City Council

CITY OF LACONIA ­ CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2017 7:00 P.M. 11/27/2017 ­ Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Pro Tem Bolduc called the meeting to order at the above date and time. 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Councilor Baer led the salute to the flag. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY City Clerk Cheryl Hebert 4. ROLL CALL City Clerk Hebert called the roll with the following Councilors in attendance: Ava Doyle, David Bownes, Henry Lipman, Brenda Baer, Bob Hamel, Armand Bolduc. Absent: Mayor Ed Engler Mayor Pro Tem Bolduc noted that all six (6) Councilors are in attendance and a quorum is established. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE City Manager Scott Myers, Finance Director Donna Woodaman 6. COUNCIL PROCLAMATION 7. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 7.A. Regular meeting minutes of November 13, 2017 Minutes of the November 13, 2017 meeting were distributed to the City Council on Thursday, November 16, 2017. Two corrections were made and the minutes were redistributed on November 21, 2017. With no further corrections the minutes were accepted as distributed. 8. CONSENT & ACTION ITEMS 9. CITIZEN COMMENTS FOR MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA No comments from the public were made. 10. INTERVIEWS 11. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS 11.A. Appointment of Gary Schmitz as Selectman for Ward One Councilor Bolduc moves to appoint Gary Schmitz as Selectman for Ward One for a Six (6) year term, expiring 2023, seconded by Councilor Doyle; the motion passed with all in favor. 12. COMMUNICATIONS 13. PUBLIC HEARINGS 14. PRESENTATIONS 15. MAYOR'S REPORT  City Manager Myers updated the Council on Mayor Englers' health. Mayor Engler has been active with the planning of the outgoing and incoming Council. 16. COMMITTEE REPORTS 16.A. FINANCE (Lipman, Hamel, Baer) Councilor Lipman would like to schedule a Finance Committee meeting regarding the road infrastructure immediately following the next Council meeting on December 11, 2017. 16.A.i. WOW Trail Funding 16.A.ii. Downtown TIF Financing 16.B. PUBLIC SAFETY (Baer, Doyle, Bownes) 16.B.i. Fair St/Court St traffic problems and accidents 16.C. GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ORDINANCES (Doyle, Bolduc, Bownes) 16.C.i. Review of Chapter 167, Noise and Chapter 161 Licensing as it pertains to outdoor sound equipment and loudspeakers 16.C.ii. Ordinance Amending Chapter 221, Vehicles and Traffic/Parking on Sublawns 16.C.iii. Procedural review of grant applications 16.D. LANDS & BUILDINGS (Hamel, Lipman, Bolduc) 16.D.i. Downtown parking garage 16.D.ii. Repair & maintenance of City buildings 16.E. PUBLIC WORKS (Bolduc, Baer, Bownes) 16.E.i. Proposal to implement City Policies for designating emergency lanes 17. LIAISON REPORTS 18. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS No comments from the public were made. 19. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT 19.A. Project Updates Report City Manager Myers reviewed the report. City Manager Myers thanked all the departments involved with getting the Holiday Parade off. There is a preliminary tax rate set and bills should be out by Wednesday, November 29, 2017, with a due date of December 29, 2017. Councilor Baer would like to hear from the Downtown TIF advisory board either quarterly or semi annually, especially trying to get the budgets done. City Manager Myers said he would get in contact with Pat Woods, Chair of the Downtown TIF, and ask for more frequent updates. Councilor Baer also requested a Weirs Beach restoration update: The City has been in contact with Department of Environmental Services. DES has not been involved with this size of a project so there are being very cautious. Research needs to be done regarding the type of sand to use. Councilor Lipman mentioned that money has also been set aside to help with Bartlett and the other beaches in the area. Finance Director Woodaman mentioned that Kevin Dunleavy from Parks and Rec said that he has been getting in some quotes on the engineering on the beach area projects. 20. NEW BUSINESS 20.A. 2017 Second Half Sewer Warrant This is for the citizens that have sewer only accounts. Councilor Lipman moves to approve the 2017 second half Sewer Warrant, seconded by Councilor Doyle; the motion passed with all in favor. 