Impact fees & other stuff from Gilford

Prompted by the decision of the Belmont Planning Board to commission an impact fee ordinance, Alice Boucher, who chairs the Board of Selectmen, yesterday asked her colleagues to urge the Planning Board to follow suit.

However, selectman Kinney O'Rourke was quick to emphasize that "we have a dramatically different situation than Belmont," explaining that "the number of potentially developable lots in Gilford is minuscule compared to Belmont." O'Rourke said that because there was a relatively large inventory of developable property in Belmont, town officials were rightly concerned that residential growth could lead to significant increases in demand for public services. But, he noted that "there's nothing to suggest growth will cause that sort of a problem in Gilford."

Without directly challenging O'Rourke, Selectman Dennis Doten pointed out that there was a considerable amount of land suited to residential development in current use, suggested that the potential for an acceleration of growth would increase if a significant portion of that inventory came on to the market.

O'Rourke agreed that "we should make sure whether what I've said is true or not." He suggested that the board ask the Planning Board and Planning and Land Use department to prepare a report to "provide information about the potential necessity of considering impact fee legislation." The board agreed to request such a report.

Last year the question of impact fees was raised by the Budget Committee, whose Chairman Dick Hickok considered them an untapped revenue source. Although the town has adopted the legislation enabling it to impose impact fees, it has not prepared the regulations and schedules required to administer and collect them.

NOTES: Captain Kevin Keenan of the Police Department told the Board of Selectmen that the dictaphone machine that records incoming calls to the department is on its last legs and must be replaced. After considering two proposals, Keenan recommended purchasing new equipment from Exacom, Inc. of Concord, which not only offered the best product but also round the clock service within an hour. He said the preferred machine would cost $15,546. The board agreed to address the issue at its next meeting on December 28 . . . . . . Michael Morrison of Municipal Pest Management Services of York, Maine addressed the board about launching a mosquito control program next spring to safeguard against the spread of Easter Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and West Nile Virus, both viral diseases carried by adult mosquitoes. Last month Jose Montero, the New Hampshire State Epidemiologist, wrote to local health officers encouraging them to begin planning their campaigns against mosquitoes now. Morrison stressed the effectiveness of destroying the larva in breeding grounds and cautioned that when the first cases of the diseases appear, generally in September and October, it is too late for successful control measures. . . . . .The Selectmen will urge the Budget Committee to conduct two separate public hearings — one on the town budget and the other on the School District budget — on two different evenings rather than address both budgets at one time. The board believes more residents are likely to participate if there are two relatively short hearings rather than one very long one. The Selectmen anticipate protracted debate about the Budget Committee's decisions to strip funding for the Laconia Airport Authority and the Thompson-Ames Historical Society from the town budget. The Budget Committee must hold its public hearing before January 17.