[0:00] All
[0:05] right. Good morning everyone. The chair
will call this meeting of the board of
[0:09] county commissions to order this
Thursday, August 27th,
[0:12] 2026.
First item on our agenda this morning is
[0:16] to approve uh minutes of August 20th. We
get a motion to approve.
[0:21] Okay. A motion has been made by
Commissioner Le, seconded by
[0:23] Commissioner Feliciano. Were there any
changes amendments to the minutes? Not
[0:27] hearing any. All those in favor of
adoption by saying I.
[0:30] » Those opposed, the vote unanimous. Item
two is to meet with some Riverside
[0:33] restaurant department head. Mr. Bower,
>> who wants to go first?
[0:38] » Who wants to go first? We got quite a
crowd here.
[0:40] » Go ahead, Christie. I know you.
>> Yeah, you.
[0:43] » Come sit up here. [laughter]
>> Come sit up here.
[0:47] » Yeah, you all should sit up here.
>> No, we hide. We hide in the corner.
[0:52] [laughter]
>> You're on.
[0:55] » All right. So, I'm Christy Hughes. I'm
the director of social service at
[0:58] Riverside. I'm also the social worker on
unit 5.
[1:01] » Um, which is the dementia unit.
>> So, I've been the social worker on the
[1:05] dementia unit for 25 years.
>> So,
[1:10] » been here a while.
>> A long time. Yeah.
[1:14] » Just talk a little bit about the
diversity of the unit. Uh, Christie, in
[1:18] terms of the
>> of all the units and just in general.
[1:22] » Yeah. Of all the units, but you can, you
know.
[1:24] » Yeah. So we have so we have four
different units at Riverside. So unit
[1:29] five which is my unit is the dementia
unit. So we have a um so primarily um
[1:35] all different types of dementia. We have
different types of um people have at can
[1:40] [clears throat] be agitated, they can
wander um all different types of
[1:44] behaviors um that we have up there. Um
it's a secure unit so that they're safe
[1:49] if they wander. Um, and also
[sighs and gasps] having residents with
[1:53] dementia together, some of their
behaviors don't bother each other,
[1:56] whereas they might bother other
residents. Um, and then unit 4 is a more
[2:01] general unit. It can also be secure. We
have some people on there get a little
[2:05] confused, might want to get outside when
they shouldn't. Um, so that we have the
[2:09] wandard system, well on that unit as
well. Um, unit two is another general
[2:13] unit and then we have the behavior unit
which is unit one.
[2:18] Matt also is a security unit.
>> Yes.
[2:22] » And
>> they are I mean unit 2's elevator is
[2:25] secure as well. I mean we do you know
it's just the one and five are more
[2:30] secure and the residents on those units
who might try to get off the unit have
[2:35] wander guard bracelets that will alert
the alarm just to give an extra layer um
[2:39] of security.
>> It's not.
[2:42] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[2:44] And you know, I'll say it again with all
all the people that come up and address
[2:50] you. I mean, every
every one of these department heads are
[2:57] people that substantially contribute to
that five-star rating that, you know,
[3:02] that
>> we were or I found out or we were
[3:05] notified of last week. So,
>> Yep. Yeah. And so, and this so each unit
[3:10] has its own social worker. Um, and you
know, we are involved kind of from the
[3:16] beginning before they come in until and
then till after they pass away. Um, you
[3:21] know, we have families that still call
us after with questions, you know, so we
[3:25] try to maintain that relationship with
them. We manage a lot of the we manage
[3:29] the psychiatric a lot of the psychiatric
stuff with residents. We do the list for
[3:33] the work with the psychiatrist and the
medications. Um, we do everything from
[3:39] that to
going to the store to buy them
[3:43] underwear. So, [laughter]
[3:47] » you name it, we do it.
The trick for me is if I
[3:53] am not tremendously familiar with the
with the resident's family,
[3:58] I'll
choose to call one of the social
[4:02] workers, you know, just to get some
background information so that then that
[4:07] happens.
>> Yes. Yeah. Cuz we, you know, we we know
[4:10] which families are struggling. We know
which families are not. We know which
[4:14] families are, you know, having a hard
time. we know which families are harder
[4:17] to work with, which ones are easier to
work with, and then also which families
[4:20] are having family issues amongst
themselves. Um because that's a lot of
[4:26] what we have to manage. Sometimes the
person who's in charge and the other
[4:31] siblings or they don't see eye to eye
and it can be kind of complicated. Um we
[4:37] also do um like I'm helping someone next
week do a guardianship. So, we'll help
[4:41] with that kind of thing, too. If they
don't have their power of attorney um
[4:45] done, sometimes we have to help them
with some legal stuff, too. The
[4:47] guardianship stuff.
>> So, we'll actually help them file the
[4:50] paperwork and and appear in court,
provide whatever paperwork the court
[4:54] needs. Mo
the vast majority of our guardianships
[5:00] are not contested. Although we have had
contested guardianships in the past, but
[5:05] but
>> and often times it's contested not by
[5:09] the person who needs the guardian, but
by another family member who's arguing
[5:16] who should be guardian.
>> One of the one of the things that we
[5:19] have is that
pretty much no one who applies for
[5:25] guardianship has any money. So it
there's no dispute amongst the group um
[5:33] because there's assets because as you
know we're pretty much all pretty much
[5:38] we're all Medicaid so or spending down
to Medicaid having you know meaning
[5:43] having a small sum of money.
>> How many patients do you guys manage?
[5:49] » So before we closed unit three it was
215. So now we're we can be at about
[5:56] 175. Um
sometimes we have room we have roommate
[6:01] issues. We have people that don't do
well with a roommate. Um so that cuts
[6:06] back, you know, sometimes we have we
just have somebody that can't have a
[6:09] roommate. Um I are we at
>> 170, you know, with when everybody's
[6:14] there. I know we have a couple people in
the hospital right now.
[6:17] » Have a couple coming.
>> Yeah. Um so but yeah so and that that is
[6:21] one of the things that we'll limit like
we we have
[6:24] » so each social worker will have 40 plus
>> people pretty much so Christy carries
[6:31] the additional burden of also
supervising the balance of the social
[6:35] workers um so they'll go to her for uh
you know challenging situations that
[6:42] they might not have seen before but you
know Christiey's been there and done
[6:47] that But uh actually all of our social
workers been there a long time.
[6:51] » We all Yeah. Yeah. Everyone's been here
for a long time. And um and we also like
[6:55] we'll take cases like I have I have my
unit but then I also I cover a resident
[7:00] on unit 4 and a resident on unit 2
because there were conflicts. So we are
[7:05] able to do that. So I take the problem.
>> You're a special children.
[7:10] » Yeah. [laughter]
Thank you for what you do. It's amazing.
[7:15] » I don't know if you have any questions.
No.
[7:19] » Oh, good. I can put a great job.
>> Else on the hot
[7:22] » admissions is up. [laughter]
>> Next.
[7:28] » Hi.
>> Hi.
[7:29] » I'm Shannon Mchu and I'm the admissions
coordinator. I work closely with Christy
[7:33] and the rest of the social workers to
assess people to determine what unit
[7:38] would be best for them. Um, we take
people from home, from other facilities,
[7:44] the hospital. We try to keep a good
picture out there of safety concerns. We
[7:50] make sure we prioritize anyone that's in
dire straits if possible. Um, and yes,
[7:58] so I look at the medical records, make
sure we can properly take care of them.
[8:01] We meet the families and the resident,
try to place them appropriately. Can be
[8:06] tricky with roommate matches. Um,
sometimes we have to rearrange. Um, but
[8:11] we do our best. It's it be gets tricky
when you're sharing a bathroom with two
[8:17] men and two women
>> that you know because there's one
[8:21] bathroom for four people that that
becomes tricky
[8:25] » and I think we only have one situation
like that. We try to keep it so that the
[8:31] same gender shares the bathroom gets
tricky if we have a husband and wife and
[8:36] the other room is two females. So we do
try to keep that into consideration too.
[8:43] » And and one of the things that we
changed in the last few years was the
[8:48] fact that um
you're a nurse and and that um we didn't
[8:55] we had a civilian employee doing
admissions and and then all that meant
[9:01] is we pulled another nurse nurse
>> to you know go out and do the visit. So
[9:06] it really made no sense. So as as
we changed things around,
[9:14] you moved off 11 to 7.
