Thursday, June 18, 2009

Planning Board Chair out of control

This past Monday night, June 15th, during the continued hearings on the Van Dyke application, Planning Board Chairperson Margaret Sharra completely lost her composure and rudely interrupted the testimony of one of the abutters to the project who was attempting to ask a question. Given permission to step to the microphone and give testimony, he had only begun to speak when Sharra started screaming his name and after several minutes screamed at him "Do you have a question?" The abutter, Mr. Towne responded, I am trying to ask one and you are rudely interrupting me and preventing me from doing so. Mr Towne then attempted once again to ask the board why they were discussing the issue of a bond; one of the conditions they had set forth for Van Dyke, when he hadn't even gotten state approval for his water or septic designs ( requirement #1 ) gotten a signed Joint Use Agreement from PSNH ( required BEFORE he can begin construction ) notified DES of changes to plans submitted as required and gotten a new Alteration of Site permit as required by state law, gotten a new driveway permit, applied for a DES wetlands dredge and fill permit as required and to also provide evidence that they had been given false evidence regarding wetlands delineations on Van Dyke's site. He was continuously interrupted by Ms Sharra who continued to talk over him. He finally asked one last question in regards to the time the meeting finally started which was well after the 7:00pm time it had been scheduled for at the last PB meeting. Ms. Sharra had changed the agenda and times and yet never notified the abutters; yet it was apparent by Mr. Van Dyke's late arrival he was made aware of the time change; once again showing just how unfair these proceedings have become. As Mr. Towne stepped away from the microphone, Van Dyke, who had never been seated and who had remained standing off to the side of the microphone, uttered a rude comment to him and Mr. Towne turned to him and asked him to repeat his comments into the microphone for all to hear It was at that point that Ms Sharra once again started another tirade and attacked him screaming his name and making a complete fool of herself.

This woman is out of control, she's clearly biased and needs to be removed from her position as a board chairperson and member. She is NOT neutral and her conduct and actions clearly show this. We wonder why a person named in a lawsuit against the town has been allowed to continue sitting in at hearings and ethically tainting these proceedings. I guess this is a question for our Board of Selectmen.

Complaints have been filed with the State Board of Ethics and the Legal Government Center in Concord. A Citizens Complaint will also be filed with the town's Selectmen.
Though we have our doubts, we can only hope this matter is taken seriously by the board and they act in the appropriate manner. Preventing someone from giving testimony at a public hearing is a serious offense, not to be taken lightly.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the thought of her world falling apart and not being able to control the situation has gotten to her. This woman has had these issues in the past and nothing was done about it. We can only hope this time people take notice and the right people will put an end to the farce the planning board under her direction has become.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps all of you should ask around about how Ms. Sharra performed on the school board. There are several of us that were told specific things only to have them be a lie. Enough is enough and we need to move on.
I do not want her checking or appraising my real estate as I do not have the right last name.
We can vote her out in March.

Anonymous said...

Seems she continues her misleading ways today and therein lies our problem as she has her hands in so many different committees with access to grants and other funds and is the head of the land use dept. I can't understand why she's even allowed to hold office after being caught lieing to promote her views in the past. What bothers me most is the inaction of our select board and it's members; where have they been during all of this?