ON NOV. 19, Mayor Jay Ruais provided an update on efforts at the city’s engagement center to connect homeless people with services, as well as increased enforcement efforts in city parks.
Earlier this year, the city announced weekly resource fairs would be held at the engagement center at 39 Beech St. The fairs gather partner agencies in one place, giving homeless people easy access to services like health care, job counseling and treatment.
Ruais reported that since July 12 — when additional police details were added to combat hot spots of illegal activity in local parks — through Nov. 14, there have been 123 arrests and 476 citations issued for illegal behavior.
From June to October, the engagement center helped 33 homeless people find a place to live. Also, 30 have gotten IDs or other vital documents, 27 received bus passes, 10 have obtained jobs, 8 have entered and completed detox or rehabilitation programs and 710 have connected with providers for health care or other important services.
Between July and October, the Downtown Street Cleaning Crew picked up an estimated 1,296 bags of trash, weighing approximately 30 pounds each, for a total of 38,880 pounds; 663 needles; removed 377 stickers and pressure washed 480 block faces.
Department of Public Works Saturday Cleanups — large-scale cleanups conducted by public works crews at targeted locations frequented by homeless individuals, in response to concerns raised by residents and business owners over needles and trash in public parks and local streets — have resulted in the collection of 14,200 cubic feet of debris and 797 needles, Ruais reported.
“Pulling all this data together is a ‘proof of progress’ exercise — it shows the city is safer, cleaner and providing services through our Engagement Center that are truly getting lives back on track,” Ruais said in a statement. “I want to thank the Board of Aldermen, our city departments, and community partners who are helping to make these advancements possible. My goal is to continue to build on this progress and to further increase our quality of life here in Manchester.”
Police locker room money
City aldermen are backing a request from the police chief to begin expanding the women’s locker room at police headquarters on Valley Street — if funds can be found for the project.
Manchester police have only occupied the current police station since 2013, but Chief Allen Aldenberg said his department has encountered space shortages in several areas of the building, including the evidence storage area, fleet and employee parking, and the men’s and women’s locker rooms.
“While we have been able to adjust within the building to accommodate many of the shortages, the women’s locker room is an area that will need major modifications to meet the current and future needs of the agency,” Aldenberg wrote in a memo to aldermen.
The current women’s locker room configuration consists of 39 lockers. There are currently 35 full-time female officers employed by Manchester police, each of whom is assigned a locker for the storage of equipment and uniforms.
Over the past four years, the MPD has hired an average of four female officers per year.
“Based on current trends in policing, we anticipate that the rate of hire of female officers will continue in the future,” Aldenberg wrote. “Based on these figures, we will have full occupancy in the female locker room by the end of 2024, with no alternatives for newly hired officers.”
Aldenberg reported Manchester police consulted with Josh Gagne, the city’s chief of facilities, who recommended working with Fred Matuszewski of Matuszewski Architects to develop construction plans and determine the cost of the project.
Working with Matuszewski and the facilities department, city police developed a plan to expand the locker room by 23 lockers for a total of 62 lockers.
The expansion will cut into the gym by approximately 180 square feet. A review of the site also revealed additional improvements need to be made to duct work, putting the cost of the project around $150,000 to $170,000, Aldenberg reports.
“We have two lockers remaining in the female locker room,” Aldenberg told city aldermen. “That’s a good news story. I think we’ve almost doubled our female officer complement in the last 3½, four years, and we continue to make many efforts to hire more female officers.”
At this time, funds need to be secured to move forward with the project, Aldenberg said. “Increasing locker room capacity of the women’s locker room is a major priority in order to ensure that our female employees have working conditions that are on par with their male counterparts. By completing this project correctly and not cutting corners, we are ensuring that we are treating our female employees equally.
“The expansion will allow for us to continue to hire more women in the police department making the department more diverse and better represent the community we serve.”
Aldermen backed Aldenberg’s request, contingent on funds becoming available.
Alderman Crissy Kantor asked if the locker room would be for biological females.
“Biological females, that’s correct,” Aldenberg said. “We’ve had internal discussions about that. Should that ever become a challenge for the police department, we will be very well prepared to react to that.”
Emergency center fund
Aldermen supported a request from Manchester fire officials for money to complete renovations and technology upgrades to the city’s Emergency Operations Center.
Last year Manchester was awarded a $338,000 grant from the state to be used for Emergency Operations Center (EOC) renovations and technology upgrades.
Manchester Fire Chief Ryan Cashin said when the city first applied for the grant approximately three years ago, the cost of technology and construction materials were “much lower than they are today.”
Cashin asked city aldermen to use $531,332.99 in impact fees to help offset the increase in construction costs.
“The money from the grant will be utilized for technology upgrades while the impact fees will be utilized solely for the cost of construction,” Cashin wrote in a memo to aldermen. “Over the last 20 years, the city has grown substantially and for years, the city’s EOC has been underperforming on behalf of the citizens of Manchester due to subpar conditions created by outdated technology and space constraints. The Covid-19 pandemic, recent historic weather events as well as large scale events within city limits has further highlighted the shortfalls of the current state of the EOC.”
Cashin said his department works closely daily with the New Hampshire Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
“Having a state-of-the-art EOC with the latest technology upgrades as well as a more efficient work space is imperative in maintaining the relationship we have built with the state.”
Aldermen supported the request. Renovation work on the EOC is expected to begin in December.
Black Friday blackout
If you’re looking to get hitched on Black Friday (Nov. 29), you’ll have to exchange vows somewhere other than City Hall.
The City Clerk’s Office has announced that due to staffing limitations, they will be unable to perform marriage licenses or ceremonies that day.
