Manchester Board of Aldermen Passes 2011 City Budget

The Manchester Board of Aldermen addressed numerous hot button issues Monday night, including passing a 2011 budget two months after it was initially set for a vote.

Following is a breakdown of actions taken at Monday night's meeting which ran quite smoothly:

2011 Budget Passed-

The 2011 budget was passed Monday night by a vote of 4:2. Ward One Aldermen Bob Tullock and Hal Roth voted "no", while Ward Two Alderman Mike Clement and Alderwoman Marilyn Ottenad and Ward Three Aldermen John Diehl and Don Ryan voted "yes." Ryan's "yes" vote was a surprise to some residents who broke out in applause after his vote.

During a public comment session before the vote was taken, residents again pleaded the board to pass the budget.

"I have come here this evening for the purpose of expressing my disappointment in the performance of this board in passing this budget in a timely fashion," said resident James Labit. "...I expect my aldermen to vote tonight in favor of the budget. I believe they have not served me as a constituent ... I believe that if they are running for political office in the future they may not say they have served their constituency in a proper manner."

The budget vote came after a vote on a resolution was introduced by Tullock to amend the current budget proposal. Tullock said he wanted the budget amended to prioritize stormwater projects, particularly work that would be done on Manchester homes that are in danger of flooding. That ordinance was defeated after Mayor David Willson voted "no" and broke the tie among board members.

After the meeting, Tullock said he was happy the budget passed, but he thought there were elements of the bill he could not support which is why he voted against it.

"We are still at deficit spending," Tullock explained. "We are spending money we don't have, stuff is not prioritized and I think the residents in ward one are going to lose at the end."

Ryan said he only voted for the budget this time because he was pleased with the agreement reached by the board on the pool issue. Ryan said he did not think the public should have applauded his decision.

"I thought it was inappropriate to clap for me," Ryan said. "That wasn't even a concern to me."

Ryan said he does not know if his vote will create tension between him, Tullock and Roth.

"I can't predict that," Ryan said. "I am sure they weren't pleased but I told them that if I could get what I wanted in the budget, I'd approve it."

Mayor David Willson said he is glad the budget passed, though he does not think it changed too much from its original form back in December of 2010.

"The same two gentleman who opposed it all along voted no again tonight," Wilison said. "I am glad Don voted yes. Had he not, I was prepared to vote yes to pass the budget. Now we can move forward."

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Board President Nomination-

Alderman Clement recalled that he nominated Alderwoman Ottenad last year as the board president then asked if any member was interested in nominating Aldermen Tullock as board president. Alderman Hal Roth nominated Tullock and the board voted. Roth and Ward Three Alderman Don Ryan voted "yes" for Tullock as president. Tullock abstained from the vote saying he had no prior notice and voting would be a conflict of interest.

"Had this been brought ahead of time I would have had time to do some research," Tullock said, while the crowd laughed at his response.

The rest of the board voted "no" and the motion to make Tullock board president was defeated 3:2 with one abstention. The move comes as a lawsuit is pending against the city and the individual council members filed by Alderman Tullock who said he was unfairly stripped of the president title after he was elected last year.

Ottenad has been serving as board president by default since may 3, 2010.

Resident Pauline Bair asked City Attorney Patrick Gunn why if Alderman Tullock had lost the vote, there would still be a lawsuit.

"That would be an issue which I would be reasoning with the court pretty soon," Gunn said.

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Salt Shortage-

Bob Ruck, Manchester's director of public works addressed the board about the city's salt shortage. This comes after the Manchester Department of Public Works reported salt levels are getting low over the weekend, even calling the situation a "salt supply crisis." Manchester's Public Works Department conserved salt during Saturday's snow by supplementing the salt by mixing it with sand and only applying that mixture to hills and grades, prior to streets being plowed.

Ruck said, like many surrounding areas, the city is experiencing low levels of salt supplies and delayed delivery of road salt orders. He said at this point, the next salt order may arrive by April which is too late. The city is forced to continue trying to extend the current salt supply this winter by mixing it with sand.

Abstention-

The board voted on an ordinance amending the guidelines for aldermen abstaining from voting, meaning they refuse to vote on an issue which prevents the Mayor from casting a vote to break a tie. Alderman Clement introduced the ordinance after abstention has become a heated issue among board members and residents. The resolution passed Monday with a unanimous vote.

"I really felt that it was going to pass," Clement said. "I didn't think it was going to pass unanimously, but I think they (Roth and Tullock) were boxed in."

The ordinance now requires aldermen who abstain from voting to explain their decision to the public. Currently, aldermen can only abstain from voting when they have a conflict of interest or do not understand the issue.

"The question will be — and it will be tested in the future — those who use the abstention for control or to defeat the process, will they really be genuine in saying why they abstained?" Clement said.

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City Pool Repairs and Opening Schedule-

The issue before the board is that repairs need to be made to the Manchester Aquatic Center before it can open. The city has to patch ad repair leaks, particularly in the piping, every year so the board was looking at an overhaul of the pipe system. However, what was intially estimated at $285,000 came in at $672,000.

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Because there was no 2011 budget until Monday night, technically no money was budgeted for pool repairs. After last month's board meeting, the city began looking at options like postponing the complete piping overhaul and once again only repairing current leaks. Since it took so long for a budget to be passed, Manchester Parks and Recreation Director Eileen Collins told the board the city was risking the pool not opening by Memorial Day if the overhaul project began this late in the year.

The budget passed, but the board has decided to simply patch the leaks it finds in the spring, barring any major damage discovered after the winter, and then complete the overhaul of the piping as soon as the pool closes this fall. The contractor, R.V. Wagner, said with a commitment from the city, it will extend its current proposal and cost estimate until this fall.

"The pool has got to be fixed," Willson said. "It's a mess. It needs to be fixed. It's a great pool and everybody likes it. We are a little bit behind because had the budget been passed when it was supposed to, we would have started construction already."

Route 141/Manchester Road Traffic Congestion-

Alderman Roth voiced his concerns over consistent traffic congestion at Route 141 and Manchester Road and on other surrounding roads. He said drivers regularly run red lights at the Route 141/Manchester Road intersection and asked acting Manchester Police Chief Lt. Tim Walsh what was being done to combat the problem. Walsh explained he has assigned additional police officers to that area to enforce traffic laws and he said radar was set up. 

"We get complaints from around the city on any number of streets, but they (the violators) move," Walsh said. "We try to react to the complains and information that we get from the public."

Other Business:

A resolution to post an itemized list of the city's expenses on the city's website was postponed Monday night, but the board discussed options to do so.

The board voted to approve $112,405 to be allocated to purchase five 2011 Crown Victorian police vehicles.

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