Gift to help buy fireboat

Gilford selectmen accept $10,000 donation

By THOMAS P. CALDWELL, LACONIA DAILY SUN

GILFORD — The Gilford Board of Selectmen formally accepted a $10,000 donation toward the purchase of a fire boat on Wednesday evening.

Resident Jack Sousae had made two $10,000 donations, one for the fire boat and another to the Gilford Police Relief Association to support Gilford’s K9 patrol. The Police Relief Association is a separate legal entity, but the fire boat donation comes to the town as unanticipated funds. Monetary income of $10,000 or greater requires a public hearing before the selectmen can accept the money.

The donation drew no public comment, but Chairman Chan Eddy gave public acknowledgement of the gift with a thank-you for Sousae’s generosity. He noted that the selectmen had issued a proclamation of thanks that town officials, including members of the police and fire departments, had presented to Sousae the previous day.

Also:

• Deputy Police Chief Kristian Kelley said the donation to the Police Relief Association, along with other donations the department has received, have put the fundraising effort for a new police canine “pretty darned close” to meeting its goal. The dog, along with training, a cage and associated expenses, requires around $16,000, he said.

• Selectmen also awarded a $27,930.15 contract for a new municipal telephone system to MCCT (Macomber Communications and Computer Technology) of Laconia.

• Mike Marshall, treasurer of the Gilford Public Library Board of Directors, offered a proposal for cost savings by having a town employee handle floor maintenance at the library. He said the private firm that currently does the work comes during library hours and there was an instance in which a patron was injured by slipping on a wet floor.

Selectman Gus Benavides questioned the purported savings, saying the town would have to pay additional Social Security and Medicaid costs, as well as a likely increase in Workers’ Compensation. Saying he always advocates for privatization when possible, Benavides said he hates to be in a position where the town has to let an employee go when circumstances change.

“I don’t want to make that phone call and say, ‘You don’t have a job,’” he said.

Benavides asked whether the trustees had approached the company now doing the work to see if they would work at night. Director Katherine Dormody said they had, and were told it would be much more expensive to come outside of regular hours. Eddy asked her to get solid figures so the selectmen could make an “apples-to-apples” assessment of the proposal.

• A police department request to allow detectives to take their assigned vehicles home when they are on call was approved. They held off on a second request, that would allow police to carry personally owned rifles on patrols. They wanted to have Police Chief Anthony Bean Burpee address the issue before making a decision.

• They made no decision on a request to call an unnamed hill Boyd Mountain. Selectmen forwarded the request to the Gilford Conservation Commission to research ownership and determine the suitability of the name.

• Selectmen want to pursue a grant to build an observation tower at the Route 11 Scenic Overlook, saying trees on private property are now blocking the view and a tower “would help return it to a scenic overlook.”

• Selectman Richard Grenier raised issues surrounding the police firing range by the town’s transfer station. There is an old building that has become an eyesore and should be removed, he said, and police are interested in extending the length of the range from 85 to 100 feet. He said there is plenty of room without encroaching on the property line, and a grant could help to pay for it.

There are concerns about other people in the area and an access road used by the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, but they agreed it is something they should pursue.