Eight candidates vying for two selectmen seats in Winchester

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff
 

WINCHESTER — An eight-way race will determine two seats on the town’s board of selectmen. Residents Brandon Day, Tory W. Frazier, Ben Kilanski, Robert Leustek, William A. “Bill” McGrath, Richard C. Pratt, Herbert “Chan” Stephens and Raymond C. Williams have filed for the three-year terms up for election in March.

The positions are filled by Theresa G. Sepe, who won’t seek re-election, and Stephens.

Also, the five-member board will appoint a third selectman following the resignation of Kenneth Berthiaume, which takes effect today.

Berthiaume, in the first of a three-year term, submitted his resignation earlier this month, but it came after the filing period for elected town offices had closed.

The town’s attorney, Barton L. Mayer of Concord, told voters at Saturday’s deliberative session that even though town elections are next month, selectmen would have to appoint someone to fill Berthiaume’s seat for a year because his resignation came after the filing period.

Then someone would be elected at town meeting next year to finish the final year of Berthiaume’s term.

Berthiaume said Saturday he decided to resign for health reasons, including a hearing impairment. He said he no longer felt he was able to do the job voters elected him to do, because of the problem, he said.

“I hate to leave, but there comes a time,” he said. “I wasn’t serving them as well as I could.”

Also to be decided by voters is a race for a one-year term on the Conant Library Board of Trustees that pits Denis V. Murphy 2nd and Linda Chase.

Murphy is also running unopposed for a one, two-year term as town moderator.

Gustave A. “Gus” Ruth and Michael Doherty are running for two, three-year terms on the planning board; Marcia Racine and Bonnie G. Leveille are running for two, three-year terms on the Conant Library Board of Trustees; Joan Gratton is running for one, three-year term on the Thayer Library Board of Trustees; Bridget E. Pearce is running for one, three-year term for supervisors of the checklist; Valerie S. Cole is running for one, three-year term on the Musterfield Cemetery Committee; and James M. Tetreault is running for one, three-year term for town clerk and tax collector.

No one filed to run for one, three-year term on the Conant Library Board of Trustees; one, three-year term as a trustee of trust funds; one, three-year term on the Thayer Library Board of Trustees; and one, one-year term on the Thayer Library Board of Trustees.

Town elections are March 8, town meeting day.

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.

In Winchester, sticking points are few, but lengthy

The only things that change year after year in Winchester is the date and time .. same old overspending, putting burdens on the old and disabled and families with children..

 By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff
 

WINCHESTER — All but three of 32 articles on the warrant will make it to the town meeting ballot untouched following a five-hour deliberative session Saturday. The articles voters amended dealt with how much the town gives to the E.L.M. Memorial Community Center, bringing back the community’s budget committee, and whether to continue having a housing standards ordinance adopted at last year’s town meeting.

In addition, voters unsuccessfully attempted to make amendments to the town’s proposed 2016-17 operating budget of $3,567,376, a warrant article seeking to establish and fund a legal-fund-capital-reserve account for the purpose of opposing the proposed Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, and a petition article seeking to raise $50,000 for enrichment programs for local children and teenagers as part of ACCESS (All Children Cared for, Educated, Supported and Successful).

Roughly 80 people attended the meeting at Winchester Town Hall, tempered by a 10-minute break and a 30-minute lunch.

Despite some protest, residents first took up warrant article 20, which asked voters if they want the town to have a budget committee, at the request of town Moderator Denis V. Murphy 2nd. Murphy said he expected the article, inserted by petition, to be contentious, and wanted to get it out of the way.

According to the warrant article, the committee would include three at-large members appointed by the town moderator, and one person each from the selectmen and school board, appointed by their respective board.

Last year, town meeting voters approved a warrant article, which was backed by selectmen, to abolish the budget committee. The committee had existed since 1935, and was in charge of setting the town’s annual operating budget for voters to approve.

Without the committee, the selectmen set the budget this year with the help of a four-member financial advisory committee appointed by the board.

Resident Richard Horton served on the budget committee in the past, he said, and found it an important part of how the town functions.

However, he opposed the article because it didn’t make clear that the committee’s members would be elected.

“The political process allows people to choose who goes on a public committee,” he said.

Resident William A. “Bill” McGrath said he interpreted the article and what Murphy was trying to explain about it to mean the moderator would appoint the three committee members for the first year, if the article passes. After that, voters would elect the committee members, McGrath said.

After some back-and-forth with the town’s attorney, Barton L. Mayer of Concord, Horton moved an amendment that the moderator would appoint the three committee members for the first year, and have voters elect them for the following years.

Voters passed the amendment, and then the amended warrant article, by voice votes.

Discussion lasted for about an hour on a petition warrant article asking voters to rescind the town’s housing standard ordinance.

Deputy Moderator Kevan D. Whippie read the warrant article, and as soon as he finished resident Margaret A. Sharra moved to amend it to say that voters would vote to continue the ordinance.

