By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

MEREDITH – Coming off what businesses considered an excellent Columbus Day Weekend for tourism, Gov. Chris Sununu criticized the state’s television coverage over the weekend which he said suggested there were too many visitors.

“There is no such thing,” Sununu said after an Executive Council meeting at Church Landing in Meredith Wednesday. And he said the state loves snow, too, which he contends sometimes gets negative television coverage.

Tourism is the state’s second largest aspect of the economy behind manufacturing, supporting in 2024 80,900 jobs, according to NH Employment Security and $1.4 billion in visitor spending, according to Visit NH.

People came in droves not just to see the fall leaves but also to go to farm stands and fields and will soon go skiing and vacation, the outgoing governor said.

“And just to state for the obvious, that’s a really good thing,” said Sununu.

He took issue with the state’s only television station WMUR for its coverage, which he said left the viewer with thoughts that the state might try to limit visitors.

A request for comment from the Hearst-owned television station did not get an immediate reply.

Both Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs, and Commissioner of Transportation Bill Cass said that the single busiest holiday annually is Columbus Day and that the state saw an increase of three percent of motorists going through the tolls. 

Sununu said at the Executive Council meeting where at an earlier breakfast meeting, state and SKI NH officials underscored the importance of tourism that “snow is wonderful. And I am talking to the media here,” criticizing reporting that would suggest the state does not like snow.

The timing was appropriate as the governor nominated Michelle Cruz of Conway to be the director of the Division of Travel and Tourism Development within the Department of Business and Economic Affairs.

If confirmed, she will replace Lori Harnois of Concord who has resigned.

Sununu said there is always enough room for visitors to come to the Granite State and criticized WMUR-TV television coverage over the weekend which showed long traffic lines on the highways.

He said that those types of reports hurt the state.

Caswell said tourism is the state’s second largest industry. 

Since the pandemic, New Hampshire has grown its tourism business tremendously.

He offered statistics that showed overnight visitor volume in New Hampshire has gone from 11.5 million person trips in 2020 to 14.5 million and total visitor spending for the same time period going from $4.6 billion to $7.6 billion.

Sununu asked how the state has fared with its closest market competitors, Maine and Vermont.

While Vermont, which Caswell said limited its outdoor “openness” during the pandemic, compared to the Granite State, and stopped its New York promotions entirely for a time, the Green Mountain state is slowly getting that market back, he said but is not in the same market position as Maine and New Hampshire enjoy.

“I think there was a difference both in terms of how open New Hampshire remained versus Vermont in the summer of 2020 and summer of 2021,” Caswell said, which may have had a long-term impact for the Green Mountain state.  

The state had projected that this fall there would be 3.7 million visitors and $1.8 billion in spending and while that season has now concluded, Caswell said he does not yet have the data to see if those predictions turned out.

He said before the meeting that he drove down through Franconia Notch and it was snowing, a sign of things to come.

The meeting was the sixth and the last “Road Show” of the summer months which allow councilors from each district and the governor to choose a location to showcase some aspects of the region. 

This meeting location was chosen by the governor, he said, to highlight the glorious foliage and the treasure of the state’s outdoor offerings, on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee.

The governor and Executive Council agreed to a photo request by InDepthNH.org outside with Meredith Bay in the background. With the election coming in November, it will mean that at least two of the councilors, Cinde Warmington of Concord, the lone Democrat and Ted Gatsas of Manchester, a Republican, will no longer be at the table approving contracts, judges and department heads. Warmington ran unsuccessfully for governor in the primary as a Democrat and could not run for re-election and Gatsas has decided to retire.

Sununu said during the pandemic, there was a bit of difficulty for some locations and businesses because so many people new to the area did not understand the state and the importance it places on its outdoors with trash being left and other issues. But he said that was a learning curve and not as noticeable now.

The Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce, which launched an information campaign after those difficulties in 2020 and 2021 said this has been a record-breaking fall foliage season for its members.

Many member businesses reported selling out for the Columbus Day holiday period. Others also stated the weekend prior was just as strong if not busier. 

“I was excited to see that several member businesses reported record-breaking sales for the period, both hotels and restaurants. After a summer season that was uneven, our local business community needed this boost. This supports North Conway’s reputation as the premiere New England destination for foliage seekers,” stated Cruz, the chamber’s executive director in a statement prior to the meeting and unrelated to her nomination.

Trevor Sullivan, General Manager of the White Mountain Hotel in North Conway, stated they broke all internal sales records. 

“This holiday weekend is always the busiest of the year for us, and this year was no different. We had a very strong three days,” Chris McNevich, marketing coordinator for Purity Spring Resort in Madison. He reported that their lodging was sold out for the weekend too.

Alex Foti, President of Bretton Woods Vacations, said they also sold out, and noted that vacationers were coming from all over.

“This is the time of the year when our traditionally Northeast focused guest base becomes much more diverse, with guests from all over the East Coast and even abroad. We had a cancellation due to Hurricane Milton, but the home was quickly rebooked.” 

The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Pinkham Notch lodging also reported being sold out for all three nights of the holiday weekend.

As the first snowfall of the year has come, businesses are already seeing bookings for winter and making plans for snow-related activities.

