Bill to create authority for State School land gets a boost

CONCORD — Efforts to redevelop the old Laconia State School property received a boost Wednesday when a state Senate committee recommended passage of a bill that would empower a board to market the property and, ultimately, sell it to private developers.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Chuck Morse, would create the Lakes Region Development Authority which would implement the redevelopment master plan drawn up by the Lakeshore Redevelopment Planning Commission.

The Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee voted to recommend passage of the bill by a 5-0 vote.

“I’m delighted,” Lakeshore Commission Chairman George Bald said when told of the committee’s favorable recommendation. He said the fact the committee came out in favor of the bill so soon ”bodes well for Laconia and the project.”

While the Senate and House sometimes overturn the recommendations of their standing committees, a bill is far more likely to win passage if it carries an "Ought to Pass" recommendation.

State Rep. Peter Spanos, the lead sponsor of a companion bill, was similarly upbeat. “That’s very good news for Laconia.”

“We are at the point where things are coming together well,” Bald told the committee hearing Wednesday morning, referring to the commission’s work. “But now things have to happen. This is the time to put this all together.”

In presenting the bill to the committee, Morse said, “... there is all kinds of pent-up demand for this property.”

Bald said the seven-member commission is looking at a mix of uses for the 235-acre site on western side of the city, which adjoins Ahern State Park with frontage on Lake Winnisquam. The envisioned uses are housing aimed at young and middle-income families, a health-related facility, agriculture, a resort or hotel, and retail businesses.

”The property has the ability to be extremely transformative to Laconia and the rest of Belknap County,” Laconia Mayor Andrew Hosmer told the committee. In response to a question from committee Chairwoman Sharon Carson, Hosmer said Laconia residents “wholeheartedly support this” project. “The people of Laconia see a great potential here,” he added.

Bald said the authority would be able to move quickly market the property to potential developers, to subdivide the land, and then ultimately to sell it.

Spanos, who is the lead sponsor of a bill that would provide the Lakeshore Commission with $1.7 million over the next two years, noted most of the site has sat vacant since the state prison closed, which he called, “a wasted opportunity for commerce and jobs in Laconia.”

The bill now moves to the Senate Finance Committee which has the option of scheduling a hearing or simply referring the bill to the House Finance Committee.

It is yet to be determined when the full Senate might take up the bill for a vote, according to an aide for the Executive Departments and Administration Committee.

The authority would replace the current Lakeshore Commission, which was created by the Legislature in 2017. If Morse’s bill passes, the work of redeveloping the property would transition from the Lakeshore Commission to the new authority, Morse said.

Under the language contained in the bill, the authority would have the power to accept and apply for grants, borrow money, invest funds, and apply for licenses and permits, all geared toward redeveloping the property. In addition, the authority would be able to enter into contracts, and ultimately sell property to private buyers — none of which the commission is authorized to do.

Morse’s bill is modeled after the legislation passed in the early 1990s, when an authority was created to redevelop the former Pease Air Force Base in Newington.

The bill calls for the authority to be run by a seven-member board, with two members appointed by the Executive Council, two appointed by Laconia’s mayor and City Council, one appointed by the president of the state Senate, one by the speaker of the House, and one appointed by a majority vote of the state House members from Belknap County, plus the state senator who represents Laconia.

The authority’s board would be able to name an executive director who would be in charge of the authority’s day-to-day operations.