 Gotta keep hubby employed to do her work for her

Sharra, the town’s land use administrator and zoning code enforcement officer, said town meeting voters overwhelming approved the ordinance last year, and it’s needed.

“We have a lot of substandard rental housing in town, and in order to improve the town and have residents live in good and safe housing, inspections are necessary,” she said. “We need the ordinance. Without it we can only inspect a property if we receive a complaint, or we’re invited by the tenant or landlord.”

Some landlords attending the meeting questioned the ordinance, saying they were concerned it was putting an unfair burden on them to upgrade their buildings, some of which are decades old, to meet current fire, health and safety codes.

"Lots of substandard rental housing in town"  Really?

Resident Bill Devino gave a lengthy presentation about the problems the ordinance was causing a property owner who was elderly and lived out of state, but was a former resident.

Devino said when the property owner learned of the new ordinance, he and his daughter, who helps handle his affairs, contacted town officials to set up an inspection.

While the inspector found the home had been well kept, there were some minor problems, and noted the lack of an interconnected, hardwired, battery backup carbon monoxide and smoke alarm detection system, Devino said.

In addition, the inspector said some rooms needed wall switches even though the pull chains on the light fixtures were in fine functioning order, Devino said.

Further the property owner was only given 20 days to fix these problems before a re-inspection based on the letter he received from the town, Devino said, and that is an impossible deadline to meet.

Installing a hardwired fire and carbon monoxide system alone would be cost prohibitive for the property owner, in part due to the work that would be involved with the house being over 100 years old, Devino said.

“It has certainly caused an 87-year-old man who was once a proud resident of town mental anguish,” Devino said. “I’d say scrap it and start over with all the rules on the table so that everyone understands.”

Resident Bridget E. Pearce spoke in favor of keeping the ordinance, saying tenants sometimes fear their landlords will retaliate against them, if they report a problem with their residence. It’s time tenants have rights and not just landlords, she said.
 “The problem we face is we expect people to do the right thing, and time and time again we find that is not happening,” she said.


Tenants do have rights and there is already a state law in place to help them in all rental matters, all they have to do is report the problem(s) in writing.. http://doj.nh.gov/consumer/sourcebook/renting.htm

Sharra’s amendment eventually passed by a voice vote, as did the amended warrant article.

Resident Andrew Wallace wasted no time in proposing an amendment to a warrant article to establish and put $15,882 into a fund that would pay for the town’s portion of legal expenses for being a member of the N.H. Municipal Pipeline Coalition.

The coalition is a group of 15 towns, including Winchester, fighting the proposed Northeast Energy Direct pipeline.

Wallace proposed the amount be zero, saying not everyone is against the pipeline.

James Wallace, who seconded the amendment, said the pipeline could potentially bring jobs to the area and $700,000 in tax revenue.

“We have the third or fourth highest tax rate in this town. We have one of the highest unemployment rates in the county,” he said. “I think we need to look at ways for people to keep their homes and lower taxes. This has the potential to lower energy costs, and it’s something to bring the tax rate down.”

Resident Brandon Day agreed, saying residents shouldn’t be fighting something that could be added to the town tax rolls.

It’s important that a group of people that wants to oppose the pipeline not have those who support it pay to fight it, he said.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, is proposing the 419-mile interstate pipeline, which would carry fracked natural gas from the shale fields of northern Pennsylvania to a hub in Dracut, Mass.

Along the way, the pipeline is proposed to travel through 18 communities in southern New Hampshire, including the Cheshire County towns of Fitzwilliam, Richmond, Rindge, Troy and Winchester.

Opponents of the pipeline countered the arguments from the Wallaces and Day, saying Kinder Morgan has a history of saying a pipeline would bring in so much revenue to the town, but when the company receives the bill, its officials file for abatement.

In addition, resident Susan L. Durling, co-founder of Winchester Pipeline Awareness, said her research has shown the values of properties that have natural gas pipelines going through them decrease, which puts the burden on a town’s other residents to make up the difference.

Further, compressor stations, like the one being proposed in neighboring Northfield, Mass., can cause health problems, including increases in asthma attacks and exacerbating symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, she said.

Resident Peter J. Eisenstadter said the arguments being presented about the pipeline were important and relevant, but it shouldn’t be up to a small group of people at deliberative session to decide for voters at town meeting.

“I say leave the money as is. The town can still vote it down, but it leaves the choice to the voters. To me that seems more democratic,” he said.

Debate on the amendment lasted about 30 minutes before it was voted down in a voice vote. The warrant article will go to the town meeting ballot as originally written.

Town meeting is scheduled for March 8 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Winchester Town Hall.

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.

Winchester voters to revisit having a budget committee at deliberative session Saturday

Unless of course you all just love higher taxes,more raises for town employees and more unnecessary purchases for town depts. Seems the people we trusted to be fiscally responsible with our money ARE NOT!

