In the hustle of Concord’s accelerated paving schedule, city officials neglected to host a public hearing about changes to an East Concord intersection.
Added together over fiscal 2016 and 2017, Concord plans spend a total of $6.8 million on neighborhood streets – double the number previously planned. But when the city ramped up the paving program, it also moved up a fix to the forked intersection of Portsmouth Street and Old Loudon Road. The city has reconfigured several similar intersections in recent years, but staff is typically required to seek permission from the council first.
In this case, they did not do so before work began on the junction.
That issue first came up during a May hearing on the capital budget proposal for fiscal year 2017. At that meeting, Ward 10 Councilor Dan St. Hilaire and Mayor Jim Bouley asked about the construction.
“I just want to make sure that we are really looking at this as a council. . . . Usually staff’s really good about coming back to the council,” St. Hilaire said at that meeting.
“Since it’s been mangled, I’ve received all types of complaints,” Bouley added.
The work has switched that junction from a Y-shape to a T-shape, which City Engineer Ed Roberge said is safer. But St. Hilaire said a handful of people complained the turn onto Portsmouth Street was suddenly too tight. So at Monday evening’s Concord city council meeting, the group voted to keep the new configuration but widen the pavement on Portsmouth Street to soften that curve.
St. Hilaire was pleased with the change.
“By getting input and having these come before the council, everybody can weigh in before anything happens,” St. Hilaire said in an interview. “So we’re not making a mistake on the roadway.”
Similar changes have taken place at intersections like North State and Rumford streets; they are planned for areas like Borough Road and Lilac Street in the future. Roberge said the project typically costs less than $5,000. City staff pledged to be more cognizant of these required public hearings in the future.
“It’s a one-off,” Aspell said. “But still something we should have caught.”
Asked if similar miscommunications are possible, Aspell was adamant.
“There could be, but there won’t be,” he said.
Also at Monday evening’s council meeting, the council fielded two separate requests from Merrimack County officials related to a new superior court to be built on North Main Street.
In coming weeks, the parking committee will study a proposal to use public spaces for court visitors during construction. As one part of that plan, the county has asked the city dedicated on-street parking on North Main and Court streets for the court during business hours. Merrimack County would not pay to use those spaces, but the sheriff has offered to monitor and enforce parking restrictions.
Ward 4 Councilor Byron Champlin said some neighbors have expressed concern about the impact construction will have on those who live near the courthouse.
“I certainly support it moving forward and facilitating it to the best of our ability,” Champlin said. “I just want to make sure the community feel their concerns are taken into consideration.”
The planning board will also consider a request to discontinue part of Pitman Street in the future, which would allow for new permanent spaces once the new courthouse is open.
Agendas for both the parking committee and the planning board are available at concordnh.gov.
At Monday’s meeting, the council also agreed to put two tax-deeded properties on the market.
Both vacant, the two homes are 101 Washington St. in Penacook and 8 Coral St. in Concord. City Manager Tom Aspell said the city only sells tax-deeded properties “when there’s no longer an effort made.”
“We’ll do payment plans for the smallest amount of money,” he said. “We don’t want to put people out of their homes.”
The Washington Street home was previously owned by Cynthia Wright, according to the city’s assessing database. Unpaid taxes date back to 2010 and amount to more than $32,000. Half of a duplex, the Coral Street property was previously owned by Western Plus LLC, which is not registered with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office. The city assumed ownership of the property last year for more than $15,000 of unpaid taxes, while the property was vacant and under renovation.
Money from the sale of a tax-deeded property covers back taxes owed to the city, and any additional profit is likely to go to the previous owner’s lender.
(Megan Doyle can be reached at 369-3321, mdoyle@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @megan_e_doyle.)