Sound Off About Concord's $10.2M Main Street Project

Three public meetings will be held this week to educate the public about Concord’s $10.2 million Main Street Complete Streets project starting tonight and Wednesday.

As reported last month, the project has changed significantly since its original concept and is still more than $2 million over its initial budget. Despite claims to the contrary, the project will raise property taxes during the next 20 years. The project proposes to extend the pay down of the Sears TIF district for decades by adding $2.5 million to pay down, money which would otherwise go into the general fund sooner; the hiring of a “red carpet team” of maintenance staffers to pick up trash and shovel snow at a permanent cost of $277,000, not including equipment expenditures and future pension liabilities; and many millions of dollars more in maintenance costs to replace decorative pavers and cobblestones.

The project will also fix a number of issues downtown, including the double step sidewalk on the west side of the street and calming traffic by changing from four lanes to two.

At the Concord City Council meeting last week, the board discussed the latest proposal. If you missed it, here’s a link to the Concord TV recording of the meeting.

Meeting schedule

• Public Informational Meeting, Holiday Inn, 8 to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 8, an overview meeting for people to see the presentation, ask questions, and offer comment.
  
• The Sears Block Tax Increment Finance District Advisory Committee will meet at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8, at City Hall, to discuss siphoning off $2.5 million from the TIF district to offset the project’s cost.
• Public Informational Meeting, Holiday Inn, 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9, an overview meeting for people to see the presentation, ask questions, and offer comment.
• Public City Council Hearing, Council Chambers, 7 p.m. on Monday, July 14, the final public hearing about the project.

Contacting your councilors
If you can’t make the meetings but want to sound off about the project via email or phone call, here is all the contact information for the mayor and city councilors:

• Jim Bouley, mayor: jpbouley@comcast.net, 603-230-3671
• Mark Coen, at-large councilor (citywide): markcoen@tds.net, 603-496-4744
• Fred Keach, at-large councilor: fkeach@dmflowers.com, 603-568-7667
• Amanda Grady Sexton, at-large councilor: amandakgrady@gmail.com, 603-548-9377
• Stephen Shurtleff, at-large councilor: steveshurtleff@aol.com, 603-753-4563
• Brent Todd, Ward 1: brenttoddconcord@gmail.com, 603-753-9609
• Allan Herschlag, Ward 2: allan4council@gmail.com, 603-224-6086
• Jan McClure, Ward 3: janward3@comcast.net, 603-226-3370
• Byron Champlin, Ward 4: chamby@comcast.net, 603-228-0097
• Robert Werner, Ward 5: magrrw@myfairpoint.net, 603-225-9224
  
• J. Allen Bennett, Ward 6: jallenbennett@comcast.net, 603-228-1494
  
• Keith Nyhan, Ward 7: ke9@comcast.net, 603-225-3417
  
• Gail Matson, Ward 8: gailmatson@comcast.net, 603-219-0342
  
• Candace C.W. Bouchard, Ward 9: cccwhite@aol.com, 603-226-2214
  
• Dan St. Hilaire, Ward 10: dansthilaire@comcast.net, 603-568-5515
  

Engineer’s overview
Here’s a PDF of the presentation by City Engineer Ed Roberge.

Also read

Here are a number of posts on Patch during the last few years about the project:

• Council Accepts Re-Thinking Main Street Report
• Concord Lands $4.71M in Fed Money
• Bouley Names Committee to Look at Improving Downtown Concord
• TELLS US: Are Lack of Pocket Parks a Problem in Downtown Concord?
• Community Conversation About Downtown Concord
• TELL US: Should a Water Fountain Be Constructed at the Statehouse?
• Readers Overwhelmingly Reject Main Street Water Fountain Concept
• TELL US: How Do You Get Downtown?
• Sound Off About Concord Complete Streets Main Street Project
• Council Accepts Downtown Recommendations
• TELL US: Is a Roundabout Needed on Concord’s Main Street?
• Upgrade Coming to Downtown Concord
• Maintenance Costs for Complete Streets Project in the Multi-millions
• Councilors: Time to Re-Think Concord Main Street Project
• City Engineer Updates Public About Complete Streets Project
• Complete Streets Committee Member Attempts to Stifle Discussion
• Main Street Fails Complete Streets for TIGER Grant Funding
• Is It Time To Pull the Plug on Main Street’s Complete Streets Project?
• With Apologies To Jonathan Swift
• Re-Thinking Transportation Modes
• Cycling - Chicken or Egg First?
• Concord’s Dead-End Street
• The Mayor and Concord’s Main Street
• Interesting Developments at Main Street Meeting
• OP/ED: Downtown Concord Improvement Committee Should Look at All Options
• Danger Ahead: Novice Cyclists Beware - Main Street is Not for You
• A Message for the Complete Streets Committee
• Gorillas in the Room
• Interesting Developments at Main Street Meeting
• Who’s Driving Who Down Main Street?
• Main Street Project: A Done Deal
• The Concord Monitor Just Doesn’t Get It
• Three Lanes Means Less Parking on Main Street
• It’s Back: Three Lanes for Main Street
• Was Concord’s Mayor Not Disclosing Business Relationship a Conflict?
• The Bus Just Rolled Over Concord Main Street Merchants
• When Main was More than Just a Street
• Are You Really Sure You Know What’s Planned For Main Street?
  
• Time to apply the brakes???