Sununu, Kenney: State committed to funding for new 911 center

WOLFEBORO — Gov. Chris Sununu and Executive Councilor Joe Kenney said the state is committed to funding a new 911 communications center if the existing one is forced to move following the sale of the former State School property off Parade Road.

Bids to purchase the property, which has been at the center of development efforts for two years, are due by 3 p.m. on Thursday, July 18. The high bidder previously selected by the state, real estate developer Robynne Alexander of Legacy at Laconia, offered to pay $21.5 million for the 217-acre parcel but was unable to secure financing by a deadline already extended on three separate occasions.

The New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation and federal Securities and Exchange Commission are probing Alexander’s activities, according to reporting in The Boston Globe which indicated a federal judge in New Hampshire rejected Alexander’s request to retract SEC subpoenas issued for her banking records. 

Court records indicate the SEC subpoenaed Alexander’s records related to four different banks and several of her business ventures including Legacy at Laconia, her proposed mixed-use development for the State School property. 

City leaders previously indicated their desire to play a greater role in the vetting of bidders seeking to purchase the property and also to work with whoever is eventually selected to acquire a parcel to construct a new public works facility and potentially relocate other municipal buildings including substations for the police and fire departments and, years down the line, to build a new City Hall. 

But the State School property also plays host to one of just two 911 communications centers in the state in the Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid Association complex. That facility would likely be moved, pursuant to a purchase agreement between the state and the selected developer, and LRMFAA would be forced to build a new facility elsewhere.

In interviews conducted Thursday morning at a Winni GOP fundraiser, Sununu and Kenney each said the state is committed to financing the construction of a new facility if the existing one is displaced.

Sununu, who said he is confident the sale of the property would be completed before the end of his term as governor, noted negotiations on the purchase and sale agreement would take place over the next few months after bids are reviewed following the July deadline, and the one agreement to be pursued will be submitted to the Executive Council. 

“They’re going to get a brand new building,” Sununu said. “You have one or two people that are basically spouting off things that aren’t true because they want everything to be like it was in 1995 ... To have a brand new, state-of-the-art building and facility is going to be tremendous. It’s a commitment the state has made and we’re going to hold to.”

Kenney said the state has concluded its period of due diligence and worked into potential purchase and sales agreements stipulations including the discontinuance of a state road to the City of Laconia and easement issues regarding snowmobile trails on the property, but more issues could be addressed in the future. 

Following the end of the bid submission period, a technical committee will be created to review potential developers, and real estate brokerage firm CBRE Commercial Properties will present selected bids to that committee. Regardless of which bid is eventually selected by the state, the promise of financing for a new 911 center will remain intact.

Kenney said part of the purchasing agreement will include a land transfer to move the 911 mutual aid building complete with a contract stipulating a two-year transition phase. The developer and mutual aid would have a two-year lease at the current location while a new 911 center is constructed. The state has set aside $14 million for that purpose, and if more funding is needed, a new governor could secure additional funding through the capital budgeting process or transfer additional operating monies at the end of the year for that purpose.

Representatives of Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid Association have inquired to the state regarding assistance with potential costs associated with moving the facility and Kenney said they will work with them to accommodate those costs and other incidentals. 

“I think from a developer’s standpoint, if you go around to the property head-on, you’ve got these old buildings there,” Kenney said, noting moving those buildings and the 911 center represents an attractive opportunity for potential developers. “That’s not appealing to a developer, they’ll probably demolish 70% of those old buildings.”

And some representatives of the state, including Kenney, hope to see a museum constructed on the property. The Laconia State School property was home to a state prison at one point and a home for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities at another.

“I really think that we need a museum interpretive center,” Kenney said. “The history of what went on at the state property, we can’t erase that history. It’s very much entrenched in the state and in the Lakes Region.”

Regarding recent indications from city leadership they would like to come to an agreement with the selected bidder in order to retain a portion of the property for municipal use, Kenney said any negotiations to that effect would be strictly between the city and the developer. 

“At that point it’s out of the state’s hands,” Kenney said, adding the relationship between cities and the state government should be seen as more collaborative than that which exists between the state and federal governments. “We’re all taxpayers, we all live in the same area.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify a quote from Executive Councilor Joe Kenney about 70% of the buildings on the former State School property being uninhabitable.