City Council Community Forum
April 2, 2007
City Council Chambers
37 Green Street
7:00 p.m.
1. Mayor Donovan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Councilors Bennett, Black, Blanchard, Bouley, Brochu, Coen, Mayor Donovan, Councilors Lemieux, McClure, Rogers, Rowe, St. Hilaire, and Stetson were present. Councilors Nyhan and Swope were excused.
3. Mayor Donovan provided a brief overview explaining that staff was available to answer any questions from residents in attendance as well as residents that either call or e-mail their questions in to Council or staff.
4. City staff members in the audience introduced themselves.
5. City Manager Tom Aspell provided a presentation in regards to the new City Council Priorities adopted in October 2006: 1) zoning changes; 2) City Hall campus study; 3) neighborhood traffic studies; 4) establish a Redevelopment Authority; 5) Fisherville Road/North State Street Corridor; 6) open space plan implementation; 7) land use change tax; 8) Manchester Street Special District review.
Five additional items for high priority ongoing projects including: 1) I-93 Corridor Study; 2) Penacook Mill Redevelopment project; 3) Sewalls Falls Bridge; 4) Enterprise Resource Planning; 5) implementation of the Opportunity Corridor Plan.
City Manager Tom Aspell highlighted some projects that have made recent progress: 1) on March 12, 2007 the mandatory cluster zoning amendment was implemented and from this point forward, subdivisions outside the urban growth boundary shall be accomplished only in a cluster subdivision format. The Planning Board, with staff, will be working to develop a transfer of development rights system and new development design standards shall be promulgated to utilize the transfer of development rights. At this time, the City Council has decided that four acre zoning will be put off until these other pieces can be looked at. 2) Fisherville Road/North State Street Project – a 5.4 mile stretch of road in which the Council has worked with a planning committee, comprised of residents and businesses along the corridor. The estimate is approximately $8.15 million to make these improvements not including acquisition of properties or any design costs. He explained that the study was presented to Council at the February Council meeting, a presentation was given on March 19th and Council accepted the study. He indicated that, at this time, Engineering is moving ahead on spending approximately $100,000 looking at design elements of this study and pieces will be coming forward in this upcoming capital budget. He added that staff has applied for three different grant applications for sections of the road, each equaling approximately $1 million. 3) open space preservation efforts of the Council and the Conservation Commission since 2001 - he referenced a chart representing 1,614 acres that the city has acquired for open space purposes, total cost of approximately $6.2 million. He noted that the Conservation Commission has done a great job indicating that the city’s expense in regards to this totals $2.4 million and the rest of the dollars were leveraged. 4) I-93 Corridor Study – he explained that the state is looking at making improvements to I-93 and is studying the Bow to Concord section. He noted that after a year of studying, a committee of 40 to 50 individuals throughout the region have narrowed down to one reasonable alternative which is the alternative that the city proposed. He added that what is left unresolved is a connection from I-89 to Route 106. He indicated that the next step is that the Department of Transportation will have a public hearing on April 17th at Rundlett Middle School, taking public input and making a determination of whether or not the plan that the city has proposed makes sense and from this point, move forward to the permitting process and the environmental studies. 5) Penacook Mill – he explained that in February 2007 the site plan was filed for 50 residential condominiums with a price range of $200,000. He noted that the Planning Board hearing is scheduled for April 18th and construction will begin this summer, creating $10 million in new tax base of which will provide $200,000 in annual tax revenue to the city and the School District and the county. 6) Sewalls Falls Bridge – he explained that the design was worked out with the Heritage Commission and the NH Department of Transportation, the cost is $6.7 million with the city share being $1.3 million. He explained that it is a two year construction plan noting that the Department of Transportation has put off the project by a few years and construction may not be completed until 2008.
City Manager Aspell moved on to the 2008 budget issues. He clarified the city’s portion of the tax rate by explaining that thirty three percent of a tax bill goes to the city, ten percent goes to the county, and fifty eight percent goes to the school district. He indicated that Council set a tax rate target of 4 percent for this coming year. Referencing an example, he noted that the average single-family residential home in Concord is $270,000 and the tax bill for this home is $5,190; $530 goes to Merrimack County; $2,960 goes to the school district; and $1,700 goes to the city. In terms of the budget for the last ten years, Mr. Aspell explained that the consumer price index has increased by 2.55 percent while the city’s portion of the tax bill has increased by 1.64 percent.
Mr. Aspell, referencing a pie chart, explained that the chart shows where the dollars are coming in from to support the city and indicated that he wanted to point out as to what is projected to occur this year as compared to what occurred last year: rooms and meals tax from the state increased 8.55 percent last year and is expected to increase 5.98 percent this year; ambulance revenue increased 24 percent last year and is expected to increase 5 percent this year; interest income increased 109 percent last year and this year a 15 percent increase is expected; state revenue sharing has not increased since 1983; and overall in the past year, the growth created by new construction increased 2 percent which equals approximately $120 million in new growth in the city, however half of this value is tax exempt with only $60 million is taxable and a 1.5 percent increase is anticipated this coming year.
Mr. Aspell, referencing a general fund appropriation pie chart, explained that this chart outlines where the dollars goes. He indicated that 75 percent of the total costs goes to compensation, FICA, workers compensation, retirement, health benefits, and retiree health benefits. He added that the cost for compensation is projected to increase by $590,000; retirement costs are projected to increase by 22.6 percent or $415,000; health benefit costs are projected to increase 12 percent or $635,000; retiree health benefit costs are projected to increase 28 percent or $142,000; solid waste costs are projected to increase 11 percent or $200,000; and debt service is projected to increase over 18 percent or $820,000. Mr. Aspell indicated that after taking all the pluses and minuses into consideration that are being anticipated, city staff is working with a $1.2 million budget gap which needs to be closed by the middle of May.
Referencing a map, Mr. Aspell explained that 25 percent of all the property in the city is tax exempt leaving only 75 percent of the property in the city to derive taxes from. He indicated that 6.103 percent of all the city property is owned by the State of New Hampshire which is 2,329 acres that does not provide taxes. He added that 4,296 acres is owned by the city which is 11.3 percent; 2.1 percent is open space and current use property not including all the property that is current use and owned by private entities; taxable and exempt uses such as St. Paul’s School area approximately 2.9 percent is tax exempt area. Mr. Aspell indicated that the Council has asked staff to take a strong effort to try to make sure that what is tax exempt is truly tax exempt and explained that the Assessing office has been working on this and to date seventeen properties have been reviewed that have been tax exempt and found that twelve of the properties should not be tax exempt and staff has been able to add $5,419,100 of value to the tax base which equals over $34,000 in additional tax revenue to the city every year.
Mr. Aspell highlighted some new items and noted that on March 12th Council authorized staff to apply for a grant for aquifer protection purposes, the grant was filed, and shortly thereafter, on March 22nd, staff received notice that the city received the grant for $15,000.
Referencing the Capital Commons Project, he noted that the exterior of the building is 95 percent complete with fit ups currently underway with two tenants that are trying to get certificate of occupancies this month. He added that the opening of the garage is scheduled for the middle of June.
Mr. Aspell noted that the Center/Liberty/Auburn Street intersection is scheduled for a public hearing at the April 9th City Council meeting.
Mayor Donovan introduced Dick Osborne, Director of Communication for NHTI, as the moderator of tonight’s meeting.
