Board of Public Works Order on April 21, 2026.

Ms.

Edwards, could you please call a roll?

Commissioner Lemon.

Here.

Commissioner Greg.

Here.

And we're waiting on Commissioner Shea and Commissioner Speedia.

Mary Donchis?

Here.

And we have Walderman O'Brien and Alderman Dow.

Thank you.

Next is the motion to approve the agenda, but we would like to move up the administration department item A, which is the 2026 drop mobility discussion.

Because we have two people waiting, and we shouldn't make them way through the whole meeting if we can avoid it.

So with that uh correction, is there a motion to approve or the we'll now move to the agenda with that correction?

Oh Commissioner Lemon.

I move to approve the agenda with the corrections that the mayor has suggested.

All those in favor of the motion say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Next uh motion to approve the minutes.

Uh Commissioner Greg.

A motion to approve the minutes of the Board of Public Works meeting of March 26th, 2026.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Next we have public comment.

Is there any member of the public who wishes to address any of our agenda items?

If not, we'll go to wastewater.

Oh, yeah, to the mobility thing.

Sorry.

Could we we moved it and then I already forgot.

So could we uh please introduce yourself and uh proceed.

I I'm that on now with me.

Yep.

Hi, I'm uh Levettna Kinchief.

Uh I'm a sustainability planner with the city sustainability department.

Uh and um I'm here just to tell you a little bit more about the uh program we have coming up with drop mobility uh to provide uh a bike share system for the city of Nashua.

So um the bike system that we have coming in is gonna be uh a small program to at least to start with.

Um so we're gonna be starting with 50 bikes, uh and they are pedal assist bikes.

Um the bike program is gonna be a little different from what we've seen in in the past with other uh bike share programs uh in that this is a hub-based system.

Um so instead of the bikes being able to be left anywhere around the the city within the service area, um this system would require bikes to be returned to specific designated hubs.

Um and that's to kind of keep a little bit more control on on where those bikes end up at the end of the day.

Um there is a little caveat to that in that um users of the system can choose to pay an extra fee to leave the bike somewhere outside of a hub temporarily.

The idea is that they would then use that bike to go back to a place with a hub at the end of the day.

Um so that it kind of cuts down on that um problem with bikes being left around.

Now in order to access the system, the uh the users will have to download an app, and the app is going to be the primary um form of communication with uh users of the system.

Um the app will be used to communicate safety requirements and would include suggestions as well on on things like using helmets.

Um it's also gonna be the primary form uh of payment for the system.

So speaking of payment, um the company Drop Mobility has proposed uh initially a fee of one dollar fifty cents to unlock a bike and then to actually ride it from there on, uh, it would be a fee of 25 cents per minute until you end the the ride at a hub.

Um and then the one caveat to that is the um tether fee uh that I mentioned to be able to park a bike outside of a hub.

Uh that would be an additional one dollar fifty cents.

Um and that just provides that flexibility to the rider uh in case they're trying to go somewhere where there is no hub, um, they're still able to use the bike, uh park somewhere temporarily, uh, and then again the idea is to then ride back to somewhere with a hub to to actually end the ride eventually.

Um drop is pretty flexible as well with uh the pricing.

So that is the initial pricing that they've proposed to us.

Um we have decided to go with that pricing to begin with.

Um as they learn more about the market, they are willing to be flexible as well and adjust to whatever our preferences are as well.

Any price adjustments in the future do have to go through uh the community development department, though.

So uh all pricing adjustments need approval from us.

Um in addition to that, they also have the ability to provide coupons.

Uh so that's at our discretion.

We can ask them to provide coupons for for certain things, events, whatever it may be, whatever we choose.

Um again, all with our approval.

And uh one other thing that drop mobility provides is a um where is it on here?

Uh they do have discounted memberships available as well for people who qualify, and at the moment their qualification is anyone who is currently enrolled in SNAP.

So it just requires going through an application process with drop mobility itself.

Um, and as long as you're approved, then you get a discounted rate.

And that being said, are there any questions I can answer for anyone?

Anybody?

Uh Commissioner Lemon.

Where roughly are the hubs gonna be?

So all of the hubs are going to be contained um essentially closer to downtown.

Um in the memo that was previously sent out, there was a service area that was included in that, but it's um the bounds are basically from uh the natural river over to the Turnpike, and then in terms of north south, it's gonna be as far north really as Greeley Park, and as far south as um Revere University.

