Gunstock then and now: Clashes With delegation

Note: This is the second part of a two-part series on the history of Gunstock Mountain Resort.

GILFORD — The Belknap County Delegation sponsored legislation in 1959 to establish a five-member Gunstock Area Commission to operate the county-owned Gunstock Recreation Area, formerly known as the Belknap Mountains Recreation Area. The state representatives recognized that operating a ski area is different from overseeing other county departments. Today, members of the delegation are of a different mind, and are seeking more control over what happens at Gunstock.

In the 1950s, under General Manager Frank “Fritzie” Baer, the Belknap Mountains Recreation Area had experienced record-breaking financial growth. Baer had established a motorcycle rally that brought contestants to Gunstock Mountain for a popular hill climb — an event that has grown to be a part of Laconia Motorcycle Week, which will be taking place this month — and Baer was looking at further expansion of what Gunstock had to offer.

The Gunstock Area Commission, appointed by the county delegation, became responsible for hiring staff and handling the maintenance and upgrades of the recreation area. The Belknap County Delegation, which is the spending authority for county government, only became involved when Gunstock had to borrow money to see it through lean periods.

That was not a problem, even during the 1990s when multi-million-dollar expansions took place at Gunstock. It was not until 2016, when the ski area experienced its worst season in decades and needed to borrow $950,000 to cover its debts, that the delegation began to scrutinize Gunstock’s operations more closely.

Rep. Valerie Fraser (R-New Hampton) came to the legislature with several innovative ideas, including an attempt to have Belknap County establish its own bank. In 2018, she sponsored a bill that would have required that the county convention approve Gunstock’s strategic and business plans, something that had been left to the Gunstock Area Commission. Rep. Mark Abear (R-Meredith) co-sponsored the bill, saying it would eliminate two “body politics,” leaving only one: Belknap County.

Rep. Norm Silber (R-Gilford) said at the time that, rather than the government running a ski area, it should be in private hands, because “a private operator would turn over more money” to the county.

Although the Belknap County Delegation pledged last month to never support the privatization of Gunstock, many county residents have continued to question their motives as a result of Silber’s statement.

Master plan

The current president and general manager of what today is known as Gunstock Mountain Resort, Tom Day, said he took the job because he heard that Gunstock would be working on a master plan.

“We laid out these areas for potential expansion just to look and see what the potential was,” Day said, explaining that the details in the master plan are to be worked out later.

Speaking of the east side of the mountain, where there is the potential for a hotel, he said, “We know that there’s going to be a lift over there, and there’s going to be five or six trails, and there’s going to be a parking lot, and there’ll be some sort of base area, but there’s not a huge descriptor of it [in the master plan]. Once you decide that you’re going to do it, that’s when you dig into it, and that’s when you generate a lot of data that says this is what we need to do or not do; but right now it’s a preliminary plan.”

Members of the Belknap County Delegation saw the mention of a hotel in the master plan and became concerned about the direction Gunstock might be taking. The new members they appointed to the Gunstock Area Commission, had a similar reaction, and put the plan on hold until they got answers to the questions they had — answers that are not in the preliminary plan.

Veteran Gunstock Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch tried to explain that those answers would come when they proceed to the next step, but the other commissioners stopped him. The most recent appointee, Doug Lambert, told him, “I’d rather read something than listen to you.”

Commission appointments

Members of the Gunstock Area Commission say they want to move forward, but they are mired in controversy that began in August 2021, when Kiedaisch, along with then-fellow commissioners Brian Gallagher, Rusty McLear, and Russ Dumais alleged that the other commissioner, Peter Ness, had used his position to bully employees, and that he had attempted to sell his snowsports instruction software to Gunstock in violation of the conflict-of-interest law included in the recreation area’s enabling legislation. Ness denied the charges.

The four commissioners brought their case to the county delegation, which has the authority to remove as well as appoint members. Delegation Chair Michael Sylvia (R-Belmont) said the complaint and Ness’ written response were all that was necessary to make a decision, and he did not allow any testimony to support the claims. The delegation ruled that there was insufficient evidence to remove Ness from his position.

Shortly afterward, when Dumais’ seat was up for reappointment, the delegation instead appointed Jade Wood to the position. Sylvia circulated a memo in which he suggested that the other three commissioners seeking Ness’ removal had been involved in actions that “raise grave concerns and possible questions of criminal activity.” He cited laws against bribery, improper influence, and official oppression, writing, “The question for the delegation to consider is if the actions by Commissioners Kiedaisch, Gallagher, and McLear rises [sic] to the level of removal for cause...”

To protect their positions, Kiedaisch, Gallagher, and McLear voted to seek an injunction against the County Convention; Wood and Ness voted against the lawsuit.

The delegation took no action against the commissioners, but the lawsuit proceeded, with Gunstock racking up more than $100,000 in legal fees while the delegation’s legal bills reached more than $50,000. Gunstock lost in all of the preliminary court rulings, and finally withdrew the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Gallagher had resigned and the delegation appointed Dr. David Strang to replace him. The delegation also learned that it had erred in appointing McLear to a five-year term rather than asking him to fill out the unexpired term of Attorney Steven Nix, who had resigned due to business commitments. The delegation on April 12 appointed Lambert to replace McLear. It was Ness, Wood, and Strang who voted to withdraw the lawsuit.

The legal bills also remain a subject of contention. Gunstock’s legal bills also include routine matters, making it difficult to determine how much the resort spent on the lawsuit itself. While the delegation’s legal bills indicate expenses that include inquiries into Kiedaisch’s removal — which, after all, was the subject of the lawsuit — what makes them notable is that they exceeded the amount the delegation had authorized to be spent.

The delegation authorized spending $20,000 to defend against the lawsuit, but neither Sylvia nor Silber — the team serving as a “control group” to contact the attorneys — notified the delegation when the accrued legal costs exceeded that appropriation. The final tally exceeded $50,000, but the law firm granted a courtesy discount to cap the bill at an even $50,000.

Delegation members considered removing Sylvia and Silber from leadership positions for their transgressions, but tabled the motion. A citizens’ petition seeking their removal was deemed inappropriate because they are elected state officials, rather than county officials that can be removed under the statute cited. Nevertheless, the Belknap County Commissioners agreed to hold a public hearing on the petition.

The delegation has asked the Gunstock Area Commission to reimburse its legal expenses, which led the commission to engage an independent counsel to look into what transpired and determine whether reimbursement is warranted. Kiedaisch said, however, that attorneys he consulted have told him that there is no mechanism or law that would require the GAC to pay the delegation’s legal bills.