City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to May the 4th uh  2026 city council meeting. Um we will first   uh call the role. Mayor McKernard here. Um  assistant Mayor Kelly here. Councelor Cook here.   Councelor Taber here. Councelor Bllelock present.  Councelor Baggley. Um, councelor Maro here.   Councelor Flynn here. Councelor Hopkins here. All  right. Um, as we stand for the pledge of living,   to just ask um to behold in your hearts uh the  brave men and women uh that are deployed uh on   behalf of all of us here um and hope for a  speedy return and end of the war in Iran. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the  United States of America and to the republic   for which it stands. One nation under God,  indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We first have uh two uh acceptance of minutes uh  minutes of actions of April 6, 2026 city council   meeting. Your honor, I move to accept and approve  the minutes of the April 6th, 2026 city council   meeting. Second. Um before we have that, I just  um city attorney, is there any issue with taking   these minutes as they were not done by the city  of clerk but a city recorder? Uh no, there's not.   All in favor? I. Any opposed? Uh second the  minutes and actions of April 20th, 2026 city   council meeting. Your honor, I move to accept and  approve the minutes of April 20th, 2026. Second.  

Uh city attorney, same question. Same answer.  All in favor? I. Any opposed? Um first up we have   uh crossing guard in terms of recognitions and  volunteer uh committee reports. Um, so do we   have Theodore and and Owen here? We don't. They're  out there doing uh doing good work. Um, but uh it   was uh pretty impressive. Uh uh they were here uh  last weekend. Um but they took it upon themselves   uh last year to start something that I hope we  can continue uh for for many years uh to come.   uh they got the signatures of 354 students um for  all schools and petitioned us the council uh to   designate the second Tuesday in May as crossing  guard appreciation day. Um and as they put it,   the purpose is show the people who care about us  that we care about them. And it's a uh you know,   it's um May is a great day to be a crossing guard.  Uh usually uh there's some tougher weather uh   that they're out there. Um but it's a um it's a  reminder uh not only of the work that goes into it   uh but what the kids that that are our next  generation are noticing um and learning uh in   our schools and having the ability to go out  and get the signatures required to do this.   um and to to make sure in their small way  that they made those folks that keep them safe   uh feel valued. So I I want to say um again uh  for crossing guards and I'm going to um I'm going   to read out um all of your name, but I can't uh  I can't stress enough um to to you and and also   to to Theodore Owen for the work that you do. So,  uh, Susan Carol, Sean Conroy, Jennifer Cook, uh,  

Lauria Crosby, Elizabeth Dynan, Daniel Gerard,  Thomas Kellaher, Marie Nelson, Lauren Roberts,   and Joyce Silva. Uh, thank you, uh, for all the  work uh, that you do each and every day. Uh,   you know, good weather and, you know, New England  weather. Um, and we we certainly appreciate you   and may this uh be celebrated for for many years  to come. So, if you're watching, thank you. We also have a um public service uh recognition  uh week and that's May 3rd uh to the 9th   um to to proudly honor the dedicated  individuals uh who keep Portsmith running   strong. from our first responders and public  works crews to our educators, city staff,   uh your commitment to Portsouth keeps  us strong and we appreciate all the work   both in front of the scenes uh and behind  the scenes to make sure uh that the city   that we love uh continues to run. So, thank  you uh for public service recognition week. Karen, did you have something to say on that  as well? I would, your honor. Thank you. As   as a proud member of the staff here working  for the city, I'm proud to recognize along   with the mayor and the council this important  week and want to thank the dedicated staff,   volunteers, elected and appointed officials for  your tireless service to the community. Every day   we all show up with professionalism, integrity,  and a deep commitment to the people we serve,   often working behind the scenes to keep  the city running smoothly. It really has   been called a a calling and a passion, and I'm  grateful to find many kindred spirits here who   find that to be the case as well. So, thank  you for your dedication, your generosity,  

of time and talent, and your unwavering  commitment to public service. Thank you. And finally, um, we have, uh, proud to, uh,  announce that we have a donation in honor of,   uh, Frankie, um, a dog that was, uh, tragically,  uh, killed, uh, by an electrical conduit wire   that was exposed. Uh, um, I know that the city  manager and Deborah Van Patton were able to have   a conversation. Um I would invite uh Deborah if  you're willing uh and and able to uh to speak   to that. Otherwise um we would simply like to  thank you uh for the grace that you showed us   in coming here. Um there's a lot of people um  it's a tough time u right now and I think that the willingness that that you showed to be a  human being and ask us to be human beings um when   there are so many different avenues that you can  take um legally, socially, all of the above. Um,   but you just asked for a recognition of Frankie's  life um and a commitment uh to continue to honor   uh their legacy. And so I I hope our small  donation in the memory of Frankie is has done   um some amount of good. And I will say that your  efforts to to lead as a human first certainly   set the bar for being a citizen of Portsouth.  And I just want to thank you again uh for the  

opportunity to live up to your expectation and  and and the bar that you set. Thank you, Deborah. I almost want to turn around to speak to the  people here because I receive more sympathy   cards. Deborah, I I I just want to make sure  they if you could just pull the microphone.   You can turn the microphone all the way  around so that you face back there. No,   the other way. So, you stand on the other side  of the podium. Ah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.   Yeah. Yeah. Because nobody's going to hear you uh  behind thing. Huh. Yeah. I just wanted to thank   everyone. Their outpour of sympathy and cards  and condolences came from people I don't know.   I've never met. Uh letters kept coming from the  SPCA listing donors. I don't even know who these   people are. But the thing that came in the mail,  which really just this was a rendition of Frank   from the newspaper picture um that a woman  named Kimberly M Mouse, Kimberly Muse did,   and she just sent it to me unsolicited. And  the thing that was most impressive about this   was that she captured Frank's eyes. like  if you've ever had an animal, you know,   you know, you just know. And she captured  her eyes. And so I just want to thank the   um council for responding to my request and  honoring Frank and really the only way I know how,   which is to help all the four-legged furry uh  animals on the planet. So, thank you very much.

Thank you, Deborah. Before public comment, we have proclamations  and a few of them. I've split them around.   Um and this one um although important is very  difficult to pronounce. Um a proclamation whereas   May is designated progressive supernuclear policy  and cordobo basil degeneration awareness months   to bolster awareness of the disease and benefit  patients, families and health care professionals   in communities across the country. And  whereas Portsmith is home to individuals,   families and care partners whose lives are  affected by those diseases, their debilitating   impacts and the loss of loved ones. And whereas  progressive supernuclear paly or PSP and cortico   basil degeneration or CBD are adult onset rapidly  progressing fatal neurogenerative disorders that   affect multiple areas of the brain and  cause complex symptoms and care needs.   And whereas approximately 30,000 Americans are  living with progressive super nuclear paly and   2,000 Americans are living with cortico basil  generation experiencing significant difficulty   with more movement, balance, speech, swallowing,  cognition, vision, mood changes and a variety of   other complex systems that can have a severe  impact on an individual's quality of life and   life expectancy. And whereas both PSP and CBD  are aggressive in their progress pro progression   progression with most patients becoming dependent  on care in three to four years devastating the   thousands of family caregivers, friends, and loved  ones whose lives are affected by the disease and   their losses. And whereas PSP and CBD are believed  to be caused by a combination of environmental   factors and genetics, but the exact cause is  still unknown and there are no known treatments   or cures. And whereas additional research,  support, services, and education are needed  

to maintain quality of life for those affected  by the disease, reduce delays in diagnosis and   access to proper care, lead to better treatments,  and find cures. Now therefore, I, Del MacArchan,   mayor of the city of Portsouth, on behalf of  the city council and citizens of Portsouth,   do declare May 2026 as progressive supernuclear  policy and cordo basil degeneration awareness   month in Portsouth, and call upon the community  to learn more about these fatal diseases, support   affected individuals and caregivers, and advocate  for advancements in research and care given with   my hand in the seal of the city of Portsouth  on this fourth day of May, 2026. Thank you. And now I would like to ask Oh. Oh, yes. Are you here to  receive it? Yeah. Wonderful. Oh, do you have a picture? I just wanted to thank uh the mayor and  the the city council and all of you for   um for this recognition. Uh this is my wife of  32 years. We live over on North School Street.   I lost her in January uh and to this u these  disease really we thought it was PSP and then on   autopsy it showed it was something called cortico  basil uh degeneration. I thank the mayor also for   working through all those names and uh doing it  pronouncing them perfectly. Uh there is there the  

diseases are as scary as as the names are. very  little is known uh and and this recognition will   help get the ball rolling. There's a group of us  that'll be going to the state house uh next week   uh where the the governor is made a similar  proclamation and then uh the host uh Rebecca   Quoka in the Senate will host us and u one of our  representatives representative Leno will host us   there as well. And then uh later in the month  you'll hear us on the local radio. Uh and then   we'll be advocating with on the hill in uh in DC  where something called the healthy brains act is   uh under consideration in the house. So  So I encourage everyone as the mayor said   to to look into these diseases. There's a  cure curep.org org is the easiest access to   uh information and uh of course awareness  is the first step in solving these complex   issues. So again, thank you very much to the  the mayor and the city council. Thank you. I would now like to ask uh the assistant mayor  uh to read a proclamation on affordable housing   week. Thank you, your honor. Whereas the  city of Portsouth, long known as the city   of the open door, is grounded in tradition of  welcoming neighbors and fostering a community   where people of diverse backgrounds and income  incomes can live and thrive. And whereas access   to safe and affordable housing is essential to  stability, health, and economic vitality of our   community and to the well-being of residents. And  whereas communities across the Sea Coast region,   including Portsouth, face rising housing costs and  limited supplies, making it increasingly difficult  

for working families, older adults, young  people, and employees to secure housing they can   afford. And whereas Portsmith serves as a major  employment, service, and cultural center for the   sea coast region. and ensuring access to access  to attainable housing strengthens neighborhoods,   supports local businesses, employers, and the  workforce that sustains our community and ensures   Portsmith remains a vibrant and inclusive  place for residents and future generations.   And whereas access to stable and affordable  housing plays a critical role in preventing   displacement and homelessness and housing  instability, which undermines the ability of   young families to remain in our communities,  creates barriers for older adults wishing to   age in place, and impacts workforce retention and  economic growth across the sea coast. And whereas   local mun municipalities, organizations, housing  partners, and residents united through the home   for all coalition are working collaboratively  to raise awareness, encourage dialogue,   and advance housing solutions throughout the sea  coast. Now therefore, I, Delin Mckran, mayor of   the city of Portsouth, on behalf of members of  the city council and its citizens of Portsouth,   do hereby proclaim the week of May 11 through  17, 2026 in Portsouth as affordable housing   week and call upon our residents, businesses, and  community partners to recognize the importance of   access to affordable housing and to help support  that effort that efforts that strengthen housing   stability across our community. given with my hand  in the seal of the city on the fourth day of May. I believe we have someone to accept this from us.

I don't know what side I'm supposed to be on.  I guess I'll No, no, please go back to the Go   back to the other side. Um, I just want to say  thank you to the mayor. Just move it uh to the   other N to the normal side. Face us versus  the other way. There you go. All right. Um,   I just want to say thank you, uh, Mayor McCern,  and to all of the counselors here for recognizing,   um, affordable housing week. I know that you  all know by now, housing is one of the most, uh,   pressing issues facing our state and communities,  including Port Smith, and it's something that   requires all of us. Solutions to housing problems  happen here locally. and to everyone in this room.   I hope that you know your voice matters so much  in the decisions that are being made locally. Um I   also have to say that Portsouth is really stepping  up um as a leader in this space across the sea   coast and the state. So, thank you uh to each and  every person up here um and the various committees   that are really prioritizing this issue um and  recognize that without housing for our workforce,   our residents um even our older adults, uh our  community will not remain the thriving community   that we all love and many of us are lucky to  call home. So, thank you. Thank you, Karen. Uh next, uh councelor Block on mental  health awareness month. Thank you,   honor. And I'll just remind everyone that uh we're  all going through something. Everyone out there is   going through something. So all the kids, all the  adults, just remind that everyone else is going   through something. Um whereas mental health is  essential to the overall well-being, productivity,   and resilience of individuals, families, and  communities. And whereas one in five adults the   United States experiences mental health illness  each year. and many go without necessary support,   treatment or understanding. And whereas stigma,  lack of access to services, and social isolation   prevent too many persons residents from  seeking help. And whereas prevention,  

early identification, timely intervention,  and community support improve outcomes for   people living with mental health challenges.  And whereas families, schools, employers,   health care providers, faith communities, civic  organizations, local government all play a vital   role in promoting mental wellness, and connecting  people to care. And whereas the city of Portsouth   is committed to supporting mental health  awareness, reducing stigma, expanding access   to services, and fostering a safe, compassionate  environment for all residents. Now therefore, I,   Councelor Rich Bllelock, um, in behalf of  David McCaffan, Mayor of City of Portsouth,   and on behalf of the members of the city council  and citizens of Portsouth, do hereby proclaim   the month of May to 2026 as mental health  awareness month and encourage all residents,   businesses, schools, and community organizations  to observe this month with appropriate programs,   public awareness activities, and outreach  to promote mental wellness and support   those affected by mental illness and  strengthen access to care and recovery   resources given with my hand in the seal  of Portsmith on this day 4th of May 2026. I believe we have Amy Mel Amy Michaels  uh to receive this proclamation. You guys coming this time. And finally, uh, in terms of proclamations  of councelor Flynn, about to read one, uh,  

for kids to parks day. Um, and just, uh, very  excited, uh, about, uh, the the upcoming events   uh, on May 16th at the South Millground  from 10:00 to 12 uh, to celebrate uh,   Kids to Parks Day. And also, uh, we have unveiled  a new interactive parks and playgrounds map to   help you find your local recreation spots easier.  Um, you know, we know ours, but it's good to know,   um, uh, all of them out there in the city, and  this makes a little easier. So, councelor Flynn,   whereas May 16th, 2026 is the 16th Kids to Parks  Day organized and launched by the National Park   Trust, 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 waters. And whereas   we should encourage children to lead a more active  lifestyle to combat issues of childhood obesity,   diabetes, hypertension, and hyperc cholesterolia.  Sorry. And whereas kids to parks day will broaden   children's appreciation for nature and the  outdoors. And whereas kids to parks day will   recognize the importance of recreating responsibly  while enjoying the benefits of the outdoors. Now   therefore, I Delan McKron, mayor of city of  Portsouth, on behalf of the members of the   city council and citizens of Portsouth do hereby  proclaim May 16th, 2026 as kids to parks day. And   I encourage families across Portsouth to step  outside, unplug, and enjoy the parks, trails,   and waterfront spaces that make our city such a  special place to explore and appreciate. given   with my hand in the seal of the city of Portsouth  on this fourth day of May, 2026. I believe Tom here and Tim Bailey.  Tim Oh, and Bridget Crompton and Lexi.

