City Council - Regular Meeting

else water.

That's good sauce. All right. Good evening, folks. I'm going to call uh the meeting to order. The hour of 7 p.m. having arrived. This meeting is being broadcast live on the city of Keen YouTube channel and Spectrum channel 1302. The video is also streamed on the city's website and is posted by the end of the next business day, barring any technical difficulties. If you would like to receive an electronic city council packet to reference while viewing future broadcast, please contact the city clerk's office during business hours or go to the city's website and subscribe to the city's uh meeting email list. The agenda is also accessible from any mobile device. And I'd like to ask the clerk to please call the role.

Randy Elilio here. Michelle H. Alice here. Katherine I. Workman here. Brian J. Lake here. Jacob R. Faves here. Laura E. Tobin here. Robert C. Williams here. Philip M. Jones present. Chris E. Roberts here. Patina A. Chadborn. Edward J. Hos here. Laura E. Rutle Miller here. Molly V. Ellis here. Thomas F. Powers here. Mitchell H. Greenwald. Uh, Councelor Greenwald has requested to be allowed to participate remotely. And Councelor Greenwald, would you please state the reason for your request?

Uh, good evening. I am traveling to attend a granddaughter's college graduation. I am in Stamford, Connecticut, alone in a room, missing you all. Okay, I heard that.

For anyone who missed that, councelor Greenwall is in Connecticut. Uh, any objection to Councelor Greenwald participating remotely this evening? Seeing there is none, councelor, thank you very much for joining us. And I'd like to ask councelor Williams, would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? To the flag of the United States of America and to the and to the republic for which stands one nation under indivisible liberty and justice

and justice for Thank you all. I I'd like to recognize councelor Powers for a motion to accept the minutes of our previous meeting. Thank you, honor. I move to accept the minutes of the April 16th, 2026 meeting as presented. Second. Seconded by Councelor Filio. Uh and this evening all of our votes will be uh by roll call. Uh thanks. Would the clerk please call the role? Councelor Fio, yes. Councelor Chalice, yes. Councelor Workman, yes. Councelor Lake, yes. Councelor Favalis, yes. Councelor Tobin, yes. Councelor Williams, yes. Yes. Councelor Jones, yes. Councelor Roberts, yes. Councelor Hos,

yes. Councelor Rutle Miller, yes. Councelor Ellis, yes. Councelor Powers, yes. Councelor Greenwald, yes. And let's include councelor Chadborn who has joined us. You wish to call her? Councelor Chadborn, how do you vote on the minutes this evening? Yes. Thank you.

All right. That motion carries unanimously. and we are 15 um announcements. It's like spring has sprung and suddenly there are all sorts of announcements blooming all over. Um so this month from May 3rd to May 9th is small business week. We all know how vital small businesses are to our community. Uh and uh we thank them for their persistence and the vibrancy that they contribute to our community. Um from May 4th to May 8th, this week is teacher appreciation week. So, Councelor Tobin, we will appreciate you uh along with all the teaching colleagues that there are in our schools and our charter schools and our private schools and our colleges and universities uh in the region. Thank you all for what you do to enrich the lives of our students. Um from May 6th to May 12th is nurse appreciation week with the theme this year of the power of nurses. Uh so it just began yesterday. You've got lots of opportunity over the next week. uh thank a nurse uh for their dedication to their profession. Uh this Saturday uh at 100 p.m. uh the Keen State College commencement will occur uh on the Keen State College campus on the fiscal lawn. Uh this year the college will be honoring both Senator Maggie Hassan and the past president of Keen State College, Melinda Treadwell. Uh if you have the opportunity to go down and uh congratulate the Kins College graduates of 2026, please do. Uh uh some of us have had the opportunity over this last uh few weeks to observe some of the uh work that students have put on display

either in an academic showcase last Friday or in their classes or uh various presentations. Uh their work is remarkable. uh it given 10 years that I've uh been away from uh the college on a regular basis uh I'm really impressed with the uh the the kind of learning the the uh the the practice that they have the practical applications that their uh faculty are lining them up with and they're lined up with our with our community businesses in partnership uh giving them uh some expertise peace uh and opening the world of possibilities that these students are are uh entering into their professions and giving them some practice uh along the way and to practice their communication skills and critical thinking. Um along that line uh we've talked about the citizens group in the city of Keen which has uh formed called citizens for Keen State College. Uh this week that group launched its website and coincidentally it is uh called a very short term uh citizens for keenestatecol.com. So one word uh but uh check the website and sign up for it. Uh there'll be announcements coming from them as to how people can participate and advocate on behalf of the college uh that we all know plays an important role in the city. Uh May 10th, this Sunday is Mother's Day. And to all of those who have uh played a role in raising the the kids in our community, uh to all of us who have moms in our lives to appreciate. Uh it's a wonderful day to celebrate with them. Uh so happy

