Manchester City Commissions approve CBSD informational mailer and downtown operations outreach

Manchester City Commissions members on June 2025 approved sending two informational mailers to about 400 property owners in the Central Business Service District and authorized use of district funds to pay printing and postage, commissioners said. The mailer will be mailed after the start of the 2025–26 fiscal year and is expected to appear in the second tax-bill cycle later this year.

The mailer — described by Economic Development Office staff as a two-sided, color sheet that will also be posted on the city website and social media — is intended to summarize results from the district’s downtown operations pilot and to explain forthcoming rate and service changes. Staff said the informational packet covers operations data from when the downtown operations team began work (project start July 2 of the prior year) through June 30 and includes visitor counts supplied by location analytics software.

Commissioners and staff agreed on several edits before finalizing the mailer: fill in May and June waste-collection numbers once the operations manager provides them; add direct contact information for the operations manager on the flyer so businesses and residents can report oversized items or hazardous waste; adjust chart colors so similar categories (for example, needle and human-waste pick-up) are visually distinct in print; and change exact-sounding language about future revenue to make it approximate or estimated. Staff said the draft currently cites an expected Central Business Service District collection amount rising to approximately $600,000 if ARPA support is not included, and commissioners asked for wording that reflects uncertainty (for example, “estimated” or “approximately”).

The commission voted to approve the mailer and its attachment with the changes; the motion carried on a voice vote with members saying “aye.” The commission authorized production of two mailings, at a cost not to exceed $2,000, and directed staff to coordinate printing and postal distribution with the city’s regular tax-bill mail run.

The discussion also covered the downtown operations pilot that the mailer summarizes. Economic Development Office staff reported that the pilot has reduced demand on the Department of Public Works by addressing hot spots, needle and hazardous-waste removal, and rapid-response cleanups; staff said response times have improved since the team reached full staffing. The office provided a district visitor estimate of about 9,700,000 visitor counts for the period covered, measured with Placer AI location-analytics software. Staff cautioned that the visit-count figure refers to activity within the Central Business Service District only, not citywide totals.

Commissioners noted a planned site visit and shadowing from a downtown organization from Portland, Maine that uses the same model (Street Plus). Staff said the Portland team will visit City Hall and downtown businesses the following day to meet the mayor, the operations team and several local business owners; the Portland program’s local executive director will discuss how their downtown organization is funded and established. Staff also said conversations are ongoing with Job Corps about possible temporary staffing for high-traffic event weekends.

Separately, staff briefed commissioners on preparations for an upcoming three-day event weekend (identified in the meeting as “Phish” weekend), noting concentrated street closures in parts of downtown and an overtime cleaning schedule to cover festival areas. Staff said regular district operations will continue alongside event work.

Commissioners also confirmed a new board member appointment: Brad Purnoff, owner of Common Man Roadside and a Manchester resident, was confirmed at a prior mayor-and-aldermen meeting and is expected to attend the next commission meeting in August. Commissioners requested an agenda item for August to plan a strategic visioning session for October and asked staff to circulate details of the Portland team site visit to commissioners who may want to attend.

Staff said the mailer will be mailed after July 1 and that the rate changes described will not appear on taxpayers’ bills until the second billing cycle later this year; staff will post the mailer on the city website and share it through social media and the district newsletter.

Ending — Staff will proceed with the approved edits, arrange printing and postage within the authorized budget, and report back to the commission at a future meeting with finalized materials and any follow-up details from the Portland site visit.