This is Winchester, NH .. not Concord or Manchester

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff
 

WINCHESTER — An approximately $3.6 million operating budget, setting aside funding to pay for legal expenses in the town’s fight against the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, and bringing back the budget committee are among the proposals Winchester voters will see at their deliberative session Saturday. Other warrant articles include a request to raise $50,000 for enrichment programs for local children and teenagers as part of ACCESS (All Children Cared for, Educated, Supported and Successful), appropriating $1,600 for Winchester’s annual Pickle Festival, hiring a town grant writer and rescinding the housing standards ordinance approved at town meeting last year.

Residents will have a chance to discuss, debate and amend warrant articles at deliberative session before they go on the ballot at March’s town meeting.

Selectmen, in a vote of 4 to 1 earlier this month, backed a proposed 2016-17 operating budget of $3,567,376. This represents an increase of $155,887, or about 4.6 percent, from the $3,411,489 budget voters approved at town meeting last year.

The proposed budget is also $106,488, or about 3.1 percent, higher than the 2016-17 default budget of $3,460,888.

An increase of $15,000 in health insurance costs, the addition of a part-time housing inspector at $39,000, a $14,000 increase to the town’s highway block grant, town employees receiving a 1.5-percent cost of living increase and a rise in contractual costs are the main factors contributing to the increase in the proposed budget, according to Jan. 13 selectmen’s meeting minutes.

The salary for the part-time inspector position would be offset by fees collected from rental property owners as part of the housing standards ordinance, town officials have said.

( don't believe this baloney for one minute .. first the program is voluntary and second the fee is $35 .. how many $35 dollar fees do you think the town would have to collect to pay this salary ?  And how many of you full time workers are making $39,000 ?) 

This year, a financial advisory committee assisted selectmen in establishing the proposed operating budget after voters approved an article last year to abolish the budget committee, which was previously in charge of setting this number.
( and just look at the people who were APPOINTED to this advisory committee, recognize any names? ) 

A petition article on this year’s warrant seeks voter approval to bring that committee back.
 

Selectmen recommend, 4 to 1, that voters approve establishing a legal-fund-capital-reserve account for the purpose of opposing the proposed Northeast Energy Direct pipeline. They’re also asking voters, as part of this warrant article, to put $15,882 into the fund. The money would pay for the town’s portion of legal expenses for being a member of the N.H. Municipal Pipeline Coalition.
The group, which includes 14 other towns, is fighting the proposed pipeline, which would carry fracked natural gas from the shale fields of northern Pennsylvania to a hub in Dracut, Mass.

Along the way, the pipeline is proposed to travel through 18 communities in southern New Hampshire, including the Cheshire County towns of Fitzwilliam, Richmond, Rindge, Troy and Winchester.

The project has been controversial among residents and town officials. With that in mind, selectmen decided not to include the legal expenses in the town’s operating budget, but pull it out as a separate warrant article, board Chairwoman Roberta A. Fraser said Thursday.

Rounding out the 35-article warrant are nine zoning amendments that focus on creating more housing options in town, defining agritourism, and tweaking the town’s sign ordinance to allow for certain signs of limited size and quantity in all zoning districts.

The deliberative session begins Saturday at 9 a.m. at Town Hall,

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.

Board of Selectmen Minutes 01/20/16

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Winchester Pipeline Awareness - Sat Jan 30th Winchester Deliberative Session

Deliberative Session - 9am this Saturday - Town Hall - Support Warrant Article 9 

    WARRANT ARTICLE 9 INFORMATION

-Winchester is a member of New Hampshire Municipal Pipeline Coalition (NHMPC), which opposes the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline.
-If Winchester were to hire our own legal counsel to fight the pipeline, the Town could expect to pay at least $285,876.00 (18 towns x $15,882.00 is what NHMPC will pay).
-Working together with 17 other affected towns, we can exert more legal clout.
The Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline is a 30 inch diameter high pressure natural gas pipeline to be owned by Tennessee Gas Pipeline, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan. It starts in Pennsylvania at the Marcellus Shales and ends in Dracut, Massachusetts.

Kinder Morgan promises to
Provide tax revenue to Winchester
• History of taking towns to court to abate taxes and actual tax payments at a fraction of promised amounts (verified by our Selectmen)
• Winchester would incur legal costs related to this practice.
Kinder Morgan promises
Commitment to community
• In rural areas like ours, the thinnest walled pipe under the highest pressure is allowed.
• Blasting and digging can disrupt our aquifer, damaging water supply to local wells.
• Kinder Morgan has pushed Winchester and other NH towns to rush to submit mitigation plans, when the actual DES deadline for submission is months away.
• Compressor stations emit toxic chemicals & noise, heat, and light pollution – proven to cause harm to humans and animals.
• Private property easements can be taken by eminent domain. Owners will still pay taxes on the property, homeowners insurance may be invalidated, and property values will decrease.
• Regulations allow the pipeline to be within 25 feet of homes.
• Shut-off valves can be 10 miles apart. In the event of an explosion, local emergency responders are advised to evacuate the area, and must wait for the valves to be closed remotely (from Texas) and allow the gas to burn off.
Kinder Morgan promises to
Lower the price of electricity in New England
• At the Dracut hub, NED connects to a 

eline that runs to Canadian Maritimes ports with liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals where LNG can be easily exported to Europe and sold at 4 to 5 times the US price. Natural gas prices will increase for us, which will increase electricity costs.

