county want role in future of state school property

LACONIA — The Belknap County Commissioners said yesterday they hope to own the former State School property off Parade Road and would like to see it controlled through the county.

Commissioners made their intentions known during a budget hearing various outside agencies that get some funding from the county attended.

"This is the most important opportunity in the community over the next 20 years," said Commission Chair Christopher Boothby who is not a candidate for re-election to the commission.

"We need to look at the highest and best use and not just as a revenue source for the state," said Laconia Commissioner Edward Philpot who is the only commissioner who will return to the board next year.

Commissioners said the discussion began during their first budget hearing of the day with the Belknap County Cooperative Extension.

"We asked them what was going on with the fair," said Philpot referring to the two-day 4-H fair at the Belknap County Fair Grounds in Belmont.

A discussion of the fair led to a broader discussion about the future use of the 212-acre former State School property and how the county could take the lead in seeing the land is put to its best possible use for the citizens of the county.

Philpot, who was later joined by the other two commissioners, said he would like to see the property remain public and to be used for outdoor things, like a county fair or a circus.

Later, County Administrator Deborah Shackett said the commissioners feel the property has a "lot of potential" while the state "just wants to make money."

"Now we get into the We The People (the people of Belknap County) possibly having to buy it from We The People (the people of New Hamsphire)," Shackett said.

Since the N.H. State Prison facility closed in 2009, a number of agencies and organizations have taken an interest in the future use of what is probably one of the prime piece of real estate in central New Hampshire.

The Laconia City Council, seemingly one of the biggest stakeholders, named former Mayor Matt Lahey as its liaison to the governor's commission to decide the future of the property called the Lakes Region (prison) Facility but to date has made no formal declaration of what it sees in the immediate future.

More recently, a grass roots committee called Back to Farming formed to lobby to keep at least a portion of the property in agricultural use and the Laconia Planning Board is scheduled to discuss the zoning regulations surrounding any future use. The is a move afoot to try and limit the land's potential for housing development.

Others interested in at least some portion of the property are the Lakes Region Community College and the UNH Cooperative Extension which may need to relocate to make room for an expansion of the administrative offices of the county.

When contacted about the county's interests, Lahey said that he had not heard of its desire to own the property but said he thinks it would be best if his committee was allowed to complete its work. A report is due by the middle of next year.

"There are also some environmental concerns he said noting that there will be a "big presentation" given by Vita Nuova, the company hired through the Lakes Region Planning Commission to conduct an study of the property that was funded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. at the Laconia Middle School.

Echoing Lahey about waiting for the study, City Manager Eileen Cabanel said she also had not heard of the county's desire to own the property but said she thinks a letter sent to various municipalities by Sen. Lou A'llesandro, the chair of the Commission Exploring Monetization of Certain State Assets, Enterprises, and Resources, about interests they may have in state owned assets could have prompted the discussion.