Okay, Alderman O'Brien.

Thank you.

Uh just concerned uh what is the speed of the bike and will be posted no sidewalk use?

Is it a street vehicle only?

Uh-huh.

So um the in the uh app when people are signing up for the the bike system, there will be a notification that says they have to ride on the road.

Um, and in addition to that, there are some signs that will be um around the the city for at those parking hubs which will have additional information including um safety and um the specifically a note that says they cannot ride on the sidewalks.

Uh what was the other question?

Sorry, uh this maximum speed.

Maximum speed.

Um they are since they're pedal assist bikes, they really don't go any more than about 20 miles per hour.

Um it's really dependent on how fast you can pedal more, so it just gives you a little bit of a boost.

Oh, so they're not electric pedal.

No, so you you they um there's no throttle on it.

I don't have the need for speed.

That even go 20 miles enough.

Commissioner Gregg.

Uh are there are there GPSs on these bikes?

There are.

Okay.

So in terms of not returning it back to one of the hubs, I'm assuming that the idea would be is that you would have to just go get whatever doesn't get returned.

And is there a fining process or any like penalty for not actually returning it to a hub?

Um if they are paying the the tether fee, then there is no fine for not returning it to a hub.

Um paying.

Yes.

Yeah.

Anyone uh commissioner Lemon.

Um I work at the soup kitchen, so I assume some of our clients may be interested in this.

Is there a maximum that like you know?

I can just see one of them entering into this and then just hanging on to bike.

Is there a maximum that people can like uh incur in debt and bike debt before before it would be cut off?

Yeah.

Um I'm actually not aware of that, so that's something that I I could check with drop mobility to be sure.

Yeah, I can just imagine we'll we'll we'll have quite a few of these bikes at our place, maybe.

Thanks.

I would like to follow up with that.

Yeah, yeah.

I would imagine you would need a credit card first, not saying the soup kitchen people don't have credit cards.

I don't mean or imply that.

But in other words, if the bike ends up in the river, I'm sure uh they'll look at uh who is the last user and yeah, okay.

Yes, yeah.

So they they do track that.

Um the the hope is that with the the hubs that it will at least reduce issues like that.

But in terms of the um the maximum pricing, um they do need a credit card in order to be able to sign up.

Um we have talked to them about other ways for people who maybe don't have credit cards uh to still be able to use the system, and um they are able to be flexible as long as we are willing to help assist with uh providing other forms of uh being able to accept other forms of payment, but as far as they can do, it's it's really just the credit cards.

Commissioner Water.

I have one other question.

So are they gonna be available on Sundays because there is no bus transit on Sundays in Nashua?

And are they gonna be available to like are they available 24-7?

So um drop has suggested that we do make them available 24-7.

It is up to us.

Um at the moment, we do have a time span of the day that they can actually be rented, so it isn't 24-7.

Um, I don't remember off the top of my head the times that we set in the in the MOU, but it is from basically very early in the morning until um close to midnight.

So it's maybe a six-hour period, which they cannot be rented.

Okay.

Um and again, we can change that if we feel like it's necessary.

As far as Sundays, they will be available on Sundays.

No, I'm just I have a kid that works at Market Basket, and there are a number of people who have to use a taxi because they don't have car.

And I was thinking this might be a really good option for them, particularly during the summer.

To that end, oh sorry, go up, Commissioner Gregg.

To that end, market basket.

So market basket would be down at Danny Webster Highway, right?

There's one at Danny Webster, and there are two up on Amherst Street.

Right.

So getting up there doesn't sound like it's within the boundaries of this thing.

So my question, actually, my follow-up question to that is what happens when it goes outside the boundaries.

So you can ride the bike outside of the designated service area boundary.

Um, but you would have to bring it back in, otherwise you would continue to get charged.

Yeah.

Um you can pay the the tether fee and keep a bike outside of the the system for uh a certain amount of time and then bring it back in.

Uh but eventually it does have to come back in if you if you are using it for that sort of a purpose.

Okay.

And there is also possibility in the future um with the the system to to expand the service area.

Um we wanted to start with something smaller, a little bit more concentrated, uh, just to really get an idea of how well this is gonna work for us.

Um, and then as long as everything is is working well, then we can expand both in terms of area and in terms of number of bikes.

Commissioner Greg, sorry, one more point.

I think it in order to replace the city bus.

Um I'm thinking of South Nashua area needing this type of like I know it's tough to get on Danny Webster Highway with these bikes, and I wouldn't even like want to be part of that um endeavor, but I do know that they have to get down there.

I think a lot of our people that work in the city and work down there, so we have to figure something out there.

And then obviously at Amherst Street, that's another really really important part for people to be able to get to as well.

So expanding expanding is great, and I know that we'll use it downtown, but I would just love to see this go much more citywide as quickly as we can.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, uh oh comment.

Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

I mean, uh I see a lot of kids walking, we call them ninja pedestrians coming back from market basket at night walking down Amherst Street in their black hoodies and black pants.

And I I I don't know why I assume a bicycle would be safer, but at least the traffic isn't as heavy and they would be going in the right direction.

So absolutely.

Yeah, I think there's there's a lot of uh potential use outside of what we've already defined, and and I do hope to see those expansions in the future.

Okay, thank you.

Anyone else?

All right, well, thank you very much for updating us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Now the wastewater department.

Uh item A.

Um, Commissioner Lemon.

I move to approve the user warrants as presented.

All those in favor say aye.

Motion passes.

Item B, Commissioner Gregg.

I motion to approve the fiscal year 27 purchase of the chemical sodium hip hippo chloride.

Hippoclorite hypochlorite.

Yep.

And the amount of 300,000 from Borden and Remington of Fall River Mass.

Pending approval of the fiscal year 27 budget.

Funding will be through Department 169 Wastewater, Fund Wastewater Account Classification 61 supplies and materials.

Mr.

Boucher.

David Boucher, Wastewater Superintendent.

Yeah, this is for the annual purchase of sodium hypochlorite to use at the wastewater plant inside the facility.

We participated in a Northeast Miramac Chemical Consortium.

It's a bid process in order for us to get the lowest rates.

Is this enterprise funds or regular budget?

This is regular budget.

Well, did you say this is this enterprise fund?

This everything here is the enterprise.

Yeah, it's all enterprise fund.

Sorry.

It's the wastewater fund.

Sorry.

Um else?

All those in favor say aye, please.

Aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Next is item C, Commissioner Lemon.

I motion to approve the FY27 purchase of the chemical sodium bisulfite in the amount of 88,000 dollars from PVS Chemical Solutions of Detroit, Michigan.

Pending approval of the FY27 budget.

Funding will be through Department 169 Wastewater Fund.

Wastewater Account Classification 61, supplies and materials.

Dave Boucher Wastewater Superintendent.

Sodium bisulfite is the chemical we use to uh remove the chlorine from the treated wastewater before it goes to the river.

Uh so we can we're compliant with our permit.

Uh this was also purchased through that chemical consortium to get the lowest rate.

Uh PVS was the low bidder.

It's the same company we're using this year, coincidentally.

Do you have an answer?

Any questions?

All those in favor of the motion say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Next item G D, Commissioner Gregg.

I motion to approve the contract for the replacement of the wastewater treatment facility thickening room drains with Northeast Earth Mechanics LLC of Pittsfield, New Hampshire, in an amount not to exceed 151,918.62 cents.

Funding will be through Department 169 Wastewater, fund wastewater account classification, 81 capital outlay slash improvements.

David Boucher, Wastewater Superintendent.

It's a it's a pump room.

Uh it's a rough environment to be in.

It's pumping sludge and all that.

Uh the pipes, the drain pipes had been leaking over some of our uh pretty expensive equipment.

Uh we did a thorough investigation of it, you know, having to repair some of the pipe.

It all needs to be replaced uh in order to protect the equipment downstairs.

And uh we reached out to this company, we went through a bid process, no one bid on it.

Uh so we reached out to this company who done a couple things with us in the past.

It's a good company.

I'd like to use them for this project.

Commissioner Gregg.

How old are the pipes?

Uh these are the original.

Uh it says it was part of the construction 1988.

Oh it's all ductile line.

We're replacing it with PVC.

Okay.

So these should last like what do you think?

Uh because no chemicals go down in the drain, it's uh a long time.

Okay.

I'll say 40 years at least.

Cool.

All those in favor of the motion say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Next is item E, Commissioner Lemon.

I motion to approve the contract for ammonia sampling and identification within the City of Nashua collective collection system with Hazen and Sawyer of Boston Mass in an amount not to exceed 107,992.