Mother's Day to all. Uh and beginning next week from May 10th to May 16th is National Law Enforcement Week. Uh and that weekend from May 15th to 17th, Nova Arts will be sponsoring the Thing in the Spring Festival. So check out Nova Arts on the website uh for the kinds of programming that they have planned. And then finally, uh, while we'll have a meeting between now and Memorial Day, uh, I did talk with Rob Campbell of the VFW. Uh, he's, uh, working to to make sure that we have all the pieces pulled together for Memorial Day celebration. Uh, but you should be anticipating that that will occur on May 25th. Uh, that counselors are invited to march in that parade. uh and that we should form on Gilbo Avenue at 9:45 uh on the 20 Monday the 25th. Uh so uh uh I'll also add that uh this being teacher appreciation week uh I met with the youth council uh today uh it's getting close to their graduations and uh these students are engaged with their uh mentors in a whole variety of programs. I'll just give you a few dates in case you can uh tune gear yourself up to attend some of these. Uh on May 15th and 16th, the Keen High School Drama Club uh will be presenting their production, their spring production on that Friday and Saturday night. Uh the following week on the 19th at 7 o'clock, uh the jazz and uh the jazz band, the orchestra and the the Keen High School

band will be performing uh in their musical concert again May 19th. Uh other things that uh the youth council is engaged in uh and performing in May 30th and 31st uh MCO will be presenting its spring show at the Colonial Theater. They've been maxing out at the Keen State College Redford. So uh they they should have more seats this year by uh performing at the Colonial. Uh and then finally uh some of our uh high school students are part of the uh opera production at the Peterborough Town House uh on June 13th, The Marriage of Figuro, which is uh that our high school students are involved in a opera and in the pit playing uh string instruments. Pretty impressive uh on behalf of these kids. Okay, with that, we've got several uh proclamations for this evening. So, I'd like to begin with uh kids day in the park. If I could be joined by our parks and recreation director, Cara Fisk,

you got a crowd.

Bring your own. Um so Cara, we are joining with uh the rest of your colleagues across the nation in honoring Kids to Park Day uh across the nation. Uh whereas Kids to Park Day is launched by the National Park Trust and held annually on the third Saturday of May. And whereas kids to park day empowers kids and encourages families to get outdoors and visit local parks, public lands and water, water ways. Whereas we should encourage children to lead a more active lifestyle and recreate responsibly while enjoying the benefits of the outdoors. And whereas kids to park day will broaden children's appreciation for the outdoors and our natural environment. And whereas families and kids are invited to join the mayor and members of the city Keen Bicycle and pedestrian pathway committee for a community ride across Keen's rail trails and parks on May 16, 2026 beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Railroad Square. Now therefore, as mayor, do I hereby proclaim May 16, 2026 as kids to park day in the city of Keen and encourage all residents to take part in this day by exploring and enjoying our local parks and natural areas. So lead on. Thank you. And if you've got any further

I sure do. So, we will also be welcoming all of our families and our community to Fuller Park, which is right out in front of the rec center from 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock on Saturday, May 16th. Lots of lawn games, lots of chalk art, lots of rock painting, lots of just real fun being outside and enjoying what we have to offer our community. And to be clear, Fuller Park is at at the rec center, right? Yes. And may I Thank you very much.

Thank you. Uh it's probably fitting that I recognize Dwight Fiser uh and if you'd come up for a moment uh as chair of the uh city's bike and pedestrian pathways advisory committee. Uh, and if you haven't met Dwight, uh, newly elected to that role, uh, I have a proclamation, uh, that, uh, I received from the committee. Uh, whereas the city of Keen is designated bicycle friendly community and recognizes bicycling as an essential component of a safe, accessible, and multimodal transportation system supported by an appointed bicycle and pedestrian path advisory committee. And whereas bicycling provides a practical alternative to driving for short trips, helping conserve energy, reduce traffic congestion, and improve regional air quality. And whereas bicycling to work and for daily activities, promotes physical and mental well-being and aligns with nationally recognized workplace wellness recommendations. And whereas the city of Keen bicycle pedestrian advisory committee, the bicycle mayor of Keen, there's a whole list of here. Uh, the Manadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation, Manadno Food Co-op, Southwest Regional Planning Commission, the Healthy Manadnock Alliance, Manadnock Cycling Club, Pathways for Keen, the Keen YMCA, the Kuanas Club, Keen State College, Local Crowd, Manadnock, and really many other public and private partner collaboratives uh each year work to promote bicycling throughout the month of May. And whereas through these sustained efforts, the city of Keen continues to receive national

recognition as a silver bicycle friendly community. And whereas community events such as the Kowanas Club's cool wheels on May 2nd and the mayor's bike ride on May 16th highlight opportunities for residents of all ages to engage in safe and enjoyable bicycling. Now therefore, as mayor of the city, do I hereby proclaim May 2026, including the 16th, as bike day in Keen and encourage all residents to celebrate our community's commitment to active transportation by choosing to walk or bicycle to work, school, local businesses, parks, and throughout their neighborhoods when possible. Thank you, Dwight, for your work and offer you the mic for some comments.

Thank you, Mayor Khan. Um we just we call it the bike ped committee because it's a little easier to say. Um but we we have a very strong committee right now of volunteers but we're building on the work of the volunteers who have worked on this for years. Uh Mr. Redford here is been a big part of that. But um pathways for Keen and Manadnok Trailway Manadnok Rail Trail Conservation Group. Um we are also working with a consultant for the master plan. So um those of you who haven't had a chance to go there yet, if you got any opinions, ideas, suggestions on the bicycle network of trails and bike lanes in uh around the city, please go to the website and use that uh form. It's it's good. We need as much information as we can. Um bicycling and walking in Keen offers healthy and economical alternative to driving, but as As usually happens when the cost of gas goes up, the number of bicyclists goes up. So, I can I can probably expect that all of us are going to see more cycling and more traffic on our trails this year. That's good, and I think we're ready. But it also means drivers need to beware, cyclists need to obey the rules, etc. But, um, this is a great thing, the proclamation. We're all happy with it. We're proud of it. And, uh, we look forward to taking the mayor for a ride on the 16th.

Taking the mayor for a ride. Yes. Um uh the and that website completed my survey. Yeah. Uh and I believe it's because it's not through the uh committee's site. It's through uh keennh.govike path. I think right. Uh yes, you would know. Yeah, because I completed the survey.

Even Even if you search on it, you'll get there very quickly. Just search for the bike survey. Thank you all. Thank you. And finally, and finally, uh, it is clerk's week. And if the members of the clerk's office would join me, in addition to the city clerk,

when Heather goes into that room, there's something coming out that

And they didn't even ask you to do that. I got flowers. Yeah. All right. So, kind of stole the thunder here. Um, sorry.

Whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk is a timehonored and essential component of local government, representing one of the oldest and most enduring professions in public service. And whereas municipal clerks are entrusted with statutory responsibilities, including the administration of elections and the management and preservation of municipal records, ensuring transparency, accountability, and continuity of government. And whereas the Keen City Clerk's Office has earned an outstanding reputation as a trusted and reliable resource for the community, providing accurate information and responsive service to residents officials and partner agencies. And whereas the city clerk's office upholds the highest standards of neutrality and integrity, ensuring fair, accurate, and trustworthy election administration for all voters. And whereas the city clerk's office serves as the historian of the city of Keen, safeguarding vital records and documenting the community's history for future generations. And whereas the city clerk's office is committed to excellence through ongoing education, training, and professional staff development, fostering succession planning, and strengthening the organization for the future. and whereas from issuing marriage licenses and dog registrations, dog registrations among other things, um to supporting the Keen City Council in its role as the city's representative governing body, the city clerk's office is an essential component of the effective operation of municipal government. Now therefore, I, as mayor of the city of Keen, do hereby recognize the week of May 3rd through May 9th, 2026 as Municipal Clerk's Week, joining the other 234 New Hampshire communities and others

across the globe in recognition and further extend appreciation to our city clerk, Terry Hood, and her dedicated staff for their exemplary service to the Keen community. Thank you all and have a great week. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Kan. Thank you. Appreciate it. And you get the flowers.