Thanks for being here, everybody. And with that, uh, we are on to public comment.  Um, Deborah, uh, Van Patton signed up. Would   you like to say any other words? I don't  think you're going to be able to top it,   but if you thought of anything while you  were sitting that you'd like to say, uh,   there is. We have I would I forgot to say this,  but uh, please speak to it. All right. Deborah's   got her own roles here. She's gonna address.  Here we go. Here we go. Um, it's also going to   be another fundraiser for the SPCA as well for  a lot of the nonprofits that are in the area on   uh Monday, a week from today, Monday, May 11th  from 6:00 to 8 at the Breakaway Cafe. They're   going to provide hamburgers and French fries and  sweets and goodies and all the proceeds will go   to the SPCA and to other nonprofits. So, I really  encourage you and there are flyers in the back on   your way out. Oldfashioned way. Flyers. What do  you know? What do you know? Flyers. But anyway,   I just wanted to say that and thank you so  much. And all my wonderful neighbors and   supporters are here and I just can't.  I live in the best hood in the city.

Thank you, Deborah. Uh Amy Michaels. Thank you. Uh mayor, council members, and  members of the community. Mental health is part   of everyday life. It shapes how we think, feel,  connect with others, and move through the world.   It touches every part of life, from housing and  work to relationships and community. It deserves   our attention, care, and public investment. Early  supports make a measurable difference. Access   to stable housing, employment assistance, health  care, and community programs strengthen long-term   stability and well-being. When support comes  early, young people are more likely to thrive.   Families avoid crisis, and our community saves  resources while protecting its most vulnerable   members. By encouraging patterns of open  conversation and training community partners   to recognize early signs, we can connect all  residents to services before challenges escalate.   Community awareness and coordination and  accessibility support are essential to early   identification and effective  intervention. As a city,   we can protect and advocate for all  citizens by investing in prevention,   expanding access to support, and fostering  partnerships across housing, employment, health,   and educational systems. I thank this council for  prioritizing policies and funding that make early   equitable mental health supports available  to all our residents. and up on your there's   a sheet that has some events that are happening.  Um the community conversation if people have not   signed up for that. The information on that  is there. Um and then also the boys lacrosse   um varsity lacrosse is going to have a um stick  it to stigma game. So all the information on that   is there and a little green pin for everybody for  mental health awareness. Thank you. Thank you Amy. Uh, we have Colin Scher on the resident  parking program fee increase. We also have  

a public comment on that. So, if you don't  want to be limited to the three minutes,   you can speak at that or both. No, that's okay.  I think it'll be quick. Um, I basically just want   to say that I am in favor of these programs.  Um, whether it's the fee increase of general   parking around the city for non-residents or  resident parking programs, I'm in favor of   them. We have a very limited supply of parking.  That is always going to be the case. Anytime   that we attempt to increase that supply, uh the  demand is always going to increase. That's a fact,   right? You you increase uh space for vehicles and  cars and increases. Um but to increase those fees   and to offer no alternative to our citizens, to  our workers, to our visitors is unfair. Um and   it's a waste of an opportunity. So what we need  to do is we need to provide that alternative. Um   and frankly the most reasonable and the thing that  works for the most people is our bus system. Um it   exists which is a big step forward from a lot of  other similar communities which don't have that   stepping stone. Um but it falls short in a lot of  ways. Um it doesn't run late enough, it doesn't   run frequently enough. It doesn't even accept  non-cash payments. Um, so if we are taking this   step to increase the amount of revenue that our  city makes from parking, from something that is   uh going to continue to have demand, no matter  what the change we make is, I believe that we   owe it to ourselves um as members of the city, as  residents, and to all the people that use our city   to direct that money directly back to the people  that it can help and the people that are going   to be paying into this. Um, so long story short,  um, I would ask that for this round of changes,   uh, whether it's the pilot program, which I  understand is just a pilot or increasing the fees  

for on street parking or already having increased  the fees for the garage, that money should go   directly, any increase should go directly to  funding. Ideally, I think it would be the coast,   but frankly, any alternative is a good use  of that money. Thank you. Thank you. Come on. That's it for signups. Um I will note um one point on the I picked it up at seven, but feel  free to come and address the uh Y Hey there. Thanks. My name is Stephanie and I  live on uh Sagamore A and I wanted to talk about   affordable housing and I didn't know that next  week is affordable housing. Perfect timing. Yeah.   So, um I live next to the giant pit on Sagamore  A. That is the um the approved development that's   going in there. And I wanted to talk about that  what was there prior was a perfectly maintained   beautiful little starter home. And the city  of Portsmith approved the demolition of that   building so that three large luxury homes could  be put in its place. Those homes will start at   $2.2 2 million a piece. And so I wanted to call  that to everybody's attention because we talk   about affordable apartments and transition spaces  and one room apartments, but if the city continues   to kick out the affordability rungs on the real  estate ladder, you're going to have a peasant and  

surf situation here in this city. as it is now,  the people that work here can't afford to live   here. And this happened to me when I lived in  Boston many, many years ago. And I climbed that   affordability ladder that the working class no  longer has any access to. So, I wanted you to see   what this development is actually doing, how it  will raise the prices on taxes and affordability   for all the older people in the neighborhood. All  of the abutters, with the exception of me, are   retired. Okay? And these are homes that won't be  attainable to the majority of this city. They're   built by people who don't live in the city to  welcome newcomers to the city and I'm a newcomer   as well. So, I just wanted to address that. I  wrote a lot more, but I'll leave it there. Thank   you, Stephanie. Stephanie, for the record, Kura,  we have your last name, please. Young. Thank you. I'll make one point on an agenda item  that was to come under uh my name. That   was the appointment. You have one more  person that wants to speak. Okay. Sorry. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. City Council Jim Lee,  520 Sagamore Avenue. My friends Joe and Kathy   from are out of town and wanted to submit a uh a  a comment to the city council. They were unable   to get it because they got an access forbidden  error for some reason. Anyway, Joe sent me an   email asked me if I would share it with you. We  oppose the appointment of Sally Keller as Port   Porsch city clerk based on her past record. We  believe this position reflects a commitment to   maintaining the strength and delicate integrity in  Portsmouth. Thank you for your assistance. We hope  

you and the council will give this matter careful  consideration. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. Anybody?   Okay. Can I just get a show of hands of folks that  that want to Okay, so next time it's signup sheet,   but three more. Mr. Mayor, do you have something  to say? This going to help this? That was my first   question. Is there a clarification on who  has authority over the over the hiring and   uh firing or whatever you want to call it of the  city clerk that uh you would like to say before   I go into my uh questions here? I'm happy to if  it help if the remaining are on the clerk uh or   the question item under my name, I will take that  out of order. Um if you want to just take a seat,   we'll restart that. So, um, as a part of,  uh, Sally, uh, Keller, who is here, um,   as a city clerk, I received a number of emails,  as we did as a council, on whether or not we have,   uh, the authority under RSA 48 colon 2 on city  councils, uh, and appointing and firing. Um, we   had previously asked, and I'll let Trevor get into  this, but I had asked our acting city attorney to   uh reach out and further clarify uh because  every conversation we've had up until this point,   the charter has been crystal clear in that  the council only has the employment um opport. there was RSAs that seem to imply uh and  go against our charter. I asked the city   attorney or the acting city attorney to reach  out to the secretary of state's office uh today   in order to clarify that and I will let acting  city attorney Trevor McCord speak to that. Yes,  

thank you, mayor. Um so let me just be clear. the  the city charter is very clear that uh and this is   this is the the people's manifestation of how they  expect their local government to be run. And that   manifestation directs that the city manager is the  is the one with the authority to appoint, remove,   hire and fire uh the all employees and officers  of the city of Portsouth. That's very clear. Um   RSA 482 is likewise very clear. RSA48 col2 applies  to strong mayor form of governments in this state.   That's mayor and alderman, not what we have  here in Portsouth, which is a city council,   city manager form of government. Very different.  The city charter was enacted under the previously   existing RSA 49 cola, which has since been  repealed. it was validly enacted at that time. And   uh RSA 49 colon B 49-B13 contains a savings  clause saying if you have a one of these kinds   of charters and it was validly enacted at that  time, it's still going to be valid. And forgive me   for the the numerous uh statutory references here,  but I think it's important to explain very clearly   where the authority is. Now at the time of the the  appointment of a clerk proh prompor a an acting   city clerk uh question was was made by city staff  to the secretary of state's office on what the   secretary of state's office would need in order  to provide access to the uh the acting city clerk   to vital records and to um and and to be able  to carry out the election duties. At that time,   the secretary of state's office stated that it  would take an act of the of the public body,   meaning the city council. Again, in response  to the the inquiry by the mayor, I today called   the Secretary of State's office, both the vital  records office and the elections office, and had  

a this kind of exact conversation with them about  uh the city charter and what it says. and they did   not disagree with uh with with my opinion um and  said that what they would need is a under these   circumstances with our form of government will  be a letter from the city manager indicating that   uh Miss Keller had been appointed to serve as the  city clerk and that is that is how we got here   today. Mayor, thank you uh acting city attorney  McCort. Um, as such, uh, we will not move forward,   uh, with the appointment of Sally Keller as city  clerk. Uh, being as she was appointed by the city   manager, to do so would imply that we have control  over her appointment. And that's something that I   wanted to make sure that was clear. Um, as Crystal  to uh folks watching at home, I wish her uh the   best uh in this, but there is uh not something  that the city council in this form of government   that we have before us um not disagreed with by  the secretary of state uh through our charter,   which is again, as Mr. McCord eloquently put,  the manifestation of how we want government to   run in Portsouth uh through the charter is that  we will not be taking that up. uh it is not our   uh it is not our vote to take. So with that,  happy to go back to regular schedule public   comment. I will say Deborah, every time you show  up, we kind of go off script on these uh these   public comments. So I appreciate your kind of uh  your your your juju there. All right. Um Petra Petra Huda Portsmith. So, based on what the mayor  has just said, um I still have some questions as a   resident. So, before obviously you're not going to  vote now and obviously you had no choice in this,  

but I think that the residents of Portsmith should  know the facts in this case. There is a documented   record that cannot be ignored and it goes directly  to the core responsibilities of this of this role.   In Bedford's 2020 election, 1990 absentee  votes were never counted. Those voters were   disenfranchised. That alone is serious, but what  followed is more concerning. Those voters were not   informed for a year. Local officials later told  the public they were instructed by the attorney   general's office to stay silent, even from their  own town council. The attorney general's office   responded in writing and said those claims  were inaccurate. So, let that sink in. A   formal statement to the public was contradicted  by the state's top law enforcement officer. The   delay in notifying voters was attributed to local  resistance, not the state direction. The decision   to keep this from the public was not supported by  any identified law or statute. And when passed,   it was admitted that the legal advice behind  the decision was informed, not vetted through   a town attorney. Even more troubling, officials  openly stated that they did not answer to the   town council. a position a position that is flatly  inconsistent with basic principles of municipal   government. A no confidence vote followed and  still there was no clear acknowledgement that   keeping voters and elected officials in the  dark was wrong. So let's be clear about what   this is and what this is not. This is not a simple  administrative mistake. This is about judgment,   transparency, and accountability after the  mistake. And that is exactly what the city clerk   role demands. So you are being asked to appoint  you were being asked to appoint this person to   oversee elections, safeguard records and ensure  public trust while there is a documented history   involving this. So my question is at a minimum  the council owes the public a full airing of that   record before you before you would have taken a  vote. Anything less is not due diligence. So the  

the question is are you confident that the record  this record reflects the level of transparency   and accountability Portsmith expects or are you  prepared to were you prepared to vote despite   this and support the city manager's decision  as she does report to you. So the this is worth   asking the simple question does Portzmith really  deserve better? Thank you. Thank you Petron. Next, Mayor McCran, City Council, thank you for  indulging me as I haven't signed up. I still   live in Portsouth and I'm very honored to do so.  And your name? I I know you. Everybody knows. I   am Paige Trace and I still live in Portsouth and I  am here to speak on matters of Portsouth. As long   as I have a voice, I am not going to ask you, any  of you, to listen to what I may or may not think   about somebody that you may or may not have hired  this evening. What I am going to ask you to do is   think back to the many, many years that Kelly  Barnaby admirably served many of us. I sat on   the first council that your mayor sat on during CO  and Kelly Barnaby was there always. She served us   well. She did it with a smile. and she was honest  and she was a wonderful representative of this   city. Countless people coming up to get a marriage  license or a dog license. And there was Kelly. She  

didn't hesitate. And the same thing with June. And  so, while I still have a voice in this fair city,   and I'll be sure to tell you when I do move,  because I did get a notice asking me to swear   on my death that I still live here because my  birthday is at the end of the month. I of all   people, you're asking me whether I live here  when there are thousands of cars traveling   this fair city that I see day in and day out with  South Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, and they   haven't changed their plates for more than a year.  I can guarantee you. So, where do we act on that?   you come to a past city counselor and ask her  if she still lives here or do you go after the   people that are new that are still living here  a year and a half later and haven't registered   their cars in the fair state of New Hampshire?  I digress. Back to Kelly. God bless you, Kelly,   wherever you are. If you're listening, as a past  city counselor, I would be more than honored to   write you a letter of recommendation to wherever  you are looking and however you are doing it. As a   past city councelor, that is my honor to somebody  as fabulous as Kelly Barnaby. And for the life   of me, I don't understand why you saw fit to  get rid of her. Thank you. Thank you, Paige. Good evening. Rick Beckstead, 1395 Isington  Street. First thing I want to do is I want   to give a shout out. Mayor, for four years now,  we have never gotten a proclamation on teachers  

appreciation week, which started today. My  wife's a teacher and actually I know that   uh the city manager's husband is also a teacher.  So, I just find it really strange that we have   not acknowledged those teachers because without  them, I mean, we'd be in a lot of trouble. Uh,   my concerns tonight, simple. Uh, I've repeated  them. I'll repeat them again. I'm worried about   the meeting minutes, saw the two that you had  gone and taken into consideration. Literally,   unless you watch YouTube or I knew because  I was there at those meetings parttook,   there is no acknowledgement of the conversations  that are taking place in this council. Honestly,   I I truly believe that those conversations are  important. The one that we had on Prescott Park,   important needs to be in writing, not someone at  YouTube. We don't know even know how long YouTube   will be there. 5 years, 10 years, when a counselor  of 20 or 30 years from now is going to want to be   looking at what you and others were talking about  and and and the direction you were going and the   conversations and YouTube's not there, we're  in trouble. I'm worried about this. It's action   sheets now is all that it is. I did four years.  So I know the difference between meeting minutes   and action sheets. That's all that it is. Does  it comply with the state law? I honestly believe   and I'll say it. This is the reason why Kelly  Barnaby was forced to retire. Everyone read the   article. She didn't fit in. She's 56 years old,  a year older than me, sharp as attack, wise way   beyond any 56 year old that I've ever met. And  I think that she pushed back on the things that   are happening right now, how we do our meeting  minutes, how the role is played for our clerk, and   she was pushed out. And I think there were things  that were dangled in front of her like pensions,   city pensions, payouts, which I don't know if you  guys are even going to do the pension. I mean,  

