I would like to thank the people that have contacted me with their thoughts, ideas and problems. I have been able to help bring attention to the problems conveyed and achieve fair resolutions to them. The ideas and thoughts have been very helpful and some of them are being discussed to bring about positive changes in our fair city.

I would like to encourage more input from the residents of Laconia. You may contact me either through this site by posting comments, via e-mail at greg@knytych.net or by phone at 455-0114.

Keep an eye on my blog because there are some exciting posts coming concerning the NH Retirement System issues, the Heritage Commission, the Demolition Ordinance, and Education Funding just for starters.

I thank everyone for their support and am excited to have the opportunity to make a difference.

Monday night was the first business meeting of the City Council and the agenda was thick. With the holidays, the Christmas Eve meeting and the Inauguration there was a lot of business that ended up being put off until this meeting. We struggled through an agenda that contained 3 Presentations, 10 Consent and Action Items, Committee Reports, Manager’s Report, New Business, Unfinished Business and Council Comments, but accomplished a lot.

The presentations started off on a good note with the presentation of Debra Bieniarz Award for Outstanding Service to the Youth and Children of Laconia to Bert Decormier and Bill Tuttle, who have been involved with Laconia Little League since its beginning. The way they were tricked to attend the meeting was wonderful. City Clerk Ann Kaligian came up with the idea to have them come to the meeting to argue against the MMS construction encroaching on Colby Field in a way that would affect the upcoming Little League season. Mayor Matt Lahey continued this deception by unrolling a piece of paper that was going to show how the field would be affected. When he unrolled the paper and showed it to the audience it was blank. He then began the presentation, which was a surprise to the co-recipients and their look of shock and surprise was priceless.

The next presentation was by Jody Connor, from NH DES and Brian Wolf, from the Lake Winnisquam Association. It concerned the growing plumes of Milfoil on Lake Winnisquam and a request for $5,000 to help pay for chemical treatment. There was some good discussion about this topic and some good questions asked. There is a fee on boat registrations that is supposed to help fund the eradication programs in the state but that money is also used in other boating programs, not leaving enough money to maintain the lakes. I discovered that last year there was a bill to require out of state boaters to pay $10 to use our lakes. I understand that this bill passed the House and Senate but was killed by the Governor. The end result is that we all agreed that this is just another example of the state shirking their responsibility to maintain New Hampshire Lakes from exotic vegetation. This request will be reviewed in the normal budget process and prioritized with the other items in the budget. I feel that some Corporations are working on helping local environmental programs and that there is grant money available for this program. I will be looking for ways to help this effort.

The last presentation was from Shanna Saunders, the Planning Director concerning the EPA report on “Smart Growth”. I haven’t had a chance to read all of this report but what I have read is wonderful. The Planning Department is going to use this report in updating the Master Plan and the Council will use the Master Plan to monitor the implementation of the report. Attorney Pat Woods mentioned that he is sharing the Downtown portion of the report with businesses in the Downtown area to help get support in implementing this part of the overall project. I plan on sharing the Weirs Beach portion of the program with the Weirs Action Committee to get the same results. Shanna said that her department will be posting the report on their web site soon and I will let you know when that happens.

There were several important issues on the Consent and Action Calendar that were discussed, but I will save them for my next posting. During the Council Comments I brought forward the issue that the Lou Athanas Youth Basketball League has issued a challenge to participate in the food-drive/fund raising "Free Throw" event at MMS on Saturday, February 9th at 6:30 PM. I also reported that the same challenge was issued to the School Board and that there was a challenge issued to both for bragging rights as to who could make the most free throws. The Council has accepted the challenge and I invite everyone out to witness the competition. It promises to be fun!!

Welcome to my blog site. I am Greg Knytych, the newest Laconia City Councilor. I live in and was elected from Ward 1, but I really represent all citizens and residents of Laconia. It is a new year and there are many exciting things happening in the city. My plan is to utilize this site to update the fine people of Laconia on what is happening in the city from the City Council and what is happening at the County, State and Federal arenas that may affect us.

I see this blog as an opportunity to provide valuable information to my local friends and neighbors and for them to provide me with input on what they are concerned with and interested in. I believe that a representative government is only as good as the input of those being represented. I encourage open and honest dialogue to help continue the positive direction I feel our city is heading.

There will be some controversial issues discussed and, after reviewing the pro's and con's of each issue I will be providing my thoughts. I know many people are already concerned about the proposed renovation at the Huot Technical School for many reasons. I have heard from individuals that don't think the school needs to be renovated as well as those individuals that think we should complete a renovation no matter the cost. It is still too early to decide what level if any that we pursue, but I can assure everyone that no matter what is decided I will not break the tax cap to fund this project. With that said I am confident that there are creative ways to complete any renovations necessary without going in debt we can't afford.

My hope is to start this site with positive input from all of you. I'm interested in what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of our city and on areas you see that can be improved upon. If anyone would prefer to contact me directly instead of publishing you comments here you may call my cell phone at 455-0114 or e-mail me at greg@knytych.net.