City Council to consider free parking for veterans

posted on 5/6/2024

The City Council meets on Wednesday, May 8, for its first meeting of the month.

The Council will hold a public hearing on the pending resolution that would provide three hours a day of free parking in the city’s metered spaces for vehicles with veteran license plates, provided the person who qualified for the veteran plate is using the vehicle. This change was endorsed by the Parking Commission at its Feb. 20, 2024 meeting in a 3-2 vote. Currently, three hours of free parking is available to those with Purple Heart, Gold Star, Prisoner of War and Pearl Harbor Survivor license plates.

The resolution would also make Fifth Street one-way from Chestnut Street to Fourth Street, which is part of the Fifth and Grove Reconstruction Project. The one-way traffic pattern was reviewed and unanimously endorsed by the Transportation Advisory Committee at its Aug. 22, 2022 meeting. 

Also on the agenda, the Council will be asked to approve a resolution that authorizes the City Manager to move appropriations between non-school departments to cover shortfalls. The appropriations were already approved, and the resolution does not increase appropriations. This is an annual budget housekeeping item.

The City Council will also honor recently retired Recreation Director Gary Bannon by renaming the Recreation Department's "Hardship Subsidy Program" to the "Gary Bannon Recreational Hardship Subsidy Program."

"During his thirty-four-year tenure, Mr. Bannon was not only an exemplary steward of existing recreation programs and resources, but also generated and saw through numerous initiatives to improve access to recreation, including the recreation subsidy program, which is hereby named in his honor," the background material states. Bannon retired on April 30.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Robert Carrier will honor Mental Health Awareness Month by reading a proclamation.

Click here for the complete agenda.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in City Hall’s Council Chambers. It will be televised on Channel 22 and online at https://dovernh.viebit.com, where it will also be available for on-demand viewing.