when Bob Sullivan left, when Dave Allen left, when  there were people of great statute, 20 years put   in, there's a 350 $400,000 payout. When are you  going to go and acknowledge the acceptance of that   to be able to pay Kelly Barnaby off that $300 to  $400,000? Near as I can tell, she was here long,   as long as Bob Sullivan, and I know she's going  to be entitled to something like that. or is it   just going to be swept behind the carpet and  the city manager is going to go and write a   check out from one of the funds and not even have  a discussion with you? You are the governing body.   You are her boss. You need to take the bull by  the horns. I said this to pass your father a   couple of times when it was, you know what, it's  time to do a job. It's time to take the bull by   the horns. You guys govern this city. You create  the policies. Things are questionable and they   need to be addressed and looked at. and you're not  getting the real interpretations of an attorney,   you can literally call New Hampshire Municipality  Association and talk to an attorney yourself. You   have that right to do so to question what you're  being told. Thank you very much. Thank you, Rick. All right, Roy, you didn't raise your hand  before, but come on down. All Patriots jersey.   Love it. Name's Roy Haw. I live on Middle Road.  What I want to know is what the city's going   to do about the people that are speeding  in this city. It says 20 miles an hour,   they're doing 35. It says 25 miles an hour  on my street and they're doing 40 miles   an hour. And when I pull out, they get angry  because I'm going 25 miles an hour. And I've   had a couple people pass me on a double yellow  line and I couldn't get their license number,   but I want to know when the police are  going to do more than just give them a  

little warning because this whole city, every  one of these, they've got the city speed limit   to either put bumps or stop these people and  give them tickets. Thank you. Thank you, Roy. Okay. Um, seeing no one rise, seeing no one  on Zoom, uh, we'll have the public hearing and   vote on ordinance and resolution. This is public  hearing and second reading of ordinance amending   chapter 11, article 2, section 11.216b relative  to sewer use charges. We have a presentation,   your honor. We have a verbal presentation from  regulatory council Suzanne Woodland. Welcome,   Suzanne. Good evening, Mayor and City Council.  Suzanne Woodland, Regulatory Council. Nice to   see you again. Um, so we are at second reading  for a minor amendment to the sewer use ordinance.   This minor amendment, as shown in your packet,  will allow the city to uh add additional fees,   uh sewer use fees, service fees, um as part of  any approval that you make later this year with   regard to fees and charges for the water and sewer  budget. So, this is all it is. It's very minor. As   you know, we had a work session back on March 2nd,  2026 where we went over what you can anticipate   for changes and requests um related to increasing  costs. And this is just one sort of small piece   of the puzzle because the sewer use ordinance  is very old and it needed a little tweaking so   that if you decided to add some charges uh on the  sewer side, you would have the authority to do so   if that's where you land. And I'll stop there. And  if you have questions, other questions before the   public comment or the public hearing, we will open  the public hearing. Uh look forward to hearing 24  

against the ordinance amending chapter 11 article  2 section 11.216b relative to sewer use charges. Seeing no one rise. No one on Zoom. No one on  Zoom. Close the public hearing. Any council   questions or deliberations? Your honor, I'd move  to pass sec second reading of the amend amendment   to chapter 11 article 2 section 11.216b relative  to the establishment of sewer fees and hold third   and final reading at the May 18th 2026 city  council meeting. I second that. Any discussion? would just like to restate this is allowing  for fees in a fixed format to be able to charge   um those that are you know not actually using the  sewer. Uh, and that would be a home that is maybe   purchased for a seasonal or um maybe it is an  investment or a condo that is owned and and not   actually used which is causing a increase of fees  for other residents that are using that and we   still have to continue to make the pipes go uh to  that. So, um I support uh this and what we might   uh bring forth as a part of updates to uh sewer  use fees. Does this need a roll call vote? No.   All in favor? I. Any opposed? Your honor, I'd  like to make a motion to suspend the rules to   bring forward third and final reading. Second. All  in favor? I. Any opposed? I make a motion that we   pass third and final reading of the amendment.  Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Next up,  

public hearing and reading. Public hearing and  second reading of ordinance amending chapter 7   parking article one parking meter section 7.102  parking meter rates to establish parking rates for   the residential resident access parking program  pilot. Um, we first have a presentation. Carl,   deputy city manager Carl Weber. Welcome,  Carl. Thank you, mayor, assistant mayor,   members of the council. Thank you for the  opportunity to present on this. The packet   that we've had in the past with the memo and  all the details is still in the packet, but I   have a brief presentation trying to summarize uh  the RAP program uh for the residents who may be   watching or or interested in the program. As  a reminder, this is a one-year pilot program   really prioritizing resident parking and to test  some new onre uh approaches to parking. Um next   slide. Why are we working on this? Part of it is  it responds to the council request for um to do   something about the limited resident parking on  availability of streets close to the downtown.   Uh what I wanted to talk about was um I had the  parking director run some numbers. I wanted to   know where are we at when it comes to like parking  supply. What are we talking about? The benchmark   in the industry is to be at about 85%. Which  means typically if you're going down the street,   there's 15 spaces open for every 100. Uh right  now, uh through our fiscal year through April,   um around noon, lunch and then dinner at 6 p.m.  we're at 140%. So think about that. The benchmark   is 85 and we're at 140. Uh we were trying to come  up with a good analogy of how do you explain that   to to folks? It's essentially like inviting fif  people over for dinner and you have 10 seats.   Essentially what happens at that time is when  somebody gets up, somebody takes that seat. And so   it really shows that a lot of this is in demand.  So part of what we're trying to look at is how do  

we um create some availability for residents along  the way. But I want to give a special thanks to   uh director Peter Rice, uh the parking director  Ben Fletcher, uh the parking foreman Mike Cassad,   and attorney Fini for helping sort of put this.  This is really a team effort. I'm presenting it,   but it really is a team effort here, but I  especially want to thank them for putting   up with all my questions along the way of this  program. So, we tried to build on some of the   lessons from the past. And there's a there's a key  shift here. What we really wanted to do is to make   this as easy as possible for residents. We moved  away from permits. We really looked at how do we   register license plates and make it really easy  for residents to park in these areas. Next slide. For those who may be watching or unfamiliar  with what RAP is, it really is a one-year pilot   uh designed to prioritize resident access  for on street parking. We're going to test   uh out here whether charging non-residents does  free up some spaces in some of these areas that   really do have little to no uh movement when it  comes to if you drive down a lot of these streets,   you'll see how full they are. It's license plate  based, which means you register like you do for   the uh discount at the at the parking office or in  the tax office and now you can just park in these   areas for free. You don't have to do anything. Um  and we are going to try that we're proposing a new   pilot um with downtown workforce on paired a to  see whether we can actually do downtown workforce   outside of the garage because right now we can  do it in the garage because it has tickets and   you can put a sticker over it. This is a a little  bit different concept for that, but it's really a   datadriven pilot. Our goal is to study this. What  do we learn? What do we see? Where does the where   does the the the change happen out on the streets?  What we learn is parking is like a big full   organism. And when you move one thing, everything  else tends to move. And so we want to make sure   we keep track of that. and we'll be reporting  back quarterly to both the council and to PTS  

around what did we learn, what do we see, what  are the recommendations or what are we hearing   uh about this. So the next slide again it really  is resident focused and it was funny I got a call   from a resident and they they said hey do you  have some can you answer some questions about   this wrap program I said sure no problem and they  they thanked me they said hey thanks so much for s   putting residents first and so we're really trying  to make it easy for them no app or kiosk required   for if you are a resident and you're registered  in the program you really can just park in these   areas at no cost but the goals really are how do  we make this simple how do we prioritize availab   ility for residents. How do we make it very  clear and easy to understand the rules? And   how do we also ensure that it's easy to enforce?  Next slide. Here's a summary of the locations.   Uh Parrot Avenue, the roadway only, Gate Street,  Hancock Street, Washington Street. You'll see on   the map. We do propose to put a kiosk on Parrot A.  We're going to repurpose a kiosk that's sitting uh   in the department for that in case someone needs  to use the kiosk. And then if you look at the next   slide, you'll see the location that's over near  the foundry. Handover Rock, Pearl, Tanner Street,   and Tanner Court. Now in the next slide,  you'll see where, as we talked about before,   an experiment with the downtown workforce parking  uh on Paradav to see, you know, we did here. One   of the things that you'll see if if you remember,  we we not only talked to the council, we talked   to the rec board, we talked to PTS, EDC, we met  with the chamber, we met with some businesses,   and one of the things we learned was the work for  downtown workforce works great in the foundry,   but it's pretty far away from this side of town.  Is there something that we could do over here? Um,   and so we thought, well, let's we could try  this. And so this would be sort of a little   different concept. They'd register and they'd be  able to pay in the app at a discounted rate. Uh,   it's a little more flexible, but it's a pay  as you use. is 30 cents an hour with a 35 cent   fee. Very comparable to what the foundry costs  for the downtown workforce parking. But again,  

a lot of this is just testing. When you  think about that table without enough seats,   a lot of what we're going to do until we address  some supply is about can we try some things and   see what happens. And so part of this pilot is to  get a lot of research along the way and see what   else we might come back with recommendations. Uh  next slide. Again, who pays what? Um, so staff and   uh folks that are working can park on there.  Uh, staff, library, recreation folks can park.   They're in there during working hours when they're  working. Non-residents would be $1 an hour. And   as I mentioned before, the downtown workforce in  that just paradav would be 30 cents an hour plus   the fee. Uh, recapping the hours of enforcement.  And also a couple of questions had come back back   along the way, but the existing rules around ADA  and and veteran free parking still apply to this   zone. I think the other question was, can people  still re reserve spaces when they need to? And the   answer is yes. Uh summary of the economics of it  all. There's a more detailed sheet in your packet,   but um essentially it's going to cost a little  to uh enforce this, but we anticipate that we're   going to gain some revenue and it's going to  be uh revenue to generate a little revenue,   which will be helpful, especially in other  areas. If we extend the RAP program into   other neighborhoods where there won't be a lot of  non-resident parking, this will still cover the   enforcement cost. So, we're glad that, you know,  so far it's projecting to pay for itself. Um again   the implementation timeline on the next slide what  you'll see is just really trying to go through the   ordinance process and then you're going to see a  little bit later we're going to we'd order signs   and setups and do a lot of educations. Uh we're  going to use flyers as well so that you know good   plug for flyers on the cars. Uh and the hope is to  start this on July one. Next slide. We just wanted   to give you an opportunity to see some of what  we're working on. These aren't final, but we're  

just thinking about how do we make this very  visible? How do we explain this to people? So,   we're trying to come up with a lot of resources.  Uh the next slide, frequently asked questions and   even that's the new um how do you qualify for the  parking portsmith program? We actually made the   rules simpler. We got some great feedback uh from  residents that hey, I brought in registration.   Why do I need something different? We actually  got through there. We changed the changed it up,   made it simpler. We also are going to be putting  this on as a fillable PDF online. Uh we got that   feedback from a resident as well. And as you  remember, we are trying to work on how do we   do this as an online form where people could  just submit their information. We're still   working on that uh as well. Uh next slide,  data that's going to be tracked. Again,   utilization trends. We're going to do this  uh the counts three times a day. Quarterly   reporting as I mentioned the council and uh  parking traffic and safety. Uh next slide.   takeaways. It's we tried to make this as simple  as possible. There were a lot of lessons learned   on the old program. Complicated systems tend  to not work out well. So, how do we make this   really simple? Essentially, you're a resident,  you register, you park. It's that simple. Um,   and again, we came up with a new onre solution  for the downtown workforce. It's self-supporting,   a real data driven driven approach. And  this may help with those sort of higher   density affordable housing developments down the  road. If something like this works, you know,   for residents if it gets better access to some  of the spaces, we can certainly report back on   that as well. Interestingly enough, all the photos  that were taken were taken just a few weeks ago on   a Thursday, and there weren't any spaces available  in all the places we took pictures. Just this is   a good illustration of what it looks like. If you  walk around some of these zones, you realize how   packed it actually is. Um, last slide. Again,  quarterly reports. um the staff's reviewing. I   know that uh the council had mentioned what  about community partners and volunteers and  

what we would ask is we'd like to spend some time  meet with stakeholders and find out what we might   propose. We haven't had a time to really get into  that. We think that just like you had mentioned   before, hey, what about downtown workforce? It  took us a little while, but we came up with a   solution. I think we'll come up with a solution.  We just want to meet with people and see what what   what is the problem? Where is the issues? What  um can we potentially propose? And again, I think   it comes back to it's a supply issue. If you had  more supply, we could be more creative. If we were   closer to that 85%, we might be able to offer more  creativity. Um, we are going to look at the app,   other things that we can enhance the experience  for users, residents, non-residents along the way.   Um, but we really want to solicit feedback uh from  everyone along the way. So, we're going to hear   from people, we're going to meet with folks, and  really come up with any additions or subtractions   along the way in this pilot. But again, we're  trying to do our best of a streamlined pilot.   If you notice, it's much different than  when we first started. We streamlined   it down and really tried to make it as simple  as possible. And so with that, any questions? Questions for Carl? Councel? Thanks, Carl. Great  presentation and you've really orchestrated this   well. Uh what might be the next streets  that you'd look at if this is successful? I think what we want to do is see where the next  streets make sense. Looking at the counts, I think   we might also hear from residents that say, "Hey,  would you consider us to be part of that?" Um,   I I thought what a great world it would be when  people are saying, "Please put our roads in this,   please put our streets in this program," versus  like, "Hey, I don't want anything to do with this   program." So, I think that's why we're starting  small and I think we'll look at what the data   says and we're going to watch where does this  potentially push traffic and we have got to be   really attentive to that because if it starts to  spill over into a neighborhood, we may be back  

