Gunstock master plan paused, suit against delegation dropped

LACONIA — Three members of the Gunstock Area Commission voted Tuesday to put a hold on the area’s master development plan, and to drop the commission’s suit against the Belknap County Delegation during a special meeting whose legality was disputed.

Gunstock Commissioners Peter Ness, Jade Wood, and Dr. David Strang voted to pause proceeding with the master plan until questions about environmental issues that could affect the plan can be scrutinized, and each commissioner has had an opportunity to review all material gathered in the plan’s preparation. They further ordered a halt on work to convert a slopeside lodge at the base of the mountain into a full-service restaurant until it could be determined whether the $400,000 project had received the necessary discussion and approval from the commission.

The three also approved withdrawing a lawsuit which the commission had brought against the delegation last November when there was movement to have the 18-member delegation consider removing three commissioners — Brian Gallagher, Gary Kiesdaisch, and Rusty McLear — a plan that was ultimately withdrawn.

The three decisions were made after 45 minutes of debate over whether the meeting conformed to the commission’s bylaws that regulate special meetings.

Kiedaisch, who was acting as chair at the outset of the meeting, said the meeting was improper because Strang, one of the three people who called for the special meeting, had not been sworn in in the manner spelled out in the commission’s bylaws, which states new commissioners take the oath at the commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting.

Strang insisted his swearing in at the delegation meeting on Feb. 22 was proper and in accordance with state law. However, Ness said Strang was sworn in a second time over the weekend by a justice of the peace because state law states oaths are to be administered by a magistrate.

Kiedaisch offered to let the session continue as an informal discussion about Gunstock business, but without any votes taking place. When he and McLear were the only ones who approved such an arrangement and Ness, Wood, and Strang voted against it, Kiedaisch and McLear left the table and took seats in the audience where about 25 other people were seated in the conference room at the County Complex.

“You’re trying to stop a legal meeting,” Wood said regarding Kiedaisch’s maneuver.

Ness and Strang said movement on the master plan needed to be paused in order to resolve questions about environmental concerns and government regulations that could limit or possibly even prohibit certain aspects of the plan.

Ness said that the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund restricts what Gunstock’s land can be used for. Being able to build a hotel on Gunstock land was highly questionable, and cannot be done without approval from the Department of the Interior which administers the fund.

Ness said it was imperative that the issue of whether the hotel could legally be built be resolved before the master plan, of which the slopeside hotel is a key element, is allowed to proceed further.

Similarly, Ness and Strang were both troubled about another phase of the master plan which proposed developing land on the back side of Gunstock Mountain which is currently in private ownership and includes acreage that is protected by conservation easements.

Strang said that two environmental groups have written to Gunstock to express their concerns about the plan.

He said the groups are anxious to meet with Gunstock to discuss their concerns and that if such discussions don’t happen soon he feared the groups might file a lawsuit.

“Why didn’t they contact these conservation groups beforehand,” Strang asked. “We should talk to these groups.”

Kiedaisch said he had been in communication with a representative of the groups and he said while they want to meet with Gunstock officials they are not pondering taking any legal action.

Ness said the environmental concerns present significant barriers to parts of the master plan. He said that all the commissioners need to be able to review all the available material that relates to the master plan. He said that in the past when some members of the commission have requested documentation sometimes that material has not been provided or the requests have been ignored.

He said the pause might last just a few weeks.

Ness said the work at the Stockade Lodge was not discussed with the commission. But Kiedaisch said that the project had been discussed at commission meetings and the commission had approved the funding for the project.

The commission has been in an increasing state of turmoil for several months. Last fall commissioners asked the delegation to remove Ness from the commission alleging a conflict of interest, a charge Ness has denied. The delegation declined to remove him. Shortly afterward Delegation Chair Sylvia circulated an email to other delegation members suggesting the possible removal of Gallagher, Kiedaisch and McLear. That prompted the commission to bring legal action against the delegation in an effort to block any removal. Plans to take up that idea were dropped, with the delegation voting only to hire an attorney to defend it against the lawsuit. In January, Gallagher, who was the commission’s chair, resigned, citing the growing controversy. Last week the delegation appointed Strang to fill the seat created by Gallagher’s resignation.

Woody Fogg, a Belmont resident and former Gunstock commissioner, pleaded with commissioners to put their differences aside.

“Gunstock is something the people of Belknap County treasure and it’s an economic engine that has been working well for a long time,” he said. “We’re asking you not to damage it.”

After the meeting Kiedaisch called the decision to put the brakes on the master plan regrettable. He said he saw no problem with moving forward with the master plan while at the same time tackling possible hurdles, including environmental issues.

He also said the meeting was unnecessary. There was no urgency to any of the issues which Ness, Strang, and Wood discussed and voted on, he insisted.

“All of this could have been handled at a regular meeting,” he said.