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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2010
FRIDAY
VOL. 11 NO. 128
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LACONIA, N.H.
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Facility user fees being discussed by city would add
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Belmont thousands to cost of youth and school sports programs will drop $100k at The Lodge BY GAIL OBER
THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
BY MICHAEL KITCH THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
BELMONT — The suspension of simulcast wagering on thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing at The Lodge at Belmont will punch a buttonhole in this town’s budget as well as a pinprick in state revenues. As a licensed parimutuel operator, The Lodge is required to pay the town a fee for each day it takes wagers. The fee is
LACONIA — The Laconia Parks and Recreation Commission has created three draft proposals for instituting facility user fees that, if enacted, could increase the operating costs of many youth and non-profits, including the School District’s sports programs. Proposals, developed for consideration at
a Nov. 2 workshop, would charge youth programs, School District programs, charities and concessionaires either $10 per hour for the use of city facilities or $10 per participant, per sport. “These options are not necessarily what I feel are the best plan for the fees,” wrote Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Dunleavy in an Oct. 19 email to all five members of the commission.
“In my opinion, there are some distinct inequities with some of the options. But, I wanted to create a starting point that will allow us to formulate a plan that is as equitable, effective and easy to manage,” Dunleavy continued. User fees have long been a topic of discussion for the Department of Parks and Recreation. Dunleavy said earlier in the fall see PARK FEES page 9
see BELMONT page 11
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With help from crossing guard Cori Smith, Alicia St. John walks her grandson Zackery home from first grade at Woodland Heights Elementary School. St. John said traffic moves too quickly in the area of the school and has set out on a one-woman crusade to address the concern. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Adam Drapcho)
Slow down! BY ADAM DRAPCHO THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
LACONIA — Drivers going too fast for the conditions is a complaint many pedestrians have made. Alicia St. John, though, is trying to do something about it. St. John, a resident of High Street, walks her energetic grandson Zackery to and from Woodland Heights Elementary School every day and said she’s become shocked at the way many drivers travel along High Street and especially Winter Street Exten-
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Grandmother finds traffic moving near school way too fast
sion, the dead-end road that leads to and from the school. The area is densely settled, the streets are narrow and there’s much activity to visual distract a driver, especially before and after school, when the sidewalks are carrying students and the intersections are busy with vehicles. Too often, St. John said, the drivers’ rate of speed seems too fast for them to be able to stop abruptly for someone in a crosswalk. “You cross that street and you think, am I going to get whacked off here?” So far this
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year, she said she’s had two “close calls” crossing the street with Zackery. That’s enough for her, as they now avoid Winter Street Extension and walk along a popular path through a wooded area to get to school. That’s her short-term solution but she’s simultaneously trying to see what can be done to change the culture of speeding around the school. Earlier this year, after bringing her concern to a police officer, a mobile radar sign, see SPEEDING page 10