Carl Sargent, Portsmouth Street resident, explained that the back of his house abuts Old Loudon Road. He indicated that there have been noise issues associated with dumpster problems within the neighborhood noting that dumpsters are being emptied before 7:00 a.m. He noted that he would like to see Council come up with stiffer regulations in regards to this issue. Mr. Sargent also indicated that tractor trailer trucks come in late at night next to buildings reflecting noise into the neighborhoods noting that he does not feel that this should be allowed. He added that a third source of noise comes from Loudon Road and is due to the fact that stop lights were installed for the PetSmart and Toys “R” Us intersection noting that he feels that these lights are out of synchronization and traffic tends to back up, creating a lot of noise. He inquired as to why, late at night when the stores are closed, the lights cannot be turned off or at least be a signal only when a vehicle approaches to come onto Loudon Road. Mr. Sargent noted that another issue in the neighborhood includes light pollution specifically with businesses not turning down their lights once they are closed. He indicated that land values in the neighborhood have constantly gone up and that factors such as noise, light, and businesses in their backyards should be considered within the assessments of the homes in the neighborhood.
Referencing noise pollution, Ham Rice, Code Enforcement, explained that the city has a standard noise ordinance that deals with nuisance noise. He added that the city also passed an ordinance that deals with construction noises which would not apply to the dumpsters. He indicated that the noise levels may or may not violate the noise ordinance explaining that on occasion an officer from the Police Department would determine whether or not the noise is sufficient to create a nuisance.
Mayor Donovan indicated that Mr. Sargent wanted stricter regulations indicating that other municipalities deal with these in a stricter fashion than the city does. He noted that some municipalities will ban commercial emptying of dumpsters earlier than 9:00 a.m. as opposed to 7:00 a.m. and some have stricter regulations controlling noise in situations where commercial shopping centers abut residential areas. He indicated that there is a policy question and that this is something that the city can deal with.
Mr. Sargent noted that Gene Blake from Code Administration has followed up whenever he has called with a concern but by the time that the Police Department is contacted, the act has already occurred.
In reference to the synchronization of traffic lights, City Engineer Ed Roberge responded that the section that is referred to is city-owned and maintained. Mr. Roberge indicated that staff is currently looking at working on two coordination sections in which one of them is this corridor from D’Amante Drive to Old Loudon Road. He explained that the synchronization is critical to ensure that the signals are not too far apart or not too close.
Councilor Bouley inquired whether staff could respond to the light pollution issue noting that he has received complaints from several other residents within the neighborhood. He indicated that when the Planning Board agreed to this, there were certain amounts of trees and shrubbery that had that had to be a buffer between the neighborhood and the commercial development. He noted that maybe many weren’t planted in the correct places
City Planner Doug Woodward responded that the lighting provisions are in the ordinance explaining that there are several dealing with the parking lot lighting which requires cut-off fixtures and assigns a certain amount of foot candles at the property lines so when plans are submitted to the Planning Board, they must show an illuminaire plan and measurements at the lines. He added that Code Administration checks on these with a light meter. Mr. Woodward noted that light reflects off walls so that if the fixtures are at a proper height there should not be an issued further noting that there may be a bounce effect that creates more luminescence. He noted that he believed that the grade of the land behind Dick’s Sporting Goods actually declines from a high point where Mr. Sargent lives so that the headlights from parking actually go into the side of the slope. He explained that at the time the site plan was approved, these items were checked but added that there is a secondary effect of floodlighting on the walls that is aimed down onto the ground that hits a light colored wall and reflects back at the homes.
Councilor Bouley noted his concern that there are headlights going directly into the yard and into the home at this Old Loudon Road residence.
Mr. Woodward indicated that staff would have to look at the site plan to see if something has been removed or whether vegetation has died that should have been there explaining that this would have been analyzed at that time. He explained that if a resident lives across the street, they would have legally gotten a notice and would have gotten the chance to testify, adding that he does not recall a lot of public testimony on this particular project. Mr. Woodward indicated that if there is a specific case staff would need to review the site plan to see what features were built in and whether something has been altered that would need to be restored which could be required as part of a code enforcement action.