Oh, I do. Um I just want to say thank you to everyone and uh feel very supported in this role and um it's definitely a calling I've learned and as I've done this more, it becomes more and more important to me to uphold all of the uh the things and the values that come with this position. And it is such a vital role that is um it's definitely a calling and it's happening in every community behind the scenes. You don't really know what your clerk is doing, but they're there for you every day. And the staff that we have is wonderful and I couldn't do it without them. Thank you. Okay, before we leave announcements, two other things. Want to congratulate Councelor Laura Rutle Miller on receiving a 2026 Trends Setter Award. Congratulations, Laura. Well, welld deserved. And I I sort of called out uh counselor Tobin before, but I want to congratulate you on your successful uh course supporting Keen State College students with their portfolio review related to sustainable product design. It was uh the presentations of your 13 students last week was uh really compelling. They've accomplished a great deal and you helped them express that in a in compelling ways. So, thank you very much for your work. Okay. Um, move on to nominations.

Yes. And we, uh, we have a nomination from the mayor to the Heritage Commission, and it is for Carl Sandy to serve as an alternate in slot 11 for a term to expire December 31, 2028. And we'll table that uh, nomination to the next meeting. And moving on to communications. And our first communication is from Kelly Fuette from the Keen Family YMCA. And this is their annual request for closure of Summit Road uh for their upcoming youth triathlon on June 7th.

Ah yes, we will refer that letter to planning licenses and development committee. And our next communication is from Terry Oor. Uh, Miss Oor is requesting that the council consider instituting regulations that would allow the finding of dog owners whose dog create a disturbance in neighborhoods due to excessive barking during daytime hours.

And we'll refer that uh letter to the municipal services, facilities, and infrastructure committee. They're meeting later this month. And our next communication is from councelor Jones and this is um includes a draft resolution for consideration that would um if adopted would be sent to the governor, the state senate and the house of representatives and our executive council communicating the city of KE's opposition to downshifting of costs to local taxpayers.

Uh and we'll refer that letter to finance organization and personnel committee. Uh and I I'll thank uh councelor Jones for bringing this forward uh particularly in light of the uh forum held last evening uh regarding downshifting of costs. I'm not going to steal the manager's thunder by saying anything more. And our next communication is from do uh Thomas Dufalt from the Black Cloud Brewing Company and uh they are requesting permission to serve alcohol at their sidewalk cafe at 100 Main Street.

And we'll refer this letter to uh the planning licenses and development committee's next meeting. And our final communication is from councelor uh Williams, councelor Ruddle Miller, and councelor Workman. Uh they are requesting that the city review our comprehensive master plan that was recently adopted and begin initiating um some of the housing initiatives in that document. And I'll refer this uh letter to the joint planning board and uh planning licenses and development committee their next meeting on June 8th. Okay, moving forward to committee reports. Um we have uh for efficiency here uh we have five recommendations all from the uh municipal services and facilities and infrastructure committee. Uh and uh if uh amendable I will uh file each of these as recommended asformational unless I hear anything further. Would you like me to read the items into the record?

Certainly, please do. Sure. So, our um theformational reports we have before us are uh one, the first relates to uh concerns with parking on Malboro Street and enforcement measures. The second relates to concerns and recommendations regarding the future parking lot at the skate park. The third relates to consideration of an ordinance amendment to allow leashed dogs in Woodland Cemetery. The fourth is uh an update on the 2026 construction season and the final report is a downtown infrastructure project update. Very good. Okay. Um and we're moving swiftly to the city manager report.

Thank you. So I wanted to start with last night. Um many of you attended the town hall discussion. Are was something happening? No. Okay. Okay. Not an information one. No.

