-124 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Board of Aldermen EXTENDING CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NASHUA SILVER KNIGHTS BASEBALL TEAM Given its first reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED AS TO ALLOW FOR THE SECOND READING OF R-17-124 MOTION CARRIED

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 4

Resolution R-17-124 given its second reading

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-124 MOTION CARRIED

Resolution R-17-124 declared duly adopted.

READING MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARING

MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE THAT THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETINGS OF AUGUST 8, 2017, AND THE PUBLIC HEARING CONDUCTED BY THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE ON AUGUST 28, 2017, BE ACCEPTED, PLACED ON FILE, AND THE READINGS SUSPENDED MOTION CARRIED

COMMUNICATIONS

MOTION BY CARON THAT ALL COMMUNICATIONS BE READ BY TITLE ONLY MOTION CARRIED

From: Patricia D. Piecuch, City Clerk Re: Warrant to be Committed to Chief of Police for Unlicensed Dogs

MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND, IN ACCORDANCE WITH RSA 466:14, COMMIT THE WARRANT TO THE CHIEF OF POLICE, OR HIS DESIGNEE, FOR THE ISSUANCE OF CIVIL FORFEITURES TO THOSE DOG OWNERS WHO HAVE NOT LICENSED THEIR DOGS MOTION CARRIED

From: Mayor Jim Donchess Re: Report on Surplus and Overlay 2018

MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND REFER TO THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE MOTION CARRIED

From: Karl Gerhard, Deputy Fire Chief, Nashua Fire Rescue Re: Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program Support

MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND REFER TO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MOTION CARRIED

PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS EVENING

Alan Chong, Currier Museum, 150 Ash Street, Manchester, NH

Thank you very much. I’m very happy to be here. We looked with great interest at the Currier Museum at this plan for a performing arts center in Nashua. A robust feasibility study, an impactful design, and we began to test I think a possibility for us joining this program. We liked the idea of using culture and the arts to revitalize communities to give extra stimulus to cities. It’s something that we’ve witnessed around the world. I’ve spent just a year in New Hampshire. In fact, this is my one year anniversary in the job. I’ve seen how the Capital Arts Center in Concord, how other initiatives have really stimulated urban growth, have built a tax base, have really made cities more desirable not only as places to live but places to visit. They provide extra amenities, extra attractions for urban life. It’s not just an impression. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 5

There’s a wonderful national organization called “the Americans for the Arts”. They will test the economic impact of cultural and performing art centers as well as new visual arts initiatives. They’ve responded to commissions for Concord and for Portsmouth as they have for dozens of other cities across America. On average they’ve been able to measure 15 to 20 percent growth in the first 4 to 5 years of a creation of a new center. A new source of interest in the arts and culture. So that’s a statistical I think support for you to consider in this sort of initiative.

We are interested more specifically in some kind of partnership around this performing arts center. From the Currier Museum, we are not primarily a performing arts organization as you know. We’re an art museum. We have a collection. We have good connections with artists with curators in the region and around the world. A space in this performing arts center lends what I think a kind of critical mass to an interesting culture so that when people attend a convention, or performance, or some kind of event there’s also a visual arts component. A special gallery. I think this is a model that’s worked in many places around the country. It’s something that you might consider as well.

Now what’s in it for us as the Currier Museum you might ask? We see ourselves as the State museum of art and we’re quite clear that our mission is to serve not Manchester and not even the area around Manchester but all of the State of New Hampshire. So when an initiative as imaginative and as impactful as the one that you’re considering comes up, we think that we need to be involved. That involvement has to be worked out. The details are not set in stone. It’s not fully funded but we imagine or at least we can dream that a small gallery based on commissions, creating works of art and displays that are relevant to the City of Nashua that will draw upon schools and the other charities in town, and would really build on the work that we already do in this region. At the moment, every 4th grader in the Nashua Public School system visits the Currier Museum. How wonderful would it be for them to visit also an exhibition in the new performing arts center here?

So regardless of our involvement which we are quite keen on, we think this is a great idea and we applaud it. Raising the culture and artistic profile of a city like Nashua can only benefit the entire State and the entire region. So we wish you luck in your deliberations. Bear in mind that we at the Currier Museum are very keen to be closely involved in a true partnership with the City of Nashua in this particular endeavor. Thank you.

Alderman Cookson

Could you give us your name and address?

Alan Chong

I’m Alan Chong. I’m at the Currier Museum, 150 Ash Street, Manchester, NH 03104.

Cheryl Linder, 9 Stoneybrook Road

I’m President of Great American Downtown Board of Directors and I’m also the Assistant General Manager of the Nashua Silver Knights. I’m asking the Board to be proactive in this decision. Every year Nashua is losing out to other towns and cities in New Hampshire that have an art center like this. We’re only hurting ourselves as a city to continually stand by and watch from afar as other cities reap the benefits of what we could have and should have been doing for a long, long time.

This center can be a place that promotes a cooperative spirit. It is a common ground for so many of us. It can be a place that grows community and encourages volunteerism. A place that creates opportunities in Nashua and for Nashua. Breathing new energy into downtown will encourage a wave of positivity both financially and culturally. It will be a source of pride in our city. Once you are here, you’ll want to return. I said this at the previous meeting a couple of weeks ago but I would like to reiterate it tonight. Whether you are a fan of the arts or not, an art support or not, the center is not just about arts. This project represents the future of Nashua. Which way will you take us? Down the path of the same old same old? Why that may not be the comfortable thing to do right now, this will not be the catalyst that we need to improve quality of life in Nashua. Be brave, be bold, take the bold path, the unknown path, the let’s see what happens path. It is an adventure that so Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 6 many of us are ready to experience. All we need is your vote to make this a reality. This project has already brought together so many of Nashua’s residents. Look at everyone here. This is a common ground for so many people. It has already spurred new ideas and the hope of a better environment. Think what it will do when it’s built and is operational. The possibilities are endless for our city. I ask that you support this project for myself, for my family, and for all Nashuans. Thank you very much.

Mike Apfelberg, 7 Edson Street.

Good evening, Mike Apfelberg, 7 Edson Street, Ward 3. You’re going to hear probably a lot of statistics tonight and a lot of data possibly in favor and possibly opposed. I wanted to speak really more from the heart as a Nashua resident, homeowner, prior business owner, and the President of one of our local nonprofits. I think over the years we’ve lived in our residence for about 14 years now. I think over the years of all of the times in which we have taken our car and drive up the road to Concord, up to Manchester, the Capital Center for the Arts, to the Palace Theater, over to Portsmouth, down to Lowell, and all of the fantastic Nashua dollars that are deposited in those communities participating in the arts where they are and I magnify that by the thousands and thousands of people in Nashua who would probably prefer to stay home and participate in our downtown community, go to the theater, and maybe grab a bite to eat at Surf, and keep our dollars local it strikes me that while you can debate whether the performing arts center itself may or may not cover its costs operationally and I think there’s going to be a lot of debate about that. I don’t think there’s any question about the impact that it’s going to have on the local economy.

So that brings me to my perspective as the President of the United Way and I should note for the record that my board hasn’t sanctioned me being here. We haven’t taken a vote on this particular issue. Frankly we really don’t have a dog in this fight when it comes to United Way. What we do believe is in collective impact and the theory that the rising tide does raise all ships. When we talk about the importance of financial stability and health and education in our community, we know that a stronger community supports all of the above. It’s our belief, my belief that by all of us staying here in the community and keeping our activity local that that’s going to have nothing but a positive effect on the community in Nashua. I’m encouraging you to take that leap of faith and support this arts center. Thank you very much.

Suzanne Scholl, 34 Ducas Avenue

Hi my name is Suzie Scholl and I’m from Nashua 34 Ducas Avenue, Ward 1. I’m here to offer my support to the project however, I’d like to speak to the part of this that is really very important. This is a business. This is obviously will be a wonderful community asset. This is a business. I think that what concerns me about all businesses is that after 10 years 90 percent of them fail. I would disagree with what was said about certainly the Palace Theater. I had a very nice conversation with the former Chair who said just 2 ½ - 3 years ago the difficulty that they were having there trying to make ends meet. Let’s be clear. That’s a very small theater. The Capital Center for the Arts is 1,500 seats and the other place in Portsmouth is a very nitch kind of business that has been around for a long time. So however you decide to move, I do want to support you to move in the direction that would be positive. However you’ve got to treat this in my opinion not unlike the Pennichuck Water Works. That is a business. This is a business. There are risks. There are liabilities and yes there’s upsides but there are risks and there are liabilities. Because of that, I really would like to encourage you to ensure that the structure for this include a board that has fiduciary responsible for P&L. Bottom line, same as what Pennichuck is. That’s number one and that ¾ of that board be comprised of business people in the large corporations. This is a very complex business. It is difficult to run and it’s very, very, very, cutthroat by evidence of all these businesses around that we’ve been talking about. So everybody is in competition for that same dollar. Okay. You’ve got to be respectful of that process. I will say to you as our Mayor said in order to make this small facility work like this, you’ve got to have about 3 or 4 events where you fill the house every week or it doesn’t break even.

Now I will say this that the second thing that has got to be done is I believe is that the Chief of Police here in town has to conduct an investigation and to determine what the costs are going to be to manage the environment around this facility. What’s it going to cost to put police on the street to make sure that the parking garage which as we all know all parking garages are just the center for criminal activity. It’s a magnet Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 7

for criminal activity. We’ve got to ensure that everyone feels safe and it’s very true about that. You ask anyone down at the Pheasant Lane. That’s our biggest crime area because it is concentration of people and it’s just a problem that’s going to…let’s find out what it’s going to cost to put cops on the street, to put them in the parking lots, and to ensure that our people are safe because that’s what they do in those other facilities. Okay.

Thirdly, I do want to stress that whoever runs this and however that’s so constituted, that’s not necessarily an arts person. That’s a business person because you’re running a business that a person really has to know how to put it altogether. Lastly, I will say I had heard that there was an opportunity for additional revenue by serving alcohol. I’m not opposed to that but there are risks and liabilities for the city regarding that. So that has to be a determination regarding policies and procedures. Although I am very much in favor of it, I will say that these are the things that have got to be dealt with. This a business the same as Pennichuck, the same as any other asset that we have. Finally, we’ve got other nonperforming assets in the city. We’ve got the place down there on Court Street. We’ve got the big place over on Elm Street. Let’s make these assets produce. How about the Hunt Library? These things don’t produce. Okay. So now we’re going to enter into something else. So this is why I’m coming forward and saying hey look I agree with this. I’m the founder of two arts organizations. In my own business, I start new businesses and I do repositioning of nonperforming ones. Jim 30 years ago appointed me to the Commission to look at bringing a performing arts center here to Nashua a long time ago. I get it. I really do but I just can’t impress enough that if you’re going to move in this direction, treat it like a business, treat it for what it is otherwise it won’t’ perform. Similar to what other assets have. Thank you very much.

Theresa Moler, 88 Cannongate III Road

I’m at 88 Canongate III Road. I’m a resident of Nashua. I happen to be a professional puppeteer and a visual artist. I’m in favor of the performing arts center and for many reasons but I’ll just lay out a couple of reasons I’m in favor of it. First of all it would be a good venue for me to perform in. Although I do a lot of outdoor venues, I would love to perform in this theater, this performing arts center. Secondly I’m a member of a couple artist associations. I want to make a suggestion that we include some time in this performing arts center history – lots of arts associations in Nashua and stuff and maybe around the State too. It would give other art associations a chance. I am in favor of the performing arts center. I could go on and on but I’m not going to. I just want to speak my favor ability for this thing.

John Roche, 12 Meadowview Circle

John Roche – 12 Meadowview Circle. That’s in Ward 9. I’m a retired teacher. Very, very briefly, I just want you to know that I whole heartedly support this project. To back that up tonight, I make a $100 pledge towards the endowment fund. I ask for you folks to support the project with your vote tonight. Thank you very much.

Tracy Hatch, Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce and Resident at 37 Chester Street

Mayor Donchess, Alderman McCarthy, members of the Board of Aldermen – thank you first of all for giving us all the opportunity to speak this evening. For the record, I’m Tracy Hatch, President and CEO of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce located at 142 Main Street, and a resident of Nashua residing in Ward 3 at 37 Chester Street. I’m here tonight to express the strong support of the Chamber’s Board of Directors and our 600 plus members as well as my own personal and passionate support for R-17-116 relative to bonding for a performing arts center in Nashua.

First my thanks to the members of the Board for taking the time to speak with me over the past few weeks about this important opportunity particularly my own Ward 3 Alderman Schoneman for his thoughtful questions in our discussion last night. Our Board of Directors took strong position on the arts when we adopted our strategic plan in 2016 stating that we will actively promote, support it, and thriving arts and cultural environment in Nashua and that we would specifically work with city officials and other key community leaders to bring a performing arts center to Nashua. Our Board reiterated its support for the pack when City Economic Development Director Tim Cummings provided an update at our June Board of Director’s meeting. I most Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 8

recently carried that message to this Board’s Budget Review Committee on August 28th when the Committee met to consider this legislation at a hearing which demonstrated as tonight’s meeting does overwhelming support of public comments from across the city.

We recognize that this is a significant undertaking for the city and that there are costs involved. Those of you familiar with my own record as an alderman her many years ago may remember that I never took financial commitments lightly and that has not changed. However, our Board also believes that the positive economic impact of a performing arts center on downtown in particular and on the greater Nashua region as a whole will be significant. A pack will not only have the direct impact of bringing people downtown to shop, dine, and to attend performances but it will have the positive indirect benefit of adding to our city’s vibrancy making it more attractive to young people, to highly educated skilled workers, and to businesses looking to relocate or expand in Nashua. The recently released report by Americans for the Arts provides significant insight in the value of a vibrant arts and cultural presence in a community. In fact the four New Hampshire communities studied – Rochester, Concord, Portsmouth and the Monadnock region benefit from a combined $120 million of positive economic impact from audience goers alone not the operating or capital expenditures by the performing arts organizations themselves just by audience goers every single year. Of that which may be a particular interest to you all, local government revenues from taxes, fees and licenses totaled $6.5 million each year. These audience goers were highly educated on average 78 percent had a four-year college degree or higher. These audience goers were from a higher income household. On average, 54 percent had household income of $80,000 a year or more. A significant percentage of these audience goers came from other communities. On average, over a third of attendees did not live in the community where the performance they attended was held so new revenues were coming into that community.

In short, these are the very people we want to attract into Nashua – well educated, economically successful, and often non-residents who will get a chance to see how truly great our community is and hopefully chose to make their homes and locate their businesses here. We strongly urge a positive vote on R-17-116. The economic promise of this project is there for us to grasp and promises to continue to yield benefits, economic, cultural, social, and educational for generations to come. Thank you for your time and your attention. I do have copies of our letter of support for all of you. Thank you very much again.

Allyssa O’Mara, 30 Front Street

Good evening. I’m a little nervous but as a resident of Ward 3 for the past four years, I felt the need to speak before tonight’s going on the proposed performing arts center. I’ve been at attendance at most of the previous meetings and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to speak. To those aldermen that are opposed or undecided, I understand that you feel that you’re representing the majority of your wards in the city. Perhaps I’m in the minority, although I don’t feel like that tonight in my thinking, but I just can’t find a negative in regards to the subject of the center. It seems to me like the main issue people are having are the financial obligation the city would be taking on. Again, I don’t see a negative. To make money, you must spend money. I say this not just as a resident of Ward 3 but also as a small business owner and entrepreneur in Nashua. The potential revenue the city in all of its small businesses would accrue seems well worth the initial or costs incurred.

We as a city have been discussing ways to attract new young professionals since the Mayoral Election a few years ago. With all the development of housing, text startups, spaces, etc., wouldn’t the new venue be an attraction particularly in Nashua where there really isn’t a lot to do as a young professional other than go to the bar in the evening. I personally would relish a new venue with different types of entertainment. I feel as though I’m in your target demographic. I’m a 30 something female, small business owner, who moved back to Nashua after nine years being away. I didn’t think at that time that I would or could love this city as much as I do. I didn’t know that I would open my own business and I couldn’t be more grateful for the downtown business community that has welcomed and supported me in my first year through today even though I’m technically in the Millyard.

