NASHUA – Among the matters scheduled to come before aldermen at Tuesday’s regular meeting is a proposed city charter amendment that would change the way members of the Nashua Police Commission are selected, while also increasing the number of commission members from three to five.

The measure is among eight resolutions scheduled to be heard under new business at the meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be held via Zoom.

If the board ultimately approves the resolution, it will be placed on the ballot for the next municipal election on Nov. 2, at which time Nashua voters will decide whether to approve the charter change or retain the current appointment process, whereby the governor chooses the three commissioners.

Considered archaic by many, the system has indeed been around for awhile, having been written into the city charter in 1913, some 108 years ago.

If voters give the resolution a thumbs-up, the current commissioners – Jim Tollner, Nicholas Dahl and Matthew Plante – will fill out their terms, at which time the new system will take effect.

According to the new appointment process as proposed in the resolution, the mayor will be tasked with appointing three members, while the president of the Board of Aldermen will appoint the other two. All five appointees will serve three-year terms, which will be staggered to avoid all five seats coming up for appointment at the same time.

Appointments, according to the proposal, will be based upon candidates’ “qualifications, merit and record of community service,” while the mayor and aldermanic president “should use their best efforts to balance the membership of the commission to reflect the citizenship of the city.”

Two street-name changes are also up for consideration Tuesday. The aldermanic Committee on Infrastructure, which studied the resolution, recommends final passage.

If approved by the full board, the Broad Street Parkway will become the Veterans Memorial Parkway, and to avoid having two roadways with “veterans” in them, the current Veterans Drive, which runs from the Daniel Webster Highway to the National Guard armory at the end of South Main Street, will become Independence Drive.

The capital project that would create the first city-operated dog park is expected to take another step toward fruition Tuesday, as aldermen are scheduled to consider the purchase of a parcel of land on Pine Street for the Nashua Millyard Dog Park project by transferring $325,000 from the Broad Street capital project to the dog park project.

And residents disappointed over the disappearance of the bicycle and scooter-sharing service VeoRide, which debuted bicycles in June 2018 and the scooters a year later, will, pending aldermanic approval, soon be seeing a new fleet of electric scooters around town.

The city is partnering with a California-based company called Bird Rides on the project, which, according to long-range planner Julie Chizmas, will bring 125 of the electric scooters to Nashua beginning next week.

A “Scooter Launch Event” is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 24 at City Hall, Chizmas said.

Like VeoRide, the Bird Rides scooters operate through a smart-phone app, with users paying by the minute, and as was the case with VeoRide, there is no cost to the city.

The firm has contracted with two “local entrepreneurs,” who are not named in the proposal, to manage and operate the service, Chizmas said.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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