Many of you attended the town hall uh meeting last night. We actually had a 100 people um there which was great. Um the town hall meeting was on state downshifting. Downshifting is the transfer of financial responsibility for public services from the state to local government through reduction of state aid, unfunded mandates and cost shifts which result in increased pressure on local taxes. Uh last night also Cheshure County recorded the session. So as soon as I know where they are posting it, I'll be sure to share that with you and and anyone else that's interested. Last night at the meeting, I recognized Senator Fenton for helping organize and facilitate the discussion. But what many of you do not know is the event idea actually came from our mayor. Um, Mayor Khan uh actually thought of this uh town hall meeting format after hearing concerns and questions from residents about state funding. Uh the mayor reached out to Senator Fenton who then helped move the idea forward and coordinate the session. So, I wanted to thank um take a moment to thank the mayor and recognize him for his quiet work behind the scenes. The discussion that uh last night turned into a very thoughtful and educational opportunity for both residents and local officials. Honestly, we could have used a lot more time. You know, we barely scratched the surface. Um, when I was talking, I tried to highlight the biggest dollar amounts that impact the city, but I do think we could have gotten into more about school funding and some of the formulas involved with that and also some of the impacts uh to the nursing home and some of the dollars related to that. It really could have been a much longer session, but it's hard to keep people there for too long. And so, we were there for about an hour and a half. We had a stack of of note cards, so people were given note cards to put their

questions on. We were only able to get to a couple of them. I do have all of them. Senator Fenton has asked for me to scan them and share them back to uh the county and to the school and to him and to the mayor. Um so that we have a sense of the questions that people wanted to have answered. Maybe there's something if it's related to the city that we can find a way to still provide answers if they don't have their name on the card. So overall, I thought it was a a good session. Um I always enjoy having Margaret Burns, the executive director from NHMA. She does a great job explaining. Um she has a lot of history, a lot of knowledge, and she's down there in conquered working on these issues every day. So it was great to have her here. Um, I did, uh, mention to the council that I was submitting a policy proposal about state aid, uh, for for school funding, hoping to build some traction at NHMA. That actually didn't make it out of the review committee. Um, but I don't think it's dead. I don't No, no, not yours. I think it was probably in finance. I don't think the issue is dead, though. I talked to Margaret about this last night and I think we're going to have some additional conversation because I'm not the only one bringing this up at the town or city level and so it's a it's a very important topic. We'll have to figure out how to navigate that issue because it really isn't municipal, it's school, but it's impacting us. Um it's impacting us dramatically because we are the last ones to set the our budget. We come after the county. we come after the school and by the time it gets to us, you know, we feel that pressure. So, I do think it's really important to continue that conversation. So, thank you to the mayor um for the idea and getting it going, I think it was a it was a really good a good start to a conversation that will continue. What I really want to talk to you about tonight though is the proposed budget. Um so, the FY27 budget, there's uh that was in

your mailbox last Friday. I pretty sure most of you have picked it up and started to take a look. Um, on your desk this evening is an executive summary and manager's comments related to the budget. The budget is already available online in the finance department web page and actually today they put it on the front so people don't have to um search for it. It's right on the front page uh of the website and these comments will also go there. And I had a meeting this week with Deputy City Manager Rebecca Landry and Asa Kramer Kramer to talk about the efforts we are going to undertake to try to get people engaged in the budget. We really want people to participate at the FOP meetings is really what we want. And so they are talking about ways to do that and try to drum up some excitement about the topics that are on the FOP meeting. And so you'll see some additional work around that and hopefully it gets people's attention. Um, and then I just want to talk real real quickly about the executive summary. The proposed FY27 general fund uh operating budget is $57 million and remains within the city's fiscal policy limits. It's actually roughly $685,000 below the allowable limit in fiscal policy. Um, and that's because every year when I do the budget, I start with the fiscal policy, but then I do the tax rate calculation. And so we try to adjust um as best we can. Um, this was a very difficult budget to do that. Um, but we did meet your fiscal policy and we are well below that limit. Um the city's portion of the tax rate though is projected to increase by 6.7%. The primary driver of the budget

increase is personnel related costs. Particularly contractual obligations with the associate associated with the city's six collective bargaining agreements which represent the majority of our workforce. Additional pressures include utilities, insurance, maintenance, professional services, and continued transition to cloud-based technology systems, which was an expensive transition for us this year. But when people uh ask me about the budget and the tax rate, what I try to get across is we are a service organization and we really um our budget is around the services that we provide. Yes, we have projects and infrastructure that we need to maintain, but the primary driver of our budget is always wages. The difficult conversation comes when there's push and pull on whether or not to have a service because really the way to um make any sort of meaningful change in this budget is to say I no longer want to want to provide this service and when I've seen this I've been doing this for a while 28 years I've seen this and um often you come forward and people think they want to make a change on a service and then there's a there's a group out there that doesn't want that to happen. So, it's always a very difficult conversation, but we are a service organization. So, you will see if you look back in our budgets year after year, the primary driver is our wages and it is driven around our services. The other thing that drives that is our projects. So, we balance our capital plan, but when we build new parks, we love new parks. The Pat Russell Park is beautiful, but we had to add a maintenance person a couple years ago because we added a park. I mean, there when we do capital projects like that, they have consequences that

