6 p.m.

in the automatic chamber and duly noted in two places according to the city's website with in accordance with the requirements of RSA 91-a semicolon two Roman numeral two and a roll call will be taken uh all committee members uh here in the flush so there's no need for uh uh voice roll call okay so yeah can you just take the role sure so I this is my first time doing this everybody you're doing a fine job so I can just say that they're here yeah you just ask call out the name they'll say okay present here alderman at large Michael O'Brien oh see you always should do me last or backwards I'm gonna do first I get the swing boat okay alder woman Benja Pilata Smith present alderman uh Paula Johnson present alderman uh Richard Dowd present alderman Alicia Gregg I'm here uh are you sure somewhat not all the way alderman at large Michael O'Brien present and we also have um alderman Tom Lopez in attendance Alderman uh Amber Morgan and Alderman Patricia Clay also can have this one and then do we have anybody on the list oh and we have alderman Derek Tebow thank you all right um and I failed the first test so let's no you're doing fine a fine job um and Derek okay tonight we've got a little bit of a conundrum somebody writes legislation and then it don't come and the thing is I hate to call it so I'm gonna open the discussion on what is the we can bring it here but usually the courtesy is to delay it until the person shows up but that didn't happen so opinions yes Alderman Johnson thank you I'd like to table both of them until the maker of these ordinance can show up and speak on them and I think that would be the only fair way to do it it would be the a thing of courtesy yes don't write nothing if you're not gonna show up but may I also say you know a lot of people came tonight to speak on it and I wouldn't want them to leave without speaking on it to tonight so I would like to give them that opportunity and then table uh both ordinances they always can come back there welcomed I would love having thank you yeah yeah you want to speak okay all right so anyways that's it uh what we'll do yes Alderman Clay um I I I apologize I know I'm not on your committee um um alder woman um Kelly had sent me a message that she was trying to get on and she was trying to get on before and and so on but um she too would like it to be tabled she's asking for you to table it she was trying to get through to everybody so okay but I think I think we should do public comments.

Okay so I've ordered a motion was made do we want to act on the motion and then no we gotta go we're gonna go through the procedure public comment we got people here that want to speak so let's hear them and uh so we'll go right into public comment I didn't take a list on who wants to speak and who doesn't so please use the quorum act accordingly give your name and your address good evening uh Mary Lou Blazedale 32 Webster in Nashua and I'm call um here to speak um about the ordinance to repeal the camping I also uh would like to say I chair the downtown improvement committee and I also am a business uh I own a business downtown I'm opposed to repealing this ordinance uh in October the board of uh your board voted to prohibit cab camping on public land and I do not understand why after a few months that we're re um talking about this issue again um did you I'm opposed to this I don't believe allowing camping provides a safe shelter for people and I uh would argue that it creates negative issues environmental sanitation set uh safety and others uh we discussed this issue at our last downtown improvement committee meeting and um the majority of not majority all of our committee was uh in the same uh opinion that they did not want to see this repealed it isn't uh an us and them issue of business and unhouse and we worked

And I would argue that it creates negative issues.

Environmental, sanitation, safety, and others.

We discussed this issue at our last downtown improvement committee meeting.

And the majority of not majority, all of our committee was in the same opinion that they did not want to see this repealed.

It isn't a us and them issue of business and unhouse and we work together.

We work very closely closely with uh Bobby Bagley with Jane at the shelter to try to work with our unhoused people and our businesses.

I have a call a comment here from one of our other members, which I would like to read because I think he said it much better than I am.

Uh Fuad Mafus, who owes PRG rug, and he stated as a downtown business owner, I'm against the repeal of no camping on public land.

Since this has been an enacted, and with the added on foot police officers downtown, uh, and among other initiatives, we have seen an improvement in the various challenges we have faced in the downtown recently, which I do not need, which I do not think need to be discussed again.

With the summer coming and the recent closure of the warming station, I am very concerned this was this will derail any progress made this made since we met since we met last year to discuss humane and empathetic solutions to the challenges we have faced.

Our downtown seems to be close to a tipping point where we hear on a regular, if not daily basis, how scared and concerned our customers, residences, residents, businesses, owners, and stakeholders have become about visiting, eating, and shopping downtown.

The perception is that downtown is unsafe and intimidating.

Whether or not this is the truth, we face the risks of the perception and reality getting worse at a time while multiple businesses are closing and struggling.

This repeal would take much of the power away from the police who have been doing a great job.

I believe we can keep the no camping law intact and still discuss further and humane solutions to the challenges of the unhoused community in the downtown and our local stakeholders.

Repealing this law will not be a productive way to continue this discussion that to continue this discussion.

And thank you for your time.

And I would also like to say that the police have been an excellent downtown, have been excellent downtown working with us, any issues that we have.

We're all trying to work together to a solution and to make our district, our business district, a safe an environment for people, and um we're really opposed to repealing this camping ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um speaker got a little bit more time because my new clerk, this is our first time in running the uh time thing.

So there is a three-minute time limit because we all have families to go to.

So thank you.

Name and address.

Hi, Steve Kenny, 9 Sagmore Road, Nashua.

I'm also the chair for the Mine Falls Advisory Committee.

Uh last year we spent a lot of time and energy creating these laws to create an environment or allow an environment uh an environment in the park to improve, as we all know, there's an encampment issue.

Um the committee itself volunteers, and we have volunteers that show up to do cleanings are called trail days.

We just did one this past Saturday.

The focus of that trail day was the encampment area.

So we currently have about almost 4200 followers on Facebook for Mine Falls Park.

We do a lot of posts and followers do posts about uh the bird, the wildlife, eagles.

Um what they don't like to see what they've commented on is what was the tragedy of the encampment.

I don't have a silver bullet when it comes to where the unhouse is supposed to go, but we represent the park.

And what we've seen since we did a cleaning this past Saturday is a vast improvement in traffic in that area.

We've had people come by and shake our hands.

Elderly couple walking through, thank you so much, we didn't feel safe coming here before.

Now we do.

We get with the the trail teams, the track teams can run in there.

It's vastly improved.

We can't go backwards.

It's insanity to think that such a possibility.

Um we do six trail days a summer.

Hundreds of volunteers show up because they love the park.

The city, and I think most of us understand this, is not a bottomless bank account that we can expect when there's an issue to go and ask for a check.

That doesn't help us, doesn't help our tax our tax base.

So we have volunteers that show up to do that last mile, right?

They get their hands dirty.

And this past weekend, we removed some pretty disgusting stuff.

Matter of fact, we moved about 3,500 pounds of trash that the city didn't get to last fall with its bucket loaders and everything like that.

So 3,500 pounds of trash, to give you an idea, that's about how much a Toyota Camry weighs.

So we had 70 people show up on Saturday, which is the largest turnout we've ever had for a trail day on a Saturday morning to clean up somebody else's mess.

That's because they care about the park.

We can't go backwards.

So I ask that the repeal idea, let's not move forward on that.

Let's just kind of, it's not feasible to say we have a problem, so let's go backwards and allow camping in the park.