Council sends years-old Prescott and Paugus road acceptance request back to committee

LACONIA — The debate over accepting Prescott and Paugus avenues as city roads was kicked back to committee by city council on July 27.

A dozen residents from Prescott and Paugus were at City Hall, pushing for the city to permanently maintain their roads. The current “bandaid solution” requiring residents to petition council every year on July 1 to declare the road as an emergency lanes is not the permanent solution residents are seeking.

Sean McGuire, longtime resident of Prescott, has been acting as a liaison for his neighborhood. McGuire said he is not going anywhere until the issue is resolved. Residents recently held a neighborhood meeting, and Councilor Mike Conant (Ward 6) attended.

“I did attend a neighborhood meeting with a group of the neighbors at our pumping station and they expressed their concerns. We took a tour of the neighborhood and I encourage all of the councilors to do the same and see the condition of the street,” Conant said. “I know if I was living there, or my parents were living there, I'd be frightened if they had a medical emergency in a lot of the areas of this road. So, it's a very important issue that I think we need to address for the citizens. And it's been going on for a long, long time, and I think as a council we need to take action.”

Conant said although there were about 15 residents that gathered to talk at the pumping station, at 2 p.m. on a Friday, he and the council received dozens more emails from concerned residents.

Included in the council packet was city policy on the Accept As-Is program, as well as history and changes to Prescott and Paugus, dating back to the early 20th century. A list of five options was included:

1. Stop plowing and allowing waste pickup services
2. Declare Prescott and Paugus Avenues as emergency lanes indefinitely and make an exception for collecting trash on these roads
3. Change the Accept As-Is program to allow private roads, where the city knows who owns the roads to participate in the program; eligible roads would include Hayes Road, Channel Lane, and about a dozen others
4. The city begins the betterment process and assists in project costs to lower costs for property owners; bringing private roads to city standards would proceed if a majority of abutters do not petition against the project
5. The city begins the betterment process and funds the total cost of the project

Wes Anderson, project manager in the planning department, prepared the packet, which councilors received ahead of the meeting.

The Accept As-Is program was established in 2019, to “resolve the problem with using taxpayer funds to plow private streets (private property) which is against State Law.”

In the 1960s, residents of Prescott and Paugus were required by the city to sign easements for a sewer line installation, and later rerouted Prescott to make room for a pumping station. Additionally, up until five years ago, public works was maintaining the roads. Due to the city’s actions, McGuire said residents were under the belief they lived on a public road.

McGuire said he previously approached the city about paving Effar Street, which connects Paugus and Prescott, and was told it was not an approved street.

“They wouldn't pave it. I paved it myself. That again made me think Prescott and Paugus are different, because they have maintained that, and they have always plowed it and maintained it,” said McGuire. “So, I'm not sure if there's something missing there. It further validated my feeling that Prescott and Paugus were public roads, since Effar connected both Prescott and Paugus, and Effar Street had never been maintained or accepted.”

McGuire discussed a prior betterment process residents had gone through in the 1980s. An old neighbor, Steve Grace, started an effort to pave the center of Prescott, because only the beginning and end of the road had been paved. He spoke with public works staff, who said they would look it over, but the residents would have to pay for it.

“The public works did come down and make sure that we had the sewer covers brought up, and we graded it and we paved it. We paid for that. So that was our betterment process,” McGuire said.

Years later, McGuire tried to organize a formal betterment process. City leaders told him he needed all abutting property owners to sign a majority agreement. He got in touch with Anderson for guidance. Anderson gave a presentation at the Weirs Beach community center on the status of the roads, which concluded with a group of volunteers agreeing to work on a fair proposal for the project and dividing costs.

As neighborhood liaison, McGuire sent out a ballot to all the residents, as well as Anderson. He was originally told he needed a majority of residents on board. After he sent the ballots out, Anderson notified McGuire that as of Sept. 23, 2024, they needed 100% of residents to be on board, due to changes in the As-Is program criteria.

“I knew I didn't have the condos, because at the next meeting which we had on our street, he mentioned that the city would always plow to the pumping station and maintain services,” McGuire said. “The three condo associations that come before that said, 'We're not voting for that, we don't want to pay for this.' It makes sense. That's why it's a unique situation.”

At the next neighborhood meeting, condo representatives not in attendance, McGuire said city leaders told them all 60 residents could bring their trash up to Route 3, since their status as a private road left them without waste pickup. Residents were not keen on this idea.

“If they are coming as far as a pumping station to plow, is it really that hard to go that further down the road and plow the rest of us and give us garbage pickup? So, I respectfully request that you look at us as an as-is road and designate that as soon as possible,” McGuire’s wife, Gina McGuire, said. 

“Other roads that were designated as private roads were accepted as-is, including Pickerel Pond Road and Hillcrest Drive, and I believe Methodist Circle now. They are no different than Prescott, other than we already have historical easement in our street,” Sean said. “In light of all the historical information, I believe that we should proceed with a permanent emergency lane designation while we pursue a hybrid As-Is betterment process.”

Mark Hamill, resident of Paugus for over 40 years, agreed. “Option four is preferable to option two, which does not make emergency lane declaration permanent.”

Wendy Hanley, resident of Prescott, asked, “Why would the City of Laconia put in a sewer on a private road, and then ask for an easement and then not take care of the road? That’s the only question I have.”

City Manager Kirk Beattie agreed to put the permanent emergency lane designation on the agenda for the Monday, Aug. 10 meeting, if all abutters receive notifying letters of the process.

Later on, as council discussed Option 4, they agreed they needed a dollar figure before they proceed with repairs. Councilors unanimously voted to send the issue to the public works subcommittee. Before that committee meets, city staff will gather a formal cost estimate for bringing Prescott and Paugus up to city standards. This will determine if the city and residents will share the costs for the betterment process or accept the roads “as-is.”

As council voted to send the issue to committee, McGuire interjected, stating residents of these roads are a “cash cow,” and pay over $1 million a year in taxes. He reiterated they wanted a hybrid betterment process, so they would not have to bear the total cost themselves. Councilors cut off McGuire’s comments.

The dozen or so residents of Prescott and Paugus were not pleased with the decision to send the issue back to a committee, again.

“When Sean McGuire says he’s not going away, he is not going away,” Gina McGuire said.

Discussions over the private roads will continue at the next council meeting, at City Hall, at 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 10.