Council to discuss creating special committee

By JOHN KOZIOL
Staff Writer

LACONIA — The City Council will consider the formation of a Bike Week committee next month.

The committee, which would be made up of citizens and council members, would look at what is both good and bad about the annual event.

Ward 1 Councilor Paul Bordeau asked that the council put the question of a Bike Week committee on its Aug. 12 agenda under "new business."

Action on the item is not expected, however, until possibly the council’s Aug. 26 meeting so that Ward 5 Councilor Rick Judkins, who will be out of town earlier in the month, may be present.

Bordeau made his recommendation following Ward 6 Councilor Armand Bolduc’s suggestion that a referendum be held on Bike Week.

Although he never referred to it specifically, Bolduc cited a letter written to the council by an Eastman Shore Road resident who called for the referendum as a way to "let us hear from all the taxpayers of this community, not just those who sponsor the event and who seem to be the most vocal."

John P. Telgener added that he would like to see Bike Week return to a three-day and to not have any city tax dollars used to pay for it.

Mayor Mark Fraser asked Bolduc what question he would put on the referendum ballot and Bolduc replied that it would consist of two parts, asking first if a resident was "in favor of Bike Week" or not, and then whether the event should be shortened from nine days to four.

Fraser said he had concerns about the referendum because it wasn’t binding on the council and because he was unsure whether it could be placed on the ballot in time for the November elections.

City Manager Eileen Cabanel said she has asked City Attorney Walter Mitchell to find out what the process is of getting an item onto the November ballot and said she would have an answer for the council soon.

Fraser questioned the benefits of a referendum on Bike Week.

"From my perspective, it’s just going to divide the city," he said.

Bike Week is an event that will remain, said Fraser, and overall it has a positive benefit to the city and the area.

The mayor noted that as a citizen, he would like to get as much information about Bike Week as possible before voting in a referendum. The Greater Laconia-Weirs Beach Chamber of Commerce is surveying members about their feelings towards Bike Week and the Belknap County Economic Development Council is looking at the financial implications of the event, Fraser said.

Additionally, The Citizen has announced that it will hold a forum on Bike Week, he continued, and maybe the preferred course of action would be to wait until all of that information has been digested before proceeding with a referendum.

Fraser said he’d also like to see the referendum questions be more "structured" and less broad.

Bolduc said the referendum would be a useful tool. Residents are telling him that "they would like to speak out," but won’t because they are "afraid of being harassed" by Bike Week supporters, he said.

Judkins, who is the council’s representative to the Laconia Motorcycle Rally and Race Week Association, which promotes Bike Week, said he did not oppose a referendum nor fear it, but agreed with the mayor that the questions posed to residents in a referendum had to specific.

Bordeau said the mere fact that Bike Week is being discussed is a positive sign.

Although "not taboo," there has not been any substantive dialogue about Bike Week "in a number of years" and over time, it has grown from attracting tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of visitors and now requires some "soul-searching" as to its future, said Bordeau.

The outcome of the city’s look at Bike Week can only be beneficial, he said, and "should make us a better and stronger community."