InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/tag/charlie-arlinghaus/)
The Common Man Roadside Hooksett welcome centers on Interstate 93 got a five-year state contract extension on a 35-year lease Wednesday despite some concern by two Executive Councilors that they are looking too far down the road.
Both Mayor Andrew Hosmer and Charlie Arlinghaus, state commissioner, said they are pleased with progress on the development of the former Laconia State School, and that an issue identified as the process moves forward is the need to have adequate water and sewer for as many as 1,900 units.
In a vote that will greatly impact the future development of the Lakes Region and was 25 years in the making, the Executive Council voted 3-2 to enter a purchase and sales agreement to sell the former Laconia State School property with Legacy at Laconia LLC for $21.5 million.
The state’s Executive Council approved 30 new housing projects from Berlin to Troy which will allow developers to build 1,472 units of housing, including 918 affordable units in the next 18 months using $50 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
The state moved closer to the construction of a new behavioral health hospital in south-central New Hampshire when the legislative Fiscal Committee voted unanimously Friday to use $15 million in federal funds in a deal with SolutionHealth, a partnership of the Elliot and Southern New Hampshire hospitals.
Lori Shibinette gave no reason at the Executive Council meeting Tuesday for her decision to take leave of the top post at Health and Human Services at the end of 2022.
Sununu said the men’s state prison in Concord has to be replaced at some point and that is projected to cost between $350 million to $500 million.
Gov. Chris Sununu gave the nod to a plan that would give bidders 60 days to come up with a sales proposal for the former Laconia State School property.
The report was released last week, which cynics might say is intended to bury the state’s $81.5 million deficit for fiscal 2020, by releasing it Christmas week when people’s attention is elsewhere.