Council to consider bonding Phase I of Opechee Loop trail

LACONIA — City councilors at their meeting on Tuesday will consider bonding to fund the construction of the first section of the proposed Opechee Loop, a sort of unofficial extension of the WOW Trail, which would ring the lake.

The council will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27. Before the regular council meeting, starting at 6 p.m., councilors will review budget presentations by the fire and parks and recreation departments.

Opechee Loop Section A involves the widening of a pedestrian walkway on the west side of Elm Street from Doris Ray Court to Franklin Street, according to a staff report. Combined with the privately-funded Lakeport Promenade project, the effort would extend the existing WOW Trail from its current northern terminus at the intersection of Elm and Union Avenue up to Franklin Street.

Allan Beetle, president of the WOW Trail organization, told councilors in December 2024, that a large bike path connecting to the existing trail at the northern terminus would circle Lake Opechee and its neighborhoods, eventually providing a vehicle-free pathway to the Lakeport trailhead and to the point downtown where it extends out to Belmont.

The long-term vision for the WOW Trail is to connect downtown Laconia to Meredith through Lakeport and the Weirs.

The total cost for the Loop A Section is $935,000, including necessary deck repairs to the Elm Street Bridge. The project was awarded a $225,000 grant through the Northern Borders Regional Commission, and $100,000 in funding through Belknap County. It’s proposed that the remaining balance of $610,000 would be funded through bonding, with principal and interest payments to be provided through the Lakeport Tax Increment Financing District.

Given current rates, it’s anticipated the cost of the bond over a 15-year term would be $188,000, but will depend on the interest rate at the time of issue.

In other business, councilors will hold a public hearing regarding the potential designation of Paugus and Prescott avenues as emergency lanes until July 1, 2026. Paugus and Prescott are private roads. Because ownership of the roads is known, the abutters' only option to become a public road is through the betterment process.

Under that process, the abutters would pay the city for the cost of improving the roads up to city standards over a 10-year period. City council guidance also requires 100% of abutters to agree to participate in the betterment process.

The city has been plowing and performing other maintenance on the roads to allow access for emergency vehicles, according to a staff report.

Councilors previously declared the roads to be emergency lanes on July 8, 2024, but that declaration expires on June 1 of this year.

Ward 6 Councilor Tony Felch requested the city council designate Prescott and Paugus as emergency lanes for an additional year so residents there have more time to achieve 100% participation in the betterment process or, alternatively, to form a road association.

The city council can’t declare a private road an emergency lane without the permission of abutting landowners. An emergency lane can’t be declared if permission is denied by one or more abutting property owners. An abutter could request the emergency declaration be withdrawn at any time. 

If declared an emergency lane again, the city can use funds for upkeep.