Councilors to consider $85K to fix failed high school sewer line

LACONIA — City councilors will consider using impact fee revenues to replace a failed sewer line at the high school during their meeting on Monday night. 

The city council meeting is set for 7 p.m. on Monday, July 28, at City Hall downtown.

A sewer line in the oldest portion of Laconia High School recently failed, according to a city staff report, resulting in sewage backing up into classrooms. District leaders request to use impact fee revenues to repair the line. 

The work requires demolition of 130 feet of hallway, the removal of the old cast iron pipe and its replacement with PVC pipe. Flooring, disrupted by the project, would also be replaced.

The cost, if approved, would be $85,289, leaving the total of impact fees available to the school department at a balance of $130,564.36.

In other business, a city resident contacted Ward 1 Councilor Bruce Cheney, requesting a speed limit decrease on three connected streets near Opechee Park, according to a city staff report. 

A resident of Edgewater Avenue asked the speed limit on Edgewater Avenue, and Busiel and Lewis streets, be lowered from 30 miles per hour to 25 MPH, expressing concern about vehicles speeding on those roads. Many children and other residents walk along or cross those roads to access Lake Opechee, they say.

Because those roads are under the city’s urban compact zone, state law dictates their speed limits are 30 MPH unless councilors approve a lower speed limit based on an engineering study. According to state law, the lowest speed limit councilors could approve is 25 MPH.

According to a public works department analysis, those three roads are effectively one thruway, and their widths vary between 21 and 29 feet. Stopping distance for 25 MPH is 155 feet, and for 30 MPH is 200 feet. A 90-degree corner at the intersection of Lewis and Edgewater restricts line of sight to under 155 feet, and the road doesn’t have sidewalks and has limited or no shoulder, so pedestrians walk in the road. On-street parking is allowed.

The estimated cost to install the signs to implement a reduced speed limit is $300.

And the city received a petition to lay out Thompson Avenue as a public highway. Thompson is located in the Weirs near Lakeside Avenue.

All property owners provided easements required to accept Thompson, according to a city staff report. Because the planning board hasn’t previously approved a road plat for Thompson Avenue, one will need to be reviewed by that body before coming back to council. A plat has been prepared and is scheduled to be reviewed by the planning board on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

Councilors could set a public hearing to gather input from abutters and city residents on the question on Monday, Sept. 8.

If the plat is approved by the planning board, the layout has to be approved by a majority of city councilors. If disapproved by the planning board, the layout would require the approval of at least two thirds of councilors present and voting at a regular or special meeting.