Residents assured there will be no illegal aliens at new affordable housing complex

A rendering of the design concept for The Residences at Riverside Park (Courtesy Catholic Charities of NH)

ROCHESTER - A couple of speakers during Tuesday night's public hearing on an affordable housing complex planned for the old DPW garage on Old Dover Road told the developer and City Council they wanted assurances that there would be no undocumented aliens living there.
Jeff Lefkovich, executive director of Real Estate and Development for Catholic Charities of New Hampshire, said no worries.
"This has nothing to do with illegal aliens," Lefkovich assured the audience. "This has nothing to do with bringing people that are not legal into the state. They must be a U.S. citizen and have qualifying income."
In addition, Lefkovich stated that there are a myriad of hurdles affordable housing applicants will have to negotiate in order to be placed in one of the one-, two or three-bedroom apartments that will become available in 2028.
Among them are initial income eligibility screening, sources of income verification, employment verification, bank statements, asset verification, criminal background checks, credit checks and landlord references.
The complex, itself, will comprise 80 apartments, plus community and exercise rooms.
The formula for determining the actual rental cost for what will be called "The Residences at Riverside Park" can be complicated, Leftkovich noted, but said the ultimate goal is to have the rent including utilities capped at 30 percent of household income.
In other City Council news, state rep and Rochester resident Tom Kaczynski during public input informed the council that The Rochester Voice won the highly coveted Nackey Loeb School of Communication First Amendment Award for its struggle with the City of Rochester over receiving Right to Know documents.
An August review of the case in Strafford Superior Court resulted in a landmark decision that affirmed the award winning digital daily had standing to receive 91-A protections, which the City of Rochester had denied, because they said Rochester Voice editor Harrison Thorp lived in Maine and therefore was not entitled to Right to Know protections.
Despite The Rochester Voice recently becoming incorporated in the State of New Hampshire, the City of Rochester has continued to seek to frustrate the digital daily attempts to review city documents.
The Rochester Voice received the award on Oct. 24 at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics located on the Saint Anselm College campus in Manchester.
Also during the meeting, Rochester Police Chief Gary Boudreau, told the City Council they have reduced their open positions from 14 to seven and continue their active and aggressive effort to recruit additional officers to reach a full complement.