City Council

Minutes were approved on 4/2/26 by the Finance Committee. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING FINANCE COMMITTEE City Hall - Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber 6:00 P.M. 1/27/2026 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Councilor Soucy called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Councilor Soucy 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 Hoffman, Councilor Soucy and Councilor Bogert. All committee members were in attendance and a quorum was established. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Kirk Beattie, City Manager; Glenn Smith, Finance Director 6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 6.A. Finance Subcommittee Meeting - Minutes of December 10, 2025 Councilor Hoffman made a motion to approve the 12/10/25 meeting minutes seconded by Councilor Soucy Discussion: None. The motion passed with all in favor. 2-1 Councilor Bogert abstained noting that he was not on the committee when these minutes were taken but he was ok with them being approved. 6.B. Finance Subcommittee Meeting - Minutes of June 4, 2025 Councilor Hoffman made a motion to approve the 6/4/2025 meeting minutes seconded by Councilor Soucy Discussion: None. The motion passed with all in favor. 2-1 Councilor Bogert abstained, noting that he was not on the committee when these minutes were taken but he was ok with them being approved. 7. FINANCE (Councilors Soucy, Bogert and Hoffman) Chairman election: Councilor Bogert made a motion to nominate Councilor Soucy as Chairman of the committee, seconded by Councilor Hoffman. Discussion: None. 7. FINANCE (Councilors Soucy, Bogert and Hoffman) Chairman election: Councilor Bogert made a motion to nominate Councilor Soucy as Chairman of the committee, seconded by Councilor Hoffman. Discussion: None. The motion passed with all in favor 3-0. 7.A. Discussion - Colonial Theatre Manager Beattie led the discussion with the committee. The current contract expires on 6/30/2026. This contract has purposely been left until now so it could be addressed with the new council rather than it look like he was trying to slip it through. It went out to bid late last summer, only Spectacle bid. Looking for options, they put it out to bid again in November, we received another bid from Spectacle, and one that was past the bid deadline. The late bid was not opened because it is against our purchasing procedure. Kirk called and notified them that they were late, and we could not consider it. As of right now we have just one bid from Spectacle. Kirk has been going through the current contract writing down what has been working and what isn’t working in it for the City. Councilor Hoffman questioned how long the contract would be for. Manager Beattie stated the prior contract was for 5.5 years. They were looking at 5 years for the next one but they would be open to a possible 2 year with built in extensions to make sure they are meeting the needs of the city. The owner is willing to come in and speak with the council if they would like. They are starting to book some shows for after July 1 st . They are going to have to look at how that would work if they are not awarded another contract. Councilor Soucy asked if they are being more proactive now because we are due for a new contract. Manager Beattie thinks they are being reactionary to the complaints that there weren’t enough shows at the colonial. But also, this is the time period where they book for the late summer and fall timeframe. Manager Beattie stated that there are some acts where they will say, “we will play 5 shows in your area and send out a bid to the theaters and whoever will pay the highest is who wins the shows.” Councilor Soucy asked if they have provided any financial data to the city? Manager Beattie stated no. Manager Beattie stated that they have attempted to book 3 times the number of shows that they have actually booked. Councilor Hoffman would like to see the city have more days so that the city could have access to the theater more often. Councilor Soucy stated the colonial theater has 761 seats and the palace theater in Manchester has 834 seats. Manager Beattie stated that he has been to dance competitions Spectacles Lowell MA location, and at the Capital Center for the Arts in Concord. Events like that help draw new faces into the theater. The consensus of the committee is that the colonial theater is the gem of the downtown and is a good asset to the city. Contract talking points: l The Advisory Board that was implemented 2.5 years ago, has been an asset to the City Manager. He would like to see it continue. l Councilor Soucy mentioned there was a 501 C-3 created. Manager Beattie stated it was Contract talking points: l The Advisory Board that was implemented 2.5 years ago, has been an asset to the City Manager. He would like to see it continue. l Councilor Soucy mentioned there was a 501 C-3 created. Manager Beattie stated it was separate. There may be similar committee members, but it is separate. Like a “friends of the colonial theater”, Nashua has one for their performing arts. It will help raise money for capital improvements. l Councilor Soucy would like to see the existing advisory committee dissolved since we have a new Mayor and Council in place, Councilor Soucy would like to see the applicants go through the appointments committee for the recommendations. l Manager Beattie would like to see the concession rates get updated and the amount of money that the city receives. l We need to adjust the language on capital and noncapital improvements on what the city is responsible for versus what spectacle is responsible for. l Right now, we get 15 municipal days. Library Board of trustees gave $200k, they were supposed to get 12 days. It is not clear whether the city gets 15 plus 12, or the library gets 12 of the 15. Councilor Bogert stated the 12 Library days are supposed to be for 50 years. The MOU went through the AG’s office. The library has stated the dates they request do not get granted because they are “not available”. Manager Beattie is going to be asking for 12 City dates and 12 library dates. l Councilor Hoffman feels we should push harder on that, but it would be nice if the city could run our own events to try to raise money. Like 1 night a week, where we could air movies and ask for donations. Councilor