Meredith rep eyes State School for new county jail

LACONIA — Although the Belknap County Commissioners have expressed no interest in acquiring the former Laconia State School site, Rep. Bob Greemore (R-Meredith) believes they should think twice before declining the state's offer to purchase the property and consider buying it to house a new county jail.

Noting that the county commissioners are planning a new jail, Greemore said yesterday that "a number of people on the delegation see the site as an opportunity that would cost a lot less money." He said that the commissioners have proposed aligning the county jail with a network of educational and counseling services in a "community corrections" system and that there are buildings on the site, including a prison, that could accommodate the plan.

"They're missing an opportunity here," Greemore remarked.

Laconia City Councilor Matt Lahey (Ward 2), who has led the city's effort to acquire the property, said that "siting a jail on the that property would be like going back to the dark ages." He recalled that the city objected first when the state proposed locating the Lakes Region (Prison) Facility on the site, again when the state reneged on its promise to close the prison and again when the property was muted as the site for a new women's prison.

"I never would have imagined that a member of the Belknap County (House) Delegation would contemplate putting a correctional facility on that exceptional parcel of land," Lahey said.

The property consists of 228 acres divided between four tax parcels. The largest, some 200-acres, is bounded by North Main Street to the east, Meredith Center Road and Eastman Shore Road to the north and Ahern State Park to the west and south and divided roughly in half by Right Way Path. There are some 26 buildings on the parcel, all in varying degrees of disrepair, all but a handful on its western half. All three smaller parcels are leased to the city for 99 years, until 2099, for $1 a year. They include the Robbie Mills Sports Complex, 10.2 acres on Eastman Shore Road, an undeveloped 10.4-acre lot at the junction of Old North Main Street and North Main Street and an unimproved wooded lot of 7.5-acres at the corner of Lane Road and Meredith Center Road.

In 2011, the Legislature directed the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to offer the property to the city for $10-million. After the state appraised the property, the city met its $10-million offer with a counter-offer of the appraised value of $2.16-million. The state then discounted the value of the three leased parcels and offered the site to Belknap County for for $1.76-million. The county has until August 15 to accept the offer, after which it will be placed on the open market for not less than its fair market value. The Governor and Executive Council must approve the sale.

Last week Greemore approached Linda Hodgdon, commissioner of Administrative Services, the agency charged with selling the property, about arranging tours of the site for members of the Belknap County Delegation. He said that representatives will tour the site on Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon and meet to consider the state's offer before August 15.

Greemore said that "to throw away the buildings would be a waste of money and a slap in the face of the taxpayers. The bureaucrats," he continued, "always say 'let's get new, let's upgrade', but that's not good stewardship. I want the commissioners to look beyond what they're doing."

Greemore said that the commissioners did not bring the state's offer of the site to the delegation. "They only come to us when they want to spend money." He explained that if the county were to accept the offer of the property, the delegation must approve the appropriation and consequently, should be thoroughly familiar with the site. "The delegation would have to see what they're talking about," he said.

Shuddering at the prospect of returning a correctional facility to the site, Lahey described "a good example of why Laconia wants to buy the property."

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) is the most porominent among a number of lawmakers with strong misgivings about selling the property at its appraised value, let alone less. Last week he said that if a sale at $2.16-million or less is presented to the governor and council he will "vociferously" speak against accepting it.