Belknap Commission seeks money for nursing home, Gunstock parking lot

LACONIA — The Belknap County Delegation will hold a public hearing on a $1,681,000 supplemental appropriation at its May 3 meeting to use American Rescue Plan money for a window replacement project at the county nursing home and a parking lot paving project at Gunstock Mountain Resort.

Belknap County Commissioners decided to ask the delegation for the money after reviewing a nursing home bid that exceeded the appropriation for the work by $380,300.

County Administrator Debra Shackett reported that two bids had been received for the window project, both higher than budgeted, but one of those bids did not address the full scope of the nursing home project. When she spoke with the low bidder about the overlooked items, the bid was withdrawn, leaving only a $480,300 bid for a project estimated to cost $100,000.

The architects who prepared the bid documents were not surprised that the bid was so high, Shackett reported. It was not just a matter of replacing the 12 skylights; temporary partitions would have to be installed, air quality would have to be maintained during the work, and contractors would have to show proof of vaccination or submit to daily COVID tests — something the low bidder had not taken into consideration.

A nursing home survey team had identified the skylight replacement as something necessary, and the nursing home faces the possibility of fines if the work is not done.

Shackett said it will take 14 weeks to receive the new windows once they are ordered, so the work would not likely occur before October or November.

Because the bid is good for only 30 days, the commissioners agreed to accept it while seeking the additional money from the County Delegation. Such decisions in the past — making spending commitments before the money is appropriated — have led to clashes with the delegation.

The nursing home already is facing budgetary problems. The delegation had reduced the nursing home budget from the $13,452,140 proposed by the County Commission to $12,076,103, citing staff vacancies and the uncertainty of patient load. The nursing home had been losing nurses in part because of vaccination requirements, and Administrator Shelley Richardson predicted that others would quit if the mandates were increased to include booster shots. She said if more nurses quit, the nursing home may have to transfer patients elsewhere, at county cost.

At the Belknap Commissioners’ April 21 meeting, Shackett reported that new nurses are being hired at higher rates of pay than departing members, and staffing costs are higher than projected.

“The one thing that could save us is if the Shelley is not able to fill positions,” Shackett said. “I’m already counting on there being turnover and vacancies. We still have a lot of wage increases to give, and every position we’re hiring costs more than the person who left.”

Gunstock Parking Lot

The Gunstock Area Commissioners are seeking $1.3 million in ARPA funds to pay for the paving of the gravel parking lot — something that has been under discussion for some time. The high cost is due to the need for engineering to address runoff from an asphalt surface.

Belknap County Commissioner Peter Spanos says that Gunstock President Tom Day will be putting out requests for proposals on the paving project.

“Once he receives them, we’ll know the numbers,” Spanos said, noting that the original estimate for the work was around $800,000. “We’re hoping that the $1.3 million will cover the cost of the project.”

Shackett pointed out that the federal grant was not included in the county budget and, therefore, would require the delegation’s approval of a supplemental appropriation, even though the cost would be offset by revenues from the federal government.

“We don’t want to just write them out a check and wait and see what happens,” Spanos said. “We want to know exactly what the cost and the timetable is. It might be too late to get it done this year.”

Shackett warned, “We’re starting to quickly eat up our money here, so their $1.3 million may be actually a considerably larger number.”

Commissioner Hunter Taylor said there is some instability in the Gunstock Area Commission, with some “key people on the verge of maybe not staying.”

“I think we need to keep a close eye on that situation before we commit a lot of money to something that might be highly unstable,” Taylor said.

The County Delegation will meet at the Belknap County Complex on Tuesday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m. to conduct the public hearing on the supplemental appropriation. The Executive Committee will meet immediately afterward to hear the county treasurer’s request to borrow as much as $10 million in anticipation of taxes and to review the county’s first-quarter budget.