Please inform us more about what is going on in Ashuelot Village.

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Really fed up said: November 10th, 2008 12:04 pm
You thing this stuff is wrong, you might want to start paying attention to what the historical commission is up to and how much they will cost tax payers and private home owners if some one doesn't start paying attention to what they are up to, a few peoples personal opinions ( Ted Whippie & Dan Carr)are being forced onto entire neighborhoods (Ashuelot Village) People really need to inform themselves on whats going on behind the scenes

False Information and Wasting our Time?

We have been accused of doing the town a great disservice by Johnp, a very disgruntled Winchester resident who has accused us of posting false information and wasting our time because no one in Winchester cares about anything we post. Below is Johnp's post on the Forum board .. comments are welcome; but please keep them civil.

November 6, 2008 11:36 AM
Hello to whom ever it concerns! I just thought I would congradulate the owner of this blog site as being the biggest donater of false statements to the people of winchester. Keep up the good work. To bad you dont include your identity so we can come laff at you to your face. Everyone knows how ya must hide here in a blog, good job! Sure hope ya run for a office with all this info, that would even be more fun. Yes I find this lots of fun just to type to ya. Bet ya dont post this one Ha Ha! So keep up the goood work that has taken up so much of your time thatno one will ever read and continue doing what ya are doing it will only hurt your self and no one else in the town will give ya the time of day. Sure hope ya are realy proud of what you are doing, I know I am proud to know, thanks to ya very lame blogging as to what not to do. Again thanks for for showing me how not to be. I know my chain of command very well and when it comes time fix something I know where to go and who to ask and it surely wont be at this very lame approch ya have here. When it comes to town affairs ya have get of your computer chair ,walk out the door, go to town meetings,ask questions, and last but least make real attempts in getting to real truth, gossip and rummers get ya no where! Real invloved winchester residents get to real answers, no real involovement gets no real truth. I have spent litteraly thousands of ours asking questions and how to get things fixed none of my time has been wasted at all. How much time has been wasted here. how many things have ya fixed for winchester here . I thought so! those answers are ya have gained no ground at all . What a real waste of time.
So again keep up the good work and keep showing us all a good time

We need more town employees like Rick Meleski!

Here is a town employee that cares about "our town"! Rick saved us thousands of dollars when he raised the manhole covers on main street this year. Dale Gray insisted the work was to be put out for bids claiming his crew shouldn't do the work because they do not know how. Budget Committee Member Bob Davis visited a crew raising the lids in Keene and took pictures of how simple of an operation it was to raise the lids. Giving the pictures to Ken Berthiaume helped convince the selectmen to talk to Rick Meleski who said he could do the job saving us thousands. You do not hear this from other town employees.

I am convinced we should have one employee like Rick Meleski in charge of the sewer, water and highway dept. Our budget is out of control and full of unnecessary, wasteful spending. The highway superintendent job should be an elected position. We need support to do this. WinchesterInformer.com will be circulating a petition to make the highway superintendent an elected position please support us and sign it.

The following is from the BOS minutes Oct 15:

Rick Meleski would like to assist the Highway Department with plowing this winter. The current water operator Ric Brooks does not have his CDLB to operate the loader. Ric Brooks needs experience and training in order to operate the town truck. Selectman Ruth has no problem with Rick Meleski assisting the department as long as it does not interfere with his job at the sewer plant. Selectman Berthiaume discusses using local people (contractors) who might like the work, as a backup alternative since Rick is unavailable 3 mornings a week. Selectman Fraser makes a motion to approve Rick Meleski’s plowing for the Highway Department this winter as long as it does not interfere with his job, and Ric Brooks is trained by next winter to plow in his stead. Selectman Whippie seconds the motion and it passes 4-0.

Follow the money!

At the Oct 22,2008 selectmen meeting. Selectmen Roberta Fraser makes the motion to transfer $250.000.00 from the water fund to the Capital Reserve. Which passed by a 5-0 vote. Watch where this money goes. Follow the money! In the past John Stetser got the selectmen to place money from the town sewage fund into the Capital Reserve Fund to spend as they saw fit. This is part of the reason we have no money in the Capital Reserve Fund for the Sewage account. Unless we have a unknown water project coming up, this money will be used somewhere else. The following is the minutes from the BOS meeting. Read for yourself.


8th Order of Business: Water Fund/Capital Reserve

Chairman Tedford talked with Treasurer Peg Tatro regarding money in the Water Fund
(roughly $318,000-$350,000.00). Chairman Tedford suggests transferring at least $200,000.00 from the Water Fund, to the Capital Reserve to earn better interest. Selectman Fraser makes a motion to transfer $250,000.00 from the Water Fund to the Capital Reserve, and if there is a problem with that transfer amount, Peg Tatro can come to next week’s meeting to discuss. Selectman Ruth seconds the motion and it passes 5-0.

So, under the guise of getting a higher return on the money it's transferred to a different account, where it can be spent on anything the Selectman deem necessary.