City Council

CITY OF LACONIA ­ CITY COUNCIL MEETING March 25, 2019 7:00 P.M. 3/25/2019 ­ 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, David Bownes, Henry Lipman, Mark Haynes, Bob Hamel, and Andrew Hosmer. Mayor Engler noted all six (6) Councilors were in attendance and a quorum has been established. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Scott Myers, City Manager Glenn Smith, Finance Director 6. COUNCIL PROCLAMATION 6.A. Proclamation ­ The American Legion Diamond Anniversary Year Mayor Engler recognized The American Legion by reading into the record the following proclamation: "WHEREAS, The American Legion, a brotherhood of American War Veterans, was founded in 1919 as an organization dedicated to the service of God and country; and WHEREAS, The American Legion, since its establishment, has become one of the bulwarks of the Amercan way of life; and WHEREAS, Wilkins­Smith Post No. 1 of the American Legion, whose members have served with honor and courage in the wars of the United States of America in the twentieth century, will, during the period of March 1, 2019 through April 1, 2019, celebrate 100 years of service to the nation by observing the 100th Anniversary of its founding, the 100th Anniversary of the founding of its distaff organization ­ The American Legion Auxiliary, and the 100th Anniversary of its first National Convention as major events in its Centennial Anniversary Year; NOW THEREFORE, I, Edward J. Engler, Mayor of the City of Laconia do hereby proclaim the period March 1, 2019 through April 1, 2019 as "The American Legion Diamond Anniversary Year" and do call upon all citizens, businesses and organizations to join in paying tribute to the good works of The American Legion as a token of the public appreciation of the wartime and peacetime services our Legionnaires have given to the community and the nation. " 7. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 7.A. Regular meeting minutes of March 11, 2019 Minutes of the meeting were distributed to the City Council on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. With one1correction submitted to the clerk, the minutes were redistributed on the same day, the minutes will be accepted as  redistributed. 8. CONSENT & ACTION ITEMS 8.A. Temporary Traffic Order 2019­3, Community Blood Drive Councilor Hamel moved to approve Temporary Traffic Order 2019­3, Community Blood Drive, to be held on April 19, 2019 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, seconded by Councilor Hosmer; the motion passed with all in favor. 9. CITIZEN COMMENTS FOR MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA Dorothy Duffy ­ Made mention of the item 16Cii, Sub­lawns. She likes to see sub­lawns and is discouraged by the amount of parking that is done on the sub­lawns. Karen Prior ­ Executive Director of the Belknap Mill ­ provided a packet to the Council and for the record. K. Prior gave an update on what has been happening at the Belknap Mill. K. Prior extended many thanks to DPW, Parks and Rec, the Mayor, and City Manager for their work and partnership with the Mill. 10. INTERVIEWS 11. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS 12. COMMUNICATIONS 13. PUBLIC HEARINGS 13.A. Public Hearing for Resolution RES­2019­03, relative to the City's purchase of theater equipment for the Colonial Theater and details of the City's lease with Belknap Economic Development Council Notice of this Public Hearing was made available in the March 13, 2019 edition of the Laconia Daily Sun, posted at City Hall, Laconia Public Library, Community Center, and the SAU. Mayor Engler opened the public hearing at 7:16 pm. Hearing no comment from the public, Mayor Engler closed the public hearing at 7:17 pm. 13.B. Public Hearing for Ordinance 2019­119­13­02 Notice of this Public Hearing was made available in the March 13, 2019 edition of the Laconia Daily Sun, posted at City Hall, Laconia Public Library, Community Center, and the SAU. Mayor Engler opened the public hearing at 7:19 pm No comments from the public were made, Mayor Engler recessed this public hearing until April 8, 2019, 7:00 pm, at the regular City Council Meeting. 14. PRESENTATIONS 15. MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Engler appoints Margaret Donnelly to the Human Relations Committee as he mistakenly forgot her name at the last Council meeting. Mayor Engler spoke in regards to the various pot holes throughout the City. The Mayor mentioned the letter from Bob Harrington and his sentiments regarding pot holes. Unfortunately some people make unkind comments in regards to the City of Laconia because of the pot holes and what they forget to remember is that with the weather New Hampshire has, pot holes are going to happen. Mayor Engler is asking for the public's patience as Public Works does the best they can to fix the pot holes. The Mayor also would like to remind people that elections are held every two years and if someone would like to run for Council or Mayor and seek to spend more money on roads and be able to justify where the money is coming from then that would be the platform to do so. 2 16. COMMITTEE REPORTS 16.A. FINANCE (Lipman, Hamel, Cheney) 16.A.i. WOW Trail Funding 16.A.ii. Downtown TIF Financing 16.B. PUBLIC SAFETY (Bownes, Hosmer, Lipman) 16.B.i. Fair St/Court St traffic problems and accidents 16.C. GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ORDINANCES (Bownes, Hosmer, 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.C.iv. Second reading of a resolution relative to the adoption of RSA 31:95­b, Appropriation of funds made available during the year This item is in regards to accepting funds outside of what has been budgeted as long as they are reported at a meeting. City Manager Myers has been working with Legal to possibly submit a Charter Change. 16.C.v. Regulation of Short Term Residential Rental Businesses Councilor Bownes spoke in regards to the meeting held earlier this evening. The meeting took the full hour and Councilor Bownes was under the assumption that more people would like to speak. The recommendation is to give the Planning Department authority to continue down this path to explore the Ordinance as it relates to short term housing. Councilor Bownes moved to schedule a Government Operations and Ordinances, Item V on Monday, April 8, 2019 at 6:00 pm, seconded by Councilor Cheney; the motion passed with all in favor. 