sooner rather than later with a recommendation  says these are the next streets that we might need   to consider. Councelor Cook. Um, thank you, your  honor, and thank you for the presentation. Um,   I had a resident reach out to me that said that  they have a relative with a disability placard.   Um, and I conveyed that that they would still  receive three hours of free parking like you do   anywhere else in the community. But the question  was really what if my relative comes and needs   to stay overnight? They can't just go out and  move their car to another location. This is   not something that's easy to do. Is that something  that we're prepared to kind of work with residents   um to figure out where kind of these challenges  may arise? Yeah, I think if if residents have   problems, they can always reach out to us and  talk. But I think in that case, it might be   as simple as they park their car in one of the  zones and let that person park at their house,   right? So, there may be some areas of that. We,  you know, we heard from some folks as well about,   you know, what about if there's a game and  whatever. Some of this might encourage folks   to carpool down there, which will be helpful  as well, but certainly if somebody has those   concerns, reach out to us. We'll we'll talk  through that, see if there's a solution. Any other questions? Carl, I'd asked for   um I guess an understanding of how we  might be able to pull in volunteers,   other folks in the community uh that are um uh  you know certainly working to make the community   better. Um any thought going into that as a  part of the initial pilot? Yeah, I think um I think the pilot as as stated I think is is we're  on the move to get this for July one. I think I   we'd like a little bit of time to meet with some  folks. So I think we've identified some of like   who are the big community partners we heard from  like who's got volunteers and do that. I think   we're it's going to take a little bit of time for  us to digest who they are, what are they doing  

and and how can we do this fairly and equitable  equitably. And so we're just trying to figure that   out. And so again, we're open to any suggestions  of groups that you might want us to to connect   with, but certainly groups that have volunteers  that come and do things. We're we're trying to   reach out to some of those uh soon to just talk  through what the issues may be. There are still   lots of places to park for free. It's just not  these two little neighborhoods and paradav. And   so I think part of that too is we want to see  how much of a an issue is this and where can   we do that? Is it if paradav's an issue but they  can park here at city hall? Is that okay? Because   you can park here for free. We just want to really  understand that before we propose another layer on   top of all these layers that we've already added.  Does that make sense? Council. Thank you, honor.   Um to kind of touch on the mayor's question,  I think um you know and some of the volunteers   maybe work at the little league or some of the  volunteer events, maybe the Connie Bean. Um, but   those are the groups that I'm kind of concerned  of that I don't want to punish them. Um, you know,   they're signing up to try to make the community  better, try to help out, and then I don't want   them to get a, you know, ticket when they're  volunteering their time and effort. Sure. Um,   but I understand the other um issue of the  that once you make one change, everything   else kind of changes. Um, so I am curious  to see how this all works, but um, you know,   I'm curious if it's going to just move. Will there  be monitoring like at the streets around this?   um because that's what I'm I'm worried that once  we draw the line, everyone's going to kind of go   to the next line. But thank you, Council Ma. Thank  you very much for putting this together. I think   you've put a lot of thought to it and I really  appreciate it. I guess one of the things um that   we might want to consider when we're talking  to all these groups and trying to find other   ways to accommodate is trying to work in how  they might fit into public transportation and   if there's a way for public transportation to  actually be improved. Um then maybe that could  

be brought back to us as well. if there's some  specific instances that would help. That's all. What are I guess when we looked at um community  partners in that way, what were some of the things   that prove to be a challenge in including them  in this uh first pass? I think we were trying   to identify all the ones that exist so we're  not creating one that doesn't fit everyone and   we just don't know who's out there that has it.  We've heard from a a handful, but that's it. And   so we're trying to figure out what other options  there are, you know, for like the game. It's like,   okay, uh does that encourage them to carpool  with a resident to sort of because again,   we also have such a high demand that anything that  encourages a carpool downtown is also helpful. Uh   we just want to know what how big is the problem.  And that's what we haven't been able to determine   yet. Where I think we we heard and we could  sort of quantify one street downtown workers,   it just made sense. Here it's like there's a  lot of them. And so is it is it hundreds? Is   it thousands? We don't know yet. And I think  that's why we wanted to make sure that we took   the time to look at that and then propose some  solutions that made sense. Just on that, would   we um would we try to quantify all nonprofits or I  mean would would another approach be to have this   implemented and allow folks to apply as as based  on if they're a a nonprofit designation by the IRS   to that's one option we've looked at and then it's  do we cap the number of them? What's the criteria?   We've looked at a couple of those options. We just  haven't been able to quantify that since we were   before you last. Councelor Bug. Thank you. Um and  to back off of councelor Maro's question um and um   Colin's suggestion on the public comment. I really  think you know moving some funding or somehow to  

um help coast to make them you know be available  later um to be available where they actually you   know if you work downtown they would actually  come after your shift is over. Um because right   now I know they don't you not for restaurant  workers um not for a lot of people that work   downtown. it's just not an option. Um but then  then we see a change of behavior. Um and then   you know ultimately using the bus that would be  the best change of behavior we would like to see.   Um I know now we've all seen you know all the  downtown workers just go buy their own scooter.   Um and then that's their own answer to the supply  and demand issue with the parking. Um but if we   can incentivize somehow people to use Coast um  and help promote that, I' I'd be all for that. Oh. Uh, councelor Hopkins, I think, um, to  your point, Councelor Block, having people   pay for parking is an uncomfortable incentive to  promote people to, you know, actually take forth   changes in their behavior, car pooling, biking,  taking public transport. And it's, you know,   also the I want to bring focus back to this is a  resident access problem to parking in their own   neighborhoods. And while I do appreciate the  volunteers and the workforce and all of that,   the solutions can come later for them. This  is prioritizing our residents first. And I   think it's a very good first approach that's been  thoughtfully put together. Parking, traffic, and   safety agrees with it. you know, they've passed  through all of the committees and commissions   and and have done a lot of edits. And I think  that in part, you know, we might need to offer a   stick instead of a carrot to get people to change  their behaviors around parking. And, you know,   I know that parking, traffic, and safety and  sustainability would support these changes. So,   again, I thank you, Carl, for all of your thought  going for this. Um, and you have my support.  

Councelor Bulock. Thank you, Councelor Hopkins.  Yeah, thank you. I mean, just to touch on that,   I completely agree with the two neighborhoods.  They're included in this. I think, you know what   I mean? Those people should have access to their  own neighborhoods. They pay property taxes in   Portsouth. This is their town. You know, I don't  want people that don't pay property taxes to come   and park in their street and prevent them from  parking in front of their own home. Um my worry   is really just is the u paradav you know just how  that's affecting our recreation um our volunteers   um how the the downtown workforce parking program  is going to I hope it's going to help them I don't   really believe it's going to I don't think my  workers are going to use this I don't um you know   with me personally I'm like yeah this is great but  not good enough I'm going to find my own answer   um scooter you know what I mean that's what you're  going to do or you're going to park at Larry Field   you're going to park on Elwanav you know you're  going to do one of those Um, but that's just my   opinions right now. Councelor Taber, you know, I  think the notion of I might lose some parking sort   of works on the lizard part of the brain. It's  this fear of I'm going to lose something. And I   I sympathize with folks volunteering at the music  hall or with Little League. But if we're at 104%   or 140 140, there's no parking there right now. So  um and a lot of that is uh workers who are parking   and parking for free on Parrot Avenue all day. So  I do think we have to move ahead with uh the plan.   Let's just do it straight as it's proposed uh in  my opinion and uh see what we can do in terms of   creating that uh 15% vacancy rate and then we'll  have some data to base the rest of decisions on.

Thank you, Carl. We'll open up the public  hearing on the second reading of ordinance   amending chapter 7 parking article 1 parking  meter section 7.102 parking meter rates to   establish parking rates for the resident access  parking program pilot. Good evening Rick Beckstead   1395 isn't street. I wholeheartedly agree with  councelor Bllelock. I served seven years on ports   little league and to get volunteers and parents  and everything on that street and organized. I   still don't know. I mean, we carpulled when we had  when we could. Uh first question with that would   be simply do they have the stations and the stops  for coast in these locations or is that something   that we're going to have to step up and put in to  be able to incentivize? I I don't remember seeing   any signs or stops or anything there um anywhere  on Perav especially uh let alone any of the other   streets. Um, I guess my biggest concern, Paradav,  uh, let's see, Handover Street, Rock Street,   Pearl Street, Tanner Street, Gate Street, Hancock  Street, and Washington Street. I pulled up the   map on my I I use it every day when I'm working  downtown and it's great and I love the resident   thing. I'm glad that um, they're advising you when  you register your car that you're going to sign up   for the program right then and there and it's  done with. It cost meundred or a$135 now to be   able to go and park for every hour. When I pulled  the map up and when you click on the sections,   the sections that are on this list for you tonight  are there. They're just not you you can't you   can't obviously can't click the button to pay. The  ones that you can, it says $2 an hour. What you're   going to create by the $1 an hour is you're going  to create cheaper zones that people when they   come into Portsmouth, they're going to go, "Oh,  this zone's a dollar. We're going to park there   because it's cheaper. My recommendation would be  is if you're going to do this across the boards,   $2 an hour. It's there on every other street.  You're you're giving targets to those residents  

on Gate Street, Hancock that rely on that. I've  worked on those streets before and I've gone and   had free parking. You need to even it out. It  needs to be across the boards. It cannot be a   less. This is a pilot. I parttook in a pilot on  the creek. Uh, some things worked, some things   didn't work on it. Um, I'm happy to see that. I  think that they used some of the information that   was gathered during that pilot, which I think was  only six months, not a year. This is a bold step   for a year. I'm worried about our teachers. You  have the superintendent, you have the chairman of   the school board that are here. How are you going  to implement that? I know the summertime's great.   Um, but this again, you were told that they're  they're filled up. They're used. Paradav is used   all the time. All the time. It's full. I would may  also make a recommendation that the council ask   staff for report back. This is something that has  been said for the last 10 years. Exemptions from   parking requirements on our boards. It used to  be the BOA. It's been the planning board special   exception. You know, the Ruth Griffin workforce  housing. Everybody commends it. They were given a   90 space exemption that they were required to have  because it wasn't just the Ruth Griffin building.   It was all faster and they had parking. Now de  you know portion of the housing authority took   some of those people moved them to a place that  they wouldn't necessarily have to have a car and   I know that some of the residents there park over  at Marges and have to walk back and forth kind of   thing. But um that's a really big thing on how we  got here today. It was those exemptions. You know,   I know that some counselors believe that it's the  responsibility of the city of Portsouth to provide   parking for all residents. I get it. But when I  buy a condo and it doesn't come with parking, why   should the residents of Portsmouth be providing  parking? That's why we have pass programs and  

stuff in our garages. The garages are full. I  mean, they're about ready to kick out the working   uh program because it's full and there's more  revenue to be made. And it's bold to be able to   go with with paradav and be able to put them on  there. And I agree again with councelor bllelock.   I don't know if the workers are really going  to take into account of it. Four years ago,   my wife and I bought scooters. That's how  we get around town because you don't have   to worry about parking at that point. But the  I I the one thing I really want to stress to   you guys is simply that to go and raise the  $2 an hour. You can do any whatever you want   with any of the other information. Discard it,  you know, ignore it, whatever. may be taking   into consideration they don't know. Um, again,  I've always said to everyone on the council,   I am always here and if anybody has any questions  to either email me, call me, stop by the house,   I'll come to you. Mayor knows that. I bug him from  time to time. Um, and we have met a few times. So,   um, I'm always here for it. But please recommend  so you don't have that target because the program   is going to fail if you do a dollar an hour  on Hancock Street. I mean, councelor Cook,   you know this. Um, Gate Street, really big thing.  If it's a dollar an hour and it's on the app,   they're going to park there first before they do  the rest. Thank you very much. Thank you, Rick. Brook Stevens. I own a uh multif family  on Hanover Street between Rock and   um Brewster Street. And I have the same concern  that Rick has. I think people are going to move   even from the garage to those streets because it's  going to be less money to park there than it is in   the garage. That's a concern because already we  have such limited parking in that neighborhood.   Um that's that's a definite definite concern. The  other issue is one of my tenants brought up under   the old Islington parking street. They used to  have a play card you could get for guests. Is  

that still going to happen? And so if you have  a a guest that comes for the weekend, are they   going to have to pay for parking just because  they have a guest um under the old program,   the street neighborhood parking program, you  could just put a pass in your car and your guest,   you know, could stay there for the weekend. Um  but yeah, my biggest concern is it's going to   move parking from garage in downtown city  streets where it's more expensive into   the neighborhood which is an issue. Thank you.  Thank you. We have one hand on Zoom. Robin Hust. Robin, can you hear us? Yes, I can. Thank  you so much. Robin Hustlage, 27 Rock Street.   Good evening, everyone. Um, thanks uh for the  informative presentation. That was a big help. It   answered some of my questions. Um, most residents  in Islington Creek who live close to downtown, the   downtown core, have been waiting a very long time  for a parking program to help ensure that those   who live on our streets have a reasonable chance  of finding a parking spot near, we don't expect in   front of, but near to where we live. I live on  Rock Street, one of the proposed wrap streets,   and I'm in favor of a resident parking program and  applaud your efforts to create one. But I do have   some questions about the current proposal such as  um and maybe this will be handled in anformational   meeting that hopefully will be arranged um soon.  Um will park mobile signs be installed on each   of the wrap streets and if so where will they be  located and will there be a conversation with the   neighborhood about the proposed locations?  Um, currently there is a 72-hour limit for   vehicles to park in the same spot within our  neighborhood. Will this limit still be in place  

with this wrap program? Will this wrap program  provide each resident with a guest pass asked by   uh someone else there? Um because you know here  you are giving you know hopefully freeing up   space on the street. So that's you're giving us  this opportunity which is very much needed, but   then you're taking away the ability for our guests  to park on the street. So it's like we give you   something, we take something away. So um I would  love to see maybe not a placard because I know   you're all digital here, but maybe there is like  a code that can be plugged into the park mobile   app when they park or something and you're only  allotted so many hours a month or I don't know.   But um having the ability to have your guests  park again reasonably close to where you live   would be great. Um, and the other question, so  we currently have a residentonly parking program   ordinance that's on the books for uh, Handover,  Pearl Street, and maybe some other streets back   in there. And um there's signs, you know, although  it's not has not been monitored, so no tickets   ever, but it was I know it is a deterrent  to somebody looking for free parking in our   neighborhood. They see the signs, they're like,  "Oh, well, I guess I don't want to risk getting   a ticket." Um so I'm wondering, will this pilot  uh replace that even though it's just a pilot?   Um and how are you going to handle like because  that ordinance I think is on the books. So, how   are you going to handle that current ordinance and  with this new program? Um, and uh I'm hoping that   there's anformational meeting that we can attend  as residents that will be impacted so we can learn   more and ask all these kinds of questions.  I agree with Rick Beckstead's suggestion to  

raise the hourly rate to $2 an hour because oh my  goodness, you're going to have people, you know,   just heading to our neighborhood as they do  now for right now parking, but if they can   save a buck an hour, they're going to come into  our neighborhood and park. So that will totally   defeat the whole purpose of um you know trying to  free up space. Um, and I also heartily applaud the   idea of connecting um, public transportation with  parking. Like just to take the parking revenue   and throwing it into the main pot of money for  the city. It's like we need to be thoughtful and   and really about connecting parking with public  transportation because they're inextricably linked   and public transportation having a good system,  better system than we have now. um that is more   frequent and all that stuff is imperative if we're  going to solve uh and and alleviate a lot of this   parking these parking issues. Um that's all I have  for tonight. Thank you so much. Thank you, Robin. Uh good evening, council. Tyler Garza, 62  McKinley. Uh thank you uh deputy city manager,   mayor, councilors uh and especially to councelor  Maro, councelor Bllelock, and councelor Hopkins   uh for recognizing what Mr. Scher said earlier  about Coast. Uh parking fund puts about a million   dollars into Coast. It should be more. Coast is  raising their rates. Uh Coast will cost more than   the downtown worker parking program after they  raise their rates. Uh the only way to really   get people to use coast is to balance the price of  parking appropriately against the price of coast.  

