The Board of Aldermen voted 7-6 to indefinitely postpone moving forward with a homeless resource center at 14 Mulberry St. Courtesy photo/COLDWELL BANKER

NASHUA – The Board of Aldermen recently voted 7-6 to indefinitely postpone the Resolution to authorize the purchase of 14 Mulberry St. and convert the existing building into a homeless resource center.

However, prior to the vote, Vice President Benjamin Clemons warned that indefinite postponement would be a mistake.

“The property is one that we should be pursuing,” he said during the April 28 meeting. “There is an opportunity here that we probably won’t get again, it’s a shame if we let this go. My goal was to get a resource center as soon as possible, that really was what we were trying to do.”

Ward 8 Alderman Derek Thibeault said he and his colleagues will not give up on Nashua’s homeless population.

“We need to keep moving on this homeless crisis,” he said.

Thibeault said any alternate location chosen by the city will generate a level of public opposition. Therefore, he said the board would welcome any specific details about other sites.

“I always hear there’s lots of commercial property out there, no one ever gives us an exact place,” he said.

Ward 4 Alderman Thomas Lopez agreed with Thibeault that public resistance would almost be expected.

“There is a group of people who will be opposed to anything,” he said. “They’re going to attack anything that isn’t perfect.”

Lopez said the warming center at the former Elm Street Middle School is not flawless; however, it has prevented people from freezing to death.

“I’m not aware of anyone stepping forward to do this,” he said of the resource center. “The city has to do it because nobody else will.”

Ward 3 Alderwoman Patricia Klee said additional funds would be needed for the remediation process.

“It’s not going to be shovel-ready,” she said. “We’re not going to be able to just go in there and do it.”

Klee also reiterated that the cost of property is $730,000 not $900,000.

“The bond would be for $900,000,” she said.

Ward 9 Alderman John Sullivan suggested having a committee that would meet monthly to manage the project.

“Then you have a plan and at least something is happening at the board level,” he said.

Ward 7 Alderman Timothy Sennott said the project still has too many unknown factors.

“Until we can really get in there and get our hands around the bones of that building, we don’t know what we’re dealing with,” he said. “To go in here blind is an uncertainty that doesn’t work for me.”