The Keene City Council on Oct. 16 approved several committee recommendations, confirmations and resolutions during its regular meeting and heard administrative updates from staff.

Votes and committee approvals
- Snowmobile trail license: The Planning, Licenses & Development Committee recommended, and the council approved, permission for the Keene Snow Riders Inc. to use specified city rights of way and property for a snowmobile trail from Dec. 15, 2025, through March 30, 2026. Conditions include signing a revocable license and indemnification agreement, providing a certificate of liability insurance naming the city as additional insured with minimum coverage of $1,000,000, furnishing and installing signage to New Hampshire standards and removal of signage when snow cover is gone. The motion carried unanimously.

- Sidewalk-café alcohol license for The Perch: The committee recommended, and the council approved, allowing The Perch to serve alcoholic beverages in connection with its sidewalk-café license subject to customary licensing requirements and compliance with city-code sections referenced by staff. Committee minutes contained a scrivener’s-date error; the council accepted a correction that the license expires March 1 (renewable) rather than the date printed in the committee text. The motion carried unanimously.

- Committee confirmations and resignations: The council confirmed Matthew Bolton for the Energy and Climate Committee (alternate slot 16, term to Dec. 31, 2027) and Gregory Kleiner for the Human Rights Committee (alternate slot 14, term to Dec. 31, 2026). Both confirmations passed on a roll-call vote. The council accepted resignations from Andrew Orum (Congregate Living & Social Services Licensing Board) and others that were presented; those acceptances carried unanimously.

- Resolutions in appreciation: The council adopted resolutions honoring Christopher L. Simons and Todd R. Fernswith upon their retirements. The council recognized Simons’s 18 years with the Keene Police Department and Fernswith’s 18 years of city service; both resolutions were adopted unanimously.

Administrative updates
City Manager (unnamed at hearing) reported two items of operational interest. The public library has launched an online Peterson test and career-prep resource covering academic and professional licensing exams. Staff also reported progress on a proposed lease for a Verizon tower on city-owned property at 84 Arch Street; the council authorized pursuing the tower in April 2024 and the current plan calls for a roughly 135-foot tower on a wooded parcel in the city water fund. The lease negotiations include placement of municipal emergency-response equipment on the tower; staff said the city will consider the use of that space as partial compensation within the lease rate and expected the lease to be finalized in coming months.

What the public should know
The snowmobile permission includes specific grooming, crossing and right-of-way limitations intended to protect sight lines and paved surfaces; the Perch license will be renewed annually under the city’s standard sidewalk-café process. The Verizon tower, if completed under the draft lease, will expand coverage including near Keene High School and the Monadnock Marketplace and will host city emergency equipment. Council staff indicated more details will be available as the lease is finalized.