Dive proposes new location; council has qualms

LACONIA — A proposal to have a floating bar and restaurant reopen this year on a newly constructed pier at the Weirs Docks was outlined Monday for the City Council, which expressed reservations about the plan.

The Dive — a two-story establishment attached to a self-propelled barge – operated last year tied up to a side of the Winnipesaukee Pier facing a residential area. This year the Dive’s owners, Jamison Merriam and Betsy Sullivan, are proposing to build a large pier at the city’s public docks on the opposite site of the Winnipesaukee Pier.

Under the plan, the owners would pay for the construction of the pier and installation of all utilities, a cost estimated to be as much as $100,000, Sullivan said. Once the construction is completed the pier would be deeded over to the city free of charge. The Dive would then pay the city $250 a month rent from May through October under a proposed lease agreement that would run from 10 to 20 years.

In making a case for the proposal, Sullivan said the Dive would enhance the economic vitality of Weirs Beach and bring a demographic to the waterfront area who would not otherwise come.

Ten people who said they have patronized the Dive in the past spoke by remote audio or audio-visual hookup and urged the city to approve the plan.

Steve Gustin said the Dive “brings business to The Weirs that wasn’t there before.”

Charlie St. Clair, a state representative, and executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, also backed the plan.

“Times are tough,” he said, “and they’re willing to make a big investment to bring something to The Weirs.”

No member of the public spoke in opposition.

But members of the City Council had qualms.

Ward 1 Councilor Bruce Cheney said the $250 a month rent was inadequate and wondered how the proposed Dive pier would affect future plans to alter nearby docks.

Mayor Andrew Hosmer said he was concerned about liability. While the Dive’s owners said they would add the city as an additional insured party to their own liability policy, Hosmer wondered about the additional liability to the city involving patrons who might hurt themselves on the city docks going to or from the business.

Ward 2 Councilor David Bownes said he was troubled that the lease could run for as much as 20 years without being renegotiated.

Ward 3 Councilor Henry Lipman said he was concerned about the number of calls he and other councilors got last year from people complaining about noise at the Dive.

Sullivan said the noise complaints were unjustified and added that, whenever police investigated complaints, they found there were no noise ordinance violations.

“We’re a family-friendly business,” she said. “We’re not rowdy,” she said, adding that other nighttime businesses in Weirs Beach generate more noise.

After about 25 minutes of discussion the council voted unanimously to table the plan and wait for the Dive’s and the city’s attorneys to draw up a proposed lease that would address some of the council’s concerns.

On Tuesday, Merriam said his lawyers were already in communication with the city’s attorney regarding the proposal.

“Our plan is to address everything they mentioned,” he said. “Their requests are reasonable. We’re happy to work with them.”

Merriman and Sullivan started the Dive in 2018. That first year the establishment operated out of West Alton Marina.