Aldermanic preview: a new police sergeant, RAISE update, suicide prevention signs

The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) will meet on June 4, 2024. Here’s a preview of some of the things they’re expected to discuss.

A new police sergeant position

The BMA Committee on Human Resources and Insurance will hear a request from Manchester Police Department Chief Allen Aldenberg who is requesting the removal of one vacant police officer position to be replaced with a sergeant position.

In a letter to the committee, Aldenberg says that the new sergeant would be placed within the Community Affairs Division, which currently only has one sergeant for 19 officers, while one supervisor for every eight officers is recommended.

The Community Affairs Division of the Manchester Police Department works with neighborhood watch groups, manages events such as the Taco Tour, and acts as a liaison with the city’s homeless population.

Aldenberg indicated that the transfer would not have a negative impact on the department’s FY ’25 budget given available unallocated funding can be used to address any additional cost in the complement change.

RAISE Update

City Traffic Engineer Kristen Clarke is expected to give the board an update on southern Elm Street area infrastructure improvements arising from the federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant won by the city.

Costs for the improvements, which include a pedestrian bridge over Granite Street and a bridge connecting South Commercial Street to Elm Street and a complete redesign of the South Willow Street/Queen City Avenue intersection among others, has risen to $50 million. Half of the increase comes from the need to acquire land from CSX Rail, with inflation and design changes following public input requests providing the bulk of the other changes.

Clarke is also requesting $24,150 to evaluate the feasibility of a tax increment financing (TIF) district in the area which would extend from Granite Street to Queen City Avenue and the Merrimack River to Beech Street. In New Hampshire, TIF Districts are funding mechanisms used by municipalities to pay for development and redevelopments of certain areas.

Suicide prevention signs on bridges

Manchester Health Department Director Anna Thomas is requesting the installation of signage on five bridges advertising the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Thomas reports that from 2018 to 2022, 108 Manchester residents died by suicide and from 2017 to 2021, 1,493 people in Manchester experienced suicide or self-harm emergency hospital visits. These figures are approximately 50 percent and 250 percent above the goals in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health People 2030 Objective.

The signs would be placed on the Queen City Bridge, Granite Street Bridge, Amoskeag Bridge, Bridge Street (Notre Dame) Bridge and South Willow Street Bridge over I-293. The signs would be paid for by Solution Health and Elliot Health System.