20.B. Approved 2017 legislation in HB 316 relative to a statewide property tax exemption for commercial and industrial construction Councilor Lipman explained the approval of the 2017 Legislation in House Bill 316 relative to a statewide property tax exemption for commercial and industrial construction. Councilor Lipman would like to see the City be proactive and be one of the first to enact this HB 316. New language in RSA 72 is enabling legislation for municipalities. If adopted, it would provide a property tax break on commercial and/or industrial assessment for new construction and additions, renovations or improvements to existing structures. It is meant to be utilized by a municipality to encourage commercial and industrial growth within a community. Staff recommends that the City Council support the tax exemption on industrial uses as a means to encourage growth in the industrial tax base in Laconia. A consensus would need to be reached on the number of year's duration and percentage of new construction exempted. Maximum limits are set in RSA 72:81. City Manager Myers explained the difference between commercial and industrial. Councilor Bownes questioned if the Planning Board could redefine commercial uses regarding this bill? City Manager Myers explained commercial use would need to remain what the code allows. Councilor Baer questioned if we could give another tax exemption to the TIF districts. City Manager Myers explained this would be a public benefit with the creation of jobs. This would be city wide, not TIF specific. This will be continued to the next meeting. 20.C. Discussion regarding upgrading the Court Street, Gilford Avenue and Busy Corner traffic lights to countdown lights Councilor Hamel expressed concerns with the improvement of safety within the City regarding our crosswalks with pedestrians and motor vehicles. Councilor Baer mentioned the lack of NH Right of Way Law signs. Councilor Lipman questioned the estimates. Can this be part of a comprehensive bid or does it need to be separate? DPW Director Wes Anderson explained the upgrade and having this bid separately would be more beneficial. The ADA estimates for Union at Main, Union at Church, and Union at Gilford are $62,000, $50,000, and $50,000 respectively. These estimates are order of magnitude estimates and do not include any modifications required to the intersection's traffic signal controller that may be required to upgrade to the countdown timer. Councilor Hamel moves the approval of the upgrade of Court Street, Gilford Avenue, and Busy Corner traffic lights to countdown lights when road improvements are occurring in those areas, seconded by Councilor Baer; the motion passed with all in favor. 21. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 21.A. Ordinance 2017­149­06 ­ An ordinance amending Chapter 149, Fire Prevention and Emergency Medical Services Information was put out on the internet and was available at the fire department regarding amending Chapter 149. Only one gentlemen went in to the Fire Department to talk about this amendment and it did not pertain to his housing unit. No other comments or concerns from the public were made. Councilor Lipman moves to bring this topic on the table, seconded by Councilor Hamel; the motion passed with  all in favor. Councilor Lipman moves to approve Ordinance 2017­149­06, an ordinance amending Chapter 149, Fire Prevention and Emergency Medical Services, seconded by Councilor Hamel; the motion passed with all in favor. 22. COUNCIL COMMENTS Mayor Pro Tem Bolduc noted that Christmas Village will be opening on Thursday, November 29, 2017 at 6 PM and continue through Sunday December 3rd. This is the 43rd year. Free to all and donations are greatly appreciated. Councilor Bownes gives a lot of credit to everyone that puts in the effort to run Christmas Village. 23. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 23.A. Ordinance amendment relative to Chapter 167, Noise and Chapter 161, Licensing as it pertains to outdoor sound equipment and loudspeakers 23.B. Second reading of a resolution relative to the adoption of RSA 31:95­b, Appropriation of funds made available during the year 23.C. Master Plan 23.D. Milfoil Treatment funding requests 23.E. Sewer & Water Master Plan 23.F. Single Stream Recycling/Concord Co­op/Solid Waste disposal cost reductions 23.G. Strategic Planning/Goal Setting 23.H. WOW Trail 23.I. Proposal to implement City Policies for designating emergency lanes 23.J. Resolution 2017­30 relative to authorizing the City Manager to apply to the State of NH DOT for a temporary use agreement in the City's name that will allow for the completion of a study concerning the different options and benefits of how to build Phase 3 of the WOW Trail and to sign all necessary documents 24. NON­PUBLIC SESSION (According to RSA 91­A:3, II) 25. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the City Council and with no objections Mayor Pro Tem Bolduc adjourned the meeting at 8:01 PM. Respectfully submitted by, Cheryl Hebert, City Clerk