The Informer has received the following emails asking us to start a new discussion. It would seem that many people are keeping an eye on what has been going on out on Franklin Mountain this past week and are very concerned.
Would it be possible to start a new discussion regarding that contractor Van Dyke and what he's up to now out on the mountain?
Keene Road resident
What's Van Dyke doing up on the mountain now? Thought he couldn't do any more digging while there was a lawsuit pending? Could we start a discussion on this subject?
thanks,
Mary K.
Saw that contractor tearing up more of the mountain by Shamrock this past week, why is the town letting them work when there's a lawsuit filed against the town? Isn't this illegal? Be a good topic to discuss on the blog don't ya think?
Green Valley folks
19 comments:
Under the guise of doing the erosion control work he was ordered to do by the town back in December last year. Van Dyke's crew excavated more area and removed more vegetation from the site facing Route #10. Numerous calls to the BOS and PB and Code Enforcement, resulted in no action taken by the town; who also gave him permission to perform more digging of supposed well test pits. It was discovered however, that Van Dyke dug test pits on the opposite side of the planned site, where they'll be no wells, just septic, 100-150 feet closer to the protected buffer zones in the area where housing is supposed to be constucted. Since no new plans have been submitted to the PB; which by the way would either call for things to start fresh or at the very least require the board to open new public hearings, we can only guess what his real intentions are. Though the town has reservations and concerns that he is up to more than just plain erosion control, they remain as inactive as ever, afraid to make a decision on their own. By the way erosion control is defined as the placement of construction mats and/or seeding and staking bales of hay on slopes and areas ALREADY EXCAVATED,to prevent washout and run-off from affecting abutting properties and/or roadways. Shouldn't have taken two excavators and a large front end loader to do that, I would think. How is creating more of a problem by opening up more area doing erosion control? There should also be a silt fence directly facing Route #10 to prevent silt and debris from being blown into the roadway and onto oncoming traffic. Visit the site and you'll see none of this, so where are our town officials and what's the excuse this time?
Oh, by the way, there's a PB meeting this coming Monday night and word has it there will be some discussion on this. Can't wait to hear what is said regarding the town's concerns and their inaction in protecting the mountain from further damage.
Let it be known that it is not a wise action to be building condos in that region. I live close by across the ways and believe it or not the soil is ideal for those on slabs, not with basements due to water build-ups. Those houses will collapse and the contractor will have condos sinking into the sandy dunes. The town will be facing law suits by the owners of the condos if that happens. Please consider another region for it is not right to cause such havoc with the water situations. The projects will be a nightmare for him til the day all those condos wash away. If he can sleep with that in mind,the town will not sleep. We will voice our concerns above town level if needs be. After all, it is Native land is it not? It belongs to the Penacooks of this Region and the history proves it. They had better be ready to deal with this in Federal Court and at the World Court, which is where the Native Laws supercedes US Law. Is he up for that?
Silverhawk, we have voiced our objections over this project for over a year; yet the town has bent over backwards to assist Mr. Van Dyke at every turn, granting waiver after waiver, with total disregard for the consequences which will face the town should this all fall apart in the future, which we foresee happening. Time and time again he has been assisted by the chairperson of the PB, which is why the town is being sued in this matter. In fact, another board member believes this "will be the crown jewel of Winchester" and "will attract business to the area".. really? There's so many issues with how this project has been dealt with by the PB and ZBA and with Van Dyke it's impossible to list them all here. His reputation proceeds him and it's not a very good one, just ask the folks in Jaffrey and other surrounding towns and take a look at his other eyesore on Route #119, on the Richmond/Winchester town line. If you or any one else would like to assist us in our defense of the mountain, drop us a line.
This contractor can not be trusted to follow any rules. He does whatever he wants that's good for him with little regards for people, the town he builds in or the environment. He 's always crying hardship, yet owns a million dollar home and property in every town in Southern NH. Many towns are now wise to his ways and won't even deal with him. You can bet he was doing more than erosion control on that mountain with all of that equipment up there.
Why is the town even allowing him up there. That site is such a mess. That was once a beautiful woodsy mountain, now look at it. Last month there was flooding and mud everywhere and he was no where to be seen. Why haven't they pulled the plug on this guy and sent him packing, we don't need any more condos in Winchester. let alone on a mountainside. Who the hell is going to buy them when he can't sell them, the town?
Next thing you know they'll be building condos around our lakes. Last thing we need in Winchester now is more kids and more taxes. How do our town officials expect us to keep coming up with all this extra money or don't they care what happens to the people of this town?
For those of us who might think this project doesn't affect every tax payers in town please take a second look. This project is doomed for failure were we must consider the various aspects of the problems this project will cause every tax payers in Winchester and we could be mandated by the court to foot the expense of finishing this project. How you might think? First the economy isn't strong enough to support the completion of this project for middle income affordable housing. When Van Dyke fails to sell enough homes which will happen, Van Dyke will undoubtedly come back to the town and cry poverty again, this time with the backing and support of Southwestern Community Services power and influence demanding the taxpayers turn this project from affordable housing to low income. Low income housing is Keene, NH problem and they are pushing it hard onto the smaller towns. Then there is no insurance the 10,000 gallon a day of raw sewage dumped on the wet side hill, it will fail and the water system could fail the tax payers will have the expense of running town water to the project, the town will have plow salt and sand. The 34 unit, 2 or 3 bedroom condo will have 1 or 2 children which will bankrupt our already $10,000.000.00 plus school system. They will take us to court and destroy our town with higher taxes. Now is the time to speak out to the selectmen and voice your opinion. People like Margaret Sharra are not working for the best interest of the tax payer. We must demand her removal from the Land use and vote her out of office next year if the court doesn't do it for us.
This morning Van Dyke's crews were at it again, digging away at the Southeast corner of the lot and elsewhere. How is this just erosion control? Calls to the town were a waste of time as there are no Selectman in the office today, nor was there any answer in the Land Use Dept. So just where are are elected officials when problems arise? Also, it was reported by a couple of members of the PB, that they have given him no permission to do anything on the mountain and that they too are seeking answers from Margaret Sharra as to what he is doing and why our Code Enforcement officer, Leroy Austin ( Margaret Sharra is the assistant,; yet refuses to act )hasn't sought a cease and desist order to stop this violation of his conditional approval. Once again inaction by our elected official is the word of the day.
..and you wonder why people are so negative towards out town officials, Roberta, are you still wondering why?
We saw that mess on the way home from work this afternoon, looks like he really dug up alot more of that hillside since yesterday. It is truly an eyesore now even with what looks like new hay bales and some plastic fencing along the road. Why has the town let him continue in this manner if he didn't have approval? Doesn't anyone have the backbone to stand up to this guy? Who did we elect a bunch of jelly fish?
Looks like he has removed all of his equipment except for a small tractor parked in Lynott's Realty office parking lot. Guess he figures he's done enough damage for this month. Lots of rain coming in soon, be interesting to see where all the water runs next.
Did anyone really expect Leroy to do anything other than to drive by and wave? It's hard enough to get him to show up at the town hall, never mind drive out to a site and if he has to actually get out of his car, forget it, not going to happen. Besides he's held in check by you know who.
They sure did more than just address the erosion problem they had out there. My God, looks like he dug up half the mountain out in front. Whats with all the piles of dirt? If you look closely you can still see water running down the driveway towards the highway.
We don't understand why the town has not shut him down for flooding the highway twice this year already. I guess they are waiting until there is a serious accident and someone dies before they act. Knowing the reputation of this contractor, we don't understand why they have even allowed him to start this project, he can not be trusted as evident by the numerous lawsuits that are filed where ever he goes.
Once again the abutters and concerned citizens of Winchester have had to go to court because of the inaction of our town officials and file a "Motion For Enforcement Of Statuatory Stay" to prevent Van Dyke from doing any more damage to the mountain until a decision is reached at the appeal hearing in February. Seeing as how the town can not reach a decision on exactly what they have allowed and not allowed him to do, if this motion is granted he will have to go before the court in order to proceed and submit a plan to do any further erosion controls. With the photographic evidence taken over a two week period of more area being dug up and earth moving and subsequent septic field test pit digging in numerous locations on the site, it is quite clear beyond any doubt, Van Dyke did more than routine erosion control; yet the town PB, BOS and code enforcement officer failed to act and put the onus on the very citizens they swore to protect to seek relief from the court.
What the hell is wrong with our town officials that they don't act when they are supposed to, what in God's name are we paying for. This sis so disgusting; but it's not the first time we've heard this story either. It is high time we get people in office who will enforce our town laws and look after the people in town and do their jobs. Every time you turn around the town is being dragged into court because of the action or as in this case the in-actions of our elected officials. It's time to put a stop to this nonsense and get people to fill those positions who will act in a responsible way.
Like in any situation where a contractor gets away with doing anything he wants, you can bet dollars for doughnuts Van Dyke has got someone here in town in his pocket. Anyone want to take a guess as to who this is? For some unknown reasons our board of selectmen continue to support and back this person despite numerous complaints of wrong doing and out right unlawful behavior. You have to ask yourself what's in it for them to get your answers as to what is really going on.
I see despite his efforts water still runs down the hill eroding the access way he dug and running in Shamrock Realty's parking lot. I can only imagine what it'll do to the roadway and parking lot he will have up there, not to mention those homes. Just what kind of a fool is he, or doesn't he care that this mountain is not conducive to this type of construction, what idiot(s) on the planning board went along with this idea?
This past weekend my wife and I and several neighbors walked along the power lines from Swanzey to route 10 and we were shocked when we came upon the destruction and piles of dirt on his site and on the land right next to his. Looks like his neighbor to the south is building something too. All the woods is gone and there is much damage to the streams that run through this area. We had to see what all the fuss was about and now we know, what a mess! None of us can make any sense out of allowing a contractor to build in an area so wet and so sloped and what about those high tension power lines? You know there have been reports that living close by is hazardous to human health, why did he receive approval to build up there. I know the Swanzey planning board members would never have allowed something like this. Good luck in your fight, common sense dictates you should have no trouble stopping this in court.
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