Aldermanic committee recommends Beech Street shelter lease extension
The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen Special Committee on Alcohol, Other Drugs and Youth Services unanimously recommended two contractual amendments related to the 39 Beech Street Shelter after a brief statistical update on the shelter’s activities.
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen Special Committee on Alcohol, Other Drugs and Youth Services unanimously recommended two contractual amendments related to the 39 Beech Street Shelter after a brief statistical update on the shelter’s activities.
The first amendment would extend a lease agreement currently held by the city, modifying the end date of the shelter from June 30 to Nov. 30, 2024.
Ward 11 Alderman Norm Vincent asked if the city would continue operation of the shelter until the end of the extended lease or if an outside organization can be found to run the shelter per the goal of Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais.
Ward 10 Alderman Bill Barry believed that the city would continue to run the shelter until the end of November, but after discussions with the mayor, he believed an outside organization could be found to run the shelter by December.
The other amendment modified the professional services agreement between the city and East Coast Evolution Leadership LLC, the for-profit agency that the city has contracted to run the shelter for the time being. Key portions of the amendments included changing the dates of the contractual agreement between the city and East Coast Evolution Leadership LLC from the end of June to the end of November and an increase of monthly payment to East Coast Evolution Leadership LLC from $70,833.33 to $72,000 per month.
Vincent asked for a breakdown of the $72,000. Jake King, the current manager of the shelter, stated that he would be happy to provide more detailed information after obtaining approval from his company’s legal counsel.
King and Project Assistant Owen Westover also advised that more detailed information can be provided moving forward regarding statistics from the shelter, although individualized data would be largely dependent on authorizations related to HIPAA and other legal requirements.
The committee was largely positive regarding the information provided so far, particularly regarding an increase in organizations assisting occupants of the shelter following the beginning of weekly resource fairs in the shelter’s engagement center in May.
“It’s important to us as a committee and it’s important to us as a city to know exactly what organizations are going in there,” said Barry.