are beyond just the actual funding of the project. And so, I try to talk about that um during the capital plan and also when we're thinking about, you know, where we want to be for the future. So this budget also reflects continued investment in public safety. Since fiscal 24, the fire department has added eight firefighter positions over two budget cycles to support the operation of a third ambulance most recently and to maintain service levels as emergency call volumes have increased. During that time frame, the city has also added a second prevent fire firere prevention officer because it for those of you who have been involved for a while, you know, we had some issues with uh inspections and we made some adjustments to how we were doing that that required additional personnel. There was also a second deputy position and an additional part-time administrative uh position in the department since fiscal 24. So, collectively, fire department wages have increased by approximately $1.4 $.4 million. We are seeing that in this budget because many it takes several years to actually hire. Once you make the decision to add personnel, there's a period of time to recruit and then there's a period of time before it actually gets into the budget. So, we're seeing the effects of some of those. So, you're seeing the effects of our contract changes and you're seeing the effects of the the needs in our our fire and ambulance services. Because the department is currently staffed at a minimum number required to operate the third ambulance, we continue to experience significant overtime costs to cover vacation, sick leave, workers comp, and other staffing gap gaps. A proposal is currently under construction but not included in this budget. The proposal would add four additional firefighters, one per shift, to be above the minimum staffing level. So, you can

expect additional conversations on this topic over the next several months. Um, it's a big deal. We've talked about this before. Um, you know, it's not a cost savings because you're going to either pay overtime or you're going to pay employees. And it's it's um every time we've made an adjustment, it has never been a one for one. But there it does make sense to be above the minimum because we right now every time someone is taking a vacation day, someone is out on sick, someone's on family medical leave, we are covering it with an overtime shift. That is just not good business. So we need to do something. Um there's no way we were going to be ready to bring forward a proposal um for this budget, but I I do have two counselors on a committee. We're getting back together. Actually, we have a meeting tomorrow to talk again about what we might be able to do to bridge this gap. So, I want to be very upfront that that's not in this budget. And to help stabilize the tax rate and support capital investments, the proposed budget strategically utilizes fund balance and includes more than 9.3 million in grant funding for capital projects. Our departments continue to be very successful in leveraging outside funding to do the projects that we do. And you see that every time we do a capital plan, there's significant dollars coming in from grants. And they are small and large. and they really do a great job with that. And and we, you know, they're creative and and I think I'm thinking right now about the skate park. Now, we've had conversations about the skate park and parking and what's the right answer, but we creatively sought grant funds to resolve a problem that we have at that site. Um, and that's the type of work that they try to do. And it in the end it's the if the council wants to do something different, the council can do something different. But the the departments are are asked to be creative

and to find sources other than tax dollars to solve the problems that we have. Um and they do a good job at that. Um the budget schedule is also on your desk this evening. Um budget review with the finance uh and organization and personnel committee begins next week with a special meeting on Tuesday, May 12th at 5:30. Now you will notice that that is a very busy um evening. I apologize to the FOP members in advance. Um, we had we had a conflict. So, we had a another meeting scheduled for May 26th and it conflicted with the planning board. Um, so we weren't able to find a solution to that and so we had to move people or departments that were on the 26 to other nights. Now, typically the night that has outside agencies is always a long night because you will have outside agencies here and they will be going over their requests and if you look at the budget, they didn't all get what they asked for. So, they will be coming in um asking for for the allocation that they were originally hoping for. So, it's going to be a long night. I think we should eat a lot of sugar and be prepared for it. And that's my update for this evening. And there it is. Outside agency. Okay. Thank you. Um, thank you. Uh I I don't know if anyone else heard the uh or read the NPR story today about the top nine of 10 uh top eight wage earners in the state of New Hampshire are all uh Department of Corrections employees who because of the staffing shortage which is

Representative Jones can keep us posted. on that. But it's so severe that uh the uh number of hours of overtime that the existing corrections officers are uh having to commit. Uh anyway, it it has resulted in ridiculous salaries. And it's it's not just the salary that has becomes ridiculous. It's the workload. Uh you got to wonder that people who are under some pressure and stress to be constantly alert having to pull 16 hour shifts uh it just can't be healthy or the best practice. So um I'm not saying that's where we are in our staffing here in the city.

