City Council

Minutes were approved on June 23, 2025 by the Laconia City Council. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL BUDGET MEETING City Hall - Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber 6:00 P.M. 6/2/2025 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hosmer called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Councilor Haynes led the salute to the flag. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Katie Gargano, City Clerk 4. ROLL CALL Clerk Gargano called the roll of the following City Councilors: Councilor Cheney, Councilor Soucy, Councilor Hoffman, Councilor Haynes, Councilor Bogert and Councilor Felch. Mayor Hosmer confirmed that all six councilors were in attendance and a quorum was established. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Kirk Beattie, City Manager; Glenn Smith, Finance Director 6. PRESENTATIONS 6.A. Department Budget Presentation - Library Director Deann Hunter and John Moriarty Library Trustee. Director Hunter noted some of the Library’s Accomplishments- Library Bond project is 360k. Outdoor masonry work and roof repair complete, in progress is plaster work in the interior, masonry repairs to the tower, exterior window trim repair, and painting. Councilor Soucy asked about any repairs in the next 5 years. Mr. Moriarty stated they were going to begin looking at the heating system. This past year the library has served 109k patrons, over 93k books circulated, over 200 outreach deliveries to homebound residents, there have been 4 exhibits, 6200 people have attended groups session. Fy 26 accounts- budget requests, light and power line increased 11%, library supply line increased due to new library cards being reordered. Building maintenance is a 20 % decrease due to inspections not due until next year for sprinkler and fire suppression. Maintenance software line 14.3% increase due to many different types of software needed to keep the computers secure and Microsoft licensing. Book budget doesn’t have a significant increase but is well over 5k. which is what she likes to highlight. Mayor Hosmer stated on Pg 47 in the budget book for the statistics, Mayor Hosmer would like to  Microsoft licensing. Book budget doesn’t have a significant increase but is well over 5k. which is what she likes to highlight. Mayor Hosmer stated on Pg 47 in the budget book for the statistics, Mayor Hosmer would like to see multiple years to compare to see how the library is trending. Mayor Hosmer also asked about Pg 46 in the operations- outside contracts budget line it was 0 last year, is now 33k, Director Hunter stated this is for the janitorial fees compared to last year it was combined in building/ janitorial line. Mayor Hosmer noted the largest increase appears to be 10% in salaries, Director Hunter explained last year when the cola was given it was used with money outside of the library budget and now it is getting added in this year. Councilor Soucy would like to see a book mobile; he’d love to see it travel to the parks or go to the schools. Councilor Hoffman asked about what type of heating fuel the library uses. Director Hunter stated it is natural gas, Councilor Hoffman stated since the system is close to 20 years old, they may want to look into a more efficient system to help with the increasing costs. Mayor Hosmer thanked Director Hunter and Mr. Moriarty for their presentation. 6.B. Department Budget Presentation - Public Works Director Anderson introduced himself and Assistant Director Nate Guerette Director Anderson went over the majority of items covered at the Department of Public Works and Assistant Director Nate Guerette will cover the Sanitary Sewer Fund. Director Anderson began by going over the agenda for this evening: Department Overview, Personnel Shortage, Public Works Operations, Private Roads, Solid Waste, Capital Improvement Projects, Internal Service Fund, Sanitary Sewer Fund. Budget Overview: Planning Guidance- not to exceed 2.5% over the FY 2025 Budget Inflation: Construction costs increased exceeded CPI – Materials and Salaries,Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Over $500 billion in additional infrastructure funds over the next 10 years. He is unsure if there will be a tariff impact and other costs are any electricity and repair parts. Personnel Shortage- 30 total positions, 27 positions filled. It is difficult to compare salaries to the private sector because we don’t know their benefits compared to ours. The new winter stipend is going well with current employees, not sure if it will help with recruitment. Recruitment and retention challenges seem to be salary, vacation, impact of work on employees’ bodies over time, winter storm hours, conditions of public work structures. Public Works now funds the cost of obtaining a CDL License which is a $5,500 savings. General Fund Overview: General budget is increasing $171,955.00. Salaries are increasing $197,449, no change to the Winter Maintenance or Highway Maintenance budgets, Streetlights are increasing $5k and the ISF Repair & Replacement budget is decreasing $15,897.00 General Fund- operational Winter Maintenance: Salt Price for Winter 25/26 is $80, the price depends on the source and if they will see any tariff impacts. Salt price for Winter 24/25 was $78.15/ton and Winter 23/24 was $76.02/ton. Operations continued- signs and pavement markings- regulatory requirement to use retro reflectivity, parking & traffic control- traffic signal maintenance & striping, tree removal, in house storm water drainage and sewer system repairs, landfill/ground water monitoring at the Laconia disposal gardens- capped, Frank Bean Road burn dump- capped and the Old Morin Road