Kinder Morgan promises to
Supply gas for the few days in winter when we need extra capacity (14 - 40 days)
• NED pipeline capacity is much larger than is needed to cover that deficit, and is an impractical solution for that problem; as pipeline capacity is sold in 20 year-365 days a year increments. It wouldn’t make financial sense for an electricity generator to buy all that capacity when the extra fuel is needed only a few weeks each year.
Kinder Morgan promises
Thousands of jobs
• Majority of pipeline workers from out of state. Three to five permanent jobs in NH.
Kinder Morgan promises
Clean Energy
• Natural Gas obtained by hydrofracturing (fracking) extracts a high toll on the environment, and when considered as a whole is dirtier than coal.
Kinder Morgan promises
Commitment to safety (60 year safety record in NH)
• The Wall Street Journal questions Kinder Morgan’s commitment to safety - providing dividends to stockholders over ensuring the safe operation of its pipelines.
• Kinder Morgan has been cited by the U.S. government in 24 incidents which led to five federal enforcement actions from 2006 to 2014.
• Kinder Morgan was founded in 1997 – impossible to have a 60 year safety record!

Program to reward Winchester landlords for smoke-free housing

Is it just a coincidence that the wife comes up with an idea for a new program that also requires a new position be made on the towns already overpaid staff and that her husband gets hand picked to fill that position? 

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff
 

WINCHESTER — A new program seeks to increase the availability of smoke-free rentals in town, while rewarding landlords who comply with the town’s housing standards ordinance. But the future of the ordinance, which has been in place for nearly five months, is in question because of a petition warrant article seeking to rescind it at town meeting in March.

As part of the ordinance, landlords must pay a fee to the town to help offset the cost of an inspection of the property.

Healthy Monadnock officials announced last week they have partnered with the Cheshire Coalition for Tobacco-Free Communities to cover the cost of that fee, as long as the landlords prove their leases prohibit smoking in their housing units.

Winchester selectmen voted unanimously to approve the arrangement on Jan. 20.

The smoke-free incentive will be in effect until Sept. 30, said Margaret A. Sharra, Winchester land use administrator and code enforcement officer.

It’s funded through part of a $1.1 million federal Partnership to Improve Community Health Grant, which was awarded in 2014, according to a news release from Healthy Monadnock.

Healthy Monadnock is a community initiative that promotes healthy living in the Monadnock Region. It was founded in 2007 by Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene.

According to the news release, smoke-free policies provide cost savings to landlords on insurance and general property maintenance, while tenants benefit by breathing clean air.

“For the thousands of individuals that live in multi-unit housing, such as an apartment, duplex or condo, many of those units allow smoking in individual apartments and common areas,” the news release said. “This means secondhand smoke can migrate through doorways, cracks in walls, electrical lines, plumbing, and ventilation systems. This not only causes dangerous exposure to secondhand smoke, but can also trigger an asthma episode for those living with asthma.”

The smoke-free incentive will cover the initial cost landlords have to pay to have their properties inspected as part of Winchester’s housing standards ordinance, as long as they can prove the building is a smoke-free environment, Sharra said.

She said Tammy E. Dwyer, tobacco specialist for the Cheshire Coalition for Tobacco-Free Communities, contacted her after reading about the housing standards ordinance, and said she might have something that could add to it.

They met and came up with the smoke-free component, Sharra said.

The coalition, which is based at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth Hitchcock Keene, offers smoking prevention programs and provides treatment and resources to people who want to quit smoking.

Dwyer said coalition officials will work with the town to educate residents about the program and the dangers of secondhand smoke, especially in buildings with multiple housing units.

Residents would still have the option to smoke outside, Sharra said, and noted that landlords’ participation in the initiative is optional.

“The outcome of the program is two-fold,” she said. “It gets people living in healthy, smoke-free environments, and saves landlords money while rewarding them for doing something positive.”

An ordinance in limbo?

Winchester’s housing standards ordinance took effect in September 2015, after it was approved by voters in March of last year.

The ordinance allows town officials to inspect rental properties biannually to make sure they’re in compliance with health and safety codes. Officials are also able to require landlords to fix any problems they find during an inspection, according to the law.

A petition article appearing on this year’s town meeting warrant asks voters to rescind the ordinance. The selectmen voted 4-1 to recommend voters not approve this article.

Resident Larry R. Hill, a local landlord and member of the planning board who filed the petition, said Monday that he agreed with the warrant article last year, and voted for it. But he later learned the ordinance included a mandatory fee that wasn’t revealed on the ballot.

