This afternoon we received a request to post another of Mr. Keenan's comments to the BOS. At last night's meeting Mr. Keenan spoke to the board and raised the following issues;
1> He continues to be concerned about the malfeasance and incompetence of Margaret Sharra, chairperson of the town's Planning Board, who has caused now over $20,000.00 in legal fees on the Van Dyke matter. She should not be allowed to keep calling Barton Mayer, our town attorney, all of the time to keep getting his opinion. Upon, a reply by attorney Mayer, the reply should be copied to all planning board members, so that all members have the information provided in front of them to make an informed decision and specifically not just Margaret's interpretation.
In addition all planning board members should have access to all information and any weekly updates one hour prior to the meeting. Even Boy Scouts are prepared.
2> Conflict of interest and failure to recuse herself and failure to not allow anyone else to be the secretary to the Planning Board. She was formally employed by Earl Beamon and Dean Beamon is also on the board and there is upon information and belief that Kathy Beamon is also a cousin of Margaret and she is the step-mother of Dean Beamon.
Therefore; whenever Beamon matters are heard , Dean Beamon and Margaret Sharra must properly recuse themselves from participating in the meetings and remove themselves from the room. In the past, Margaret has remained sitting at the chair, directed the meetings, led the discussion, instructed the board and asked the applicant questions on behalf of the board.
3> She should be sanctioned for her incompetent conduct at minimum one half of the total legal fees on the Van Dyke case. As of this date, November 19th, 2009, the amount is over $20,000.00.
4> The Planning Board, has been referring to Carl Hagstrom as a Certified Soil Scientist for the State of New Hampshire; however he only has one license in NH and that is for a Wetland's Specialist only. Hagstrom, does not have the authority by the State to do wetland delineations on Mr. Van Dyke's or any other project. Can you imagine, what a judge in Superior Court or Supreme Court would do with this information if brought to their attention?
5> Regarding temper tantrums, hissy fits, and bad hair days by Margaret. On or about 2-3 years back, Dennis Whitcomb, another citizen of Winchester, had a disagreement with Margaret Sharra, to which she started screaming and threatening to call the police, and yelling at Dennis. This is unprofessional conduct.
In the Van Dyke matter, Sharra has been so unprofessional, as to continually interrupt the main two abutters and has threatened to call the police and in fact 3 officers were at one planning board meeting.
If you had a calm, professional chairman of the board, who would calmly hear all sides and be considerate to everyone, at least in the Van Dyke matter, you would not have over $20,000.00 in legal fees as of today's date with a possible motion for contempt coming up in Keene Superior Court for Margaret's direct flouting of judge Tucker's order of August 28, 2009.
Mr. Michael Towne was sent a certified letter for a hearing from the board scheduled for October 5th, 2009 @ 6:00pm. Mr Towne, had a medical excuse to request a continued date for the rehearing and was turned down by the board. Therefore; Mr. Towne, has never had the required hearing pursuant to the judge's order.
6> The Planning Board at the direction of Margaret Sharra is a disgrace. Winchester does not want these exorborant legal fees. So the populace has to do something about it, specifically because the BOS who have the power to terminate an elected official refuse to do anything. The town would be best served if the Planning Board would start over on Van Dyke, get themselves a calm, professional chairperson, who would hear all sides, including the public, the abutters and the developer.
7> It is rare in America, that even in a small " insider" town; that any chairperson of a Planning Board take it's minutes. This is a clear conflict of interest. In addition, I might point out that at many meetings, there is Sharra's version, possibly a different version in the newspaper, and also a different version from Sharra's in the actual recorded transcripts of the meeting. I would again strongly advise, Margaret Sharra to recuse herself and completely stay out of the Van Dyke matter for the good of all involved. Her conduct is clearly unprofessional, not calm, and hurts all taxpayers of Winchester.
The Board of Selectmen do not want to get involved. However they have the right to hire and fire an elected person and also limit their functions.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
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72 comments:
As many of us know from our own experiences with this board, you won't get anywhere with if you are not a member of the inner circle. I read the minutes of the BOS meeting held the evening of Nov. 4th and they do not reflect most of what was said by you or Mr. Towne and in fact don't reflect honestly on conversations directed at both of you from the board. I was in attendance that night and can state truthfully from my observations that the only member of the board that paid any attention to what either of you said was Roberta Fraser, the rest, Tedford, Gardner, Berthune and chairmen Ruth looked as though they could have cared less. In fact Tedford's statement to Mr. Towne that his complaint was a planning board matter really shows how much attention he paid and just how much he knows about the position he holds. This is a sad representation of Winchester, is it any wonder why people in other towns have the opinions about Winchester that they do?
The BOS don’t want to do their job because they don’t know how to do their job and prefer to blame others for their ignorant arrogance.
It would appear to me that Mr Tedford and Mr Gardner pretty much run the town the way they see fit. I agree with a lot of there polices but can't under stand why they don't expect any accountability from our employees, nor do they seem to get the financial shape of the state and the taxpayers of Winchester. I would like to see Mrs Fraser and Mr Berthiaume have more of an input and maybe Mr Ruth needs to step back and take a look at whats going on. Like other people have said, this town really is run like a country club.
Yes, a country club is a very good description of how this town is run; but unlike most, this one thrives on our tax money and membership is exclusive. They really do nothing for the people in town. A prime example is their idea to save money is shutting off streetlights so our children and others coming home from school activities or work, walk home in the dark; however they continue to spend money like a drunken sailor on raises and bonuses, new copiers, another truck for the highway dept. and get this folks; they want more money for another police cruiser next year even though they just got a new one this year despite our voting no. Does this sound like people we need to run our town, that continue to ignore us while they live and act like royalty?
I wasn't at the BOS meeting of 11/4 but I did read the minutes of 11/4 and the tone from the selectmen was very clear. No interest in trying to resolve a problem that somebody brings forward. In the minutes themselves it reads as follows –“Selectman Berthiaume recalls an incident when Mr. Towne was asked to leave the meeting because of his verbal attacks, and he was not able to focus on the issue before the Planning Board.”
What was his point in making that comment?
The minutes go on say – “Mr. Towne approaches the Board to defend himself, and says he was laying a foundation for his question and Margaret screamed at him and threatened to call the Police.”
There is no rebuttal to that.
Interesting use of words that they write, "defend himself".
They don't say clarify, speak again, try to explain - no they use "defend himself" because that is what those who have made the sacrifices and are standing up to these wrongdoings have to do - defend themselves, by their own words.
You gotta love it.
From what I have read over and over on this blog, the people in the town hall support the chaos that goes on in the town. In the depts they oversee and in the various boards and the reason is simple – if there is too much confusion then it will be too hard to unravel it. People won’t be able to keep track of it and more important the hope is that people will forget about it.
