Committee deadlocks on gap-analysis resolution for homeless services; later votes to postpone

Alderman Alicia Gregg introduced R-26-049 to establish a 90-day committee that would produce a cross-sector gap analysis of homelessness services in Nashua. Gregg said the analysis would examine four service domains — emergency shelter capacity, mental-health and substance-use services, housing pathways and outreach/navigation — and would be time-limited and action-oriented rather than a years-long commission.

"This resolution creates a process to get to that picture so we can make smarter decisions about how the city and its partners work together," Alderman Alicia Gregg said, urging a focused, 90-day effort. Proponents said a short, formal analysis would protect scarce federal dollars and coordinate agencies and nonprofits.

Opponents warned the study could delay urgently needed fall and winter actions, and several aldermen said a 90-day pause might jeopardize congressionally directed funding if a shovel-ready project were required by a federal timetable. Concerns also surfaced that departments and advocates already had data and that the resolution could be used to postpone immediate operational steps such as warming stations.

The committee first failed to recommend final passage in committee roll call. Later the committee approved a motion to recommend indefinite postponement. Committee members described ongoing work in departments and said different interim measures (proof-of-concept resource spaces, warming stations) could proceed while planning continued.