So far this year, Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais has held town hall meetings with residents in Ward 1, and Ward 11. This week he met with residents from Ward 3, Manchester’s downtown area, at the Carol Rines Center. Here’s a recap of what was discussed.
Traffic, Infrastructure and Downtown Improvements
Mayor Ruais led with news about a new $500,000 request for proposals for cleanup and security in the Central Business Services District (CBSD), a role played in part in the past by Intown Manchester until recent years and paid for by extra surcharges to downtown businesses.
There were several concerns over issues with motorists downtown, including frustration with some drivers going the wrong way on one-way streets, motorists doing donuts and a lack of traffic division police officers leading to the city having a reputation where moving violations are not enforced compared to elsewhere.
Ruais agreed with the need for more police officers, stating that six have been recently hired and 10 have been recently retained. He also agreed with the need for more parking division officers after complaints about people parking on sidewalks making it difficult for disabled people to travel throughout the neighborhood.
The mayor added that hiring an additional parking control officer would be a good exception to the general hiring freeze in most departments since a parking enforcement officer would likely be a revenue-generator for the city.
Several people also expressed the need for more trees downtown and preserving trees in areas like Veterans Park and local sidewalks and that buildings should not be partially demolished as a response to the homeless crisis.
“There has to be a better way to solve our problems than destroying the architectural culture of our downtown,” said Glenn Ouelette.
Ruais also provided an update on RAISE Grant improvements to the Queen City Avenue/South Willow Street intersection, stating that there have been nine meetings so far and additional money has been provided from the federal government for the grant to account for inflation.
Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long also asked the audience if they believed bike lanes were important, with nearly everyone in attendance raising their hands.
Homelessness and Housing
Ruais stated that the city should take a leadership role on the Manchester Continuum of Care, the primary coalition in the city addressing the issue of homelessness.
In response to individuals who voiced frustration with homeless people urinating in alleys, leaving trash on the ground and littering, Ruais advised everyone to let the city know with the See/Click/Fix Manchester Connect app.
He also said that proactive along with reactive responses will be needed to help the approximately 600 homeless people and 700 homeless children in the city, such as an anti-stigma plan he is working on with Long and the other aldermen.
“It is one thing to break up an encampment, it’s one thing to arrest someone for a crime, it’s another thing to break the cycle of homelessness moving forward,” said Ruais. “It’s one of the main reasons I wanted to run for this office and it’s one of the main things I want to accomplish in office.”
Ruais also discussed efforts to identify parcels of city-owned land that can be deemed as surplus and sold for housing, with 14 parcels currently expected and a possibility of as many as 23 in total.
He also provided information on proposed zoning ordinance changes, stating that these changes make it easier for accessory dwelling units and multi-family housing to be built in the city.
Resident upset with neighbor’s flood lights
A woman who came to the mayor’s Ward 1 meeting returned, stating that the city’s office of code enforcement would not come to her neighborhood at night after complaints about a neighbor with flood lights she found obnoxious.
Long said that code enforcement officers asked the neighbor to take down the flood light, but there is no current ordinance that would require the neighbor to do so.
He added that he is working with the Community Development Department to work on a potential ordinance and also see if Planning Board approval was needed for the light.
Other
There is an updated plan to address opioid abuse in the city and the mayor also recently visited the Office of Youth Services mentorship program.
Information on the annual budget will be available soon given the upcoming deadline for the mayor to release a budget.
