Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Summary – June 18, 2026
Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Summary – June 18, 2026
The Ad Hoc Committee met on Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 6:18 p.m. in the Albanic Chamber to discuss administrative and financial services priorities, community development projects, and citywide infrastructure needs. The meeting was chaired by the Madam President, with four members present (Director Cummings, Director Sullivan, Director Foto, Alderman Clee, and CFO Enright) constituting a quorum. Absent were Alderman Kelly, Alderman Clemens, and Mayor Donchus. The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. after a motion by Alderman Clee.
Discussion Items
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System
Director Cummings presented the highest priority: replacing the current ERP system, which is approaching end-of-life in 2029–2030. The existing system does not meet the city’s needs. An RFP process is underway, and a consultant will be brought in to assist with implementation. The new system is expected to reduce operating costs by approximately $1 million annually by eliminating various software workarounds. The city will incur a cost regardless of the path chosen.
City Hall Renovations
Phase one (HVAC) is complete. A second phase is needed, including bathroom renovation, elevator upgrade, and ADA compliance. Estimated total cost: around $10 million. The committee was asked to consider $250,000 for design work to obtain a firm cost estimate.
IT Fiber Redundancy
A full loop connection for fiber optics is required at an estimated cost of $1 million.
Transportation Projects
Several projects are imminent, with a total city obligation of $1.7–2 million for a 20% match: East Holler Street/Bridge Street intersection, Walnut Street Oval/West Pearl Street streetscaping, Lock and Whitney/DW Highway pedestrian improvements, and Spruce Street Corridor.
Other Citywide Infrastructure Priorities
- Keefe Auditorium (under study)
- Hunt Memorial Library (14 Court Street)
- Senior Center roof and HVAC (likely within five years)
- Nashua River embankment repairs (across from Jackson turbine facility) – currently an aesthetic issue, not imminent, but will require long-term repair.
Commuter Rail Initial Operating Segment
Director Sullivan reported that $250,000 in congressionally directed spending (CDS) has been secured to update ridership scenarios, key project metrics, and the financial plan. The study must be completed within 12 months, likely starting October–November 2026. The next phase – 30% design for a Nashua‑first extension – is estimated at $2–3 million and would be funded through federal grants, not general fund. Coalition building with regional partners is underway.
Mohawk Tannery Pedestrian Bridge
This $3 million bridge, connecting Mohawk Tannery to Mine Falls Park, is required by contract and will be designed and constructed by the developer but funded by the city. A bond authorization is expected within the coming year. The committee noted that the city is obligated to this project under the development agreement.
Riverfront TIF Expansion and Improvements
The riverfront TIF has been expanded into the mill yard. Revenue from the TIF will fund pedestrian connections, a dog park, play space, and beautification in six zones of Quadrant One. Design work will be brought forward first, followed by construction as TIF revenue accumulates. The dog park will be built by the NIMCO developer as part of the master development agreement, with a maximum price to be defined in upcoming legislation.
Veterans Memorial Parkway Multimodal Accommodations
A new concept is emerging: providing pedestrian and bicycle access along Veterans Memorial Parkway to connect Broad Street to downtown. No capital project yet, but staff are exploring opportunities with developers.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken on any project; the committee received presentations and discussed priorities.
- The ERP replacement, city hall renovations, and fiber redundancy were noted as top administrative priorities.
- Transportation projects requiring near-term city match were identified.
- The commuter rail study will proceed with federal funds; the 30% design phase may seek grant funding in 2027–2028.
- The Mohawk Tannery bridge bond authorization is anticipated in the coming year.
- Riverfront TIF improvements will be funded entirely by TIF revenue, not general fund.
- The dog park is still planned, with developer obligation and maximum price parameters to be discussed in upcoming legislation.
- The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
On the back, you can give them three minutes. Okay, it was the I'm sorry. He'll never hold to the okay good. Okay, go off. Great. Okay, I'm gonna call the ad hoc committee to order on Thursday, June 18 18, 2026 in the Albanic Chamber. Um I call it the clerk, please call happy to uh she's new to this. I am new to this. Madam President. Here. Um Alderman Clee. Here. Alder Woman Kelly is not able to join us this evening. Uh Alderman Clemens is not able to uh join us uh uh this evening. Uh Director Sullivan here. Director Foto? Present. And Director Cummings is present as well. With four members present, we have quorum, and I should note for the record that Mayor Dawnchus isn't able to make it uh this evening either. He sent his regrets. I'll also note also in attendance we have Alden Dowd in CFO Enright. Thank you very much. I think tonight's presentation will be started by Director Cummings. Uh excellent, thank you. Um I am going to um just quickly pull up my presentation here and I'm gonna have to put it to um the clerk's desk, I believe. Yes. And it should should pop up and I am gonna be ever so brief. I have six slides. Um not that we're counting. And I just wanted to do this for the record. Um uh so so we can so th not only the ad hoc committee has this, but the viewing audience at home has it as well. Um the priorities for the administrative services and the financial services divisions. And so um the thought process that CFO Enright and I had was is we would combined our two prior uh our two um divisions for the priorities. Our priorities are relatively straightforward and it was for ease of uh of convenience. Uh CFO uh, do you have any uh comments you'd like to add? Um no, I I we're just trying to work uh collaboratively to be able to um present to you the the short list of uh very important items that we have this evening. So with that being said, the the purpose of the discussion, we want to keep this very high level, our thought processes is when the actual items come up for discussion when we seek uh appropriation, uh we will we will go into more detail, but wanted to provide it especially through the lens of the ad hoc committee. And so the projects that we've identified on the horizon, first and foremost is is the ERP system. This is not a new project. This was listed on our uh last time around. Uh for those of you who who may be wondering what is an ERP system, it's an enterprise resource planning uh tool that we have. It is integrated management of core business processes and functions. They do it real time. It's a specific software and it's a type of uh suite that um uh particularly focuses on collection, storage management and interpretation of data, uh particularly for finance and human resources type functions, and it is the official record uh system of record for the for the city. And so our current ERP system is is actually coming to end of life. We are being forced to to a conversation about um upgrading, and that obviously n necessitates whether it makes sense for us to do a conversion. Um that is slated for uh 29 uh 30 time frame. Um you know, with this uh end of life coming about, it brought about a conversation of does the current ERP system meet our needs? Um I think internally it's pretty safe to say that we've come to the place that it does not, and if we were to to move in the direction of a conversion, um we would be seeking to reduce some operating costs. We've already identified um something in the order of magnitude of about a million dollars, could be more of various softwares that we've needed to implement because the current ERP system is not meeting our needs.
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