Laconia City Council approves parking kiosk transfer, adopts electric aggregation plan and amends transfer-station fees; schedules two grant public hearings

The Laconia City Council on Feb. 10 voted on a series of routine and policy items: it approved moving $32,000 from the LED streetlight capital reserve fund to the parking kiosk capital reserve fund, adopted the final Laconia Electric Aggregation Plan, amended transfer-station fees for tires and established a revised late-fee schedule, approved a vendor-fee waiver for the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club and scheduled public hearings on two grant acceptances.

Votes at a glance

- Transfer between capital reserve funds (Resolution 2025‑O3): Council authorized transferring $32,000 from the LED streetlight capital reserve fund to the parking kiosk capital reserve fund and directed the city manager to sign related documents. Motion carried 5‑0. The city manager and councilors noted the LED replacement need did not materialize as expected and that kiosk upgrade costs exceeded prior estimates; council asked the government-operations committee to review the potential to enable app payments for kiosks.

- Lakes Region Sled Dog Club fee waiver: The council approved a recurring request to waive vendor and loudspeaker fees for the February sled-dog event. Motion to approve was made by Councilor Phelps, seconded by Councilor Haynes; vote was recorded 5‑0.

- Public hearings scheduled: The council set public hearings for Feb. 24, 2025, to gather public input before action on two grant matters — a cybersecurity grant for the sewer system (Resolution 2025‑O4) and a New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services exotic aquatic plant-control grant (Resolution 2025‑O5). Motions to waive full readings and schedule the hearings passed 5‑0.

- Resolution 2025‑O4 (sewer cybersecurity grant): The council authorized the city manager to pursue a grant opportunity from the Overwatch Foundation (no local match) to fund cybersecurity upgrades to the city’s sanitary sewer control systems and moved the item to a public hearing on Feb. 24, 2025. Motion carried 5‑0 on first reading; public hearing scheduled.

- Resolution 2025‑O5 (DES aquatic plant-control grant): The council accepted notification that the city has been awarded a grant from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to fund up to 50% of costs for aquatic plant control activities in Paugus Bay (city share $26,350). The council approved first and second readings and scheduled a Feb. 24 public hearing; vote actions recorded 5‑0 where taken.

- Ordinance 2025‑194‑24 (transfer-station fees and late fees): The council approved amendments to chapter 194‑24 to increase transfer-station tire disposal fees and to establish a tiered late-fee schedule for customer accounts. The council revised the late-fee tiers by friendly amendment before adoption. Adopted fee changes include: • Automobile tires: increase from $6 to $7 per tire. • Truck tires over 18 inches: increase from $10 to $13 per tire. • Heavy truck tires up to 24.5 inches: $29 disposal fee as presented. • Late-fee schedule (as amended): – $0–$300: $25 at 60 days, $50 at 90 days. – $301–$1,000: $100 at 60 days, $200 at 90 days. – $1,001–$5,000: $250 at 60 days, $500 at 90 days. – $5,001 and above: $500 at 60 days, $1,000 at 90 days. The ordinance motion passed 5‑0 after amendment and discussion about proportionality of fees.

- Laconia Electric Aggregation Plan: By unanimous vote (5‑0), the council adopted the final Laconia Electric Aggregation Plan and authorized the city manager to submit the plan to the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission for review and approval under RSA 53‑E:6. The City’s planning staff and the Electric Aggregation Committee recommended adoption; the plan will be implemented with a vendor (Freedom Energy) if the PUC approves.

Procedural and other items

- Minutes of Jan. 27, 2025: The council accepted the minutes as distributed; recorded as accepted with no corrections.

- Unfinished business and nonpublic session: The council entered nonpublic session under RSA 91‑A:3 II to discuss the acquisition, sale or lease of real or personal property and indicated no further public business would follow.

What the votes mean: Council actions included both immediate financial housekeeping (fund transfer to support a higher-than-expected kiosk upgrade cost) and policy changes (the transfer-station ordinance). Several items were set for public hearing to allow community comment before final action. The council recorded approvals by voice/hand vote and, where motions named makers and seconders in the record, those were noted.

Meeting details: motions and readings were frequently moved, seconded and carried by unanimous 5‑0 votes; several items — notably the two grant acceptances and the cybersecurity grant resolution — remain scheduled for public hearings on Feb. 24, 2025.