In 4 Minutes, Learn What the Concord City Council Did on April 8

The Concord City Council met on April 8 for a little more than an hour and approved some new no-parking areas and heard more testimony about the new real estate appraisal and assessments.

The council also went into private session to discuss a land acquisition issue and collective bargaining.

Fee changes

The council approved changes to a number of fees, fines, and penalties. The fees were described as “minor increases” in some cases and included new fee structures for ALS transportation and other ambulance services, building permit fees, fire prevention fees, and other services and fines.

Ward 3 City Councilor Jan McClure was the lone vote against the fee increases.

New lifts at the pools

The council approved of $18,000 for seven transport devices to be used to move self-operable lifts at the city’s swimming pools. The Safe Harbor Clause of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act required the city to buy lifts for the pools. However, the lifts weigh more than 100 lbs. and must be housed at the end of every pool day. The new transport devices will help the lifeguards put the lifts away properly without getting injured moving the devices.

No parking

The council also approved parking changes to District 5 Road at Dimond Road, Whitney Road, and Bradley Street.

On District 5 Road, parking will be restricted at the intersection of Dimond Road to make sure that the school bus can turn around on the road.

Roy Schweiker testified that he had been up there on occasion and there needed to be better markings or signage in order to make sure that residents didn’t park on private property. He suggested some gravel installed in the areas and better clearing for the trails. Schweiker noted that there were some testy neighbors on the road who complained because people were parking in the wrong locations in order to use the trails in the area.

City Manager Tom Aspell said he agreed with Schweiker’s comments.

Parking will be banned from both sides of Whitney Road near where a new convenience store and gas station is being proposed. Trucks, apparently, park on the road waiting to deliver items to the incinerator and the thinking is that it will be difficult to allow parking there when the new store opens. An amendment to have the parking ban take place after the permit for the store construction was approved was rejected.

A parking ban on both sides of Bradley Street outside of the soon-to-be renovated Boys & Girls Club was also approved. The street will be two-way up to the entrance to the Rite Aid plaza. After that, it will be one-way leading to Kimball Park and the parking lot for the club. Drivers will then progress through the lot back to the two-way section heading south on Bradley Street.

Schweiker rose to point out that it was a 22-foot street now with parking on both sides.

Bouley ♥ Schweiker

At the end of Schweiker's last comment, Mayor Jim Bouley thanked him for the many times he had come to meetings to testify and said he wanted to make sure that everyone knew that despite previous comments the mayor had made, that the two were friends.

Other stuff

The council also accepted a number of small monetary gifts from various departments, approved of a modification to a utility easement on Whitney Road, and accepted reports from both the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board concerning the Northern Pass Project and power lines in the eastern part of the city.

Next meeting

Next month, on May 13, the city council will discuss a revised panhandling ordinance and will vote on the acceptance of grant money for the Penacook Village Center. It will also take up the assessment issue again.