This amazing little city that we live in is changing and I believe it’s time for us to pick up the pace and change with it. We need a Main Street revolution and the performing arts center would be the catalyst. I commend Cheryl and Tim from Tangled Roots and Danielle and Cami from Camaraderie Boutique for being in the first Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 9

wave of revolutionaries bringing brick and mortar shops back to downtown. They’ve been an excellent addition to the fabulous ones that we already have from Fresh, to Designworks, to Myoptic, and anyone else that I’ve forgotten. I can only speak for myself, however, I feel that the performing arts center would be a huge draw to Nashua and the downtown area. It could breathe new life into the city and a time when arts programs are being pushed aside, reduced, or cut completely in so many places nationwide, let Nashua step forward. Let Nashua show our youth that the arts are not only alive in our city but are supported and nurtured. That having a passion and love for creating is at the core of both business and the arts. Pass the performing arts center this evening and help create the ripple that has the potential to become a tidal wave for change in Nashua and other small communities. Thank you.

Dave Tencza, 10 Monica Drive

Thank you very much. Dave Tenza – 10 Monica Drive, Ward 8 here in Nashua. I appreciate the chance to speak in favor of this project. I really think this project is about the future of Nashua which is I think what everyone has been saying here tonight. I have two children. They’ve involved in lots of activities here in the city. They benefit from the sports programs. They benefit from the great parks and recreation area we have here in Nashua and I see this arts center as an investment akin to those investments that this Board has already made. The reason I say that is because this summer my two kids fell in love with the program that they have over at the Palace Theater. They went once a week to see the shows that they have that are specifically for younger kids. They’re quick shows but they love them. Every week they look forward to them. Every week my wife took them out to eat in Manchester. One thing that I am afraid that we’re teaching my kids is that if they want to go to a show, if they want to go have some culture, they have to go to Manchester, or they have to go to Concord. I think building this arts center having it down here would be a great signal to them that Nashua is a great place to live. There’s a lot for them to do. It’s a place that they want to grow up and stay as they get older.

I think the other thing about the program up in Manchester is that every time they would go during the day, there were groups from the various camps, different programs. So this arts center is not just going to benefit people who can afford to buy tickets. It’s going to benefit youth in the city, a lot of collateral groups. It’s going to have a lot of collateral benefits that maybe are not going to be discussed tonight and we can’t even think of but certainly it is an important message to send.

Finally just as far as the future of downtown, the future of the city is concerned, its vote is being taken tonight. I heard one of the speakers before say this was looked into 30 years ago. The city cannot wait another 30 years to develop a project like this. We have an opportunity now. We have an opportunity in a parcel of land that may never become available again. Tonight’s the night to vote on this and I ask that you support this measure. Thank you.

Lisa Bissonnette

Thank you. I’m reading a letter on behalf of Meri Goyette. She’s at 63 Forest Park Drive in Nashua. “As someone who’s been passionate in the arts in the City of Nashua and has played a significant role in leadership, advancing and honoring the arts in the city, I believe that this is the time for the community to support and create a performing arts center that will not only help our community to thrive but will also provide a pivotal commitment that the arts play in our community. This decision to support the performing arts center did not come quickly or easily for me despite my passion for supporting all things cultural in my city but after much soul searching, I believe that this is the time for people to come together to support the performing arts center in the downtown. The key word is “together” to describe Nashua. Thank you. Meri Goyette”.

Eileen Beckhardt Freedom, 42 Raymond Street

Good evening. I actually was never intending to speak but I do feel very passionately about this program project. I’ve lived in Nashua since 1974. I was a long-time teacher at Elm Street Junior High School and up until just recently, I owned Beckonings on Main Street for 15 years. I have a pretty good sense of what a wonderful city we have and what a better city we could have. I feel that we have this opportunity. When Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 10 opportunity comes knocking, we should take it. There are several different conditions that are coming together just like I remember years ago there was a movie called “the Perfect Storm” when all these different conditions come together and one by one, they would have been not a big deal but everything together just made this magnificent storm. I feel like we have that here, although on a positive note.

We have an analysis done by the Duncan Web group who said that said we could definitely support an arts center. We have a building that is in the right spot. Yes we have to work on it but it’s there and that building will not become available again. We also have a community partnership because we’re saying that there’s a contingency that the city and the private sector has to raise I think $4 million before anything can continue. Now the Currier Gallery has stepped in and wants to also partner with this. So we have all these different pieces that are coming together. We can’t not act on this. We must vote yes for the performing arts center. Thank you very much.

Elaine Oulandsen, 21 Raymond Street

I, too, like Eileen I had not intended to speak this evening but this proposal is of the utmost importance. I live on Raymond Street in Ward 3. I’ve lived in Nashua for 30 years. I am a committee member of the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium. This opportunity is incredible for all of the aforementioned reasons. Tonight is the night to take a giant step to further enhancing this incredible city that we live in – Nashua. So I strongly encourage your vote in support of the performing arts center. Thank you.

Jamie Turbine, 35 Chester Street

Good evening. My name is Jamie Turbine. I’m from Ward 3. I am in complete support of the performing arts center. I agree with what’s been said so far with the benefits to the community, to the city, to the tax base. The points that I would like to discuss is about risk. The process of getting us to tonight, there’s been studies done to identify what the market could bear. What Nashua could bring to the table as far as size, location, sort of the amenities of what a performing arts center in Nashua could be.

The Alec’s Shoe location ticks most of the boxes, what the study said we could bring, we could bear, and we could run successfully is met by that location. From a funding perspective, $15.5 million that’s a scary number. From a financial market perspective, bond rates are cheap. That can be issues and our balance sheets will allow for that to be paid for from just the sort of mechanisms we already have in place.

In addition to the risk that’s there for doing this, there’s also the risk for not doing it. We’ve had speakers talk about the demographic impact that the arts bring. We have a gentleman from the Currier he wants to come and partner with us. If we don’t do this, that goes away. We become less appealing. We don’t have that attraction to demographics. We don’t have the partnerships coming in. Nashua has to think of itself regionally and in competition with the other mid-sized cities in the area. If we’re not keeping up with what they offer to their residents and what they offer to bring people in, then we’re treading water. We’re standing still. They will attract the demographic. They will bring in the businesses, the people, the partners, the culture. When you vote, please keep in mind that voting no is not necessarily a vote against the risk of making that choice. Thank you.

Philip Scontsas, 14 Ashland Street

I’m a third generation business owner on Main Street. I’ve seen a lot come and go and very excited about this proposal this evening. I’m hoping to see a positive outcome. I hope that you all think long and hard about what everybody has been saying tonight, what we’ve all been reading, and really the bottom line is it’s not rocket science. This stuff works. It’s what we’re peaked for. We’re ready for it. I know it’s a challenge. You’re job isn’t easy and it’s hard to make these decisions but make the right decision tonight. Make the decision for Nashua. Make it for all of us to go forward and I think you’ll all be happy in the end.

I do want to read a short letter that was sent to us from the Silverstone Living which is the Hunt Community. It’s just a show of support. It’s “I am writing to express Silverstone Living strong support for the proposed Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 11 center for the arts to be located at the former Alec Shoe Store. Beyond the positive economic impact, we believe this project will bring to Nashua and the downtown area. It is our view that our Hunt Community and the Huntington at Nashua residence along with members of At Home by Hunt will use and enjoy this venue as active citizens of Nashua. We believe the proposed center will provide an intimate, cultural experience for our residence and members that is not currently available here in Nashua. The mixed use of this venue provides an added attraction to the downtown area that our residence and members will enjoy for years to come. Bringing this proposal to reality is something we endorse without reservation. Sincerely Peter Worecki, CEO of Silverstone Living.” Thank you for listening and thank you for your vote tonight.

Al Sewell, 5 Lincoln avenue

Good evening. Thank you very much. I originally also was not going to speak but I’m going to speak from the heart this evening briefly. Al Sewell, 5 Lincoln Avenue, Ward 7. My wife and I have lived here in Nashua for 25 years. Third generation here in Nashua. I didn’t grow up here in Nashua but my grandparents were natives of Nashua and my Mom grew up here as well. The last year or so of my grandmother’s life, I lived with her. She was one of the original founders of the Nashua Center for the Arts over on Court Street where there’s a mural there in her memory. So this is very, very passionate to me. I can’t think of a more ideal location. The people of Nashua clearly want this. That’s just volumes. So the last year or so of my grandmother’s live, my wife and I got married shortly after her passing and my wife was really enthusiastic about Nashua. She said why don’t we live here and bring up our children. We ended up – and I of course love Nashua and we decided to settle here in Nashua. We have two children one of which is away at college and one in high school. I look to the future. I’m looking at Nashua where we’re going to be 5, 10, 15 years out. We’ve missed some opportunities whether it’s Holman Stadium, the Verizon center, or you look at other communities that has been stated – Concord, Portsmouth. We have a gem here. Let’s not miss it. Let’s maximize our potential here. I called Alderman June Caron and I’ve listened to some of the concerns on the opposing side and I understand that there are risks involved but the risks of not doing this is just catastrophic. It’s mind-blowing if we don’t do it. We need to do this for the future of Nashua. Thank you.

Fred Teeboom, 24 Cheyenne Drive

A lot of emotion here but the Mayor mentioned some figures. Let’s talk figures and cents and let’s talk facts. First of all it’s going to take 10 votes of the Board of Aldermen to pass this – 2/3 vote. That’s a 2/3 vote – 10 votes. Second of all, has anyone looked at the details? First of all the bond for $15.5 million, you’ve got to take $21 million to pay it back. That means $1.1 million a year for 20 years. On top of that, there’s a $37.5 million bond. The Mayor mentioned it but when you lay it out, it’s not fully self-supported. When you take your other $37.5 million on top of debt on a $75 million street program, 5 years from now you’re looking for another $37.5 million and none of that is going to be supported because you have to continue paying for the first bond. Now I hear there’s another $50 million come off of Elm Street.

Now when I was here during the public hearing, I asked where is the details for the $15.5 million. If you remember, the figure showed up from Director Cummings. Some of it hidden behind the George Washington Bridge and I wasn’t able to tell what it was. There were no details. Strangely enough during the Board of Aldermen meeting from 2 May when the consultants came and made the presentation, all this fancy emotional discussion and guess what there were not details presented on the $15.5 million. None. It was just a number thrown out. I asked for those details. I suspect the details someone provided because if you look at the consultant’s studies, there were four consultants. There was Webb doing the marketing study; Bruner/Cott doing the architectural study. Fantasy Consulting doing the constructing costing and Fisher Docks Associate doing theater equipment study. Four consultants. They came up with a number. If you add it up, I can’t do it now with all these people waiting, $20.9 million to do this job. $20.9 million. Now included with that is $2 million for land. What’s the land for? It’s not identified for parking? Well of course there’s no parking. How are the trucks going to deliver the stage props? How are handicapped people going to have access? Are they going to walk 400 feet to one garage and 300 feet to the other garage? How are people going to get dropped off? Is that what the $2 million is for? There’s no land. All you have is a little alleyway behind the store, the building behind Alec Shoe Store. It’s actually two buildings. It’s a four story building and a two story building in the basement. Where are they going to park? Where are they going to buy the land? It makes no sense. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 12

If you look at the operation and maintenance costs, it’s even worse. There was a lady here to talk about the capital thing in Concord. They expect in a pro forma several hundred thousand to $900,000 annual for an income. Where is that going to come from, Nashua? They expect $160,000 income for a $4 million endowment that no one has identified as who’s going to provide that $4 million. They expect on top of that $160,000 from the $4 million endowment another $100,000 from additional contributions or gifts to make this thing operate. Why? They project $500,000 to $600,000 in staffing costs. Eleven people to staff this thing. Eleven. Four full time, four part time, and three event. Eleven people and the total cost of $500,000 - $600,000. That’s why you need $1 million to operate and that’s why you need all this money from contributions. How is that going to operate? How is this realistic compared to what happened at Court Street?

Tracy Hatch was here as an alderman. Well I was here also as an alderman twenty-five years ago. It was all the same emotion. Got buy Court Street. Got to buy Court Street. What happened? The whole thing collapsed. It’s a farce from all the budget and one director is still – it was gifted. There’s no bond. It was gifted by the family and it collapsed. What about the Keefe Auditorium? Have you been there? Have you ever gone to the men’s room or the woman’s room? The place needs a lot of work. That’s where the work has to be done right now.

Now if you look at other theaters. People brought these up. In the study as in your presentation as you receive at 2 May, there were four theaters mentioned. Out of the four, only one was profitable. The other three lost money up to $929,000 – Vermont. Connecticut I think made money but the other three failed. One of them was New Hampshire. I happened to be the one in Keene – the Colonial in Keene. Guess what? It is running an angle deficit of $232,000. Who’s making this up? This facility is going to be owned by Nashua taxpayers who pay the $1.2 million bond a year. If it’s a deficit, the taxpayers have to make it up. It makes really not a lot of sense. Now if you look at the layout, this is a two-story building made by Alec Shoe Store and then there’s a four-story behind it. The way they configured this thing, they’ve got to raise the roof on the two-story of Alec Shoe Store because they’ve got tiered seating and it’s up on the second floor. They got two stair cases to the left, none to the right. They have cramped 500 seating. There’s no center aisle. There’s a small 800 foot performance stage. I’m telling you if you sit in the corner of that room on the second floor the way it’s laid out and there’s a fire – you’re a fireman – you’re in a heap of trouble. Has the fire code bought off on this thing? Has the fire code bought off on this thing?

Economic impact. I heard of millions of dollars annual report into May it does do an economic analysis. That’s what the consultant Duncan Webb does. Guess what the impact is? $400,000 in net spending. $400,000 - $139,000 net earnings – 5 jobs. For debt you pay $1.2 million a year. Like Dan Richardson said, give them the $1.2 million. It’s a lower risk and better use of the money. Meanwhile, you have Court Street. What happened to Court Street? Here you’re creating a space of 7,000 square feet performing center but you’re renovating 57,000 square feet. That sound strange? Look at your report. Look at the 2 May report. You don’t have that. That’s in the detailed construction report that you don’t have - 57,000 square feet. It has to be renovate it because you’re going to put stuff downstairs. You’ll put meeting rooms in. We have a meeting room in the Hunt Building. We have a performance area in Court Street. In fact doing your meeting in 2 May because the architect consultant mentioned $2 to $5 million if you want to do some stuff and make it work and do some minor fixing in Court Street. No one five years ago, Alderman McCarthy, that was in your 2 May, 2017 report he mentioned $2 to $5 million.

Now they also did a very detailed study for Court Street. They did what they call a less complete analysis for Court Street and a more complete analysis of Court Street. The less analysis for Court Street was $9 million that compares with the $60 million with Alec Shoe Store. The full construction, complete reconstruction at Court Street was $14 million. Both of them less than Alec Shoe Store. Of course, it’s already a theater. This study gets funded mostly by the Downtown Economic Development Expendable Trust Fund. I think it was 60 percent of it. $29,000 out of the $51,000 for the study came from this trust fund and they steered it! In fact an alderman caught that. He says how can these costs be so high? Remember that? How can these costs be so high? They started talking about Court Street. Mr. Clemons interrupted and he said we’re getting off track. “Court Street is not our preferred site.” Quoted on page 4 of the minutes of 2 May. “Court Street is not our preferred site.” The architect said we focused on Alec Shoe Store. He was steered by the downtown money and the downtown committee to look only at Alec. To only look at Alec. When I mentioned too the $5 million Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 13 of upgrades, that’s all you really need if you want to do some minor, minor stuff on Court Street it’s immediately disregarded.

Before you proceed, there’s no rush. If you okay this bond which is 10 votes, nothing happens because the bond says you can’t do a thing until you have the $4 million in endowment fund. Well just hold it. Hold it. Take a look what Cookson came up with the Daniel Webster College thing. Get the money first. Why can’t you get the $4 million before you approve the bond? Why do you have to have a steering committee to look at all kinds of construction if you have no construction done yet? Bonds should come last. It’s like a Purchase & Sales Agreement, first you do the purchase. You close the deal. The financing was when the bonding comes very last just like Pennichuck. The Purchase & Sales Agreement was signed and months later the bonding was a $150 million was arranged for it. I’m not against a performing arts center. This if you look at the details passed a motion of having something on Main downtown. If you really want to do something for downtown lead with this. Close off Main Street, make Main Street pedestrian from East Hollis Street to Water Street. You can drive down the Broad Street Parkway. You can drive down Spring Street – make it pedestrian only from Water Street to East Hollis Street. Then you’ll really have something. Thank you.

Paula Johnson, 15 Westborn Drive

I’ve lived in this city for 33 years. Also was an alderman at one time. I’m very proud of the way I voted to make sure costs was under control. I’m here tonight, again, to talk about the performing arts center. I’ve sent some blogs on Facebook when people talk about that we need a performing arts center. I don’t remember Mrs. Hatch if you were on the Board when you voted for the Stabile’s building. Were you one of the aldermen that voted for it? I think so. It was a long time ago.

President McCarthy

Mrs. Johnson would you address the Board and not the audience please.

Paula Johnson

That’s okay Alderman McCarthy. I just wanted to set the record straight. I wanted to make sure that I’m right about things. Back then Mr. Stabile had the arts and science building down on Court Street. Mr. Stabile said he was not going to let it be put back on the tax rolls. He said if the city did not buy it, then he was going to donate it. How do I know, Mr. Stabile was in my house with several members of the Nashua Taxpayers Association back then. I believe that building we purchased it for about $300 to $400,000 back then with a leaky roof and a bad heating system. See we have a habit of buying things in this city without doing our due diligence on checking buildings out. The other one is on Riverside that we bought for Public Works. I remember being on the Board. That was over $2 million. While if some of us are a little bit skeptical here, I guess we have a reason why who sat on this Board and watched legislation go through and questioned. Although people in the audience might not like what Fred says or what I’m saying, it’s because when you sit on this side of the horseshoe and you see the numbers that come through, you have to do your due diligence because you’re representing the people. Whether you like the project or not, it is your duty to check the numbers and make sure that everything agrees on what’s going to be built or what’s going to be purchased.

Now my concern with downtown, I mean there was a Letter to the Editor written from a woman who works for a nonprofit a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately I couldn’t make the meetings because I’m one of these suckers that have to work for a living so I can pay my increase in taxes that are probably going to up maybe 2, 3 percent again this year. So I look at what you’re going to do. I’ve questioned it and I was talking to Alderman Wilshire prior to the meeting and I was saying you know where has been the arts community to raise this money prior to this? One would think, one would think that maybe you would have your money already to go so if you found a building and you wanted the project to go, you had at least $4 million to put into the pot to show that you’re serious about the money. My question is why would you as $15.5 million why wouldn’t you make them come up with half the money? Why should the taxpayers have to pay for this? This is a government project basically government. What is government’s responsibility? It’s not to have an arts center. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 14

Government’s responsibility is Police, Fire Public Works and schools. That’s what government’s responsibility is. This should be a private project, private money. We shouldn’t have to be bonding all this money because when you say our children’s future here what about every time you bond that’s another loan that our children have to pay back. Look at the federal government. We’re over $20 trillion in debt. It’s so easy to say that we’re going to be retiring bonds but every time you retire there’s always another one coming and that’s what we leave for our children – a legacy. I’m not a crazy woman here either like you said about that other one. Matter of fact that woman who was sitting right there, she nailed it on the head. This is a business which government does not ever do a good job of running a business. We see that time in and time out. We don’t do a good job of Medicare. We don’t do a good job of Medicaid. There’s fraud in the system. Yes there is Alderman as you shake your head and there is.

What we need to do this has to be a private endeavor, private business has to run it, Board of Directors, and it needs to be straight and the business had to be profitable. If it isn’t and we the taxpayer undertake this endeavor, we will pay for this if it fails because why, we hold the bond. It’s a loan. It’s a loan and you don’t want the city to get a bad credit rating because then when you really need to do something and you don’t pay anything and things happen, guess what you don’t have that AAA rating that we brag about. The reason we can brag about it is because we pay our bills right now. Bonding is a serious issue here. $15.5 million I’m not comfortable with Alec Shoe Store downtown and why don’t people come down? The parking you have to pay for the meters number one. I don’t go to the parking garage because I remember when I was on the Board with you Alderman McCarthy, Alderman Wilshire, Alderman Deane, Attorney Bolton we used to have people manning the parking garage. Then we took it away and my question are we going to have cameras there? Who’s going to man the cameras? If anything happens, who’s watching? It’s not a live body that’s there. People don’t like to go to the parking garages. In case we forgot, Nashua has a big drug problem here and most of the cops are out there on the drug problem. When people run the red lights, you can’t get anybody. Let’s do our due diligence tonight. No reason to have to vote on this immediately. Let’s see the arts community step up already with that $4 million to show us in good faith and make them come up with half the money before we’ll even think about bonding. Let’s start taking a look at the buildings. Look at the Jan Streeter building how deplorable that building has been over the years. We didn’t’ do anything like that. We don’t’ have the money to fix our buildings. Our schools show it and yet we’re going to get another building and go into a project like this. Thank you.

Latha Mangipudi, 20 Salmon Brook Drive

Good evening Mayor and Board of Aldermen and President McCarthy. My name is Latha Mangipudi. I reside at 20 Salmon Brook Drive and serve as a State Rep. for Ward 8 and this is my third term. I’m here to support the performing arts center. Mayor Donchess alluded to former Congressman who made – I have his testimony but I’m going to paraphrase what he had to say. He was here. He heard about this and on NRP this morning and he was very excited with the fact that Nashua is going to get a heart and soul in downtown Nashua which in his words “if you invest one dollar in performing arts center which bring art and culture to downtown Nashua and to the surrounding communities, it brings dividend not $7 dollars but about $7 to$10. So one dollar of investment brings in $7 to $10 in return.” That’s his testimony.

Personally for me, I’ve lived in Nashua for over 26 years, raised 2 children who are 28 and 26. Neither one of them live here. I would love to see them back here. This past weekend they were home and when they were hearing about this performing arts center, the response from the two youngsters – the millennial generation that we are trying to attract was finally Nashua is waking up to the fact that we need a heart and soul in downtown.

The other hat I wear is as many of know 6 percent of Nashua population is Indian American and very vibrant in terms of art, culture, music, and performing arts. The minute they heard about the fact that there is this talk about performing arts center, I’ve been getting calls. When is it going to be so we can have some performances? Right now on an average I get invitation for an art show, music, dance, and drama theater from just the Indian community just across the border 3 to 5 per week. I cannot keep up with the requests and amount of cultural activity that’s happening. We have young families from different diverse communities that have made home in Nashua. Here is an opportunity that we open up no silos, no boundaries to celebrate and Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 15

come together as a community come together. Like Meri Goyette said, come together as a community to celebrate our rich, diverse, cultural and art heritage that we have right there in Nashua.

I’m a first generation. I moved here in ’89. I moved here with a year old daughter and my son was born here. I can’t say I’m a third generation but I’m proud to be in Nashua. I’m proud to be here and this is my home. I would like to say this is an opportunity coming as across 10,000 miles with one-way ticket. I had to take the chance. I had no option or I did have an option to go back if I didn’t succeed. Being a first generation, crossing the ocean as a young 22 year old and coming here making it work, I know we have to take chances. Opportunities don’t come knocking on your door every day. This is a perfect moment for Nashua not to lose the opportunity but to celebrate and move forward. I sincerely hope that every single one of you who served as alderman I think you for your service and I know having served on the School Board when we did two high schools how difficult, how diligent we were and how it has benefited our community. With that, I would request that you all support and let us work together. Let us have the pride of Nashua as a community. With that, I truly hope and pray and wish you all good luck and let us do it together. Thank you.

Liz Racioppi, 15 Middle Dunstable Road

Good evening Mayor Donchess and Board of Aldermen. Thank you for the opportunity to come forward and speak in support of the performing arts center. I’m a resident of Ward 8, 15 Middle Dunstable Road. This is my adopted town. I’ve lived here for 21 years. I love Nashua and I feel that I’ve seen a lot of growth, a lot of change, and a lot of evolution. I’ve spent as a volunteer hundreds of hours as part of the community. I’ve serve with City Arts Nashua and with the Nashua Arts Commission. I’ve worked with some of you here in the horseshoe – Mark Cookson and others. Really I know this is not a simple slam dunk decision. It’s difficult. I can tell you from my perspective as resident and business owner, I don’t have a stake particularly in the performing arts center beyond that I’m a resident but I love this city and I’ve heard the voices both from the arts community and from the audiences and even from people outside of the city who want to come and really take advantage of what Nashua has and are learning in fact what Nashua has. As part of Ward 8, a lot of people in Ward 8 don’t know really even know what’s going on in downtown. A performing arts center could really, really be a keystone for bringing a lot together downtown and in the rest of the city. I ask for your support and consideration in supporting the measure. I’d love to see a performing arts center and would love to offer more of my own time to make it a success. Thank you.

Paul Shea, 102 Tolles Street

Good evening my name is Paul Shea. I’m a resident of 102 Tolles Street in Ward 3. I’m here this evening to share with you some feedback from the community that we’d gathered regarding the extent of the support for the performing arts center. If it’s more appropriate to present this during the petitions portion of the meeting, let me know and I’d be glad to do so.

President McCarthy

You can present it now.

Paul Shea

Thank you. I also have additional petitions that I’d like to submit. These are petitions from out of town. Some are notarized, some are not but either way I wanted to kind of present those separately as I think it’s perhaps an important distinction. There is support from outside of the community but it’s my goal this evening to demonstrate the depth of support in the community. This packet is for Ward 1 Alderman Sean McGuinness. This is for Ward 2 Alderman Rick Dowd. This is for Ward 3 Alderman Dave Schoneman. This is for Ward 4 Alderman Tom Lopez. This is for Ward 5 Alderman Don LeBrun. This is for Ward 6 Alderman MaryAnn Melizzi-Golja. This is for Ward 7 Alderman June Caron. This is for Ward 8 MaryAnn Melizzi-Golja and Ward 9 Alderman Ken Siegel. When we’re done we can give them to Lori.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 16

“Dear Nashua Board of Aldermen. We believe that the majority of Nashuans support the initiative to bring a modern performing arts center to downtown Nashua as proposed at the 201 Main Street location. At a recent meeting of the Budget Review Committee, we shared results of our survey which indicated over 65 percent support for the initiative. This survey, however, is just one data point. Over the past two weeks, Great American Downtown has been working to garner signatures from community members to demonstrate the depth of support of the proposed performing arts center and illustrate that level of support by Ward. These additional data points further illustrate support for the performing arts center. You have received the document which demonstrates signers from our on-line petition with their home addresses and their ward number. These are signatures received through September 9th and you’ve also received a second set of signatures that were brought in over the weekend.”

You’ll have to excuse my informal attire tonight. I was hoping to go home and change but I was surprised to find this afternoon that we had over 100 additional signers for the on-line petition. It took a good bit of time to compile that data this afternoon. Our on-line petition reads, “We the undersigned petition the Nashua, New Hampshire Board of Aldermen to unanimously vote yes on the passage of legislation relative to bonding the proposed performing arts center at a meeting of the full Board of Aldermen at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 12th. We believe the arts enliven, connect, and approve quality of life in our community. We believe that a missing piece of the puzzle to success and vibrancy in downtown Nashua, New Hampshire lies in having a modern performing arts facility. We are in support of efforts to make a well thought out vision for modern performing center possible and want our local elected officials to support these efforts too. Over the past several years the City of Nashua has been conducting exploratory and planning exercises to determine the feasibility of and build a vision for a modern performing arts center.

Over the course of that time, the city Economic Development Department and consultants with expertise in architecture, market analysis, performance venues, community outreach and other areas have been hard at work. The City of Nashua has brought together community leaders, arts and performance organizations, private performance oriented businesses, elected officials, and the broader community to the conversation. After review of the regional market demand and several possible sites, the city and its consultants have produced a report and plan that indicate that the 201 Main Street building would be the best site and that the audience size of 500 to 700 is the right fit for the region. Since that time, the Board of Aldermen has authorized a $3,600 amount of money to secure the building. We ask that you this evening support unanimously the initiative to bond and build this facility.”

I’ll give you the breakdown of our on-line survey. We have received a total of 510 responses. In Ward 9, we received a total of 47 signers. Ward 8, we received a total of 40 signers. Ward 7 we received a total of 40 signers. In Ward 6 we’ve received a total of 31 signers. In Ward 5 we’ve received a total of 50 signers. In Ward 4 we received a total of 40 signers. In Ward 3 we’ve received a total of 100 signers. In Ward 2 we received a total of 58 signers and in Ward 1 we’ve received a total of 60 signers. Our on-line petition used a number of methods to ensure the validity of the information from signers including geographic IP restrictions, duplicate e-mail address, and individual IP address restrictions, follow up questions designed to identify home address, and ward of signers, and language geared to Nashuans specifically. However, we recognize that it is important to take additional measures to confirm the identity and home address of signers if possible to improve the validity of our efforts.

We’ve taken additional measures that allow us to demonstrate the level of support for many individuals in the community using Notaries and Justice of the Peace to confirm the identify and address of individuals who have taken the time to sign physical petitions. I have produced this evening for you an additional set of petitions outlined by name, address, and ward with the data on the individual signers kind of organized by ward. These physical petitions have been distributed to their relative ward aldermen at tonight’s meeting. Those are the white copy officially notarized and I would ask that those be placed on file after you review them.

The way that it breaks down for a physical petitions, I was thinking that on a Thursday we might receive somewhere between 40 and 60 signers for our petition. However over the course of the day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at JaJaBelle’s last Thursday, we received a total of 198 physical signatures. Almost 200 people came out that day to sign and met with about a dozen notaries who were on site throughout the day to verify their identify Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 17

and address. In Ward 9, there are a total of 17 signers. In Ward 8, there are a total of 14 signers. In Ward 7, there are a total of 12 signers. In Ward 6 there are a total of 12 signers. In Ward 5, there are a total of 15 signers. In Ward 4, there are a total of 28 signers. In Ward 3, there are a total of 40 signers. In Ward 2, there are a total of 23 signers and in Ward 1 a total of 25 signers. So we are hopeful that this demonstration of support will earn the affirmative vote of aldermen who are working to evaluate constituent feedback prior to making a final decision on the measure. Open this to constituent feedback and a commitment to truly represent our government and our elected officials our qualities of leadership that are worthy of a great level of trust from voters. If you’re on the fence on the existentially important investment for our community, I hope that this effort has earned your support for bringing a modern performing arts center to 201 Main Street. Through your support for the initiative, you’ll continue to earn the trust of Nashuans who you have been elected to represent.

You’ve also received a digital copy of these petitions. It is my belief and the belief of Great American Downtown and I would argue the folks that are in this room that there is a massive groundswell of support for this project. I hope that you take that into consideration. It is a good and it is a worthy project. It is an investment and it stands to make all the difference in our downtown community. Thank you so much and thank you for your time.

Marje Hogan, 67 Cannongate

I’ve been involved in this community since 1993. I was drawn here by the community arts community which is incredible. When my late husband and I married, we were looking for a place to buy a house and there was no more perfect place than Nashua. We moved here in 2003 and this is my home. I’d like to ask everyone what’s the number one industry in New Hampshire? Can anyone answer that question? Where is our piece of the pie? I have been advocating for the arts since I was involved in City Arts Nashua from its inception in 2004. We had to go to the State Arts Council and ask them what they funding. What percentage of their money was going to Nashua and it was nothing.

We are the second largest city in this State and most of the State thinks we’re part of Massachusetts. We are content to have people come up from Billerica and buy their groceries at Market Basket on Saturdays and that’s all we need as far as tourism goes. What are we going to do to stand up for ourselves and do something to draw people from outside of Nashua to do stuff? The people who live here already invest in this community and they do so much. This is an amazing place. We need to give them an opportunity to get here and spend their money here because it’s worth it. Thank you.

Kellie Carin, 37B Boyd Road, Hudson.

Hi. I’m Kelly Caron and I live in Hudson, New Hampshire. Does that mean I have to sit down? Good. So I’ve lived in this area for 35 years. I was originally for born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. You know why I don’t go back there? There is nothing to do. Kelly Carlin, 37B Boyd Road, Hudson, NH. So I would like to first thank the Mayor for his very supportive comments in support of this project, the Currier Gallery of Art, the Chamber of Commerce. I enjoy movies on Main Street, dinner on Main Street, dancing on Main Street and I know I have them to thank. I’ve seen the emergence of downtown also and you have some spectacular business and restaurant owners that are responsible for that. I followed Michael from Levi Lowell’s in Merrimack when he opened Michael Timothy’s on Main Street. My favorite restaurant by far. Surf, Stella Blue, Philip Scontsas who also spoke earlier this evening. Lovely business on Main Street. He’s been there a long time. Love that place. They’ve done their part and they’ve contributed to this community.