Uh but we uh I I hear you about and we aren't alone in filling public service roles. Yeah. Okay. Uh we can move on to accepting donations this evening. Yes. And we have a uh memorandum from our finance director treasurer and it is requesting the acceptance of donations totaling $10,450. I'd like to recognize councelor P for a motion. Thank you honor. I move to accept the donations with gratitude and that the city manager be authorized to use these funds in the manner specified by each donor. Second.

Thank you. Seconded by councelor Chadborn.

So this evening we have uh three individual donations uh to the city that collectively amounts to $10,450. Edgewood Center has made a donation of $200 to the Keen Fire Department in memory of Hank Memanshshire, a long-term firefighter who retired probably 25 years ago and is still remembered by many folks around town for the work he did on the ambulance. Savings Bank of Walpole match donation in the amount of $10,000 for the construction of the Goose Pond Bridge. A WS WS Badger donation to the human rights committee in the amount of $250 to support Keen Pride Festival. Thank you to all.

Uh any comments beyond Chairman P? Uh would the clerk please call the role? Councelor Filio, yes. Councelor Chalice, yes. Councelor Workman, yes. Councelor Lake, yes. Councelor Favalis, Councelor Tobin, yes. Councelor Williams, yes. Councelor Jones, yes. Councelor Roberts, yes. Councelor Chadborn, yes. Councelor Hos, yes. Councelor Rule Miller, yes. Councelor Ellis, yes. Councelor Powers, yes. Councelor Greenwald, yes.

And we have a request from Municipal Facilities, Municipal Services, Facilities, and Infrastructure Committee um for more time. Yes. And this is a more time report. It is related to a communication that was submitted by Britney Williams uh relating to concerns with congestion on Royal Avenue during school pickup. And more time is granted. Moving on to ordinances for the first reading.

We have one ordinance for first reading this evening and it was submitted by our senior planner. Uh this ordinance is relating to uh the process to amend the zoning text and the zoning map. And we have before us ordinance O202608. Thank you. And uh just in case you needed any interpret interpretation there, I know I did and so I got that earlier today. Uh that this is related to the scheduling of public hearings and the notification process. So, it's not changing too much in the rules other than uh how those notifications are made by the clerk's office. So, anyway, take a look. We'll vote on it next meeting

and we'll we have one resolution this evening. Mayor, we need to refer this to committee. We refer this uh to planning, licenses, and development committee. Thank you. Thank you. And finally, we have resolutions. And this is a resolution memo from our finance director. And it relates to resolution R202609, a res a resolution relating to the 2026 2027 fiscal year budget. and we'll refer this item to the finance organization and personnel committee meeting for their May 28th, 2026 meeting.

And I think we should announce the hearing date as well. I'm sorry. So that's the public hearing will be June 4th.

Very good. And the clerk wants me to make sure that you are aware that there will be a public hearing on the budget on June 4th. So, if folks have uh followed the process or not, uh there's an opportunity to speak to the council uh at a public hearing on June 4th. Okay. Uh we have one tabled item that will be continued to our next meeting and that is on an amendment uh or the comments on or on the amendments to the land development code adopted on September 18th, 2025. There are no further agendaized items. And at this point, I'd like to recognize councelor Powers for a motion to enter into non-public session.

Thank you, honor. We move to go into non-public session for personnel matters pursuant to RSA 91- A3 Roman 2 small a second. Seconded by councelor Filio. Uh we need to call the role. Councelor Filio. Yes. Councelor Chalice. Yes. Councelor Workman. Yes. Councelor Lake. Yes. Councelor Faves. Yes. Councelor Tobin. Yes. Councelor Williams. Yes. Councelor Jones. Yes. Councelor Roberts. Yes. Councelor Chadborn, yes. Councelor Hos, yes. Councelor Ruddle Miller, yes. Councelor Ellis, yes. Councelor Powers, yes. Councelor Greenwald,

that's a yes. We're now in non-public session. I'd like to ask our human resource director, Darcy Newport, to remain and we'll need to take a brief recess, too. We we are now in recess for a couple of minutes and uh good night for a moment. Councelor Greenwald will reconnect with you. Thank you.