Lakes Business Park

Lakes Business Park Commission Minutes – December 11, 2017 Commissioner Henry Lipman called the meeting to order at 6:00. Other Commissioners present were Tony Ferruolo, Leo Sanfacon, Greg Goddard & Frank Tilton. Gilford Town Administrator Scott Dunn and Laconia City Manager Scott Myers were in attendance. Guests present were Kevin Sullivan from Weeks Commercial Real Estate and Courtney & Audra Kelly from Arbor Tech in Gilmanton. L. Sanfacon moved to approve the minutes of April 3, 2017. Seconded by T. Ferruolo. Motion passed with 3 votes. F. Tilton and G. Goddard abstained. Kevin Sullivan provided a brief overview of the business operations of Arbor Tech and indicated that the Kelly’s were here today to get a sense of the Commission as to whether or not the type of business they operate would be an acceptable use in the Lakes Business Park. They are interested in Lot #14 which is approximately 3 acres and has a list price of $136,350. This is the lot between FW Webb and PEM (Morrissette). If there was preliminary acceptance as to their business use, the Kelly’s would then continue the process of defining/designing their plans and be in a position to make a more formal presentation to the Commission. Courtney & Audra provided some details about their business. Arbor Tech is beginning its’ tenth year and currently has 6 employees. They are hoping to double the number of employees over the next ten years. They offer complete tree care and removal services, predominantly throughout the Lakes Region. They are looking to construct a building that will allow them to expand their footprint in future years. Estimates as to the initial square footage to be constructed were in the 4,000 sq. ft. range. A value of that construction had not been calculated as of yet. The building would consist of a reception area and a place to meet with customers in addition to some office space and a break/meeting room for staff. Several garage bays would be constructed in order to house vehicles and equipment. Courtney indicated that the initial phase of construction would be comparable to the Gilford fire station. Arbor Tech would be looking to store some materials outside of the building like log lengths and wood chips. The grade of the lot would provide a natural drop-off behind the building. The Kelly’s understand and accept the Park Covenants and would ensure adequate screening. There would be some limited noise occurring mostly in the morning as equipment was being tested/warmed up before loading into vehicles for use at off-site locations. The overwhelming majority of cutting, chipping, etc. would be occurring at off-site locations. Several questions were raised by the Commissioners including hours of operation, number of vehicles and if something could be incorporated into the plan to help minimize the noise of equipment start-up and testing to abutting properties. Arbor Tech indicated that they have approximately seven company vehicles ranging from a pickup truck to a cherry picker that would typically leave at the beginning of the day and return at the end of the day. Summer hours could have employees arriving as early as 6:00am and returning as late as 6:00 pm. Winter hours are typically shorter and run from sun-up to sun-down. They would be willing to try and accommodate some type of noise buffer. Other general comments raised by the Commissioners were that this was a prime lot, they were interested in getting a sense of the overall investment being made along with the construction value and they were looking to firm of the square footage figure of the initial construction. After discussion by the Commissioners, there was no objection to this type of business locating in the Lakes Business Park. Further approvals would be made based on an accepted purchase price for the land and a more complete submittal of plan/construction documents. Seeing no other business to come before the Commission and without objection, H. Lipman declared the meeting adjourned at 6:40 pm. Minutes prepared by S. Myers.