MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen discussed a looming budgetary deadline for the Beech Street Shelter on Tuesday in a special meeting.
Currently, state and federal funding used by the city to pay for the shelter is set to run out on Aug. 31, and funding would have to be provided solely through city funds if the shelter were to continue after that point. While the approximately $30,000 monthly rent is one of the key cost drivers of the shelter, funds would have to be either found or donated for a variety of other services offered at the shelter. In particular, Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais noted that the shelter is currently Manchester’s only city-run warming station for the city’s homeless population during winter months, the lack of which could lead to a spike in low temperature-related deaths once winter weather arrives in the city.
Ruais provided the board with a series of statistics regarding the shelter, with Ward 11 Alderman Norm Vincent noting that many of the individuals at the shelter seem to be in need of medical care instead of just a roof over their heads. Ruais responded that regionally there is a lack of a facilities serving as a middle ground between hospital care and shelter that would be the best option for these individuals who have chronic long-term health issues.
Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor expressed concern with the low barrier to access for individuals at the shelter, stating that the low threshold attracted individuals that have created concerns for nearby residents and businesses.
Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long noted that the state’s 53 percent increase in homeless comes largely from a mere $12 million allocated by the state to address the problem.
Ward 8 Alderman Ed Sapienza asked Manchester Welfare Department Director Charleen Michaud if individuals would be provided with assistance for an indefinite time period. Michaud said that under NH RSA 165, municipalities are required to provide assistance to anyone in need provided that they meet financial thresholds and are in compliance with established rules. If they do not comply with rules or meet the thresholds, they are entitled to re-apply for aid a week later.
Michaud noted that if the shelter were to be no longer utilized by the city, Manchester’s fate could become comparable to that of Keene, which spent $1.2 million on housing homeless individuals in hotel rooms last year versus the $620,000 spent in the same time period by Manchester for the shelter.
Another issue is the practice of smaller towns without any designated infrastructure sending homeless residents from their towns to larger cities elsewhere in the state, something that has been seen in Manchester in recent years, with Ruais stating that other municipalities should take care of their own rather than sending them to Manchester. Michaud noted that this practice has been curtailed somewhat thanks to recent legislation, but when individuals arrive in Manchester on their own from other places, Manchester is responsible for their care, not where they departed from.
Deliberations on options on how to deal with the looming deadline were discussed in non-public session and the public was not given official notice that the issue would be discussed, although Ruais mentioned the need for a special meeting at a regular scheduled meeting earlier in the month given the time constraints around a path forward.
The special meeting also held a non-public session to address modifications in an agreement between the city and Neighborworks regarding the Pearl, an expected affordable housing complex and public garage to be placed at the current location of the Pearl Street Parking Lot.
Representatives of Neighborworks recently were granted an extension by the Manchester Planning Board for approvals granted to the project earlier, following minor aesthetic modifications such as the addition of a brick façade and mesh lining that would limit car headlight lumination in the garage from disturbing nearby residents.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved the modification in the agreement which would now set the project garage’s height at three stories with an overall cost not to exceed $21 million.