Mayor Donovan noted that these are issues that a good site plan review should pick up on and to install some conditions on the site plan approval to prevent issues, for instance the running of the trucks at night. He indicated that this would not be unanticipated and would hope that if the staff has not done an adequate job of looking at such items as this on these site plans that it would be done in the future. He indicated that these issues can be anticipated and that there ought to be provisions and conditions placed on the site plan that prevent these sorts of things from happening.
Larry Brown, Pond Place Lane resident, inquired as to the current status of Langley Parkway and the status of the house occupying the right of way. City Manager Tom Aspell explained that spring construction should have begun today, that the process for eminent domain is proceeding and that the house should be moved sometime in May. Mr. Brown noted that he had assumed that suitable property has not been found at this time and that it was the wish of the city not to engage eminent domain. Mr. Aspell responded that there is property on Gabby Lane for the house to be relocated to and that the site plan is currently being worked on. Mr. Brown inquired whether staff feels that it is firm that it will be May before this road can be initiated to go completely through from Pleasant Street to Clinton Street. Mr. Aspell responded that this would depend on the findings of the federal court and added that the house will be relocated sometime in the spring.
Email viewer inquired how the city can get Concord students to perform more community service for the city. David Gill, Recreation Department, responded that students can contact the Recreation Department either by phone or email. He explained that the youth coordinator position had been running a very active community service program but due to this staff position cut last year this program hasn’t been as robust. He added that there will be a lot of upcoming spring clean ups in the parks.
Unknown audience member inquired whether the state provides the city an offset on the nontaxable property. Mr. Aspell responded that the state gives the city $83,000 explaining that the city has gone to the legislature biennium and asked for a dramatic increase in this but have been refused. The audience member inquired as to how the other cities such as Manchester and Nashua compare in state nontaxable property. Mr. Aspell responded that they do not compare explaining that the real key will be the value of the building and the properties and that staff will be looking at this in helping in making a determination.
Email from Byron Hodgkins, Celtic Street resident, in reference to property taxes indicated that being a senior citizen he finds it more difficult each year and noted that he feels that the city and state must find another way to fund education. He explained that his income this past year is just barely over $25,000 and that the federal government deducts $618 of those dollars and the city takes $3,949.71, less $150 for veteran’s exemption, for property taxes. He added that surrounding towns, including Bow and Loudon, give their veterans a $500 exemption in taxes. Mr. Hodgkins indicated that he feels that the city sees fit to raise property values each year to match selling prices, but does not see fit to raise the amount a senior may have in assets before being eligible for a tax break. He also pointed out that the housing market seems to have hit its peak and values are now going down, and inquired whether the next assessment will reflect this. City Assessor Kathy Temchak responded that the asset limitations were increased in 2005 and have not been increased in 2006 or 2007 with part of this due to the activity at the state house to make changes to the elderly exemptions and not knowing what these changes may be. She explained that there are a lot of elderly residents receiving the exemption already and this could have a big impact on the city’s tax rate and not knowing what the impact would be, this was not changed. She added that the elderly exemption amounts and the number of individuals receiving them are increasing so the city is not seeing the decrease in these applications. Referencing whether values go down if there is a decrease in value, Ms. Temchak explained that there is an ordinance before Council next Monday to do another update of the revaluations for 2007 so that if values do drop, those changes could be made to the assessments.
Mayor Donovan explained that this is a policy issue that Council has grappled with for the last several years which is how much if at all to expand the exemption thresholds so that more people can become eligible for the elderly exemptions. He indicated that if more people would like to make the point that more people should be eligible for elderly exemptions by raising the thresholds on income and assets individuals should contact the Councilors to let them know.