>> Yes, I moved off 11
[9:18] » 11 to seven supervisor.
>> But I think the supervising and knowing
[9:21] all the units, the staff, all the
residents has made it a lot easier for
[9:26] me to figure out where people
>> who fit best.
[9:31] » Shannon, it's funny. I heard your name
recently. I know someone who placed a
[9:35] family member and they said Shannon was
amazing to speak to. So, I just wanted
[9:40] to tell you that I had I didn't know who
you were at the time. [laughter]
[9:44] So, it's so nice to meet you. Um, you
too said that they really enjoyed
[9:47] speaking with Shannon. She was so
helpful.
[9:50] » Thank you.
>> Good to hear. Yeah.
[9:53] » Well, I've heard the same. So,
>> thank you. [laughter]
[9:57] » I still like the head.
[10:03] So yeah,
>> great.
[10:04] » Mine's pretty basic. Not as involved as
this one. [laughter]
[10:10] » Chris and Trish.
>> Yeah.
[10:14] » Good morning everyone. I am Trish Bragg.
I have been with Riverside for 24 years.
[10:20] I started as a nurse on the behavior
unit. Um my current position is the
[10:25] nursing services coordinator. um which
basically I support Ry and the DO and
[10:31] the ADO um projects auditing monitoring
um you know infections and most recently
[10:39] I've been working with Chris in
infection control.
[10:43] » So you know that CMS regulations demands
uh that we always have an infection
[10:50] control certified person. So when I
covered at Rockingham once when they
[10:58] when there was a gap in time and uh
between somebody had left and and the
[11:05] state frowns on that um you know they
understand there's a hiring time but
[11:11] it's it's not a desirable situation to
be without somebody who's certified. So
[11:17] Chris is certified and Trisha is
certified as you know a backup. Yeah.
[11:23] Love it. Go Chris, you're on.
>> And I've been also with Riverside for uh
[11:29] quite a long time since 2002. So about
24 25 years now as well. I started off
[11:35] as an LNA, then became a medication
assistant, then became a unit nurse, and
[11:40] now I'm the director of infection
control. Um it's hard to actually
[11:46] summarize all the things and all the
components of my job but um I did I mean
[11:51] we have our quarterly meetings and um my
part is pretty significant in that um
[11:58] and our last one I had mentioned that uh
as of right now we're pro I mean
[12:02] Riverside is one of the five biggest
nursing homes in the state of New
[12:06] Hampshire to begin with and I just made
the point that um we our residents here
[12:12] are probably the best vaccinated
residents in New Hampshire history
[12:17] because we we are required to give
certain um vaccines,
[12:22] you know, by the state. State requires
that federal guidelines require it. We
[12:27] offer additional ones in addition to
that such as Shinrix and most recently
[12:32] RSV. Um, and that isn't standard for
nursing homes, especially Shingri, but
[12:38] Singri is actually I can vouch for we've
been giving it since late 2018, I
[12:44] believe, is when it first came out. Um,
and I I I've seen outstanding results
[12:48] from it because we've we still get
shingles sometimes, but not as often as
[12:54] we used to among the residents. And when
we do, it's always someone who didn't
[12:58] get the vaccine. either they're brand
new or they, you know, elected to
[13:03] decline receiving it. And I also stay up
with like there's so much going on right
[13:07] now in medical science and research and
it's kind of
[13:11] » dizzying how how fast things with AI and
everything and biosciences. Um but um
[13:17] one article I shared with Ry the other
day, you probably saw was on the Shingri
[13:22] vaccine. They're now saying that um it
helps prevent um they think it helps
[13:27] prevent onset have dementia as well. I
think the vericella virus because what
[13:32] what they're what they're seeing is
nations are certain nations are
[13:37] reporting back that you know they're
seeing a pattern of people who had
[13:41] shimmers vaccination have lesser uh
rates of onset of dementia than other
[13:47] people you know it's like the last
report was like 20% decrease um and
[13:53] they're seeing this being repeatable too
so it's not uh not what the vaccine was
[13:59] made for. But now they're thinking,
well, there's a lot of different
[14:01] components that go into dementia and
that's only something we're starting to
[14:06] figure out. But they're thinking that um
the varicosol virus, which is the virus
[14:10] that causes chickenpox, and later on
life, um shingles, it stays with you for
[14:15] life, is has a meaningful component of
that. Um but yeah, and this is the time
[14:21] of the year where we're especially uh
busy with the vaccination effort as
[14:26] well, of course, because we're getting
into the flu season,
[14:29] » getting the flu shots ready for
residents and staff. We just actually
[14:33] yesterday vaccinated a whole bunch of uh
residents with the RSV vaccine and then
[14:38] we got the COVID vaccines as well, which
uh are still an annual offering.
[14:44] Um,
but also, um, you know, there's I have
[14:48] my hands in all kinds of different
things. We've, you know, I also support
[14:51] nursing at times. You know, I've I've
been on call for nursing since 2018 and
[14:55] and and in a pinch they call me and to
supervise or to sometimes run a unit.
[15:01] Um,
[clears throat] as far as uh all the
[15:04] many regulations, but we got eight
chapters of policies and procedures for
[15:09] infection control. I I manage those. Um,
we uh just recently brought on a boarded
[15:16] a new treatment for flu. You may have
heard it before. It's called Zoflua. We
[15:22] mentioned it in here many actually
several years ago. Dr. Clary finally uh
[15:26] decided I guess this year that he wants
to actually use it. Yeah. I he didn't
[15:31] listen to me the first time around, but
>> I think he I think he wanted
[15:37] » me talking to him, he wanted more
research. He wanted, you know, those
[15:40] additional years of of research because
Zoflooa is,
[15:44] » you know, relatively new on the market
compared to
[15:47] » Yeah. You don't know what you don't
>> is new too, but he wanted to start
[15:50] there. But you know,
>> you know,
[15:53] » all I know is you guys have got a tough
job after this, you know, even through
[15:56] co, you know,
>> the physical environment that you have
[16:02] to work in to try to prevent disease and
the spread of the spread of that
[16:06] » outbreaks
and managing outbreaks given the nature
[16:10] of a facility. It's just,
>> you know, you just do a tremendous job.
[16:16] I have a nickname for Chris. Call him
the bug doctor because, you know, he's
[16:19] been doing it for a long time. Sometimes
they're all bugs, too.
[16:23] » Yeah. Parasites, too. But I call them
bugs
[16:27] » because they're all to me, they're all
bugs. Viruses, you know, it just runs
[16:31] the gambit. But, you know, you guys just
the cohesiveness of the team are going
[16:37] to decide. You know, you guys are the
finest employees in the state as far as
[16:40] I'm concerned in terms what given the
for you, church.
[16:44] » Okay. Right. Right. I give the most
support to Ray, just for the record.
[16:49] » Yeah. Yeah. He needs a lot of support. I
can say that.
[16:54] » I just think that you guys, given the
nature of what we're hearing within that
[16:57] building, uh it's just it's just amazing
what you've been able to do. And
[17:02] » you know, we went almost the whole year
without the co virus and that was,
[17:06] » you know, in no small part because of
you folks that
[17:10] » and even now it seems to be different. I
mean, you know, the symptoms aren't as
[17:13] dire. the, you know, the it still exists
and but,
[17:19] » you know, it it's kind of a a different
not only is it a different outcome, but
[17:24] it's like a different process. Yeah, but
we're still, you know, really careful
[17:28] and we still vaccinate and and um
>> and even with her immunity, you know,
[17:32] the and the different strains that
developed as a result of that, you know,
[17:36] it's just a
>> I I I don't envy your job because you're
[17:41] trying to keep ahead of all of that all
the time and there's so much so many
[17:44] changes. It is mindboggling. I I don't
know how you do it.
[17:48] » We've been through the worst of it.
That's the good
[17:50] » that's the good part.
>> Yeah, we hope we have. Right. Still
[17:54] something.
>> There's a few things out there.
[17:57] » I think I think what we went through in
2020, I think was
[18:01] » Yes.
>> I I hope we're not going to be like that
[18:04] again.
>> Well, God bless you all for doing what
[18:07] you do.
>> Thank you so much.
[18:08] » Thank you guys.
>> Good to see you.
[18:14] » You guys don't have to stay. I know you
have.
[18:18] » Byebye.
>> Thank you.
