NH has plenty of money

GILFORD, N.H. —A Lakes Region architect is working on a design this winter for the state's new marine patrol headquarters.

Ward D'Elia of Samyn-D'Elia Architects, has been selected to design the new $1.34 million New Hampshire's Marine Patrol Bureau.

It is part of the Department of Safety. A site on the water in the Glendale section of Gilford will replace the deteriorating, existing facility.

Executive councilors in December approved the request to purchase land near the current headquarters.

Earl Sweeney, retiring assistant safety commissioner, says the existing marine patrol building is sinking into the ground.

The new building will be 26,000 square feet and house the marine patrol captain, staff, training rooms for boating safety courses.

It will also have all the features of a typical police station for any marine-related crime incidents, among other things.

State police will be able to use the facility and have a facility on the Western side of Lake Winnipesaukee. Currently, the officers have Tamworth, Concord and Twin Mountain sites as the closest facilities.

Marine patrol presides over the state's public bodies of water of 10 acres or more, including by enforcing state boating laws and all criminal laws, investigating boating accidents or drownings and inspecting commercial vessels.

The architectural firm has recently won bids and completed the $10 million Hampton Beach Seashell and associated buildings on the coast for the Department of Resources and Economic Development, and the new Hooksett visitors centers on Route 93 north and south, which are nearing completion.

I'm glad to see all of that work getting done. Tourism is our primary industry and our goal should be to encourage our visitors to come back.

New Hampshire doesn't have plenty of money, and if the new legislature does away with the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare we'll probably start seeing community hospitals, like Huggins, closing.

It was a struggle to get the gas tax raised 4 cents after 23 years, and the state wastes that money on projects like 109A with a shim coat that is already showing cracks and frost heaves. The idea of road repair is to have the road in good shape for 12-15 years, not 3 years!