Uh this uh wrap program has been co-opted into a  doubling of the downtown worker parking program.   Let's look at the tax subsidy involved. Uh with  the upcoming foundry garage price increase,   garage spots will cost $18 for an 8 to9 hour stay  rack rate. Uh downtown worker parking program   participants get this for $3. The remaining $15  a day is subsidy. If you do some multiplication   work and exclude December, that's half a million  dollars of subsidy that is not going into our   coffers. It's not going to fund Coast. It's just  a tax subsidy. this precedent setting expansion to   pair it. It's lesser. $6 a day revenue loss, maybe  90 users, six days a week, 48 weeks, could be up   to $150,000 of tax subsidy. That's what's going on  with that program. Counselors, parking and traffic   are not some magic self-supporting fund. Hart  1993 writes, "For every dollar motorists pay to   local governments, local governments spend $8.  This money in our town comes from residential   taxpayers. There's no transportation surplus,  even though there's a return of parking funds   to the general fund. Let's stop pretending  about this." The residential access parking   program started with a sound premise. ensure  street parking for residents so that we can   enable more dense development downtown for all  socioeconomic groups. We want people to live here,   not necessarily to drive here. We want them to  live here. This proposal, the WAP has grown a devi  

a deviation with the downtown worker parking  program and the continued effort to bring in   community partners needs to be cut off now. Draw  the line. Stop it. Community or civic service is   not a precondition of tax benefits. Thank you, M.  Tyler. Any other speakers? Two for four against. Seeing none, any additional questions of the  council? Councelor Cook. Um, thank you, your   honor. Um, I initially requested this resident  access parking program examination with counselor   Bagley this time around um to consider parking  for specifically residents, residents who are   challenged by lack of parking in their immediate  neighborhoods because of overflow from not just   downtown but from general contractors, which is  what we find a real challenge in the South End,   and from individuals who are parking long-term.  um overnight uh camping even on Parrot Avenue. Um   the program as designed is not perfect. I love  the saying, don't let the perfect be the enemy   of the good. And that's why I'm going to go ahead  and move forward and support this tonight. Um it   isn't it's absolutely not everything I dreamed  it would be. Um but it addresses a lot of the   challenges and it's a start. Um, I would love to  see a shuttle service for downtown workers instead   of having downtown workers on Parrot Avenue. The  reality is we don't have a shuttle service yet.   I would love to see the money that comes in from  this program and for the downtown worker program   as suggested by Colin and Tyler going towards  expansion of public transportation, especially  

a shuttle service. I worry that as we expand  downtown worker parking, we are disincentivizing   um employers to pay for that parking and to  invest in some kind of shuttle service. So,   I think that we need to be really careful  about how we incentivize or disincentivize   public transit. I think it's very important that  we focused on that and that should be our priority   for downtown workers. Um the South Mill Pond  lot is not included. uh Parrot Avenue lot's not   included and the library lot is not included as  well as Pierce Island. All of these lots dropped   off the programming, the original programming and  I had specific concerns around South Mil Pond and   the library lot where we see a lot of non-resident  parking and lack of access for residents to things   like the pickle ball courts and the public  library. Those are are both amenities that   we pay for out of our tax dollars. It's really  important that we provide resident access. So,   I hope down the line we consider an expansion that  provides our residents priority when it comes to   um the pickle ball courts, the playground,  and our library. Um and uh I think it's also   important that we look at monitoring um the Parrot  Avenue lot, which is not included in this parking   program. And the reason I say that is that I hear  frequently from residents that people are parked   in that lot for very long-term parking. There's a  lot of overnight parking. Um I think a lot of that   is residents of um the South End neighborhood who  don't actually have parking immediately in front   of their homes because there are a lot of people  in that neighborhood that don't have driveways,   including I have two direct abutters that don't  have driveways. So I can understand that. And I   live on a street that has no parking. So um they  have to park somewhere. So I do understand that   we're seeing a lot of overnight parking there. But  it would be nice to know who is parking there. How  

many people in that lot are residents versus  non-residents parking overnight. Um, but I do   appreciate this solving some of the problems that  we have some residents on Parrot Avenue that are   dealing with um parking overnight parking from RVs  and camping right next to their homes. And so this   kind of helps address that because people are  paying hourly rates and are less likely to park   there for free. I do agree that the rate should  be higher. It's not enough of a disincentive. Um,   but that's not enough for me not to support the  program. I would ultimately like to see the rates   not included in the ordinance, but set by the  fee committee instead down the road. In fact,   I'd like to see no fees in any of our ordinances.  I want to see all of those set by the fee study   committee because I think it it makes more sense  for us to examine those on a regular basis and   not have to change all of our ordinances down  the line. Um, but I'm willing to support this   today because I think we are moving in the right  direction and I think we can see what happens in   the pilot and make adjustments. Thank councelor  Cook. Councelor Boa. Thank you, honor. Um, I was   not aware this was designed to try to eliminate  camping um on these streets. Um, if it was,   those camping are just going to go right around  where these yellow lines are. You know, they're   just going to go right up to right by Larry Field.  um you know I mean right now the only reason why   you'll see campers on Paradav is because that's  close the freest free parking closest to downtown   where I imagine um most visitors want to visit. Um  this is a tough one. I'm I'm really on the fence   on this one. Um but I I worry I worry that it's  going to have effects that we didn't intend. um   you know whenever we draw the lines differently um  everything those problems just kind of get pushed   you know outside the the new lines we've drawn. Um  we have a clear supply and demand issue. Um that's  

that is no question. Um is there I would like to  see if there's any way that we could I know it's   only a net gain of $3,200. Um but is there any way  we could say that that would go to Coast from this   parking program? Is there any way we could could  we amend this motion to say that the money made   from this program would go directly to Coast to  try to I know it's not much. Um I think we could   certainly increase the amount um that we give  to to Coast as a part of this. Um I don't know   if we would include it in this as a part of the  pilot maybe as a part of if it were to come back   outside of being a pilot. Um yeah to uh to to uh  to make that language more permanent. Um the other   the other part of this I'm worried about is like  for example Little League is April and May. Um so   this won't go in effect till July 1st. So they'll  you know the part the program will go in effect   and then next year when everyone's kind of stopped  talking about it. Um then literally will show up   and they'll get penalized. You know what I mean?  Um that's just what I'm worried about. Um, I these   changes, I know they're all intended to have good  effects and increase the access for residents. Um,   but I also worry that we're advertising free  parking for every other Portsouth resident if they   want to visit downtown on these streets. Um, I've  also I've heard that as well. Council, um, Council   Mow and Councelor Hopkins. Um, I will support the  program. I've my whole neighborhood's been asking   for this for a very long time. Um, no plan is  going to be perfect, but it is a pilot and it's   a way for us to get more data and once we have  more data on the migrations and how things work,   I think then the program can start to be adjusted  and made I won't say anything's ever perfect,  

but you know, strive towards more perfection in  that. Um, I would I actually am now concerned that   was brought up because I didn't even think about  the rate being the dollar and that definitely will   make that so I I'd like to ask our acting city  attorney. I'm guessing this would delay second   reading if we wanted to increase that amount in  the ordinance. Is that true? Certainly. You'd have   to renotice for second reading were you to double  the rate? And would that put us beyond our July   1 start time? It could due to implementation um  signage installation messaging to the to the to   the public. It could it could. On an opposite, if  we pass this tonight and schedule third reading,   could we then amend it thereafter to add to change  the fee or no? I think that would be considered   significant. Yeah. No, I'm not saying amend what  we're passing. Pass it through third reading,   but then bring forward a whole separate public  hearing in an increase in the fee is what I'm   saying. So, it lets it get started, but then  we could on the front end update the ordinance.   That's what I'm That seems somewhat um maybe  if Carl could speak to where we sit on the   $1 fee versus $2 um at the garage rate, that would  be helpful. Sure. I I think when we originally   uh started it, we looked at trying to match it to  the foundry rate, which at the time was a dollar.   Uh and again, we hear that a dollar won't be an  incentive. Well, right now it's zero. So, there's   no incentive not to park there. And so, we were  trying to find something to price this product,   which is different. It's a different area, uh  differently. And I think we were originally   tracking it with that dollar an hour foundry,  which now feed committee has moved to two. So,   that has changed since we did this. Um, I think  if you were to renotice and do it, I think we can,   you know, instead of July, it we could look  and see if July one still works. If not,  

it might be July 15th or whatever that is. If  there's a strong feeling to moving it to two,   we got a lot of push back at one, you know. So,  it's like, okay, you know, but if you want to   keep it more consistent with that incentive,  uh, to anything you charge is going to change   something. And again, I think what we're looking  at is, do we know what's going to happen? Nope.   We have guesses. We have some assumptions, but  we're going to really watch to see what happens.   But be nimble to come back and say, "Hey, we think  this is needs to change." We'll have to do the   whole process because again, it since it's in the  ordinance, it is a more cumbersome process than   just getting it approved and moving forward. If we  were to change, just uh really quickly, would we   uh and maybe the city attorney, this would still  require a second reading, but could we uh peg it   to the cost of the prevailing garage rate so that  we would always be consistent with the garage   rate. So, we wouldn't have to like have a separate  conversation if the garage changed. Um, again,   I think if you're changing the the No, no, no. I  understand this would be a second reading, but I   you know, I guess like the intent of this at the  beginning was to to bless you um was to align to   the prevailing or the garage rate at the time. So,  if we were to change it um tie to the garage rate.   It could avoid this in the future if there were  to changes on that. And I'm wondering legally, is   that something that we could do with these uh with  that rate to tie it to a declared as a gar garage   tile rate or peg it to the garage rate? Certainly  you could. Yeah. There wouldn't be any legal bar   to that. Okay. Councelor Cook. Uh thank you,  honor. Um I had one more question for our legal   counsel. Um what if we just removed the dollar per  hour and said um parking for non-residents will be   set by the fee study committee. Will is that going  to require a second reading as well because that's  

the process we currently use for parking rates?  Yeah. Again, I think I I think if you're changing   the you know I think the the cost you know the  the dollar amount that's one of the material items   of the of the ordinance. So if you're changing  that that's going to trigger the second reading.   I think an important nuance, your honor, is that  garage rates are set at fe committee on street   are set through the ordinance and that's coming  up under council's name. I'm bringing that up   later. Okay. So, um I guess I would tend to if uh  so Carl's saying that it's possible that we get   this done or somewhere thereafter. Um if I worry  that the I mean we could find out um certain they   can find out and I am sympathetic to the idea of  charging any amount is going to be a difference   but um if this is already being addressed in  an issue right now I would tend to want to not   um not deal with it in the future especially what  the intent was to align to the garage rates but   happy to hear what the council Let's say councelor  Hopkins. Um, two things. I wanted to touch on this   fee committee and ordinance thing because from  what I understand, and correct me if I'm wrong,   um, we can set the the fees for the parking  garages much more easily, much more smoothly   because they just go through fee committees. We  own the property. They're ours to do with what we   will, so to speak. And to change on street  parking, there's more people at the table.   It's some of it's maybe state, some of it's maybe  it's just a more much more complicated process to   just flip from $1 to $2, even though that would  be um ideal in this scenario. So, I think I've   I've heard that it is the intention, you know,  to match street parking to garage parking,   but one of them is on a fast track and one of them  is on a slow track. And that's kind of where we  

sit right now. And I just wanted to clarify that  for people that don't speak legal ease, which I'm,   you know, a rookie in this language. So, um, is  that did I speak true? It's one is fee committee   and that's an easier path. One is ordinance and  that is a much more cumbersome path in order   to change parking rates. Yeah, that's that's  right. Yeah, thank you. So, it's not that it's   been overlooked. It's just it's a slower process  to change on street parking rates. And then my   second point was going to be, you know, I've heard  people say, well, I had to buy a scooter because   I couldn't park downtown. I couldn't afford it. I  couldn't find. That's a great thing in my opinion   because that aligns with our climate action plan  that our city has adopted. So I would like to   see more people biking, walking, scootering,  ebiking, car pooling rather than taking their   cars downtown. So to me that is a perk of this  parking plan. And I hope that as our culture   changes and shifts towards a more sustainable  future, others would adopt that viewpoint as well. So quick just legal clarification. Thanks  Councelor Hopkins. Um given the the question   that she asked and you answered on whether or  not street parking has to go via ordinance,   could we tie this um on street parking to the  price of a garage or would it have to always   be adjusted by an ordinance? So that's the the  practice that I mean that's what you do is is   simp or it's by it's what you do how you how the  city council has structured it traditionally.   Okay. So, it's within our power to structure  that differently. Okay. Councelor Cook. Uh,   thank you, your honor. I would move  to amend section 3B to say the parking   rate for non-residents will be  set by the fee study committee

and 3 C to say that um in line to downtown  workforce parking program for on street parking   um rate will be set by the fee study  committee and then resume at paradise. second that. We don't actually have  an original motion on the table yet.   Oh. Because we were No one no one's made that  motion yet. We're still discussing things. So,   um we had the we haven't had the public hearing  yet, right? We had the public hearing. We're   on additional council questions. So, I would  wait a motion. I move to pass second reading   and hold third and final reading at the May  18th, 2026 city council meeting. Second. Your honor, I move to amend section 3B to say  that the parking rate for non-residents will   be set by the fee study committee and 3C  in line two to say the downtown workforce   parking program for on street parking  will be set by the fee study committee.   period. And then that line would resume with  Parrot Avenue, which is the next two words. Second. Any further discussion? Councelor Cook, would  you mind for the edification of the public walk   through what that uh would entail from a practical  matter in terms of where these would be set? you   know, specifically um the I think if they would  um Yeah, just how they would be settled. Um sure,   your honor. Um essentially that would establish  the program. Um but then after the program was   established, after we would vote through the the  third reading of an ordinance, the ordinance,  