Email from Byron Hodgkins indicating that he has spent the last couple of winters in South Carolina and noted that a 2,200 square foot home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms has a property tax in the neighborhood of $450 to $475. A 4,500 square foot home with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms has a property tax of $980. He noted that they do have a sales tax on everything except real estate, set at 5 percent and added that seniors received a 5 percent discount on groceries on Wednesdays last year and this year the tax was reduced to 3 percent but seniors still receive the 5 percent shopping discount. He added that when purchasing a new automobile, the tax is capped at $300. Mr. Hodgkins indicated that this is something that the city and state should be looking into. Mr. Aspell responded that Money Magazine did a piece last year which indicated that South Carolina, North Carolina and Massachusetts all ranked together in the middle of the country in terms of state and local taxes and Alaska was the only state lower than what New Hampshire ranked. Mr. Aspell noted that North and South Carolina have a 6 to 7 percent income tax and a 6 to 7 percent sales tax and if New Hampshire had these types of taxes, the state would not have the type of property taxes that currently exist but would have something similar to the Carolinas. Mayor Donovan added that tuition to send a student to a college in the Carolinas is 1/5 of the tuition that is paid to the University of New Hampshire because the state does not have those types of taxes here.
Email from Byron Hodgkins in reference to traffic calming indicated that he disagrees with the current idea of narrowing streets to slow cars down and noted that he feels that it just makes some drivers prone to playing chicken to see who can get through a space where there are cars parked first. He added that he would also like to see traffic lights coordinated so it doesn’t take 5 to 7 minutes to drive from Main Street to the post office. City Engineer Ed Roberge responded that staff is working with VHB, the city’s traffic engineers, at looking at two coordinated corridors, the North State Street Corridor and with the Lowe’s design team looking at Loudon Road from Main Street to the Arena driveway. He explained that this would encompass nine traffic signals and could affect good performance, good change, and improve the safety conditions. Referencing traffic calming, Mr. Roberge indicated that there are a lot of traffic calming options in the toolbox and stressed that the Washington Street and Franklin Street corridors that were recently improved that have some of these bump-outs or horizontal projections into the street has been found to reduce speeds and effected good change within this area.
Eva Sartwell noted that with all the demands for money, she thanked Council for having done a great job on holding the line. She added that even though she may not agree with all of the decisions, the fact remains that there are too many needs and not enough money. She indicated that as younger people leave the city, the tax burden falls heaviest on seniors who have worked their whole life paying for their mortgages and are forced to sell because they cannot afford the property taxes. Referencing a recent article in the Concord Monitor, Ms. Sartwell indicated that the proposed school budget for next year would require $3.3 million more to be raised through taxes and $1 million would be set aside to help pay for future costs relative to closing four elementary schools. She noted that she feels it might be time to take another look at the autonomy of the school board and if it is possible, to hold a joint school board and City Council meeting at a time which would encourage more participation. Ms. Sartwell noted that it was her understanding from the City Solicitor that in order to change the autonomy of the school board, the city must now go through the legislature and inquired how to put the wheels in motion to do this. Mayor Donovan responded that it is his understanding that it is a charter change that could make this happen but would have to defer to the Solicitor. City Solicitor Paul indicated that he would need to look at the school charter and noted that it would either be a charter change or a change from the legislature but was unsure at this time.
Councilor Blanchard noted that two different school districts are represented and added that she is unsure as to how this would work. She noted her concern with the autonomy of the Concord School Board explaining that the Merrimack Valley School District includes five towns and the people vote on the annual budget.
Fred McLaughlin, Thorndike Street resident, referencing the Fisherville Road Corridor, noted his concern that some Councilors were waffling whether or not to stick with their pledge to make Fisherville Road pedestrian and bicycle friendly. He asked that Council try to keep their goal of improving the corridor in a way that is going to benefit most of the population and to keep pedestrians and bicyclists in mind as they move forward with this project. Councilor St. Hilaire responded that he had made that statement because when the design engineers were discussing the road, they led him to believe that the road would fail in a couple of decades. He explained that as a Councilor it is the responsibility to ask questions and to look at all the options.
Phone in viewer from Thorndike Street indicated that between South State Street and Main Street, Thorndike Street is a narrow street and too narrow for vehicles parking on both sides and inquired as to how long the city will allow this to continue. Mayor Donovan responded that the way for residents to address this situation is to contact their Ward Councilor and explained that there is a mechanism in which this is referred out to the Parking Committee and eventually come back to City Council with a recommendation. Councilor Bennett indicated that this particular issue will be coming up at the next Parking Committee meeting.
