#LaconiaCityBoxscore — March 23

Downtown apartments

A proposal to build some new apartment units downtown appears to be going nowhere.

Real estate agent Jason Ganong does not own the commercial building at 111 Church Street and does not have a contract to buy it, but that didn’t stop him from giving a presentation to the Zoning Board of Adjustment this week on a plan to turn the building into a 20-unit apartment building.

Ganong backed out of a deal to buy the property and someone else put it under contract.

But he still wanted to present his plan to the board, and the owner of the building, Lakes Region Mental Health Center, had no objection. The board ended up rejecting his plan, saying it wasn’t an appropriate use for a building of its type in the professional district.

Facebook comments

“They are suing the state because she’s too tired to upload paperwork for free medical coverage? What am I missing here? This is the most absurd thing that I have ever read. If all it took for me to get free medical coverage was to upload some paperwork and sit in an office for a few minutes I think I can make that happen! Not to make it political but, these people are the reason why most Republicans are against social services.”

— Susan Sargent on a Laconia couple who are part of a lawsuit challenging requirements that most Medicaid recipients spend at least 100 hours a month working, going to school or participating in community service.

“The city has all this money to spend on that theater but not to fix the roads properly.”

— Dee Marie on the condition of Laconia roads and the plan to refurbish the Colonial Theatre.

They said it

“I’d like to take a two-minute recess and I would like to talk to Dean outside. I think I’m allowed to do that, right?” — Zoning Board of Adjustment Chairman Steven Bogert, taking the rare step of leaving a public meeting for a private discussion with Planning Director Dean Trefethen. They returned four minutes later and the meeting resumed.

Coming up

The Laconia City Council will hold a public hearing Monday on an additional investment of $900,000 in the Colonial Theatre project. The council meetings begins at 7 p.m.

Two weeks ago, councilors approved the first of two required readings of a resolution in favor of this expenditure, which would cover theater equipment and bring to $5.1 million the city’s eventual financial support for refurbishing the 104-year-old downtown theatre.

A series of delays have stalled the complicated project, the latest coming when the federal government shutdown delayed the next round of allocations for New Market Tax Credits which are to provide $5.4 million for the $15 million project and represent the major unresolved piece of financing.