The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) will meet on July 2, 2024 for a regularly scheduled meeting as well as several subcommittee meetings. Here’s a preview of some of the things they’re expected to discuss.
Money for Murals
The Manchester Arts Commission has a pair of requests before the BMA Committee on Accounts, Enrollment and Revenue Administration for murals in the city.
The first seeks $15,000 for a mural planned at Colon Tires at Lake Avenue, which already has external fundraising efforts ongoing.
Later, the Committee will hear a request for $6,000 going to artist stipends. Those stipends are intended to attract artists that will help student artists create a mural at Ray Cross Field at Sheehan-Basquil Park.
Both mural initiatives are led by Positive Street Art of Nashua.
Later in the evening at the BMA Committee on Lands and Buildings, there will be more information on a mural proposal from Harry Umen on one of the pillars at the Bridge Street Bridge.
Selling part of Derryfield Park
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester (RCBM) seeks to purchase a piece of Derryfield Park that lays across Bridge Street from the majority of the park.
This piece of land, which is located on the southwest corner of Mammoth Road and Bridge Street, directly abuts the current piece of land that hosts Trinity High School. In a letter conveyed to the city, attorneys for the RCBM seek to offer $5,000 for the currently undeveloped 1.98 acre portion of the park, which it then would seek to merge with the Trinity property.
In order for this to happen, the BMA Committee on Lands and Buildings would have to recommend that the parcel be deemed surplus.
Reports from Manchester Planning and Community Development Director Jeffrey Belanger and Manchester Department of Public Works Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Chief Mark Gomez have advised that the sale of the property is not in the best interest of the city.
Belanger indicated that the property could potentially be used for housing if relief was granted from the Manchester Zoning Board of Adjustment. He added that after a failed request by the RCBM to obtain the portion of the park in 2002, it was indicated at the time that the land could potentially be used for an expansion of the Bridge/Mammoth intersection at some point in the future.
As of 2017, the land was appraised at $273,000 according to the city’s assessment database.
UPDATE: After a non-public session that lasted approximately one minute on July 2, the committee voted to recommend receiving and filing the request, effectively killing it.
Myrna Lot Rate Change
Christopher Goodnow, Director of the City of Manchester’s Parking Division, has requested that the Myrna Lot rates be changed to $1 per hour. Currently, the Myrna Lot, which is located near the northern end of North Commercial Street, has $.75 per hour rates for the first three hours and then jumps until it hits a $17 daily maximum.
Goodnow told the BMA Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic in a letter that he does not expect a change in revenue as most who park in the lot pay for a $55 monthly permit. He also added in his letter that the move would bring the Myrna Lot in line with the rest of the city.