landfill- not capped, planning in progress. All these line items remained level funded from last year. Operations continued- signs and pavement markings- regulatory requirement to use retro reflectivity, parking & traffic control- traffic signal maintenance & striping, tree removal, in house storm water drainage and sewer system repairs, landfill/ground water monitoring at the Laconia disposal gardens- capped, Frank Bean Road burn dump- capped and the Old Morin Road landfill- not capped, planning in progress. All these line items remained level funded from last year. Director Anderson reviewed the private road issue- accept roads “as-is” Solid Waste Contract Fees: Casella fuel price- $4.00 plus 5% annual increase, Recycling with Casella is hovering around $120/ton, Transfer Station- Waste Management trash hauling, recycling & constructions/Demolition Debris, CPI- Preceding year, fuel adjustment. Disposal- Waste Management: Household waste is increasing $4/ton from $91.03/ton to $95.51/ton. They reviewed the Disposal Costs/ Fees as of May 2025, a prediction of what the cost will be in January 2026, and a conversation was held between the council and Director Anderson about creating increases so the Council isn’t reviewing these changes over several meetings. Capital Improvement Program: City Manager recommendations include funding for: Roads, Sidewalks, Annual Bridge Maintenance, Drainage, Morin Rd Landfill, Weirs Blvd Stormwater, Replacement Bridge over Langley Brook, and Replacement of Hilliard Rd Bridge. There was a discussion about the investment that is needed into roads, the history of funding the annual road program, past road/bridge bond projects, NHDOT 10 Year Plan & other federally funded projects. Director Anderson went over the list of roads that need to be worked on in the future. The traffic signals that need to be ADA complaint, the road backlog. The impact of accepting private roads, and options to reduce the backlog for roads. DPW- Internal Service Fund, Equipment Maintenance Division l Vehicle/equipment maintenance is funded by fees charged to other departments l Impacts are the cost of fuel, age of fleet and new vehicle warranty plans l Short term plan is focused training l Working on an update to the ISF procedures, finance and public works are updating the system. There are new emission standards beginning for model year 2027. Vehicle replacements are being funded at 300,000.00 Director Anderson will evaluate and purchase what he can with the funds. Items needing replacement include a large plow truck, small scoop loader, street sweeper, surveyors’ truck, paint crew truck, inspectors truck, and sidewalk plows. Sanitary Sewer Fund- Assistant Director Nate Guerette Director Guerette went over the following with the City Council: System costs- New Operations & Maintenance Cost allocation system: Began on July 1, 2022 (49.87%), next adjustment July 1, 2025; Laconia’s Share increases from 43.31% to 43.32% (-6.55% over 4 years) WRBP system & Gilford – there was a discussion with the council about the fees being charged to the city from the State and how the city has no say in the bill. Over the past few years, the bill has been around 160k, this year they received one for over 700k. They are contesting the bill and have not paid it yet. Areas in Gilford feed into Laconia’s system in 3 locations: - Northern pass via Endicott St East Directly into WRBP Collection system, - flows into our Black Brook Pump Station, - Southern pass via Gilford Ave into Messer St Pump Station. Results – Gilford’s O&M share has gone from 14.68 to 21.37% (=9.67%)  not paid it yet. Areas in Gilford feed into Laconia’s system in 3 locations: - Northern pass via Endicott St East Directly into WRBP Collection system, - flows into our Black Brook Pump Station, - Southern pass via Gilford Ave into Messer St Pump Station. Results – Gilford’s O&M share has gone from 14.68 to 21.37% (=9.67%) Sanitary Sewer System Permit- EPA Permit- New permit effective July 1, 2024. l Climate adaptation plan: 48 months shall submit to EPA a proposed schedule of implementation and maintenance of adaptive measures. l Private Collection: City is not responsible for O&M of non-municipal sewer system, City is responsible to ensure that a non-municipal sewer system contributing flow does not cause a discharge from a municipal system, City should apply and enforce appropriate sewer use ordinance to prevent the above, and private collections systems are subject to EPA and NHDES enforcement if a sewer overflow discharges to a storm drain or to a water of the U.S. Funding: By rate payers Loans to spread cost over time: Bonds ($3 million FY 24,25 & 25), additional capital funds will be needed within FY2026, $211,340 remaining after White Oaks Sewer Project. Clean Water State Revolving Loan (10% principal forgiveness) Sewer Projects: Pump station upgrades on Hillcrest, Briarcrest Forcemain replacement, White Oaks Road Sewer (private/ public partnership), and lining. Assistant Guerette notified the council that he is working on an update to the Sanitary Sewer Ordinance. He expects it to be presented to the City Council between August-October 2025. He will be presenting the following: Updated sewer development fee and its structure, updated sewer mechanical specifications, private sewer system access, and lots of clarifying changes to language. Mayor Hosmer thanked Director Anderson and Assistant Director Guerette for their presentation tonight. 7. Any other business that may come before the Council 8. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hosmer adjourned the meeting at 7:45 PM Respectfully Submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk