At last night's continuation of Robert Van Dyke's compliance hearing, Margaret Sharra once again demonstrated that she is not fit to remain sitting on the Planning Board and needs to be removed immediately for her grievous conduct towards a citizen of Winchester who was attempting to give testimony at the hearing.
Mr Van Dyke, who didn't even bother to show up at the last scheduled meeting, once again showed up empty handed without the state approvals needed for his "newest" septic and community water supply systems, which he was has yet to even design and submit to the board and instead rendered excuses as he needed permission to once again perform more testing and was seeking the board's approval to bring another excavator up onto the property to construct another temporary road in which to perform these tests. Knowing full well that he can not do this, not only because this project is in litigation and waiting on a decision from Superior Court; but also without a Joint Use Agreement from PSNH, he can not construct any road to cross under the power lines.
Carl Hagstron, who has been hired by Van Dyke to design his septic systems, attempted to sway the board commenting that without being able to perform these tests they cannot receive state approval as the board has requested. When asked if they had submitted their designs to DES, they replied they were still working on them. They have had since April to accomplish this and yet after nearly four more months of meetings and delays and continuances, they still have not complied.
After making several phone calls to state agencies and inquiring as to the status of Van Dyke's permits, the abutters attempted to submit written proof through emails that Van Dyke's driveway permit had expired and was no longer valid; his site alteration permit was incomplete and did not include information on changes he had made to construct a bridge on site and therefore was voided. He also does not have a Joint Use Agreement from PSNH, which he needs BEFORE any construction can begin, as made clear in a letter from PSNH to Van Dyke's engineers and yet he has already excavated and altered the terrain on site, constructed a temporary road and sunk septic and water test pits and drilled a well inside the wetland's set-back. Depending on the depth of the pilings he will need to install and the width of the wetlands his bridge will span, he may need a 404 wetlands permit and a dredge and fill permit to fill in the swamp land on the site; he hasn't even applied for one.
During the discussions, a member of the audience was given permission to approach the board and give testimony. While speaking and laying the ground work for his questions he was once again rudely interrupted by chairperson Margaret Sharra who began arguing and shouting his name and demanding he stop speaking. She shouted at him several times, asking if he had a question to ask, to wit he replied yes each time and asked her politely to stop interrupting him and allow him to continue. She did the exact same thing to this person at the last board meeting disallowing him from giving testimony to the board. When she was asked to "please allow him to continue, she emphatically stated "no". When she was asked why she was being so rude to him, she threatened him with arrest if he did not leave the building. At that point tempers flared and both began shouting at each other until he left the building of his own free will. Once again, this person's 1st Amendment Right was violated by the board's chairperson. His right to give testimony at a public hearing was denied by someone who is obviously biased. She once again demonstrated she is unfit to sit on the board, let alone be it's chairperson.
After a short tirade by Ms. Sharra, the board continued the meeting, closing the hearings to the public; yet instructed Mr. Van Dyke to submit his new plans to them when they were ready. This is a complete violation of law; to not allow the public to view or comment on these new plans is not right. They also instructed him to prepare to put down top soil and seed all open ares of the site by Sept. 1st, which he refuses to do because in his own words, " it will just wash away ". So much for his adequate soil erosion measures which is allowing sand and silt to wash under the highway and onto abutters property already. This farce has gone on long enough and why he has not been shut down is the question of the day. The board continues to pander to him at every turn. If he had been made to follow the rules from the beginning and submit a completed application as the town's regulations require, he would have had to have all of his t's crossed and i's dotted and all state approvals and permits in hand before discussions started; but the PB acted improperly and has allowed him to proceed without all of the required by law permits and without meeting the other requirements they set forth for him.
Another call to the LGC in Concord and the ACLU and State Attorney General's office is forthcoming and a personal lawsuit may follow. Just how long are our selectmen going to allow this outrageous conduct to continue?
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20 comments:
I would expect the board will have to reevaluate most of the departments soon. The town cant continue to tolerate the way most of the Boards and depts. are being run. If this sort of things continues and WMUR and the Union Leader get involved we will be the laughing stock of the state.
Just another example of irresponsibility and incompetence. It’s time these crooked and corrupt elected and appointed officials get exposed for what they really are. I for one am sick of paying their salaries. If they didn’t want the job they shouldn’t have run for office. There is a total meltdown going on in this town. It’s starts at the top and works it way down. As a real estate agent she has a direct conflict of interest in this deal and should be made to step down by the attorney’s general’s office.
Isn't she named in the lawsuit against the town and why is she still sitting on the board during these proceedings? Hasn't she violated her ethical responsibility by not stepping down and voided all of the board's decisions in this matter? Why hasn't the selectman's rep on the board reported her conduct to the other members of the select board and why haven't they acted? By the looks of it this town is going to get sued again for the umpteenth time because of a few who's power has gone to their heads. This type of behavior and non action by those in a position to correct these wrongs can not be tolerated any longer. It's time to petition for her removal and make calls to the proper agencies if our elected officials continue to refuse to act.
Isn't she the head of the so-called Downtown Beautification Committee or some other nonsense given access to taxpayer monies and responsible for the useless and costly river project I see flyers about? Just who's going to go sit by the river besides town employees to justify this wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars?
I think anything thats makes main street look better is a good idea. If i was planing a row of condos in the swamp in back of the VFW a good looking main street could help the sales.
What exactly do the other board members think of her deploriable actions? Does anyone inform her that her actions are rude and unprofessional? Or are they all terrified of her to speak up? Or do they agree with her disrespectful manner?
To the poster above. I have attended many meetings going back several years ever since she has been in charge and I can honestly say that this reported conduct has gone on at many many meetings and the other members of the board have just sat there and never spoke up on behalf of any member of the public. They just remain mute. I don't know why the selectman's representative has never spoken up or brought her behavior to the attention of the members of the board of selectmen, or maybe he has and they simply don't care. I guess it's a matter of go along to get along or maybe it's something else entirely, but in any case it's wrong, disrespectful and in need of some action to provide fairness to every citizen of Winchester. She comes up for reelection this March, if those we voted into office continue to refuse to act and condone our town being sued over her actions; perhaps it time we voted her out and made changes at the top of our leader board too.
Doesn't she work for Cathy Beaman? Is there some connection between the Beaman's and this Van Dyke builder? I seem to remember something about a project he did out on Burt Hill Road several years ago, didn't that involve the Beaman's and wasn't Sharra a real estate agent at that time too? This looks pretty fishy to me, what's in it for her?
Sooner than later the people will become educated about what is going on in their town and when that happens those that hide behind great walls of secrecy will see the walls slowly start to fall down around them and those that stand on the other side will begin to see the true villains that tried to occupy their town.
Margaret won't act that way typically if there is an audience. However, more often than not - there is no audience.
We should get the citizens of our town to take the time to attend these meetings. There is too many trusting (or lazy) people in this town that are getting railroaded into spending their tax money in a frivolous manner.
Trust me, it's more entertaining than television!
Its amazing how people all across America are saying enough to corruption. Its not there is any more now days, its just that its gets harder with things like Fox news, talk radio, and the Winchester Informer to keep it quiet. Its a new era and sticking it to the public is not going to be so easy. The Senator from California didn't get her airplanes, the President got a taste of how older people feel about his health plans, and it looks like Winchester is waking up.
It seems like the people in charge are no different than a bunch of addicts. They are in denial and they crave their addiction: power and control.
In response to NEW ERA above: This is a NEW ERA – when people get informed they become educated and when they become educated they can THINK on their own and come to CONCLUSIONS ON THEIR OWN and talk amongst themselves for what is best for the whole instead of what is best for the few. THEY BECOME EMPOWERED AND THAT IS THE THREAT TO THE HIGHER UPS - Slow steady baby steps – INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND THE ABILITY TO STAND UP AND QUESTION WHY? The people of WINCHESTER ARE NOT DUMB AND STUPID AS SOME HAVE PUBLICLY STATED – INFORMATION has been withheld for far too long so the masses are not able to make decisions and the issues become too cloudy. Now some information is starting to come out because there are those who want to see the people empowered so they can make decisions for themselves and their families. Decisions that will make things better not make them worse by keeping the people uninformed.
To everyone reading this blog and those blogging - here is a novel idea: talk with all of your neighbors (& relatives) and get EVERYONE to attend the next PLANNING BOARD meeting on Monday, AUGUST 17th at 7 PM.
Come armed with all of these legitimate questions and concerns. Let's see if we can PACK THE HALL with all of the tax payers concerned with how this board is treating "the public" vs. "the developer". Nothing is going to get resolved here - but in person.
Trust me - it can be as entertaining as reality tv - unfortunately, it's REAL!
Fat chance you'll get enough citizens to go to get any results. For one thing there aren't enough people in this town interested in anything having to do with our town government. They don't show up for the Deliberative Session, they don't vote and I'll bet half can't even name our 5 selectmen. To think that these people will pull themselves away from the boob tube long enough to drive down to town hall and sit through a meeting is just very wishful thinking. These people on these boards know this and know that no one is watching and paying attention short of the few who do show up and protest. These people then get labeled as troublemakers and the smear campaign starts, just like the one about this blog. Call the town and ask about something you've read on here and you'll be told it's all lies and it's a few outcasts who do all the posting. Nothing will change until the sheep open their eyes and get involved, their children will continue to fail, their taxes will continue to go up and their quality of life will continue to go down. Contractors like Van Dyke who has been thrown out of most surrounding towns for his shady dealings will continue to come here and ruin our town, tearing down everything that makes our town appealing. If our Zoning and Planning Boards are doing such a great job of attracting businesses, why didn't Market Basket come to Winchester or Wal-Mart who's just announced they are purchasing the old racetrack in Hinsdale, guess they couldn't find a suitable piece of land along Route #10 or #119 .. race tracks and garbage dumps sure bring in a lot of tax dollars and provide how many jobs?
To the anonymous poster above who requested that people come to the PB meeting this past Monday night;
Other than those who had business before the board, all the sheep stayed home, none were interested enough to attend. I guess everyone was just too busy sitting on their couch.
You think you are having a fun time now just wait untill Kim Gordon gets more power on the board..... boy she will take you for a ride. she loves stirring up trouble and creating problems for her own entertainment she will work well sitting beside m sharra
TITLE VI - Right To Know
PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
CHAPTER 91-A
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENTAL RECORDS AND MEETINGS
Section 91-A:2
II. Subject to the provisions of RSA 91-A:3, all meetings, whether held in person, by means of telephone or electronic communication, or in any other manner, shall be open to the public. Except for town meetings, school district meetings, and elections, no vote while in open session may be taken by secret ballot. Any person shall be permitted to use recording devices, including, but not limited to, tape recorders, cameras, and videotape equipment, at such meetings.
Keep a record for posterity........it's your right
Another department with big problems, but unfortunately, npeople need to complain loud and clear to get heard in this town. Even if you are absolutely correct and right, if you go against someone else agenda you're wrong. All you need do is read the minutes. One can only hope that with the informer more and more truthful information will come out, more and more questions will get raised, more and more court cases will get filed and more and more of these town officials will get voted out of office.
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