The arts community also does their part every day and I’m a little angry about when somebody says they ought to step up. They step up every single day. There’s a core group that runs the Greeley Park Art Show of about 7 to 10 people. That’s it. I personally ran the kids art show for over 10 years while my daughter grew up around this area because that gave her an outlet for her art. I spent hundreds of my own dollars on prizes for the kids because while artists have a lot of talent, and energy, and enthusiasm, they’re often quite short on money. So they have to step up in other ways and they do every day. I’d like to see us support this project because as somebody said when the river rises, we all rise. Your businesses owners have given you a great Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 18

foundation in downtown Nashua. You have some terrific restaurants and terrific businesses. It’s really grown and become more vital and they’ve done that for you. So now let’s support them. Let’s support the Peacock Players, the Nashua Actors Guild, the Nashua Area Artist Association, the Sculpture Symposium. These are organizations and efforts worth lifting up with us. I would like to close with I think there’s nothing that brings people together as a community more than a love of music, art, theater, and good food. Thank you.

Nelson Hernandez, 19 Spring Cove Road.

I’ll keep it brief since other people have said a lot more eloquent stuff than I can. I’m Nelson Hernandez. I’ve lived in and out of 19 Spring Cove Road in Ward 5 for the past 16 years. I want to say that I graduated from Boston University about five years ago and I work in the marketing technology sector. I want to say that people like me so my peers and I what we look for in a town when we’re trying to look for a place to live is how vibrant is the cultural community in that town. Most people my age and in my social economic group always took to Boston, or Manchester, or Cambridge, or so on because those cities offer a lot of cultural opportunities. That’s why I think that this center would be great for Nashua because it brings those type of amenities that those cities have right here in Nashua. So we don’t have to go elsewhere or when we go to college and come back and graduate, we can just come here. We don’t have to look elsewhere.

My generation is going to be the future of the country so I think that for us we would really like to have a center like this come to our city so that when we come here either to move here or to visit our parents or whatever, we can also partake in the Nashua community and buy whatever stuff after the show or whatever and just partake in the greater community in Nashua. That’s all I wanted to say. Thank you so much for letting me speak and thank you for everyone who has already spoken. A lot of good points have been brought up. Thank you.

Jessica dePontbriand, 15 Bailey

Board of Aldermen and Mayor Donchess. Jessica dePontbriand owner of jajaBelle’s. Mostly Ward 1 life-long resident, mostly. I left at the last meeting at about midnight and I woke up at 3 a.m. My wheels were turning. When you own a coffee shop going to bed at midnight and waking up at 3 a.m. is not fun. I was really thinking about a city in a downtown that I grew up in. I was thinking about the city that I left and the city that I returned for no other reason but to bring my business to Nashua.

One thing I’ve learned in life and definitely business is that we have to take risks sometimes that we don’t necessarily know we can afford but we know we can’t afford not to. The performing arts center is one of those crossroads. We are at the crossroads with this. Nashua has played it safe for a very long time and as a result, we are in trouble with attracting and retaining our millennials. I grew up in Ward 1 before I knew what millennials were. My friends they’re graduates of Duke University, Bentley, Notre Dame but no one chose to return to Nashua. They visit at Christmas time and at Thanksgiving. As a business owner, I’ve been blessed with a wonderful staff. When I do lose my girls, I lose them to much more exciting cities and that’s the truth.

I know it’s not the city’s responsibility to claim the success or the failure of my business. It is mine. However when I don’t know some of you may not recognize is that the downtown merchants and restaurants we’re the welcoming committee to your city. When people come into our town they don’t go to the south end to check out Nashua. They come straight to the downtown and we’re the ones that welcome them and we are the reason they return to Nashua. A few things I’ve learned about visitor to Nashua. First of all, they never complain about parking. It’s really kind of a local thing. It’s the truth. The next thing they always do is always comment on how beautiful our downtown actually is. A lot of come into my shop wanting to move to downtown Nashua and then they ask me the dreaded question. What is there to do? That’s where I’m at a loss. I started my business JaJaBelle’s over 10 years ago in Vail, Colorado.

I have maintained my customer base. My customers who have multiple homes throughout this country and some pretty magnificent spots and whenever they’re on the east coast I get a phone call. Hey how far is your show from and they get in the car and they have driven hours to come check out my hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire, and come and check out JaJaBelle’s. The first comment they always make – not it’s actually the second comment. The first comment is they’re proud. The second comment they always make is they Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 19 comment on the beauty of our downtown. They’re right. It is a beautiful downtown. Like every merchant behind me, our shops and our restaurants are individual destinations for visitors. I would love nothing more than to not make jajaBelle’s a destination any more but rather be proud that I have been replaced by a much bigger and cohesive destination called downtown Nashua.

I believe a performing arts center specifically at Alec will achieve this and put our city on the map. I’m excited about the arts but truthfully and a lot of people may disagree with me, I think bringing a performing arts center to Nashua has very little to do with the arts. It has everything to do with bringing culture and vibrancy and life to our city and the heart of our city. I’ll be honest with all of you and you’ve heard me say it. If this doesn’t pass and we can’t come together as a city on the kind of downtown we want not only for ourselves but for our visitors, I really do need to think long and hard if I want to continue being in my hometown. I’m not saying this because I’m bitter and I’m not getting my own way but because I have very little faith in those that are elected can come together to put our differences aside to progress our city.

I would like to read you an excerpt from the business plan that I have for JaJaBelle’s. This is actually regarding the target market. “In the next few years with the development of a museum, performing arts center, hotel, and movie theater, commuter rail, and condominiums, the downtown market will continue to expand. The target age will range from those in their 20s to those approaching retirement age with the same common bond. They want to live and surround themselves with the art, music and dining provided by our downtown.” This is proof we have not progressed. This business plan was written with a master plan and I wrote this over 14 years ago. It is absolutely shameful that these words are still relevant today.

To the Aldermen who vote no, well I don’t own you actually but I just want to ask you in 14 years if we were to fast forward are we going to still be talking about the same thing? I’m not in politics and this is just tiring. That’s the truth. I want to end it one thing I’m very proud of. I need bookmarks but they don’t seem to help. I’ve read from my business plan written over 14 years ago. Today downtown Nashua has become a mecca for growth, revitalization, and community commitment. I am very proud that that spirit still rings true today. Thank you.

Judith Carlson, 15 Manchester Street.

Hi my name is Judith Carlson. I moved to Nashua in 1963 and into my house at 15 Manchester Street in Ward 3 in 1976. So I’ve lived in Nashua for a very long time, raised my daughter here, and worked as a commuter to Nashua for many years in high tech. I was in three Fortune 500 companies, Fortune 50 companies that no longer exist but as part of my job in marketing communications, I ran a $10 million budget and went through training on financial management for non-financial managers. So I’m pretty good at reading documents like what we’re presented by the city and I thought the city and the consultants did an excellent job in looking at all the different aspects it takes to do an evaluation and a business plan for something that is yes an investment for the city. I’ve been also very active since retiring. I was on the Board of City Arts Nashua for five years and I’m not on the Nashua Arts Commission. We do have a very vibrant arts community here who is very interested in what a performing arts center will do to enhance what we already have here. The Arts Commission has been running some seminars. We just did one with the NH Division of Economic Development on how to get more people to come to Nashua and take part in what we already have here in the arts. We formed a collaborative marketing task force with City Arts Nashua, Great American Downtown with an aldermanic representative and we are looking at ways to make Nashua known as a destination for the arts because Chronicle Magazine is already calling us the art hub of New Hampshire. We have more public art here than in any city in this State and we are admired by other cities and looked at for what we’re doing down here in the arts already. So a performing arts center would bring so much more to what we’re doing now.

But getting back to what Tracy said before. I have just one more thing that I would like to add here. The American for the Arts which City Arts Nashua has been affiliated with over five years and we see all the reports. The Greater Rochester area – Rochester mind you – they’re $12 million yearly impact, almost $8 million just $100 under of that came from spending by audiences. That’s $8 million and had a $12 million impact. The second smallest was the Monadnock Region of their $18.5 million, there’s $5,380 came from spending in audiences. When you look at Greater Concord, they have $31 million in total economic impact Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 20 and spending by audiences was $13 million. I heard people complain that it would cost over $1 million a year in carrying the bond. Greater Concord had $13 million. When you look at Portsmouth who does have the largest economic impact because they have really worked at bringing tourists to their city, they have $58 million in economic impact and of that $58 million, $36.5 million was spending by audiences. The rest was of course what the organizations themselves spent and the economy. It’s not an insignificant thing that will bring to this city in revenue that will affect not only the overall economic impact to the city but to all the other places that audiences go before and after and bring more people into finding out why Nashua really is New Hampshire’s gateway to the arts. I thank you for your time and I urge you all to support this proposal. Thank you.

Michael Reike, 35 Lock Street

Hi my name is Michael Reike. I’m a property owner at 35 Lock Street. Unfortunately I didn’t grow up in Nashua. I actually grew up in a town about 40 miles west of here, 30 miles south of Keene. I’m speaking here in favor of the arts proposal because I have experience in two cities. One is a city that I went to high school in. The town I grew up in was too small so they shipped us to a town on Millers River which travels west unlike the Nashua River is traveling east but in many ways it was very similar. It was a mill town. We made tools but we didn’t invest in anything that would draw people there. Today if you travel down the main street of the town I went to high school in, you’d see main street dotted every other store front by closed businesses. Nobody goes there. The kids that grew up and high school there they move away and they never come back.

The other city I had a chance to visit is Belfast, Maine. Belfast, Maine is doing quite well today. Its property values in Belfast are twice what they are in other similar communities in Maine. They have a vibrant farmer’s market. They have a great arts festival in Belfast. You might think well maybe they were just born with a silver spoon in their mouth but that’s actually far from the case. Forty years ago, Belfast, Maine, in Waldo County was actually the poorest county in all of the United States. They made shoes there. They processed chickens. Like many New England towns what they did with the refuge it was just tossed in the water. It was not a place where people wanted to visit but something changed. There’s a lot of people that made that happen but one thing in particular that I think speaks out is that 15 years ago they were faced with a decision. You see back in 1926, they built US1 over the harbor from West Belfast to East Belfast. Then about 20 years ago they built a new bridge and they were faced with the question what do we do with the old bridge. There were many folks in town, good New Englanders just like I am who said there are costs associated with any bridge. You just don’t have a bridge. You have to repair it. You have to maintain it. What we should do is we should just demolish the bridge. There is the serious number of people in town that said let’s just demolish it and then we won’t have to worry about that as an expense. But there were other people forward thinking who said you know what this could be an anchor for our community. They actually passed the money and several million dollars to repair and maintain the bridge which is now the anchor of a footpath in Belfast that just doesn’t link West Belfast to East Belfast but the entire river and the harbor walk. So that has become one of the main things that has drawn people and made Belfast what it is today a place that’s vibrant, a place that has restaurants reviewed on the front page of the New York Times. Let this be our bridge to the future of Nashua. Let this be the place that brings people from Boston, from New York, from other places that say when we think about New England we want to go to Nashua because that’s a place we want to be. Thank you.

Billy Fokas, 185 Main Street

I’ve been a member of this community and lived and worked in downtown Nashua for the past 57 years. I like others before me did not plan on speaking this evening but after what I’ve been hearing, I just felt compelled to get up and say a few words. I’m going to make it short and sweet. My family has been a part of downtown since 1936. We’ve lived and reside and done business in Nashua all of our lives. We’ve dedicated our lives to the success of this great city. I personally, like my cousin Philip said, have seen many businesses come and go in the past 57 years in downtown Nashua. I think with the performing arts center that this is very important to our entire city to look forward to something and to grow and to get people to stay rather than leave our great community. I just wish and urge everybody to think the long-term greatness of our city to consider this and let’s move forward for once. Thank you very much.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 21

Kami Harris, Nathan Lord Road, Amherst

I am one of the co-owners of Camaraderie Boutique. I live in Amherst on Nathan Lord Road. We are a new business. We’re just 7 weeks old today but we wholeheartedly support the performing arts center.

Danielle Skelley, 10 Clydesdale Circle, Nashua

I’m the other co-owner of Camaraderie at 175 Main Street. I am also a resident in Nashua. I live at 10 Clydesdale Circle in Ward 8. I fully, fully support the performing arts center. I had a customer recently come in and was a little disheartened when she said a friend described Nashua as the armpit of New Hampshire. Ouch. That hurt. I don’t want to be the armpit. I want to be the heart. I want to be the heart of our city and the way to be that heart is to nurture that heart. I just want to leave the aldermen with one thing that are maybe against this. Nothing is changes if nothing changes. We need to change something. Please vote yes.

Bob Cagen, 23 Hampton Drive

I also own a small business in downtown Nashua. I really didn’t know what I was going to say when I got up here but after listening to everybody, it seems like everybody is in favor of this performing center except for a handful of people. So I don’t know what the issue is. Nashua needs people to come down. We have empty streets. We have empty stores with the exception of restaurants, very few stores. Very few retail businesses are making it. I think you might be very surprised to see after Christmas much more empty stores. The restaurants are doing fine but the regular stores aren’t. Where are we going to get our money from to pay for this thing? We’re going to get it from Bedford, Amherst, Windham, Hollis. These are people that go to many other venues. If we had a venue and they came to our venue, they wouldn’t have to drive 20, 30, 40 extra miles, wear and tear on their cars, pay for more gas. Everything would be spent here probably saving them $200, $300, $400, $500 a year. They will come here. They will spend money. We will get new tenants moving into this city and we will get new businesses moving into the greater Nashua area because when people come downtown and see a vibrant city, they say this is where I want to open my business. This is where I want to bring my employees. Everybody is going to be happy here. That’s it. Thank you.

James Tobin, Brady Sullivan Properties, Franklin Street

My name is James Tobin. I work with Brady Sullivan Properties. I’m here independently as a born and raised Nashua resident. Long-time Nashua resident. I’m happy to be here. I had prepared a letter on behalf of the ownership group and myself at Brady Sullivan I just wanted to read. “As many of you know Brady Sullivan Properties is currently rehabilitating the Franklin Street mill building and converting it into residential community as we have done with several historic mill buildings throughout New England. What is perhaps less known is the acquisition of over 250,000 square feet of commercial office property here in the gate city. These developments are clear testament to our confidence and commitment to the community in which the constituents here tonight live, shop, work, and play. Over the years our company has focused on the long-term commitment to New England communities most notably New Hampshire and as mentioned most recently here in Nashua. The decision to cease an opportunity to acquire a sizable share of both the commercial and residential market in this city came from the believe in the people here tonight and a sense of community in Nashua. Today we firmly believe that the addition of a performance and arts center in Nashua’s Historic Downtown would be another major step toward neighborhood revitalization and the ever important civic attraction of the area between Exits 1, 7 and 8.

Nashua undoubtedly has the infrastructure to support the performance and arts center today. Companies on a local level continue to grow while Massachusetts base companies have begun to look more seriously at the benefits of operating in tax free New Hampshire. Even those who work in MA based cities north of Boston are settling residentially on this side of the border. Between Clocktower Place, the Cotton Mill, our new development at Franklin Street which we’re welcoming 200 new apartments with the demographic that I think everybody wants and needs to see in Nashua and potentially twice the amount of residents of the 200 apartments, the number of business people, shoppers, and diners is increasing exponentially year over year. The ripple effect of strategically implementing this type of civic attraction undeniably would be universally Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 22

beneficial what is truly a great American downtown. As committed members of the passionate Nashua community, it’s our sincere effort that tonight the Board is able to recognize the unique opportunity to present it here and is without question a paramount decision in the history of the gate city for the future of the gate city.” Thank you very much.

Arthur Craffey, 107 Chestnut Street

Good evening Mr. Mayor, Alderman McCarthy and the rest of the Board. When I first heard of this, I said this is great. It’s been a long time dream of this Board, the city, the mayors, and many, many boards. When I sat in the board it was a dream of mine. Then I got to thinking I walked by Alec Shoes there many times on my daily walks since I’ve retired. I’ve looked at the size of Alec Shoes. I’m wondering how in the heck are we going to put a performance arts center in here and actually have something in there that’s actually going to feasible to pay for itself especially with the city running it. We look at the Keefe Auditorium, you look at Court Street, and I think nothing seems to be going forward. The lady over here pointed out earlier, it’s got to be run as a business. If you can’t put the Symphony in there, how are you going to put something in that’s going to pay some money? She said you need 3 or 4 events each year to pay to break even. The Symphony in there would be great. That’s sold out all the time. The Nutcracker which is our biggest seller you can hardly get tickets for every year sells out. That would be enough to pay operational expenses in itself. It’s got to be run as a business yes.

