CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Public Hearing Minutes

February 26, 2002 Portsmouth City Hall 7:00 p.m.

Present: Robert Layton, Chairman; Cicero Lewis; Nancy Emerson; Lynne Langley; Peter Rice; William Thorpe; and Russ Van Billiard.

Absent: Vern Gardner; Jean Pecunies (notified staff); Dani Rooney (notified staff).

Staff: Cindy Hayden, Community Development Director; Nancy M. Carmer, Community Development Program Manager.

Chairman Layton opened the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. He stated that the hearing was being held to consider amending the FY 2001/2002 CDBG budget to reprogram a total of $43,680 from contingency funds and project line item balances to an existing activity titled Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Goodwin Park. He said the purpose of this amendment is to complete the conservation of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Goodwin Park in accordance with the technical specifications outlined by the statue conservators. Chairman Layton then asked the Community Development staff to provide some additional background information.

Ms. Carmer, Community Development Program Manager, said that the conservation of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument is the third and final phase of the Goodwin Park Improvement Project. During the first phase, which was the planning phase for the project, Tuckerbrook Associates completed a preliminary assessment of the statue. This assessment included a partial internal examination of the statue. At that time, it was acknowledged that when an internal analysis of the upper section of the statue was completed, the scope of work to conserve the statue might need to be modified.

Ms. Carmer explained that it was not possible for Tuckerbrook Associates to view the entire inside of the statue when the initial assessment was done, for the following reasons: repairs made to the piece in 1955 involved 1) removing two sections of the monument totaling 16.5 feet, 2) pouring concrete into the base, and 3) inserting a steel plate into the monument at the base of the upper octagon. This made it impossible to view the condition of the monument above the plate without invasive testing.

Ms. Carmer also pointed out that the original assessment completed by Tuckerbrook Associates served as the basis for the current conservation contract with Daedalus, Inc., a professional conservation firm from Cambridge, MA. The contract price of $128,000 is funded by $100,000 in CDBG funds and a $28,000 grant from Save Outdoor Sculpture (SOS!). Recent, much more invasive, interior exploration of the upper statue by Daedalus revealed that the original spire was placed inside the monument when it was dismantled in 1955. Excessive concrete was also discovered above the steel plate. Both of these discoveries translate into additional costs to the conservation contract totaling $43,680. This work includes $36,180 for removing the spire currently encased in concrete within the statue, and crating it for storage. This additional work also includes $7,500 for engineering, labor and materials to reinforce the internal armature so that, if the monument is restored to its original 42-foot, 5-inch height at some point in the future, the necessary internal support to carry the weight of the statue will be in place.

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Finally, Ms. Carmer said the sources of funds proposed to pay for the additional work is as follows: $10,000 already designated as contingency funding within the statue project budget, $14,600 currently designated for plantings around the completed statue; $5,000 from the North Mill Pond viewing area project that could not be completed as originally designed due to state historic regulations; and the balance from general CDBG budget contingency. Staff proposes that the CAC consider including the $14,600 for final plantings around the monument in the upcoming FY 2002-2003 CDBG budget; this work can be carried out in Spring 2003 once the statue conservation is complete.

Chairman Layton asked if anyone attending the hearing would like to comment.

The Chairman recognized Richard Adams, who spoke in strong support of the project. Mr. Adams said that he remembered when the statue was lowered in the mid 1950s. He said it is a significant public monument; Portsmouth had less than 10,000 residents at the time of the Civil War, yet half of draft eligible men served, and one tenth of them were killed. Further, he said that the Kearsarge, which defeated the Alabama, was built here, and that two Major Generals in the war were from local families.

Ms. Carmer highlighted one of Mr. Adams points, saying that it is the largest Civil War monument in the state.

Mr. Adams asked what would happen to the piece that was being removed from inside the statue, and whether the proposed treatment would preclude increasing the statue to its original height at some point in the future. Ms. Carmer said the piece to be removed would be crated and stored; and that the additional funding being considered for the proposed work would include building the infrastructure to support increasing the statue to its original height.

Ms. Emerson asked what the cost would be of restoring the statue to its original 42-foot, 5-inch height. Ms. Carmer responded that it would cost at least double the amount proposed in the budget amendment. However, the additional $43,680 currently proposed will put the internal armature in place to accommodate the weight of the original 42-foot, 5-inch height statue, if money is raised to accomplish this in the future.

Mr. Layton asked what the height is of the spire that is in the concrete inside the statue. Ms. Carmer said the height of the spire is 9-feet, 5-inches, and the missing octagon is 6 1/2 feet.

Chairman Layton asked if there were any more comments or questions from the public.

Mr. Bresciano said he was disappointed there was not a handout describing the project in more detail. Further, he said he is opposed to spending an additional $43,000 on this project, and that the money is needed for other things such as police, fire and schools. Mr. Bresciano also said he is not sure why the statue needs to be restored to what it looked like when it was built, and is unhappy that it will cost more to restore than was initially believed.

Chairman Layton responded that CDBG funds can only be used for certain projects, defined by U.S. Housing and Urban Development, and cannot typically be used for general services that municipalities provide such as police, fire and education. Mr. Bresciano said that the money still comes out of people's pockets.

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Mr. Rice asked what would happen if the additional funding were not approved. Ms. Hayden, Community Development Director, said the nature of the conservation project is such that she did not believe it could proceed without the additional funding and for safety reasons the statue might have to be dismantled.

Mr. Layton asked if there were any more comments from the public. Hearing no further comments, he closed the public hearing at 7:35 p.m.

Mr. Rice made a motion that the CAC recommend the following to the City Manager: amend the FY 2001/2002 CDBG budget to reprogram a total of $43,680 from contingency funds and project line item balances to the existing activity titled Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Goodwin Park in order to complete the conservation of the statue in accordance with the technical specifications outlined by the statue conservators. Ms. Emerson seconded the motion. All voted in favor with a show of hands.

Chairman Layton asked CAC members whether they would like to consider approval of the minutes of their February 6, 2002 meeting, and asked for a motion. Ms. Emerson made a motion to accept the minutes as written. Mr. Thorpe seconded the motion. All voted in favor.

Hearing no further business, Mr. Layton adjourned the meeting at 7:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cindy Hayden

Community Development Director