Four committees of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) met on Monday, here are a few of the highlights.
City employee social media policy recommended
The BMA Committee on Administration and Information Systems recommended a proposed 11-page policy on social media use by city employees.
In the proposed policy, the city shall not infringe upon the rights of an employee to have personal social media accounts as required by state law. In exchange, the employees are asked to avoid referencing their job, uniform or any privileged information on social media.
Additionally, employees are asked to put a disclaimer that they are speaking on their own behalf and not on behalf of the city whenever there might be confusion.
Ward 2 Alderman Will Stewart and Ward 5 Alderman Tony Sapienza felt that the proposed policy was comprehensive.
Ordinance change on military service leave returning to full board
The BMA Committee on Bills on Second Reading recommended that a proposed ordinance change that would allow all police officers who are on military service leave to receive 20 days paid time off per year. Currently, police officers only receive 20 days of paid military leave per year after they have worked for the city for six months.
Sapienza requested information regarding whether the police officers paid time off would be equal to what they would have received during a day outside of military training leave or if the pay deducts what they would receive from the military, although he said he only wanted an answer if it would not delay eventual ordainment of the ordinance amendment.
The ordinance amendment next heads to the BMA Committee on Accounts, Enrollment and Revenue Administration. It has already received recommendation from the BMA Committee on Human Resources and Insurance.
New bike racks coming to locations across the city
The BMA Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic heard a request from the Queen City Bicycle Collaborative to place new bike racks at the Hartnett Parking Lot, Veterans’ Park, the tennis courts at West High School, City Hall Plaza, the Market Street Parking Lot and the Victory Parking Garage.
Aldermen had concerns with where the bike racks would go inside the Victory Parking Garage, but recommended the request upon consultation with the city’s parking division regarding where the racks would go at the garage.
New tow truck contract recommended
Manchester Police Department Traffic Unit Sergeant Michael Donohue came before the BMA Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic to request a re-negotiation between the police department and the five tow truck companies it contracts with, as those companies say that the current rates are no longer feasible.
Donohue said that each year, these five companies tow 3,000 to 4,000 cars from the city, but would not for much longer without these changes, which he said were comparable to rates in Hooksett, Bedford and Nashua.
Ward 12 Alderman Erin George-Kelly asked about discrepancies between comments made by Donohue and information provided shortly after the snow emergency earlier this year, fearing that renegotiation without clarity over data could be harmful to the city when the next snow emergency comes.
She was informed that the contract is renewed regularly each December and that additional changes are also expected to be presented in August.
In the proposed changes, basic tows will go from costing drivers $110 to $175, extra labor beyond one hour will go from $50 to $75, service call fees will go from $45 to $75, waiting time fees will go from $35 per hour to $50 per hour if the tow truck operator has to wait over 15 minutes, storage fees will go from $30 to $50 for cars not picked up after one day, gate fees will go from $40 to $50 for cars picked up after business hours, the previous free collision wrap will now cost $50.
During snow emergencies, tows would go up to $200, with tow companies paying $35 of that to the city.