[18:21] » Nice. I like that leopard. The leopard
strip
[18:25] it I mean I I you know I they really do
get along really well and and
[18:34] » you know I I was I learned from when I
was at Rockingham that you really can't
[18:40] just rely on on one infection person. I
mean if somebody's on if Chris is on
[18:46] vacation
>> Yeah. um or uh you know he's although
[18:50] he's on call 24/7 if if we
[clears throat]
[18:53] we do a lot of COVID testing. Uh to me
one of the most embarrassing things is
[19:00] to have somebody have symptoms which
could be symptoms of pneumonia. I mean
[19:04] appear to be we end up sending somebody
out to Wentworth Douglas and they test
[19:08] them and they've got CO and I going wow
that was stupid. So we test everybody
[19:14] now and anybody that has a symptom
because we can manage COVID you know in
[19:19] the facility
>> we don't need you know to send them out
[19:22] and and to a lot of our residents
sending them to the hospital is
[19:26] traumatizes some of them I mean they
it's hard for them I mean just think who
[19:30] wants to go to the ER raise your hand I
mean you know nobody and and for our
[19:35] people who can't understand that
um it it makes it that much more
[19:40] difficult and it's a strain on the
families, you know, to meet the resident
[19:44] there. And so if we can do everything we
can to avoid that and to avoid the
[19:50] hospitalizations, you know, all the
better for us. And and uh um but you
[19:56] know, anybody that says that CO doesn't
exist or it's all gone now, there's no
[20:02] way it's all gone.
>> Yeah. Fortunately, uh we've the last
[20:09] couple of times we've had it, it's been
an employee and but because but because
[20:13] the residents are so well vaccinated,
there hasn't and even though the
[20:17] employees, most not all are vaccinated,
it's obviously for them. Um
[20:25] they haven't spread it to the residents.
So we had a couple few people in
[20:31] dietarian that had it and the last was
our 11 to seven supervisors which which
[20:37] is one you'd be afraid of because you
know they supervisors all over
[20:41] everywhere you know in the facility but
um no one you know that begins a whole
[20:48] round of aggressive testing
um because obviously if somebody else
[20:53] has it we want to know about it right
away.
[20:55] » Yeah. But and and some residents are
eligible for you know an offsetting
[21:01] medication.
However, not all residents are or
[21:06] they're eligible at different dose
levels depending on their other co com
[21:11] coorbidities. So it's not as simple as
oh okay well let's just give in in the
[21:17] old days still now if you have a flu
outbreak you know you almost
[21:23] you have an understanding of what the
roommate and the bathroom mates because
[21:28] that complicates things with us you know
they're using the same bathrooms
[21:32] » and and that um when that occurs uh we
immediately begin to read if there's a
[21:40] flu which we haven't had in a couple
years. Uh we immediately start treating
[21:45] the roommate
and the bathroom mates. Um
[21:51] as long as they don't have any
conflicting co-orbidities. So that's a
[21:56] standard order. We don't even, you know,
we just we keep the medication in stock
[22:02] in our emergency kit um until we get the
replacement meds from um the pharmacy
[22:09] because, you know, the pharmacy delivers
every day, but you know, you want to
[22:14] start the med right away. So,
>> I just want to state one thing. um
[22:20] having having them all come in the
department heads and talk. One thing
[22:24] that really stands out to me is the
longevity. 24 years
[22:29] says a lot about about you as well. You
know, no seriously. And then working in
[22:34] the conditions that they work in with
the old nursing home struggling with the
[22:38] heat and the air conditioning that they
stick through. They have such passion
[22:43] and they take such good care of their
residents. But what an amazing team.
[22:47] That's all I have to say. It's just
something to be proud of.
[22:50] » Yeah. And you know, I I
>> it was funny. I I know the, you know,
[22:55] Commissioner Lev had made the suggestion
that, you know, monthly we bring in all
[22:59] the department heads, which which was a
great idea. Um I I wanted to shift, you
[23:04] know, I we started with the nursing
home. was going to shift, you know, to
[23:08] other departments
except that when we got the fivestar
[23:12] rating, I I just have taken the
opportunity to bring in,
[23:17] » you know, um continue with the uh
nursing home people so we can
[23:21] congratulate them because each one of
them has a piece of this, right? you
[23:26] know, some pieces may be bigger than
others, like Chris, you know, they're
[23:30] forever, you know,
on Chris's back about everything that's
[23:37] imaginable. You know, we have infection
rates, we have I mean, just everything
[23:41] that they examine,
>> right?
[23:44] » And like Chris said, he has eight
chapters of policies and procedures and
[23:48] and uh and so I thought it was
important. Uh Trish is an LPN, not an
[23:54] RN. However, she still uh went through
the process and qualified to sit for the
[24:00] exam as a um um they call it an in
infection preventionalist. That's what
[24:08] the term is from CMS, but that way we
have the backup. Um
[24:14] » wonderful. And Chris every once in a
while, you know, if he just gets
[24:18] overwhelmed in the past, he would wonder
how much longer he could continue to do
[24:24] it.
>> Yeah, it's a lot of stress.
[24:27] » And and so I thought it would be smart
for two ways to get Trish,
[24:33] » you know, she can be a backup for him.
And they're they're perfect personality
[24:38] matches.
>> You know, Chris is kind of quiet and and
[24:43] just tremendously brilliant. Oh yeah,
he's a smart man.
[24:46] » And Trish is the the funny one, you
know. She'll get him laughing and and uh
[24:51] um help him um stress a little bit.
>> Exactly.
[24:55] » Yeah. So, it's really a a perfect match.
It it really worked out great. So,
[25:01] » yeah,
>> you know, that that was a a fortuitous
[25:05] uh pairing of of of people and they and
they respect each other, you know, they
[25:11] have a great amount of respect for each
other. So that's good.
[25:15] » Yeah. And and we don't do we need to
right now. No. Trish does a lot of other
[25:20] things. And she's right. She does. If I
have something that I need some other
[25:26] help.
>> Well, I read all the doctor's notes and
[25:28] and if I have something in a doctor's
note that doesn't look right to me, I'll
[25:32] give it to Trish or somebody and say,
"Hey, what's this?" You know, do the do
[25:36] the research on this because I'm not a
nurse. you know, do the research because
[25:41] this just doesn't smell right. I mean,
it doesn't seem right, you know, is did
[25:45] this doctor miss something? Is there uh
and mo mostly it it turns out to be it's
[25:52] done, it's just not recorded, right? And
when survey comes, it they don't care
[25:58] whether it's done or if it's not
documented, it's not done. I mean,
[26:02] that's their answer to you. You we can't
say, "Well, we really did that. We just
[26:06] didn't document." No, no good. So, you
know, we'll we'll make suggestions to
[26:12] the doctor to more round out their nose.
And as you know, they dictate their
[26:16] notes. So, we get uh on like every
renewal will be two and a half pages of
[26:23] of type notes. Um and during a sick
visit, um
[26:29] you know, it'll be at least a page or
more addressing the specific issue. But,
[26:35] you know, that's that's the way it
works. In fact, my intention uh actually
[26:39] as part of this process is is to bring
Dr. Clary in our medical director who's
[26:43] been up for a while.
>> Roland Roland Rober
[26:48] » Yeah.
>> suggested that we consider hiring these
[26:52] two new docs that just opened a practice
in Rochester who served in Vietnam
[26:58] together. uh left asmetics, went to med
school, graduated and opened Salmon
[27:04] Falls practice. And so Dr. Clary's and
Charlay continue to be with us for
[27:14] 30 35 years.
>> Yeah.
[27:17] » And Dr. Clary just told me yesterday
that he renewed to uh because he he knew
[27:27] of my commitment to at least stay for
the next term um next commissioner term
[27:33] and he's renewed his commitment to stay
with me. very nice
[27:38] » because his license actually was he had
to apply for renewal in 2027, but when
[27:43] he found out that, you know, my
commitment was to 2028,
[27:49] uh he um
went back and took his license and he's
[27:55] he's in his early 80s,
>> but he's absolutely brilliant.
[27:59] » He's absolutely brilliant. If I was ever
sick or if somebody in my family was
[28:04] ever sick, I'd ask him to be involved in
the process.
[28:11] » Okay.
You guys any questions on the
[28:15] presentations this morning?
>> I thought they were great.
[28:18] » All right.
>> And we'll keep going.
[28:20] » Yeah.
>> Yeah, we'll keep going.
[28:22] » Okay. Uh we'll move on to item number
three, affordable housing update. the uh
[28:29] uh
a couple of things. Um
[28:35] number one,
the
[28:39] from the initial
bubble gum drawing that you came up
[28:44] with. Okay. I'll call it the bubble gum.
>> It was. Yeah, it was. It was just a
[28:48] drawing on a piece of paper. Um,
and then, uh, uh, there's been some kind
[28:55] of layout changes as a result of trying
to meet parking requirements.
[29:00] Uh,
uh, so u,
[29:05] I need to apologize. I use the term uh,
fab a few weeks ago regarding uh, asking
[29:13] Warren Street and Hutter to uh, give us
some idea of what we were looking at.
[29:19] Uh, I probably should have said it was a
donation, so I apologize for using the
[29:23] term favor, but I wasn't putting that
water time into it.
[29:26] » Something like that for nothing.
>> Yeah, they did it for nothing. And u uh
[29:30] in any event, um, couple of things. They
changed the layout a bit uh from what
[29:37] was um presented initially because I
mean the bubble gum drawing, I call it
[29:43] that, didn't have the parking layout.
And so they're they're trying to tight
[29:47] tighten up a site plan. Uh Warren Street
has all
[29:54] uh of the soil analysis and the wetlands
analysis and all those things that we
[30:00] had paid for when we were doing the
nursing home. You folks weren't here.
[30:04] » Uh but they had all that information on
file. So it was it was a difficult lift
[30:10] for them to to do that. Uh but I'll pass
out uh a copy of the latest layout and
[30:17] uh I'll make sure that uh uh so that's
the that's the latest layout in terms of
[30:24] having the three buildings
um uh and I talked to uh Lars uh Traffy
[30:33] from Hutter
>> uh construction who was doing the
[30:36] construction on the uh warming center he
their firm
[30:41] has had extensive experience in building
these types of buildings that we're
[30:45] talking about. So, I asked him to uh
look at uh uh the buildings and give me
[30:51] give us some kind of a ballpark figure.
And uh uh he called me yesterday and
[30:57] said he thought it would run around $45
million
[31:01] to construct this um
in in total cost. he was estimating is
[31:08] that's about a quarter of a million
dollars per unit.
[31:12] » So when you think about affordability,
the cost of construction really it's not
[31:17] the land that's the expense. In many
instances it's the cost of construction.
[31:22] You with me? So
>> granted the land has a lot to do with
[31:26] it, but it's really uh trying to build
the building and build the uh out the
[31:33] parking lots and such. Uh it's the total
thing he's they've estimated to be, as I
[31:39] said, $45 million, but that's just that
includes the parking lot and the other
[31:44] infrastructure that needs to be put in.
Uh
[31:48] they're going to uh
uh work on some additional
[31:55] uh architectural and progress. Uh
because this thing is a is a is a is a
[32:01] concept. It's not a done deal. It's not
a done deal. it's a concept. Uh they're
[32:06] willing to do a little more work uh on
their dime to at least help us out. Uh
[32:13] and
um
[32:16] there needs to be at some point an RFQ.
We haven't there hasn't been an RFQ. I
[32:22] know Commissioner Feliciano ordered an
RFQ and I think it's a great idea,
[32:26] but we got to write one. Uh and we would
need some assistance in in writing out
[32:31] an RFQ.
uh to to the nonprofit basically
[32:37] probably the non uh the uh
nonprofit sector
[32:42] » uh to uh to see if anyone has there are
some some folks uh that uh have some
[32:50] experience in doing this across the
state with the New Hampshire housing
[32:53] finance. Um, I did get uh a
communication from uh Matt Mayberry, who
[33:01] is the uh uh director of the homeowners,
the building association of Cocket. He
[33:09] told me he had three or four uh people
that were interested uh in pursuing
[33:15] this. Uh but I told him we have to first
of all, we have to write the RFQ. We
[33:20] don't have we haven't even started that.
>> Yeah. So, I don't have any idea what to
[33:25] even show them outside of this, you
know, the these initial site ideas. Um,
[33:32] but uh there are people that are
interested in doing it. So, we're just
[33:37] up to keep
moving forward with it. Uh, and uh
[33:44] there's people working finance until
>> right. All right. Well, you know,
[33:49] there's New Hampshire Housing Finance.
They have a they finance projects of
[33:53] this nature
and uh normally it's a competitive grant
[33:59] and that money comes available every
year. Uh so uh in terms of I think that
[34:07] this type of project would rank very
high uh on their competitiveness scale
[34:14] uh because they have just so much
capacity to develop.
[34:18] Yeah. Just a quick thing. One of the
things I I think from looking at other
[34:24] grants unrelated to this
>> some of the things that they're they
[34:29] look for is is obviously affordability.
In other words,
[34:33] what what
um
[34:37] what we can do better than the market,
>> right?
[34:40] » And they and they look for land
availability, which you know the land
[34:44] has no cost. They and and they look for
operating thing. Well, technically we
[34:51] don't have to pay taxes,
>> right?
[34:54] » And the other thing is of course um we
have power.
[35:00] » Yeah. Yeah, we have the infrastructure
>> and and we have city water and city
[35:04] sewer and and uh
>> so all those things that you know
[35:07] » all those things I think that would help
us on the scoring.
[35:11] » Yeah.
>> Yeah. So uh now it's just a matter of
[35:16] determining
how to come up with an RFQ to steal one.
[35:23] I was going to with your permission,
commissioners, I was going to inquire
[35:27] through the association of counties to
see if any other county went out for an
[35:32] RFQ about something,
>> right?
[35:34] » And see if we couldn't steal their steal
the language. Yeah.
[35:37] » You know, steal the language. So,
>> and I know that CAP, you know, has been
[35:42] involved in this. Uh Betsy Andrew Park
has been doing this for a long long
[35:46] time.
>> Um trying to get, you know, that's how
[35:49] Covered Bridge Mana was constructed. and
and you know, regional planning also has
[35:54] has uh
>> uh is writing our grants for that. Well,
[35:58] now about a see, let's just round it off
at $2.5 million
[36:03] um that we applied for from Go North. Um
so they they have a familiarity. Now
[36:11] remember the money for writing the grant
for go north is covered by Go North,
[36:20] right? So, we're not spending any money
>> even though actually it's in the county
[36:24] budget. We're not spending any any of
county money and also um
[36:32] regional planning has applied and I
don't know the status of their
[36:37] application to be one of the entities
that can write grants for anybody um you
[36:43] know like certified by go north. Uh
right. Um I know they applied for that.
[36:50] I don't I'm I'm sure they're gonna I
have every reason to believe they they'd
[36:54] get approved simply because they've been
writing grants for CDFA and you know
[36:58] other places you know that go to CDFA in
other places. So um I'm I'm sure that'll
[37:05] work out and maybe we're going to reach
out to them to see if they've got any.
[37:08] you know, I I think that to develop the
RFQ, which I think is the right route to
[37:12] go. Um, you know, we it's not rocket
science. Everybody's done it. There's a
[37:17] lot of people have done this in our
state. So, we'll just look at one
[37:22] [clears throat] of their documents and
see if we're kind of interested.
[37:26] According to Matt Mayberry, he's telling
me that there's a lot of interest uh to
[37:30] do that. So, um, at least we're making
an attempt on our part to ease the
[37:36] housing situation. I you know I know
that that's one of the things that we
[37:40] hear in negotiation all the time with
staff is that they just can't afford to
[37:45] you know live and live. So uh uh you
know so we're really we're trying to do
[37:51] the best we can and and and try in in
trying to add some capacity to the
[37:57] market. Um and uh hopefully we can
there are other there are other things
[38:04] that can come from that. I think uh you
know a lot of those folks have a lot of
[38:09] those people do have animals and uh
humane society was looking they were
[38:14] very excited about I met with them about
another issue which I'll bring up on the
[38:19] new business but they were very excited
about having something like this because
[38:22] they could have more volunteers.
>> Yep.
[38:24] » Yeah. And volunteers at the nursing open
you know
[38:28] » I was watching u national news
and
[38:35] One of the things that I would just that
I heard that I would ask you to consider
[38:42] is if there is a rent reduction as as
you know as a result of the negotiation
[38:50] with however this proceeds through a
builder is that they require this person
[38:57] to volunteer 10 hours a month.
