Gunstock Commission to hold special meeting Aug. 15, regular meeting now Aug. 31

GILFORD — The Gunstock Area Commission will hold a public, special meeting on Monday, Aug. 15, at 11 a.m. at Gunstock Mountain Resort. It will be the first since the departure of former Commissioner Dr. David Strang and the arrival of new Commissioner Denise Conroy.

The tentative agenda includes discussion of a letter from the firm running Gunstock’s annual audit and an update on the internal investigation by Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios law firm into the circumstances behind the GAC’s lawsuit against the county delegation. 

There will be public comment at the end of the meeting. 

Secretary and chair pro tem of the commission, Doug Lambert, noticed the meeting and its agenda on Friday morning. Lambert, because of his title as secretary, is the senior ranking member of the GAC and, according to Article II, paragraph 2(b) of the GAC’s bylaws, therefore the chair pro tem. Special meetings are governed by Article III, paragraph 1(e) of the bylaws. 

In an interview, Lambert added that the GAC’s regular meeting, originally scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 17, would be pushed to Wednesday, Aug. 31, because of multiple schedule conflicts and to allow better information gathering for the business of that meeting — likely to include the mountain’s preparations for the winter season. 

Lambert said Monday’s special meeting would address the timeline of the annual audit, the business and status of the audit committee, previously chaired by Strang, as well as the internal investigation.

Lambert said the final findings of the investigation and official results of the audit have not yet been presented to the GAC. 

The audit firm, Vachon Clukay & Co. PC, “are continuing with their work,” according to Lambert. At the commission’s June 21 meeting, then-Chair Peter Ness said the audit had been paused to allow the Audit Committee to meet with the firm, though fieldwork for the audit — already begun by the mountain — could continue.

This is the first time an audit committee has been formed by the GAC, though the audit is a standard annual practice. At the May 18 meeting, Ness proposed the creation of an Audit Committee composed of one GAC member, one county delegation member and one member of the public. Ness selected Rep. Barbara Comtois of Barnstead and John Plumer, a former state representative and current candidate for state senate in District 2, to join Strang on the committee. 

The purpose of this committee was to, according to the meeting minutes, “extend an olive branch to the [Belknap County Delegation].” 

Several members of the delegation had growing concerns that the GAC had not historically and recently been sufficiently scrupulous in its financial supervision of Gunstock’s operation and management.

In a radio interview done by Plumer and Comtois with WKXL NH Talk Radio, Plumer said the audit committee, “does nothing but provide oversight.” 

The internal investigation was initiated by the GAC at its April 20 meeting, with Wood in dissent, to respond to a request by Belknap County Delegation Chair Rep. Mike Sylvia so that “the GAC investigate the genesis of their recent lawsuit and consider reimbursing the County Delegation for their legal expenses.”

The GAC, then consisting of Commissioner Jade Wood and former Commissioners Gary Kiedaisch, Brian Gallagher, Rusty McLear, and Ness, took legal action against the delegation in late autumn of 2021, amidst speculation that the delegation would remove Kiedaisch, Gallagher, and McLear from their seats because of their investigation into and accusations of ethics violations by Ness.

A report from attorney Peter Callaghan of Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios,  hired to respond to Sylvia’s request, was reviewed by the GAC at its July 1 meeting. This report outlined Callaghan’s investigation and findings regarding the GAC’s ethics policy and allegations against Ness made by former commissioners. It raised questions for further investigation “to determine whether procedural changes and tightening of internal controls should be implemented to prevent the expenditure of funds as occurred in this matter,” and “whether any duties were breached and understand whether the Commission is exposed to any liability for what transpired,” as well as steps the GAC could take to prevent similar conflict from occurring again. 

Lambert said he confirmed with Callaghan that the scope of this investigation had not been changed or expanded.

“The GAC wants to deal with the ongoing controversial items,” at issue before it, Lambert said, so that, “by the regular meeting, we can get back to the business of running Gunstock in concert with the management team.”