Licensing, fee changes proposed

By JOHN KOZIOL

Staff Writer

LACONIA — The municipal committee studying ways of improving Bike Week is ready to brief the City Council on the significant changes it would like made to the current licensing and site plan fee systems.

The council meets on Monday and Peter Brunette, who chairs the Motorcycle Week Advisory Committee, in an e-mail to the council members this week, said he and his committee are prepared to explain the new fee system.

On Nov. 24, the MWAC decided that the fairest way and best method of ensuring that the city was reimbursed fully for Bike Week-related costs was to come up with a "user" fee for everyone.

During the annual rally, the city’s Police, Fire and Public Works departments are kept very busy, while leading up to it, the municipal Motorcycle Technical Review Committee and Licensing Board — each of which is made up of city employees — meet for hours to do the administrative work, including site plans reviews and processing vendor licenses.

To cover all of those costs, the MWAC said user fees should be set on a per-square-foot basis rather than the current flat fee the city charges to review Bike Week site plans and for vendor licenses. The City Council would set the actual rate.

The user fee would be applied to every entity, whether an actual seller of a product or service, or an exhibitor, or even a non-profit group, Brunette has said, adding in his e-mail that if the City Council acted quickly enough, the new rate structure and fee schedule could be reflected in the informational packets the Motorcycle Technical Review Committee and Licensing Board send out each January to property owners and vendors.

For Bike Week 2003, the City Council allocated $187,520 to cover the costs of providing various municipal services including police, fire and public works, but generated about $15,000 less than that in revenues derived from rental of space on the municipal boardwalk on Lakeside Avenue and from vendor license fees.

The vendor fee is currently $450, but fees are lower for vendors who have multiple sites at one venue and also for non-profit groups.

The City Council created the MWAC last year to find alternative sources, other than the city, county and state, to pay for the costs of Bike Week and also to look at Bike Week’s impact on the city public relations and infrastructure; whether it would be in the city’s "best interest" to assume responsibility for the event; whether its nine-day duration should be changed; and ways of forging a better relationship with businesses.

Brunette noted in his e-mail that the MWAC feels that "the current site review fee structure, including those charged for such uses as temporary campgrounds, beer tents, parking, special events and the like, does not adequately cover administrative and infrastructure costs or generate revenue for the City."

Ordinances relating to Bike Week licensing and site plan review should be amended, he said, "to prevent the current practice of expanding and merging vendor sites and more fairly and equitably distribute the associated costs among all participants."

The MWAC’s recommendations are that user fees should be set on a per-square-foot basis with a fixed minimum fee; that fees be based on use, such as vending, non-vending/exhibition, and charitable; that the site plan review applicant should be responsible for collection and payment of user fees; and that the city should review fees annually.

Brunette said the MWAC hopes to have a final report to the City Council by Jan. 26.