Oh,
[39:01] » and I'm not saying, you know, I'm I'm
not throwing that I want to throw that
[39:05] on you and say yes, you know, I I'm just
saying that I thought that was an
[39:09] interesting concept, especially where we
have the humane society, we have the
[39:13] daycare center,
>> we have the nursing home, we have the
[39:16] jail, all of which, you know, are are
right for volunteer experiences.
[39:22] » I want to share a quick story with you.
when the the article came out last week,
[39:25] I had a woman uh that swung by the
marina to see me in a and she was living
[39:30] in a in her car and she was uh 74 years
old and she got evicted and she's got
[39:38] $1,100 a month social security and she's
been on
[39:43] waiting list. The waiting list to get
into housing authorities is very very
[39:48] » three years.
>> Three between three and five places. She
[39:52] told me she said she was asking me if
this was ever going to be available to
[39:55] someone like her.
>> She's fairly healthy. It's just that she
[39:59] has no family. Uh her uh she did have a
sister that passed away uh years ago and
[40:05] never had any children.
So people don't realize that we have
[40:09] that type of folks out here in our in in
in our society once they get evicted,
[40:13] you know. for whatever reasons, the
multiple reasons why, but mostly because
[40:17] of the cost of rents,
>> right?
[40:20] » They seem to be hidden, the hidden
population, because frankly, they're
[40:25] embarrassed.
>> Yeah, they are.
[40:26] » You know, they're embarrassed to ask for
help, they're they're from
[40:32] » I know if it was my parents, you know,
speaking from that generation, my
[40:37] parents would be mortified to be in that
situation.
[40:39] » Absolutely. and therefore would survive
somehow,
[40:44] » right?
>> Um without asking for help.
[40:47] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[40:48] » And I'd like to make something clear,
too, because I saw on the social media
[40:51] pages that
>> um that we're building this so that when
[40:56] people come out of the warming center,
they have a place to live and do drugs.
[40:59] That's not the case at all. Um, this is
going to be workforce housing and for
[41:04] people that are working and to help
people who are trying and not for drug
[41:09] force housing. I just want to make that
clear.
[41:12] » Making this stuff,
but I want to put that out there that
[41:17] that is not the truth.
>> So, that's one of the primary reasons I
[41:21] don't participate in social media.
>> There's no requirement for truth,
[41:26] » right? There is no truth
>> in social media. Yeah,
[41:30] » you just say whatever you feel like
saying.
[41:32] » Yeah. And there's no repercussion. You
just lie and that's the way it is. Just
[41:36] come up with everything you want.
>> I did get I did get an email from a from
[41:41] a person that I knew that asked me about
what we thought might occur. And I said,
[41:47] "Well, I can't tell you what's going to
occur because we haven't got there yet.
[41:51] » Getting there yet. I haven't got there
yet, but but what the intention is, you
[41:54] know, and
>> frankly, uh
[41:59] I mean the warming center component is a
is is certainly a different that's a
[42:03] different animal.
>> And we have a transitional housing
[42:06] program here now, which a lot of people
don't realize. They just don't realize
[42:10] we run transitional housing program here
for people who who come out of jail
[42:15] which is a direct with which has a
direct property tax savings
[42:20] to local communities because if those
people are discharged from jail and have
[42:25] no place to go, they're going to go on
your local welfare role. So, the fact
[42:29] that we do discharge planning and that
we have transitional housing, we have a
[42:33] waiting list for that transitional
housing. uh some of them, you know, we
[42:36] required them. We we we we make sure
they have a job, okay, we want to make
[42:41] sure they're going back to a stable
environment,
[42:44] but again, if they if they're making 20
bucks an hour somewhere, can they afford
[42:48] to live? How can they afford to live?
Okay, they just can't. So, uh you know,
[42:54] and and I know everybody's a big, you
know, there are some folks out there I I
[42:59] don't I don't I read that social media
and half the time I laugh because they
[43:03] don't have any idea what
what they're talking about.
[43:06] » I have the luxury of not reading it at
all.
[43:08] » Yeah. Well, well, that's good. I don't
even
[43:11] » I don't I don't I don't bother to read
it. If I feel if people have an inquiry,
[43:15] we're we're always available
>> and we have a county website. They have
[43:19] an inquiry, they can make it and we're
happy to answer it.
[43:22] » So, we did have a I was full of an
actual video um
[43:28] a I know I asked Janet to and Kelly to
see if we could show it. Yeah, let's
[43:34] give it a shot.
>> So,
[43:52] and let's hit play. So, I guess that
doesn't look like a slum, does it?
[43:57] [laughter]
[44:00] It does back up to the jail. Um, and
this new site plan that you have, uh,
[44:06] is, you know, the found the foundation
for that.
[44:12] So, uh, I just think this technology is
really,
[44:16] » it's crazy.
>> Really, really cool to show be able to
[44:19] show you what it potentially could look
like.
[44:22] » Um,
again, the county is not going to be
[44:26] operating in this facility. Yeah, there
will be no property tax uh involvement
[44:31] here.
It would be done by the non either the
[44:37] non you know public sector that
nonprofit sector uh but it surrounds the
[44:42] jail
and uh I think it would be a great
[44:46] addition to the complex. Uh it hides the
jail from the balance of the county real
[44:52] estate. Uh when you look at it,
when you drive up County Farm Road, you
[44:58] wouldn't even see it. You wouldn't even
see the jail. Uh which I think is
[45:03] another uh great uh component
improvement.
[45:08] » Right. So, we're going to uh have this
uh go out and uh I'm going to ask that
[45:14] you forward just a this video to if they
to um and the site plan to members of
[45:21] the delegation. We're not ready to we're
not ready to we're not even ready to do
[45:25] anything with it yet. But I want but
I've had a lot of legislators call me
[45:28] about it. So
>> the only thing I say, Mr. Chairman, is
[45:32] remember at least
for me looking at who's initiated
[45:39] um to be on the ballot.
A third you can send this you can send
[45:45] this now, but a third of those people
won't be here. And we're not asking any
[45:51] of the current delegation to vote on
anything.
[45:54] » And we're not spending and we're not
spending any county money,
[45:57] » right?
>> And they're going to say to us that
[45:59] we're hiding stuff.
>> Well, plus they're going to say, you
[46:02] know, what's what uh you know, they're
going to want to know about
[46:06] » Oh, they're going to want to know
everything. And
[46:08] » and we are going to be at the
disadvantage of because this is because
[46:14] you've chosen to share this with the
public in its infancy,
[46:19] » right? In other words, as it's
developed, instead of throwing the the
[46:23] final deal, so to speak, on the table,
you're sharing it in pieces as we're
[46:30] learning.
>> Um,
[46:32] » yeah, you're right.
>> You know, we're we're going to share
[46:35] this and people are going to ask us
questions,
[46:36] » questions, and we don't have the answers
>> and we don't have the answers because we
[46:39] haven't developed it that far yet,
>> right? But I think it's a tribute to
[46:44] how you guys chose to do this by
exposing this literally as we're
[46:51] learning,
>> right? It's just an open an open process
[46:54] as far as I'm concerned. So, it is what
it is. So, uh but I think it's kind of I
[46:59] think it'll be kind of neat and be a
great addition to the complex. Um
[47:04] so, uh we we just put it up on our
website. That's
[47:09] work in progress. If they want to see
it, just go on the website. They can see
[47:12] it.
>> Yeah. That's that's the concept.
[47:14] » And and we can certainly forward it
after the election.
[47:17] » Sure.
>> You know, which is that delegation
[47:19] that's likely to be more actively
involved involved at some point. At some
[47:23] point.
>> Yeah. Okay.
[47:27] All righty. Uh item four, we got item
four then unless you got anything else
[47:32] on this?
>> No. Okay. Uh item four is our upcoming
[47:38] events. Uh, item five, old and new
business.
[47:41] » I I have a piece of uh I guess it's new
business, Mr. Chairman, and and a
[47:46] request of the commission.
>> Um, I received a through Janet a rather
[47:52] substantial
right to know request
[47:56] and um
I can't
[48:00] finish that. So, I'm requesting that you
allow me to hire help to answer that
[48:05] right to know request. you've it's been
shared with you. We shared it with you
[48:10] guys.
>> It's a ton of work.
