City Hall: Schools look at $15 minimum wage for all hourly employees
Paul Feely, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
5 min read
Jul. 3—SCHOOL OFFICIALS have been asked to consider the feasibility of paying all hourly employees in the Manchester School District at least $15 an hour, and report back with their findings by August.
The city raised the minimum wage for all full-time employees to $15 an hour last month.
Manchester School District Chief Financial Officer Karen DeFrancis will look at the cost to the district of raising the minimum wage for all full-time hourly employees to $15 beginning with the start of Fiscal Year 2024 on July 1, 2023.
New bike racks coming
Members of the Aldermanic Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic have approved a request from the Queen City Bicycle Collaborative to put new bike racks in several locations around the city "to enable more residents to ride."
According to literature provided to city aldermen, Queen City Bicycle Collective (QC Bike) emerged from "a community need for low-cost, high-quality bicycle services in Manchester's center-city."
"As one of the only hands-on, transportation-focused nonprofits in the city of Manchester, we feel it is part of our mission to help expand bicycle infrastructure in the Queen City," reads information provided by QC Bike. "While the racks involved in this project will be permanently placed at schools and parks, we thought it would be a worthwhile opportunity to gauge additional community need by placing them, temporarily, in various locations."
QC Bike proposed using funding available through the Community Event and Activation Grant program to purchase the racks.
Aldermen initially had concerns with placing bike racks in spaces located within Victory Parking Garage.
Organizers with QC Bike said they would work with the city's parking division on the best spots for racks in the garage.
"I don't have a problem with racks going in all the garages," said Alderman Will Stewart. "I don't think the garages are at capacity most days. We can put a lot more bikes in one space than we can one car. If we want to encourage non-motorized transport, this is a good way to do it."
Bike racks are expected to be installed at Veterans' Park/Stanton Plaza, the West High School tennis courts, City Hall Plaza, the Market Street Parking Lot and Victory Parking Garage.
Towing costs rising
The Aldermanic Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic has given its blessing to a request from city police to renegotiate contracts with five tow truck companies because fee rates included in current agreements are outdated and low.
Sergeant Michael Donahue with the Manchester police department's traffic unit said in a memo to aldermen the actual cost of towing has increased "dramatically" recently because of labor costs and fuel charges, "making it near impossible for these companies to continue under the current pricing."
"The towing companies have been asked to take on more challenging work such as dealing with the abandoned 'camper' problem and other large commercial vehicles left on the streets," Donahue wrote.
He said the number of tows that can't be charged to a vehicle's owner also has increased as the police department has requested more tows "for the sole purpose of obtaining a search warrant."
Proposed changes call for basic tow costs to go from $110 to $175, labor beyond one hour going from $50 to $75, service call fees jumping from $45 to $75, waiting time fees up to $50 per hour from $35 if the tow truck operator has to wait more than 15 minutes, storage fees rising from $30 to $50 for cars not retrieved after a day, and gate fees going from $40 to $50 for cars picked up after business hours.
Tows during snow emergencies would go up to $200, with $35 of that going to the city.
"The fees outlined in (the current) contract are out of date and out of line with the current cost of performing these services," Donahue wrote. "The Manchester Police Department averages thousands of tows annually and this contract needs to stay viable in order to perform these necessary and essential services throughout the year."
Current contracts expire on Dec. 14.
Clothes pickup for recycling
The city has announced a partnership with clothing collector Helpsy to offer a free and easy home pickup clothing recycling service.
Helpsy partners with municipalities and organizations across 11 states to collect unwanted clothing and other textiles to keep clothes out of landfills. In 2021, the company diverted nearly 30 million pounds of textiles from landfills through a combination of clothing drives, home pickups, thrift store partners and clothing receptacles.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, textile waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the United States, occupying nearly 5% of all landfill space.
"I appreciate how the Department of Public Works is always looking for innovative ways to expand recycling services for our residents," Mayor Joyce Craig said in a statement. "Through this partnership with Helpsy, the city will save money, all residents will be able to conveniently recycle their clothes, shoes, curtains and more, and together we will be protecting the environment."
Beginning July 9, pickups in Manchester will take place weekly on Saturdays between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. To be recycled, the textiles must be clean, bagged and labeled.
The community can sign up for a pickup at helpsy.co/manchesternh or can call 800-244-6350.
For more information about Manchester's Recycling Programs and Helpsy's municipal partnerships, contact the Department of Public Works at 603-624-6444 or visit helpsy.co.
Paul Feely is the City Hall reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at pfeely@unionleader.com.