The inspection fees are $35 for one housing unit, and $50 for a house. Inspection of each additional dwelling unit is $20, as set by the selectmen in accordance with state law.

Re-inspection fees if inspectors found a problem start at $15 per unit the first time, $35 per unit the second time, and then increase each additional time after that.

The fees are set by the selectmen, according to the ordinance.

Town officials have said the fees are in place to help offset the salary of a part-time inspector.

Hill said he looked into the ordinance further, and concluded that while the fees would be part of the cost of doing business, it might cause landlords to increase their rents, even if by a small amount.

The ordinance could be considered discriminatory toward renters, because it focuses only on rental properties, according to Hill; as a result, he said, it implies renters are uniquely incapable of realizing the conditions of their dwellings.

“It also may be considered discriminatory as it ignores the safety of homeowners, some of whom are seniors in need of assistance in evaluating their living environments,” he said.

Hill also questions if the ordinance is necessary.

He said he plans to include these concerns in a letter to selectmen he’ll request they read at Saturday’s deliberative session.

In addition, he is asking the selectmen to reverse their decision and recommend residents approve his petition.

Voters can discuss and amend warrant articles at deliberative session before they vote on them by ballot at town meeting in March.
( Yes, they can, but a state law adopted several years ago, states that the meaning of the warrant CAN NOT BE CHANGED )

Sharra said Monday she doesn’t know what the next steps would be if voters opt to rescind the ordinance at town meeting in March, but she’s optimistic they won’t.

Since the ordinance took effect, town officials are finding what they suspected — many buildings have not been kept up to health and safety codes, she said. ( Isn't that the job the code enforcement officer is suppose to be doing? )

The most common problems inspectors ( ? )  are finding are buildings not having proper fire and carbon monoxide alarm systems, and minor electrical issues, she said.  ( Again, isn't this what she's getting paid to do  already? )
 

While some landlords have complained they don’t want to pay the inspection fees, most of them and their tenants have been receptive to the idea of having housing that is safe and up to code, and to the town being involved in helping them reach that goal, she said. ( nice spin, Margaret )

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.

Board of Selectmen Minutes 01/13/2016

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Town Sued Again ..

Winchester police chief sues town after selectmen impose three-day, no-pay suspension

 

• by Alyssa Dandrea 

Winchester’s police chief is suing the town after he was suspended for three days without pay for allegedly threatening one of his former officers. Police Chief Gary A. Phillips filed a civil lawsuit against the town in September. In it, Phillips alleges selectmen violated state law by voting in nonpublic session to suspend him without pay before first giving him their reasons in writing. He also claims in court documents that selectmen acted without cause.

In the lawsuit, he asks the court for a hearing on the merits of the board of selectmen’s decision and for reimbursement of attorneys’ fees.

The parties will face a Cheshire County Superior Court judge Jan. 29 for the first time since Phillips sought legal action.

Attorney Andrew B. Livernois of Concord, who is representing the town, confirmed the board of selectmen suspended Phillips without pay for three days. Town officials allege in court documents that this was after Phillips had made a retaliatory threat against Officer Brooke Sharra during a nonpublic meeting Aug. 19. Sharra was not at the meeting; rather, selectmen held it with Phillips to discuss his work performance.

Phillips said, “Officer Sharra will be on the Laurie list before I’m done with her,” according to an affidavit prepared by Town Administrator Shelly Walker.

The Laurie List is a record of law enforcement officers whose credibility could be called into question if they testify in criminal trials.

Sharra is the daughter of Winchester Land Use Administrator Margaret Sharra.

Phillips threatened Officer Sharra because he believed selectmen’s recent negative evaluation of his performance was the result of feedback he thought Sharra gave to them during her exit interview, Walker wrote. However, selectmen told Phillips that their evaluation of him was completed before they met with Sharra, according to the affidavit.

Officials were troubled by his comment given his history in Winchester, Walker wrote. Selectmen had previously disciplined Phillips in 2011 after he threatened to retaliate against Officer Fred Ziegler, who told selectmen he was concerned about how Phillips was running the department, according to the affidavit.

The board of selectmen appointed Phillips, who is a resident of Swanzey, to the position of chief in January 2005. Prior to that he was acting chief in Winchester.

Phillips’ interactions with selectmen this past fall set in motion his decision to sue the town, alleging wrongful suspension.

After the Aug. 19 meeting, the board met without Phillips, in nonpublic session, on Sept. 9 and voted 4-0-1 to suspend him for three days, according to court documents.

The next day, Walker met with Phillips to inform him of the board’s decision, which was spelled out in a letter, Walker wrote.

Phillips met with selectmen Sept. 16 and tried unsuccessfully to appeal the decision, according to court documents. He was suspended without pay Sept. 21 through Sept. 24.

Even if a judge determines the selectmen had reason to suspend Phillips, “... it remains undisputed that (he) never received the written specification of reasons before he was suspended,” wrote Phillip’s attorney, Joseph S. Hoppock of Keene.