The second thing I was concerned with is parking. Where are you going to park? Handicapped people that come to these events where are they going to park? You can’t. There’s no place to drop them off. There’s no handicapped parking. Parking downtown as we know is a pain. You go over to Keefe Auditorium to see them park. They park in the streets. There’s plenty of parking when they park at Keefe. The other issue I had was the city running it. I mean come on guys. We have enough with trying to balance our own budgets. We can’t run it up as ourselves. If we were to take this at all, I would like to see the city just hand it off. Let it be privately run. Set up a Board of Directors like we did with Pennichuck and let it run on its own. Get our reimbursement back and say bye, bye. Let it run own its own. Let it be run private. Don’t have the city involved. Yes we own it but let it run like Pennichuck runs. Their own Board of Directors and let it go. Don’t let the city have its fingers in it at all. That’s all. Thank you very much.

Shoshanna Kelly, 18 Rene Drive, Nashua.

Good evening. I want to thank everyone for their time – the Board, the Mayor. I think we’ve heard a lot from our community. A lot of people have shared their personal stories. They’ve talked about feasibility and they’ve talked about impact. My name is Shoshanna Kelly. I’m at 18 Rene Drive. I think we’ve looked at a lot of facets of this project and what I want to talk about is energy. I know that the Mayor brought up that the energy in downtown is really palatable right now. My husband and I we moved here right after college. We were living in downtown right in Clocktower Place. From there we moved to buying a house, having a child, and I’ve opened up a business downtown. In that time, I’ve seen the momentum and the energy grow with each stage in our life and I know that other people have testified to that. I would say also let’s talk about the energy in the room tonight. There’s so much anticipation. There’s so much excitement for this project and as you go to make this very important vote, I urge you to think about that and to vote yes.

President McCarthy

That concludes the public comment period. For the audience, I would tell you that the resolution is actually the first thing on our old business which will come up in a few minutes. We have a couple of formalities to take care of first but it comes up first.

PETITIONS – None

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 23

NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS

Appointments by the Mayor

The following Appointments by the Mayor were read into the record:

Business & Industrial Development Authority

Deborah Novotny (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2018 65 McKenna Drive Nashua, NH 03062

Cultural Connections Committee

Dominque Boutaud (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2020 91 Bartemus Trail Nashua, NH 03063

Nashua Airport Authority

Farrelll T. Woods (Reappointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2022 162 Bush Hill Road Hudson, NH 03051

Sandra Cushing-Adams (Reappointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2018 5 Scarborough Drive Nashua NH 03063

Planning Board

Daniel Kelly (Reappointment) Term to Expire: March 31, 2020 9 Lilac Court Nashua, NH 03062

MOTION BY ALDERMAN CLEMONS TO ACCEPT THE APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR AS READ AND REFER THEM TO THE PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS OF COMMITTEE

Budget Review Committee...... 08/28/17

There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 28, 2017, Budget Review Committee accepted and placed on file.

Budget Review Committee...... 09/05/17

There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the September 5, 2017, Budget Review Committee accepted and placed on file.

Finance Committee...... 08/16/17

There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 16, 2017, Finance Committee accepted and placed on file. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 24

Finance Committee...... 09/06/17

There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the September 6, 2017, Finance Committee accepted and placed on file.

Committee on Infrastructure...... 08/23/17

There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 23, 2017, Committee on Infrastructure accepted and placed on file.

Human Affairs Committee ...... 08/14/17

There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 14, 2017, Human Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file.

Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee ...... 08/07/17

There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 7, 2017, Personnel/ Administrative Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file.

Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee ...... 08/21/17

There being no objection, President McCarthy declared the report of the August 21, 2017, Personnel/ Administrative Affairs Committee accepted and placed on file.

WRITTEN REPORTS FROM LIAISONS – None

CONFIRMATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS

Cultural Connections Committee

MOTION BY ALDERMAN LOPEZ TO CONFIRM BY VOICE VOTE THE APPOINTMENT OF THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS TO THE CULTURAL CONNECTIONS COMMITTEE FOR TERMS TO EXPIRE JULY 30, 2020: SAMBA C. HALKOSE, 58 WINTER STREET, MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND ADELINA HERNANDEZ, 56 CHESTNUT STREET, NASHUA MOTION CARRIED

President McCarthy declared Samba C. Halkose and Adelina Hernandez duly appointed to the Cultural Connections Committee for terms to expire July 30, 2020.

Oath of Office administered by Corporation Counsel.

Nashua Arts Commission

MOTION BY ALDERMAN CLEMONS TO CONFIRM BY VOICE VOTE THE APPOINTMENT OF ALISON BANKOWSKI, 35 MANCHESTER STREET, NASHUA, TO THE NASHUA ARTS COMMISSION FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE APRIL 1, 2020 MOTION CARRIED

President McCarthy declared Alison Bankowski duly appointed to the Nashua Arts Commission for a term to expire April 1, 2020.

President McCarthy declared a two minute recess. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 25

UNFINISHED BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS

R-17-116 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF TWENTY-EIGHT MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($28,500,000) FOR WORK ON PHASE ONE OF THE CONSOLIDATED PUBLIC WORKS FACILITY LOCATED ON BURKE STREET AND THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Given its second reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO AMEND R-17-116 IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REPLACING IT WITH THE GOLDEN ROD COPY PROVIDED WITH THE AGENDA

ON THE QUESTION

President McCarthy

For the audience and as a reminder to the Board, that amendment simply removes the public works facility from the text of the resolution.

Alderman Schoneman

Someone brought it to my attention that the resolution doesn’t actually specify that it’s the Alec’s Shoe building that we are going to buy, just that we’re going to buy a building and retrofit a building.

President McCarthy

No, it doesn’t.

Alderman Schoneman

If we’re amending, I’d like to make a motion to further amend.

President McCarthy

Can we take care of the golden rod copy first?

Alderman Schoneman

Sure.

MOTION CARRIED

MOTION BY ALDERMAN SCHONEMAN TO FURTHER AMEND R-17-116 TO SPECIFY THAT IT IS THE PROPERTY AT 201 MAIN STREET

ON THE QUESTION

President McCarthy

That would be in the title to add “201 Main Street”? Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 26

Alderman Schoneman

And perhaps in the body as well. Under purpose it says: “purchase, renovate and construction a new performing arts center.”

President McCarthy

In that we would also add “201 Main Street.” Does everybody understand the motion?

MOTION CARRIED

MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-116 AS AMENDED BY ROLL CALL

ON THE QUESTION

Alderman Lopez

I am going to support this because I think we have all done our due diligence here in looking at the situation, looking at the proposals and listening to public comment and listening to the public feedback. To me, it is overwhelming clear that Nashua wants this; Nashua needs this; and, Nashua is looking forward to this. When we first started to bring this forward as a final proposal, I had a lot of concerns about how we were going to pay for it, whether that be CDBG money, where the location was. I think I did my job representing my constituents and asking those questions and being sure we weren’t just going to capriciously borrow $15 million on a project that hadn’t fully been rendered. What I didn’t really question was the desire of Nashua’s to have this performing arts center. I didn’t really challenge or have any concerns about the data that was presented by Duncan Webb demonstrating that a facility of this size could succeed in Nashua because they didn’t try to continue with the initial presentation and discussion of a much larger site. They didn’t try to put it in the distance in Nashua at an offsite, large parking friendly location with nothing around it. They tried to integrate it into the downtown scene, and they wisely course corrected when they noticed the opportunity presented by 201 Main Street. There’s been a lot of public comment over the past couple of months. There has been a lot of emails that I have received and a lot of in-person discussion, both for and against. I think for me it really comes down to when are we going to have the opportunity for this property again? When are we going to have something that really fits in with what we’re trying to do that meets the needs of our community and meets the opportunity as described by the feasibility study that we conducted? I’m very much in favor of this.

I recognize the concerns on the behalf of my fellow aldermen, and I suggest that they not be confused with fear. Fear is something that we all have to overcome. Whenever we’re doing anything in public, whether we’re creating any piece of art, fear is the emotion that we don’t want to listen to. Opportunity is the emotion we want to listen to. We want to seize the chance. I think we have a huge opportunity here not just to gain something of value, while the bond rating is favorable, while the community is motivated and energetic and excited, and while we havfe the opportunity to improve our downtown before we have to start dealing with closing stores and a loss of vitality that we have been experiencing in recent years.

Alderman Clemons

I appreciate everybody who has taken the time to reach out to me with phone calls, emails, everybody who is here this evening. Thank you. I appreciate your input on this. When I graduated from college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I went into selling cars, believe it or not. Most people hate the sales process of buying a car. It’s something that they try to avoid at all costs. But I learned a lot about the business. When you have a friend who is in the business, people tend to come to you. Even though that was at this point 12 years ago, I still have friends that when they are ready to buy a car they come to me and say can you help me out, come to the dealership. Most people know when they need a new car, most people know when they want to go out and buy a new car. If you are buying a new car, it is pretty simple. You go to the dealership and say this is what I want. They say what color, they come out with it. You know it’s a brand new car, you drive away with it. Fine. It’s when you buy a used car it’s a little bit different. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 27

We are in the position right now with this theatre of buying what I consider to be a used car, and I’ll give you the analogy. When a person knows what types of vehicle they want, but they don’t know where to buy it or what to look for, I say look for the car. The reason I say that is because if you have a particular vehicle in mind with the internet you can go and search. I want a Chevy Malibu with this type of features, miles. They will pop up in different places. You can look at the pictures and decide if this is a deal you want, something you don’t want. Every once in a while, though, when you’re in the position, you say, ahah, that’s it. There it is. That’s the car I want! I have friends call me and say I saw this car. It will be Monday night. What are you doing next weekend? What do you mean next weekend? You saw the car online tonight. That means we have to go tomorrow. Why? Because it is a used car, man. It’s the only one that’s on the lot that’s like that. It’s not a brand new car. It is a used car. If that’s the car you want and we go there and you like it, you are going to drive away with it because there is only one of them. It’s opportunity. You’ve got to take it when it comes.

We’re at that point with this performing arts center. We have a building that is in the perfect location. It’s coming up at the perfect time right when the city is studying where to put a performing arts center. We have the footprint. We have the location. We just need to take that opportunity and do it. Some people will say, Ben, we don’t have the financing. Some of my friends will say, wait, I don’t have the financing in place. I don’t know if I can do this. That’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Put a down payment on it. Put a $500 deposit and they will hold that car for you. You will figure it out. We will call the bank. We’ll make sure that we can get you a loan that you can afford on that car. We are doing the same thing here with this resolution. The same exact thing. The car is Alec Shoe Store. The car is that building. We’re going to put a down payment on it. The option is $2 million to purchase it. We’ll spend the $2 million; we’ll get the building. We will secure the building. We cannot do anything else until $4 million from the community is raised. We hold onto that building, the community clearly supports this. They come out and they raise $4 million. When they do that, we say great job. You really are behind this, and we move forward and build that theatre. If for some reason the community doesn’t get behind it, and everything falls part, the city can turn around and sell the building. We’re not going to take a loss on it either because it is a beautiful property right in downtown. Or, we could use it for something else.

The point is the opportunity is there. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s something that when you get the chance, pull the trigger. This ordinance is funny because I wasn’t even there at the meeting when this came up, but I couldn’t have worded it better. It’s perfect. What it does is it says that the City, itself, is going to commit to this project and then it turns it over to the community and says now it is your part. Raise that $4 million and then come back to us and we will do the rest. That’s exactly the way we should be doing things in government. That’s exactly the way we should be doing projects in the future that we want to get the public buy-in on it. Put the down payment down and let the community do the work.

The community can’t come up with $2 million over night, but the city can. We can tonight by voting yes. Let’s give these folks in the audience the opportunity to show us that the support is there for the theatre. Let’s give them the opportunity. Let’s vote yes. This is not a hard decision because in the end, if it doesn’t come together we can walk away from the property, but we can’t or what we shouldn’t do is walk away from this once in a lifetime opportunity. Thank you.

Alderman Wilshire

I would like to just say thank you to everyone who came out. My vote is for everyone on this paper, on these pages, that’s who I am voting for. I am a representative of these people. The four or five people that did get up and speak against it, didn’t sway me but you people did. I agree with everything that Alderman Lopez said, everything Alderman Clemons said, and I am behind this 100 percent so thank you all.

Alderman Schoneman

I’m grateful too to all the folks who came out. At the committee meeting last week, I said I hadn’t heard from too many. I’ve heard from a lot more, and I really appreciate that. As folks in the audience here, maybe around the horseshoe, maybe listening at home can imagine, I have heard from a lot of other people too who Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 28 weigh in against it. I will say that nobody was speaking against an arts center. This is not really a referendum on should we have an arts center. It’s a referendum on should be bond $15 million to commit to a project, as some speakers said, is a business. We’re publicly funding a business operation. I appreciate, I really do, the used car analogy. I think it’s a pretty good one. The only difference is we are spending someone else’s money. We’re not spending our own money to buy the used car. We’re not putting our own money. This is public money. I think spending public money, we have perhaps a higher obligation.

I’m concerned about a couple of things I learned tonight for the first time. One is that we seemed to have steered, accidently or intentionally, I don’t know, things seem to get steered very easily, steered the consultant, it sounds like, the minutes seem to reflect that, to the Alec Shoe Store building. Consultants, in my experience, listen very carefully to what the customer says. They want to provide what the customer says. Granted they said we can’t do the 2,000 seat auditorium, that’s fine. We stuck with them, they stuck with us. They agreed that they would go where we steered them. I’m concerned about that. We hire a consultant to help us objectively determine where we should go. If that was steered, I’m concerned.

Secondly, I wasn’t around when the Court Street theatre transaction was made a number of years ago but those who have shared the history make it sound very much like the situation we are facing today. I don’t know why that failed. To some extent, there’s some success there. But there was a lot of enthusiasm, maybe not a lot of money donated at the time. I don’t know what the circumstances were, but an arts operation, I think, requires a lot more than enthusiasm. It does require the enthusiasm, and I want to especially thank John Roache who gave $100 tonight too because that is what it takes. I had a conversation with the woman who runs the Capital Center for the Arts. They don’t get any money from the government. They don’t get a dime from the City of Concord. It’s all fundraised. I spoke to the gentleman who runs the Palace Theatre. What I understand from him is they started with a significant pot of money and then went for other assessments. I don’t know all the details but that’s the trend of his message that I got from that gentleman.

The pro forma financials and all the paperwork that we have seen have the $4 million endowment. I had a call from someone today that is in Ward 3, who is a big patron of the arts, donates a lot of money every year. He wants to see this, but he is very concerned about the way the financials are set up here. He said where are you going to get this $4 million and he said the $4 million is not going to produce $160,000. You need $6 million to produce $160,000 a year. Not only is he a patron of the arts, but the money that he gets to give to the arts he makes by being a financial analyst and managing funds. It is very hard to convert that $4 million into the $160,000 according to him. Both people at the Capital Center for the Arts and the Manchester Theatre used the same kind of phraseology saying it is a business. It’s a difficult business. It takes a lot of work. I think they have enthusiastic supporters, but it takes a lot of work. The pro forma financials show that not only are we getting money from the endowment but there’s a continuing requirement for general fund raising. Maybe to sponsor programs from corporate entities or maybe just people who are willing to give more than just the ticket cost. These places are supported by ticket sales; they are also supported by a lot of giving.

