Business owner vents via signs

LACONIA — After weeks of road work near his store, Peter Morrissette resorted to red spray paint on plywood to express his opinion.

A sign perched Wednesday and Thursday near Lakes Region Party & Gift, 292 Court St., says “Liberty Utilities You Suck You Killed Us.” Another one nearby says, “City Laconia You Killed Us.”

Liberty Utilities has been putting in new gas service that has required insertion of large sections of gas main and numerous service connections.

Morrissette said his sales have been down 24 percent this year, which he attributes to the difficulty customers have in reaching his store.

“I’ve been patient all summer long with this construction on Court Street,” he said. “They have been in front of my party store for eight weeks.

“They go down in the hole at 8 a.m. Six guys watch two guys in the hole.

“I’m trying to be gentle, but I don’t know how these people are not held to a standard. The city of Laconia has done the poorest job I’ve seen in my lifetime of working in Laconia. The whole city is ripped up somewhere.”

He is among many business operators who have complained. Other significant projects disrupted traffic on Union Avenue and Messer Street.

Public Works Director Wes Anderson said he sympathizes with people who have been inconvenienced.

“What I try to say is we have a short construction season. Improvement is painful, but once you get through the pain portion, you’ll like the end product.”

He said underground utility work is time consuming. Liberty Utilities works to a high standard, and there are huge safety consequences if the work is not done correctly, he said. 

“These are guys who do natural gas lines all the time,” he said. “They know exactly what they are doing."