16.D. LANDS & BUILDINGS (Hamel, Lipman, Haynes) 16.D.i. Downtown parking garage 16.D.ii. Repair & maintenance of City buildings 16.D.iii. Perley Pond Maintenance 16.D.iv. Plan for the DPW Compound Councilor Hamel had a meeting with DPW Director Anderson in regards to what Public Works actually needs. DPW Director Anderson will be requesting a proposal for space management study. Councilor Lipman requests the members of the Land and Buildings Committee see the RFP before it goes out. Discussion was had whether to move the building to a new location or to keep the building where it is and build a new one. The Council is in full support of moving in the direction of a request for bid for the space management study and to bring the results back to the Council. 16.E. PUBLIC WORKS (Bownes, Hosmer, Haynes) 3 16.E.i. Proposal to implement City Policies for designating emergency lanes  16.E.ii. Retaining Wall Policy 16.E.iii. Proposed criteria to accept these roads "as­is" Councilor Bownes moved to schedule of the Public Works Committee, to discuss item III on April 22, 2019 at 6:00 pm, seconded by Councilor Hamel, the motion passed with all in favor. 17. LIAISON REPORTS Councilor Cheney and Councilor Hamel attended a ceremony for the new School Resource Officer for the Laconia Middle School. Councilor Cheney also met with Chief Canfield in regards to having an officer walk the Downtown Area. The Chief explained how his department has been down staffing but is willing to take Councilor Cheney's advice and have Officers share one hour beats most days of the week. Councilor Hosmer attended the most recent Water Commissioner Meeting. Major work will be starting this spring, beginning of summer, on Union Avenue/South Main Street. Councilor Hosmer noted Seth Nuttleman, Superintendent of Water, will be coming to a Council meeting in the coming weeks to update everyone on the upcoming project. 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 plans on presenting the budget at the April 8, 2019 meeting. The City has gone out to bid for paving contracts. There were five qualified bids. Busby Construction was the low bid and they were awarded to continue to work for the City. City Manager Myers is looking to dismantle the Indian Statue at Opechee Park as it is not feasible to get large equipment at that location without damaging the track. Having said that there will be no guarantee that the statue will be salvageable. Councilor Hamel agrees that the statue does need to come down. If sections can be saved great, but he understands if they can't. Mayor Engler noted for the record there is a consensus among the Council to take the statue down. DPW Director Anderson updated the Council on the road condition of Eastman Shore Road. Councilor Lipman stated the interest rates are good right now and he wonders when the next bond will be issued. City Manager Myers stated he can't move forward with the $1.3 million bond until the budget process moves forward. Discussion was had on what streets have been accepted. Councilor Lipman also questioned the recycling process and City Manager Myers will look into some options. Councilor Hamel would like the excess pole issue looked into and taken care of. City Manager Myers and Director Anderson are aware of this issue and have been looking into it. Councilor Hamel would also like to hire an observer, like was done last year, to watch the construction process. Director Anderson stated this is already being planned. Councilor Cheney spoke in regards to the pot hole in front of VIP and he understands DPW Director Anderson is working on the pot hole issue but Union Avenue, being a main artery of the City, deserves more consideration. Councilor Bownes would like to remind everyone that this is mud/pot hole season and DPW works hard to maintain our roads. City Manager Myers reminded the Council that the roads that are being worked on are 4 being done correctly including the drainage.  City Manager Myers reviewed the report. 19.B. Monthly Economic Development Report City Manager Myers reviewed the report. 20. NEW BUSINESS 21. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 21.A. Second reading and approval of Resolution 2019­03, relative to the City's purchase of theater equipment for the Colonial Theater and details of the City's lease with Belknap Economic Development Council Councilor Haynes moved to waive a reading of this resolution in its entirety and to read by title only, seconded by Councilor Hamel; the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Hosmer moved the second reading of Resolution 2019­03, relative to the City's purchase of theater equipment for the Colonial Theater and details of the City's lease with Belknap Economic Development Council, seconded by Councilor Bownes; the motion passed with all in favor. Councilor Haynes moved to approve Resolution 2019­03, relative to the City's purchase of theater equipment for the Colonial Theater and details of the City's lease with Belknap Economic Development Council, seconded by Councilor Bownes; the motion passed with all in favor. 22. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilor Haynes mentioned that the New England Wolves Ice Hockey team won their first Eastern Hockey League Premier Championship putting Laconia on the map. 23. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 23.A. Master Plan 23.B. Milfoil Treatment funding requests 23.C. Sewer & Water Master Plan 23.D. Single Stream Recycling/Concord Co­op/Solid Waste disposal cost reductions 23.E. Strategic Planning/Goal Setting 23.F. WOW Trail 23.G. Weirs Beach Restoration Project 24. Any other business that may come before the Council 25. NON­PUBLIC SESSION (According to RSA 91­A:3, II) 26. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the Council and hearing no objection, Mayor Engler adjourned the meeting at 8:23 pm. Respectfully submitted by, Cheryl Hebert, City Clerk MINUTES OF THIS MEETING WERE APPROVED BY COUNCIL ON APRIL 8, 2019 5