Ben Mere gazebo at Sunapee Harbor town common
Residents concerned about the town’s lakefront and Ben Mere common at Sunapee Harbor may learn more about the Beautification Oversight Committee’s intentions for the area when it meets Friday, September 5 at 5 PM at the town offices building, Edgemont Road. The committee’s membership, selection process and mission are likely agenda items, according to recent selectmen minutes. The meeting is open to the public.
In July, the BOC sought selectmen approval to redesign the lakefront green by installing: A stone “labyrinth/maze,” an inlaid lawn sundial, granite ornamentation (a mushroom, chicken and pebble chimes) and more granite benches. Supporters say the project will further enhance the harbor and comes at no cost to the town.
The plan immediately prompted criticism and a petition to the selectmen from residents that want to keep the small lawn open and uncluttered. Despite private donations for much of what’s done, there are town expenses not calculated in, some add.
Critics point to the traditional use of the open area, similar to a town common, and say new features will detract from its natural beauty and limit multi-functional, public use. The granite benches, they add, are a needless hazard to children and adults that casually play along the waterfront. Other objections arose because personalized, private memorials are now being located on town land traditionally reserved for community monuments.
Controversy around BOC projects is not new. In 2006, the committee withdrew a different “beautification” project for the lakefront when citizens objected to a “children’s garden” that would showcase a fabricated 21-foot “SooNi Sunapee Saurus.”
Since that time, the BOC has implemented other changes, some without select board approval, which has raised questions over who has control over the decisions affecting town land, especially property considered a public common, known for traditional community use and design.
A petition recently presented to the select board seeks a moratorium on further changes and asks for an accountable, public process. Despite that request and town assurances that all “beautification” projects other than maintenance were on hold in the harbor, a non-agenda request to blue-chip the horseshoe path to the Ben Mere gazebo was introduced and approved by the select board August 25.
Earlier in August, select board members said it was time to re-assess BOC plans and the board appointed Fred Gallup to serve as a BOC ex officio member. The September 5 meeting of the BOC will be the committee’s first public meeting since 2005 when appointed by the select board.
A public hearing on the most recent plan for the green, tentatively set for Monday, September 8, is not yet on the select board’s agenda, according to the town manager. However, the board can decide to vote on any matter brought forward even if it is not on the agenda.
The BOC is scheduled to meet Friday, September 12 at 5 PM, as well.
UPDATE, as of Sept. 6: Beautification Oversight Committee will not meet Sept. 12, but is looking to meet on Sept. 18, date and time to be confirmed.
Review prior articles for related information and a plan of the BOC proposal for the green.
Filed under: Announcements, Energy & Environment, Government, History, Sunapee Harbor | Tagged: Lake Sunapee, lakefront, preservation, public land, selectmen
