Hosmer: 'Laconia needs to stand up' on State School issue

LACONIA — A move by Gov. Chris Sununu to skirt the work that a special panel has been doing to redevelop the old Laconia State School site is not sitting well with Mayor Andrew Hosmer and most members of the City Council.

But the thrust of the discussion at Monday’s council meeting was how best to communicate that dissatisfaction.

“Laconia has been disregarded for too long with the use of this property,” Hosmer said. “Laconia needs to stand up.”

While most of the other councilors echoed the sentiment, Councilor Henry Lipman – who works for the state – argued against sending any strongly-worded message to Sununu or other state leaders.

Rather, he urged, the city should initiate a dialogue with the governor’s office and legislative leaders.

“I have no problem with diplomacy,” Hosmer responded. “But we and the commission — all of us — were blind-sided. Diplomacy can only go so far,” he continued. ”We can’t allow people to roll over the city. We need to push back harder and stand up for what is in the best interest of the city.”

A bill attached to the governor’s 2022-23 budget would give the governor and the Executive Council the unrestricted ability to dispose of the property, whether by sale, lease, or another form of disposition. Moreover, the language in the bill would exempt the council from adhering to any existing state law regarding the disposition of state property.

The seven-member Lakeshore Commission has been working for two years to assess potential uses for the 250-acre site, parts of which overlook Lake Opechee and Lake Winnisquam. For decades it was the site of the state institution for those with developmental disabilities. More recently part of the complex housed the state’s minimum-security prison, which has since closed.

Hosmer sees the trailer bill maneuver as short-circuiting the commission’s work to prepare the property to where it can be attractively offered to private developers for a variety of uses, including commercial ventures and middle-income housing, relieving the state of the expense of maintaining the property, and putting the land on the city’s tax rolls.

Council Bruce Cheney suggested that, rather than initiate a discussion with Sununu’s office, the council should reach out to state Senate President Chuck Morse. It was Morse who played an instrumental role in the legislation that established the commission and was the prime sponsor of a bill which would have expanded the commission’s authority over the development process. That bill passed the Legislature last year, but Sununu vetoed the omnibus bill into which it was bundled.

Councilor Robert Soucy suggested the council have a meeting with Executive Councilor Joe Kenney. Councilor Tony Felch urged the council to reach out to the city’s legislative delegation.

Hosmer, in an interview on Tuesday, said after listening to the comments by Lipman and the other councilors, “I decided to take a half step back and give it some thought.”

He said he would be working to craft a letter to be sent to the House Finance Committee and the city’s legislative delegation explaining the city’s concerns about the trailer bill provision and why the city sees it as “contrary to the purpose and work of the commission.”

“I am all for showing diplomacy,” Hosmer said. “But I don’t think we should equivocate or be ambiguous.”