Funding will be through Department 169 Wastewater Fund, Wastewater Account Classification 53 Architect / Engineering Services.

David Boucher, Wastewater Superintendent.

So we've been noticing an increase in ammonia coming into the wastewater plant over the last several years.

But now we're starting to see it's uh causing compliance challenges with our permit that was issued by the EPA.

Uh and we just received our new permit.

And part of the permit process is that if you you have issues with uh certain things, you have to do studies and that.

So we want to utilize the help of Hazen and Sawyer.

Uh we're gonna be setting up samplers throughout the wastewater system.

They're gonna review process data, data we collect from sampling throughout the city.

Uh, we're gonna look at our industries to see if we can pinpoint uh the source of where it's coming from, if it's coming from a source, or if it's coming from something else, we don't know.

Um but that that's to do this, and once we get the technical memo at the end, we'll be able to share that with the regulatory agencies.

Commissioner Greg.

How have you been able to detect the ammonia increases at this point?

We do sampling.

Okay.

We do sampling at the head end of our wastewater plant and at the tail end, as is part of our permit, and uh we've been noticing it at the the head end, but we also sample out in the system.

We've sampled certain points throughout the city where our pump stations are and that it's not required, but we did some of our own investigation up to this point.

Okay, is thank you.

Is ammonia um I mean I'm only thinking of this the chemical you buy in a jug.

Is that like a organic thing that shows up from certain kinds of compounds, or is it just in and of itself, like is it created by some other process?

Well, it's natural and human waste, so we do get it, but uh the concentrations we're getting, you know, it could be from another source.

Oh, okay.

Uh also we've had some drought periods if in if you have water coming in through broken pipes and that sometimes it helps dilution.

Yeah.

Uh, we've been doing a good job of sealing up pipes over the years, but it could be the drought that we're having is making it come from the households more concentrated.

That could be it.

If that's the case, if that ends up being the case, we can't find a point source.

Uh, then we'd have to look at internal treatment processes and say that okay, that's gonna be the norm from households in the city.

What do we do to treat it better at the wastewater plant?

So that's what we're looking at also.

I see why there's investigation needs to be done.

Yeah, thank you.

You're welcome.

All those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Uh now we're on to solid waste.

Um, item A.

Commissioner Greg.

I motion to approve the contract with Greg Balcom Landscaping and Millford New Hampshire and the amount not to exceed 35,000 to provide brush grinding at the Four Hills Landfill.

Funding will be through Department 168 solid waste fund, solid waste account classification 55 for their services.

Jeff LaFleur, Superintendent of Solid Waste.

So this is our uh brush grinding from the brush that comes in from the residents.

Uh we have it down in our lower pile by the uh soft yard waste area.

Uh it's accumulating, and uh it's time to uh have it ground up, so I try to hold off as long as possible so we have enough for uh to make it a decent uh job for a company to come in and take care of.

All those in favor of the motion say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes Engineering item A, Commissioner Lemon.

I move to approve the sewer service permits and fees as submitted.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Item B, Commissioner Gregg.

I motion to approve the poll license petition as listed in the staff report.

All those in favor of the motion say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Item C, Commissioner Lemon.

I move to approve a drain layers license for BMB excavation LLC of Chichester, New Hampshire, in accordance with Nashua City Code 255-19, issuance of drain layers license, and authorize the division of public works to temporarily suspend the license if work is found to be unsatisfactory during an initial six-month probationary period.

Good afternoon, uh Dan Hudson City Engineer.

I'll just briefly cover this.

So they they have some work that they're planning to do with Penachuck Waterworks, but also they wanted the their drain layer license so they could do some other things in town too with the drain in the sewers.

So they're seeking uh approval of draining layer license, and as noted, uh we we grant that with uh a probationary period, but we expect based upon the references that they're gonna be uh another good contractor working in the city.

All those in favor of the motion say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Item D and item E are informational items.

Um there if there are no questions.

Uh brief presentation to make on E, Mr.

Mayor.

Oh, on the sidewalk, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

So item D is a informational item, and we will move on to item E.

Uh Mr.

Hudson.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to just come in and give a give a little discussion about sidewalks, uh, a little presentation about sidewalks of the board, um, given that this is a relatively light agenda tonight.

Um so just to recap, the city has uh 185 miles of sidewalk, so quite a bit.

Might surprise some people to learn that.

Um we have over 2700 sidewalk ramps, so that's the ramp down to cross a road or driveway or that sort of thing.

