THE CITY POLICE unions and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen had a minor victory on Tuesday when they came to an agreement on a new contract, but the celebratory mood was quickly squashed when the board voted to lay over contract ratification until the next meeting — as the rules require — instead of suspending the rules and ratifying the contract on the spot.

Alderman Russ Ouellette told the police unions after the meeting the move was a “slap in the face.” But a resistance to suspending the rules has been a new trend among aldermen, starting last session when the board stopped the tradition on renominations to boards and commissions. It didn’t suspend the rules when the Wellington Hill zoning changes came up, and Alderman Phil Greazzo argued the rules shouldn’t be suspended on Tuesday.

“I believe (the contracts) should lay over so the public has a chance to look at it,” Greazzo told fellow aldermen. “It gives the other bargaining units a chance to see what we have come to for an agreement.”

“We’ve been publicly stating what we’ve been wanting from our unions, which is big givebacks on health insurance, and that’s what we’re getting,” said Ouellette, pushing for a vote right away.

Aldermen Greazzo, Joe Kelly Levassuer, Dan O’Neil, Joyce Craig, Garth Corriveau and Patrick Arnold voted for the layover.

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THE LAYOVER was not only unprecedented, said Mayor Ted Gatsas, it could also force him to delay his budget address. Why? “Because they are playing games.”

“Since 2000, there have been 36 labor contracts that have come to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Thirty-five times we have suspended the rules,” said Gatsas. “It doesn’t cause a problem with me and my budget at all, but it may cause a problem with when I may decide to deliver it.”

Gatsas promised in his inaugural address to present a budget on Jan. 30, but if the aldermen for some reason don’t ratify the contract, his budget could end up above the tax cap limit, especially if he includes an allowance for hiring more police. Under the charter, the mayor must submit a budget within the cap.

Of course, there has been no indication the contract will not be ratified, since the aldermen accepted it with a unanimous vote.

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FOES OF the proposed private prison on Hackett Hill have gained a wealthy ally in their fight. Waterford Development Corp., the company behind Waterford Place and Woodland Pond, wrote the aldermen last week voicing opposition to the project. Developer Robert Shapiro urged the board to pursue a business and light-industrial park for the area, saying “a private prison is an irreversible decision that has the potential to adversely impact that portion of the city and its surrounding properties.”

Shapiro also noted that Waterford invested $1.5 million in the area to install a water tower. That’s above and beyond the city impact fees and costs the company spent on the area infrastructure.

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THE PRISON PROPOSAL revealed a hole in the city’s ordinances regarding prisons and halfway houses. There are no zones where a prison or halfway house is allowed, said Planning and Community Development Director Leon LaFreniere.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court told the city it couldn’t have what is essentially a ban on prisons in the city. LaFreniere suggested fixing the problem by limiting prisons and halfway houses to the industrial zone, which includes the East Industrial Drive area and the airport.

But before the aldermen even had a chance to discuss the merits, the board struggled to determine which committee should review the proposal first.

Alderman Arnold suggested it go to the Committee on Bills on Second Reading, a committee that gives items a second look before passing them on to the full board.

According to the board policies, the “B2R Committee” has jurisdiction over zoning issues, so that’s where it should go, Arnold argued. Mayor Gatsas, however, said it should go to the Administration Committee, as has always been done.

“Obviously, the board does not think where I place things is appropriate,” Gatsas said on Thursday. At the meeting, he said he would in the future have the board discuss every item brought before it rather than refer anything to committee in the consent agenda.

“No committees will be assigned anything. Everything will be brought out here, and you can vote where to send everything from here on out,” said Gatsas. “We might sit around for the first two hours (of the meeting) debating where these things are going to go.”

The mayor said this is not retaliation, but it sure came off that way during the meeting.

It’s also hard to overlook who the members of the B2R Committee are in this fight. Aldermen Craig, Arnold, Corriveau and O’Neil are among those who most often oppose the mayor.

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OF THE MANY bills in the state Legislature that would affect Manchester residents, the Health Department has come out against one that would ban fluoridation of the city water supply. HR 1416 would ban introducing any substance into the water unless that substance was required to make water potable. The bill is co-sponsored by Manchester Rep. Jerry Bergavin.

Health Director Tim Soucy argues that in the 10 years since the introduction of fluoride into Manchester water, untreated dental decay in second- and third-graders has dropped from 30 percent to 10 percent. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, Soucy argued, it is “appalling that this Legislature would take away my right to decide a local issue.”

“This proposed piece of legislation is not only bad public health policy, it is bad public policy, and I urge you to join me in opposing HB 1416,” Soucy told the aldermen.

Read Beth LaMontagne Hall’s coverage of Manchester City Hall in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Email her at bhall@unionleader.com.