Delegation hears from Gunstock Commission applicants but holds off deciding

LACONIA — Three applicants looking to fill a vacant seat on Gunstock Area Commission stressed their experience in business and financial matters before the Belknap County Delegation which appoints those who serve on the panel which oversees the operation of the county-owned recreation facility. Though originally scheduled to vote on an appointee at the meeting, the decision was delayed until later this month.

Former Olympic skier Heidi Preuss, business owner Doug Lambert, and Dr. David Strang all told the delegation that their ability to make sound business decisions would be critical in serving on the five-member commission.

“Business background is more important than a skiing background,” said Strang who in his younger years competed in ski races and more recently was involved in the training program for the U.S. Ski and Snowboarding Association.

The delegation heard the three applicants as they discussed their background and experience and responded to lawmakers’ questions on Monday, but they deferred their choice of who they will appoint until the meeting scheduled for Feb. 22.

State Rep. Dawn Johnson asked that the group hold off making the appointment, saying delegation members should have more time to consider each applicant’s testimony and resume, as well as any input from constituents.

Delegation Chair Mike Sylvia objected to the delay, saying that the delegation members had four days to study the candidates applications and resumes and to reach out to applicants individually if they chose to do so. He said that the commission is currently split 2-to-2 on most issues and it was critical to get a fifth member appointed to the commission to break the deadlock.

When the matter was put to a vote, the motion to give members more time to consider their decision passed 10-6.

Delegation members also pushed back on Sylvia's attempt to limit the consideration of each candidate to 15 minutes with no guarantee that the members would have time to ask questions. Sylvia then agreed to extend the time for each candidate 25 minutes, of which at least 10 minutes would be available for members' questions.

All three applicants said Gunstock is well managed and they stressed the importance that Gunstock plans for the future in order to remain a popular ski area.

Strang said that his involvement in ski racing has allowed him to see the operations at other ski areas and he would like to see Gunstock implement good ideas he has seen elsewhere. He said his involvement in the business side of a medical practice has given him experience in managing finances.

In response to questions from state Reps. Mike Bordes and Tim Lang, the three took a cautious approach to the idea of privatizing Gunstock.

Lambert said existing state laws and Gunstock’s bylaws make privatizing the operation “extremely difficult, if not impossible.”

“I’m not marching in there to do privatizing,” said Lambert, who first applied to serve on the commission in 2013.

Preuss, who has experience in the financial management and investment field, noted that the idea of privatizing was “the elephant in the room,” and she considered the idea unsound from a financial point of view.

She said Gunstock has the managerial expertise to run a competitive ski area. If the operation were to be leased out to a private company local control would be lost.

“That’s a problem,” she said, calling leasing “a one-way door.”

Corporations who lease ski areas want to develop the real estate as much as possible, and provide a whole range of amenities on site as an incentive to keep visitors on the property. That business model, she said, would hurt area restaurants and lodging establishments that many visitors to Gunstock now patronize.

Strang said when considering future development, Gunstock needs to keep in mind that the area’s growth is “limited by geography” — the height of the mountain, and the amount of land which Gunstock owns.

He said Gunstock should aim to offer skiers an experience which other areas do not.

Both Strang and Lambert expressed concerns about the idea to build a mountaintop restaurant, which is part of the Gunstock master plan.

Preuss said she likes the proposal to add more ski trails and install new lifts on acreage which Gunstock now owns, but she said she has questions about developing the back side of the mountain which is not currently owned by the area.

Lambert said if he is chosen to serve on the commission he will insist that Gunstock be totally transparent about the details of what it intends to accomplish in any phase of its master plan as well as the timing for those undertakings.

“You put me on the commission, everything will be out in the public,” he said.

Both Strang and Preuss dealt with questions related to rumors of motivation for seeking to be appointed to the commission.

Strang rejected the assertion by some that because of his active involvement in the Belknap County Republican Committee he would be a pawn in the hands of those on the delegation who want to make fundamental changes at Gunstock.

“I’m not interested in such an appointment,” he said. “I’m an independent thinker.”

Noting that the commission is currently spit into factions, with Commission Vice Chair Gary Kiedaisch and Commissioner Rusty McLear on one side, and Commissioners Peter Ness and Jade Wood — the newest appointees — on the other, Strang said, “I may vote with one camp on one issue and the other camp and another issue.”

Preuss laughed when Bordes asked her about the rumor that Kiedaisch had recruited her to apply for the position. She said her first contact with Kiedaisch came after she applied for a commission vacancy last September.

Preuss said she missed the September meeting, when Wood was named to the commission, because an email she received from state Rep. Thomas Ploszaj gave an incorrect date for the meeting and that by the time she discovered the error the meeting had already taken place. She said after talking with Ploszaj she realized that the error was inadvertent.