Special Events Review Committee

CITY OF LACONIA SPECIAL EVENTS MOTORCYCLE WRAP-UP MEETING Wednesday, July 11, 2017 – 12:00 PM City Hall Conference Room 200A Minutes Accepted 8/1/2018 Call to Order B. Loughlin calls to order 12:04 PM Roll Call Brandee Loughlin, Shannon Greenwood, Al Graton, and Wes Anderson Ken Erickson arrived at 12:09 PM Kevin Dunleavy arrived at 12:11 PM Recording Secretary Robert Mora Public Meeting: B. Loughlin: States that this year’s motorcycle week was very good and that the weather was very good. Explains that we will start off by going around the table and letting each department explain any issues that they had and then we will have anyone from the public that wishes to voices any comments or questions about the week. S. Greenwood: Explains that she did not have any issues this year with motorcycle week. There were a lot of late applicants however we were able to take care of them on the spot during the week. A. Graton: States that he thinks changes need to be made for oversized vendors that come in throughout the week to allow for better traffic flow since there was double row parking for motorcycles going down Lakeside all the way up to Tower Hill Road. This caused DPW to have to come out and remark some lines for vendors as well. Explains that he was not able to attend the Hill climb that took place however did not hear of any issues that took place and thought that the event was a success. W. Anderson: Explains that they really had some issues with the first weekend with traffic control. When the road was still open to vendors, we found that as vendors were coming in with big trucks and buses for the Mount Washington there was not enough room for them to turn around and caused some traffic flow issues. Also explains that at one point a bus made a U-turn on Tower Street and then proceed back down Lakeside against traffic which presented issues. Re-emphasizes that he thinks we need to make changes in the first weekend for traffic flow as vendors are starting to set up for the week, while businesses are still open for normal business. States that several couples approached him about parking issues on that Friday as they were attempting to get to the Mount and they were older in age, so that this might be something that we need to think about in the future. This year on the first Friday we also spoke to all the vendors and explains how solid waste disposal was going to work. His employees stated that overall this year there was less trash problems attributed to vendors than last year. Which means that vendors were properly disposing of their waste and leaving the trash cans for the guests. Explains that next year we will have to address how venders set up since this year we had one vender that actually parked on the railroad tracks to set up their spot and others parked on the sidewalks. Goods and merchandise was blocking sidewalks which prevented people from walking around and that we need to keep these areas open for pedestrians. After venders were set up we had some issues with venders actually being located in the travel ways not just the right of way, especially up near The Gringo’s, where if there was a line of people those people were actually in the travel way. K. Erickson: States that he thinks the entire event was a success. Explains that he feels that traffic on Lakeside needs to be shut down to 4 wheel traffic on the first weekend not that last weekend. A. Graton: States that he also agrees that the road needs to be shut down however has concerns about how people would get to the Mount Washington. K. Erickson: Would like to see if something can be set up like a shuttle to get people to the Mount. Describes the demographics of people that are looking to use the mount and what options could be available for them to get transported to the Mount that would be easiest for them. A. Graton: Explains that he and Wes Anderson believe that the biggest issues comes during the day, with an example of a bus that went down a one way in the wrong direction. K. Erickson: Things that even having a two way down at Foster will also prevent safety problems. Continues on saying that he was surprised that no one was hit the first Saturday, and that the first week has been becoming more popular every year and it is almost just as big the first weekend as it is the last weekend. Emphasizes that if he needed to get fire trucks down Lakeside with vendors setting up, bikes, and two way traffic it was going to cause issues. Feels that since this event is growing we need to shut down the two lane traffic on Lakeside and Tower St the first Saturday morning. B. Loughlin: Asks if venders should only be allowed to have deliveries at certain times. A. Graton: Explains that during the week they can only have deliveries between 6 – 10 AM. Board Discussion: Board discusses deliveries, set up times, and where loading zones should be. Also discussion options for getting people to the Mount Washington. K. Dunleavy: States that his only concern is the Weirs Action Committee that runs the parking at the Weirs Community Center needs to be monitored differently as parking was shut down at 7-8PM then no one was watching the parking and it created a lot of confusion. B. Loughlin: Explains that we had a lot of late applications which created a lot of heartache and there was rushing around to City Council to get approval for the applications. Also an issues of some areas amending their site plans during the event which created confusion. Lastly, some vendors continued to push out of their perspective vending space so the Planning Department was continuously reminding people that they needed to move back out of public right of ways. Emphasizes that some venders that were running beer tents need to make sure they stay within their site plans as it affects safety and the inspections that are done on them. Continues on that we finally had building inspector for the City that went out and perform inspections which worked out very well. K. Erickson: Asks if there is a way to show which satellite parking lots licensed and if we can post them so that everyone knows which spots are legal? B. Loughlin: Explains that we can do that and will look into it for next year. Board Discussion: Board Discuses fees with K. Erickson stating that the cost of the labor have gone up and providing services. The City has not changed its fees in a very long time. B. Loughlin: Opens the meeting up to the Public for input at 12:21 PM Ava Doyle: Explains that she wanted to thank the Municipal employees that were out during the week. She witnessed many acts of kindness and did not hear about any complains about Police or anyone else. That everything was just great! Drew Gillett: Expresses his satisfaction for the event and that he has been attending the event since the 1950’s and is now a new resident of the City of Laconia. States that he would like to see more events that are located downtown. Would also like a daily mayor’s breakfast perhaps downtown to draw more people in. Charlie Sinclair: Asks for clarification on what fees would be increased vender fees for property owner fees. K. Erickson: States he thinks property owner fees should be increased. Charlie Sinclair: Explains that the City fees to the venders are similar to other events that are held around the country. Discusses that closing Lakeside Ave earlier has been discusses in years passed and feel that their proposal to close the road to four wheel traffic is plausible and that there are options to help get buses and other vehicles needed through. Also discusses how there were some minor issues with vender sites and lines where venders where supposed to stay in however most of the issues were able to be worked through with coordination some department heads. Closes with stating that he would like to bring more events to the downtown area in the future, people are also looking at developing new events, and that the event was very successful this year. K. Erickson: Asks about a motorcycle parade. Charlie Sinclair: States that it is something that is bring thought about and looked at through various options. B. Loughlin: Asks if anyone else would like to speak. No one else from the public wished to speak. ADJOURNMENT: K. Dunleavy motions to adjourn, seconded by K. Erickson. All voted in favor 6-0. Adjourned at 12:33 PM Submitted by: Robert Mora Zoning Technician