Um, and then we have 559 sidewalk or crosswalk, sorry.

Um, so quite a number of those as well.

Um we had uh this it this uh these numbers coming from an a citywide inventory that was done uh back a few years ago.

Um it was done through the state at statewide asset data exchange system that the state's uh establishes protocols for collecting uh data about infrastructure.

Um it's kind of a standardized uh program they have and then uh and it's on a statewide level.

Um in this case, we work jointly with NRPC.

Um we spent a summer, they NRPC provided some staff and interns, um, and then the city did as well.

We provided some staff and internship as well.

Every section of sidewalk, at least that we could find in the city was walked.

Um it was located, the material was identified.

Uh we defined whether or not it had curbing, what type of curbing, uh, the length of each segment, the width of the sidewalk itself, um, identify locations where there are obstructions, you know.

Was there a pole in the way?

Was there you know, a mailbox or some other obstruction, those sorts of things.

Um all this boils uh into a like art scale for that section of sidewalk, which uh on a gross level is a good fair pour.

So basically green is good on this chart on the right.

Um it's a sidewalk that's easy to traverse, uh, slopes, grades, all those things are uh are are good.

Um fair sidewalk, maybe there's a few challenges, maybe there's a pole, but you can still get by, uh things like that.

Um but it's not as easily traversable, especially especially by those with limited uh uh ability um to traverse.

And then the poor sidewalks are the ones where they're they're in bad shape.

They they're cracked or heathed.

Uh there's an example here in the photo of uh sidewalk that's been cracked, probably by some tree roots, um, and that's not passable even by uh able body you know people sometimes, or certainly not by those in a wheelchair or other uh people with other uh mobility challenges.

Um so those those in lots of cases need to be uh ripped up and replaced.

Um this whole system also kind of developed into a sidewalk condition index.

So you guys are familiar with the pavement condition x index we've established for the paving program.

This will be a corollary for the sidewalks.

Um and again, each sidewalk segment was rated uh uh individually.

So here are the overall stats for the city citywide.

We have 48.2 miles in good condition.

We have a hundred and a hundred point three miles in fair condition, and then we have 36.2 miles in poor condition.

Uh a little pie chart there kind of shows you, you know, 20% of our sidewalks are in poor condition, needing some uh improvement in order to provide improved mobility.

We have a graph on the right, just kind of shows out how many miles of sidewalk in poor condition we have by ward.

There's not as much sidewalk in every ward, so it don't take that to mean that you know one ward has uh much worse sidewalk than other than the other.

It may have less sidewalk, in which case it has less poor sidewalk.

Um so what does this all mean?

Uh engineers, uh asset managers we always look at what's our what's our backlog.

What do we uh uh given the condition of what we have out there, what would it cost to replace it?

Um it would cost about 30 million dollars per some gross estimation to replace all the poor sidewalk that we have in the city to bring it up to uh a good condition.

Um those numbers are arrived at on the right.

You can see some kind of average unit weighted.

We get those from DOT, they publish uh uh averages for construction projects.

If we're gonna build a piece of sidewalk, we need uh you know, remove what was there, so there's an excavation item, then there's uh putting in a sub base of gravel, then there's putting the surface material down, um, as well as curbing.

Um we gotta rebuild ramps if it's at a ramp location.

So the costs add up and um totaling up, we estimate um roughly, you know, it's about 158 dollars for uh one foot, one linear foot of concrete sidewalk with granite curbing, um, and 144 dollars for a linear foot of batuminous sidewalk with granite curbing.

Um so that equates to three quarters to um uh you know eight tenths of uh that's a weird way to say it.

800,000 dollars per mile.

Uh so it's it's it's expensive.

And and these costs don't always just scale down perfectly.

If you say contractor, can you go do this 50 feet of sidewalk?

You're gonna pay more because you know there's efficiencies of scale here.

So if you do a a bigger, a bigger uh project, you're gonna get better pricing.

But this this on average gets us in the ballpark of what we would expect um uh it would take to rebuild the sidewalk in Ashwell.

Um the city doesn't have uh sidewalk program per se.

We don't have uh, you know, there's no capital project for sidewalks.

There's no uh there's no sidewalk program like a corollary to the paving program.

However, um we do have opportunity to make improvements here and there um to quite a quite an extent.

Um through the paving program, we it's required when you mill and pave a road that you improve the connection to the sidewalk system.