N.H. RSA 105:2 states that: “Such chief, superintendent, or city marshal shall be subject to suspension without pay or dismissal only for cause, and after he or she has been presented with a written specification of the reasons.”

The town’s attorney argues that Phillips did have notice of his three-day suspension well before it began Sept. 21, as Walker met with him Sept. 10 and provided him with written notice. Livernois said selectmen did not need to give that notice prior to their vote, whereas Phillips argues they did.

“So long as the notice was provided to the chief before the discipline was actually imposed, the statute is satisfied,” Livernois wrote.

By phone Tuesday, Phillips declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Roberta A. Fraser, chairwoman of the board of selectmen, said the town has no comment and does not discuss personnel issues.

Officer Sharra could not be reached for comment.

Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1435, or adandrea@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @ADandreaKS.

Sentinel Editorial

NED pipeline is not needed here now

 One of the largest proposed energy projects in this region’s history, the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline would transmit 1.2 dekatherms per day of natural gas from shale gas fields in northern Pennsylvania to Dracut, Mass. Of the project’s 419 miles, 72 would traverse 19 New Hampshire communities, among them Fitzwilliam, Richmond, Rindge, Troy and Winchester.

Some of the opposition to the pipeline is ideological. Environmentalists oppose the use, generally, of fossil fuels and/or the process of fracking, by which the shale gas is obtained. Some also question the potential use of eminent domain to pry land from reluctant property owners along the path, a measure allowed under federal law in siting pipelines. And some say a community should have the power to deny such a large-scale project.

There are issues any large pipeline would raise, regarding wetlands, water and air quality, emergency response, noise and health issues, construction and disruption. There are property issues — not only how much property owners along the path would be paid under eminent domain, but also the effect having a 30-inch gas pipeline running through town would have on nearby property values. There is the very real prospect that some area residents could see the investment they’ve made in their homes and land ruined by this project, with no recourse.

There is also opposition to the company involved. The Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. is a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, a Texas energy giant. There are critics of Kinder Morgan who point to the company’s safety record and question whether this pipeline would pose a danger. There is also a question of Kinder Morgan’s financial health. Investors’ website The Motley Fool counted it among the 10 worst-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2015 and in early December, Moody’s downgraded Kinder Morgan’s risk, forcing the company to reduce a planned dividend by 75 percent.

And there are questions specific to this plan, such as efforts to make New England electric ratepayers foot the bill for the $5 billion project. The company has lobbied each of the states within the ISO-New England power grid to argue that ratepayers will benefit and, therefore, should ensure construction. According to the Conservation Law Foundation, which has filed to intervene in the regulatory process in opposition to the project, this is key to gaining approval, because Kinder Morgan so far hasn’t found enough takers to demonstrate demand for this large a project. Instead, it aims to have the New England states guarantee the risk with the hope of lowering prices, something the CLF argues is illegal under the Federal Power Act.

As the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will approve or deny the pipeline, settles in to consider it, it will balance all of those negatives — certain or potential — against the need for more energy in the region.

That’s the entire equation. Picture a balancing scale with many stones weighing down one pan, and one big rock — the demand for gas — sitting in the other. Thus, the big question is solely this: How much is this gas needed in New England?

The answer, at this time, appears to be not enough to counter the negative effects of the project.

Kinder Morgan and business interests have made the case the gas is needed here for energy reliability, particularly during those winter periods when heating homes and power-grid needs collide.

In early 2013, there was a spike in energy prices when electricity providers were caught short of power during a cold snap. Essentially, home heating companies have first dibs on the region’s natural gas supply. When there’s a cold snap, that demand rises, and the gas available for power generation drops. In 2013, power companies didn’t have adequate backup plans in place to deal with this, and briefly had to buy energy on the spot market, causing the price spike.

According to a recent study commissioned by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, rules are now in place that will force providers to the regional grid to have backup sources of energy in such cases, so they won’t be at the mercy of the spot market. Further, the report says, energy-efficiency gains in recent years have stabilized the region’s energy demands, so the situation won’t worsen. Overall, the report finds, there should be no need for Kinder Morgan’s gas in the region over the next 15 years.

We agree having more energy available is a good thing, and that the region can’t keep saying “no” to projects based on such not-in-my-backyard arguments as smell or unsightliness if the case for energy need is compelling.

However, there are several other projects underway or proposed that would bring power to the region. Further, during the next 15 years technological advances may make the need for such huge infrastructure projects obsolete. In the meantime, either there is an urgent need for this gas or there is not, and those for and against the pipeline disagree on this most-important point.

We find less reason to question the Bay State’s principal legal agency than anyone else weighing in on the project so far. That office has nothing to gain from either knocking or advancing the project. If the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office report is accurate, the one big rock on the scale — the overriding need for more power — is far smaller than its proponents are claiming.

Based on the arguments made by the parties thus far, the disruptions and downsides far outweigh the benefits.

STOP THE NH PIPELINE/ECHO ACTION: New Website!!!

The organizers of Echo Action, the community based anti-pipeline, activism and outreach founders have a new website that is full of news, ideas and scheduled events. For all of you opposed to this proposed intrusion into our lives and the destruction of green space all in the name of greed, please show your support.

 http://earthdancersteph.wix.com/echo-action

Also, the deadline for filing as an intervenor with FERC is this Friday 1/15 at 5:00pm

 

 

TAKING A STAND .. OPEN TOWN POSITIONS

Civic-minded said...

Well, folks, if you don't like the way things are and want to make a change, here is your opportunity. There are over a dozen town offices open for new folks to fill.

According to the town's website, 
"FILING FOR TOWN OFFICES -starts Wednesday, January 20, 2016 and ends Friday, January 29, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. The Clerk’s office will be open on Friday, January 29, 2016 from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. (no other business will be transacted during this time).
Board of Selectmen – two (three year terms)
Planning Board – two (three year term)
Trustee of Trust Funds – one (three year term)
Conant Library Trustee – three (three year terms)
Conant Library Trustee – one (one year term)
Thayer Library Trustee – two (three year terms)
Thayer Library Trustee – one (one year term)
Supervisor of the Checklist – one (three year term)
Musterfield/Cemetery – one (three year term)
Moderator – one (two year term)
Town Clerk/Tax Collector – one (three year term)"

Let's take a stand and elect folks who care more about this town than lining their own pockets (or those of their relatives).

Board of Selectman's Meeting 12-23-15

Spending in Winchester, has no limits ... To enlarge to make reading easier.. click on the image to open another window .. then right click the image and choose "view image" .. click your mouse to enlarge print

SW NH towns meeting & legislative update

Citizens:

I would like to personally invite you to an informational meeting on Saturday, January 16th in at the Town Hall in Fitzwilliam New Hampshire, 9 am to noon.

The southwestern New Hampshire NED Pipeline affected towns of Winchester, Richmond, Troy, Swanzey & Fitzwilliam will be the focus of the meeting.

WORKING AGENDA:

--- NED Pipeline update, including alternative compressor station sites proposed for Winchester.

·     -  --Legislative update with Jim McConnell

·       ---Possibly other state legislators

·       ---Strategizing session

Sue Durling

Cc: Representative Henry Parkhurst, Winchester Select Board, Winchester Conservation Commission, Winchester Planning Board, Winchester Pipeline Awareness

Elected officials seeking to slow pipeline proposal with state legislation

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff
 

It was coming. And with a year to research, study and digest Kinder Morgan’s proposal for the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, New Hampshire legislators have filed at least a dozen bills for the upcoming legislative session seeking to stymie the project as it tries to barrel ahead.

One representative has even gone as far as to propose a state constitutional amendment that would make it more challenging for state and federal laws to override local ordinances. Such a move would make the project have to meet requirements imposed by each city or town in its path.

State Reps. Max Abramson, Christopher Adams, James Belanger, Eric Eastman, Frank Edelblut, Susan Emerson, Eric Estevez, Jack Flanagan, James W. McConnell, all Republicans, and Majorie J. Shepardson and Benjamin L. Tilton, both Democrats, have signed onto multiple bills inspired by the proposed pipeline. Republican state Sens. Kevin Avard and Andy Sanborn have joined them in supporting much of the legislation.

The 13 elected officials represent at least one town in the pipeline’s proposed path.

“For about a year now, I’ve followed the pipeline reading about the pros and cons, and I’ve decided I think it’s a bad idea,” said Shepardson, who represents Marlborough and Troy. “I think we ought to be putting our money and resources in developing non-fossil fuel infrastructure instead of adding to the infrastructure with more natural gas.”

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, is developing the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, which would carry fracked natural gas from the shale fields in Pennsylvania to eastern Massachusetts via New York, western Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

The high pressure transmission line is slated to pass through 19 municipalities in New Hampshire, including the Cheshire County communities of Fitzwilliam, Richmond, Rindge, Troy and Winchester.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline officials filed the project’s application in November with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which has the power to approve or reject the pipeline. Company officials have asked the commission to approve the project by the fourth quarter of 2016.

The proposed state bills seek to beef up protections for landowners with properties along the pipeline’s planned path, not have the project’s bill fall on electric ratepayers, make sure residents receive some compensation if the project goes through, and requires the N.H. Public Utilities Commission to review any pipeline capacity contract that is for more than one year to determine if it is in the public interest.

McConnell, whose district also covers Richmond and Swanzey, submitted seven of the pipeline-related bills, but doesn’t hold prime sponsorship of all of them in hopes they’ll have a better chance of getting through the committees.

He doesn’t want to risk two hostile chairmen scheduling hearings on the bills at the same time, and then one of the bills getting killed because the prime sponsor wasn’t there to speak to it, he said.

The pipeline is a “terrible idea,” and the only benefit to New Hampshire is having the honor of hosting it, which the state can do without, he said.