I don’t object to the rationale that was shared that can we jump start this in some way. I think maybe we can. I’m not sure we need to do $13 million. And, how long is it going to raise the $4 million? How long do we keep Alec Shoe Store at 201 Main Street without the $4 million being raised and without it having anybody in it. What’s the cut off time? A year down the road? Two years down the road? I don’t know. But, in the end, this is a business. I like an arts center. I want to see it. That’s what tears me on this. I want to see something happen here. I think downtown needs it. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Palace Theatre and the Capital Center for the Arts have helped those communities. No doubt, but I don’t want to see it go the way of Court Street which, for whatever reason, didn’t seem to work out quite right. I think we need to get whoever is going to run the thing in place ahead of time so they are onboard if anything is going to be outfitted to make sure that is the right space for them to operate a theatre in. Because again, for whatever reason, maybe just based on enthusiasm bubbling up from the community and the fact that the store was suddenly available, other factors but, we steered it. This is such a serious endeavor, I think we cannot steer it. I’m deeply hesitating for these reasons, and I thank you for your time.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 29

Alderman O’Brien

Number one, I would like to thank Paul Shea. I know you did a lot of work with the petitions. I would like to thank everybody who signed it. I would like to thank everybody that is here. This is way America works. You’ve done a good job. I have listened to you. I am going to vote for this project. I feel very comfortable voting for it, and I’ll tell you why. This is not something new that we’re doing. The Nashua Airport is municipal property. We run that fine. I seem to remember putting some funding to do some pavings on the taxiway. Also, isn’t the Nashua Senior Center somewhat run, and is there not both entities where we model the arts center and structure in running it pretty similar to the structures of those entities? The other thing I would like to say is this is the perfect storm. I don’t know when this opportunity is going to come around again. Court Street, we have to make a decision on that. We will make a decision on that. But when it comes down to the new building, this is going to be something. If that Alec Shoe Store was available when we purchased Court Street, we probably wouldn’t be into this type of situation. This is the perfect place.

Being a former firefighter, regarding that was brought up by one of that people that spoke, I don’t think the city is going to build something that is not going to meet the fire codes. I’m sure everything will be taken into account there. The other thing is I heard a lot of numbers, but don’t we pay CFO Griffin and Dave Fredette to run the numbers for us? If they come in and in good faith tell us what the numbers are, those are the numbers we should believe. If they make a mistake, maybe we should deal with that, but basically I support the people who work for the City of Nashua who run the numbers for us. If they are telling us this is it, I believe them.

Finally, Jessica said: culture, vibrancy and life. And that’s just by itself enough to vote for it. That’s a better saying than the three Wiseman, Moe, Larry and Curly, for duty and humanity. Culture, vibrancy and life are key. That’s what I signed on to be an alderman, not to watch this city get stagnant and die and weather on the barn. To be a place where people want a desire to move to and go forward. You’ve got my vote. I am voting for the arts center.

Alderman Caron

This has been a very difficult decision for me because I have looked at this over and over again. I talked to people for this project and against this project. My concern is as Alderman Schoneman said, the $4 million, how fast will we get it? Listening to the people who have spoken and a lot of them are longtime residents of this city, business owners, I think they will move forward and get that going. As I said in committee, the City of Nashua lost several times to be number one in having something in their town because we would not step up to the plate. People in this circle would not step up to the plate to put that little bit of money in, and we lost out. At this point in time, if we don’t do it now we will never do it. My vote will be a yes this time.

Alderman Dowd

I have always been a supporter of the arts. I’ve lived in the City of Nashua my entire life, which is quite a few years. I’ve been involved with things at Court Street and Elm Street. This is not either one of those. This is an arts center where we can have multiple types of different events on a continuing basis. It will bring people downtown. It will allow our youth and our people in Nashua to enjoy the arts. The gesture that Manchester is coming down to put artifacts in there will be just another thing to enjoy, which we won’t get if we don’t take action. I’ve been involved in hundreds of different things over the years serving on different boards: the board of education, the board of aldermen. I have never had this much public input as I have had on this particular project. It was all in favor. Even the people who had minor concerns were still in favor of it and are still in favor of it downtown. We heard from all of our businesses in the downtown. They want this project. Quite frankly, I think we would be turning our back on all the businesses if we don’t’ support this. I for one, would not go on the record as being against them. I support as many of the businesses downtown as I can. The big box stores close at ten o’clock. People look for some place to go and enjoy themselves. They want to go downtown. If they go downtown to the arts center, they are going to go to the stores, they are going to go to the restaurants. That economic money will come back to this city. I, for one, really don’t care whether the arts center makes a profit. It’s an opportunity to attract people to the downtown. I think we would be very remiss if we don’t support this. I am fully behind supporting this resolution. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 30

Alderman LeBrun

I will not be supporting this resolution. While I believe this to be a viable effort, in the future, not now, not this location. Not this process as it has been presented to us. There are other alternatives we have not even considered such as Daniel Webster College. Overwhelming support has been mentioned this evening. There are about 87,000 people living in Nashua. We heard from maybe 30 or 40 here in this Chamber. Each of us have been contacted by maybe 25 people each in our areas. This is not overwhelming by any means. In fact, not all were in support. Additionally, approximately 300 petitions have been submitted, certainly not overwhelming. Mr. Mayor, when we had a presentation on the Burke Street property upstairs when you were presented with a question on financing, your response, and I quote was: “We will have to see what the taxpayers can stand.” Mr. Mayor, the taxpayers are maxed out. They cannot stand anymore.

Mayor Donchess

That is totally false, Mr. LeBrun.

Alderman LeBrun

You will have to check the transcript, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Donchess

So will you.

Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja

I would like to thank everyone who came here this evening and for those who signed the petitions that were presented to us and also those who contacted me via email. Some were in favor and some were opposed. The contacts I had were primarily in support of this. Last week I had the opportunity talk with Taylor Caswell. He was recently appointed by Governor Sununu as the Commissioner of Business and Economic Development for the State. Prior to that he was Director of Community Development and Finance Authority. We were talking about what was happening in Nashua. He was very excited about what he heard was happening here. He mentioned the impact other downtown theatre projects had had, many of the ones mentioned by the Mayor. He made a comment that I think all of us need to think about. We all talk about revitalization of downtowns. I think all of us think about the downtown we grew up. Mine had a Five & Dime, a grocery store, an A&P, a butcher shop, a soda shop, two cafes, two florists, and a couple of dress shops and a menswear store and a very small department store and a couple of jewelers. His comment was today’s downtown is different. Today’s downtown is to use his term “the community living room.” It’s where we come together.

Several people this evening mentioned coming together and growing community in our downtown. We’re looking at downtowns that have galleries, specialty shops, specialty businesses, cafes, restaurants. We’re looking at a place where the many, many people who are coming into our community who are knew and don’t have family to go visit come downtown to form connections because their family is living like where my husband’s, halfway around the world; like other people’s maybe in Europe or Asia or Africa; or, maybe they are living in Boston but they don’t’ want to fight the traffic. So, they go downtown to meet people and form connections. I think we need to think about the picture we havfe for the future of Nashua and part of what we want is for people to form connections and become part of our community . I think many of us feel that we want those people to live here, work here, play here and maybe eventually run for office and become involved as volunteers in our community.

If you look at the study, initially Alec wasn’t mentioned and Alec kind of popped into the picture at what I think is very critical moment. I don’t feel we were steered there because I feel this consulting group would have said no because they said no to Spring Street and to those plans, that they were too big. I really think we need to think long and hard about this decision. I believe the impact of this decision will impact the city long after we’re Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 31 gone from the city and will really make a defining moment on what our downtown looks like. I’m going to be voting in favor of this.

Alderman Siegel

This is really a very difficult decision for me. I agonized it over a long period of time. I would like to thank all the people who reached out to me. The bottom line is there’s two big forces here. We have this building that we can build and it is a business. What is that business going to generate? If I look at the numbers right now, I’ll tell you right now the numbers don’t work. The numbers, themselves, as I look at this on the pro forma, they make a lot of assumptions. They don’t seem to work. On the other hand, what also doesn’t work is a dying downtown. That’s a problem. What’s the cost of a dying downtown versus the cost of what we are proposing to build. I really am very, very concerned about the heart of Nashua disappearing. I think given the risk factor is we buy a building and hopefully it has some value, that’s a consideration. On the other hand, I don’t know if I want to own that building and over what timeframe? One of the problems I have is there’s no timeframe for this $4 million. We’re going to raise it over what period of time? That’s not specified in here. I would like to propose an amendment which would be to perhaps set a timeframe for that $4 million to be raised, to make it more concrete shall we say, and that can’t take longer than I would say 1 ½ year to two years, or actually one year.

Alderman Deane

Did you make a motion?

Alderman Siegel

Yes, I would make a motion that we have a timeframe on this.

President McCarthy

I think we want to figure out exactly what the wording is.

Alderman Siegel

I would like to make a motion that the money has to be raised within a certain period of time, and that timeframe cannot exceed two years.

President McCarthy

We’ll start discussion while the city attorney looks at wording.

MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO AMEND THAT THE TIMEFRAME TO RAISE $4,000,000 CANNOT EXCEED TWO YEARS

ON THE QUESTION

Alderman Deane

There was some money that was slid out of contingency to pay, I would imagine, rent on the building that is sitting unoccupied. How long is that money going to last? What’s the monthly rent or yearly rent on the building that the city is being asked to pay by the owner? Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 32

President McCarthy

If I understood the intent of Alderman Siegel’s motion, we are allowed to buy the building under the terms of the resolution. We would hold it for two years and then decide what to do with it instead if the $4 million was not forthcoming in that timeframe. Is that what you had in mind, Alderman Siegel?

Alderman Siegel

That would be correct.

Alderman Deane

The other question I had was to our Mayor. We are currently being sued by an alderman and a resident pertaining to the supposedly Spending Cap violation. Has that had any net effect on our bond rating or perhaps could it have a net effect on our bond rating? Is bond counsel looking at that as pending litigation?

Attorney Bolton

That’s not the kind of thing bond counsel opines on. Bond counsel is retained by us to give opinions as to the binding effect that the bond commits the city to and to opine that all the procedures necessary to bind the city were properly followed. It may be that there are other consultants who could opine to us whether the existence of that suit, or the two consolidated suits, would have an effect. But as far as I know, and I believe I am clear on this, we have not been downgraded. My personal opinion is it is very likely that we will not be downgraded just because of the pendency of the suits. The only way that we would be downgraded is if the result of the suit causes the city to take some action that negatively affects the future prospects of the city paying its debt. I think that is unlikely to happen.

Mayor Donchess

I reiterate what Attorney Bolton said. There is a hearing scheduled on October 23. Following that there will be a decision one way or the other. I believe that we are going to be successful. If we are not, we will deal with it. I think the end result will not affect the bond rating. We have definitely not been downgraded now. There’s no way the suit has caused the city to lose anything on the bond rating to date, and I don’t think it will in the future.

Alderman Dowd

It has always been predicated that they will raise that money so I have not problem with the amendment. There are a lot of checks and balances that we have in this whole process. We will have to negotiate the cost of the building. It could go up or down. No expense can be made, none, without going through the Finance Committee and having a hearing. If it is over a certain amount of money it is going to have to go back to the full Board for the final expenditure. Then you’ve got the raising of the endowment to cover the cost, which by the way we can keep evaluating in talking with our consultants and everybody to make sure that that endowment is the right amount of money. Construction wouldn’t start until all those steps, so we wouldn’t be spending the bond money, and only half of it over one year and half over another year. This is a project that has a thousand steps. If we don’t start with the first step, we are never going to get there. It is time to take that step.

President McCarthy

What the city attorney suggests is at the end of the next to the last paragraph, the one that begins with “No borrowing for the renovation or construction…” we add a sentence that says: “This resolution shall expire two years from its effective date in the event that the $4 million in private funds have not been raised prior to that date.”

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 33

MOTION BY ALDERMAN SIEGEL TO FURTHER AMEND BY SENTENCE TO THE END OF THE NEXT TO THE LAST PARAGRAPH WHICH STATES: THIS RESOLUTION SHALL EXPIRE TWO YEARS FROM ITS EFFECTIVE DATE IN THE EVENT THAT THE $4 MILLION IN PRIVATE FUNDS HAVE NOT BEEN RAISED PRIOR TO THAT DATE.

ON THE QUESTION

Alderman Siegel

I’m just thinking about the two years. That seems like an awfully long period of time, but I’ll leave it as is.

Alderman Clemons

I’m going to support the amendment. I think it is reasonable to put in a timeframe, an expectation. It also sets a goal which I think is a good thing. One of the pieces of legislation later tonight is establishing a performing arts center steering committee. That committee will be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Board of Aldermen to oversee the strategic plan, overseeing the construction, but obviously before that, coming up with a strategic plan on how to run it and also fundraising. The mechanism for how the fundraising will take place is there. It’s going to be through this steering committee. I support this amendment. I think it is a good amendment.

Alderman Schoneman

I think generally speaking fundraisers are professionals. When I had those conversations with the theatres, they had professionals on staff that raised funds. That’s their job. I think if we’re going to be raising the money, it should be professional theatre people, professional business people who know about the theatre business, who can hire if they need to. We will also have to think about where the money is going to sit. Are we just collecting pledges or are we collecting funds? Then what happens if it’s not $4 million? Do we give it back? What do we do?

Alderman Clemons

I think the city, through the steering committee or one of us as an alderman, can set up a trust account so we can account for that type of money. As far as the makeup of the committee, we’re going to have a lot of different professionals on there from various walks of life that have a particular interest in downtown and will have a particular interest in making sure that this is successful. I think those are types of things that will come to fruition and will happen just as a mechanism of the fact that they have to. As far as it being real dollars, I would imagine it would be real dollars and not pledges.

MOTION CARRIED TO FURTHER AMEND

President McCarthy

We’re back to the motion for final passage as amended. Is there further discussion?

Alderman Deane

Alderman Clemons had some good points. On an expendable trust, we just did some significant roadwork up on Amherst Street and we got money from businesses up there. Since the utilities had some issues, we had to pay those people interest on their money. We bonded a good portion of that project and then had to pay them interest because of the utilities issues. There’s a little more to it, but my main question is: The authority of this building falls under whom, if purchased?

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 34

President McCarthy

If it is purchased, it falls under the authority of this Board. I would assume at some point we will generate a lease with whoever the group is we decide to have manage it or occupy it or whatever, that’s some of the work we have left to do, but it is this Board that has to approve that.

Alderman Deane

I wanted to go back to the original resolution that we had when we had Burke Street. We spent $4.5 million on that building, and there it sits. This board has to make a decision what they are going to do with it. It’s to the point now where it’s probably better off to just tear it down. That’s my opinion. We have significant investments that haven’t been made in our other public works structures: the street department. These are things that are coming down the pike. The administration building that we purchased that was mentioned by a resident earlier. I supported that purchase. The only reason why I supported it was because of the proximity to the police department, that piece of property. It abuts the police department. We’ve got the parks and recreation department. We’ve got blue tarps up top on the storage buildings. There’s other things.

Our school district doesn’t have deferred maintenance. We bond everything we do in the school district. We bond fire trucks. When people look at our Spending Cap, there’s a lot of things that were worked around on the Cap. Bonding has been part of it. I’ve been on this Board for a number of years, and we never bonded fire trucks. We never bonded any of that stuff. We just paid cash for it.

In some of my readings, the demands by some of the citizens that sent emails for it about bond schedules, spending schedules and things of that nature, I think a lot of that really has to be looked at whether that is going to be done by the strategic planning committee or not is one thing. But, I see a lot of priorities in this community that need to be met. I got a real hard time about supporting and for us proposing the bond for the street paving. I had people come up to me and tell me they have driven on flatter roads in Vietnam. That’s pretty telling, and that was back in the seventies. So, we’ll see where the chips fall with this. I still struggle with a lot of what this city has to pay for. The pending litigation we are dealing with, how we deal with that after the fact. The departments that have people. We have a lot of contracts that are due up now across the city. You read about the teachers and the Board of Ed now. We have a lot to think about. Thank you, Mr. President.

Alderman Cookson

First, let me thank the audience for coming here this evening and sitting patiently as we go through this process. I want to especially thank Sy, Rich and Marylou. I appreciate the invitation to join you last Wednesday at 7:30 in the morning to discuss this. We had a very good conversation. Thank you. Marylou, if you are still here, I’d like to thank you for continuing to send us correspondence and articles to read that you provided to each one of the members of the Board of Aldermen. I’m not sure if Director Cummings is still here; I’m sure he is. I had asked Director Cummings for some additional information with regard to the arts, and he was able to provide me with some literature as well. So, I’ve been attempting to do my due diligence on this.

There may be few aldermen that have more of a passion for the arts than I do. As I was sharing with Sy and Marylou and Rich, I’ve played the trumpet for the last 40 years. I love the trumpet. I love symphonic bands. I love symphonic orchestras. Liz Racioppi stood up and mentioned that she was on the Arts Commission. I was the alderman who sponsored that legislation to create the arts commission for the City of Nashua. I had the pleasure of being the aldermanic liaison to that committee and working with Liz and several very, very talented people along the way. I thought we made great strides making sure that the steering committee, the Nashua Arts Commission, was the face of the arts community. Not just the community, but the assets as well, to facilitate, to advocate, to coordinate and to educate. The face of the cultural assets and community. Many of you know I have a daughter. She is very, very excited about going into Boston to see Phantom of the Opera, one of her favorite musicals. I’ve seen it several times. Wang Center. I’ve seen it down in Florida a couple of times. I love the arts; I love the performing arts.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 35

One of the things that I’m not excited about, and this is just me, is it is unfortunate from an economic standpoint that our symphony, New Hampshire Symphony, can’t take their full orchestra into this proposed venue. It’s not large enough. They said they would bring their strings in or they might bring a brass or whatever. There are other things that they could do there, but they wouldn’t be able to send their full band there. I say economics because they need the number of seats that are available in the Elm Street Theatre in order to pay for their instrumentalists. I will never see if this becomes fruition, or if this becomes a reality, I will never get to see Gustav Holst, the Planets, performed in this theatre. I will never see Mussorgsky’s Pictures of an Exhibition. I don’t get to see Dvorak’s New World Symphony. It’s not going to happen there. But that’s something that I won’t be able to participate in, but there are other things that it could continue to do and provide for the arts community.

I had one interesting email, and I’m sure several of the aldermen received it as well. That was from an artist in the Nashua area that said, I’m not interested in the Currier presenting or having art coming from the Currier come down here. We’ve got plenty of artists in Nashua. I thought it was an interesting data point, saying that we have artists here that would probably be willing to move forward with exhibitions and something to present at this facility, again, if it comes to be.

One of the things that we are not often afforded is the luxury of having to consider things in a vacuum. This evening, we have a resolution before us asking for a $15.5 million bond. I’ve introduced a resolution as well that’s considering a feasibility study for Daniel Webster College. It’s not meant to be a competing resolution, but unfortunately with the timeframe if this Board wants to consider the Daniel Webster campus for anything, not performing arts, anything, school admin, the Brentwood School program for Nashua that is housed in Merrimack, if we needed to do something with the records that are stored at Court Street or in this building, whatever it is, there is a resolution that has to be considered within the next 30 days. It will go through a public hearing. That resolution is for not-to-exceed $23.5 million. These are the other things, and Alderman Deane mentioned several as well. These are the other things that we have to consider.

At last night’s Board of Education meeting, if any of you were able to watch it or listen to it, came up the fact that Elm Street at some point in the near future will have to present a $48 million bond for that school to rehab it. If they were to demo it and build from the ground up again, $42 million. This is as provided last night at the Board of Education meeting. At the May 25th Joint Special meeting, Elizabeth Van Twuyver brought up the same thing. What’s going on with the cost of Elm Street and Mount Pleasant? These will be competing resolutions for money for the city. It’s unfortunate. I wish that the performing arts center was a standalone, and we didn’t have to worry about other aspects of the city.

I want to vote for this. Honestly. I think there is real opportunity downtown. I would like to make a motion, but I know that I can’t make a motion after holding the floor for this long. So, it is my intention to make a motion to consider definitely postponing this until after the auction has been completed with Daniel Webster College. It’s a month. October 23rd is the auction date. We have a meeting on the evening of the 24th of October.

President McCarthy

I will allow you to make that motion. What is considered bad forum is making a motion to limit debate after speaking.

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON FOR DEFINITE POSTPONEMENT UNTIL THE EVENING OF OCTOBER 24, 2017

ON THE QUESTION

Alderman Dowd

Roll call.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 36

A viva voce roll call was taken on the motion for definite postponement which resulted as follows:

Yea: Ald. Cookson, Ald. McGuinness, Ald. LeBrun 3

Nay: Ald. Wilshire, Ald. Clemons, Ald. Deane, Ald. Dowd, Ald. Caron, Ald. Siegel, Ald. Schoneman, Ald. Melizzi-Golja, Ald. O’Brien, Ald. Lopez, Ald. McCarthy 11

MOTION FAILED

President McCarthy

We are back to the motion for final passage as amended. Any further discussion?

Alderman Clemons

I wanted to just say that I really respect my colleague, Alderman Deane’s, concerns for the other things that Nashua has to consider. The only thing that I will say to that is being an alderman is not an easy thing, and you’ve done it a lot longer than I have. It’s nights like tonight when you see a room full of people, you get a petition of 500 people asking you to do something, and you have different amendments come up and us working togheter to try to come up with a solution that really speaks to this community.

Alderman Siegel

I think Alderman Deane brought up a very valid point, and I am very concerned. I’ve been back and forth on this and that’s one of the other considerations. I don’t know how we are going to pay for the other stuff. Frankly, I would like to spend the money on an administration building that we were supposed to have, and I don’t have an answer for that right now. It’s very troubling.

A viva voce roll call was taken on the motion for final passage as amended, which resulted as follows:

Yea: Ald. Wilshire, Ald. Clemons, Ald. Dowd Ald. Caron, Ald. Melizzi-Golja, Ald. O’Brien Ald. Lopez, Ald. McCarthy 8

Nay: Ald. Deane, Ald. Cookson, Ald. Siegel, Ald. Schoneman, Ald. McGuinness, Ald. LeBrun 6

MOTION FAILED

Alderman Clemons

Was that the motion to amend?

President McCarthy

No, that was the motion for final passage.

Alderman Clemons

I would like to propose an amendment. My amendment would be to put R-17-116 on the ballot to allow for the citizens of Nashua to vote on it at the next municipal election coming up in November, by adding the word Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 37

“Shall the Board of Aldermen pass the following resolution” and then putting the resolution text into the ballot and having folks vote yes or no.

MOTION BY CLEMONS TO ADD THE WORDS “SHALL THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN PASS THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION” BEFORE THE TEXT OF RESOLUTION R-17-116 AND TO PLACE IT ON THE BALLOT AT THE NOVEMBER MUNICIPAL ELECTION

ON THE QUESTION

President McCarthy

Before I repeat the motion, I’ll ask the city clerk to comment on whether we can get it on the ballot in the time that we have left.

City Clerk Piecuch

I would have to look at the timeframe. We are drawing the names of the candidates tomorrow and I was sending the ballot prep out to the printer on Thursday. Without having a schedule and time line in front of me, I really can’t give that information out right now.

Alderman Clemons

Assuming it passed tonight.

City Clerk Piecuch

Will it require a public hearing?

Alderman Cookson

Just like we did on the Keno.

Attorney Bolton

It certainly doesn’t require a public hearing before you can pass it tonight. We’re talking about a non-binding referendum basically to advise the Board of the voters’ preference. There may or may not be a requirement for a public hearing prior to the election. If there is, we can let you know that tomorrow and perhaps it can get scheduled on the same night as another public hearing that is already contemplated.

President McCarthy

The motion is to add the words “Shall the Board of Aldermen Pass the Following Resolution and to place it on the ballot at the November Municipal Election”

Alderman Clemons

I understand the hesitation of some of my colleagues here this evening. We want to make sure that the 500 signatures that we received tonight, the 200 notarized signatures that we received tonight, the hundreds of people who are here, the calls are real. So let’s do it. Let’s put it on the ballot and if the people vote yes that they want this, as we have amended it, with all the different amendments in there, and if they vote yes, all of you who voted no, can turn around at the end of November and say this is what the constituents wanted and you can vote with a clear conscience and you don’t have to worry about it. You can sleep at night because the citizens will know that there’s all these other concerns that the city has and they will be able to say yes, I want this, or no, I don’t. Nothing more democratic than that so that’s what I propose. Let’s put this theatre on the ballot and have the people decide. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 38

Alderman Deane

I was under the impression that we were elected to make these decisions. That’s fine and well and you can make all the remarks you want from the gallery but you vote people out of office, that’s what you do. You don’t have to include me in that package, but that’s normally when you don’t agree with decisions and the votes that people make then you vote against them. That’s the authority that you have as a citizen, and I respect that.

Alderman Clemons

True, and I would agree with Alderman Deane that obviously this is going to be a big election issue. The people who voted tonight, as well as the people who voted yes, will have to face the citizens. But I think since the majority of the Board of Aldermen, who is elected, voted for this tonight, it did get a 8-6 vote, the majority of us said yes, we should put it on the ballot and let people speak. If you decide afterwards that you are still not going to follow what the citizens say because I think it’s going to win, but if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. If you decide you’re still going to vote the way you are going to vote afterwards, it is a non-binding resolution. At least you will know where the citizens stand.

Alderman Lopez

Alderman Deane made a reasonable point. We are elected to make decisions. But I think we are also trusted to make those decisions based on the information in front of us and the evidence at hand. We did go through this whole performing arts feasibility study which specifically identified what would work and where it would work. I heard some speculation as to whether that process was steered without any real evidence saying that it was. I’ve heard people say that they would prefer a venue or a performance that is larger than what is being recommended by the feasibility study we just went through. So, personally, I am listening to my constituents and I am using my own judgment. I asked as many questions as I could identify in order to troubleshoot the decision-making and say, am I doing right by the people at home who aren’t aware. I also listened to people who show up. This is a public meeting, and it is a very engaging public meeting. There is a huge public turnout. I think it would be a little bit silly for us to ignore the other side of our responsibility which is to listen to what people are asking us to do. Alderman O’Brien

During the deliberations I did hear there were some questions, and some people did question on the petitions, and I talked to many more people. I agree with you. Put this on the ballot and let’s exactly know what the people say. I think it’s a continuation of due process. To Alderman Deane, I most certainly agree with you 100 percent, but the horse has already left the barn. We have a sitting alderman and a former alderman suing the city when we duly voted on something already. I wish people would listen. We do have the right to govern, but unfortunately it seems like they have the right to challenge as well.

A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows:

Yea: Ald. Wilshire, Ald. Clemons, Ald. Dowd, Ald. Caron, Ald. Siegel, Ald. Melizzi-Golja Ald. McGuinness, Ald. O’Brien, Ald. Lopez, Ald. McCarthy 10

Nay: Ald. Deane, Ald. Cookson, Ald. Schoneman Ald. LeBrun 4

MOTION CARRIED

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 39

R-17-117 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Tom Lopez RELATIVE TO THE USE OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM FUNDS FOR 22 MARSHALL STREET Given its second reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-117 MOTION CARRIED

Resolution R-17-117 declared duly adopted.

R-17-118 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman June M. Caron Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderman Tom Lopez Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire RELATIVE TO THE ACCEPTANCE AND APPROPRIATION OF A $2,900,000 LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARD CONTROL GRANT FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Given its second reading;

MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-118 MOTION CARRIED

Resolution R-17-118 declared duly adopted.

R-17-119 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman June M. Caron RELATIVE TO A BALLOT REFERENDUM TO ALLOW KENO WITHIN THE CITY OF NASHUA Given its second reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN O’BRIEN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-119

ON THE QUESTION

Alderman Cookson

The discussion we had on Keno with the representative, was that a public hearing or was that just an informational meeting that was held in these Chambers?

President McCarthy

That was an informational meeting. If this passes, we will schedule a public hearing between 15 and 30 days before the election.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 40

Alderman Cookson

Thank you. With regard to this legislation relative to adding a referendum on the ballot is that anyway dissimilar from what we just did with the performing arts center?

President McCarthy

Yes. There’s a specific process defined in the Keno law for how the ballot question is presented and how the hearing gets scheduled.

MOTION CARRIED

Resolution R-17-119 declared duly adopted.

MOTION BY ALDERMAN O’BRIEN THAT, IN ACCORDANCE WITH RSA 284:51(B), A PUBLIC HEARING ON R-17-119 BE SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER MOTION CARRIED

R-17-120 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderman Tom Lopez Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire RELATIVE TO AN AGREEMENT FOR COUNSEL SERVICES CONCERNING POTENTIAL OPIOID LITIGATION Given its second reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-120 MOTION CARRIED

Resolution R-17-120 declared duly adopted.

R-17-121 Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess RELATIVE TO THE RE-APPROPRIATION OF FISCAL YEAR FY2018 ESCROWS Given its second reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-121 MOTION CARRIED

Resolution R-17-121 declared duly adopted.

R-17-122 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Tom Lopez Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Richard A. Dowd ESTABLISHING A PERFORMING ARTS CENTER STEERING COMMITTEE Given its second reading Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 41

MOTION BY ALDERWOMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA TO AMEND R-17-122 BY AMENDING IT WITH THE GOLDEN ROD COPY PROVIDED WITH THE AGENDA

ON THE QUESTION

Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja

The amendments adds one additional member from the arts commission and one additional member from the downtown improvement committee for a total of three members from each. It will then become an eleven- member committee instead of nine. The committee will be made up the mayor, or his designee, a representative from the chamber, three members from the Board of Ed, three from the downtown improvement committee and three from the arts commission.

Alderman Deane

I just wanted to go back in time to the Joint Special School Building Committee when we had a large contingent of members who wouldn’t show up and we couldn’t make a quorum. Eleven people is a lot of people. You’re going to need six. Good luck.

Alderman Schoneman

If an arts center is going to succeed here, I think getting back to some of the comments earlier, I think business orientation, someone who is really professional about a professional arts center ought to be involved. These folks sound like they are community artists and plenty of passion. Do they have the ability to add members if they want to or can we put someone on there that we specify should be a pro?

President McCarthy

Vote it up or down, it’s as it is. They can come back to us and propose whatever changes they would like after they discuss it.

Alderman Cookson

If this doesn’t pass, it would be 3 BOE members and then two from downtown improvement and two from the arts?

Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja

Correct.

MOTION CARRIED

MOTION BY ALDERMAN MELIZZI-GOLJA FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-122 AS AMENDED

ON THE QUESTION

Alderman Cookson

I mentioned during my comments with regard to the performing arts center the Nashua Arts Commission. The Nashua Arts Commission, again, was charged being the face of the art culture and art buildings. They would facilitate, advocate, coordinate and educate. That was part of the legislation. I’m curious if these two roles are duplicative of one another and why the Nashua Arts Commission wouldn’t have a more prominent role in establishing this performing arts center downtown.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 42

Alderman Lopez

I think the Nashua Arts Commission is actually represented on the committee. I think if we learned anything from tonight there’s obviously a lot of confusion or disagreement as to what direction this performing arts center program should go in. I think just from a basic logistic perspective having a committee focused on that demonstrates that we are actually interested in having it as a result. The Nashua Arts Commission also has the role of identifying what organizations are going to receive art funding and supporting existing arts programs. I see a lot of wisdom in having a performing arts center steering committee to focus on the steering of the performing arts center versus just adding it back to the arts commission which was one of the originally moving factors in the original feasibility study.

Alderman Cookson

I would just add that if this were to move forward, the Nashua Arts Commission would have 3 of the 11 seats on this steering committee, nto certainly a majority. The other thing is that the Nashua Arts Commission, as it currently exists, it has businessmen and businesswomen on the Nashua Arts Commission, something that is much needed for the performing arts center to be successful. I would advocate for the Nashua Arts Commission to play a more prominent role in this entire process rather than establishing another steering committee.

Alderman Lopez

I’m not entirely familiar with the membership. Are there any business people on the downtown improvement committee?

Alderman Clemons

There are several.

MOTION CARRIED

Resolution R-17-122 declared duly adopted as amended.

R-17-123 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderman Tom Lopez Alderman-at-Large Brian S. McCarthy ESTABLISHING A NASHUA RAIL TRANSIT COMMITTEE Given its second reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN O’BRIEN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-17-123 MOTION CARRIED

Resolution R-17-123 declared duly adopted.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 43

UNFINISHED BUSINESS – ORDINANCES

O-17-040 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire AUTHORIZING PAYMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES BY CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD Given its second reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN O’BRIEN FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF O-17-040 MOTION CARRIED

Ordinance O-17-040 declared duly adopted.

