City Council

CITY OF LACONIA ­ CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 14, 2018 7:00 P.M. 5/14/2018 ­ Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Engler called the meeting to order at the above date and time. 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Councilor Hamel lead the Salute to the Flag 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Cheryl Hebert, City Clerk 4. ROLL CALL City Clerk Hebert took the roll with the following Councilors in attendance: Bruce Cheney, Henry Lipman, Mark Haynes, Bob Hamel, Andrew Hosmer. Not present: David Bownes Mayor Engler noted (5) five Councilors are in attendance and a quorum has been established. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Scott Myers, City Manager and Donna Woodaman, Finance Director 6. COUNCIL PROCLAMATION 6.A. Recognition of Top Ten Laconia High School graduating students Mayor Engler acknowledged the top 10 students from the Laconia High School 2018 Graduating Class 1. Benjamin Beliveau 2. Drew Muzzey 3. Thomas Bastis 4. Nemanja Boskovic 5. Dakota Cross 6. Rebecca Howe 7. Isabella Lovering 8. Nina Caruso 9. Sophia Joyal 10. Thomas Turpin A copy of the proclomation has been submitted to be a part of the minutes. 7. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 7.A. Regular meeting minutes of April 23, 2018 The regular meeting minutes of the April 23, 2018 meeting were distributed to the Council on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. With no corrections or changes submitted to the City Clerk, the minutes will be accepted as distributed.  7.B. Special meeting minutes ­ Election of Ward 6 Councilor ­ April 30, 2018 The special meeting minutes of the April 30, 2018 meeting were distributed to the Council on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. With no corrections or changes submitted to the City Clerk, the minutes will be accepted as distributed. 8. CONSENT & ACTION ITEMS 8.A. Temporary Traffic Order 2018­4, Laconia Farmers Market This item was taken up and approved at the April 23, 2018 meeting. 8.B. Temporary Traffic Order 2018­8, Community Blood Drive Councilor Hamel moved to approve Temporary Traffic Order 2018­8, Community Blood Drive, to be held June 2, 2018 from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, seconded by Councilor Cheney; the motion passed with all in favor. 9. CITIZEN COMMENTS FOR MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA No comments from the public were made. 10. INTERVIEWS 10.A. Jay Forester ­ Seeking appointment to an alternate member position on the Planning Board for a three year term expiring at the end of June, 2021 J. Forester was interviewed. 10.B. Sarah Jenna ­ Seeking appointment to an alternate member position on the Planning Board for a three year term expiring at the end of June, 2021 S. Jenna was interviewed. 10.C. Brett Beliveau ­ Seeking appointment to an alternate member position on the Planning Board for a three year term expiring at the end of June, 2021 B. Beliveau was interviewed. 10.D. Edwin Bones ­ Seeking reappointment to a regular member position on the Planning Board for a three year term expiring at the end of June, 2021 E. Bones was interviewed. 10.E. Peter Brunette ­ Seeking appointment to a regular member position on the Lakeport TIF Advisory Board for a three year term expiring at the end of June, 2021 P. Brunette was interviewed. 10.F. Russell Poirier ­ Seeking reappointment to a regular member position on the Weirs TIF Advisory Board for a three year term expiring at the end of June, 2021 R. Poirier was interviewed. 10.G. Joe Driscoll, III ­ Seeking reappointment to a regular member position on the Water Commission for a three year term expiring at the end of June, 2021 J. Driscoll, III was interviewed. Councilor Hamel suggested having a Planning 101 class for new and old members due to all the rules and regulations that need to be followed. City Managers Myers expressed this is already in the works through the NH Municipal Association. 11. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS 12. COMMUNICATIONS 13. PUBLIC HEARINGS 14. PRESENTATIONS 15. MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Engler noted Memorial Day will be celebrated in Laconia on Monday, May 28, 2018 and asked the Council to join in the parade which starts at 10:00 AM at Wyatt Park. Mayor Engler updated Council on the approval by the Planning Board on the first two elements of the Master Plan (Vision Statement and Land Use Chapter). Mayor Engler warned of fake news and to please consider the source before sharing such items through social media. 16. COMMITTEE REPORTS Mayor Engler appoints Councilor Hosmer to take the place of the late Councilor Bolduc on the following committees: Public Safety, Government Operations and Ordinance, and Public Works. Mayor Engler will ask Councilor Bownes to continue with being the Chair on the Public Works Committee. Mayor Engler also would like to welcome Councilor Hosmer to the Council. 16.A. FINANCE (Lipman, Hamel, Cheney) 16.A.i. WOW Trail Funding 16.A.ii. Downtown TIF Financing 16.B. PUBLIC SAFETY (Bownes, Bolduc, Lipman) 16.B.i. Fair St/Court St traffic problems and accidents 16.C. GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ORDINANCES (Bownes, Bolduc, Cheney) 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, Haynes) 16.D.i. Downtown parking garage 16.D.ii. Repair & maintenance of City buildings 16.E. PUBLIC WORKS (Bolduc, Bownes, Haynes) 16.E.i. Retaining Wall Policy 16.E.ii. Proposal to implement City Policies for designating emergency lanes 17. LIAISON REPORTS 18. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS Elizabeth Nix, 100 Windemere Heights ­ Commends the City for looking into using Solar but in the same sense cautions the City of all the different companies offering solar and to carefully look into each one in order to get the best value. E. Nix stated her former position was at the Public Utilities Commission dealing with Solar Systems. 19. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT 19.A. Financial and Operational Trends Report  City Manager Myers reviewed the report. Councilor Hamel questioned the repairs on Highland Street. City Manager Myers will get back to the Council with more information. Councilor Hamel also questioned when striping would be taking place. DPW Director Anderson stated this will start in July do to budget reasons. Mayor Engler suggested transferring money from the Fund Balance in order to start the painting sooner. City Manager Myers will bring to the Council different options in order to try to get the striping done sooner rather than later. Councilor Hamel questioned why the American Flags were not up around the City. City Manager Myers will reach out to the volunteer groups that take care of that. Councilor Hamel asked for an update on the bump out at the Vistas crosswalk. DPW Director W. Anderson stated the design is being worked on right now. 20. NEW BUSINESS 20.A. Request to change parking restrictions on High Street DPW Director Anderson explained the reason for this request. Councilor Lipman expressed that the Council should wait on this vote to see if there are any residents in this area that would like to voice their opinions or concerns. Councilor Hamel moves to approve that the odd and evened numbered side of High Street be designated no parking from Union Ave to Highland Street, seconded by Councilor Haynes; the motion passed with four (4) in favor and one (1) opposed. 20.B. Temporary Traffic Order 2018­6, Celebrate Laconia July 7, 2018 Parade Tony Felch explained the new route of the parade. Councilor Haynes moves to approve Temporary Traffic Order 2018­6, July 7th, 2018 Celebrate Laconia Parade, to be held on July 7th, 2018 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, seconded by Councilor Hosmer; the motion passed with all in favor. 20.C. Options to reduce the Citys Recycling Costs City Manager Myers explained the need to terminate the remote recycling services to the Council. Councilor Lipman moves that the three remote recycling services be terminated as soon as possible, add a card board compressor, and to promote "glass is trash" to the public, to reduce solid waste costs in FY 2018­2019, seconded by Councilor Hamel; Councilor Hosmer asked how long the phase out process for the remote recycling locations would take. City Manager Myers says a minimum of four weeks. Mayor Engler called the question; the motion passed with all in favor. 20.D. Recommendation for prioritizing limited Capital Road Improvement Program Funding Councilor Lipman expressed his concern with this item being on the agenda as he feels this was brought up and decided months ago and expressed this is contradicting what has already been decided. Councilor Lipman stated a black and white policy does not fit with the realities of the City. City Manager Myers explained that the need for this would be to determine how to allocate the funds from the Capital Road Improvement. The distribution model for the "repair funds" is based on the four types of roads that are in the City. They are:  Arterials (Court Street) Collectors (Stark Street) Local Roads (Baldwin Street) Local/Cul­de­sac/dead ends (Mitchell Place) Mayor Engler noted no motion was made and this item has died. 20.E. Request by Parks and Recreation for Parks­Impact Fees for Leavitt Park Basketball Court Resurfacing May 2018 Director of Parks and Recreation Kevin Dunleavy explained the reason for this request. Councilor Hosmer moves to approve the request to transfer from the following accounts to fund the cost of the resurfacing the Leavitt Park Basketball Courts: From: 50­301­001­0000 Impact Fees ­ Parks $6,461.64 From: 84­301­185­0000 Summer Basketball $1,292.36 From: 84­301­184­0000 Opechee/Leavitt Field Renovation $2,225.00 To: 01­497­479­0007 Basketball Resurfacing $9,979.00, seconded by Councilor Hamel; the motion passed with all in favor. 20.F. Resolution 2018­26, a resolution relative to the Sanitary Sewer Supplemental Appropriation City Manager Myers explained the need to appropriate funds in this fiscal year in order for projects to continue now rather than having to wait til the next fiscal year. Councilor Hamel moves to waive a reading of this Resolution in its entirety and to read by title only, seconded by Councilor Haynes; the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Hamel moves to the first reading of Resolution RES­2018­26, a resolution relative to the Supplemental Appropriation Sanitary Sewer Fund, seconded by Councilor Haynes; the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Lipman moves to schedule a Public Hearing on May 29, 2018 during the regular City Council meeting to gather input prior to adoption, seconded by Councilor Cheney; the motion passed with all in favor. 