So we are required to go rebuild the ramps.

So we've been doing a lot of that.

We've replaced over 850 ramps um in the city, so quite quite a number.

Um we're not required to re fix the sidewalk segments, and that really wouldn't be an appropriate use, probably of the paving funds.

So unfortunately, we we make the match to the sidewalk, but then in some cases we we leave the the sidewalk as it is on those roads, even the roads that were paving.

Um we work we do a lot of LPA projects, which is locally uh administered projects in conjunction with DOT funds we receive.

Those are great projects.

Usually they're 80 cents on the dollar is is federally funded, passed through the state DOT.

So for 20 cents on the dollar, we get to build projects.

We have a number in the queue which you've heard about, like Wall and Oval.

We're gonna be rebuilding all the sidewalks around that whole oval.

That we'll pay 20 cents on the dollar for that work, that'd be great value to the city.

Um, and we've done we've done a number of those.

We've done some uh some projects in around school areas uh through through various programs.

We have some rail trail uh work planned and some that we've done.

So um so there are opportunities to improve some of our sidewalks with those funds.

We also have sidewalk quadrant funds, so the city is divided into four quadrants.

If there is a development somewhere, uh lots of times this happens in the uh remote areas of the city, but a subdivision will go in versus it rather than building a section of sidewalk which isn't connected to other sidewalk in the city.

Um, you know, if it's determined it makes sense to not build that sidewalk, but instead contribute to this quadrant fund, um, then those monies can be compiled over time and then used for other projects.

We can use those to actually go build go repair sections of sidewalk directly using that money, or we can leverage that, use that as our match towards uh towards uh one of those LPA projects I mentioned earlier.

So we try to be creative about that and do that where we can, but um it does those those funds do kind of compile uh relatively slowly, so when they build up to this to the standpoint that we have uh an opportunity to use them, we do.

Um and then we have uh you know repairs made by our street department.

We get regular calls, you know, residents have an issue of particular piece of uh sidewalk.

Um and when we can we try to address that.

It is challenging.

There's always more needs for repairs than then what we can do, but um credit to our uh our staff.

We have capable people and they they do ra make repairs where we have the ability to do that.

So I don't want to sound like we don't do anything with sidewalks because we do, but um that there is uh certainly a need, a backlog of work where more could be done.

And that's what I had uh to present.

I just want to kind of give an update, but I'd be happy to address any questions anybody has uh about that.

Alderman Down.

Yeah, first of all, I assume these are all public sidewalks, no private sidewalks.

That's correct, yeah.

Okay.

Um so can we get a copy of this sent to the alderman?

Yes, yes, we can make make this available, yep.

All right, and are you going to develop a plan to address um attacking those sidewalks that 30 million is gonna be spread over more than one year, obviously?

Um was this presented as part of the CIC projects that you put forward?

So I believe we did put a CIC project in.

It was I think it was for a million dollars.

Um I think we may we may have done that in years past too.

We recognize a need, so we were trying to put that in terms of a program.

We haven't laid out like hey, we should have a 10-year, 20-year, whatever program.

We really haven't developed a program, but we have I think each year put in a request for some sidewalk funding in as in as part of the CIC.

Um, you know, if you if you want to give me a check for 30 million dollars today, I wouldn't want it because I we couldn't execute that, right?

So I think we I think we kind of need uh as funding allows, and this there's many needs in the city, and we recognize that, but as funding allows, it'd be good for us to start a regular sidewalk construction each year if we can to kind of build towards uh the backlog, you know, try to address this backlog.

And the last question are those uh poor conditioned sidewalks, are there some points that are actually dangerous?

Uh certainly, I mean, there could be places where people could trip and fall and that sort of thing.

So we do encourage residents to reach out to us if they have such a thing, and as I mentioned, those are the some of the things that we'll go out and address with our staff on uh as we can.

But uh but yeah, there's of course there certainly is some of the some of that in the city.

And the last question is is this the same amount of sidewalks we plow?

So we don't we don't plow all the sidewalk.

Um we wouldn't we wouldn't be able to do that.

So there are there are areas around schools where we plow and and uh and downtown areas and things like that.

So there is a prioritization in what we can operationally uh maintain.

We're not we're not we're not able to.

I mean, a lot of these, frankly, you wouldn't be able to plow because they're not wide enough or they have obstructions or that sort of thing.

So they're they're not all of them aren't well suited uh for maintenance like that.

Um in that program if you're repairing the sidewalks, are you bringing up the code?

Certainly, if we build the sidewalk, then we want to bring it up to code.

Of course, you gotta match in and sometimes that ends, and you can't can't do much about that.

But there are uh ADA requirements in terms of the the cross slope of the sidewalk.

Um the sidewalk can follow the road grade, so you might even if you're on a steep hill, sidewalk follows the gr grade of the road.

Uh so that may be steeper than some people can actually uh utilize uh well sometimes, but um the cross grade of the sidewalk, how much it tips, you know, as you're going down the the the uh sidewalk and then the ramps down, though there's very specific requirements for the grading of those, and and uh we do the best we can obviously to build those to those requirements.

Thanks.

You're welcome.

Commissioner Greg.

Um I would uh echo trying to get a copy of that if we could potentially as as um the board of public works because that that's a lot of really great information.

I've been trying to find out for a long time.

So appreciate you uh bringing that together.

The uh thing I would love to see in the future at some point is obviously we have like okay, we're gonna knock out these streets in this this year.

I know we don't necessarily have that kind of in our radar to do the sidewalk side of it as well, but it would be kind of wonderful to see like okay, this next year we're looking at this strip, we're looking at this strip, and we're looking at this trip, just some sort of plan um yearly of what we can potentially do.

I think that'd be amazing.

And and we do the have that.

We do have a transition plan.

Um we just don't have it funded.

So we so but we do have the most funded, yeah.

Yeah, so but we do have the most critical uh sidewalks that need to be addressed first, and we've we've uh engineering's put that together.

So just a follow-up question.

Um are there so in the poor category, just because this is this is near and dear to my heart.

In the poor category, there are some that I think like the picture was a good example of this where like a tree is legitimately in the road, and the rents are pretty much what has just ripped up the entire thing because I've tricked over maybe a few of those.

The um is is the factoring in of the 30 million, like I are there, I guess are there worse poor ones than others, and would you like tackle those first because they're easier to tackle or because I would think that something like this you'd have to get like permission from potentially the people that live there or I don't know what the complications are of this, but I could just see this as like even this one picture is a majority.

You'd have to cut that tree down.

It can get challenging, yeah.

Dig it out, right?

Like you've got a okay.

Sidewalks, sidewalks are bumping up against private property the whole way, you know.

So, yes, it is challenging work.

Um that's that's one of the reasons that the cost tends to be uh high.

Um yeah, it's not there's some sections that are easier than others.

So whether you choose to do the hard thing first or you choose to do some stuff that's easier, uh, but there's more, you know, it's closer to a public facility, that sort of thing, or an area of usage.

It though we have to wait those things a little bit uh further to um to prioritize which sections we would do.

It's not just like the word we're gonna do the worst one first and the next worst one.

You know, we have to come up, we have to come up with a prioritization that accounts for some of the other factors, you know, how close you are schools, that sort of thing.

Um so yeah, all those things need to be considered.

Aldman Down.

Do we have legislation that that uh prohibits planting new trees in in proximity to sidewalks because the trees grow then they're gonna ruin the sidewalk and if we prohibit them planting so close that might alleviate that in the future?

Yeah, I'm not familiar with if there's legislation of that effect or not.

I know I do know there are ways that you could plant trees closer to things, but it requires some underground setup, like there's some uh structures you can put in that will give a uh uh basically a place that roots can grow into without heaving the sidewalk.

Um so there are some of those.

We've done some of that actually out on Main Street near Dunkin' Donuts.

We did it, we did some work and try to try to try to establish it in a way that uh be less likely to be detrimental to the sidewalk.

Um so yeah, but I'm not I'm not aware of a specific ordinance that prohibits it.

All right, well, thank you very much.

Now we have um administration uh discussion.

Are we gonna discuss Holman stadium events?

Uh well we were expecting Alder Woman Amber Morgan to come and express to discuss this, but she wasn't able to make it.

And Commissioner Shea and Commissioner Shay, and he wasn't.

So are you suggesting we pass this till the next meeting?

Yes, it's okay.

All right, we're gonna pass that, so we will go to the director's report.

Okay, thank you.

Wait till Claire gets it.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay, so this is the uh riverfront boardwalk connection on Front Street that's being constructed by Morns Landscaping on April 13th.

This is some milling that is taking place on Hadley Drive.

Getting ready for our paving program.

The fleet staff attended an airbreak class.

Uh they do a fair amount of continuing education to keep up on things.

We are looking for lifeguards.

So if you know anybody that's interested, we will train them.

They don't have to be current lifeguards.

Um, but uh, we are we are still we are looking for lifeguards.

So if anybody's interested, please give us a call.

Our swim lesson program is very popular.

Registration is now open for all three summer sessions, which begin June 29th and end on August 6th.

This is a picture of our parks department grooming the field at Stellos.

And I don't know if you've been by the library walk, but you should see some improvements.

Our parks department has been down there uh doing some cleanup with some of the funding that the Fort of Alderman provided for us.

The parks department did some landscaping for the fire station three on Spookbook Road.

The home and light project is complete now, and these pictures show the trenches dug for the electrical conduit.

The parks department built and painted some new picnic tables for the grilling area at Greeley Park.

The street department performs spring cleanup of tree branches and brush this month.

That's always a popular program.

The uh this is um pictures of we have put in, we have actually cleared we haven't put in the water line yet, but this is going to be the water line for the new fire training ground and also for the landfill.

So we have we've cleared the area and the street department will be putting in the water line soon.

This is a picture of the street department uh repairing uh catch basin on airport road.

The uh cash basin failed due to water infiltration and poor pavement conditions around the basin.

We do a lot of that.

We're also working at the disk golf course at Roby Park.

That's very exciting.

There's a lot of uh hype about that.

I don't know if you saw the video that our golf um course designer posted, but um it's getting it's had like 60,000 views or something.

It's a like crazy amount.

So that's very exciting.

We've we've got all the mulching and the trees down left to do our uh putting in the bridges, the teapets, and uh installing the baskets.

So there's a lot of excitement surrounding that the uh wastewater department participated in blood board pathogen training, risk department performed that for us, as they do many things bulk um oversized items have begun.

Requests were taken uh April 13th, and curbside collection started this past Monday.

Same with yard waste this past Monday.

We started yard waste collection.

Just a reminder, you can use 32 gallon or smaller barrels or brown yard waste bags.

The yard waste shouldn't be heavier than 60 pounds and should only be grass clippings and leaves.

Any brush or branches should be brought to the landfill.

And also make sure that all of the yard waste is kept at least three to five feet from trash and recycling toters.

Yes.

I assume this is where these are brought down to that place at Fort Hills are down there where we do the grinding.

No, well, there yes, some of it is is here, but most of the collections that we do is it's brought out back, and we have large uh piles of software in the back.

It's right where the fire trading ground will be going.

Not close, not far from there.

Gotcha.

Yes, in the back.

But we do have we do have a look up front, we do have some drop-off for residents when they bring it up themselves.

Any other questions?

Anybody?

Do we do large-scale composting here?

Do we no?

We don't.

We'd like to.

The problem is there are residents so close to the soft yard waste that whenever we start turning it, we get complaints, okay, complaints.

So we haven't been able to do that.

It would be great too, though.

Because we could make a nice compost because we have we have both uh the leaves and the grass clippings, which really make an ideal product.

Yeah, we've tried every time we try, we we get complaints.

There are residents that are so close to where we so all right.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Commissioner's comments.

Any commissioners' comments?

Personnel.

Um item A, Commissioner Gregg.

A motion to approve and unseal the non-public minutes for personnel from the Board of Public Works meeting of March 26, 2026.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes item B, Commissioner Lemon.

Motion, I make I motion to accept the resignation of Patrick Carr wastewater effective April 24, 2026.

All those in favor of the motion say aye.

Aye.

Motion passes.

We now have a non-public session.

Commissioner Gregg.

I move by roll call that the board go into non-public session pursuant to RSA 91-A, colon 3 2B, the hiring of any person is a public employee.

Yes, Commissioner Greg.

Yes, Mayor Donchus.

Yes.

So we will go into non-public session.

All right.

Commissioner Greg.

I move by roll call to see the minutes of the Board of Public Works personnel non-public meeting of April twenty first, twenty twenty-six until such time as the majority of the board votes that the purpose of the confidentiality would no longer be served.

Commissioner Lemon?

Yes.

Commissioner Greg?

Yes.

Yes.

I'd like to motion that we adjourn the meeting of the Board of Public Works.

All is in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Motion passes, and the meeting of the Board of Public Works is adjourned at 5 p.m.