[48:11] » It's eight It's eight When you print it
out, it's eight pages of requests and
[48:16] while not all of them will translate to
an answer because the answer doesn't
[48:21] exist.
I still have to do my due diligence to
[48:26] check out each and every one of those
requests. and and I have multiple jobs
[48:33] now as as as
we've talked about the nursing home, the
[48:38] county administration plus community
corrections. Um there's just one of me
[48:44] and and the answers that are required
there are pretty
[48:49] need to do there needs to be some due
diligence to answer them correctly. So I
[48:55] am uh asking that Who would hire?
>> I don't know. I I haven't done that. I I
[49:01] haven't gone that far because I didn't
want to do it if you guys were going to
[49:03] say no. But it it will obviously
what I'm thinking is that I've been
[49:10] approached recently by a a master's
level student from UNH
[49:17] um who was interested in public
administration. It's his major. and um
[49:23] thinking that um he this might be a
project that he might be interested in
[49:27] assisting me with. I haven't approached
him because [snorts] if you guys said
[49:32] no, then I didn't want to say, "Hey, can
you help me pay him?"
[49:35] » Well, I would say I don't think he's
going to do it for nothing. Um if I was
[49:41] him, I wouldn't do it for nothing. Um
you know, so you know, he's a college
[49:45] student. He's probably, you know, would
love some money,
[49:48] » some extra money. So, I I would if you
guys just say okay with the concept, I
[49:54] would get back to you uh with uh more
specifics.
[49:59] » I think it's a no-brainer because he can
only do so much and it's times better
[50:04] spent doing other things than that. So,
I'm totally going to Yeah,
[50:10] » I agree. But I mean,
>> it's just crazy. We have an eightpage
[50:15] request
to find out about documents about our
[50:19] ideas of housing.
>> Yeah. Which I don't even need yet.
[50:23] » That's asking us for our personal
emails, personal text messages
[50:28] about anything to do with this. And
we're going to hire someone and the
[50:31] taxpayers are going to pay for that.
>> Because we're trying to help.
[50:34] » I don't I don't I I don't
>> I'm sorry.
[50:38] » I can only do so much. I
>> It's just really frustrating. Um
[50:41] » I can only do so much. But yes, if
that's what we have to do because we
[50:43] have to answer that.
>> Well, I'll get back to you with more
[50:45] specifics.
>> Okay.
[50:48] » Okay.
[50:51] All right. Well, any of the old Oh, I've
got one piece of new business. I just
[50:55] got a vice off the phone.
uh with Easter Seals.
[51:00] Uh uh they had an emergency meeting of
their board. Um
[51:06] and
as a result of actions by uh executive
[51:12] counselor Stevens because of course they
were shutting down their programming for
[51:15] their adult daycare program and their
homemaker services in Manchester.
[51:20] He had a meeting with the governor and
uh the board of Easter Seals has met and
[51:29] reversed their decision.
So uh but however, this is how it's
[51:35] going to play out as I understand it. uh
is that they're going to continue to do
[51:40] the adult daycare program which is good
news because I had uh I was having Ry
[51:48] look at what we could do as you all as
you both are aware of what we could do
[51:53] to provide adult daycare the nursing
home program went away but now they're
[51:58] reversing their decision. They're going
to do continue to do adult daycare
[52:03] um uh for the time being and they're
working
[52:09] with the state to pro find other
providers
[52:13] uh by June
of next year uh to provide homemaker
[52:19] services, but it's a wait and see. Uh
but they just wanted us to know. I just
[52:24] got off the phone with them before I
walked in here.
[52:26] » So they'll continue to Right. So,
they're going to continue the
[52:30] programming as a result of the the
actions of what the governor took and um
[52:37] uh and continue it. So, I'm assuming
we're going to continue to do get bills
[52:41] from them. Uh and they just said that,
you know, they would let us know when
[52:47] when they know more.
>> Just a quick thing, Mr. chairman is that
[52:53] this would time this would be timing
with our budget coming up,
[52:59] » right?
>> That's correct.
[53:00] » For us to see um
I've always been curious if we could
[53:05] carve out Straford County. Um you know,
and and so it might mean a larger
[53:12] contribution to us, which would in the
long run be a savings to us,
[53:16] » right?
um by not needing nursing home
[53:20] admissions.
>> And it depends, right? It depends on
[53:22] what they do, Ray. What the state
decides to do with
[53:25] » Well, I mean, we can't do it alone. I
mean, you know that you you announced
[53:28] that they're talking a million dollar
deficit in that in those programs. We're
[53:33] certainly, but that's a statewide
deficit, right?
[53:37] » You know, they happen to have a a
homemaker center here in Stratford
[53:42] County. Um, so you know, we're thinking
that maybe um, you know, I don't know.
[53:48] I'm just
>> my mind's thinking and and it's just
[53:52] turning over.
>> No question will have some kind of a
[53:54] budget impact, but we just don't know
what because it's a that again, this is
[53:58] a situation. I just got the phone call.
So, this thing's going to it's going to
[54:02] play itself out. We're just going to
have to see how it how it plays out.
[54:06] That's all.
>> Yeah. Control.
[54:08] » I'm I'm just planting the seed that it
might be willing. It might be it makes
[54:12] some sense on our part to be a larger
contributor if it continues to services
[54:18] specifically in our county,
>> right?
[54:20] » You know, that's obviously, you know,
we're not going to spend our county
[54:23] money for anybody else, but it just
seems that we might be in a little
[54:27] better shape because of how things are
physically located,
[54:31] » right? Yep.
And you know depending on nature of what
[54:34] they determine how they want to have how
they carve up the pie for lack of a
[54:38] better term we may end up having two or
three different providers.
[54:42] » I understand you know I don't know I
don't I don't know but I agree with you.
[54:46] We we some certainly to look at the
budget next year whoever whoever sits
[54:50] here
>> we'll have to deal with that.
[54:53] » Uh but you know some
>> so I'm just planting the seed.
[54:56] » Yeah. Well that makes sense. That makes
sense.
[55:00] Uh I think that's it. We're still on
we're still on uh schedule with uh
[55:08] warming center. I was just over there
this morning. Right.
[55:12] » They are. Yeah. And uh that's all I have
to do business. You guys have any new
[55:18] business?
>> Can can I just ask a question? Sure.
[55:20] » So is the next part because I go by
there, you know, pretty much every day.
[55:25] is is so the next part will be the the
framing part of it.
[55:29] » They almost had the deck done when I
went by this morning. Then the walls
[55:32] will start going up.
>> Okay. You know,
[55:35] » it'll be the outer wall.
>> I'm not much of a builder guy,
[55:38] » you know, except to hire somebody to
redo my kitchen and
[55:43] » but it's it's getting there. We have a
sink that works.
[55:47] » So, uh All right. So, let's uh really we
don't have any older new any further old
[55:53] and new business. Um, I did get a call
from Seammens just to let you all know
[55:59] um that uh they're moving forward that
NG audit that we talked about.
[56:06] » They don't have anything to report.
They're just
[56:09] doing it. They're just doing it. So,
we'll see how that all happens. And as
[56:14] soon as we get the results of that, uh,
we'll certainly have it on public
[56:19] agenda. Um, okay. And then if there's no
other old and new business, we'll move
[56:24] our item number six, which questions or
comments from the public related to this
[56:28] into the agenda. So Susan, you're here
today. Good morning.
[56:32] » Hi. How are you?
>> Good. So do you have any questions? I
[56:35] know I also see Fosters is up there. One
other thing I want to bring up if I may.
[56:40] Um I received a call from uh Karen
Danderan after our last meeting. Uh it
[56:48] was uh and she had requested just to let
you two know uh she had requested uh
[56:54] some kind of image from uh us uh that
would show the affordable housing
[57:01] project which so I had answered some of
her questions uh that was in that
[57:06] article
>> um just to let you know but that took
[57:10] place after our commissioner's meeting
and
[57:12] » and and it probably would have taken
place during the commissioner's meeting
[57:16] » right had We hadn't rushed if we had a
demand for the use of the owl
[57:22] » downstairs at the sheriff's meeting and
had to cut the meeting off at 10:00.
[57:25] » Yeah, if you remember. So, we we've
spoken to Janet about not
[57:30] » and it's not her fault. Our meetings
don't normally go that long.
[57:34] » So, we've we've spoken to Janet about
not scheduling those things back to back
[57:40] so that there won't be any like kind of
time deadline on when they end the
[57:45] commissioner. Yeah.