Talk about 1 one-sided presentations of facts.
Gee, don't tell me the hwy truck that Dale has used as his personal taxi [ before the informer came on line ] needs to be changed. Nothing lasts for ever but the miles he put on going home several times a day didn't help. Its the kind of thing you wouldn't do if you had to run for the job or if the past selectmen and town manager were on the ball. As for the police cruiser, let the chief buy it out of the detail money, its such a good deal for the town. A lot of things have changed sense the informer came on line.
Not to get off the subject but I just went to the Town of Winchester website to look at some meeting minutes and the home page has this at the top under the picture. Does anyone know what H191is? I’ve heard of H1N1 but not H191.
H191 Informational Website
Provided by the
Greater Monadnock Public Health Network
Get your facts straight as to why they are trying to evict him. It's because of his dog. You won't say who you are because you can't prove one thing you rant about. Sorry loser.
To Anonymous: play nice in the sand box or get your own blog. We do not wish any evil thoughts or actions on anyone. All we want is fiscal responsibility and elected officials that uphold their oath of office. Really when you think about it-it is not too much to ask for integrity. You know the drill truthfulness, responsibility and accountability and yes, it is ok to say oops I made a mistake.
Looks like temper tantrums that need to be ignored. That is what you do with children.
==Looks like people are angry about the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts when it's not what you want others to hear. They call that life - learn to deal with it.
Winchester Informer...there seems to be some duplication of posts happening...one of which by "anonymous" first posted 5:53 pm has been repeated FOUR times. Appreciate if you can remove the extras.. That wastes our time reading and takes up blog space needlessly. Thanks.
We have removed the duplicate posts by our childish guest who thinks cutting and pasting his nonsense over and over again will get him the attention his little mind needs to prove to himself what an intelligent and useful person he is. What he doesn't realize by being such a moron, that he brings the very people he claims to be defending down to his level also. Showing everyone what a small minded individual he really is shows us just what depths the town will sink to in an attempt to discredit our efforts to bring forth truth. At least Mr. Keenan had the dignity to offer solutions and didn't hide behind a keyboard as this fool has done, I wonder which is the better person by comparing their actions?
Informer...thanks so much for your quick and explained response in removing those duplicate posts. Childish for sure. Sad, isn't it?
This is the kind of trouble you can expect when you let someone like John Keenan let himself feel important....you fools are the only ones to not see through his foolishness.if you took as much time checking his background as you do beating your chest and whinning you might understand that your new "golden Boy" is going to take you down with him.So Mr Informer are you working on getting your guest room in order for Mr Keenan and be carefull about your grandkids when this fool is living with you. Hint Hint
Brian, Brian, Brian - this is called harassment and creepy! Perhaps we should find a straight jacket for you...Mr. Anonymous poster...
The only guest room getting ready is located in Westmoreland for the creepy poster. Coming soon to Marlborough! Then won't you be lucky - you'll have a flat screen television to watch and three square meals in your new apartment. Or better yet - they'll be making their accommodations for you in Brattleboro at a lovely retreat. Because your rantings and ravings about John really sound like that of a stalker and a loony!
We ALL know that you don't pay property taxes in this town - so we would appreciate it if you took your medicine and stayed off the computer. Thanks!
What a poor excuse for a human being you are. If this is how you treat people you do not know, I surely wouldn't want to be your friend. Your fun is over, we'll not hear from you again.
Give us some facts like the following.
Looks like the proof about the allegations of Ms. Sharra are true, as there are meeting minutes, there is a ruling from a Superior court judge and a hearing set at the Supreme Court regarding the planning board and all support the fact that she is out of control, has crossed the lines of ethical behavior and that has now been brought to the forefront. It also points to a BOS who refuse to do their job and cost the taxpayers ever so much more.
Looks like a lot of documentation supporting the fact that the police department has some serious problems with the Chief, Lt and some of the officers.
There is a lawsuit pending in Superior Court, involving the police department, where the Chief, in a lawsuit filed by a fired officer, is accused of neglecting to follow his own procedures and for not allowing the officer to seek counsel, as is his or anybodies else’s legal right during an investigation, after the officer was accused by the Chief of “Dissemination of Information” and “Information Discloser” or another words speaking his mind and discussing his opinion of Chief Phillips choice of Chris Roberts as the new Lieutenant, of opinion he did not share with the Chief. When the officer invoked his right to seek counsel after being accused of this, Chief Phillips and the town fired him.
Then there are the facts regarding the board of selectmen, taxes not being paid, cruisers being allowed to be purchased even after the taxpayers said NO and clearly are concerned about their taxes, a selectman wanting a citizen arrested for theft while his wife was doing the same exact thing to the citizen he wanted arrested and the list goes on.
Attempts at stifling the truth and misuse of power have unfortunately become a way of life for some in this town, but I want to thank those who are taking a stand for what is right and they do that in person, so you see there are people who don’t post anonymously, they post right in front of the public, in a public forum, right in a court of law, can’t get better than that.
Kudos to all of you.
Here is a question for the INFORMER. I always post Anonymous because I find all of the different identity options confusing. For those of us new to BLOGGING Could you give us a 101 on how to post our names or a blogger name. Thanks!
To use your own name or a blogger name to identify yourself, after writing out your comment and typing in the security code, choose the;
Name/URL
option and type your name or blogger identity in the box.
Then choose publish or preview to edit.
To Concerned in Winchester at 5:55pm 11/20/09 about the H191.
It looks like whoever updates the towns website typed in the wrong information.
But when a careless typo is typed onto a PUBLIC WEBSITE, what carelessness goes unseen out of the public’s view?
According to the CDC's website it's called H1N1 and they DO NOT list another flu H191.
Whoever does the updating should make sure that before information gets added or amended that someone proof it for accuracy and make explanations if deviating from the norm.
Mistakes like that really show the complacency exhibited too many times with those in town hall and really point to why people are questioning as to whether those in charge have the capacity or ability to be truthful and instead point to how misleading they can be.
Everyone's panic about this flu should make those giving PUBLIC information about the flu ever so careful and diligent in getting the facts straight.
It's the lack of concern for accuracy that is disturbing, not the fact that a mistake was made.
What has someone's background or any other subject other than what is being discussed even relative. Why are you continuing to harp about someone's personal business instead of the issues at hand? You are evidently filled with hatred and need help in discerning your problems. You really should take the advice given to you here and seek help up at Cheshire instead of subjecting us to your rants.
Just got the water and sewer bill, i thought the water part was a little steep but maybe they read the meter later that usual. I talk to a lot of people that are getting over billed, is it a bad meter reading or bad billing? Also is the same Person doing the billing, collecting the payments?
Its been said before Keenan or no Keenan facts are facts.
One big question left out of John Keenan's Letter is the fact Judge Tucker could not made a decision in favor of the complainant or the defendant stating there wasn't enough evidence caused by the missing 5 planning board tapes! These tapes would have shown Sharra's had rewritten the minutes to her version of the facts to protected her lies while pandering to Van Dyke. Some of the tapes were requested under the right to know law just one day after the planning board meetings. The proof the abutters needed to substantiate Sharra’s pandering to the applicant were conveniently missing.
The question John Keenan left out is. Why the Hell Margaret Sharra couldn’t or wouldn’t produce the 5 missing tapes of the minutes? Why the Hell was Margaret Sharra allowed to change the posted “official minutes” by removing facts and replacing them with a different version of the minutes on the Town of Winchester Website after they were certified by the planning board? Yet Sharra was able to, just from memory to post verbatim conversations, statements and facts from the meetings without taking notes weeks after the planning meetings.
So annoy; the old saying is sticks and stones will break John’s bones, but your ignorance can't hurt him.
"Just asking" - the answer is:
THEY RAISED THE RATES!!!!!
I guess you haven't been following the minutes of the Board of Selectman. They increased the rates for water and sewer a few months ago.
You're exactly right Bob. We brought this matter up in court, that out of all of the meetings that had been taped in the town hall, the selectmen's meetings, planning board, zoning board, conservation committee, etc. that only tapes, in the hands of Margaret Sharra, concerning the Van Dyke hearings, on the nights that either we or our previous attorney had brought up important indisputable facts regarding his application, or on nights when important decisions were made, like the denial of his application; or on nights that Ms. Sharra had incriminated herself, giving questionable testimony or her personal interpretation of what someone else spoke and acting as an agent for Van Dyke did the tape recordings of these meetings somehow up and disappear.
Judge Tucker, though he too had his doubts in regards to Ms. Sharra's claims she knew nothing about there whereabouts or what happened to them, couldn't rule in our favor as we could not conclusively prove she had anything to do with them being missing. The real funny thing about all of this too, is when we brought this up to the selectmen and Bob Gray, it was like oh, ho hum, sorry guys, what would you like us to do? The fact that Ms. Sharra controls these meetings from start to finish, influences the board at every turn to sway then to the way she sees things, interprets the language in regulations, emails and letters to her own liking and controls the flow of information submitted, dictating what you can and can not speak about and then on top of all that; not only time and time again in these hearings did she constantly seek advice from Van Dyke's attorney and Carl Hagstrom who is in Mr. Van Dyke's employ, it is she; who despite having a board secretary, transcribes the minutes of these meetings in her own way. Making absolutely sure that once again, she is controlling all of the information going into public record. A very slanted, one way interpretation of what really occurred in order to project her image as being fair to all, when in fact she is not. The truth will eventually come out in court, we have filed a Motion Of Contempt against her and all of the members of the board and I am in contact with a lawyer from the ACLU regarding my rights, which she has been denying me for some time now. It is sad that someone who only wanted a fair shake, to be able to be a participant in the process from the very beginning of these hearings and to be able to be heard at a public hearing and afforded the courtesy extended to the applicant and his party, has to file a law suit against the town in order to do so. I know many people, especially those on the board and at the town hall, blame Mr. Homan and myself for all of the headaches a law suit brings and for the cost to the town's taxpayers; but what choice did we have when these elected officials who took an oath to all of us, don't do their duty and treat people badly who refuse to go along to get along?
I agree with the fact that M Sharra runs the board bad and has been unfair with you with the way she does things. My big problem is you giving John Keenan a platform to let his head swell. I know this man and he is trouble, now because you posted his letter he is going to start believing he is the towns mayor. I have had many dealings with this man and he has a checkered past and has been forced to move many times and it will happen again. because he supports your cause "at the moment" you just assume he is all that, but seriuosly if you want him to represent you and speak for you you need to dig a little deeper like all the other boards and organizations have then sent him packing. there is not a single parent in town that wants him around their children and there is a good reason for this. keep up your campaign to rid the town of Sharra but be carefull about who you use to do this. some people here seem very computer savy so do some checking and dont forget to look for Wayne Keenan in you checking
Dear Mr. Towne,
You and Mr. Homan are not to blame for the problems in our town hall and you should not have to move from your homes to be treated fairly and with respect.
The problem with those in power in this town is this way of thinking – Get rid of the opposition and then the rest won’t bother us. We’ll make some the example of our power and control and the others will fall into to line and behave. They will lose if they do not comply.
The only thing that you have done is to do what many of us only whisper about doing. You have stood up to the lions den for what is right and what is fair and what shouldn’t even have to be a fight to begin with.
It’s unfortunate that we as taxpayers and people who DO vote don’t always get it right. When concerned people who live in this town and have to go out of town to find employment or who are retired or who are unemployed or the list goes on and on, can not get a straight answer, can not get a consistent response to the same question and can not get any cooperation from the town government it shows we have voted into place TYRANTS, which was never my intention nor the intention of those I have spoken to.
Bob Gray is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the board of selectmen or whatever the board of selectmen want said on behalf of some other official or dept head in this town. Mr. Gray seems to be easily swayed by others and doesn’t seem to have an independent mind set and a conviction of working for the town people as a whole, but for the best interest of himself by protecting his status quo at the expense of change. If he does have a mind of his own he has not appeared to use it on numerous occasions. On more than 1 occasion and for more than 1 reason, Mr. Gray has told stories that aren’t accurate, aren’t true, change depending on who he speaks with and are stories or statements without any fact behind them and that will be shown to be a fact. So dealing with Mr. Gray for anything that might endanger the status quo is useless.
Hopefully, the Supreme Court will force a new planning board panel under the circumstances of the irregularities that have transpired, lost tapes, fudged meeting minutes, etc and some reasonable, fair minded and responsible people will get to hear this request to build these condos on Rt 10 and whatever happens at least all sides would know the laws were followed and followed fairly instead of protecting the interests of a select few.
Food for thought:
In classical politics, a tyrant is one who has taken power by their own means as opposed to hereditary or constitutional power.
In modern usage, the word "tyrant" carries connotations of a harsh and cruel ruler who places his or her own interests or the interests of a small oligarchy over the best interests of the general population, which the tyrant governs or controls. Many individual rulers or government officials are accused of tyranny, with the label almost always a matter of controversy.
An oligarchy (Greek Ὀλιγαρχία, Oligarkhía) (oligocracy) is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military, or religious hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" (ὀλίγος olígos) and "rule" (ἀρχή arkhē). Such states are often controlled by politically powerful families whose children are heavily conditioned and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy.
IT’S TIME TO GET THE VOTE OUT FOR CHANGE
Mr. Keenan's name is not Wayne you fool, I don't know who you have been investigating or why; but John's not the person you are attempting to make him out to be. Go away and bother someone else.
BRAVO! Eloquently said
It's so wonderful to read something intelligent after all of the drivel from the impertinent finger pointer!
Why does Margaret Sharra have these tapes, why doesn't the executive secretary do the minutes for all of the departments then there would be no missing tapes or slanted minutes. This sounds awful suspicious and very uncool,especially when she has been talked about many times before.
This blog has shed some much needed light on many a new subject these past few days. Thanks to all of you who have given us uninformed folk more information that has been kept from us. Please do all you can to keep this blog running so we can be in the loop of what is going on in our town. It's hard to imagine that just 6 months ago much of this information was buried away. No wonder why some are so desparately up in arms about this blog. It's put a spotlight on their activities.
I have met John Keenan at a couple of ELMM Center events and have found him to be an intelligent soft spoken man with a passion for righting wrongs. It's no wonder the people we have put in charge and who seemingly have forgotten what their true purpose is are so up in arms over John getting involved with a movement to oust those who ignore the people and who have shown a total disregard and disrespect for our town. The statement that he has been ostracized by members of various groups and committees that he has attended meetings of is preposterous, he has been accepted as any one else would have and his comments when given are listened to with full attention. It would seem this person so full of anger and hate towards Mr. Keenan is truly the issue at hand here; not John.
Nothing to do with this blog but sure as Hell effected our taxes. I was told today by a good source, a past selectmen the reason why the Ferry Brook Road culvert washed out 2 years ago costing the tax payers over $80,000.00 during some heavy rain was caused by our Selectmen Gus Ruth who had a man made dam for a fire pond on his property and the man made dam gave way during the heavy rain. Shouldn’t Gus Ruth be fined or back charged for the damages he caused to our town property, totally washed out, closing Ferry Brook Road and causing us tax payers tens of thousands of dollars? If this is true why the facts was kept such a secret by Dale Gray and the rest of the selectmen? Talk about a circle of taking care of one another.
This is just what could happen behind Mr. Towne’s home dumping 10,000 gallon of live sewage a day into a hole on the side of a mountain that can not absorb or maintain that amount of water for ever. If that large amount of under ground held back by poor soils because an unqualified engineer falsified soil tests to the state of NH and the poor soils can not sustain this amount of water for ever, there will be a Ferry Brook type of wash out behind Mr. Towne home. Who will keep that a secret and who will pay for the clean up. Mr. Van dyke will be long gone. Mr. Van Dyke will not be held in bond by a bonding company because Margaret Sharra wants to change the planning board rules in March 2010 to help developers like Van Dyke and how they are bonded.
Are we so stupid to allow this circle of influence to continue.
You mean to tell us that because of a damn Gus Ruth built on his property illegally without DES approval, if what you were told is true, that it was this failure of his damn that caused the bridge on Ferry Brook Road to wash out? If this is so and Dale Gray our road agent and the board of selectmen knew it why wasn't something said? This smacks of sweeping the truth under the rug and hiding information affecting us all. This might be chump change to the big spenders we have elected; but this borders on the criminal too. We need to contact the county attorney's office if these allegations can be proven. This really stinks !!
I have a question and hope someone can clear this up for me. If this judge ruled or ordered or whatever it is that Sharra could not be present at this rehearing, why was she there? Now what does the town think is going to happen when they go back into court, won't we the tax payers be footing the bill for this too? Why does this woman keep doing things like this and not be held responsible by our select board, do they think she is right in doing what she is doing? How can that be if a judge says she is wrong? I'm just trying to understand all of this legal stuff and what it's going to keep costing us as this drags on.
We could try to give you the answers to your questions; but that would only be our opinion on the questions you asked. I'd suggest you call the town hall 239-4951 and ask Bob Gray or ask one of the selectmen who were approached and did nothing. Hopefully they will give you honest answers to your questions.
In regards to the flooding of Ferry Brook Road, if this is true this is outrageous that it has been swept under the rug and the real reason kept from us. Why in hell wasn't he held responsible and why should we taxpayers foot the bill? This isn't right, stuff like this should not be happening.
Calling the town hall won't get you any truthful answers, you'll only get excuses and I don't knows. It's time we all stand up and put an end to this once and for all and vote these crooks out of office.
About the fire/beaver dam on Gus Ruth‘s property. If what the prior selectmen told me is correct and I have every reason to believe this person only makes sense. It took one hellva big torrent of water flowing to wash 25 and 30 lbs boulders out of the road bed and into a field across the road. This deluge of water almost took out Vaine home. A neighbor told me it was an old beaver dam on Gus Ruth’s property that let go that caused the washout. This neighbor told me Gus Ruth was trying to get the DES to remove the dam and the DES wouldn’t allow Gus to touch it. No one can convince me the state allows this kind of risk while lives could be endangered below the dam. I find this a crock of beaver shi$ because if this is true why on land owned by Mark and
Bonnie Leville on the Old Westport
Road the selectmen had someone trap the beaver, then instruct the highway dept to removed a beaver dam over this families protests. The Leville wanted to keep the dam. The selectmen pointed out the fact to the Leville, they would be liable for cost and damages to the road if it broke.
Something is wrong here!
You are right Bob, something is really wrong with our local officials when they cover up an event like this, use taxpayer money to fix it and no one is held liable. I wonder what would have happened had the Leville's dam had cause a problem like this, would they have been held accountable? Would the selectmen and our road agent been all over them? Would it have resulted in another lawsuit, this time filed by the town? We have a double standard in this town as is evident by what has happened here, it's time we make the changes we need to be sure we all get treated the same.
Check with the Department of Environmental Services - Gus Ruth has a request for a Wetland's Permit - a Standard Dredge and Fill Permit to be exact. They will be able to verify what he is planning to do with the property.
Having a request for a permit and actually having one in hand is two different things. Covering up for him so he wasn't held responsible for the wash out shows just what kind of a town we live in.
Dear Winchester informer.
I was contacted today by one of your readers, who forwarded a post from your blog by Bob Davis. There are so much wrong information in the post that it seemed like a good idea to respond, so that readers could see for them selves what this website does with information.
Bob's words are in capitals.
….SURE AS HELL EFFECTED OUR TAXES. I WAS TOLD TODAY BY A GOOD SOURCE, A PAST SELECTMEN THE REASON WHY THE FERRY BROOK ROAD CULVERT ...
First of all there is no Ferry Brook Road. There is a Verry Brook Road.
There is a box culvert on Verry Brook Road.
That box culvert was damaged during the heavy rains and flood of 2006. The Department of Transportation, after inspection, recommended that the bridge be closed and then replaced. The box culvert was replaced with state funds and FEMA funds.
When we purchased our property on Watson Road, there was a large beaver dam on the property and about a 7 acre pond behind it.
Whether the beaver got a permit from the DES to build the dam, I am not sure but you could check with DES and request the records.
Then perhaps, offer the beaver instructions on how to build a better dam that would withstand heavy rains and flooding. They obviously need instruction because the beaver dam did breach during heavy rains in 1999.( It did not wash out any culverts on Verry Brook Road with that breach.)
.....WASHED OUT 2 YEARS AGO COSTING THE TAX PAYERS OVER $80,000.00 DURING SOME HEAVY RAIN WAS CAUSED BY OUR SELECTMEN GUS RUTH WHO HAD A MAN MADE DAM FOR A FIRE POND...
The Watson Road firepond was excavated at no expense to the town except for some piping put in by the fire department so that the pond water would be available to fight any fires in this area of town.
...WHO HAD A MAN MADE DAM FOR A FIRE POND.....
No, Bob, there is no dam on the firepond. There is another beaver dam on the natural pond near the firepond. It is NOT man made. It is beaver-made.
.....ON HIS PROPERTY AND THE MAN MADE DAM GAVE WAY DURING THE HEAVY RAIN. SHOULDN’T GUS RUTH BE FINED OR BACK CHARGED FOR THE DAMAGES HE CAUSED TO OUR TOWN PROPERTY, TOTALLY WASHED OUT, CLOSING FERRY BROOK ROAD AND CAUSING US TAX PAYERS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS?
So, Bob and readers, since the man-made dam that is referred to doesn't exist, and the town did not pay tens of thousands of dollars to repair damage,meaning that there was no effect on town taxes, the answer is NO, Gus Ruth should not be fined or charged.
IF THIS IS TRUE WHY THE FACTS WAS KEPT SUCH A SECRET BY DALE GRAY AND THE REST OF THE SELECTMEN?
It occurs to many reading this blog that anything posters don't know about - and haven't bothered to get real facts about, is referred to as "secret" or “hidden from the public”. Hmmmmm.
If you have questions for me or would like to talk about this issue or any other town issues, please contact me at the town hall, as I am not a reader of this blog.
Gus Ruth
Selectman
Hmmm, I thought that the Army Corps of Engineers had to give approval on any water way project. I would think that before anything was dammed up that you would have approval.
Thank you for responding to the postings above providing the facts to those who had questions concerning this matter. Your response however refers to a breach back in 1999, whereas Mr. Davis in regards to information he received from someone downstream from you speaks of the breach a couple years back. There seems to be a discrepancy of a few years, could you provide information in regards to the flooding incident out that way then?
In regards to your comments about what this blog does with information we receive;
First thing is we attempt to verify it, with either eyewitness testimony or documentation. Once that had been done we then post the comments provided to this blog, both sides, as we have done here and give others a chance to post their opinions. The opinions are those of the readers, not necessarily those of this website or it's administration.
To be fair to Mr. Davis, in relaying what he was told, the question remains, what exactly happened out there two years ago?
I’d like a little clarification if possible, this seems a little confusing to me as I am sure it is to others too.
When I read Bob Davis’ account of the $80,000.00 I take that to mean there was $80,000.00 worth of damage caused by the washout of a culvert due to the man made pond on Gus Ruth’s property giving way.
When I read Gus Ruth’s version he states the Watson Road fire pond was excavated at no expense to the town except that there was some expense, that being pipe put in by the fire department. Having said that he probably should have stated from the get go – the only expense to the taxpayer was for the piping put in by the fire department.
My question is: Are we talking about the cost of the construction of a fire pond at $80,000.00 or are we talking about needed repairs after a washout of a fire pond that was already there?
last couple of post prove how wrong the people who post on this sight can be. aalowing anybody to post anything the want excpecially anonymously opens the door for lies, half thruths, and totally wrong information. The informer claims to be looking for the truth
it would be a wise Idea to research everything before it gets posted and force people to put their name with it so the information posted will be more accurate. I would think if you really wanted this sight to have credibility these would be the steps you would take. the few post with true fact behind them are getting lost in the shadows of all the hearsay and lies of disgruntled trouble makers.
We thank you for your comments, you are entitled to your opinions and we will continue to post both sides to every issue that is brought up on this blog. However, as for your allegations that we do not research information provided and that we allow lies and half truths and totally wrong information to be posted on the site is false and I have addressed this claim several times in the past and won't go into it again.
The issue here is whether or not a dam on Mr. Ruth's property failed and contributed to the washout on Verry Brook Road a couple or so years back; not 10 years ago. Mr. Davis may have confused the name of the Road; but not the information. Mr Ruth has admitted the dam, built by beavers is on property he owns and is approximately 7 acres in total area. He also stated when the breach in 1999 happened that it did not affect the road, culvert or bridge at that time and that repairs were made and covered by outside monies. He has informed us that once again, during heavy rains and flooding in 2006, the roadway washed out again and this confirms what Mr Davis reported. The questions that Mr. Davis raised about this damage in 2006, were not answered by Mr. Ruth, so I ask you, how is this providing false information, or lies or half truths? Did another breach of this beaver dam on his property contribute to the water flowing downhill and the damage to the culvert and roadway? Did funds from the town, cover the repairs?
Was the damage a result of this breach as his neighbor downstream stated? Lots of unanswered questions remain.
Lastly, if you have issues with people posting anonymously out of fear for retaliation and that we have no credibility for allowing them to do so, let me ask you what your reason was for using this feature instead of your own name. Are you afraid to let people know who you really are?
Im just playing by your rules untill you change them, Thats all
No reason for Mr, Ruth to read this blog when he has a town hall full of people doing it for him. Also its not easy being top dog with the kind of scrutiny that modern technology provides these days. Its gets harder and harder to keep the voters in the dark in every town, in the state, and even the federal government.
Gus I don't agree that people feel anything they don't know about is hidden from them. We do feel there are some things that get hushed up & aren’t readily brought to our attention when they should be.
This makes some actions appear sneaky & is a reason for this blog, so this government is forced to transparency.
A couple of quick examples that come to mind.
1. FACT: the incident you bring up needs further review & discussion as the facts aren’t clear.
2. FACT: the purchase of a new cruiser when the taxpayers said NO in March-we consider that a slap in the face & a direct challenge to the reasons for voting you into office.
3. FACT: no mention of the PB lawsuit & impact on this town.
4. FACT: impending lawsuits are not secret information.
5. FACT: currently the town is involved in 4 lawsuits. Why do we only know of them through the blog?
6. FACT: no mention of a judge’s order to disqualify M. Sharra from a messy PB fiasco, continuing a disregard that the BOS has shown in it’s responsibility to the taxpayers & residents to ensure the town is working properly, efficiently & in compliance with statutes, judges rulings, etc.
7. FACT: belief you & your family should be treated differently which can be substantiated by the incident involving, you, your wife & Terry Qualters.
FACT: you wanted Terry arrested for stealing a campaign sign, which he states he found in the street.
FACT: Terry made a new sign out of the sign he found, that stated his opposition of you in the upcoming election.
FACT: your wife went onto Terry’s property & stole the new sign.
FACT: you called the police.
FACT: you wanted Terry arrested for theft.
FACT: the police officer that took the call, Dan Reppucci, spoke with you.
FACT: after hearing your side of the story & Terry’s side he explained to you that he would have to arrest both Terry & your wife & that Terry wanted the additional charge of trespass charged to your wife as she went on his property to retrieve the sign as opposed to finding it in the street as he did.
FACT: Officer Reppucci, would not comply with your request to arrest only Terry & not your wife & had to call State Police to intervene & act as a neutral party.
FACT: State Police informed you that if you wanted to pursue arresting Terry, that they would arrest him for theft & that they would also arrest your wife for theft & the additional charge of trespass.
FACT: It was at this point & only at this point that you backed off & stopped insisting that Terry be arrested.
Gus is it possible you have a personal dislike & possibly a vendetta against Dan Reppucci? Is it possible that because he would not do your bidding & arrest Terry that day that you chose to get even with him & that is the reason why you voted to fire him for what is turning out to be a very frivolous reason?
8. FACT: Dan Reppucci had 10 years of experience with the WPD, 10’s of 1,000’s of $$’s in taxpayer money was invested in him for continued education & benefits & the town has now lost that investment.
9. FACT: the lawsuit filed by Dan Reppucci has only been mentioned on this blog.
10. FACT: Dan Reppucci is suing the Town of Winchester & asking to be reinstated, with back pay & benefits, to the position he was fired from on August 17, 2009.
11. FACT: this information is a matter of public record & can be obtained from the courthouse, police depts, meeting minutes, etc.
Gus as a matter of courtesy & in the interest of fairness, transparency & your desire to be honest with your constituents, why not let people post questions to you & you then answer them so that everyone sees the same response? This way there won’t be an opportunity for things to be misconstrued or answered in different ways to different people or differently because of the manner a question may have been asked. If you are truly interested in getting the facts out it would make sense.
There is no rule that says you have to post anonymously, it's a choice/option that you have when you post. That you continue to use this option to hide your identity is fine with us, so be it. But do not begrudge others who are doing the same thing, it shows how one sided you truly are in your thinking.
To mr./mrs./ms. Anonymous poster of 6:45 am - When facts are presented does it really matter to you that much who presents them? You seem preoccupied? Obsessed? With who the identities of those who post facts. You also say there are a few posts that are true. Why don’t you let us know which ones they are so we may share your sentiment that it’s a few disgruntled troublemakers? Is it the documents that aren’t true or the posts that aren’t true in your opinion? I’m pretty sure that nobody is going through the trouble of forging documents from the courts, the police and the lawyers just for your entertainment. So please be specific in your gripe.
If anyone sounds disgruntled it’s you, for what would you care if someone makes themselves look like a stupid fool in the eyes of the public?
It does seem that every time somebody disagrees with those in power in the town of Winchester or when somebody stands up for what they believe in those in power try to squash, undermine and destroy for no reason other than they disagree. Proof among other things is the judge’s decision. To ignore that decision is proof of the backwards way of thinking that exists and shows why Winchester has stayed behind every other town in the area.
I think the people in power in this town are such unhappy people on the inside that in order to convince themselves that they are happy they need to make someone else’s life miserable. Either that or they are so corrupt they can’t meet the people face to face for fear of getting caught.
Their behavior, attitude and manner of resolution to problems is unfair, unethical and as has already been shown to be, at times illegal, yet they still persist.
If this was normal practice and normal behavior of town government and personnel, this kind of nonsense would be happening in all the towns around us. Where this kind of behavior is exhibited, in Hooksett for instance, the town government is being challenged and the results have been in favor for the town to pay for up for it’s bad behavior and for the town to change it’s ways and start abiding by and following the laws.
Just yesterday Attorney General Michael Delaney announced that the Rockingham County Sheriff Lineham and his top deputy Major Pierce resigned.
From the Union Leader:
Rockingham County Sheriff Daniel Linehan and his top deputy, Major Mark Peirce, resigned their posts today in an agreement with the Attorney General’s Office, which alleges the two law enforcement officials illegally made public an annulled record of an arrest and conviction of Linehan’s 2008 Democratic opponent.
Attorney General Michael Delaney said that under an agreement negotiated with Linehan and Peirce, his office agreed not to press charges in return for their resignations.
“This type of criminal behavior will not be condoned, especially by those members of society who are sworn to uphold the law,” Delaney said.
It looks like we now have a tough AG’s office now, one that will not allow power and prestige to interfere with the law.
Does this compare to the actions of the Chief of Police Winchester and his Lieutenant who both deliberately conspired to mislead a banking institution by presenting papers that were fraudulent in their content thus forcing the bank to close an account belonging to another and then taking the money from that account and putting it into an account in their names?
And then, when that didn’t work, because Dan Reppucci contacted the bank and told them that they had no authority to make changes to the account, they conspired together again and then brought another party into their conspiracy, one Maryann Platz, who provided more fraudulent paper work that she attested to as fact?
Attorney General Michael Delaney seems to have a zero tolerance for corruption and illegal activity as his statement suggests. “This type of criminal behavior will not be condoned, especially by those members of society who are sworn to uphold the law,” Delaney said.
Perhaps there is hope that this town will get scrutinized from the state and the appropriate remedies be dished out.
HMMMMM wouldn’t that make for a welcome change?
Thank you for correcting the spelling for the Informer and me, Verry Brook Road. Getting the spelling incorrectly doesn’t reflect the truth of the facts or the fact spell check with or without my permission corrected the spelling. Let's get the spelling correct or the whole accusation becomes false. I mean, you people at the town hall are good at drawing the attention away from the real facts of the matter. Aren’t you? As I sad before, “look at this hand while the other hand picks our pockets”!
Fact; You bought the property from Bob Brown and he had trouble with the beaver before you and you knew it.
Fact; You stated that there is a 7 acre beaver pond and dam constructed of mud and sticks built by as you described, dyslexic beavers holding back 7 acres of water.. Ask your beavers how many cubic tons of water is that?
Fact; You were told by selectmen who visited your property to draw down the pond and you told them you wouldn’t, you refused to do so.
Fact; The Verry Brook Road washed out many times in the past. Isn’t it a fact, that this beaver dam caused most of the wash outs? ..
Fact; You want us to believe you're some kind of a conservationist and you have the right to allow the beavers to do their thing, without any risk or responsibility to the land owner. You do own the beavers don’t you? All the while allowing the racetracks to dump RV grey water, gas and oil and whatever onto our conservation land on Keene Road for the sake of and I quote “your friends”!
Fact; The culvert on Verry Brook Road was damaged in 2006 by a deluge of water coming off the mountain that flows from your property, out of the “dam“!.
Fact; Dale Gray used tax payer owned trucks, to haul truck load, after truck load of fill, to Verry Brook Road, to sure up the culvert after the flood. How does this not cost the tax payers?
Fact; The state of NH closed the road and stated the culvert wasn’t fixed properly by the town. The cost of man hours and material was wasted. Therefore so weren't tax dollars.
Fact; You failed to mention the dam broke and washed out Watson Road and damaged the culvert on Verry Brook Road costing us tax payers a lot of tax dollars. Are we up to $80,000.00 tax payer dollars yet?
Fact; The state closed the road and required the town to replace the culvert. Now we are at over $200,000.00
Fact; The state keeps excellent records and I will investigate the facts so more.
Thank you, Bob and the other anonymous posters who have stood up and given us the facts to make decisions with. Sometimes it gets very confusing to figure out where the truth is and you break it down for us so we can see it.Thank you again for your dedication and patience in letting the truth come free.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Have a wonderful day!!!!
Yes, a peaceful, plentiful and Happy Thanksgiving to all. Rest when you can, and enjoy company of family and friends.
We live in a free society & not a dictatorship. We are legally allowed to speak our minds about what we feel is wrong with our government & those the government employs & supports.
It is because of that liberty that we now have & enjoy this blog. This blog has given us a wealth of information of many things that we did not realize were happening & going on in our town.
How anyone at the town hall, the PB, the Budget Committee, the BOS or in any of the town offices be it the highway, police, fire, complain when ANYONE asks for the truth? It is their job to tell the truth, uphold the laws & to give us truthful information when we ask it of them.
How any of these people who claim to have the best interest of each & every one of us at the forefront, mock anyone by saying they are “troublemakers” when the it’s these “troublemakers” who are the very people providing the proof of the very problems that are being complained about is beyond me.
From what has been presented on this blog & in the meeting minutes the BOS do not listen to us & instead do what they want.
1.) They make major purchases such as a cruiser when the voters said NO.
2.) They continue to let a lawsuit go on about a building project in town that is under scrutiny by the courts, involving the same developer who made another mess of a beautiful piece of property at the Winchester/Richmond line on RT 119 several years ago.
3.) They continue to ignore what appears to be the Chief & LT misusing their power & influence by presenting our local bank with a series of documents & signed items that do not coincide with the rules & the laws of either the banking world or the non-profit organization. What was presented to the bank does not appear to be representative of the facts at the time & appears to be a fraudulent act of deception for what ever their reason.
Here are 3 different examples, all easily validated, that scream out to us, it’s in the best interest for all, that we all question authority, because authority is simply not always right nor acts in a manner that is in our best interest.
3 examples of why it is important to stand up for what you believe in & to fight for it. Chaos would reign or we will all be servants under this regime if allowed to continue unchecked.
When those that surround Town Hall say, it’s just a few “troublemakers” they are absolutely, positively, 100% correct.
It is just a few “troublemakers” – THAT HAD THE GUTS TO BRING THIS TO LIGHT & TALK ABOUT IT PUBLICLY & OPENLY.
The “troublemakers” are causing trouble, but, they are causing trouble for those people at & who surround town hall & who are hiding, twisting, ignoring, disregarding the truth & then telling us they are not lying about anything.
They think we are a bunch of dummy’s & don’t know what we are talking about & that we shouldn’t be listened to & if anyone any opposition to their way of thinking they will be ostracized, fired or made an example of. Sounds like the old witch hunt days of paranoia.
To bring those people up to speed to the century we now live in - It always starts with one person & then when one person says to another, that’s not right, that’s not fair, that’s against the law. It becomes a cause when the other person says, gee I know what you mean, something similar happened to me but I just didn’t know at the time I could do something about it, or they say I didn’t have the money or time to fight it & the list goes on.
The “troublemakers” are really the ones who are questioning authority because they believe authority has done wrong. So to all you “troublemakers” out there, join forces, keep doing what you are doing, build a stronger army every day, share your stories, get smarter about what’s going on & you’ll soon have a brighter, transparent & more friendly group of people helping to run the town the way you want it run, by a democracy instead of the Gestapo.
Hi,
This is Sue Newell.
Again, I feel compelled to correct the record.
Regarding Mr. Keenan's claims: Anyone who cares to check the actual laws will learn that Mr. Keenan is not an authority on NH municipal law.
The BOS has NO authority to supervise, direct or fire any ELECTED officials.
There are only two ways to get rid of corrupt ELECTED officials:
1. Vote them out of office.
2. Petition the court to remove them for violation of their oaths of office.
Conflicts of interest (COI) can be addressed with a conflict of interest ordinance. I petitioned a warrant article for just such an ordinance in 2006.
Get a copy of the the town report for Town Meeting 2007. Pages 196-223 are the the town warrant for 2006, both entering and leaving deliberative.
The COI ordinance article, pp. 218-219, was completely gutted (like so many others) and became meaningless.
The ONLY ways you are going to see change in this town are to learn the law, petition articles that stop corruption and defend them at deliberative; and both elect and support honest officials.
There is one thing that the BOS CAN do to deal with some of the PB issues. They are legally responsible for hiring and firing employees. If you firmly believe that Ms. Sharra's employment as secretary is inappropriate, petition (in writing) the BOS and request that they dismiss her as the "secretary" of the "Land Use Dept."
However, I don't think you will find the political will to ask Ms. Sharra to decide between resigning her elected position or her employment position.
With regard to the Gus Ruth dam issue: You must all know that I have exposed many wrongdoings by Mr. Ruth on the Winchester Informed Citizen web site, but in this case his version is pretty much correct.
Most of the rumors about Leveilles' and Ruths', are just not correct.
Fire ponds are in place throughout town where fire hydrants are not available. In the past, it required cooperation of landowners and town and state officials and state grants covered most of the tab. It took a lot of work behind the scenes to do all the paperwork and engineering to comply with state laws and apply for grants.
Where is the evidence for this supposed $80,000 expenditure? Is there an invoice? Who was paid? When did it occur?
Rumors are one thing, facts are another. There are plenty of documentable problems in this town without devoting a lot of outrage to things that haven't happened, simply based on what some people "say." People said a lot of things about me, too. Ninety-nine percent of them were lies, but people were very willing to believe and repeat them. It is easier to repeat juicy gossip and spew misguided hatred than to track down evidence to get the real facts.
I was pleased to see documents relative to some of the PD issues. I would like to see more of that to back up some of the things people claim on this site.
If some people intentionally feed the site with misinformation, they can make it appear that NOTHING here is to be believed.
It would be in the best interest of all parties to publish rumors as rumors, then do the fact checking and expose them either as true or false.