Anita Hickey noted her concern with the light on Bridge Street where vehicles take a left to go onto the interstate and if vehicles are in the middle lane heading to the Fort Eddy Plaza, a lot of vehicles in the left lane are jumping the light and going straight through. She inquired whether anything can be done to make this area safer. City Engineer Ed Roberge responded that the city is working with the Lowe’s design team in reevaluating this corridor including: some Fort Eddy Road improvements, the corridor right between all the interstate ramps, and the signal timing. He added that there will be some work done on the pavement this year underneath the bridge decks with the I-93 southbound ramp, the I-93 northbound ramp, and part of the pavement markings towards Fort Eddy Road.
Phone in viewer indicated that the recycling bins are too heavy for the elderly to pick up and inquired whether there are bins available with wheels for those that find the current ones too heavy to lift. General Services Director Chip Chesley noted that the bins are 15 gallon bins that are used by many communities and responded that the city does not have bins that have wheels and advised that individuals can pick up another bin and just load each of them half full so that they do not weigh as much. Mr. Chesley added that residents can have a second bin at no cost.
Eva Sartwell indicated that she uses a different container with wheels and wrote “recyclables” on the side of the bin and noted that it is picked up. Mr. Chesley indicated that residents can purchase their own bins with wheels and mark that it is recyclable, the recycling will be picked up.
Councilor McClure inquired whether recyclables can be placed out in paper bags. Mr. Chesley indicated that they can as long as they are clearly marked recyclable.
Phone in viewer, referencing the YMCA Parking Garage under construction, inquired when the renovations will be completed and public parking restored. Parking Manager Dave Florence responded that the garage went to 95 percent completion in September. He explained that there are 105 of the 115 public spaces available and this week are immobilizing to finish the final 5 percent of work in the Firehouse Garage and then finish the painting the stairwell in the Durgin Block Garage with a non-skid resistant surface. Councilor Bennett noted that he feels that the reference to the Firehouse Garage is in regards to the items in the basement level that has been there for quite some time taking up a number of parking spaces. Mr. Florence indicated that these items are in leased parking spaces that have been moved, the 5 percent of the spaces, and this issue will be addressed this week.
Email from Nancy Greenwood indicating that she was a resident on the traffic study and indicated that currently the bridge of Sewalls Falls Road is limited to only certain types of trucks due to their weight and noted that during one of the meetings it was brought up that someone in the city should start the process to amend the designation of Sewalls Falls Road to keep larger trucks out of those neighborhoods and away from the Beaver Meadow School. She inquired whether this process has been started or will someone begin that soon. City Engineer Ed Roberge indicated that he believes that this question is in reference to the Fisherville Road Corridor Study and explained that the Sewalls Falls Bridge is outside of the context of that study but nonetheless he is not aware of many trucks that cross the Sewalls Falls Bridge explaining that it is posted under fourteen tons and is only one lane so most of the trucks avoid it for these reasons.
Email from Nancy Greenwood commented that to do the Fisherville Road/Sewalls Falls Road project, the cost is estimated at $8.1 million without taking land and approximately $1 million more for a total of $9 million. She indicated that last week she read in the Concord Monitor that the State of New Hampshire has contracted out $13 million to the Public Defenders Department for the trial of Michael Addison who killed Officer Briggs of Manchester. She further indicated that she feels that if the State has this kind of money to spend then consideration should be given to the thousands of people who would benefit from these improvements who are worthy of a donation and a priority of the city.
Phone in viewer indicated that the City of Manchester has a municipal senior center funded by the city and inquired as to why the City of Concord does not do something similar to this for their seniors.
Phone in viewer indicated that a three-way intersection near WEVO has a non-working crosswalk signal. City Manager Aspell indicated that the Fire Department is making a note of this non-working signal.
