State School marketing contract on Executive Council agenda for Wed.

LACONIA — A proposal to hire a commercial real estate broker to market the Laconia School School property is scheduled to be taken up by the Executive Council on Wednesday.

The proposal to give the contract to commercial real estate service company CBRE is on the agenda for the meeting which will take place at the Statehouse Wednesday starting at 10 a.m.

The matter was tabled at the Oct. 13 council meeting after the city raised objections to the contract because it contained no provision for the city to offer comments or ideas for the development of the property, most of which has been idle since the facility for developmentally disabled people closed in the 1990s.

Mayor Andrew Hosmer and the City Council objected to the marketing contract proposed by the state Department of Administrative Services because it gave the city no opportunity to offer input on what strategy the firm would use to find potential buyers for the property which consists of about 250 acres and 27 buildings.

The city is particularly concerned that Gov. Chris Sununu’s push to sell the property as soon as possible could result in only the frontage property being sold to a developer with the rest of the 250-acre complex left to deteriorate further.

The city is pushing for a comprehensive plan to develop the entire property for a variety of uses, including commercial, retail and residential.