“FERC has the final say on the project, but we can require that it meet certain steps in the process,” McConnell of Swanzey, said Saturday.

With that, he said, state law will apply to the project with respect to eminent domain, siting and noise.

McConnell’s bills include prohibiting companies from charging New Hampshire residents for the construction of high pressure gas pipelines, and having the owner of a natural gas transmission pipeline or lateral to have insurance or provide a bond against loss resulting from the failure or malfunction of its pipeline.

He has also filed a bill requiring a royalty be paid to affect landowners on the price of natural gas conveyed by pipeline intended for use in a foreign country; and requiring that pipelines be built below the frost line.

Emerson, who represents Jaffrey and Rindge, is going big in her legislative request to fight the pipeline, proposing an amendment to the state’s constitution that would give New Hampshire residents the right of local, community self-government.

Essentially, cities, towns and counties would be able to enact laws protecting the health, safety and welfare of their residents as long as those laws don’t limit people’s fundamental rights.

State, federal and international laws couldn’t be used to trump those laws, resulting in communities being able to protect themselves from corporate activities they’re against and consider harmful.

The initial proposal for the bill came from Michelle Sanborn of the N.H. Community Rights Network, Emerson said Saturday, and she was more than happy to file the legislation given its connection with the pipeline opposition coming from Rindge and other towns along the pipeline’s planned route.

“I have been very instrumental in fighting the pipeline, and this kind of fits right in with the pipeline message,” Emerson said.

New Hampshire doesn’t need the energy from the pipeline and “they’re shoving it down our throats,” she said.

The bill asks the N.H. House and Senate to approve it so that the amendment can go before state voters as a ballot question during the November 2016 presidential election. A two-thirds vote would be needed for the amendment to pass.

Tilton, who represents Richmond and Swanzey, has submitted two pipeline bills of his own, as well as signing on to others.

One of his bills is about eminent domain, and making the condemning entity liable for reasonable attorney’s fees in certain cases.

The other bill seeks to establish a tax on revenues from natural gas transmission.

The 2016 legislative session begins Wednesday.

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.

THREE ALTERNATE COMPRESSOR STATION sites in WINCHESTER .. WINchester Pipeline Awareness

While visions of sugarplums danced in our heads-KM proposed THREE ALTERNATE COMPRESSOR STATION sites in WINCHESTER. Submitted to FERC December 30, 2015.

Winchester has GOT to get up and get angry!!!! Kinder Morgan thinks Winchester is a good target. That's not okay!!!!

Stop The Pipeline Newsletter .. INTERVENE !

       INTERVENE!----DEADLINE Wed 1/6

Drop-in help: Tuesday1/5

 

 

INTERVENE!!!! 

DEADLINE Wed. January 6, 5pm!!  ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE! (info at end)

1) ANYONE IN NH CAN INTERVENE -- the project could impact your electric rates, if nothing else. We encourage everyone to intervene - getting thousands of people to intervene will send a message to FERC, Kinder Morgan's investors, etc.

2) DO NOT WORRY ABOUT "SERVING" your motion to intervene to everyone on the "service list".

FERC staff has sent mixed messages, but their website actually says only subsequent submissions (comments filed after intervening) need to be sent to the service list. Technically, in addition to e-filing your motion, you are supposed to email your motion to intervene on the pipeline company, though many people skip this step (These are the email addresses: Jacquelyne_Rocan@kindermorgan.com; curt_moffatt@kindermorgan.com; shannon_miller@kindermorgan.com; ben_carranza@kindermorgan.com)

3) Your motion can be just a couple of sentences. For example:

"I live in [town, state], and want to intervene in this proceeding to oppose the NED pipeline. I have an interest which may be directly affected by the outcome of the proceeding because [use any of the reasons below that apply, or others]:

- I am an electric ratepayer.

- I am gas ratepayer

- I am a directly impacted landowner.

- I am a resident expected to be in the "blast radius"/my daily commute crosses over the proposed pipeline route, so I will be at physical risk.

- I am a resident whose watershed is crossed by the proposed route

- I am a member of an impacted community

WHY INTERVENE? WHY NOT!?

-no cost

-you will receive all documents from all parties in the case

-you can present at a hearing and file a brief

-you can appeal a FERC decision

-you can remark on the entire FERC process at once

-if you fail to comment during the specified period, you still have a chance to participate in the case.

ASSISTANCE:

--Drop-in help: Tuesday, January 5^th, Winchester Town Hall. Hours will be announced Monday, most likely late afternoon, early evening.

We’ll have a wi-fi hot spot and a couple of laptops –bring your own if you can.

--Samples and ideas, instruction handout, powerpoint:  http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/ferc-how-to-intervene/

--Step by step video with screen shots:. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNJUn4x0-ZE

--Got stuck – need help? Facebook message me: Sue Durling, email WinchesterPipelineAwareness@gmail.com, Call me 603-496-1783