then the fee study committee would have to meet  to set the rates. So they would then choose at   fee study committee what the rate should be for  non-residents for on street parking as part of   this pilot program and they would also choose what  the rate should be for the downtown worker parking   program that is on this street is essentially  just on Parrot Avenue as part of this program.   out. Um, I would I I wouldn't want to assume what  rate they would set, but based upon the discussion   we've had here tonight, I would assume that they  would set the rate higher at $2 per hour for   um parking for non-residents on streets and still  would set the downtown worker program at 30 cents   um per hour because that's the current  downtown worker um parking program rate. So,   but I I don't want to put words in their  mouth and make assumptions about how the   fee study committee would set that.  um rate and then it would come back   to the council for final approval um  as part of part of fee study's process. Council moral just more of a question is the fee  committee able to meet before the third reading   or do we have to wait for third reading to meet  as a member of the fee committee? So to be just   if I can if I can hop in here. So that that would  be a substantial change because you're changing   the rate. So you wouldn't be coming back for third  reading. You'd be coming back for another second   reading. A newly advertised second reading. Just  to be clear on that on May 18th. Right. Can can   we get it not notice and in time for May 18th?  Yes. Okay. If so long as the rate is not going   to be included in that, it's just going to be  the right. It's set by I guess I was trying to   figure out if before we fully pass this knowing  we have to do second reading, third reading,   can fee committee meet in the interim or do we  have to wait for this to be fully approved before   they get together to discuss what those rates  might be? That's what I'm trying to get at. Well,  

the the the ordinance wouldn't be passed, but  you could the council could as a as another   vote here tonight request a report back from  the fee committee. Okay. If that was what you   wanted. I was just thinking it would help  things move along if we're not then waiting   till the end of the process to have that  meeting was I was trying to be practical. I I would make a motion for that  that we request a report back from   uh fee committee uh to come back to council  regarding fees for that. Would it make sense   for that second added to the I would do that  as a I would do I would vote on the motion of   the floor first. Okay. And then make the second  motion. Yep. So certainly understand that for um uh the street parking rates. Uh that makes a lot  of sense because it's already being decided for   the parking garage rates. Um the worker the the  downtown worker parker parking program. Remind me   where did that it's fe committee. It's committee  committ. So it's the same. It's the same. It's   decided by fe committee. Easy enough. Okay. All in  favor? I. Any opposed? Now I can make my motion.   I'd like to make a motion that we um refer to  fee committee to look at and come back with a   recommendation to council for rates for the wrap.  Second. Want to put a date on that? Um, well,   considering only two of the three members are  sitting here right now, I uh by June, I would say   we probably can get it done by uh one of our June  meetings, maybe the second June meeting. Is that   enough time? In a perfect world, the fee committee  recommendations are incorporated into the budget.   So, it'd have to be before but so ideally before  you pass an adopt a budget. But since this is  

wouldn't actually be in effect yet, would that  make a difference because it's sort of separate? Typically the committee only meets I know  once a year. We met twice recently though   and this wouldn't this wouldn't if I could  I'm sorry but if but this wouldn't actually   be incorporated into the fee committee's budget  recommendation. This would be a separate report   back from the fee committee to the city council.  That's why I was thinking we had beyond budget   kind of time frame for it. So that's I would  say the second June meeting for sure if not   sooner. I can't remember that date. Second  June 22. June 22nd. Okay, great. By then. Any other uh questions on this? Knowing it's  coming back for second reading at this point.   Yeah, it's going to come back for second. I just  want to make sure everyone understands there'll   be another public hearing. I just want to make  sure everyone understands what we just did. It   will be renoticed with a public hearing. Um I  think that there um it should be um it would be   difficult in terms of talking about the the price  but that it would be said to committee um will be   uh helpful. Um appreciate the the public comments  that came out uh as a part of this. It's difficult   uh it's difficult with any scarce resource to be  able to to be able to welcome new housing. Um,   and housing should never be looked at as, you  know, a sacrifice that we're making. I still   think it's really difficult to get everybody in  Portsouth to sacrifice for more housing. This is   one of the things that aligns to a lack of, you  know, just there's an improvement uh, in their   lives. There are things that we're going to have  to work out specifically, you know, when it comes   to some of the events that would either have to  change how they get there or modify. I'm happy   to know that we'll have this in a year in advance  ahead of you know those folks that are expecting  

uh to go down there um you know for little league  or or otherwise. Um but in terms of you know coast   uh I just do want to mention briefly I think we  spend about we 10% of their overall budget. Um   the feds were at one point almost 50%. You know,  we spend as of last FY25, I think $600,000 more   than the state of New Hampshire spends on uh  Coast. It's in our interest to support Coast,   but when we think about how do we align a  program that does not run at the frequency   or the the times that our downtown workers  require us to do, it's tough to it's tough   to to not have a worker program and simply rely  on Coast. Um, we make up even more than half of   uh the local contributions uh to Coast as well.  And I'm not here saying that we shouldn't,   but it is a it's a process of moving towards  something that could be equitable, that could be   um you know provide a transportation system  that works throughout uh the region and we're   doing that with zero basically uh state aid um at  the moment and would expect it to continue to go   down. So, while I would appreciate us to be able  to invest a lot more into uh Coast, it's at the   point where we're we're going to be balancing our  investments in Coast in terms of what we could be   doing with that money from a public transportation  infrastructure within the city of Portsouth. And   that's the thing that we are going to have to  balance um against and continue to justify in our   minds that this is something that is not just for  the the bus of last resort but could be something   that allows us to really um improve the amount of  public transportation that exists uh in the city.  

So, it's certainly noted that uh by incentivizing  workers to park here and it was described as a   um you know a tax cut uh it was a tax cut for  um those folks that are um right now supporting   a lot of activity within our downtown and one  at this point I am supportive of continuing to   make because it allows us to do the things that we  want to do and that's build more housing without   everybody having to worry and sacrifice that  they're going to have no place to be able to   park. So, appreciate the comments. Sorry that  we're going to have to do it in a month or two   weeks. Um Carl's going to be out there with  stakes and and hammers putting up the signs,   you know, well into uh the end of June. Um but uh  appreciate the the thoughtfulness. Councelor Moro,   one comment to answer one of the questions. So,  when the Islington Creek neighborhood program   was in place, we actually asked them to leave all  of the posts there and they are still there. So,   I would assume that we could reuse those and  at least for that neighborhood, there should   already be posts in place on those streets. So,  I just wanted to remind people of that because I   look at one all the time. Government efficiency at  work. Well, you know, we just had those beautiful   sidewalks. We didn't want them taken in and out.  All right. Um, so the motion on the floor is   amended to send to the fee committee um resulting  in a scheduling of if we vote for this, we'll   have to uh vote to schedule um So, how does this  work? So, this the motion that we have is just Oh,   it's just to amend and then we'll schedule second  reading. Okay. All in favor? I All opposed. Okay.   I'd wait a motion to schedule second reading  and renotic. The major motion was already we   include that in that. Okay. Great. All right.  Then we're all set. It just has Right. We just   have to vote on we vote on the report back from  the fee committee. Yep. That's what we just did.   That's what was on. Yeah. Okay. So now we've we've  done the amendment. We did the additional the fee  

committee request. Now the underlying motion as  amended, but we're going to have to sorry we have   to bring it back for second reading. The motion  is to pass and so we can't pass that same Oh,   we can't not. We are It would be a motion to  schedule public hearing. Yeah. For continue public Um, no. I think he did close it, didn't he?  Yeah, I think it did uh close the uh to reschedu renotice and reot renotice. Yes. Reotice  and schedule a second hearing for uh the   public hearing for Yeah. Yeah. I I would  make a motion as amended. Yeah. Uh to   reschedule um public hearing and uh  renotice uh second reading. So moved,   your honor. Second the amended motion. All in  favor? I All opposed. Thank you. All right. Your honor, oh yes. Um I'd wait a motion to spin  the rules to bring forward item 13b. That was what   I was just going to ask. So move second. Um  and that is a presentation on the rail trail.   Um all in favor? I. Any oppose? Welcome Dave  Allen. Hey Dave. Thank you. My name is David   Allen. I'm the president of the New Hampshire  Coast Greenway Alliance. Um honored to be here,   Mr. Mayor and members of the council, city  manager. Um the reason I'm here tonight is just   to give you a brief update. A lot has happened in  the last couple of years. A lot is happening in   the next couple of years regarding the rail trail.  So um this is just a a short uh report as to where   things are and and some things that you'll be  seeing that will be changing um in the near  

future. So we were incorporated in 2022 the um the  alliance and that was about the time they started   to build the rail trail and our our uh mission  is to promote regional coordination on policy   development management maintenance fundraising and  promotion of the New Hampshire coast greenway. Um,   and our greenway is a little 14mile section of  what is a 3,000mi trail going from um, Callus   Main down to Key West. And in various I think a  thousand miles or so is now off uh, off-road. Um,   some is bike lanes and whatnot, but I think 64% is  now uh, fairly safe for biking and pedestrians. Uh   the rest of it is still they're still working on  creating official lanes and and off off road type   uh infrastructure. Now our 8 mile section again  opened in uh September of 2024 and it goes from   Portmith down to um the Northampton Hampton  Town line. And as a the alliance, our our   main objective or our first objective was really  looking at maintaining this thing. You know, it's   a it's a new beast for us and what did we have to  do for maintenance? Um how much was this going to   cost? And our our underlying goal is to as a u as  a 501c3 was to try to take the burden of managing   this off of the trail communities to provide both  consistency and um you know Peter Rice doesn't   need another piece of infrastructure to maintain.  So um and that was expressed through by all the  

DPW directors that we talked to down the line. So,  um the first two years we we've uh contracted with   um the Scatapa Landscaping and it's costs about  $30,000 a year to maintain this 8 mile section of   trail and so far um we've been able to uh we've  been able to pull that off through donations um   and um are working on some other avenues to try to  continue that funding. So, again, that it doesn't   go back to the communities to fund that because,  as you know, this is actually a stateowned piece   of property that the city has um maintenance  agreements on. And those maintenance agreements,   just like a sidewalk along Route One, requires  the municipalities to maintain that. and the New   Hampshire Se Coast Greenway Alliance has um set  up um agreements with the city that we would do   that with your um oversight. So the um we started  some of our first projects. I'm just going to talk   about a couple things we've done. We started by  putting in the mile post markers every tenth of   a mile. Work very closely with Portsouth Public  Works to to get that done and then the other   public works going down the lane. So, we have  mile markers every tenth of a mile. Um, and then,   uh, we we actually put the markers on there. The  mile markers on there were done by volunteers.   It was the Portsmith High School cycling team  that very quickly installed all of the mile   markers down the full line of um, the posts. Um,  we've done some things like the uh, you'll notice   there couple of kiosks there at the trail heads.  Those were done by um Simon Noel, a Portsmith uh  

Eagle Scout candidate. And um that was one of his  projects that we worked with him on getting those   installed. And um we've done two volunteer cleanup  days, one last year, one just this past weekend.   And I'm happy to report that when we're doing  cleanup, we're really almost cleaning up mother   nature where branches have fallen down and trees  have fallen down more so than trash. There aren't   a lot of, you know, there's some occasional dog  bag, but in general, it's it's really cleaning   mother nature off the trail, and we've um been  very successful doing that. So you'll if you were   to go down there now, you'd see a lot of stick  piles and trees that were cut up that are part of   the um cleanup process that Piscatle landscape  will be going down in the next week or so and   starting to pick all that stuff up. So hopefully  the trail will be ready for the rate routine   maintenance of mowing, clearing the drainage  ditches, and um small repairs. Um we've also   um received a grant from the East Coast Greenway,  the over uh the larger organization. We'll be   putting in um six permanent trail marker uh trail  counters and we've we've had some temporary ones   that we put up. We've seen counts as high as 1,200  people on the trail on a weekend and as high as uh   4 to 500 on a weekday. So, this trail is getting  well used and those highest numbers are actually   coming in that that Portsouth area near the skate  park. That's where we're seeing the most um the   most use. Um and our organization was actually  recognized by the uh the uh Chamber of Commerce,   uh Greater Portsmith, the Chamber Collaborative of  Greater Portsmith for the Community uh connector  

award this past uh December. So, we've been  we've been pretty active kind of feeling our   uh what we can and can't do. And um we have a few  big things in the works. The first thing is the   uh the next section that goes from the Northampton  border down to Drake Side Road in Hampton. That   should be opening up in uh hopefully by the end  of May and hopefully having a ribbon cutting   down there in uh in early June. And um we're  also looking forward to Portsmith receive that   $850,000 grant and they I understand they're very  close to putting out an RFP to for designing the   um the trail head on Northwick Avenue and Banfield  Road. So those will be great additions. And then   um our biggest initi in initiative that we're  working on as the alliance um and this will be   really to help us provide funding for the um the  trail is we're starting an adopt a trail program   and the um we're working on the software right now  to to do that and hopefully within the next couple   weeks we'll we'll be going live with that. But  these are these are the mile marker posts that   are on the post right now. And then we're going  to have um for $300 a family or an individual will   be able to buy a a little placard like this with  their name on it. And for $500 a business will be   able to purchase a with their business logo.  And so these signs will be very tasteful but   sitting beneath the uh the mile markers on those  posts. And uh it's our our belief that with that  

funding from that on an annual basis, we should be  um we should be able to cover maintenance costs on   these the trail and again pulling that off of the  taxpayers and and allowing this to be maintained   in a very consistent and uniform way for the  benefit of everybody. So that's my uh that's   your little intermission from the the battles that  you are working on but good news. So thank you Mr.   Allen. Any questions? Councelor Cook. Uh thank  you your honor and thank you so much for coming   today and giving us an update. Um I think that  our residents absolutely love the rail trail.   Um it is well used um coming out of Portsouth  clearly right around the skate park and we see   a lot of residents um entering at that point.  So thank you again for providing this incredible   amenity to us and maintaining it. Um I had two  quick questions about um some maintenance done. Uh   we had a resident reach out that was questioning  removal of some trees along the rail trail   um and uh concerned about uh can removing too  many trees uh because the trees do make it uh   a prettier environment um and so I told so this  isn't so this isn't Dave Allen so um this came   and we can have the city attorney but it was from  a state uh they put it in uh it was incorrectly um   aligned Um and so they uh the the the contractor  is reaching out to the state as I understand. Have   they received any information back on that? Not to  my knowledge. Not so it's separate from Mr. Allen   uh and the presentation. So it's not Piscatua  landscaping that is doing that removal. Okay,   that's good to know. And then the second question  I have is that um I serve on the public art review   committee. Yes. And there's there have been  several questions about uh placing murals along  

