Utility Wires

In the spring of 2001, the city of Laconia appropriated an inital amount of $160,000 to relocate the utility wires on Lakeside Avenue, beginning at Route 3, and continuing on to Tower St. Some wires were to be relocated to existing utility poles on Veterans Ave, while other wires were to be relocated by traveling up existing utility poles on Route 3 and down existing utility poles on Tower St.

As it became clear that the true cost of the project was roughly double that of the initial appropriation, an additional amount of $160,000 was sought. At a May 8, 2002 meeting of the Laconia city council, a vote to appropriate the additional funds was defeated.

The reason for the defeat was that the Weirs Beach community was itself divided on the issue. While actual burial of the wires was estimated to cost upward of $1.5 million, far more than the cost of their relocation, certain members of the Weirs Beach community did not want the wires to be relocated, as the wires were to be relocated in front of their properties.

Burial of the utility wires remained a top priority of the Weirs Beach community. Commercial resort areas where wires have been buried have attracted considerable new business investment. For example, Maine’s Old Orchard Beach, which began a series of improvements in the late 1980’s to give the resort a more Victorian look, that eventually included the burial of its wires, resulted in a resurgence of its waterfront which includes not only upscale shops, but also a 5-story retail and condominium complex opened in 2007 called the Grand Victorian, “modeled after the Grand Hotels of the 1920’s and 1930’s”.

In 2017, the utility wires in Weirs Beach were finally buried. Below is a timeline of the project.

City Manager Scott Myers adds the Lakeside Avenue project to his monthly “Laconia Project Updates” newsletter. The City requests an estimate from Eversource for burial of the utility wires – power, phone, cable, and fire alarm. The City meets with a traffic engineering consultant to review pedestrian safety and streetscape improvements, including upgraded crosswalks and sidewalks.

Utility burial is estimated to cost $700,000. Burial would require placing transformer sector cabinets at several private property locations and obtaining permission from the property owners. There would be no cost to the owners. Burial would remove 14 poles, and increase sidewalk width. The 12 existing street lights on one side of the street would be replaced by 50 LED light poles on both sides of the street. Estimated cost for the light replacement is $250,000. Another proposed enhancement is replacing the 121 meters with 14 parking kiosks. The kiosks would be solar powered, take coins or credit cards, and cost $150,000. Concrete sidewalks instead of asphalt would cost $70,000. Stamped colored concrete crosswalks instead of paint markings would cost $60,000. Streetscape/sidewalk furniture another $20,000. Adding design costs of $200,000 and a contingency of $250,000 to the base project, the entire package of enhancements is estimated at $1,700,000. The enhancements would be paid for by borrowing from future proceeds of the Weirs TIF District.

While at this point the base project had been approved, none of the enhancements had been. The City Council would have to approve the utility burial in June in order to meet the base project timetable. The other enhancements could be decided upon later.

After much discussion, the City Council votes unanimously to approve burial of the utility wires and new street lights. Weirs TIF funding will be utilized at 85% for the first three years and 80% thereafter, with the total not to exceed $1,150,000.

The Water Commission also meets on October 6. The Commission notes that the new water main for the Foster Avenue – Tower Street block has been completed. This is the first leg of the revamped system.

The Council then discusses the project. Councilor David Bownes states that he feels this is a good investment and it will help make the Weirs a year round destination. Councilor Bob Hamel states that he feels this project will make a big difference in the Weirs but reiterated that unless everyone is all in, nothing is going to change. Councilor Ava Doyle comments that this project will benefit the entire community in the end for what she feels is small amounts of money in the long run. This is what the Weirs businesses and community wants and the Council should follow through.

Only Councilor Brenda Baer states that she is not in favor of the expanded project. Baer had written in a letter to the Laconia Daily Sun that “…there is only so much money available for roadwork and it seems the Weirs thinks it all should go to them for the short summer season. The rest of the city is here all year and their needs are year round…”. She also questions, “How many improvements have the business owners made to their property on Lakeside Avenue?”

Mayor Engler comments that he has never understood why the project would stop at Tower Street and with all due respect to conflicting opinions this needs to be done right.

A motion to approve the project with a bond not to exceed $1.6 million is made. Four of the six councilors must vote in favor for the project to be approved. The Mayor is not allowed to break a tie in bonding situations. Councilors Bownes, Hamel, Doyle, and Armand Bolduc vote in favor. Councilor Baer votes opposed. Councilor Lipman is absent. The motion passes.

Discussion continues with comparison of parking kiosks to meters. Earlier, during the public comments, Ames had said he supported the kiosks for many reasons, mostly the visual appeal for the area and for the additional walking space that would be available, while Paradise Beach Club owner Brett Loring had said he favored meters. City Manager Myers reviews the pluses and minuses of each, and concludes that the staff recommendation is to move forward with kiosks.

Ultimately, besides the above cabinet, another five sector cabinets are placed along Lakeside Avenue. The largest cabinets are placed on New Hampshire Avenue adjacent to the NHVA headquarters, and on Tower Street behind the Tower Hill Tavern. Additional cabinets are placed next to the Boardwalk Bar and Grill; between Romeo’s Balcony and Cavalry Headquarters , and behind the Weathervane restaurant.

