Considers per-square-foot charges

By JOHN KOZIOL

Staff Writer

LACONIA — The municipal committee studying Bike Week is recommending that the city adopt a new rate structure for site plan reviews and "user" fees. Under the new fee structure everyone would pay.

Rather than the current flat fee the city charges to review Bike Week site plans and for vendor license fees, the Motorcycle Week Advisory Committee on Monday voted to propose setting both fees on a per-square-foot basis.

"In simplest forms," the committee’s recommendations are that whatever rate the city does charge for Bike Week site plan reviews or "user" fees — the committee decided that every entity, whether an actual seller of a product or service, or an exhibitor, or even a non-profit group, should pay something, explained Peter Brunette — based on a per-square-foot formula.

The committee hopes to formally present the proposals to City Manager Eileen Cabanel by the end of the week, said Brunette, who chairs the MWAC.

If the City Council adopts the changes, the hope is that the new fee structures would be reflected in the informational packets the city’s Motorcycle Technical Review Committee and Licensing Board send out each year, respectively, to property owners who use their land for Bike Week activities and to vendors, said Brunette.

User fees for vendors would probably be at the high end of the fee scale, while exhibitors would be in the middle and non-profits toward the bottom, said Brunette, but each would pay something to Laconia to at least cover the city’s administrative costs.

At present, only "vendors" pay the licensing fee, but under the MWAC proposal everyone would pay, said Brunette, including so-called "beer tents" and temporary campgrounds.

"Every use would have some fee assigned to it so that some income was derived" for the city, Brunette said.

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 received about $15,000 less in revenues derived from rental of space on the municipal boardwalk on Lakeside Avenue, but primarily 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.

One of the reasons the City Council created the MWAC last year was to find alternative sources, other than the city, county and state, to pay for the costs of Bike Week.

The MWAC is also looking 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 feels the MWAC may have met part of its charge with its proposed changes in calculating site plan review and user fees.

"The current fee structure is unfair and encourages people to take advantage of it to the detriment of the city," said Brunette. "The committee believes this fee structure will help the little guy and generate more fees for the city, but they will be established on a more equitable basis."

Brunette acknowledged that "some vendor sites might cost less, but because we’re including more activities other than just vendors, that should offset" any potential loss in revenues to the city.

The MWAC on Monday also recommended that the site review applicant, or their agent, be responsible for collecting and paying all applicable "user" fees to the city and that the City Council should annually review and update the site plan and user fee schedules.