NASHUA, NH – Personnel from the Nashua Public Library, Nashua school district and Public Health and Community Services went before the Ad Hoc Capital/Debt Committee to present their upcoming projects, plans and needs.
Mayor Donchess appointed the committee in February to review and prioritize waiting capital projects as a way to exercise fiscal discipline for borrowing funds.
[Supplemental project information can be viewed on the meeting agenda.]
Library renovations
Members of the Library Board of Trustees presented the building renovations the library needs that are estimated to cost between $19 and $30 million.
“We believe [the library] should be a model facility for sustainability, for accessibility and for safety, and right now we’re not meeting any of those in our building. We’re significantly behind the standard,” Kristen Kane said. “We haven’t maintained [it] and very little has been done to the building in [its] 50 years.”
A building technical assessment found that the library has multiple building code, life safety code and accessibility deficiencies, does not perform well thermally, and that most mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems are past their useful lifespan. While the building envelope is sound, it requires repair or replacement of various components.
School district
Superintendent Mario Andrade and Plant Operations director Shawn Smith informed the committee of the school district’s budget projections through 2030. Priorities include deferred maintenance, security vestibules, and dehumidification, among others.
Plans included $20 million to go toward Mount Pleasant Elementary and money to go toward Amherst Street Elementary in coming years.
Alderwoman Klee said she found this “somewhat insulting” after hearing it was being considered to close both schools.
Superintendent Andrade said that with the population of students in Nashua projected to decline, it doesn’t make sense to keep all the schools open. He added that decisions on what to do with the schools should be a city decision, not just up to the Board of Education.
Shelter and resource center
Housing services officer LaTonya Muccioli went before the committee to request funding to support the construction of a $3.8M 30-bed shelter and resource center that would also provide transitional housing for the unhoused population in Nashua. More details about the facility from the agenda packet are below.
She noted a lack of drop-in centers with resources for the homeless, current shelters running at capacity, lack of a truly low-barrier shelter, as well as other community challenges.
“The hope is that having a resource center and shelter may alleviate some of this, as this will give one specific location for our unhoused population to go and receive support and services where staff are trained to mitigate some behavioral concerns that may be occurring.”
Other groups, such as the Department of Public Works, will present at the next meeting on May 13.