Also in January, Eversource requests a meeting to discuss a cost increase in their part of the project.

Councilor Hamel comments that the initial vote to approve the project was based on the $311,000 estimate, and at the higher price, it would not have been approved. Hamel states that Eversource has been performing this type of work for some time, and should have had a better estimate initially. The City approved Eversource’s estimate in good faith, so Eversource should absorb a portion of the additional cost. He warns that items may need to be cut from the project.

City Manager Myers will ask Eversource to attend a special Council meeting in two weeks to present more information and options.

Mayor Engler suggests that the Council authorize the City Manager to enter into immediate conversations with Eversource to determine what the final financial obligation of the City will be. The Council so moves. The City Manager is to report back to the Council at the next regular meeting, as the Council needs to make an expedited decision on the project in order to meet the project schedule. Councilor Hamel notes that Council is in a difficult position because they have voted on a project with specific items which will need to be cut if a financial agreement is not reached.

Discussion ensues on how to pay for the overage. Councilor Lipman asks if there are items in the project that could be eliminated that could save funds but still maintain a quality project. Myers reviews some areas that have not been completed including concrete sidewalks, stamped concrete crosswalks, and brick accents. Councilor Doyle comments that she feels that doing anything other than the original scope would cheapen the project and would not save money in the long run. Councilor Bolduc agrees with this sentiment. Councilor Bownes comments that he feels it is necessary to complete the project as designed and encourages looking further into TIF funding.

Myers recommends using additional Weirs TIF funds; this would result in no additional borrowing by the City. A motion is made to use the Weirs TIF funds at 100% until the amount due to the General Fund is reimbursed. The motion passes unanimously. The Council will review the payback schedule in two years, and if the payback is occurring at a greater pace than expected, the Council could discuss modifying the funding percentage.

Captain Jim Morash of the Mt. Washington Cruises states that he and his partners have no issue with the ordinance as proposed, but did ask that it be adopted with the philosophy that the Weirs is going to be a tourist friendly area, because having a good experience is important for all of the visitors.

Robert Ames states that the Half Moon Enterprises has reviewed the ordinance and has no issues, with the exception of the change to the ending hour of enforcement. He feels the enforcement should be continued until 10:00 p.m., as in the current ordinance. The extra hours are at a peak business time, and he feels that having unlimited parking after 8:00 p.m. would have a negative impact on Weirs businesses. Ames further comments that the 8pm time was not being put forward by recommendation of the businesses in the Weirs, because they met through the Weirs Action Committee, at which time the only recommended change was to the fees being increased.

Council amends the ordinance to reflect enforcement from 9am to 10pm. The ordinance passes unanimously.

Council discusses the need to clarify the time limits at each parking space with proper signage and/or line markings. The issue of time limits and signage will be placed on the agenda for Council’s next meeting.

After discussion, agreement is reached. On both sides of Lakeside Avenue, parking from New Hampshire Avenue to Route 3 will continue to be at five hour limits. On the Westerly side of Lakeside Avenue, parking from New Hampshire Avenue to Foster Avenue will continue to be at two hour limits. The only change is to the Easterly side of Lakeside Avenue. Between the Mount and the Pier, the parking limit will be raised from two hours to three hours.

By Memorial Day weekend, concrete sidewalks and bumpouts are completed on the East side of Lakeside Avenue, and on the West side from New Hampshire Avenue to Foster Avenue. This takes care of most all of the Weirs businesses, but the sidewalk is still under construction on the West side, from New Hampshire Avenue to Route 3. The uncompleted portion is in front of the NH Veterans Association, a few private homes, and the Boardwalk Bar and Grill.

Besides the uncompleted portion of sidewalk, the remaining items are the lamp posts, parking kiosks, brick accents, irrigation, and stamped concrete crosswalks.

Memorial Day weekend 2017 is a dark one, as there is no lighting at night with the old utility poles removed and the new LED light posts still not set. Everyone parks for free that weekend, as the parking kiosks, delivered to the City just before the weekend, have not yet been installed. The brick accent work is proceeding very slowly, and there remain big piles of bricks along the uncompleted sections of sidewalk. The stamped concrete crosswalks will not be installed until after the final paving course is laid down in the fall. During the summer of 2017 the crosswalks are simply painted onto the road.

The brick accents start at the bumpout on the West side of Lakeside Avenue at Tower Street, and continue along the West side nearly to Route 3. There are no brick accents in the Tower Street to Foster Avenue sidewalk, or anywhere on the East side of Lakeside Avenue. The brick accents that were planned for the Easterly bumpouts are missing.

During the Lakeside Avenue project, water service connections for possible future irrigation water faucets were placed in service boxes in the bumpouts in front of the NHVA and in front of the Half Moon Family Fun Center. Cost was about $3000. The original, $20,000 plan to run irrigation all the way from Route 3 to Tower Street proved infeasible, as the irrigation line would have interfered with the utility conduit.

The Lakeside Avenue project was finally complete.