NEW BUSINESS – RESOLUTIONS

R-17-125 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderman Richard A. Dowd ESTABLISHING THE USE OF FUND BALANCE FOR TAX RATE Given its first reading; assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President McCarthy

R-17-126 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderman Tom Lopez Alderman June M. Caron Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire ESTABLISHING AN EXPENDABLE TRUST FUND TO ACCEPT DONATIONS FOR THE ARLINGTON STREET COMMUNITY CENTER Given its first reading; assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President McCarthy

R-17-127 Endorsers: Mayor Jim Donchess Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. Alderman Tom Lopez RELATIVE TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION OF $500,000 OF UNANTICIPATED REVENUE TO THE HYDROPOWER RESERVE FUND FOR THE PURPOSE OF REPAIRING THE TURBINE AT THE JACKSON MILLS DAM Given its first reading; assigned to the BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE by President McCarthy

R-17-128 Endorsers: Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien, Sr. AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO THE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION WITHIN THE NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE REGION Given its first reading; assigned to the FINANCE COMMITTEE and the BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS by President McCarthy

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 44

R-17-129 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Mark S. Cookson Alderman Don LeBrun FOR THE CITY TO RESEARCH THE FEASIBILITY OF PURCHASING THE FORMER DANIEL WEBSTER COLLEGE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 20 UNIVERSITY DRIVE Given its first reading; assigned to the PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, the NASHUA CITY PLANNING BOARD and the BOARD OF EDUCATION by President McCarthy

R-17-130 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Mark S. Cookson AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY TREASURER TO ISSUE BONDS NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF TWENTY-THREE MILLION NINE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($23,955,000) FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE FORMER DANIEL WEBSTER COLLEGE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 20 UNIVERSITY DRIVE Given its first reading;

MOTION BY ALDERMAN COOKSON TO ACCEPT THE FIRST READING OF R-17-130 BY ROLL CALL, ASSIGN IT TO THE BUDGET REVIEW COMMITTEE, THE NASHUA CITY PLANNING BOARD, THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE, AND THE NASHUA BOARD OF EDUCATION, AND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017, AT 7:00 PM IN THE ALDERMANIC CHAMBER

A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows:

Yea: Ald. Deane, Ald. Cookson, Ald. Schoneman, Ald. LeBrun 4

Nay: Ald. Wilshire, Ald. Clemons, Ald. Dowd, Ald. Caron, Ald. Siegel Ald. Melizzi-Golja Ald. O’Brien, Ald. Lopez, Ald. McCarthy 9

MOTION FAILED

Alderman Cookson

If you’re not going to allow for a public hearing of a resolution, why are we wasting our time doing a feasibility study?

President McCarthy

Would you like to move for indefinite..

Alderman Cookson

I’m just curious. The Board of Education is supportive of it. They are interested in, again, potential opportunity for their admin building since they can’t move into Burke Street.

President McCarthy

Alderman Cookson, the vote has been taken. The debate is over on that motion.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 45

Alderman Cookson

I understand. I’m just explaining why I am asking the question. You’re going to stop me after all of this? I think it’s poor taste.

President McCarthy

It’s out of order. We took a vote.

Alderman Cookson

Poor taste, Alderman McCarthy.

NEW BUSINESS – ORDINANCES

O-17-042 Endorser: Alderman Tom Lopez AUTHORIZING STOP SIGNS ON NORTH SEVENTH STREET AT ITS INTERSECTION WITH GRAND AVENUE Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President McCarthy O-17-043 Endorser: Alderman Tom Lopez RESCINDING THE AUTHORIZATION FOR PARKING METERS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF EAST PEARL STREET BETWEEN QUINCY STREET AND HOLMES STREET Given its first reading; assigned to the COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE by President McCarthy

O-17-044 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Richard A. Dowd Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja REVISIONS TO THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMISSION FOR COMMUNITY GRANTS Given its first reading; assigned to the HUMAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE by President McCarthy

PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

President McCarthy

One person had signed up, Paula Johnson. Ms. Johnson is not here. We had a sign-up sheet out at the beginning of the meeting.

(Inaudible remarks from a member of the audience)

President McCarthy

We have a procedure. Actually, somebody make a motion to suspend the rules. I’m not going to do this on my own.

MOTION BY ALDERMAN CLEMONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ALLOW ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK MOTION CARRIED Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 46

Paul Chasse, 26 Balcom Street.

I’ve been watching this all night. My first question to the President of this Board, during the first open mic. people were clapping. It prolonged the whole night. We have two X-Presidents that are sitting here, especially Corporate Counsel, that never would have allowed that. I know he would have said please refrain from clapping until the end of the night. The second thing is my ward alderman, I am very impressed with tonight. You did a good job. We don’t see eye-to-eye, but you did a good thing. I am not against the arts center. There are certain things, maybe it is time for this Board to say maybe a two-minute speaking time for every individual. Thirty-five people came up tonight. That’s a long time. Believe me, you people had your minds made up before you even sat in this horseshoe.

I’m not very happy for some of the things I heard. Mr. Mayor, I can look at my crystal ball versus yours. You took out the wastewater place where we bought. I was totally for it because I wasn’t basically worried about the building. It was about the land. If we had to move north to build that thing further, we needed that land. I’m sure it is coming down the line. $19 million. If I had a household and $19 million and I’m paying off my debts and I’m paying off my debts, I’m not going to add more debt to it. I honestly believe, well I’m going to have to believe with Paula Johnson, that maybe it’s a 50-50 endeavor on that thing.

Now it’s going to the ballot. Good job, because I guarantee you, I’m not into arts. I’m not against arts or whatever. People do things. They are into symphony. I think I went one time to the Nutcracker and I said that’s enough for me. I’m not into that stuff. Most of the people in Nashua probably are not into that stuff. Your blue collar or what do I want to call myself: slum lord, slum, whatever. I’m not into arts. You can go to the Symphony or whatever, I’m deaf so I don’t know what the hell they are playing for music anyways.

They want to raise money, they want to do something, a few years back Whitney Houston came into Holman Stadium. I don’t know how much money they made. They brought in Santana. Aerosmith came in there. Danny and the Juniors came in there. Beach Boys came in there. That’s my type of music. I paid and I went to see them. There’s an agenda there. There’s a way that they can make money to get their $4 million or their $8 million if you want to go 50-50. I have no problem if the City of Nashua went 50-50 with these people. But for the City of Nashua to take on this thing and buy another problem, because I sat in the horseshoe and we bought some properties and we are paying for them now, and it’s not a good thing for the City of Nashua for us to get involved in this type of venue. So, you made a decision tonight. Thank you for putting it on the ballot. The people of Nashua will know make the decision. I thank you for your service because I know what you’re going through. Good night.

Jen Czysz, Interim Director, NRPC

I am the interim director of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission. I just wanted to be here to be on hand if there were any questions for the household hazardous waste collections cooperative agreement. This is a program that NRPC provides the staffing for on behalf of our community in the region. We will be on hand to assist when it goes to committee as well. Thank you.

Paul Shea, 102 Tolles Street.

I spoke earlier on behalf of my organization, but I just want to speak as a ward resident right now and how absolutely ashamed I am. We demonstrated well over 150 people that were in support of this project. The fact of the matter is is that the downtown wards are the wards that have expressed the greatest degree of support for this project. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for David, and I’ve always had a great deal of appreciation for the degree to which he takes constituency feedback into consideration. But as a resident of the ward, I am absolutely, I am distraught right now. I am upset, and I had faith in you and I had trust in you, and I don’t have that anymore. So, no thanks. Thank you. Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 47

REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN

Alderman Lopez

There is an event this Saturday, the Arts Olympics at 1:00 p.m., downtown. Anybody who is interested in the arts, I definitely suggest you come check it out. It’s a first time event and it should be very interesting.

Alderman O’Brien

Congratulations to one of our members to the rededication of the David Deane Skate Park. It’s good that it is up and running. I apologize that I couldn’t be there. I would like to say something else to Alderman Deane and the Board. Ya, the Burke Street property, I don’t know how dead is dead, but the thing is we’ve still got other issues with the waste treatment plant, other different things that are going on. I’m holding out hope that something is going to morph into something that is going to be a little bit better. I’m kind of hoping that we’re just kind of taking a break, stand back, relook at it, and come up with a better decision. I’m hoping that can be done. Thank you.

Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja

Thank you to everyone who came this evening. This week at the Planning Board there is going to be a public hearing regarding the downtown riverfront project. That will be up in the auditorium at 7:00 p.m. for those who are interested in having input. In October, that will be coming forward to Planning & Economic Development. I just want to thank everyone who worked on the Back-to-School event. As everyone knows, it is a collaboration between the City and the Chamber. It was very successful this year. I would just like to thank the committee members from the various city departments as well as from the Chamber and Alderman Caron and George Katis for all of their help.

Alderman Schoneman

A number of speakers tonight recognized that this is a difficult job. It is a difficult job. It’s ten minutes until twelve. I’m exhausted. I imagine the others are too. This was an issue that divided a community. It was not easy. I recognize the passion that these folks brought. It was very difficult because I had to choose to disappoint somebody, and that’s never a choice anyone likes to make. My objections were not about having an arts center, but were about the specifics of a plan. I truly hope that an arts center develops here. I look forward to seeing what this committee wants to do. I voted against putting it on the ballot. I listened to some of the arguments, but I’m glad it’s going to be on there. I think it’s good. The people are going to decide, and we will see what they want to do. I think that’s the best thing. Thank you.

Alderman Dowd

I just want to thank everybody for the thoughts regarding my sister’s passing, and for the flowers for the Celebration of her Life.

Alderman Cookson

I just wanted to take a moment to speak about the public hearing that wasn’t scheduled this evening. All reliant on a feasibility study that our Office of Economic Development would be charged with conducting, zero cost to the citizens of Nashua, zero cost to have him go out and explore with city staff and personnel to see if there was any opportunity, any feasibility of utilizing any of the buildings at what was formerly known as Daniel Webster College.

In addition to that we passed on the opportunity because we won’t have an opportunity to have a public hearing prior to the auction or the time to submit a bid if we were interested in anything. We missed out on the opportunity to increase our athletic fields. Maybe they are not important to some members of the Board of Aldermen, but I understood that Superintendent Caggiano was concerned about the athletic fields that we have Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 48

in the city. They are not getting enough rest so we needed to expand. I think that’s why we had a meeting over at Charlotte Avenue recently about having the fields recover and getting some more rectangular fields. But, be it in your wise decision this evening, we won’t have the opportunity to even consider that - the Eaton Richmond Center, the gymnasium, the administration building, which could have been utilized by our school administration. Again, not having a Burke Street property to move into, I was attempting to just see if there was an opportunity somewhere else. The admin building looks like a phenomenal space for the central admin office to take over, but again we won’t have the opportunity because a majority of you voted this evening not to even have a public hearing. We can’t consider it now.

I’m deeply saddened that you would make that move. In the last 12 years, I have never seen any group be so inconsiderate to a motion for a public hearing. You wanted the public to choose on the arts center, so let’s put that on the ballot. Fine, let’s put it on the ballot. Nobody held that up, okay. But to have eight members of you just say, you know what, we’re just not interested in any opportunity that it might afford the city I just don’t think it was the best decision this evening. We always have to look at competing opportunities. My motion to postpone it until after we had a feasibility study to look at, if the feasibility study comes back and says there is zero opportunity for the city to utilize this space, then guess what? We don’t go forward with the resolution. We don’t go forward with the bond. Then we have the opportunity to look at the performing arts center, and we could have made a vote on the 24 of October. Who knows what that vote would have been. But I’m just saying, I think that we could have done it smarter and wiser and a little bit more professional this evening than what was done. Thank you.

Alderman Deane

I would like to thank the Mayor and Director Fauteux and the Street Department and all the public works people for the skate park opening the other day. It was very nice. We had Public Works Day in front of Stellos. It was really interesting. I think the North girls and Manchester Central girls were a playing field hockey game at four o’clock. They were down there checking out all the arrangements that public works had set up. I putted in the pothole putting area with the Mayor, and I beat him by two strokes. A terrible putter, if you ever bring him golfing.

You know, this performing arts thing tonight and the comments that were made by former Ward 3 Aldermanic candidate, I thought were kind of out of line. You know, that’s one thing I’m not going to miss about sitting in here, at all. Not one bit. You give up your time, your family and everything else, he should have been thankful that Alderman Clemons added the word “may,” I believe it was, and the thing passed and got put on the ballot. Now he’s the director of the downtown group that we fund through our budget. He’s got the audacity to stand up there and say that? Really? I find that unprofessional to say the least. We can agree to disagree. Believe me, I’ve had my times in this Chamber of going bananas on things, but you know what? You end up coming out of it. It’s going to be put on the ballot. Did I support that? No, I think we are elected to make those decisions. The majority prevailed so it’s on the ballot. That’s fine, I don’t have a problem with that. But, we can agree to disagree on things but I just thought that was out of line. I would hope that you get an apology. A public apology, not an email. He should come back and publicly apologize for doing that. I had to publicly apologize. Just man up and do it. It was interesting, and Ben saved the day for the arts people. People should be happy. It’s not a dead issue, and it’s very convoluted. It’s really convoluted.

There’s a lot of pieces in this. I’m not happy about what happened with Burke Street. I know it was a lot of money, but we’ve got a building over there that’s a big problem right now. It’s unoccupied, and it’s September. That’s a problem. This Board is going to have to do something with it. Either do something with it or tear it down, but you can’t just let it sit over there. The kids are having a field day over there no matter what we do. That’s for another day, I guess. Anyways, Jim, thanks for everything. The proclamation was really nice. I appreciate it. It was a very nice thing to do. I appreciate it very much. Thank you.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 49

Alderman Wilshire

I am disappointed tonight that the arts thing didn’t pass, but I do appreciate the efforts of my colleague, Alderman Clemons, in getting it to the voters. Hopefully we have success there. I want to thank you, Alderman Clemons, for doing that.

Alderman Schoneman

I forgot to make one announcement. This Saturday at the airport is the Wings and Wheels event. It was postponed from a previous, a rain date. That’s this Saturday if folks want to come out and see trucks and touch a truck and touch a plane too. It’s this Saturday at the Nashua Airport. I think it is at 10 o’clock.

President McCarthy

I have to say with regard to the remarks about the Daniel Webster College election, I just don’t see any way we could have done the due diligence that’s required in the three to four weeks there is until the auction. We don’t have and won’t have a Phase I Environmental Assessment as to whether there’s any hazardous materials on the property we’d have to remove. Based on the age of the college, I would bet that there are. We don’t have the architectural information about what’s snow loads, any or all of the buildings were built to, and while they are currently in use, many of our school buildings and the building on Burke Street are in use that do not handle the correct snow loads which is why we would have had to tear down the Burke Street building. In three weeks we’re not going to have that information, and we certainly not going to have it without hiring professional to generate some of it. To me, it’s a case of if the auction were next summer, maybe we could go think about it. On the day of the auction, we have to commit to buying the property. That’s four weeks away. I just can’t see how we could get that done. Nothing has shown me something we would do there that we can’t do better somewhere else. Additionally, the college paid $680,000 in taxes last year. If we buy it, that revenue goes away. That’s the equivalent of having another $8 million in debt when one looks at the bottom line of the budget. I just can’t see a path that would get us there. This is not debate, Alderman Cookson, but go ahead.

Alderman Cookson

Thank you. I wanted to thank you for your comments, Alderman McCarthy.

President McCarthy

You’re welcome.

Alderman Cookson

I shared the proposed resolution on August 28th. I have heard zero from you with regard to the idea since then. I took your suggestion, Alderman McCarthy, that evening to present a request to corporation counsel to write a bond resolution so we could have a public hearing, so we could look into it, but I appreciate your comments this evening. It would have been helpful prior to tonight.

President McCarthy

Alderman Cookson, I do not have to help someone advance an idea I do not believe in. I gave you all the advice as the President of the Board that you needed in telling you that there had to be the bond resolution. By telling you that, I never said I would support it.

Alderman Cookson

I never asked you to support it.

Board of Aldermen – 9/12/17 Page 50

President McCarthy

I’m telling you tonight what the reasons are of why I voted against it.

Alderman Cookson

Thank you.

President McCarthy

I just do not believe we can get it done in that period of time.

Alderman Cookson

I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

Committee announcements:

Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja

PEDC next Tuesday, on the 19th, and Strategic Planning on Thursday, the 21st.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE THAT THE SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BE ADJOURNED MOTION CARRIED

The meeting was declared adjourned at 11:59 p.m.

Attest: Patricia Piecuch, City Clerk