City Hall: Family feud over aldermen benefits, pay

Aug. 10—IT COULD GET a bit awkward at the next Sapienza family gathering, after an exchange at a meeting of the aldermanic Committee on Human Resources and Insurance.

Committee Chairman and Ward 8 Alderman Ed Sapienza offered a proposal to eliminate health and dental insurance benefits for city aldermen and boost the position's stipend and salary from $5,000 a year to $8,500.

The change would take effect Jan. 6, 2026, when members of the next Board of Mayor and Aldermen are sworn in.

City school board members did something similar in 2022, voting to eliminate their district-provided health insurance and asking aldermen to increase the stipend for serving on the Board of School Committee members from $2,000 to $4,000 per year starting in 2024.

The proposal was met with, well, ridicule by Sapienza's brother, Ward 6 Alderman Tony Sapienza.

"This proposal was made by a Sapienza, but I want to be very clear it was not made by this Sapienza," Tony Sapienza said. "This is not my proposal. I certainly would not make a proposal to take health care away from anyone, certainly not to put $3,500 in my own pocket.

"Where I come from, this is embarrassing."

Committee members voted to receive and file the proposal, which effectively kills it, though Ed Sapienza has said the issue will be revisited at the next full board meeting in September.

Renaming Grove Street

City aldermen have given their blessing to a request to rename a portion of Grove Street after a millworker recognized as the first Black female landowner in Manchester.

Stan Garrity, chairman of the Manchester Heritage Commission, sent a memo to aldermen on July 29 pointing out that Grove Street from Elm to Willow streets is being resurfaced and the old cobblestones taken out.

"We will be losing some of history by doing that," Garrity wrote. "However we can make it better by introducing some of our new history."

Garrity says he and the commission would like to see that portion of Grove Street renamed Samantha Plantin Way.

Samantha Plantin came to Manchester from New Boston in 1844 at age 18. She lived at the Stark Corp. and worked in the Stark Mills. At night she worked as a washer woman and later as a dressmaker.

"She saved her money frantically and was able to buy two pieces of property," Garrity wrote. "On the second property she built a home that still stands today."

Plantin died in 1899. In her will, she requested that all her assets be sold and the profits go to support Black education.

The money went to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, Haines Institute in Georgia and two women's missions in Manchester.

"We feel it is past due time to honor this amazing woman with having Grove Street changed to Samantha Plantin Way," Garrity urged.

Plantin is buried in Valley Cemetery behind Grove Street.

Building airplanes

Want to help local high school students build an airplane?

Then you're invited to attend the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire's upcoming plane-build volunteer mentor open house on Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Volunteers with experience in airframe and powerplant systems, aerospace engineering, metal-working, manufacturing, assembly and related fields are encouraged to attend.

Training in basic workshop skills and procedures will be offered, and anyone is encouraged to participate regardless of background.

The open house will be held at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire at 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry.

"For our student plane-building program, the most important quality we're looking for in volunteer mentors is the readiness to join in an adventure that is making a difference in the lives of area young adults," Jeff Rapsis, the Aviation Museum's executive director, said in a statement.

Launched in 2019, the Aviation Museum's plane-building program is run in partnership with local high schools and Tango Flight, a Texas-based educational nonprofit. Students work alongside adult mentors to assemble a two-seat RV-12iS aircraft, which is produced in kit form by Van's Aircraft Co. of Oregon.

Finished student-built aircraft are then sold and the proceeds used to pay for kits and materials for subsequent plane-builds.

No school district tax money is used in the plane-build programs, which are funded by grants and donations made through the Aviation Museum.

In Manchester, the program's first student-built airplane was completed and first flown in August 2022. The aircraft is currently being used to promote the plane-building program before being sold this fall.

The Manchester program's second airplane is under construction in a dedicated workshop/hangar at Manchester School of Technology.

Museum officials recently announced the expansion of the program to Lebanon High School in the Upper Valley and Farmington High School near the Maine border.

Students in Lebanon will start building an aircraft in September, while Farmington students will get to work on the project in September 2025.

Those who plan to attend Tuesday's open house are asked to call 603-669-4877 and leave their name and a message or send an e-mail to ldearborn@nhahs.org.

Pools and schools

Summer's not quite over, but the city has announced closing dates for its public aquatic facilities.

Livingston Pool and Raco-Theodore Pool will close Sunday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. The Dupont and Sheehan-Basquil splash pads are slated to shut down Monday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m.

The Manchester Parks and Recreation Department wants feedback on how it can better serve the recreational needs of residents.

The Manchester Recreation Needs Survey can be accessed online at: surveymonkey.com/r/PMQQH2X.

Staff estimates it should take approximately five minutes to complete the survey.

"Your input is very important to us and will be used directly to improve our recreational facilities and offerings," the department said in a statement.

The Manchester school district has announced that because of a clerical error, an early version of the printable 2024-2025 school year calendar listed the incorrect date for the statewide primary election.

The election is Sept. 10, not Sept. 17, as listed on the calendar distributed earlier this year.

Schools will be off Sept. 10 for the primary.

An updated calendar is available at the district website at mansd.org/o/msd/page/calendars-printable.

On Aug. 13, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Jewett Street Elementary School, families are invited to attend an in-person school registration night and pop-up resource fair.

District staff, including bilingual family liaisons, will be on hand to help with registration. Free transportation also will be available to and from the event.

The pop-up resource fair, Wellness on Wheels, is organized by Makin' It Happen.

More information about registration and registering a student online is available at: mansd.org/o/msd/page/register-a-student.

Paul Feely is the City Hall reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at pfeely@unionleader.com.