Sue Newell
Sue, wouldn't - RSA 673:13 Removal of Members. – would not section II, allow the BOS to act to remove an elected official?
I. After public hearing, appointed members and alternate members of an appointed local land use board may be removed by the appointing authority upon written findings of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.
II. The board of selectmen may, for any cause enumerated in paragraph I, remove an elected member or alternate member after a public hearing.
III. The appointing authority or the planning board shall file with the city or town clerk, the village district clerk, or the clerk for the county commissioners, whichever is appropriate, a written statement of reasons for removal under this section.
IV. The council, selectmen, county commissioners with the approval of the county delegation, or district commissioners may for any cause enumerated in this section remove the members selected by them.
Source. 1983, 447:1. 1989, 266:11, eff. July 1, 1989.
As for the expenditures for the Verry Brook Road repairs, We have some documentation and I am doing more research on this.
01/10/06: Project Worksheet for FEMA application for Verry Brook Bridge replacement is completed. The total cost estimate, including engineering fees, is $217,360.
02/01/06: Town manager reports at selectmen’s meeting that the cost will be $217,000 and the town’s share will be $10,850. (FEMA 75%= $162,750; leaving 25% ($54,250) = state 80% $43,400 and town 20% $10,850)
02/01/06: Application for Construction Bridge Aid (to NHDOT) stating that the municipality
“has raised or appropriated” $30,000 as its share of the project is presented for selectmen’s signatures with three signatures already on it. Newell and Moser refuse to add their signatures since: the amount is different than previously stated ($10,850), there is no designated source of funds, and it has already been signed by three selectmen outside of a selectmen’s meeting without the benefit of discussion and a required vote by the board
02/08/06: Town manager tells selectmen that the total eligible amount that the town may receive
75% of from FEMA for the Verry Brook bridge is $229,009.59. [ = $171,757.19]
03/08/06: Selectmen hold hearing and accept $96,087.08 from FEMA grant #FEMA-1610-DRNH,
approximately $91,000 of which is for Verry Brook bridge (per the town manager: FEMA’s 75% share of 50% of the total cost, the balance to be received later). [$91,000 x 2 = $182,000]
03/14/06:With the passage of Warrant Article 19, voters appropriate $30,000 for budget year July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007 for a capital reserve fund for bridge reconstruction.
06/21/06: Town manager begins “round-robin” circulation (to selectmen) of the engineering study
from HTA for Verry Brook bridge. Report contains two options for “Engineer’s Estimate of
Probable Construction Costs.” (See pages 3 and 4.) The first (recommended by town manager) is
a total cost, apparently not including engineering fees, of $273,355.00 with a town share of
$54,671. The other option is for $291,000,295 with a town share of $58,529.00. [FEMA isn’t
mentioned.]
Looking over these documents there were some questions raised;
If FEMA is paying 80% directly to the town, why is the state also
paying 80% of the construction cost? And just where did the FEMA money go?
This was clearly more of an expense than Mr. Davis had reported.
Looking over the documents we have, something was truly amiss here.
As someone who supported you in the past, I'd be very happy to see Sue run for office again and help us take back our town and instill a sense of fairness. Perhaps we could also convince Brian Moser and Bob Davis to run again and maybe this Mr. Towne and his neighbor Mr. Homan who are taking a stand against their mistreatment. I agree with the above poster, we need people like the ones I mention to come forward and help us rid ourselves of the self centered people we have in office now.
All due respect to Sue, but the $80,000 in wasted tax payer money, trucking gravel to Verry Brook Road, then only to have the state close the Verry Brook Road bridge/culvert again and make the town dig it all back out, came from Sue several years ago. At the time I didn’t know about Gus Ruth's beaver dam; but it only makes sense now. I also stand by all my information about the beaver dam on Old Westport Road told to me personally by Mark Leville.
Good Morning Blog,
I received my tax bill yesterday. I noticed that it was down and am very afraid. I am afraid that once again people will become complacent and the "bums" will still run the town. We need to make certain that our concerns are heard. Just think if we did not have 4 pending lawsuits the bill might have been down another $200.00. Just think if we had not wasted money on redoing a culvert we might have saved another $100. We could have even saved another $10 on the bill if we had not had to buy the cruiser that we voted not to.
We need to remember that the BOS works for us. We should have cut back even more this year. We are down this year but will have to pay for attorneys next year. Please spread the word that we need to save even more as other costs are going up.
Thanks for the information. Have a great day.
I agree, the rate may have dropped this year; but I didn't see where there were any cuts in any budgets from the past two years. Hopefully the informer can shed some light on this. I also agree, that now more than ever we need to remain vigilant, attend the deliberative session and get out a strong vote for change. This blog has provided information and facts and people should take advantage of what is provided to them to better their situations and make our town a place where everyone is treated equally and fairly.
In regards to cutting back even more, we can do this at the deliberative session I believe. If I remember from last years blog on the session, Bob Davis and the Informer laid out what we can hope to accomplish if we can get enough people to attend and vote. I don't know how the selectmen have accomplished getting our tax rate to come down; but I will bet it was only because of this website and what has been posted here. Do you think it would have happened had there been no informer and the information we now have at our finger tips?
The only reason the tax rate went down again is, the selectmen drained the unfunded balance to a dangerous low. This is the reserve fund of tax payer dolllars after all bills are paid. The selectmen used $173,000.00 of this money to lower the tax rate..
The cut in taxes came from the School Budget. Tax rate is down $1.33, due to approximately half a million increase in state aid to education. The TOWN TAX however is up .08, school down $1.50, state school tax and county went up .09 cents together.
Sue -
I researched the warrant articles as you suggested. Is this the one you are referring to?
ARTICLE 35: This petition is for the removal of Selectman Gus Ruth as he is in conflict of interest with his title of Chairman of the Conservation Commission, handling and authorizing spending over $100,000 in our savings account, current use funds, of the people without the knowledge or consent of the other 4 selectman needed.
If so, it was then changed to read:
This petition is to commend Selectman Gus Ruth for his hard work along with the other members for their hard work on the Conservation Commission, in protecting and preserving Winchester's natural resources.
Sounds a lot like some of the warrant articles last year after deliberative session. My question would be then, is is LEGAL to state that it is still a petition. Because it no longer resembles the petition that the petitioners signed. Unless those people are willing to agree to the new wording, that can NOT be LEGAL.
I feel it's wrong and deceitful!
This is a BIG reason why we need a LOT of people to come to the deliberative session and stand up to this bs.
So if the select people drained the reserve fund we may get hit with a sizeable tax increase next year. We will have attorney bills to pay. We have to have a rainy day fund for our personal expenses isn't it time that the select people showed some fiscal responsibility. Perhaps they ought to consider combining some of the jobs at the town hall.
Have a great day!
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