WHILE THE OUTCOME of contract talks with the teachers union was still an unknown Tuesday night, six aldermen indicated they would be willing to override the city's tax cap in order to reach an agreement.

Their positions were made clear in a vote during the Board of Aldermen's meeting last week. Ten votes would have been needed to ensure an override went into effect over the mayor's objection. The vote was 6-6, with two aldermen absent.

On Friday, Mayor Ted Gatsas reiterated his position. "The people voted for a tax cap. I think we should respect the voters' wishes and stay within the tax cap.” Then he added the good news. “There should be a tentative agreement with the teachers and principals to be presented at the school board Monday.”

Union members are scheduled to meet Tuesday and Wednesday to vote on the deal, Manchester Education Association President Ben Dick said. On Saturday, Dick said the union's executive board voted Wednesday to send the tentative agreement to the membership, but the motion to endorse it failed unanimously, with Dick abstaining from the vote. There was also an executive board vote a month ago on a slightly different version of the tentative agreement that was also unanimously rejected.

Gatsas said on Friday he would consider a tax cap override if a catastrophic situation ever arose, but such was not the case last week.

It was easy to miss the vote Tuesday because it happened close to midnight. After five hours of testimony about the pain Manchester would feel if the proposed layoffs of 161 teachers was enacted, Alderman Ron Ludwig made a motion to see whether an override would be an option if union members did not make concessions sought by the city.

Continuing to cut school staff and programs each year would prevent the district from making the advances it needs in areas like technology, Ludwig said at the meeting.

“Just because the tax cap passed by a couple thousand people on a rainy Tuesday” doesn't mean the aldermen can't override. "We're going to have to step up to the plate at some point. We have to do what's right. I'm going to call out people in a roll call vote to see if they have the will to override this foolishness.”

On Friday, Ludwig said he "just wanted to know where people stood.”

Alderman Russ Ouellette spoke at Tuesday's meeting, too. "It's very simple for me,'' he said. “Without concessions from the teacher union, I will not vote to spend one penny to override the tax cap. We get concessions, I'd be more open to the idea.”

Dick said both sides made concessions.

Aldermen Ludwig, Dan O'Neil, Garth Corriveau, Joyce Craig, Patrick Arnold and Barbara Shaw voted in favor of a possible override. Pat Long, Jim Roy, Bill Shea, Phil Greazzo, Joe Kelly Levasseur and Ouellette voted against. Alderman Ed Osborne and Tom Katsiantonis were absent.

Phil Greazzo, who supported the tax cap, said on Saturday: “The motion was too vague to support. I am open to overriding the cap in an emergency.”

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AFTER TUESDAY'S VOTE, Levasseur warned his fellow aldermen that they might have sent the wrong message to school staff.

"By taking that vote and letting people know they didn't have the votes to override … there would be no incentive for them to come to table,” said Levasseur. “I wonder if we shot ourselves in the foot.”

On Friday, Levasseur said: "They should have either said override or not, no strings attached. The voters and the unions should know where the aldermen stand.”

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BECAUSE THE AGREEMENT still faces union member scrutiny — meaning it is still uncertain how many layoffs there might be — students will have to wait a little longer to learn whom their teachers will be next year.

Layoff notices issued on May 4 raised concerns about what seems like a disproportionate number of staff who would be let go in certain subject areas. Of the 23 teachers who received pink slips at Memorial High School, six teach English. At Central, four English teachers were given notice, but at West, no English teachers were pink-slipped.

There were 15 teachers at Southside Middle School, five each at Parkside and McLaughlin middle schools, 17 from Hillside Middle School and six at Beech Street Elementary. None of the teachers at Green Acres Elementary was given a pink slip.

Superintendent of Schools Thomas Brennan said these figures are in constant flux, as teachers appeal their layoffs or request “bumping” another junior teacher who survived layoffs in a different subject or at a different school. Contract concessions would be expected to bring these numbers down.

After a contract is signed, Brennan's administration will shuffle teachers and staff throughout the district to fill necessary positions in core subjects. For instance, Memorial could see some of its English teachers return or could get an English teacher transferred from West.

Once the staffing is settled, Brennan said, the next step will be to get high school students who were taking classes that were cut into new courses before September.

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A FORGOTTEN PLAYER in the Hackett Hill saga is JP Sercel Associates, the laser supplier on Hackett Hill Road and neighbor to the Danais Realty Group.

When CEO Jeffrey Sercel moved his company there, he was told the area was a soon-to-be high-tech research park. But that idea never came to be. Today, he is sharing his business access road with fast-driving trucks that ship dirt and gravel in and out of developer Richard Danais' abutting property.

Sercel has invested more than $5 million in his property and pays $80,000 to the city each year in taxes, he said last week. He is not happy Danais got a new deal from the aldermen and feels his investments have been overlooked while the city accommodates a developer has done nothing to better his property.

“If the city of Manchester wants to chase high-tech companies away, this is a good way to do it,” said Sercel.

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A YEAR AGO, Health Department Director Tim Soucy told the aldermen the city was ending its STD/HIV clinics because of state budget cuts. Starting July 1, the program will start up again on a smaller scale thanks to a $75,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The money will pay for staff to run the clinics, do diagnosis and prescribe medication.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mayor Gatsas, who will celebrate turning 62 on Thursday.

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