>> And so the u also chair was an error
[57:50] because I saw those folks on the zoom
call and I didn't ask if them if they
[57:55] had any comment cuz we were running out.
We were we were pressed for time.
[57:59] » I saw Karen up there but I didn't
realize it was Karen Dander uh from
[58:03] Fauces. I thought it was uh a former
employee that's been uh coming in and
[58:09] watching some of our meetings. So, uh,
in any event, um, I'm going to open it
[58:15] up for questions or comments. Uh, if
there's any questions, why don't I ask
[58:19] Karen? Karen, are you out there? Are you
got you on mute? Do you have any
[58:23] questions for us?
>> I am here. Um, no, no, no real questions
[58:28] except I will of course request a copy
of that video in the site plan for the
[58:34] affordable housing.
>> Yeah, we'll forward it to you, Bill. You
[58:38] can forward there, right? Yeah, it was
nice looking.
[58:41] » Yeah,
>> I can u copy it and send it from
[58:44] » Yeah, we'll copy it and
>> we'll copy and send that to you. It's on
[58:46] YouTube. It's our YouTube link if I
remember correctly.
[58:49] » I'm not sure where the
>> Yeah, I mean, you could just send me the
[58:53] link. I think I think our our photo
department is like brilliant at doing
[58:57] stuff,
but they are.
[59:00] » You got to get you got to get an updated
uh site plan. We can scan that in and
[59:06] send that to you. Perfect. I would and I
would appreciate if you said that uh
[59:11] these uh and the $45 million uh figure
that I'd given you was all work that was
[59:18] donated to the county um at no cost to
us. Um so I would appreciate that, you
[59:24] know, if you write an article about it
that you include that in there.
[59:28] » I did get that except not the 45
million. Nobody's giving you $45
[59:32] million.
>> No. Yeah. I know the 45 million was a
[59:35] figure I just got this day or two ago.
Um
[59:38] » yes, I will make it clear that that's
not a firm set in stone.
[59:41] » It's just an estimated cost.
>> No. Yeah, no problem.
[59:45] » Well, that you estimated on 174 units. I
don't know where that came from. I don't
[59:50] I don't I haven't even had time to look
through any of the progress uh
[59:57] information that Hutter has been sharing
with Warren Street. HUD probably shared
[1:00:01] something or if you might have said
shared something with Hutter. It's
[1:00:04] really the reverse because Hutter was
the one I asked for the estimate from.
[1:00:08] So I there's some dynamics there. We
still were we got to still figure out.
[1:00:12] But u in any event uh if you have any
other questions let me know.
[1:00:17] » Dare I ask about Haidider House?
>> You can ask. Uh that's fine. [laughter]
[1:00:23] They're still doing their IT issue. It
seems to be the biggest hold up at this
[1:00:28] point. Um but they are anxious to uh
move forward with it. Uh and uh they
[1:00:37] even went so far as to apologize
uh they apologized to me uh and I was
[1:00:43] supposed to share that with my
colleagues um that it's t it's taken
[1:00:47] this long. They had he's given them a
deadline of the end of this uh August
[1:00:53] 30th
>> internally.
[1:00:57] Then he's supposed to then he's supposed
to forward us a uh uh a copy of anou.
[1:01:03] » You know, one of the things that'll be
discussed in thatou just to share with
[1:01:07] you is as to the length of time.
Um
[1:01:12] because if they're going to if they're
going to, you know, if they're going to
[1:01:17] uh uh
provide uh and spend a lot of money,
[1:01:24] they're going to want to have some time
here. you know. So,
[1:01:28] » uh
I don't have any idea of what length of
[1:01:32] time. No one's shared that with us uh
with the commission or anyone else that
[1:01:37] I'm aware of or Mr. Bower. So, that'll
be an interesting discussion that we'll
[1:01:42] have in terms of the length of time. I
hope it's as long as possible. There's
[1:01:46] no I don't think there's any objection
from our end, you know,
[1:01:49] » whether they're three years or five
years. I mean, it's just I mean, we've
[1:01:53] had those other argrments before with
other providers, so we'll just uh we'll
[1:01:59] see how that all goes.
>> I'll keep watching.
[1:02:02] » All righty.
>> Thank you.
[1:02:05] » You're welcome. Um Susan, you got a
question?
[1:02:09] » Are you avoiding me today?
>> No, no. I just wanted to get Fosters in
[1:02:13] because [laughter]
>> because we cut him off last time, right?
[1:02:17] » We cut him off and
>> Okay. So my my first comment is to you
[1:02:22] George.
>> Yeah.
[1:02:23] » Thank you for being transparent today.
>> Yeah.
[1:02:26] » Okay. Because
that is the premise of me is being
[1:02:31] transparent and accountable and those
are lessons that I've learned in my
[1:02:36] years of public service. So thank
[clears throat] you. My second is with
[1:02:42] regard to Easter sales. Do we know that
for a definite fact that they have
[1:02:45] reversed this decision? because I've had
a lot of conversations and I would like
[1:02:50] to be able to go back to some of the
people I've had communication with um
[1:02:55] because
>> well they told me that I can only tell
[1:02:58] you what I was told on the
>> exactly
[1:03:01] » which was that they did reverse the
board met and reverse their decision
[1:03:05] » and that is
>> that's good news. It's good news because
[1:03:09] that is a service that
um many families
[1:03:15] rely upon. Um if you're trying to make
it in this world,
[1:03:20] families are out there working. They
have elderly or friends or whatever that
[1:03:26] they take care of and they need a day
program for them. They do. Um or
[1:03:33] sometimes it's just a matter of giving
them a break during the day to have
[1:03:38] somebody
that they trust take care of their
[1:03:43] family or their friends.
>> We have provided resper services here at
[1:03:47] the county for many many many years. Um
it's a really valuable thing to have.
[1:03:53] You know, you can't you can't have this
system you can't have a system that
[1:03:57] turns around and says everybody's on
their own. uh you know, prior
[1:04:02] generations learned that that just
doesn't work. Uh and I know that Ry
[1:04:07] that's been that's been a particular
phone in my side for a very very long
[1:04:10] time, but that it it's just becoming
more and more difficult, you know,
[1:04:14] because I just have
>> you just don't have the role. Well, I I
[1:04:16] I probably should have clarified it when
the admissions person was here, but I
[1:04:22] mean, we have a long waiting list, but I
don't it's there's only a certain
[1:04:28] portion of that list that I would call
critical.
[1:04:31] » You know, people will call and say, "Oh,
I want to get put on your waiting list
[1:04:34] cuz I know you have a long waiting
list." So, you know, and I might not be
[1:04:37] quite ready yet, but I had a
cutest husband and wife came in. Uh,
[1:04:45] » is this the 32nd story?
>> Maybe. It might not be.
[1:04:49] Cutest husband and wife came in. Um, and
I met them the other day and they were
[1:04:55] just planning for themselves.
So they wanted to go around the various
[1:04:59] nursing homes and look and and check on
things and and u um the husband u could
[1:05:06] ambulate the wife was in a wheelchair
and well I don't know the specifics of I
[1:05:12] didn't look in into the specifics of the
medical situation I just thought that I
[1:05:17] think people get are scared I think
they're they're scared that they're
[1:05:22] going to be in a situation and not have
>> planned for it and and just all of a
[1:05:27] sudden they're there and there's going
to be no room at the end. And I I think
[1:05:32] that's um I've seen other signs of it,
but that one yesterday or the day before
[1:05:39] was a clear sign that I've ever seen.
I think you're going to start seeing,
[1:05:44] this is my own personal observation,
that
[1:05:50] just looking at those of us in this room
were
[1:05:55] either getting there or we're already
>> we're already there
[1:06:00] » there. [laughter]
And
[1:06:04] it's just another function of having to
plan in life. And there are some that
[1:06:09] just they put the blinders on and they
just think that this whole concept is
[1:06:13] just going to go away and it's not. And
>> including members of our county
[1:06:19] delegation
>> I was just going to say that 40% of the
[1:06:21] delegation.
>> Yeah. Yeah. They all Yeah.
[1:06:23] » Well, plus you know I I just
reviewed an article from the Alzheimer's
[1:06:29] Association. Now remember this
association does nothing but focus on on
[1:06:35] dementia. And they're talking about
almost the exact same statistics that
[1:06:40] you talked about. I mean, you were
talking about New Hampshire statistics.
[1:06:44] They're talking about nationwide
statistics
[1:06:47] » and they're talking about the doubling
of dementia, you know, in the next 30
[1:06:51] years.
>> And and while we had people stand up in
[1:06:57] at our meetings when we talked about the
nursing home saying, "Oh, dementia is
[1:07:02] going to be cured. We're not going to
have dementia anymore." And then you
[1:07:04] have an association that does nothing
but research and fund raise to help
[1:07:12] eliminate dementia saying that even
based on their best efforts
[1:07:19] it's going to double in the next 30
years. And and I'm thinking, you know,
[1:07:24] yeah, count me in. You know, if I'm if I
live anywhere near that long, I'm I'm
[1:07:29] probably going to be one of those
people. But um uh you know it's just
[1:07:33] it's a it's a scary thought for those
people that are of age that need to
[1:07:40] support
people that you know are are going to be
[1:07:45] that old. My my parents have passed.
Sy's parents have passed. Uh but you
[1:07:51] know now I think my kids are just
worried about me and Sandy. You know,
[1:07:55] there was a recently, and I probably
shouldn't talk about this publicly, but
[1:08:00] I'm going to do it because it irritates
me.
[1:08:02] » Um,
there was a couple in here in New
[1:08:06] Hampshire, and I'm not going to give you
any more information than that.
[1:08:11] We're elderly, and they had no children,
and they were worried. They were both
[1:08:15] about the same age, and they were
worried about uh what was going to
[1:08:20] happen to them. uh they they they just
outlived their social security. I mean,
[1:08:27] you know, the usual pressures that we're
all that everyone's facing,
[1:08:31] you know, cost of rents, you know, cost
of living, all those things that are
[1:08:36] really what matter to people, okay? And
as a result of it, uh they held each
[1:08:43] other hand hand and
husband shot his wife in the head and he
[1:08:49] shot himself.
uh because I didn't think there was any
[1:08:53] future for them and that is
>> it happens more often than what you
[1:08:58] realize.
>> That's right. That's right. And it's
[1:09:00] wrong. Okay. It's it's wrong.
>> The richest society in the world,
[1:09:05] » right? The richest society in the world,
we have people having that think that
[1:09:08] they have to do that because they don't
see any way out. And in that, I'm
[1:09:16] passionate about this because in our old
presentation, in our first presentation
[1:09:21] of nursing home, we had 180 units of
curlage that those folks could have
[1:09:27] moved to and we could have a been able
to help them out. Uh, and I'm passionate
[1:09:35] about it because I've been here a long
time. I've been in public office 50
[1:09:38] years and I've seen it my entire life.
And it seems like every time we turn
[1:09:43] around, we we, you know, don't want to
talk about some of the harsh realities
[1:09:49] that that exist and how it affects
people. And I've I was taught by
[1:09:56] old-time politicians that tell you that
taugh taught me that we're here to help
[1:10:01] people. And if we can't help people, I
don't know why we're here because that's
[1:10:05] the bottom line. And something like
that, having that happen, tragedy like
[1:10:09] that in New Hampshire, just makes me
sick. And it's about time that uh our
[1:10:14] leaders, not only statewide, but
nationally, uh
[1:10:20] recognize the pressures that people are
under uh and especially our elderly. If
[1:10:26] you think if you think of that
generation, Rey, you know what I'm
[1:10:29] talking about here. That generation
went through the depression. were now in
[1:10:35] their late 80s and in their 90s. Okay.
They grew up with nothing.
[1:10:39] » Yep. My parents
>> Yeah. My my mother, she's 90 years old.
[1:10:43] She they grew up she went through the
depression. Okay. She was a depression
[1:10:47] baby. She went through the World War.
Those people won't ask for help. Like
[1:10:51] you mentioned earlier, they won't ask
you for anything. They had nothing when
[1:10:55] they were young. So their their focus is
that they okay, well, I'll have nothing
[1:10:59] in the end.
And it's it's just a sad it's a sad
[1:11:04] statement about what we're doing.
>> No, they've just never been able to get
[1:11:07] ahead of the curve, you know. I mean,
they they just never been able to get
[1:11:10] ahead of the curve. I mean, my parents
were fortunate. My father, you know, got
[1:11:14] a really good job when he got out of the
military and and they were able to
[1:11:18] retire
adequately. I wouldn't call it I'm not
[1:11:22] sure I'd call it comfortably, but you
know, adequately. And and uh it's just
[1:11:27] wrong. It's just wrong. My mom my mom
working ourselves lucky
[1:11:30] » a dollar 10 cents an hour at Claristat
when uh and then she went to Eastern Air
[1:11:35] Devices when they when Charlie Croco
>> and I remember
[1:11:38] » when Charlie Croco was our county
treasurer rest his soul when they found
[1:11:43] out my mother was pregnant with me they
fired her
[1:11:47] okay so I can't necessarily blame them
for how that turned out [laughter]
[1:11:53] » I don't think that's necessarily you
know I mean if they they must have had a
[1:11:57] really good crystal ball.
Figured that one out. I never forgave
[1:12:02] Charlie for that because when he was
serving in here as county treasur with
[1:12:05] me, I said, you know, Charlie, I had to
listen to you and you the way you guys
[1:12:08] were doing business, you know, out of
this floating in the river a long time
[1:12:11] ago.
>> In any event, um, you know, they fired.
[1:12:16] » So that's what they did in that
generation. That's just what happened.
[1:12:19] And those people still exist. They're
old now. And, you know, when they live
[1:12:24] trying to live on,00 bucks a month, give
me a break. and we just sit back here
[1:12:29] and we all talk about it. That's one of
the reasons why I'm so passionate about
[1:12:32] getting this affordable housing project
forward because it needs to happen.
[1:12:36] Okay? It just needs to and with four and
five year wait list at the housing
[1:12:40] authority. We're just losing our way.
That's the way I look at it. But that's
[1:12:46] just me.
Anyway, we get any other questions or
[1:12:50] comments from the public?
>> Well, you've shared some of your uh
[1:12:54] history. Some of my history was my
grandfather was a sluckman for many
[1:12:59] years and my grandmother was the welfare
agent.
[1:13:02] » I remember three, four, five years old
being there. People knocking on the door
[1:13:08] and my grandmother giving them
>> eggs and milk cuz they had chickens,
[1:13:12] they had cows. It's a different time,
okay? You didn't have some of the
[1:13:16] regulations you have today, right? And
there was a check there for a couple of
[1:13:21] dollars to go so that they could buy
some groceries to get them through.
[1:13:27] There was neighbors that worked at
because their husbands had passed away
[1:13:34] and they were in their 80s. They were
still waitressing tables.
[1:13:39] There was always a plate of food for
them when they came home or we delivered
[1:13:45] food. So these are things that
there's some of us that understand
[1:13:52] and who still I grew up that way. I
practiced that method and hopefully I've
[1:13:59] taught my children that and that's
something that I think that we need to
[1:14:04] continue to set those examples and I'm
off my high horse for today.
[1:14:08] » Yeah, that's good. I hear you. the uh
anytime, you know, I I just don't
[1:14:13] understand when Catholic Charities went
to Rochester and wanted to build that
[1:14:17] affordable housing project, why people
like Cliff Newton and and many others
[1:14:21] showed up and said they were against it.
I mean, I don't I I just don't I I I
[1:14:25] don't understand that thought process.
No. And uh I I I get it, but I don't
[1:14:31] understand it. I don't even get it.
>> Do something about it,
[1:14:35] » right? And if somebody nonprofit sector
is willing to do it, I mean, give me a
[1:14:40] break. Anyway,
I'll get off my high horse now. How's
[1:14:44] that?
>> Well, I wore the boots today.
[1:14:47] » Yeah, I see that. Yeah. All righty. Uh,
I see there's somebody else has joined
[1:14:53] us on the Zoom. Uh, is anybody else out
there in Cyberland that wants to ask a
[1:14:58] question of the commission?
[1:15:02] No,
I guess we're all set then. Okay. Then
[1:15:06] the chair entertained a motion to move
in a non-public session. The purpose of
[1:15:09] discussing personnel was contract
negotiations been moved and seconded. Is
[1:15:13] a roll call. Commission
11 myself. Okay. The commission will
[1:15:19] retire in a non public session.
Thank you.