City Council

Minutes were approved by the City Council Government Operations & Ordinances Subcommittee on March 10, 2025. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING Government Operations & Ordinances City Hall - Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber 3:00 P.M. 2/21/2025 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Haynes called the meeting to order at 3:00 PM. 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chairman Haynes led the salute to the flag. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Hilary Young, Administrative Assistant to the City Clerk 4. ROLL CALL Ms. Young called the roll of the following committee members: Councilor Haynes and Councilor Felch. Absent: Councilor Cheney 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Kirk Beattie, City Manager; Wes Anderson, DPW Director; Tyler Carmichael, Assistant Planner 6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 6.A. Approval of January 30, 2025 joint meeting minutes of the Government Operations & Ordinances Subcommittee and the Electric Aggregation Committee Councilor Felch made a motion to accept the January 30, 2025, minutes as presented. Seconded by Councilor Haynes. Discussion: None The motion passed will all in favor. 2-0 7. GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ORDINANCES (Haynes, Felch, Cheney) 7.A. Weirs Beach Parking Kiosks and use of an app to pay for parking City staff, as part of the effort to reconfigure parking on Lakeside Ave during its reconstruction, met with the Weirs Beach business owners to determine the parking time limits and distribution for the City’s on-street parking. Some businesses wanted 2-hour parking spaces to increase customer turnover while others wanted longer periods. The meeting led to the location and distribution of time-limited parking spaces on Lakeside Ave. The parking spaces in Endicott Rock Park’s parking lot were not time restricted.  City’s on-street parking. Some businesses wanted 2-hour parking spaces to increase customer turnover while others wanted longer periods. The meeting led to the location and distribution of time-limited parking spaces on Lakeside Ave. The parking spaces in Endicott Rock Park’s parking lot were not time restricted. One part of the agreement was that the City’s parking kiosk system would be programmed so that parking customers could not exceed a parking space’s time limit unless the customer came back and paid again. Based on the agreement, the City did not adopt the use of a parking app. Public Works had an issue with the kiosks in 2022, and to get around that issue until it was resolved, the system was changed so that customers could pay by text. After the issue was resolved the pay by text feature was left active. The City uses the pay by space system parking method. Customers can use an app to pay for their parking spaces. The app can be programmed such that the customers cannot use the app to extend their time in a parking space. The City purchased the kiosks from Cale. The Company also operates the kiosks’ backend system. Information on their pay by app system can be found at: HTTPS://WWW.CALEACCESS.COM/EN/WHAT-WE-DO/WAYTOPARK Public Works recommends that the City implement a pay by app system that maintains the parking time limit restrictions negotiated with the Weirs Beach area business owners. Before implementing the system, City staff should meet with the area’s business owners to explain to them how the pay by app system will be used. The current parking fees that were established in 2022 are: Lakeside Ave $2.00/hour Endicott Rock Park $2.50/hour. The cost of operating the backend system increased in 2024. The Subcommittee should consider raising the rates to maintain the current revenue to expense margin. Manager Beattie presented the feedback he received from a few municipalities that have the option to pay in an app. A few options to think about are to increase their fees by the hour, causing it to be more expensive to add more time and to put a restriction on the time limit that they can add. Years ago, there were concerns from business owners that people would not leave and there was no turnover of visitors. These options that are presented can help reduce those concerns. Councilor Felch believes the 2-hour parking could have one-hour extensions and the five-hour parking can add a couple hours. Director Anderson believes they should have a public hearing for the business owners to attend. Manager Beattie said they can add it to the Councils agenda for discussion at the next Council meeting and then schedule a public hearing after that. There was a discussion on what fees should be increased. Director Anderson is going to find out what the programing cost will be to implement the app as the kiosks will not be changed out. 7.B. Request to modify items listed on the City Council agenda under Committee Reports for the Government Operations and Ordinances Subcommittee Councilor Felch has requested that the Government Operations and Ordinances Subcommittee review the following items currently listed under “Committee Reports” on City Council agendas to determine if they should be removed or if a meeting should be scheduled. Regulation of Short-Term Residential Rental Businesses: Mr. Carmichael mentioned that this was brought to the committee back in July and it was tabled for review. They received a quote from a software company that would monitor short-term lodging in Laconia, and it would cost $35,000 for the software but not the enforcement. Councilor Haynes and Councilor Felch agreed to bring this back to the Council.  Regulation of Short-Term Residential Rental Businesses: Mr. Carmichael mentioned that this was brought to the committee back in July and it was tabled for review. They received a quote from a software company that would monitor short-term lodging in Laconia, and it would cost $35,000 for the software but not the enforcement. Councilor Haynes and Councilor Felch agreed to bring this back to the Council. Proposed Historic Overlay District: Mr. Carmichael stated that they plan to meet with Charlie St. Clair to discuss what potential changes that they want to propose. The Heritage Commission has expressed interest in combining the Heritage Commission and the Historic District Commission. This would consist of an extensive rewrite of the ordinances. Councilor Felch and Councilor Haynes agreed to leave this on the agenda and to wait for them to finalize their proposed changes. Use of public property by for-profit entities: Manager Beatie and Councilor Felch believed this item was in reference to the Dive and the seaplanes having interest in using the docks. Councilor Felch made a motion to remove this item from the agenda, Councilor Haynes seconded the motion. Performance Zoning: Mr. Carmichael stated that they did a rewrite and presented it to the Planning Board in July. The Planning board had concerns and wanted more time to review it and they have not since brought it back or had an interest in it. They discovered that they need to add more specific requirements, and they have a meeting with Joe Driscoll to go over the possible requirements. This will need to go back to the Planning Board before it reaches back to the Council. This item was agreed to stay on the agenda. Code Enforcement on property maintenance: Manager Beattie stated that he believes that they have fixed the problems over the past couple of years without needing to go forward with this. Councilor Felch made a motion to take this item off the agenda, Councilor Haynes seconded the motion. Time frame for demolition permits: Mr. Carmichael stated there is no time limit in the ordinances and he is in favor of adding a time limit within the ordinance. Councilor Felch made a motion to keep this on the agenda, Councilor Haynes seconded the motion. Please note that removal or addition of items listed under “Committee Reports” on City Council agendas will require a vote of the full Council at an upcoming meeting. 8. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS 9. Any other business that may come before the Council Councilor Haynes asked Manager Beattie to add snow removal on sidewalks to the City Council agenda. Manager Beattie gave an update on the Noise Ordinance. 10. ADJOURNMENT Councilor Haynes adjourned the meeting at 3:23 PM. Respectfully submitted. Hilary Young, Administrative Assistant to the City Clerk