City Council approves land swap with state for relocation of emergency services from state school property

LACONIA — The Laconia City Council approved a land swap proposed by the State of New Hampshire for parcels near the State School Property and Robbie Mills Field at its May 9 meeting. If the agreement is accepted by the State Executive Council, the state would resume ownership of a seven acre parcel diagonally across Meredith Center Road and Lane Road from Robbie Mills Field. In exchange, Laconia would acquire ownership of a ten acre plot at the intersection of Old North Main Street and Parade Road. 

Both pieces of land are currently owned by the state and leased by the city, therefore the land swap requires the city to partially vacate the lease that includes those properties. The full agreement approved by the council can be found at https://www.laconianh.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/20652?fileID=43434 

According to City Manager Scott Myers, the state initiated the land swap so that it may relocate Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid (LRMFA) and the E911 dispatch services located on the State School Property, currently for sale by the state, to the land near Robbie Mills Field. 

According to City Manager Scott Myers, the state proposed the land swap because the new location near Robbie Mills field would be able to accommodate both E911 and LRMFA’s needs, and its proximity to the State School property would mean that the E911’s fiber network would only have to be extended a minimal distance. 

According to Laconia Fire Chief Kirk Beattie, New Hampshire Department of Safety (NHDOS) Commissioner Robert Quinn told the Board of Directors at LRMFA that the intention of the state was to build a new LRMFA facility at the state’s expense. The goal of both parties, Beattie said, is to execute the relocation “without downshifting any of those costs to the local communities,” though this plan has not been finalized. 

The NH amended HB 148 on April 28 to allow American Rescue Plan money to be used for the relocation and reconstruction of new facilities for LRMFA and the E911 call center. Read the amendment at https://legiscan.com/NH/text/HB1548/2022 

NHMFA Chief Coordinator Jonathan Goldman said that, though an official relocation plan has not been made, he is confident that the radio network for LRMFA is robust enough to be able to complete a transfer to a new location without any gaps in service. 

“Our preference is that the night shift could turn off the lights in the old building, and the day shift turn them on in the new one,” Goldman said. If for any reason there was a pause in LRMFA’s ability to provide service, the Capital Area Mutual Aid Fire Compact would be able to cover the Lakes Region temporarily. 

NHDOS deferred comment to the Department of Administrative Services (NHDAS). Jarred Nylund, real property manager at NHDAS, wrote in an email to the Laconia Daily Sun that “The Department of Administrative Services is pursuing this real property exchange in concert with the City of Laconia, and among the benefits it will provide to the State are additional options regarding any potential relocation of the E911 facilities currently located in the Dwinell building on the Lakes Region Facility campus.”

Nylund said he had no knowledge of any verbal promises made by the safety commissioner. 

Myers said that the city has not made, and had no future intentions to make, plans for the land vacated in the proposed swap, and that the tract of land on Parade Road that would be acquired by Laconia would be owned by the city without any restrictions on how to use it. 

According to Myers, the new land has the potential to be developed in a “complementary manner to whatever development takes place on the State School Property.” The new land could be involved, according to Myers, in the development of workforce housing available to, though not subsidized for, city employees or other entry-level rental housing.    

Mayor Hosmer proposed the Parade Road property as a possible exchange with the state. “When I became aware that the 911 and mutual fire aid were proposed to be moved onto property that the city had a lease on,” Mayor Hosmer said at the council meeting, “I thought, ‘well, if the state wants the city to break the lease on their behalf, I think we should have something in return.’ This was the request that I made to the Commissioner of Administrative Services, and he said ‘yes.’”

Myers addressed concerns from Councilor Robert Hamel that potential future state development on the swapped property near Robbie Mills field might interfere with future parking plans in the area. 

“This has nothing to do with where the parking is currently located,” Myers said, emphasizing that the land parcel that would be developed by the state is across Meredith Center Road and Lane Road from Robbie Mills Field, not across Eastman Road. Myers also affirmed that the city had a strong position with regard to zoning for potential future growth to Robbie Mills parking areas. 

Councilor Anthony Felch expressed concern that if this agreement were rejected by the council, the city and other local communities would be responsible for the costs and logistics of eventually relocating those emergency services when the State School property is sold.  

Mayor Hosmer said he was “very satisfied” with what the state had said in their meeting about the relocation of emergency services and called the swap “a deal that I think is really, really good for the city.” 

To go into effect, the agreement must be passed by the Executive Council: Nylund confirmed that it would be on the agenda at the council’s May 18 meeting.