City council to consider footbridge project Monday night

LACONIA — City councilors will discuss the receipt of a grant to fund the replacement of the Mill Street pedestrian bridge downtown at their regular meeting Monday night at City Hall.

The city received a Community Project Funding grant for $810,000 to rebuild the Mill Street pedestrian bridge, according to a city staff report. The grant was originally submitted to the Congressionally Directed Spending Program associated with Congressman Chris Pappas (D-01) and is to be administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The project will be administered locally by the department of public works in a similar way to how New Hampshire Department of Transportation projects are overseen. There will be an engineering study phase, a public hearing regarding the proposed actions and preliminary engineering and final engineering phases which will create issue for construction documents. 

The construction on the project could begin as soon as 2026, according to the staff report. Because the project is funded at 100%, there would be no fiscal impact to the city. City councilors could vote to accept the grant at their meeting on Monday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. 

And city councilors are also expected to discuss making a formal declaration of support for the city to pursue the Housing Champion designation from the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs. If it were to receive the designation, the City of Laconia would become the first municipality in the state, according to a staff report attached to the meeting agenda. 

The New Hampshire Housing Champion designation and associated grant program would enable the city to gain access to funding opportunities which support the development of housing to meet the economic needs of the city. Receipt of the designation would provide the city preferential access to state resources including discretionary state infrastructure funds among other opportunities and the ability to receive additional funding through the Housing Production Municipal Grant Program and the Housing Infrastructure Municipal Grant and Loan Program.

In order to qualify for the designation, the city must meet a number of criteria including the adoption of land use regulations designed to spur sustainable development, training of planning board and zoning board of adjustment members, implementation and planning for water and sewer infrastructure upgrades and the same for walkability and transportation infrastructure and financial incentives for sustainable development. 

The program has not yet been launched by NH BEA, but that is expected imminently, according to the city staff report. If supported by the city council, the planning department will work with the planning board to amend the zoning ordinance at their meeting on Oct. 1.

In other business, the city council is expected to proclaim Sept. 23, 2024, to be Got Lunch! Laconia Day. The proclamation document included in the meeting agenda notes the Got Lunch! Laconia program was launched in 2011 and provides weekly food deliveries to city families every summer. 

This summer, the program served 469 children with the help of 140 volunteers who delivered fresh vegetables, healthy food and literacy materials, according to the proclamation.