No Happy Trails for Councilor Bolduc

LACONIA — The City Council last night formally accepted construction of Phase I of the Winnisquam-Opechee-Winnipesaukee (W.O.W) Recreational Trail, but not before Councilor Armand Bolduc again questioned the role of the city in the project.

In September, 2008 Bolduc was the lone dissenter when council resolved to accept the trail as a municipal project and in April, 2009 he was joined by councilor Bob Hamel (Ward 5) in the opposition minority when the council authorized City Manager Eileen Cabanel to sign an agreement with the state undertaking to contruct and manage the trail. In entering the agreement, the council understood that the project would be pursued in partnership with the WOW Trail, a group of private residents who have raised the local matching funds for the design and construction of the trail as well as committed to maintain it.

By accepting completion of Phase I, the council ensured that the state would reimburse the city $60,358, which represents the balance of the federal funds allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for the project.

Cabanel described the acceptance as "a rubber stamp," explaining that the city had already taken ownership of the trail.

But, Bolduc said "I just don't know how we can do it." As for the earlier agreement with the state, he claimed "we never saw this document until after it was signed." He said he voted against it because he had not seen it.

Councilor Henry Lipman (Ward 3), a member of the WOW Trail board of directors, recalled the council discussing the agreement, particularly the question of plowing the trail in winter. Furthermore, he reminded the council that the WOW Trail has established a trust fund to maintain the trail, which has a current balanceof $5,000.

"The trail is an addition to our city park system," he said, "and a real asset to the community."

Bolduc sought an assurance that any work performed on the trail by city departments would be reimbursed. "I think it is important that we don't pay taxpayers' money on property we don't own," he said. "There is a state law about that."

Cabanel said that city departments have been asked to keep track of any work on the trail, but told the councilors "you have to decide if this is an amenity of the city or if it will be an us and them thing."

"The WOW Trail has contributed," Lipman repeated. "It is a public-private partnership. Get used to it because there will be a lot more of it," he continued, perhaps alluding to the acquisition and restoration of the Colonial Theater. "The city can't fund everything."

Ultimately Bolduc voted to accept Phase I, saying "I'm voting for it because I want the city to get its money back. I'm not against the WOW Trail," he offered.

"Yes, you are," Mayor Mike Seymour replied, smiling.

NOTES: The council decided to auction 21 pieces of the historic Perley Oak tree located off North Main Street, each about 18 inches long and a foot in diameter, after receiving letters from half a dozen woodworkers offering to fashion mementos from the wood. The pieces were what remained of a large limb shed by the aged tree earlier this year. . . . . . The council agreed to appropriate $25,854 from the building maintenance fund to replace and expand the driveway and apron at the Weirs Beach Fire Station. In addition, the Department of Public Works will demolish the timber stairway alongside the building. . . . . . The council also approved the sale of general obligation bonds in the amount of $315,000 to extend a municipal water line to the Gate House Colony condominiums. The homes are adjacent to the abandoned city landfill off Endicott Street East (Route 11-B). For more than 20 years the city has sampled the water of residences within 1,000 feet of landfill. In 2008, when the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services added dioxane to its list of contaminants, it was discovered in the newest well serving the condominiums. The city began providing residents with bottled water and in 2009 the level of dioxane in the monitoring wells. Extending the water line ill render the contaminated wells unnecessary.