Council to consider selling old Lakeport Fire Station

By MICHAEL KITCH, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — After receiving an offer from Erica Blizzard, who owns and operates Lakeport Landing Marina, to purchase the former Lakeport Fire Station, the City Council will hold a public hearing to determine whether to declare the property surplus and available for sale when it meets on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

The station has not operated since the early 1981, but has served as a dormitory for student firefighters and housed fire vehicles from time to time until relatively recently. The building currently serves as a garage for vehicles of the Community Emergency Response Team. Deputy Fire Chief Kirk Beattie said that the expansion and renovation of Central Fire Station was designed to render the Lakeport Fire Station redundant.

Blizzard has offered $127,700 for three lots, which together amount to less than an acre. The lot housing the Lakeport Fire Station is 0.32 acres and the lot abutting it to the rear of the building is 0.195 acres. The two lots include some 132 feet of municipal right-of-way — Railroad Avenue. Blizzard's offer includes granting an easement to the city confirming its right to Railroad Avenue and, to the extent possible, an undertaking to make parking spaces on the north side of the street available to the general public for parking.

The third lot, a 0.81 acre strip between Union Avenue and the railroad is what remains of a larger parcel the city leased to Lakeport Landing for 30 years until the lease expired and ownership reverted to the city last November.

Blizzard, in her offer to the City Council said that the company would like to preserve the fire station, but indicated that it would not be feasible to convert it to commercial uses. Instead, she proposed to demolish the fire station and construct a 10,000-square-foot building on the cleared lot.

Although Blizzard offered to purchase the property her firm had leased, the City Council decided it was required to accept competitive bids. Irwin Marine, which operates on the abutting lot, submitted the highest offer, which the city accepted. Blizzard brought suit against the city in Belknap County Superior Court, claiming that City Manager Scott Myers exceeded his authority by offering the property to competitive bidders. The court granted Irwin Marine's petition to intervene in the litigation then ordered all three parties to to seek a settlement of the dispute through mediation. Last month, the mediator informed the court that a "tentative settlement" had been reached and the city asked the court to stay the trial scheduled for December.

The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed and City Manager Scott Myers has declined to comment about them. However, attorney Laura Spector-Morgan, representing the city, informed the court that the settlement would require review by "the City Council, city boards and state agencies," which could take "many months, if not a year," which suggests that the opportunity to acquire the fire station is an element of the settlement.

Meanwhile, City Manager Scott Myers said Friday that in addition to Blizzard's formal offer for the property, he has been contacted by two parties who inquired about the property and the process for offering it for sale, indicating that if the city decides to sell it they would interested. He added that he has indirectly learned of a third party who has also expressed interest.

Myers declined to comment on the litigation, but said that whatever the relationship between Blizzard and the city, should the property be offered for sale there is nothing to preclude other parties from expressing interest or submitting offers. At the same time, he explained that upon receipt of a written offer to purchase property, which the city owns or has acquired other than by tax deed and the City Council has declared "surplus," the council may choose either to negotiate the sale of the property itself or authorize the city manager to negotiate the sale, which must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the six councilors.

The Lakeport Association has long resisted the demolition of the fire station. Blizzard agreed that if the fire station were demolished, the company would place a permanent memorial, displaying a photograph of the building with an explanation of its significance to the city, at an appropriate location on the site.