Phone in viewer indicated that the Fire Department training grounds was in the CIP budget and inquired whether the training grounds is still in the budget and when will it be completed. Acting Fire Chief Bob Vezina responded that it is still in the budget in the 2012 segment of the capital improvement budget.
Mayor Donovan noted that Council will be discussing the capital improvement program this evening after the forum.
Audience member indicated that he has noticed larger homes in the areas of School Street and Centre Street have been purchased by builders who have subdivided these homes and made them into condominiums. He noted that he would like to know what the matter of right is to take a single family dwelling and turn it into a condominium. He further noted that it would be a good idea to take some of the apartments that are over the commercial stores on Main Street and to develop these apartments into condominiums. He inquired what could be done to do this and make them revenue enhancements for the city. City Planner Doug Woodward responded that zoning does provide for the conversion of a single family unit into 2 to 5 units as conversion of dwellings. Mr. Woodward, referencing the School and Centre Streets dwellings, explained that a majority of these condos were already converted to rental units. Referencing the Main Street apartments, Mr. Woodward indicated that he believes that some of the inhibitions have to do with life safety and building codes as opposed to zoning regulations in terms of access. egress, fire separations, mixed use of structure, and the code applications to these. Assistant for Special Projects Matt Walsh noted his agreement with Mr. Woodward and explained that it is a matter of life safety and modernization of the building. He added that there is also a question regarding parking and whether a lender would accept on street parking as enough guarantee to invest money to renovate some of the upper stories that are downtown. Mr. Walsh indicated that a lot of the downtown upper floors are currently apartments and some are subsidized units that have restrictions that would need to be dealt with. Mr. Walsh added that there are a lot of buildings downtown but that there are very few landlords explaining that there are a group of about a half dozen individuals who own the vast majority of property in downtown and a lot of these individuals for a variety of reasons, have not been motivated to do a pilot project. He indicated that Main Street has been working with one owner to see if they can come up with some conceptual costs and a pro forma to see if it would work out assuming they can get around the lending issue, the parking issue and some of the perceived code issues that may or may not be out there.
Email from Michael Bartlett noted that residents are very fortunate to have such a helpful City Clerk’s Office explaining that many arrive in their office with varied questions and everyday needs ranging from who they should contact for assistance on all city related services to getting a dog license. He indicated that questions are answered quickly with professionalism and a smile. He thanked the City Clerk, the Deputy City Clerk and the staff for doing a great job at election time as well as all that they do throughout the year in keeping the Mayor and the City Council updated and well prepared for the monthly Council meetings.
Tim Woodman, phone in viewer, indicated that he walks from the Memorial Field area to White Farm often and noted that it is his understanding that a tunnel connecting those areas for easier access for walkers was to be installed and inquired whether this is true and if so, when it will be constructed. City Manager Aspell responded that it will be constructed explaining that it is part of the Langley Parkway roadway project.
Email from Alex Koutroubas indicates that he lives in a condo complex within Ward Four and inquired when will the city offer recycling to condos and apartments. General Services Director Chip Chesley responded that there is currently some recycling provided to condos and apartments and that they can access recycling at the transfer station. He explained that Concord is one of the few communities in the state that provides solid waste collection to the large multi-family complexes. He noted that the cost to bringing recycling to the multi-family complexes is high and is something that needs to be looked at in the future when these funds are available.
Audience member noted her concern with no one providing an answer about the senior center for the seniors. She explained that Council will be receiving letters of concern asking for help.
Phone in viewer indicated that there are rumors that Walgreen’s is going to be purchasing Veanos.
