City Council

Minutes were approved on December 1, 2024, by the Government Operations & Ordinances Subcommittee. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING Joint Meeting - Government Operations & Ordinances Subcommittee and the Laconia Human Relations Flag Subcommittee 4:00 P.M. 10/13/2023 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Soucy called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chairman Soucy led the salute to the flag 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Stacy Anders, Deputy City Clerk 4. ROLL CALL Deputy Anders called the roll of the following committee members: Councilor Cheney, Councilor Soucy, and Councilor Felch. Chairman Soucy stated that all committee members were in attendance and a quorum was established. Members of the human relations committee were also in attendance. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Kirk Beattie, City Manager 6. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 7. GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ORDINANCES (Soucy (Chair), Felch, Cheney) 7.A. Discussion regarding City of Laconia Flag Policy Discussion: In March of this year the Laconia City Council initially discussed implementation of a flag policy for the City. Further discussion of this item was referred to the Government Operations and Ordinances Subcommittee. At a Subcommittee meeting on June 19, 2023, the suggestion was made that a meeting be held at a future date with the Laconia Human Relations Flag Subcommittee. A copy of a draft Flag policy is attached to the agenda. Patrick Wood of the human relations committee began the discussion. Government speech is what is allowed on the flag poles. The committee feels the city should decide what should be flown. They added a distinction of the difference between banners and flags. Councilor Cheney would like to see all banners on any city road in Laconia should be vetted by the city because whatever is displayed on those banners is a representation of the city. Councilor Cheney would like to look into vertical banners. Manager Beattie said that most are on private property, but if there is something offensive or vulgar; that we have a way to address it. Patrick Wood went over Section 5 on Page 2 lists the flags that can be flown on city own property.  all banners on any city road in Laconia should be vetted by the city because whatever is displayed on those banners is a representation of the city. Councilor Cheney would like to look into vertical banners. Manager Beattie said that most are on private property, but if there is something offensive or vulgar; that we have a way to address it. Patrick Wood went over Section 5 on Page 2 lists the flags that can be flown on city own property. He thinks this addresses the concerns that Councilor Cheney raised. Section 6 addresses banners, like the ones on the poles in downtown or in the weirs. It lays out who can apply for a banner. The application process is still in the works, they’d like to see the City Manager accept them and then be referred to the human relations committee for approval. Councilor Cheney would like it to be given a recommendation from the Human Relations Committee. The final approval will come from the City Manager. An amendment will be needed to section 6 to reflect the requested changes listed above. Councilor Soucy said that Section 3 may need to have changed as well. Manager Beattie agreed that it appears to be grammatical. The committees agreed that Mayoral Proclamation should be stricken. Councilor Soucy mentioned that the City Hall Flagpole was off limits, the veterans park and veterans square flag poles were all off the table. Then which poles are they referring to? The human relations committee said all the poles in downtown that currently have banners on them from Celebrate Laconia. There is concern about business owners being upset about a particular banner that was approved to be hung outside of their business that they may not agree with. Manager Beattie brought up that other communities have a designated pole instead of worrying about all the flag poles, light poles and banners. Patrick Wood would like this to go back to the City Attorney, get clarification on the items they discussed today. They do not feel there is a reason to be expedited to City Council. They’d all like to see this done right and done well the first time. There was a further discussion on timeframes for the displays. Councilor Cheney would like to see the Council notified upon approval by the City Manager for any permits issued. Manager Beattie stated that he needs a fully vetted revised copy to hand off to the City Attorney. The committees agreed that they would work on this outside of the meeting and would work collaboratively together. 8. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS 9. Any other business that may come before the Council Manager Beattie would like to see another meeting scheduled in about 2 weeks to discuss casinos. He has some information to be shared and they have notified the people interested in having casinos in the city, and they are waiting for the plan and he doesn’t want to leave them hanging. 10. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Soucy adjourned the meeting at 4:53 PM. Respectfully submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk Respectfully submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk