Residents, council at odds over moving Franklin's iconic Kayak Man

FRANKLIN — Residents stood in line to voice their opinions on city matters Monday night at the Elks Lodge, speaking for over an hour total under a new three minutes per person limit.

The council was considering moving Kayak Man, a downtown art installation, from in front of the historic trestle to a less prominent location.

“It takes away from the attraction of the trestle,” Ward 2 Councilor Tom Boyce said.

Kayak Man is a 22-foot art piece created by Colby Morrill from seven kayaks, as part of a contest put on by former City Manager Judie Milner. The statue was unveiled during the 2019 Winnipesaukee River Days event.

While some councilors agreed Kayak Man should be moved, some even saying the statue is not to their liking, those who spoke during public comment reflected a desire to keep the Kayak Man where it stands. Bob Lucas of Ward 1 believes the effort to relocate the statue is part of a larger contrarian movement in the city.

“It looks like small potatoes to anybody outside, but I will tell you that that's symbolic of the revitalization and rebranding of Franklin,” he said. “And there are people in this town who want to stomp on that any way they can, any way they see fit.”

Former City Councilor Valerie Blake felt the discussion was a waste of time.

“Everything that you folks have to think about, I do not know why this is even on the agenda tonight,” she said.

The motion originally called to move Kayak Man to another place within Mill City Park. Councilors soon learned from City Manager Scott Clarenbach that Kayak Man was donated to the city by Morrill, making it city owned property, and is currently on city land.

Councilor Leigh Webb of Ward 3, historical society president and self-described preservationist, likes the current location of Kayak Man.

“The fact that Kayak Man is in front of that trestle as an expression of art is, to me, combining the past and the present,” he said.

The vote on the matter was postponed to May’s meeting.

Superintendent Dan LeGallo and city School Board Chair Liz Cote delivered an education update. The pair highlighted student achievements, including Franklin High School 10th grader Kourtney Kaplan, named state Division IV Basketball Player of the Year, after surpassing 1,000 career points.

“I'll remind you, she's only a sophomore, so we have hopefully two more years to enjoy that as well,” LeGallo said.

LeGallo also highlighted the school district's robotics teams. The high school robotics team was restarted after a lack of interest last year.

Franklin High School Players performed at the New Hampshire Educational Theater Guild Regional Theatre Festival in Windham, and won. They move on to the state competition at Gilford High School, and will perform at 10:05 a.m. Saturday, April 12. 

Feeling the pressure from national trends fighting diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools, Cote advocated for the school district’s initiatives. She believes the schools are teaching accurate, verified and varied accounts of history, and believes discussions on legal inequity, exclusion and discrimination is not discriminatory, but rather encourages students to care for one another and consider their impact on others.

“We have no initiatives to create or perpetuate inequities. Quite the opposite,” Cote said. “We want what's best for our students, all of our students, and any personal unwillingness or inability to comprehend facts through a cloud of ignorance will not deter us from supporting our students.”

State legislation was also a discussion topic. State Rep. James Thibualt (Merrimack 25) gave a legislative update, highlighting 10 of the 200 bills acted on in the House, including expanding the education freedom account program to families making 400% of the federal poverty limit, a state budget bill to increase investments into public schools and special education, a bill to protect children from cyberbullying, and to protect civil sex spaces such as bathrooms and locker rooms. Councilor Ed Prive (Ward 3) raised concerns about a bill passed in the House which aims to get rid of annual vehicle inspections. He fears getting rid of the inspection will be dangerous, and costly.

“I think it's asking for trouble,” Prive said. “Then all the millions and millions and millions of dollars that the state spent on all of these machines that go out to every state inspection station will be obsolete, and there's no way of recovering the money from those things unless you want to have a yard sale.”

Police Chief Poirier gave an update about a bail bill signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte. He explained the court will not be required to set cash bail based on the amount the defendant is able to pay. The bill also looks at determining a defendant's danger to society or themselves and flight risk by requiring probable cause, instead of clear and convincing evidence. Poirier thinks the bill will ultimately affect 30%-35% of the department’s cases.