uh the rail trail artworks. along the rail trail.  Is there an openness to to incorporating? Yeah,   absolutely. And we we've actually um I know you  had we had um uh Chris Dwire came to one of our   meetings and we were, you know, we were literally  just getting getting our feet on the ground and   getting this maintenance thing figured out. And so  we do have a a small subcommittee that is working   on coming up with kind of taking your the city's  policies and seeing if we could incorporate them   into our work plan. But yeah, we're we're very  much interested in that and we're really feeling   like if we can just get this um this adopted  trail program going then we'll be able to move   on to some of these other pieces. So thank you.  Yes, counc. Thank you. Um thank you David. Thank   you for your presentation and thank you for all  the work that the alliance does. Um I'm on the   rail trail most days uh if it's dry out. Um all  my neighbors love it. Um I know the kids love   it. I see them, you know, they're all at the  skate park and they're going up and down and   um it's just awesome. Um is there I know there's  some maps and stuff, you know, I mean, basically   saying where the allian where the trail is. Um are  there any plans for any maps to kind of show where   the other trails off of it are? Yeah, that and  that again, you know, we found our uh uh we're   we're pressing our limits on on even producing  a a software program that allows people to to   um do this adopt a trail. And we we put those  initial maps out in the kiosks and they're knowing   that in another month we're going to have a a  different map because the trail is going to end   in some different places. But we are looking at  um developing like a QR code that people can scan   and and and our hopes in the future will be uh you  know allowing uh mapping to amenities and and how   to get you know getting through Portsouth from the  trail is not intuitive right now and and there we  

do have a uh you know we've worked with the city  and worked with the New Hampshire the C Coast   Greenway in New Hampshire um group and Um there  is a a designated path, but we want to make that a   little more a little better known. Hopefully we'll  get the North Mill Pond piece going in the near   future. So yeah, and just to touch on that, um I  think the portion that councelor Cook was speaking   about, there's a little portion that connects  it to Sage Lane. Um I think you'll see some,   you know, markers on there where maybe that  trail wasn't um put in the correct location,   but I know that's off of the rail trail. that's  a separate it's just a connection too but I just   want to clarify for the public. Um but no those  signs would be very helpful and I I love that   you're working with like the PHA cycling team and  Eagle Scouts and I always say it takes a village   and I love that all those volunteers are coming  together and you know people can um contribute you   know and feel like they're part of it. Yeah. And  I think the other one that uh we're working on,   we met with public works group and I I think  there's some attempt to get funding to get uh some   connections in from the two sides of Maple Haven.  Okay. There's some areas there. So, um yeah, a lot   of a lot of positive things. No, it's awesome.  I I know as a writer I'd love the mile markers   know how far I've gone or how far I have to go  to get back. Um he said to be here for a meeting   or something. Um Landing sign should be on one of  those. Yeah. Yeah. We'll we'll we'll contribute.   Um, but yeah, I'd love to just in the future, you  know, there's all these other trails and or just,   you know, I mean, you're not clearly how sure  like what sort of distance you're getting yourself   into. You know, if I go down this trail off of  the main trail, how long is it going to take me   to loop back or, you know, that sort of thing.  Yeah. Yeah. But I know that's in progress. So,   thank you, David. Councelor Hopkins. Um, hi David.  I am excited to uh work with you with the bike and  

pedestrian committee that is forthcoming. And I  had a question about the adopted trail program.   Um is it just for the Portsmith segments like  how many of those are available and how would   one go to sign up and pay for them? Um it will be  on our website which is public nhcogreenway.org   nhcogreenway.org And um and there are currently  we have eight miles. So we have 80 and there'll   be another two miles. So essentially we'll  have a hundred available and so this is not   just a Portouth initiative. This is the rail  trail initiative. So yes. Great. Thank you. Any other questions? Let's see. action. Thank you, Dave. No, that was  it. Thank you. No action required. Appreciate it.   Um, given that I see the school board, uh,  Chair Lisa Raport and, uh, Dr. Mclofflin,   superintendent, I'd wait a motion to, uh,  suspend the rules and bring up the item under   uh, the 11B 11B D. Yes. Uh, so move.  Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Um,   this is a city manager's action that requires  or item that requires action. But if we could   take that and send Lisa on way. And perhaps Chair  Rapport and Zach, you may want to do more talking   than me. Um, but uh the suggestion is that  this this council adopt a policy that only   takes effect if the state enacts a mandatory  open enrollment law this legislative session.  

So, um, given that you're both here, I I'd defer  to you and anything you'd like to say on that. Thank you, mayor, and thank you, counselors.  Um the motion that you have be for before you   tonight is tied to a policy that has already been  passed by the Portsmith School Board in response   to several versions of statewide open enrollment  legislation that have been contemplated and   conquered. As of this second, to the best of my  knowledge, there is one version of the legislation   that failed to pass and one version that is  sitting quietly in a committee of conference   waiting to get revived. And essentially this is to  make every student in New Hampshire able to attend   any public school anywhere in the state regardless  of whether it's their home district. And while   there may be in the future some potential for  this to be beneficial for some students and   some families and potentially even have some sort  of revenue opportunities for us in Portsouth at   this time. The reason that the school board has  set a policy that is very cautious and limited in   terms of the number of students that we recommend  accepting into the district from out of district   and the number of students that we would recommend  letting leave is because we don't know the revenue   mechanisms. We don't know how the processes will  work for when kids would come in or out of our   district. We do not know how special education  would be paid for. Um there's several different   funding mechanisms that have been contemplated by  the state. one of which would borrow the funding   mechanism from charter schools so that all we  would get potentially is the same amount that   charter schools receive which is somewhere around  a third of our cost per pupil. Um there are also   a lot of unanswered questions right now about  if the state picks up the bill for um students  

who wish to go to a different district whether  they would withhold payments from communities   like Portsouth that have excess swept dollars. So  excess local tax dollars that are beyond what the   state thinks we need to spend on schools. So that  has the potential to put Portsmith in a situation   where we are a donor city essentially and we  are receiving students without excess revenue.   There's also a lot of unanswered questions at  this time, particularly around special education   and whether or not the students um the students  home district would essentially have to retain   responsibility for paying for special education,  that they'd have a team of people outside of   Portsouth who would determine what those services  might need to be. And then the student could   potentially come here and then we might or might  not have the same resources to provide that.   It might require unpredictable amounts of extra  hiring or extra things that we need to do to   support those kids. And then we basically have two  separate teams of people who are looking at what   that child needs. And a lot of confusion. There's  also a lot of questions around athletics and what   will happen if people are moving for teams. And  I think at the end of the day, there are also a   lot of concerns particularly around Robert J.  Listister Academy where we have tuition that   we set that is far in excess of our typical cost  per student and if we get only what the state sets   as revenue. We don't know how that model still  works for us. Um so those are many many unanswered   questions and so what we're asking you to consider  is what we believe is a very cautious and limited   approach that would give us an insurance  policy essentially. So if the state does pass   some version of open enrollment that takes effect  immediately July 1, we have something on the books   that gives us some amount of guidance on how we  would proceed in Portsouth and what processes we   would start to set up to allow kids on a limited  basis to come in or leave the district. So that  

is what's behind what we've put forward for you  to consider. I can try to answer questions to the   best of my ability with the caveat that I haven't  been enquunkered today. Um but that's the quick   take on this. Thank you chair. I um want to first  uh just uh share the uh enthusiasm of the council   for all the work that went into this. Uh this is  certainly it's difficult to sometimes appreciate   that half of the money that uh we allocate  as a budget goes to the school department.   It is fantastic that we have uh uh you and the  school board at the helm to look at uh these very   um impactful uh decisions that will no doubt  uh affect the uh not only the district here   uh but the district more broadly. Um I guess I do  have just one um one uh question specific to this   um that if you could answer it would be helpful.  Has there been many or any um students that are   requesting uh a transfer uh to a separate uh  public school? What is the what are the numbers   um on that that we might have? I'll let Zach take  that one. It's not many, but uh so right now I   think we've had inquiries from people about what  what is going to happen if we go open enrollment.   Uh I think there's also degrees of understanding  within the public about what's going on. So I've   had at least a parent reach out and say,  you know, uh they had a student uh who is   currently enrolled and they are paying out of  pocket tuition to Newcastle. And they're like,   when are you going to start picking up  my Newcastle bill? And it's like, well,   we're we're a ways away from that. We're still  in the mix midst of the legislature determining   uh what's going to happen uh what's going to  happen next. Um, but I've had one or had two two   different inquiries that are kind of that nature.  I'm already I already have my students someplace  

else. Where do I send my invoice? Uh, and um,  so those are uh, very limited um, because we're   not in a situation that's really been determined  at this point. Um, but we've had have had those   two reachouts. Okay. Helpful. Yeah. Yeah. And  if I might add just the napkin math on that,   if we lose four or five kids, that's one teacher  salary. And we can't easily lose one teacher just   because we lose four or five kids. And right now  at the moment, um it is equal in and out as the   policy is uh aligned. It is close to that. Um  we're allowing more in potentially because we   do right now have students who come in to Robert  J. academy and we didn't want to inadvertently   create a policy that shut down our ability to  tuition those students in. Um, and then the   amount of students that we're allowing to leave  is lower than that. You know, recognizing there   may be a few families for whatever reason who they  may benefit from that and want to be able to do it   and also with some guidance from conquered that  if we set it at zero there might be potential   for legal challenge or an opinion that we had no  policy at all. Right. I I asked these questions I   think uh or um to to make this larger point that  some of the proponents of uh this uh legislation   and the school choice or opening it up um have  looked at communities that said, "Hey, we don't   want any students uh to leave and made policies  based on that, pointing into crying the fact that   um look at these these schools. They have to  hold on to all of these students." Like that is   not what we are focused on here. uh we're focused  on understanding the effect of our community, but   knowing that we live in a state uh and it's going  to have direct impacts on all of our neighbors   and the communities around that uh that will  have a uh that will be a an acute problem that   uh they may or may not have to deal with. So,  some of the conversations on whether or not  

uh you know, as educators, as uh as as teachers,  you know, you should just want your school to do   the best and attract all of those. You know, all  of this is paid for by the property tax and it's   very difficult to plan if you don't know how  many students you're going to have in there.   And I think this plan does a really good job  addressing the fact that there is actually no   legislation that's passed. The legislation that  out there is very convoluted on what it would   be actually enacted on. And so having a more  conservative doesn't speak to the fact that I'm   sure that Portsouth stack up as well as anybody  um in the state is great to be able to come here,   but we have to be cognizant of not only our  taxpayer here, but the broader ecosystem of   which we operate, which I thankfully you guys  have taken into into consideration. Thank you,   Councelor Cook. Thank you, your honor, and thank  you schoolboard chair and superintendent for the   presentation on this. Um, I really appreciate  what the school board has done here. Um, because   essentially you're helping us hedge risk around  the budget for next year until we know more. And   I think that that's really the critical piece to  this is that you're kind of setting in place and   and I see this you're setting in place kind of  the protections that we need to have a budget   for the next year and to plan for the next  year and then we'll see if anything passes   what passes and then make determinations based  upon that to change policy down the road. So   um I just wanted to convey that um I really  appreciate the work that's been done and I hope   you can convey that to the rest of the school  board. Thank you. Councelor Flynn. Yeah, I   would want to echo that. I think that I appreciate  that you're putting up some guard rails under the   potential of there's a lot of red flags with this.  It feels somewhat exclusionary to me. You know,   who could who would be able to participate  and who wouldn't be able to participate. So,   um it's nice to um do some advanced thinking and  planning. I really appreciate the work you've  

done. Your honor, I would move to schedule a  public hearing on the open enrollment policy   for the Portsmith School Districts 52 at the May  18th, 2026 city council meeting. Could have saved   all our comments to that. Yeah, could have saved  some time. Appreciate though, but they had stayed   here so wanted to thank them for doing so. All  right, it second. Um, any further discussion?   All in favor? I thank you both. Um, I'd look to  suspend the rules and bring up item uh I'm sorry 14B second. Oh, on Okay. Um, those are my appointments.  Um, the only I um in speaking to um Um, councelor Hopkins um on this there was  somebody that we uh left off I didn't see okay an   application. So if there are other um applicants  to the bicycle bed uh master plan please consider   um uh to u send them in and we'll see if there's  um an opening at that point. So um we have the um yep. Oh, all in favor of suspending the   rules to take up item 14B. I I Any  opposed? All right. Um this is um we will uh the I will read through and  then uh await a motion. The appointment of   uh Amy Michaels, Kelly Hartnett, uh Lisa  Jacobos, uh Olivia Harris, and Whitney   Brown to the Behavioral Health Blue Committee. uh  the appointment of Annie Pobo, uh Patrick Daly,  

Stella White House, Matthew Glenn, Robin Lori  Merov, Colin Colleen Garcia, uh Steven Longstaff,   Don Oh, I always mess this up. Corrosion she  used to live right next to me. Uh William Lions,   Ann Torres, and Freddy uh Patron to the bicycle  and pedestrian blue committee. Your honor,   I move to appoint um those listed as presented.  I second that. appreciate all of these and again   uh that they are um blue committee so they  don't um take uh too uh but I appreciate the   willingness to serve and appreciate the uh the  work of not only um councelor Blew and setting   up the behavioral health uh blue ribbon committee  um and Amy Michaels who has stayed here to this   point. So appreciate that Amy um and Amy Hopkins  uh for spearheading uh the bicycle and pedestrian   uh blue ribbon committee as well. uh look forward  to the work of both of those committees and the   volunteers that are uh generous uh with their time  and commit to the city of Portsouth. All in favor?   Any opposed? All right, we will go back and we  have the I see the fire chief here too. So, why   don't we just redo that one and then you're on my  items. Oh, are did we make it to your items? Yeah,   we did. Okay. All right. All right. If we could  take out of order uh 11 C to recognize the fire   chief and attorney Finey who are here to work on  the request for first reading regarding ordinance   amendment to chapter 5 the fire department and  prevention regulations article 9 adopted fire   codes. Essentially what we're asking is to  bring our codes in alignment with the newly   modified state code. So, um, Chief McQuillin and  Attorney Fini have worked to bring this to you,   and we'd like to request first reading at the next  council meeting on May 18th. I move to schedule   the first reading of the amendment of chapter  5, fire department and prevention regulations,  

article 9, adopted fire codes, at the May 18th,  2026 city council meeting. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, we will have this at uh the  discussion at first reading. Folks are a   little tired, so we'll get the all of that  out at first reading. Appreciate that. All   in favor? I Any opposed? All right. Um your  honor, 11A is a little lengthy. I don't know   if the council wants to take up five minutes.  Oh, that's great. I guess we can. All right.   I will uh let's adjourn uh for five minutes. All  in favor? I All right. Oh, yeah. Three tier water

Welcome back or welcome back uh from the  a little longer than five minute recess,   but that's okay. Um we are on the city city  manager items which require action. Pass it   over to you for number one. Thank you, your  honor. The first um item after the break is   the request for adoption of the three tier water  and sewer rate structure for FY27. We have been in   front of the council for two work sessions and  to discuss our uh recommendation to update the   tier structure which has not been done in over  a decade. And the recommended design reflects   the cost of service analysis and the rate design  objectives discussed at those two work sessions,   including customer affordability for  essential use, rate and revenue stability,   improved alignment between service costs and  customer bills, and legal defensibility. And   we have proposed a three- tier structure uh as  opposed to the one the two-tier structure we   have in place now. This would allow for  tier quantities of zero to five units,   six to 10 units and over 10 units for monthly  water in sewer usage with increasing rates across   tiers to strengthen conservation incentives while  maintaining a lower price for those basic indoor   water and sanitation needs. So, we've incorporated  the presentations from the work sessions and the   staff is here to answer any questions. Uh but  the timing is such that the rate structure   adoption now would allow for implementation  of the FY27 fees and charges to take effect   at the beginning of the fiscal year. Your honor,  um I move to adopt the recommended three- tier   rate structure for water and sewer service  for fiscal year 27. Second. Any discussion? Guess I have just a couple  of questions. Um, if we had   um if we had not implemented a three- tier  structure, can we speak to what the expected  

um average increase would have been  for the lower tier uh users and I see   Al getting up as I love that Al is getting  up right now. Perfect. Al Pratt's our water   resource manager. I do have some numbers here  for if we're looking at a typical water user,   five units per month. Um, if you think the the  amount per month would be it would have been $928 uh more if we didn't do this change. Doesn't  sound like a whole lot, but um adds up over   the year. And um that changes depending on how  many units you're you're using obviously. So about a 7% difference. Thank you, Al. Um, one of  these days I want to get the wooden pipes into   city hall. They're coming May 13th. May coming May  13th. All right. I think I just found another one,   too. So, all right. You just found  another um and so it's it's worth   um I guess just reiterating um a lot of the effort  that's going in is to make sure the entire network   um is supported. you know, from here out to  Jitos to be able to make sure that, you know,   folks have access to safe, clean drinking water,  um, and the fire hydrants, uh, to support,   uh, fire rescue. So, there's a lot of  work that goes into maintaining this. Um,   I think sometimes the the focus has been on uh,  well, it's development and that's what's causing   uh, the the the increase. We ask them to pay  for improvements that are that are coming into   that. We also as a part of this and I was really  excited to have another tier where we have not   had that other tier before to really account  for this the developments the folks that are   tying into the system and not using any of the  water uh or you know they had a water hookup fee   that was uh marginal and no sewer hookup fee. We  changed the sewer hookup fee today so that we're   able to actually start accounting for those uh  folks that are you know the the cost to be able  

to flush the toilet is extensive. You know we got  to get that that pipe in there. So appreciate the   work that's gone into this um and making sure that  it is continues to be legally defensible in terms   of being able to have a right structure uh that  that uh supports everyone in the community. So   thank you Al Councelor Taber. I'm just whenever  I talk I I I I give councelor Taber an idea. No, just, you know, we're seeing other  towns um that have underfunded their   um enterprise funds for water and  sewer and it catches up with you. So,   these are all really intelligently designed  changes. Uh we've balanced having incentive   to conserve water with a very small fixed fee  which we never had before. And but the main   thing is we're we're keeping top quality  infrastructure with stable and predictable   rates over time as opposed to whoops, we we didn't  fund this and now we have to put in a big charge. All right, with no other questions, all  in favor? I any oppose? Thank you, Al. Uh item B, your honor, is a request for  street naming for property located at   550 Sagmore Avenue that has uh been  recently granted subdivision and site   plan approval by the planning board for the  construction of three single family dwellings   with associated site improvements. There's a  map in your packet and the project developer   has requested the street name of Spruce Street  and DPW has reviewed the name along with state   E911. There's no objection to the name and no  duplicate names in the zip code. Your honor,   I move to authorize the use of Spruce Street  as the private street name for the new private  

street originating at the former street  address known as 550 Sagamore Avenue. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed?  All right, we're on to the consent agenda. Um, I move to adopt the consent agenda   and authorize a city manager  to act as presented. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Um, we will  go to councelor email correspondence. Oh,   email correspondence. Absolutely. Um, I will, your  honor, I move to accept and place on file. Second.   All in favor? I. Any oppose? Council clerk or  Cook. Um, thank you, your honor. Um, tonight I   just put a on the agenda about the municipal  arts and cultural banner policy um program   that we adopted last November. And um I'm just uh  wanting to make sure that we get a report back on   that because I just got a request for uh banner  application process and I want to make sure that   um our organizations know how to ultimately apply  for that program. Any discussion? All in favor?   I There's no motion. Motion motion. This is just  just a reminder of staff. Oh, those are great. We   already did it. We'll just get a little nudge.  I think a motion in November report back. So,   time for that report back. All right. Um All  right. Now, councelor Baggley, who is not here, um   and council moro have an item. So, council moro.  Uh yes. I would like to move that the city manager   be directed to report back to the city council  with an analysis of on street parking rates and   policies in light of the anticipated garage  parking rate increase with the understanding  

that any recommended adjustments shall not result  in an increase of on street parking costs for   Portsouth residents. Second, and I'll just speak  to this briefly. So at fee committee, we did look   at we getting really high occupancy rates at the  foundry garage. So monthly rates and and daily   daily hourly rates are all going up and we don't  want to now make it so that it's cheaper to be on   the street than it is in a garage because usually  the on street parking is the really truly it you   know desirable place that people want to be. So  we want to make a take a look and make sure that   we are really um making a policy that actually  works and we're not driving people giving away   the parking that really is most valuable. Okay. Um  would this include at some point um taking the fee   committee um and giving it in charge of uh the  on street parking? And that certainly could be   a recommendation that we change that structure as  well. Okay. And that would make it easier and an   annual thing where we can look at garage as an on  street unless there's some legal uh reason that   we can't change that structure. If we're allowed  to, then that can be part of the report back to   let us know. It would be it would be great to be  able to um not you don't want anybody to be in   a situation where they're going to find out like  in the private lots that it's all of a sudden $8   where it was $4. But it would it would be great  to be able to understand if there's seasonality   around some of these uh things that could be uh  decided upon. And again, I like that uh smart   to include the fact that this is not um increasing  the the resident parking rate. Um so that that was   important to both of It's important to well, it's  good to know that it's right there in the motion.   So, the goal is not to to do that, but I think  an easier way to adjust the the parking rates,   especially for non-residents, um would be a a  wise and welcome addition. All in favor? I Oh. Oh,  

sorry. She was just saying I All right. Saying  I All right, Councelor Flynn. Yes. I I do want   to make a slight change to the motion. Uh, so I  move to direct the city staff to coordinate with   the Portsouth School Board and staff to jointly  establish a school food insecurity task force as   specified by the council's 202627 strategic goals  and report back or offer preliminary findings at   the end of the calendar year. Second. Um, thank  you, mayor. Um, so I'm bringing this motion   forward because it reflects a goal the council  set at our January retreat. uh exploring how   we can ensure no child in Portsouth public schools  goes without food due to cost. Establishing a task   force is the first step. I want to thank Assistant  Mayor Kelly. I know this has been a passion of   yours. And I also want to um acknowledge and thank  the school board and our school staff who confront   this issue every day. Uh the motion creates an  opportunity for a real collaboration between the   council, the school board, the school department,  and city staff to lean into our shared values and   work together. Food insecurity in Portsouth is  not theoretical. Um in 2022 23 school year, one   in six students, about 360 kids total, qualified  for very reduced meals. That represented about 17%   of students. More recent data shows a decline in  enrollment in free and reduced price lunch, but   that drop does not necessarily reflect a drop in  need. It may be that, you know, working families   and ports may fall just under that eligibility  threshold. Yet, everyone is facing these rising   costs. Uh stigma, paperwork barriers may also  keep some eligible families from applying. So,   these are exactly the kind of questions a  task force can examine. Uh and to be clear,   the motion simply begins the process of forming a  task force. Uh the expectation is that the group  

will report to the back to the council before the  end of the year with findings and recommendations. Any Oh, councelor Cook. Uh thank you, your  honor, and thank you, Councelor Flynn,   for making this motion. I think it's really  critical. Um and I also I'm excited to see us   following through on some of our council goals.  Um I think it's important that we do that now so   that we have time to take action um based upon the  report back. uh this task force I think that they   um have a a great opportunity right now in  the SECOS because SAU 16 um the exit public   schools did adopt a a free school lunch  program in the last year and so I think   we have an example being set for us locally um  and we can also learn from their experience um   their success or their failure in this um I think  it's too early to judge where they are currently   But um I think it would also be important  for the task force to get kind of feedback   on the implementation of their program  or their planning around implementation. Councelor Bllock. Thank you, honor. Um thank  you councelor Flynn for bringing this forward.   I know we talked about our goals and I was glad we  did make it part of our goals then. Um obviously   I know there's a cost to feeding our students.  I'll just say that ever since I was a student,   I thought it was crazy that the students had  to pay for their own food while at school. Um,   you know, your school is mandatory and then you  have to you can't when you're that young, you   can't have a job. Like how I just I always thought  that was just logically inept. Um, but I'm glad to   see us working on this, you know, hopefully we can  make it a little easier for the students. Yeah.   And I mean, initially, obviously, the task force  will be able to gather some information. I mean,   there was a lot of data I didn't have access to.  Um, so that will be the endeavor to see what we  

can do and also lean into community partnerships,  grant funding. Um, yeah, I think that we're always   surprised or folks outside of Portsmith are  surprised to find out our rates of free and   reduced lunch are as high as they they are. I  think that there's the expectation that, you know,   everybody in Portsouth is is uh is doing well.  There's plenty that are not and the ability to   uh really uh not just in terms of the uh the  school but how do we end you know uh the hours   of which they're they're not at school and to be  able to talk about you know from Friday to Monday   in those weeks. You know we have I know because  my daughter is really focused right now because   the teachers have um really put the put the put  the fear uh in her in terms of the testing. You   know she's got to eat well and she's got to sleep  well. um and that has a big impact and you know   lucky enough she's able to eat reasonably well  in our household. There's plenty of students   that don't have that opportunity and it affects  them and so being able to make sure that they're   at the top of the game uh both physically and  emotionally is something that is certainly a   council goal and appreciate that you have taken  this uh and followed up with it as quickly as as   you have and working with the school department  to do so is great. So thank you councelor.   Thank you. All in favor? I. Any opposed? All  right. On to approval of grants of donations, the   acceptance of wellness reward from a health trust  in the amount of $2,000. I move to accept the   donation as presented. Second. All in favor? I.  Any opposed? You health trust. Acceptance of grant   for my favorite day, household hazardous waste  day collection day for New Hampshire Department   of Environmental Services, NHDEES, in the amount  of $4,24. Your honor, I move to authorize the city   manager to enter into a grant agreement with the  New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services  

to accept $4,24 from the Household Hazardous Waste  Collection Grant Program and execute any contracts   or documents which may be necessary for this grant  agreement. I second that. All in favor? I. City   managers,formational items. Got three quick ones,  your honor. The first is to share with the public   the series of upcoming budget meetings. Please  note that the FY27 proposed budget will be shared   publicly this Thursday, May 7th. We'll also speak  to the press on that day. And then next week,   starting with Monday, May 11th at 6 p.m., we'll  have our first work session with the general   government, fire, police, and school departments  on general fund budget. And then next Wednesday,   we will have the work session on enterprise and  special revenue funds. We will uh start and keep   open the budget public hearing at the next regular  city council meeting on May 18th. We'll have a   continuation of the budget review work session on  May 28th. We did correct the city website. It was   uh not saying the 28th, but it is now. And then uh  if it is the will of the council, we would hope to   adopt the budget at the June 8th council meeting.  And uh the website has lots more information on   that. Uh city clerk Keller reminds me to let  everybody know that this is a friendly reminder   that state law requires dog owners to be licensed  and uh the whole month of May is allowing for that   grace period. We don't want to charge late fees  or fines. So please take advantage of the month   of May to license your dog. and uh acting city  attorney McCort will give a brief school care   update. Uh yes, thank you, city manager uh mayor.  So uh by way of background, the uh the do school   district and Dr. Christine Boston, superintendent  of do school district filed suit against school   care up in Straford County Superior Court alleging  among other things violations of the Rice No Law,   uh violations of the Consumer Protection Act,  and breach of contract. Uh there was a hearing  

held a week ago last Friday um on Dover and  uh and Dr. Boston's requests for a preliminary   injunction which would require school care to  continue to make payment on validly submitted   uh claims submitted by those school employees  covered uh by school care. um after after argument   uh um um a week ago Friday by Attorney Wyatt  for Dover, Attorney Carr, for uh for Dr. Boston,   um NEA NA New Hampshire made an appearance,  Secretary of State made an appearance. Uh I   made an appearance and had filed a a brief of  Amikas Cure in the case. After submitting all   of that to Judge Curran last week, uh he ordered  that school care be be compelled to continue to   make payments on um those validly submitted claims  even though Dover has not paid the uh the the 1,   I believe $7 million assessment which has been  made upon them. They still have not made the   payment. They have not made arrangement to pay  it. Um, of course you'll recall that the city of   Portsouth has made arrangement to make payment on  that assessment amount. Um, uh, since that time,   since that order's come out, school care has  published a a letter to its members indicating,   um, of course their their dissatisfaction with  the, uh, with the order, but um that indicating   that day-to-day operations of schoolare will  not be impacted by uh by that order. Um the   next thing that will happen is a hearing I would  imagine would be a hearing will be scheduled on   um the motion to dismiss which has been filed by  school care seeking to dismiss all the charges   against them. Um given that the prior order that  came out contained a finding of likelihood of   success on the merits, um I I wouldn't uh predict  that the motion to dis dismiss would be granted,  

but there will have to be specific findings  on whether uh RSA 5B requires that this these   contract claims be heard exclusively by the  Secretary of State and and outside of Superior   Court. Um but I'd be happy to answer any questions  anyone has on on this pending litigation. Any questions? We continue to  reserve our rights. Certainly. Although we have made arrangement  to pay by by July 15th. Correct. Draft council policy. Oh, that was just included  as a part. Um any other miscellaneous business?   Council Bl. I just announced the um  Chamber of Commerce holding the um   hit the decks this Thursday in Portsouth.  So encourage you to all support your local   businesses. Is it going to be 80 degrees on  Thursday? No. Unfortunately not. Tomorrow   we'll be tomorrow. All right. Tomorrow.  All right. I'd wait a motion to adjurnn.   No move. So move second. All in favor? I  Good night, Portsmith. What did I tell you?