MANCHESTER, N.H. – Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais has held town hall meetings in Ward 1, Ward 3 and Ward 11 and on Wednesday he continued the trend with another meeting with residents in Ward 9. Here is a recap of what was discussed.
Homelessness and Housing
Ruais noted recent updates regarding the sale of surplus city-owned properties, new ordinances making it easier to build housing, an upcoming zoning rewrite, the new resource fair at the Beech Street Shelter, the hiring of new code enforcement officers and new organizations being brought into the Manchester Continuum of Care.
While approximately $100 million in grants given to the city following the COVID-19 pandemic are about to run out, he praised a new grant obtained by ARMI.
One member of the audience was frustrated with recent 79E tax credits given to proposals like the transformation of the Dunlap Building where developers received the credits without providing affordable housing in exchange. This person believed that the city should ask for affordable units in exchange for the loss of tax revenue. Ward 9 Alderman Jim Burkush and Ruais indicated that the developers of that proposal told the Aldermen that they would not have been able to go through with their efforts without financial support and affordable housing is difficult for developers given the low profit margins.
There were also concerns about certain properties owned by out-of-state landlords producing too much noise at night. Ruais said he welcomes all suggestions to fix any blighted areas.
Crime
Ruais reiterated the need for state legislators to pass a bail reform law, noting that of the 1,300 people arrested in Manchester so far this year, 400 were already out on bail at the time.
However, he added that compassionate responses to some offenders were appropriate, especially those suffering from drug addiction that may not be neurologically capable to make wise decisions until they can overcome their addictions.
Ruais agreed that it would be appropriate for the county’s jail to move out of Manchester and into a more isolated area of the county, as Ward 9 State Representative Alissandra Murray added that the state is also seeking to provide more pre-trial services for those arrested for crimes in Hillsborough County, as Hillsborough is the only county in the state that does not provide pre-trial services. It was argued that these services could help those awaiting trial to get rides back to their original addresses among other things, with members of the audience also agreeing that other municipalities in Hillsborough County should take a greater responsibility.
There were also concerns in the audience about danger at the intersection of South Maple Street and Cilley Road, and one person asked if making that and other unsafe streets more narrow to reduce speeding. There were requests to hire more traffic police, with Ruais noting that there are still 22 vacancies remaining in the police roster and resources in manpower are limited.
Other
There was frustration with a recent incident at Smyth Road Elementary School where several students left the campus without awareness of staff, with additional concern about the lack of fencing around the city’s schools. Ward 9 Board of School Committee Member Robert Baines said that the school district administration researched protocols to avoid a similar incident in the future.
Burkush also informed the audience about a number of different construction updates around the ward, including changes to the traffic patterns on South Beech Street in the near future and rail trail additions. He also urged the crowd to use the See Click Fix app if they noticed any problems that the city should address.