Blow dealt to bill to have state pay to pave Gunstock parking lot

CONCORD — A bill to have the state pay to pave the main parking lot at the Gunstock Mountain Resort received a thumbs-down recommendation from a legislative panel on Tuesday.

Division 1 of the House Finance Committee voted 5-1 that the bill was “inexpedient to legislate,” a term of art that recommends the bill should not pass.

As at hearing before the full committee last week, members of the subcommittee questioned why state money should be used to pay for a project at the county-owned facility.

The bill put the cost to install drainage and pave the 5½-acre gravel lot at $890,000.

At Tuesday’s session, Gunstock Area Commissioners Brian Gallagher and Gary Kiedaisch told lawmakers that project was a prudent use of state funds because it would enhance Gunstock’s competitiveness, which would result in higher rooms and meals tax and turnpike toll revenue. In addition, it would prevent water from draining off the lot and polluting an adjacent pond which feeds a brook that ultimately empties into Lake Winnipesaukee at Ellacoya State Park.

The commissioners reiterated that Gustock has in the past benefited from state highway grants to help pay for a new bridge on the main access road into the area, and funding through State Parks programs, as well as federal funds.

State Rep. Peter Spanos, a member of the subcommittee and a co-sponsor of the bill, called the runoff from the lot “deleterious and significant.”

“I feel the funding is justified,” said Spanos who cast the sole vote against the motion recommending that the bill not pass.

“The issue a lot of us have,” said subcommittee Chairwoman Patricia Lovejoy, “is this not a state property. Why should the state be paying for a capital project owned by the county?”

Kiedaisch replied that the state should fund the project because Gunstock is an “economic engine” and because of the project’s environmental benefits. “The purity of Winnipesaukee is an important asset to the state.”

In response to Lovejoy’s question of why the Gunstock commissioners had not sought to fund the project with bonds backed by the county, Gallagher said Gunstock has $2.5 million in debt service from prior bonds, which it is working to pay down.

Subcommittee member William Hatch said Gunstock is much more important economically to Belknap County than it is to the state.

Speaking after the subcommittee meeting, Gallagher said he was “a little disappointed,” but not surprised at the lack of support for the bill.

Emphasizing he was speaking as just one member of the Gunstock commission, Gallagher said he expected that commissioners would work with state Rep. David Huot, the bill’s prime sponsor, to see if “there is another opportunity to find funding for the project.”

He added that the commission is looking at “innovative ways” to find funding. Furthermore, he said the Gunstock Commission is committed to showing the County Commission “that we are serious about a new business model,” for the resort.