Sullivan said at the White Mountain Hotel it is still too early to tell but December has early signs of “looking strong.”

KATI PRESTON HONORED

Holocaust survivor Kati Preston of Barnstead was honored for her work to bring understanding to the history of the genocide.

Sununu praised her for her work including going to the state prison to discuss hate.

She praised the state for including education on the Holocaust as part of the state’s curriculum in one year and said she has never faced discrimination in this state.

NOMINATIONS AND CONFIRMATIONS

Three individuals were nominated to be justice of the New Hampshire Circuit Court.

They are Xiorlivette Bernazzani of Goffstown, Keith Clouatre of Marlborough and Leslie Leonard of North Conway 

Former House Speaker Gene Chandler of Bartlett, a Republican, was confirmed as the Carroll County representative to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission. 

He will replace Republican Susan G. Price of Moultonborough who resigned following allegations she had violated the law by discussing personnel issues with staff, which she has denied.

The council also confirmed for reappointment Emelia A.S. Galdieri of Chichester as the Commissioner of Banking and Matthew Mayberry of Dover to the Community College System Board of Trustees and Andrew J. Briere of Concord as Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Transportation.

EXIT 4A AND PLOW DRIVERS

A right of way contract which includes $2 million toward the construction of Interstate 93’s Exit 4A development in Londonderry was approved Wednesday, pleasing Gatsas of Manchester. He is a big supporter of the project which he said will stimulate development in the southern area of the state.

The state has been able to get 100 of the 200 needed plow drivers for the winter, the council was told by Cass. A few weeks ago, they were looking for 200 when the council approved incentive pay to fill the vacancies. The department has about a 25 percent vacancy rate and that has been stable and winter maintenance is about the same.

“We are losing people to retirements…and other opportunities,” Cass said. “We do find the winter retention bonus has been successful in retaining people.”

DEFERRED COMPENSATION COMMISSION CRITICIZED FOR LACK OF AUDITS

It has been five years since an audit was done by the Deferred Compensation Commission which oversees retirement benefits for 8,644 former state employees and has over $500 million of their funds invested. 

A financial audit will be done but in the past it has not produced an annual report. 

“If I was one of those people I would be screaming for that,” said Gatsas.

The governor said he thought a performance audit would be healthy and said he would be working on the issue in the coming weeks with some recommendations.

CONTRACTS APPROVED INCLUDING MENDUMS POND

The council approved funding for municipal water connection projects in Londonderry to deal with PFAS contamination, to improve the Mendums Pond “high hazard dam” in Nottingham, complete a $1 million replacement of the Portsmouth Fish Pier and for the first time, create a summer food EBT program for 44,000 of the state’s neediest children in 2025.

Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Bob Scott said 100 gallons per minute is leaking from the dam at Mendums Pond.

He said there will be a drawdown of the pond in November, construction of a cofferdam next March and will be able to start filling the water body up but work will not be completed until the following year.

“This is a high hazard dam so we take it very seriously,” he said. He assured the department would not allow it to fail and inundate homes and roads downstream.

The state is using federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to do the project.

There was public discourse and notification of the community, Scott said.

CANNON TRAM UPDATE

Franconia Notch State Park’s Cannon Mountain Tramway is nearing the end of its life span and Executive Councilor Joe Kenney of Wakefield, a Republican, asked for an update on the replacement plans and whether it will run this winter.

He was told that yes, the tram will run and that the state is working on funding a replacement.

Sarah Stewart, commissioner of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, said the tram had a very lucrative weekend and is running great.

She said $18 million was allocated through the last budget process but the state received only one bid for $33 million.

Stewart said the department is working with the state Department of Public Works to separate some aspects of the contract with the hope of putting it out to bid for a smaller scope of work.

“We believe the towers can be certified and not part of the replacement to reduce costs,” she said.

Executive Councilor David Wheeler of Milford, a Republican voted against a separate matter, a request to get loans for general maintenance at Cannon rather than using capital budget money or revenues from the rent from the lease at Mount Sunapee. However, the vote was 4-1 to approve the request.

LACONIA STATE SCHOOL UPDATE

Commissioner of Administrative Services Charlie Arlinghaus was asked by Councilor Kenney about updates with Pillsbury Realty, which has been selected to enter into an agreement to buy the former Laconia State School, which was formerly used to house developmentally disabled people. 

He said they do not have to communicate on a regular basis on progress toward closing.

Arlinghaus noted the department has been to the property once with officials for Pillsbury since the council voted to select them, but the group is on their own over the next six months during its due diligence period and do not need to check in with him.

He said he thought they would be talking with the City of Laconia.

Pillsbury Realty’s Kevin Smith, he said, has experience talking with the media and the public. He is the former town manager of Londonderry.

Asked if it has a public relations representative Arlinghaus said “I think it would be a good idea,” if they hired a spokesman to help answer questions.

The firm has offered $10.5 million to buy the tract and develop it into a combination residential and commercial development called Laconia Village, which could have upon development more than 2,000 residential units at market rate on the 217-acre parcel off Parade Road. The offer is conditional upon securing all permits to build and it could take up to two years for the deal to close.