20.G. Request to increase the funding cap of monies from current use that flow into the Conservation Commission Land Use Change Tax Fund from $250,000 to $400,000 The Conservation Commission is now requesting an increase in the funding cap of monies from current use that flow into the Conservation Commission Land Use Change Tax Fund for the potential purchase of land and easements to retain open space and for purposes of environmental protection. Councilor Lipman expressed his concern stating maybe we should be looking at this on a case by case status rather than by a broad view. Mayor Engler mentioned the timing of this considering the Land Use Chapter with the Master Plan and this could be at odds with the plan. City Manager Myers stated he will bring these concerns back to the Conservation Committee. Mayor Engler declared no motion was made and this item dies. 20.H. 2018 First Half Sewer Warrant Councilor Lipman moves to approve the 2018 first half Sewer Warrant, seconded by Councilor Hamel; the motion passed with all in favor. 20.I. Proposal to name the City Council Chambers in memory of Councilor Armand Bolduc  Councilor Hamel moves to approve the naming of the City Council Chamber, Room 200A, at Laconia City Hall in memory of Councilor Armand Bolduc, to be called The Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber, seconded by Councilor Cheney; Councilor Hamel feels this is very appropriate after all the years Armand served the City. Mayor Engler called the question; the motion passed with all in favor. 21. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 21.A. City Employees covered by the Wage and Compensation Plan Councilor Hamel moves to approve that the amended City Employees covered by the Wage and Compensation Plan as presented by the City Manager on April 23, 2018, seconded by Councilor Lipman; the motion passed with all in favor. 21.B. Request to authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with New England Solar Garden, in partnership with Nobis Engineering & New England Commercial Solar Services, for the purpose of creating a solar array on the site of the former landfill located on Route 11B under the terms of the land lease City Manager Myers spoke in regards to this agreement. The City recently went out for an RFP requesting land lease proposals for two former landfill sites. The site that is the subject of this agenda item consists of 59 acres +/­ located on Route 11B; it is the site of a former City landfill that was capped almost 15 years ago. Only one proposal was received from New England Solar Garden for use of this site for a solar array. It is anticipated that the land lease for this project will generate $990,000 in income for the City over 30 years, and $246,400 in Tax PILOT revenue over a 20 year period. Clarke Fenner and Ted Vansant from New England Solar Garden are here tonight to discuss in more detail about the solar arrays. They explained that New Hampshire does not offer any incentives for using Solar, leases are based on annual payments and construction could potentially start as early as this fall. These arrays are stationary and do not produce glares as they absorb the sun to use as energy. City Manager Myers invited the Councilors to go out to the site. Councilor Cheney moves to table this agenda item to the May 29, 2018 City Council meeting to allow additional time for public awareness and abutter input, seconded by Councilor Lipman; the motion passed with all in favor. 22. COUNCIL COMMENTS 23. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 23.A. Improvement of Union Ave/Elm Street intersection 23.B. Ordinance amendment relative to Chapter 167, Noise and Chapter 161, Licensing as it pertains to outdoor sound equipment and loudspeakers 23.C. Second reading of a resolution relative to the adoption of RSA 31:95­b, Appropriation of funds made available during the year 23.D. Master Plan 23.E. Milfoil Treatment funding requests 23.F. Sewer & Water Master Plan 23.G. Single Stream Recycling/Concord Co­op/Solid Waste disposal cost reductions  23.H. Strategic Planning/Goal Setting 23.I. WOW Trail 23.J. Proposal to implement City Policies for designating emergency lanes 23.K. 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. Any other business that may come before the Council 25. NON­PUBLIC SESSION (According to RSA 91­A:3, II) 26. ADJOURNMENT Councilor Lipman moves to go into non­public under 91­A:3, II c, meeting at 9:27 PM, seconded by Councilor Hosmer; a A roll call vote was taken: Councilor Cheney YES Councilor Lipman YES Councilor Haynes YES Councilor Hamel YES Councilor Hosmer YES the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Cheney moves to exit non­public meeting at 9:40 PM, seconded by Councilor Haynes; the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Hamel moves to seal the non­public minutes for three (3) years, seconded by Councilor Cheney, the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Hosmer moves to enter into non­public under 91­A:3, II c, seconded by Councilor Hamel; A roll call vote was taken: Councilor Cheney YES Councilor Lipman YES Councilor Haynes YES Councilor Hamel YES Councilor Hosmer YES the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Lipman moved to come out of non­public at 10:14 PM, seconded by Councilor Haynes; the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Hamel moved to seal the non­public minutes for one (1) year, seconded by Councilor Lipman; the motion passed with all in favor. With no further business to come before the Council and hearing no objection, Mayor Engler adjourned the meeting at 10:15 PM. Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Hebert, City Clerk Minutes of this meeting were approved by the Council on May 29, 2018