Roy Schweiker indicated that he feels that the object of the solid waste management policy should be to reduce the amount of solid waste rather than increase it. He noted his concerns with the leaf collection program and the purchase of large paper bags to place them in noting that he feels that they are expensive and require manufacturing paper to make them specifically for this purpose. Mr. Schweiker indicated that he feels that the ideal way to pick up leaves is to put them in open cans. General Services Director Chip Chesley explained that it is state policy to get leaves out of the landfills and waste energy facilities. He noted that the city currently collects leaves in the spring and fall and in the future the city maybe picking up yard waste in the summer as well. As far as the biodegradable bags, Mr. Chesley explained that the leaves are managed by composting and one of the difficult things is that many people are used to using plastic bags and to make this distinction, can only use paper/biodegradable bags.
Councilor Lemieux indicated that many cans would be needed to fill leaves from the yard.
Carl Sargent inquired why there are not more hazardous waste days. Mr. Chesley responded that the cost to conduct one household hazardous waste collection day is approximately $20,000. He explained that several years ago, the city was supported heavily by the State Department of Environmental Services through a grant program and due to their budgetary constraints, the amount of money made available to municipalities from the state has dwindled significantly so that cost has been shifted to the local level. Mr. Chesley added that a survey process found that once a year was found acceptable.
Email from Inger Ruben inquiring as to why can’t the city pave Manchester Street or at least pave it until the city makes up its mind as to what they are going to do with the rest of the street or find the money to fix it. With all the commercial properties on that street, paying out thousands of dollars a year in taxes I would think that paving could be done. City Manager Tom Aspell responded that Council will be talking about this in a meeting after the forum.
Larry Yearke, retiree from the Federal Highway Administration, referencing the comment on the progression of traffic signals indicated that most of the time when these are used progression goes in one direction and the traffic coming from the other direction will then hit a lot of stop lights. He noted that it is usually a case when there are morning commuters going in one direction that timed signal is going in that direction, and the evening comes the other way. He explained that there is another aspect of this if it is considered where there is a main artery and the traffic flow where there is no signal and that traffic flow is continuous with not enough gap in that flow for a person who lives on a side street to get into that flow. The only way to break this flow to get a gap, is the introduction of a signal.
Email from Eric Peterman inquiring as to when will there be a stoplight at the four-way stop at Franklin Street and North State Street. City Engineer Ed Roberge responded that according to the current plan that was approved by Council last year, it will not be a traffic light but will be a modern roundabout. Mr. Roberge explained that this is currently under design and staff should be back to Council on final plan review in May or June. Mayor Donovan added that City Council approval on this is contingent upon staff coming back and showing that this will really work and fit in this area.
Sherry Dunham, phone in viewer, inquired regarding the exemptions currently received by St. Paul’s School. Assessor Kathy Temchak responded that St. Paul’s School receives an educational exemption explaining that the educational exemption does not consider what tuition is or what payments are to go to school. She added that St. Paul’s School also has quite a bit of property that is taxable in which they do pay taxes on such as wooded areas, some homes because they are not part of the school or being used for educational purposes.
Phone in resident noted their disappointment that no one responded to the request for a municipal senior center.
Audience member, referencing St. Paul’s School, inquired whether the staff housing on the property is taxable. Ms. Temchak responded that in the late 1970’s there was a Supreme Court decision that determined that the housing that was used by faculty that was open to students twenty four hours a day for training or assistance that this was in fact part of their educational system and was therefore not taxable. She indicated that staff housing that is used by teachers in this respect is not taxable and added that there are other residential properties that are used for alumni that are taxable.
Phone in viewer inquired as to the taxable status of Havenwood – Heritage Heights and the city’s review of all currently non-taxed properties. Ms. Temchak responded that this is one that the city will be looking at in the next year. Ms. Temchak explained that there are over 100 properties receiving tax exemptions and the city has reviewed 17 at this point. She added that this is a very long and tedious process to ensure staff has all the information needed regarding what the organization is set up to do and what they are actually doing at the property.
There being no additional questions or comments, Mayor Donovan thanked residents and staff for being present at the meeting.
The community forum was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
A true copy; I attest
Michelle Tiffany
Deputy City Clerk