Governor seeks audience with Ralph

Gov. Craig Benson will meet with Ralph Langevin, owner of Martel's Sport Shop, on Thursday afternoon to discuss the lack of public access to Lake Winnisquam. Langevin, who closed the sole boat ramp on lake open to the general public last Friday, has offered to reopen it for the balance of the season if Benson personally assures him that the state will build a public trailered boat launch on Lake Winnisquam within a year.

"I'm very much encouraged," Langevin said. "We've got a lot of wheels turning in less than seven days."

Alicia Preston, Benson's press secretary, said that "he is a governor who very much responds to the public's concerns. When he learned of the problem, he was very ready to go up and speak to Ralph. He likes to hear it directly," she continued, "to get it from the horse's mouth so to speak."

On Monday, while state officials toured possible sites for boat launch in the city, Langevin challenged the governor to tackle the issue. Later the same day Langevin outlined the conditions under which he would reopen his ramp in a meeting at his shop with Lee Perry, executive director of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (NH F&G).

Perry said yesterday that even before meeting with Langevin he had an appointment scheduled with the governor "so this worked out real well. The governor is committed to finding a permanent solution to this problem," he continued. Meanwhile, Perry indicated that the governor hoped to reach an arrangement with Langevin to reopen his boat ramp for the remainder of the season in keeping with the offer he made on Monday.

Perry acknowledged that siting and building a public trailered boat launch in a year would be a challenge. It took 15 years to build a launch on Newfound Lake and 20 years on Squam Lake. However, after touring sites on Water Street and at Ahern State Park Monday, he said he was "optimistic," explaining "there are more people more interested in getting something done than there have been at other sites."

Meanwhile, Langevin met with City Manager Eileen Cabanel and twice with Police Chief Tom Oetinger yesterday. Cabanel said that she simply assured Langevin that the city understood the situation and wanted to help. "I told him that it is not his responsibility to provide the only access to all of Lake Winnisquam and it's not ours either," Cabanel said. Cabanel said she had also spoken with Perry and asked him to encourage the governor to talk with Langevin.

Langevin said that he was encouraged by his meetings with Oetinger, who offered to help with arranging for excess parking and traffic control in the event he decides to reopen the boat ramp. Oetinger said that no parking zones along Winnisquam Avenue would be clearly posted and that he would approach neighboring businesses about the use of their parking lots on weekends.