City Council

Minutes were approved on June 12, 2023, by the City Council. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING CITY HALL- ARMAND A. BOLDUC CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER 7:00 P.M. 5/15/2023 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Protem Haynes called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Councilor Cheney led the salute to the flag. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Katie Gargano, City Clerk 4. ROLL CALL City Clerk Gargano called the roll of the City Council: Councilor Cheney, Councilor Soucy, Councilor Lipman, Councilor Haynes, Councilor Felch. Absent: Councilor Hamel and Mayor Hosmer. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Kirk Beattie, City Manager; Glenn Smith, Finance Director 6. PRESENTATIONS 6.A. Department Budget Presentation Planning/Code - City Manager Kirk Beattie Under Code Enforcement there is a shared director with the Planning Dept, a building inspector, housing inspector and an administrative secretary. Their responsibilities include permitting of buildings, demolition, and electrical. Certificates of occupancy, housing complaints and inspections are also done by this department. Building permits over the last year have gone up 46%. Value of permits have gone up 112% and inspections performed have a 59% difference. Difference meaning the number does fluctuate a little. The budget is seeing an increase of 7.6% (14,273 dollars). 10,119 dollars are salary increases and there are no new initiatives in this budget. Under the Planning Dept the director is shared with Code Enforcement followed with an assistant planner, two planning technicians for zoning and conservation plus an administrative secretary. They have a wide range of responsibilities which are as follows: Planning board, technical review committee, special events committee, heritage commission, zoning board of adjustment, motorcycle week TRC, conservation commission, historic district commission and capital improvements committee. Their budget went up 13% (41,099 dollars). 14,070 dollars are salary increases. 20,000 dollars from  Planning board, technical review committee, special events committee, heritage commission, zoning board of adjustment, motorcycle week TRC, conservation commission, historic district commission and capital improvements committee. Their budget went up 13% (41,099 dollars). 14,070 dollars are salary increases. 20,000 dollars from Invest NH towards State School Outside Contracts (as needed). There are some ordinance updates being worked on. They are ADU, STU, hazardous buildings, demo permitting, and strengthen procedures to lessen time it takes to enforce housing issues. Councilor Soucy asked if anything being done with the state school if it would fall under impact fees. Yes, they will. Councilor Cheney says he hopes they look at the man power of Code Enforcement. 6.B. Department Budget Presentation Fire - Tim Joubert, Fire Chief presented to the Council. There was discussion on a fire truck replacement, outfitting the fire fighters with 2 sets of turnout gear, sending some current employees to supervisory and leadership training to plan for succession planning within the department. They would also like extra funding for services outside of routine maintenance on the building. Such as professional carpet cleaning once a year, basic air duct cleaning, and a possible backflow preventer needing to be replaced if it keeps failing. There are line increases in the cost of services and products and increase in personnel. There are EMS line increases as well for medical supplies and equipment. Also, replacement of current non-compliant escape systems in addition to supplying every member with one. Councilor Lipman asked about the backflow preventer failing. Chief Joubert explained that it has not officially failed yet. The water department has had to reset the valve twice already and they do not believe they can reset it again if it happens again. Councilor Soucy asked what the cost is of replacing the fire truck. It cost 935,000 dollars. It was also asked if this has been in the works or if this is brand new. Councilor Cheney confirmed that this has been a part of the City’s master plan committee and it has been made a priority. Councilor Lipman wants to know if they have to go with a brand new apparatus or can it be a used one. Following up with that, he also wants to know if they can spread out over a few years sending people through the supervisory training instead of doing it all at once to spread out the cost. The cost of one set of turnout gear is about 4,300 dollars. Councilor Soucy asked if there were grants available for any of these requests. Yes there are, but it is too late but they will certainly try again for them. The future goals of the fire department include: Additional staffing, improve interest in the chief officer’s position, replace boat 1, and complete a 5 year strategic plan. Councilor Felch asked how long it could take to have the fire truck be built and ready and how its paid for. It could take 4 to 5 years depending on the manufacturer. Some manufacturers are not even taking orders because of staffing and limited supplies. This would get an RFP put out and a down payment would be made and the final payment would be made upon completion and acceptance of the fire truck. It was also asked what the percentage increase of the budget. For fire it is, 9.6% and for EMS it is 3.3%. 7. Any other business that may come before the Council 8. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Pro Tem Haynes adjourned the meeting at 7:55 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk Respectfully Submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk