Tuesday, May 31, 2011

PLEASE HELP SAVE OUR HERITAGE

An Historic home near the center of Winchester at the beginning of the town's Historic District is in DANGER of being destroyed by an out of state company, and replaced by another dollar store.

The building has a long history and at its core it is a Federal style home, typical of the earliest architecture of homes after the Revolution. More recent parts of the building were part of a unique feature of Winchester's town in the early twentieth century called "Seven Acres."  

This Main Street home is part of the town's historic row alongside the ELM center and the Shipman Tavern. Save Our Heritage and call the Town Hall, send a letter to the Historic District Commission and ZBA to state your support for keeping the Historic look of our town, and preserving this heritage home.

 Do we want Winchester to become tacky town, or do we believe we live in a beautiful place? Lets keep it beautiful for the future. Make calls to your friends, and please come to the Public hearing on June 9th 7 p.m. at the Winchester Town Hall.



The house in question is located at 71 main Street and up until a month or so ago contained tenants and was occupied. The owner of the home is none other than Margaret Sharra, who instead of fixing up the house and preserving the history of Winchester, she's looking to make a very substantial personal gain. Is this why she pushed to change Zoning Laws and Site Plan Regulations earlier this year and worded those changes herself? Sure does make one wonder who she really represents sitting on the Planning Board and working in the Land Use Office.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Memorial Day --- Honoring Our Fallen Heroes

Across the nation, many cities and towns will hold celebrations, parades and of course there will be the obligatory barbecues. Many speakers will give oratory honoring those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, crowds will cheer and wave Old Glory and bands will play rousing military music. Please take a moment this weekend to visit a local cemetery and say a small prayer of thanks over the grave of a veteran who has given their lives so that you may enjoy yours.

This was a favorite poem of my father, a veteran of WWII who was wounded serving our great nation, he carried it in his wallet so he never forgot the friends he lost on the battlefields of Europe. It was written by Dr. John McCrea and first published in 1915. I'd like to share it with all of you as we honor our heroes this weekend.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.  


Friday, May 13, 2011

Margaret Sharra, a Real Piece of Work !

Just how vindictive and manipulative can this woman get? There is no room for personal agendas on  town boards and as an employee of the town, she's an embarrassment to her position and the town as well.


Accusations are flying on the town’s planning board.


One member has received a vote of no confidence in the wake of the board’s decision to allow the owner of a town gravel pit to run an asphalt plant at the same location.

Now, it’s up to the town’s selectmen to decided if they will consider removing planning board member Kim Gordon from office.
Gordon was the sole member to vote against Mitchell Sand and Gravel’s asphalt plant application when it was approved Jan. 3., because it was an incomplete application and many questions about this plant had not been answered.
She is under fire for her decision to submit a sworn statement as part of a lawsuit filed by abutters to the planned plant against the town. She was contacted by the attorney representing the abutters and was asked to answer several questions or be subpoenaed to do so. Rather than be subpoenaed she agreed to answer questions in general but not to divulge any confidential information she had received as a Planning Board member. Other members of the board had also been contacted and spoke with the abutter's attorney; yet only Ms. Gordon has received Sharra's ire over this, how come?
In the affidavit, Gordon states board Chairman Margaret Sharra was incorrect when, on Feb. 7, she rejected an abutter’s motion to reconsider the vote, saying the board’s rules prohibited a reconsideration.
Gordon’s statement also suggests Sharra acted in bad faith.
“I believe that, as our Chairman, Margaret Sharra knew that our rules allow for reconsideration. She created our rules of procedure in 2009,” Gordon wrote in the affidavit.
In a letter to board members dated April 25, Sharra wrote she believes Gordon’s statement “is apparent of her thorough dislike for me. ... this dislike has created a toxic environment which has affected the board’s integrity and the functioning of the board.”
In the letter, Sharra also accuses Gordon of sharing confidential information with opponents of the asphalt plant, yet she provides no proof as the accusations are baseless.
At the end of the letter, Sharra moves for a vote of no confidence in Gordon.
The board passed the motion at its May 2 meeting. Members voted 3-yes ( Sharra, Beaman and Blodgett) one-no and one member abstained ( Jack Marsh was not in attendance )
Gordon was then asked to appear in non-public session at a meeting of of the selectmen this past Wednesday, May 11.
In a letter submitted to the selectmen at that meeting, Gordon’s lawyer, Joseph S. Hoppock of Keene, wrote that the board should “reject and dismiss what is nothing more than a foundationless, personal attack on Ms. Gordon by Ms. Sharra.”
But if the board does not dismiss the charges, he wrote, Gordon requests a public hearing under state law.
The lawsuit attempting to overturn the board’s decision on the asphalt plant, filed by Mary Ryan and James Will in Cheshire County Superior Court, was dismissed by Judge Marguerite L. Wageling on April 20 on the grounds that it was filed too long after the plant was approved.

This is just another attempt by Margaret Sharra to get her own way and to force her will on the board.She is upset with Ms. Gordon for other personal reasons as well regarding the Historical Distric Commision's ruling on her proposed Dollar Store on Main Street in the Historic District to which Ms. Gordon is a member.

If anyone needs to be removed from the Planning Board, it is our opinion that it be Ms. Sharra for her well documented conduct and malfeasance while acting as chairman which has resulted in the many lawsuits the town has faced in the past and will in the future if she remains on the board attempting  to control decisions.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

AGENDA FOR THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN .. 5/04/11

Wednesday
May 4, 2011
7:00 PM

1. Motion to accept the regular minutes of April 27, 2011
2. Business:

    Winchester Speed Park Expansion – Suzanne Boisevert
    Abatements
    Application for Veteran’s Tax Credit
    Intent to Cut Timber
    Welfare Administrator- Software Purchase (Excel & Outlook)
    Highway Purchase – Backhoe Tires
    NH County Deeds - Transfers

3. Ex Officio Reports
4. Open to the Floor – 15 minutes open to public
5. Office Documents
6. Any Other Business that may come before the Board
7. Non-Public Session under RSA 91-A:3II (a)(b)(c)(e) and any other as necessary
8. Adjourn meeting

Sunday, May 1, 2011

DES HEARING COMING UP ON MITCHELL ASPHALT PLANT PROPOSAL

Monday May 9, Winchester Town Hall at 6:00pm.  

Be there by 5:15PM.  Media event at 5:30PM.  DES Hearing at 6PM. 

Members of the DES permitting division will hold an open public hearing on the request of Rob Mitchell to secure an air quality permit for his proposed asphalt plant at the old P&H gravel pit which has now become a very noisy open quarry and a real nuisance to residents in the area.

The plant they want to install is old/used (from 1968) and the bag house is old/used (from 1993) and that the stricter regulations for pollution control do not apply to HMA plants built prior to 1973, so this will be a junky old dirty plant that will pollute our air, deliberately purchased by Mitchell to get around the stricter guidelines set forth for newer plants. This shows his lack of concern for health issues that will be caused by this old dirty plant and how he feels about the people living in the area. 


Attend and support those of us who are speaking on behalf of the public, and ask anyone you know who cares to attend and sit in the audience.  We need every warm body we can get in that hall for the DES hearing.  DES begins at 6PM.  But we want folks outside with signs and greeting the media and DES as they enter the building.  I expect the town will ask the police to be there, so be civil at all times and encourage others to be civil about it.  Your presence is the most powerful thing you can do.  So show up and bring a sign!  Pack a lunch!  Just don’t miss this critical event!

Planning Board Notice of Meeting 5-2-11

Town of Winchester
Planning Board
Notice of Meeting
5-02-11


The Winchester Planning Board will be meeting on 5-02-11 at 7pm on the Main Floor of the Town Hall, 1 Richmond Road for the following:

1. The board will consult with Tom Nolan about a Helicopter pad.

2. The board will consult with Winchester Speedpark about a site plan for the supercross track.

3. The board will consult with Robert VanDyke on the Keene Road project.

4. The board will review the minutes of 4-04-11 & 4-18-11 for approval.

5. The board will hold public hearings on proposed changes to the site plan review regs and rules of procedure.

6. Any other business

7. Call for adjournment