Bogert stated he thinks it’s a conversation worth having. l Councilor Soucy talked about the Putnam Fund and their availability for use of the theater. They have been hit with large fees from Spectacle. l Manager Beattie noted in April, the NH Fire Association will be holding an awards ceremony at the Colonial Theater. l The Motorcycle Week Association usage, we need to better define a Laconia based nonprofit. A better cost matrix for nonprofits. l They would like to see more low cost, no work events. Like the teachers have a meeting, or for the executive council comes around, they make a stop here. l Proposed language to include Spectacle shall arrange for, and otherwise book events and rentals at the facility in accordance with a booking schedule that maximizes the attendance of the facility and stimulates economic impact for the local economy within reasonable efforts and facility constraints. l Councilor Bogert asked if we know how many shows they had last year, we should state that they must book more than the previous year by a certain percentage. l The consensus of the committee is that they do not want to do a 5-year contract, but they are more open to a 2-year contract. l Manager Beattie stated that between 2022-2025 $3.8 million dollars spent by Spectacle for the acts. l Councilor Hoffman asked if the city could add a ticket surcharge to help with the upkeep of the building. l Councilor Soucy noted he has heard about complaints regarding ushers and bathroom maintenance. Those items are not working. l Spectacle claims they have spent $750k on marketing dollars for the shows. l The committee agrees the downtown area needs another restaurant that is open past 9pm. l The committee would like to see the marquee on more often. l Councilor Soucy would like to make a reservation for pumpkin festival on Friday night to play the Rocky Mountain Horror Show. The city pays $162k per year to spectacle. It has been increasing at 3% per year. We are due to own it by the end of June; they are working with BEDC. We need to investigate which businesses were given tax credits. Finance Director Smith said this occurred before his time with the city but BEDC was loaned about 8 million dollars, they have been paying interest only about 42k per quarter, under 609 Main St LLC.  The city pays $162k per year to spectacle. It has been increasing at 3% per year. We are due to own it by the end of June; they are working with BEDC. We need to investigate which businesses were given tax credits. Finance Director Smith said this occurred before his time with the city but BEDC was loaned about 8 million dollars, they have been paying interest only about 42k per quarter, under 609 Main St LLC. Finance Director Smith stated that the bond was originally 6.7 million, it is now down to 5 million at this point. The city has been making bond payments yearly. The interest payments have been coming out of downtown TIF. There was a discussion on the various possibilities regarding what types of surcharges we could add to the ticket prices. The committee would like to know how many tickets have been sold on an annual basis over the years. The committee would like to know what the manager’s timeline is. Manager Beattie stated that we need to move relatively quickly, he is going to see if the president can come in the next 2 weeks. The committee agreed that they would not be interested in selling the theater. Councilor Soucy stated that he would like to see Spectacle come before the council once or twice a year, to give an update to the City Council. 7.B. Review of Finance Subcommittee items included under "Future Agenda Items" on City Council agenda As included on City Council agendas under “Committee Reports”, following is a list of items that have previously been referred to the Finance Subcommittee for further review: - WOW Trail Funding - Downtown TIF Financing Please note that removal of any of these items listed on the Council agenda under the “Committee Reports” section requires a vote of the full Council at a future meeting. Councilor Hoffman made a motion to recommend to the City Council that the following items be removed from the Committee Reports section of the City Council agenda: WOW Trail Funding, and Downtown TIF Financing. Seconded by Councilor Bogert Discussion: none. The motion passed with all in favor. 3-0 8. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS 9. Any other business that may come before the Council Finance Subcommittee would like to have more work sessions to discuss items like the budget and other financial items. Councilor Soucy wants to make sure the DPW Building is being looked at, and he wants to talk about the bonds and the Charter. Councilor Hoffman would like to have a meeting where they will talk about the road budget. He’d like to see different scenarios on how to handle it without bonding the whole project. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (According to RSA 91-A:3, II) Councilor Bogert made a motion to go into nonpublic session according to RSA 91-A:3, II. (c) Matters which, if discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of the body or agency itself, unless such person requests an open meeting. Seconded by Councilor Hoffman Discussion: None.  Councilor Bogert made a motion to go into nonpublic session according to RSA 91-A:3, II. (c) Matters which, if discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of the body or agency itself, unless such person requests an open meeting. Seconded by Councilor Hoffman Discussion: None. By Roll Call Vote: Councilor Soucy- Yes Councilor Hoffman-Yes Councilor Bogert- Yes The motion passed with all in favor. 3-0 The nonpublic session began at 7:07 PM. Councilor Bogert made a motion to return to public session. Seconded by Councilor Hoffman. Discussion: None. By Roll Call Vote: Councilor Soucy- Yes Councilor Hoffman- Yes Councilor Bogert- Yes The motion passed with all in favor. 3-0 The public session was reconvened at 7:18 PM. Councilor Soucy made a motion not to seal the minutes for 1 Year. Seconded by Councilor Bogert. Discussion: None. By Roll Call Vote: Councilor Soucy- Yes Councilor Hoffman- Yes Councilor Bogert- Yes The motion passed with all in favor. 3-0 10. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Soucy adjourned the meeting at 7:19 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk