This is a revised list of the selectmen's warrants. It would seem that our publishing their earlier list has raised some concerns and that they have made some changes, though not with their ability to continuously add more and more spending to their agenda. I guess they all feel Winchester is some sort of a booming metropolis. How else do they explain their current mentality of spend more than the town's people can afford, year after year?
To the inhabitants of the Town of Winchester, in the County of Cheshire in said state, qualified to vote in Town affairs:
You are hereby notified to meet in the Town Hall in said Winchester on Saturday the 30th of January next 2010 at nine o’clock in the forenoon to discuss, debate and amend warrant articles #1 through # and to receive the reports of the selectmen, town treasurer and other town officers including the agents and committees and act thereon. Final vote will be by the official ballot on Tuesday, March 9, 2010.
You are hereby notified to meet in the Town Hall in said Winchester on Tuesday, the 9th of March next 2010 at eight o’clock in the forenoon to act upon the following subjects. The Polls not to close an hour earlier than seven of the clock in the afternoon.
ARTICLE 1. To choose all necessary Town Officers for the ensuing year.
ARTICLE 2. Shall the Town of Winchester raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately, the amounts set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by vote of the first session, for the purposes set forth therein, totaling $ ? Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $ , which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the Town of Winchester or by law or the governing body may hold one special meeting, in accordance with RSA 40:13, X and XVI, to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen -
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
ARTICLE 3. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $545,500.00 for the purpose of preparing plans and specifications for additional work required for the reconstruction of the Winchester Wastewater Treatment Plant that will qualify the Town for Federal and State funds; $300,000.00 of such sum to come from a federal State Tribal Aid Grant (“STAG”), which the Town is hereby authorized to accept; and $245,500.00 such sum to be raised by the Town’s issuance of serial bonds and notes under and in compliance with the provisions of the Municipal Finance Act (NH RSA 33:1 et seq as amended), including any borrowing from the State Revolving Fund, so called established pursuant to RSA 486:14; and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to issue and negotiate such bonds or notes, to determine the interest rate thereon, and to take such actions as may be necessary to effect the issuance, negotiation, sale and delivery of such bonds or notes as shall be in the best interest of the Town of Winchester. Without impairing the nature of such bonds, notes or loans as a general obligation of the Town, it is the intention and expectation of the Board of Selectmen that the principal and interest thereon shall be paid by the users of the sewer system.
To be enacted, this article requires a 3/5 vote.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
ARTICLE 4. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $500,000.00 for the purpose of preparing plans and specifications, and for the construction of a new bridge to replace the closed bridge over Wheelock Brook on Old Westport Road, that will qualify the Town to receive 80% matching funds from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation; $100,000.00 of such sum to come from sums already on deposit in the non-lapsing Capital Reserve Fund established at the 2006 Town Meeting under Warrant Article [19]; and $400,000.00 of such sum to come from a proposed grant from the State Department of Transportation, which the Town is hereby authorized to accept.
(This article will not impact taxation.)
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
ARTICLE 5. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $317,400.00 for the purpose of reconstructing the westside downtown Main Street sidewalks and to install new sidewalks from downtown to Kulick’s Shopping Center, including a pedestrian bridge crossing over Mirey Brook (the “Project”); $63,480.00 of such sum to be raised by general taxation; and $253,920.00 of such sum to be raised from a proposed Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant (the “Grant”), which the Town is hereby authorized to accept; and to further authorize the Town to issue up to $253,920.00 in serial bonds and notes, under and in compliance with provisions of the Municipal Finance Act (NH RSA 33:1 et seq as amended), to finance the cost of the Project pending the receipt of the Grant; and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to issue and negotiate such bonds or notes and to determine the interest rate thereon and the other terms thereof as shall be in the best interests of the Town.
To be enacted, this article requires a 3/5 vote.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
ARTICLE 6. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $250,000.00 to finish chip-sealing approximately 9 miles of newly-shimmed roads, which are: Woodard Avenue, Ashuelot Street, Old Chesterfield Road, Pudding Hill Road, Rabbit Hollow Road, Forest Lake Road, South Scofield Mountain Road, South Parrish Road, and Mine Road?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
ARTICLE 7. To see if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to enter into a 3-year lease/purchase agreement in the amount of $65,000.00, to be paid in 3 annual principal and interest payments of $23,175.00 for the purpose of purchasing a 2011 Ford 1-ton dump truck, with central hydraulics system, flat bed dump body and plow set-up? At the end of the 3-year lease agreement, no additional payment will be required and the Town will own the truck.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
ARTICLE 8. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $40,000.00 for the Town’s share of State road grant reconstruction costs for bridges and place it in the non-lapsing Capital Reserve Fund established at the March 2006 Town Meeting under Article 19 for that purpose?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee 7-0, with 4 abstentions
Article 9. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of up to $25,000.00 for the cleaning, repair, and refinishing of the concrete retaining wall at the Town Beach?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
ARTICLE 10. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate $24,800.00 as the fifth and final lease-to-purchase payment for the 2007 International dump truck, plow, and sander package?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee 11-0
ARTICLE 11. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $22,760.00 to be placed in the Capital Reserve Fund established under Article 16 at the 2006 Town Meeting for the purpose of performing the assessing update or revaluation of the real estate in the Town of Winchester scheduled for 2015?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee 8-3
ARTICLE 12. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate an amount not to exceed $18,000.00 to be deposited in the Evergreen Expendable General Care Trust Fund established by an affirmative vote by the 1998 Town Meeting as Article 11; the source of these funds to be withdrawn from the surplus generated by the perpetual care funds already established for the care and maintenance of lots within the Evergreen cemetery, and not from taxation.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee 9-0, with 2 abstentions
ARTICLE 13. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000.00 to be placed in the Capital Reserve Fund established under Article 7 at the 2009 Town Meeting for the purpose of future upgrades and/or purchase of the town’s computers and networking system?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Not Recommended by the Budget Committee 6-5
ARTICLE 14. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000.00 to be placed in the Police Cruiser Capital Reserve Fund established at the March 2006 Town Meeting under Article 14?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Not Recommended by the Budget Committee 7-4
ARTICLE 15. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000.00 to be placed in the Fire Department non-lapsing Capital Reserve Fund for the purpose of purchasing new fire apparatus, established at the March 2005 Town Meeting under Article 21 for that purpose?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 3-2
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
ARTICLE 16. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $6,000.00 to support the annual Pickle Festival?
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen 5-0
Recommended by the Budget Committee -
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50 comments:
Didn't Mr. Tedford say the police outside details raises the money for the police cruisers? I thought he said at one of the BOS meetings that all those details covered the expenses and then some and included enough extra cash to buy 2 cruisers?
The story changes every day and differs depending upon who you speak to. Then when cornered they deny they even said what they said. We don't need any more cruisers sitting on the side of the road in some other town, what we need is competent honest police officers patrolling our streets and protecting our citizens.
We just paid for another cruiser, even though we voted no on spending our tax dollars for it and where is it? Is it in service everyday patrolling our streets, hell no. The chief uses it to go back and forth to work, run to Keene and then it either sits in the parking lot or in his driveway. What a waste of taxpayer dollars for a personal car for the chief of police.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Alena
Ask neighbors along the roads that have seen Dale Gray's and chip sealing. It is a waste of our tax payer dollars!!! Is someone receiving some kind of a kick back on those deals? Why are we buying $60,000.00 in salt? The town crew puts down tons and tons of just plan salt on days it above 32 degrees. When we have sand from our own town owned pit. Why aren't we mixing the salt with the sand to make it go furthur? These are the question you should be asking yourself when you vote.
Don't these fools realize that 2009 took such a toll on everyone from businesses to the common man and that unemployment and a dead housing market are still major concerns and it may take years for everyone to recover? No one of a sound mind would continue to add to the woes of the community, maybe it is time for all of these self-centered officials to take a long walk into the sunset.
They forgot one;
To see if the town will vote to remove these spend happy selectmen and their incompetent appointed dept. heads from office immediately.
It's funny how they talk unity and community and then do everything they can do to drive us out of town with their spending. They just don't get it, times are tough, go without just like the rest of us do and stop wasting our tax dollars !!!
Tell Dale Gray to go buy his own damn truck, we can not keep buying toys for him or anyone else and we surely do not need another new cruiser sitting on the side of the road idling all day long.
I live on Lake Road and can tell you all first hand that chip sealing is a joke. Come take a ride down here and see for yourselves, it's already wearing off and it's all over our front yards. It's a darn waste of our tax dollars and does nothing but make a mess.
We can not trust Dale Gray and the selectmen to get and take the lowest bid on a new truck. Dale Gray accepted the highest bid to fix the damage to our dump truck on Parker Street. Stating on the record; Fairfield’s Motors gives us a better deal! Hello! Dale; paying a higher price is not a better deal!.. What a joke! What is a better deal? Is it a bigger perk or pay back? Now he wants us to except his word the bids for a new truck is the lowest possible? Dale's quote for a cab and chassis of $42,101.00 (without a rear bed)! Now add $25,713.00 for a custom front hitch and platform body.Where are the other bids for the addd on. From who?. Hello again!! From who? Dale’s friends at Fairfield’s and we should accept this as tax payers? Why because we want Dale to be treated better. For that kind of money it must include the Harley Davidson package trim with leather and heated seats. Nothing is mention or substracted for the trade in for the old (1999) truck. Do they plan on sell this to one of there friends for peanuts like they did the other one? Send the selectmen a message we have had enough of this type of crap and vote "NO" on all warrant articles that cost us tax dollars. Maybe we should start a new web site: ourselectmenthink weareallstupid.com
From the BOS minutes; 1-Ton Truck: The Highway Department is in need a 1-ton truck to replace the current one, which keeps breaking down. He’d like a similar 1-ton dump truck with a flat bed body, hydraulics and plow setup. Dale would try to trade the old (1999) for the new. Dale intends to keep the stainless sander and plow. Dale has received two quotes from David Ford Lincoln-Mercury for $44,648.00, and Ford Motor Company for $42,101.00, with a custom front hitch and platform body from Fairfield for an estimated cost of $23,480.00, or E.W. Sleeper for $25,713.00. Selectman Berthiaume makes a motion to purchase a new 1-ton truck, flat bed body with plow package, by either an outright purchase or 3-year lease of up to $65,000.00. Selectman Tedford seconds the motion and it passes 5-0. Selectman Tedford adds if the Town was to do a 3-year lease, it would probably cost around $30,000.00 per year, and the last leased truck will be paid off.
See original post by the Informer on the "2010 Selectmen's Proposed Warrants" on Nov 29, 09 with 37 comments and read down to comment by "NO vote for chip sealing". Was reference the Warrant article # 14 for the $250,000. which now appears to be article # 6. Definitely agrees with what "I Know" had to say on this "Revised Selectmen's Warrant Petitions" of 22 Dec. Perhaps the prior "chip sealing" was the IMPROPER application of the product by the company doing it, and the lack of appropriate supervision, knowledge or caring by the Winchester Highway dept..??? Are bids put out for such work, and how are they decided? $250,000 is a lot of money we don't have for shoddy work.
Fact Rockingham Vermont may cut the wages of its employees by 10%, while our town clerk want to give his tax collector an 8% raise. According to the records at least one of our selectmen wants to give 3% performance bonuses. Rumor has it the a lot of the companies we do business with give kick backs to the people who get them the work or the sale. Fact Its the employees folks, not the taxpayer.
In the Keene Sentinel yesterday, was an article about how Bow, NH. is proposing to cut many teachers from the budget. Seems like everyone but Winchester has figured the economy out.
Maybe Santa will bring each of them some conscience and a sense of responsibility tonight and they'll see the errors of their ways.
Integrity...Integrity...Integrity...
Who is living upstairs in the fire department lounge above the police department and using their shower facilities on a daily basis?
Could it be Officer Scott Hurley?
Hurley was told last summer he was not authorized to stay upstairs on his days off. Yet he continues to do so.
To officer Hurley: It is a well known fact you lived upstairs at the fire department for several months after your lease ran out last October and your wife wanted to move back to Massachusetts. You were told you could not stay upstairs on your days off because of zoning issues, yet you are staying there again.
Chief Phillips and Supervisors Roberts and Jette knew you stayed upstairs and Phillips even cleaned up after you a few times before any unexpected guests arrived so they could not see that you were living there.
It has also been said that Emergency Management Director Chaney Stevens was opposed to this and confronted Phillips yet Phillips still allowed you to sleep upstairs in the fire departments lounge area above the police department.
While it is understandable that you live in Derry/Lonunderry and have to commute a long distance to work, this is no excuse for you to violate rules which you were told about previously and yet you continue to stay in an unauthorized area at the expense of the Town of Winchester tax payers.
To Officer Hurley supervisors Roberts,Jette and Chief Phillips: What Officer Hurley is doing and what you are allowing him to do is clearly a slap in the face to the citizens of Winchester
and an aunethical and a gross violation of your integrity, especially after Officer Hurley was told he could not live upstairs and his leaders still let him stay. If you, Officer Hurlay, cannot follow simple instructions from your superiors, how can the citizens of Winchester expect your integrity to go unquestioned? Your actions also beggs to question your integrity, loyalty , and ethics.
To Chief Phillips and your inept
supervisors: Order Officer Hurley to immediately cease and desist living/staying upstairs in the fire departments lounge area above the police department. Recommend that he finds alternative living quarters in town or close by in a surrounding community or commute back and forth to work daily like so many of us do.
TO CHIEF PHILLIPS AND HIS CRONY SUPERVISORS WHO CANNOT SEEM TO GRASP THE CONCEPT OF FOLLOW THE RULES: HERE IS SOMETHING IN WRITING THAT IS UNAMBIGUOUS AND SIMPLE:
QUIT MAKING EXCEPTIONS FOR YOUR BOYS AND PLAY BY THE RULES LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IS REQUIRED TO DO...NO EXCEPTIONS...GET IT...GOT IT...GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!
The Winchester Police Department clearly writes the rules as they go and pick and choose which rules they enforce, especially when it comes to favoring and protecting their own. What a joke and laughing stock the Town of Winchester has become.
To the Citicens of Winchester: Demand from youe BOS that they immediately request the AG's Office to conduct a complete top to bottom audit and invegistigation into the practices of the Winchester Police Department.
To talk around town ~ thanks for another informative session of the double standard led by Chief Phillips and the "leaders" he has put in charge to oversee the police dept.
This double standard is reinforced as acceptable by the BOS. Very nice.
I had heard this was going on and wasn't sure how to get a truthful answer because when I questioned it I was told was that it wasn't happening but I knew it was.
Again, thank you informer for letting us know our tax dollars are being used as a perk for the employees we already pay for and who make good enough salaries and benefits to be able to rent or buy their own homes, instead of acting like the homeless we are supposed to support.
To all of you who want change. Utilize the New Hampshire Right to Know Law to get information you need. Demand from your selectperson(s)any information pertaining to law suits, investigations, payroll, schedules, time sheets, calls for service...etc. Hold your town officials and their departments accountable. Anything less will result in further deception, lies and croniism. Keep digging y'all, never let go , and most of all, never compromise your integrity. Anything less would be condoning what has been happening and will be the accepted norm for The Town of Winchester. Without Integrity there is no honesty and without honesty there is little hope for positive change. Do not allow the enept, corrupt, incompetent, inconsequental, unqualified (some of whom are on some serious ego and power trips) town leaders to do " their investigation in to the matter". If the Townpeople let this happen it hill be a long bumpy ride that will end in further let-down. The sad part to all of this is that there are officers within the police department who are aware of the unethical activities that take place and allow it to happen or "look the other way". I guess in their minds if it doesn't happen or involve them its not important.
As a side note: I watched an interesting movie recently called " The Glass Shield". It was based on a true story about a small California police department engaged in illegal ativities, false arrests, cronyism, and other questionable activities within the police department. Ultimately the United States Marshalls confiscated all files and shut down the department, arrested and prosecuted several officers.
Maybe someone should contact the United States Department of Justice about WPD. Hint,hint.
Comedy Capers...Chief Phillips allowed Officer Meacham to transport Craig Hooper in Hooper's truck because Hooper was too big for the rear seat of the cruiser. Why would Chief Phillips allow his officer to drive a suspect's vehicle (not knowing the vehicle's mechanical condition) as a mode of transportation for the suspect?Talk about liability. Mechanics dictate that there is the same amount of room in the front seat of a cruiser as there is in the front seat of a pickup truck.
By the way who was calling ths shots during the big "drug bust" on Smith court last week? Was it Nate Jette? If this was the case, why was Jette involved when he was working Richmond? Rumor has it Chief Phillips, Officers Smith,Hurley, Meacham, Fisher and Ammann were there, yet Jette came over from Richmond in a Richmond cruiser.
Was this an emergency per Mutual Aid Policy?
If Jette went there on his own, any arrest or involvement he had is null and void and he would have been acting as a civilian.
Chief Phillips was the senior officer, therefore, he should have been the one calling the shots istead of Jette who sounded like a horse's ass on the radio ordering people around and demanding the Expedition at his location until the Chief finally told Jette it was not available.
This episode was on Saturday Night Live.
Very nice - what else do we need to know?
Sounds like the whole police dept was there to screw up except the Lt. Where was he? He never went out on calls on his day off or if he had already gone home.
Wonder if he had been there would he have been the leader?
As to Jette - another defense attorney coup if Jette butted in - probably will be anyway.
Was Hinsdale and/or Swanzey asked to assist?
Maybe they asked Jette to come over because they wanted to see if the Richmond cruiser was bigger?
Liability is just one of this towns problems and it certainly is one of the biggest.
Huh, do the selectmen know about this? Have they investigated it? Have they called in an outside agency - like State Police or the Sheriff's dept to get to the bottom of it?
If they haven't they might want to think long and hard whether they should stop following the orders of the people who are leading them down the wrong path to divert the attention from themselves to others.
Now that the holidays are coming to a close more and more people will be again looking for something to do with their time and many will have their sights on what is going on here.
I saw in the paper today that the Winchester Police Department is looking for another police officer. I have never seen such turn around in a police department as this.
Most of us try to avoid the police department (for obvious reasons), and have never stepped foot in there - so unless we are able to hear from those working there, we will remain clueless. So, thank you for the enlightenment.
Hopefully, one of these days (SOON)- our BOS will get their collective heads out of the sand and do some WORK!
FIRST - they need to reassure the men in blue that they will not tolerate deception from an office that is suppose to catch those that do.
SECOND - they need to FIRE the person that is orchestrating the cover ups and lies. Obviously, the men at work do not feel comfortable talking to the BOS about what's going on because of WHO is in charge. Notifying the FEDS or State's attorney has been futile in the past, because they only interviewed the Chief. Who then tells the Keene Sentinel that everything is hunky dorey.
Things have got to change WINCHESTER! We are looking for a community that is SAFE, ETHICAL / MORALE and PEACEFUL. Is that too much to ask?
Code of Ethics & Mission Statements have been written and implemented for various reasons.
The following is directly related to The Winchester Police Department's Mission Statement. Police Officers swear an oath to enforce local and state laws and upholding the US Constitution and The State Constitution. Police Officers are not above the law!
If it can be established that unethical practices, deception, or other improper actions have transpired, The Winchester BOS have the authority to dismiss those who violate the mission statement. There is compelling information to warrant the BOS to launch an investigation against The Winchester Police department which all Winchester Police personnel and as many past police personnel should be interviewed.
Ken Berthume, Sherman Tedford and Ken Gardner have been informed more than once about questionable practices within its police department. They either lack the knowledge or the fortitude to do what is just and what is right. The BOS continues to fail the citizens of Winchester.
Police Officers good and bad have come and gone. Yet the town fathers of Winchester are not the least bit concerned as to why there is such a high turnover within the police department.
The reason for the high turnover rate within the police department seems clear, poor management and leadership. Chief Phillips manages by deception, false promises and empty verbiage. And Roberts manages by authority, intimidation and cronyism. This type of leadership and management is a recipe for disaster.
Many times Phillips has been seen sitting alone at The Win Win Restaurant without a single citizen approaching him for a simple hello or idle chit chat. Why is this? The answer should be obvious.
How often has Chris Roberts,(an individual whose employment history with the town of Hinsdale is peppered with hostility and management by intimidation with his fellow officers and the citizens of Hinsdale) been seen chatting with the locals or having a meal at a local eatery? The answer is never. Why? Is it because Roberts is better than everyone? Is he? The next time you see Roberts, ask him if he thinks he is better and smarter then everyone, or ask him who he thinks is smarter than he is.
Since Roberts has been at WPD he has insulted citizens and a reputable business manager and orchestrated and authored misleading letters to dupe TD Bank to close a bank account which he did not have access not authorization to do.
Officer Jette openly admitted to taking a bicycle from the police impound lot. He also falsified a police report pertaining to evidence he left in the trunk of his patrol vehicle (this is a serious policy violation for mismanagement of evidence) which was found by another officer the following morning who logged in the found evidence. Officer Jette edited the report to reflect he logged the evidence in as if he never left it in the trunk of his patrol vehicle.
It has been said the original report of the found evidence along with Jette's doctored/edited report is still at large and available for authorities to review. Jette's credibility is highly suspect and it is astounding the County Attorney and Prosecutor's Office allows Jette in their court.
Here are a few suggestions for the citizens of Winchester:
Question the Chief of Police and BOS with tenacity at public town meetings and video record each meeting.
Do not accept any answers from the BOS or Chief of Police unless their responses are in writing. Hold them accountable.
Ask to see an itemized list of all equipment and reconcile it with the PD's budget. Know where your tax dollars are going at all times!!(Chief Phillips will hate this idea and being held accountable to the citizens).
Ask to have a daily log of daily activities posted daily for the citizens to review and randomly request copies of Calls for Service and related police reports. This is public information
Why do we need another police officer in town don't we have enough based on our population? If the chief needs another officer to help cover the town the answer is simple; cut the detail work and stay in Winchester. Sounds to me like we've become nothing more than a town paying for police protection we don't have because they are always on detail work. This mess with the police department needs to get cleaned up and if our selectmen won't act, then it's time we remove all of them and get a board who'll work for the town, not themselves and their cronies. It's time we as citizens get involved and start demanding accountability.
During this economic downturn, eliminate the full time position completely so the town can save on benefits.
Put the officers on a 5 day work week with 2 days off. Chief Phillips and Roberts work 5 & 2 why not the other officers? Or they can work 12 hour shifts instead of the 4 day on and 3 day off work week. The 4 & 3 work week only benefits the officer allowing them more time off to work off duty or their other jobs which proves the officer can work the 5 & 2 work week.
Example: Jette works details and for Richmond on his three days off
Also.
Also, if an officer works a 5 day work week he is less apt to earn overtime when they have a court appearance.
Increas the part-time budget by
$10,000.00 and give the part-time officers more hours. The town will save money by not having to pay for full time benefits. DUH!
Limit the officers to 3-5 gallons of fuel a day. AT 15-20 miles per gallon, this still would allow the officer to patrol 45-60 miles per shift. By conserving fuel the town would save thousands of dollars.
The State Police implemented a policy mandating their officer's vehicles idle 10 minutes per hour including all details, rain or shine, heat or cold. No exceptions.
Secretary Platz: Change her position from full time to part-time. This will save the town medical and retirement benefits. Schedule her for 25 hours weekly and set her work hours from 10 AM -3 PM daily. Also, audit her position to see if it warrants what she actually does. Do not go soley by her daily log.
Why does Erin Gusan(Fisher's girlfriend)get paid as a part-time secretaty when all she does is clean offices, wax the floors and empties the trash. This is fact folks. All you have to do is ask her. If the town pays Henry to clean and vacuum why pay a part-time secretaty to do the same? May be its the outfits Erin wears that entice Phillips and the officers.
There are enough officers to provide adequate coverage. Eliminate the double and triple coverage during the day and utilize coverage at night. Make Roberts work for his job by corresponding with the prosecutors instead ot Platz who relays the same information to the officers. What a waste of time and money. Look at his logs. Believe it folks, WPD does not get enough calls to warrant all they coverage they have.
There are many ways the town can save money. A good place to start would be to audit all departments, their job descriptions compared to their actual hours worked.
Mandate that all departments and their workers complete a detailed work sheet accounting for every hour worked. This process may prove to be a money saver for the tax payers. It may also show that there are unnecessary positions.
Remember folks, these suggestions will meet with great resistance from those who do not like to work and have justify their positions through accountability.
Ask the Sheriff's Office how they account for the work their employees perform.
Thank you Ken Berthiame and the rest of the Planning Board! You saved us from another of Maggie's schemes to screw the town. "Simplifying" the zoning ordinances with her own version was very sneaky.
Has anyone heard if she and Dean are running for reelection? Hope NOT!
I just spent an hour reading the Planning Board minutes for December. I did not know that the multi-family houseing was going next to the "doll house". I thought that you had to have more that 50' of frontage for building. But never you mind I read that Kathy Beamand is opposed to this so perhaps it won't fly. I never did find out in the minutes where 77 Back Ashuelot was approved for a commercial use-perhaps someone could tell me where to find that. If I were on Back Ashuelot Road I would be very concerned about commercial use in my neigborhood.
Thanks for the help informer.
Maggie will be running alright! For the town line.
Word has it she's lost the support of the board and the selectmen who are concerned with her ulterior motives and the lawsuits filed against the town because of her actions. The Towne/Homan suit has cost the taxpayers over $24.000 and will no doubt double or even triple by the time it's over unless the selectmen offer a settlement of some kind. I know from speaking with both that they only wanted to be treated fairly and because of the way they were treated by her they will continue to persue justice until they have exhausted all avenues. That they have a case pending in Supreme Court should show us all that there is something wrong with what transpired during those Van Dyke hearings and that the court agrees with them, otherwise they would have thrown out their complaint.
Somebody needs to step up to the plate and be concerned about the lawsuits in this town, lets hope it happens sooner rather than later. It will help our image and it will save us money - a win, win for all of us.
Anyone that has a vote please do all of us a favor and yourself, sign the warrant article being passed around to replace our town attorney. Bart Mayor is getting rich from the sweat off our tax payers back. Please support us in kicking his ass back to Hillsboro. We are all fools for paying him to support these clowns in the twon hall
Bart Mayor should be reported for either his deliberate mismanagement and mishandling of the legal problems this town has or for his ineptness in being able to handle them. A suit for malpractice stemming from the advice his has given to this town should be at the forefront.
For whatever the reason it's us taxpayers who are getting screwed because of Bart Mayer and his mishandling things going on in this town.
If he were a good lawyer he would have been able to solve the problems not make them bigger.
Not that I am a big fan of Mr. Mayor, but I guess you have never tried to talk logic to Maggie. You would discover that no matter what you say to her, she thinks that she is superior and you are inferior. God forbid she takes your advice.
Town hall parking lot almost empty early again on new years eve, boy the 10 hr days sure are saving us a ton of money. A lot of time is being payed when no one is working.
If we make Platz part time {good idea } who will monitor the Informer for the Chief?
For someone who can't afford to pay her property taxes, Roberta sure could afford a lot of vacationing this past summer.
Follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=1088712379#/profile.php?v=info&id=1088712379
Sesame Place in Pennsylvania
The American Girl in New York
Sugar River in Maine
Today Show / Rascal Flatts concert in NYC
Is this why she doesn't pay her taxes?
Maybe I could afford to take a vacation if I didn't pay my taxes.
Bart Mayer should be reported to the professional conduct committee by those that have the personal knowledge of his misconduct, if he hasn't been already.
In regards to the comments about Roberta Frazer;
This really galls me that a public official so far behind in her town taxes, $23,000. going back to 2006, can continue to act in such an irresponsible and unethical manner and then vote to raise spending year after year. If she doesn't have the money to pay her taxes, how can she afford to make those type of trips, those places aren't free or cheap either?
Because she has no concept of responsible money management - hers or ours.
The most insulting part is we are paying her for all her nonsense.
It must be nice to have a job where you get paid to screw up and then in essence your bills get paid by the very taxpayers the money mismangement hurts.
If she paid her bills no one would care what she did - it's obvious her priorities are have fun now and worry about tomorrow another day.
She does that with her own finances and she does it with ours.
Only I don't agree that is the right way to do things so she won't be getting my vote.
In the end she will get what she gave.
Thank you facebook for providing us with this information. She is not trying to hide anything-arrogance is a very special trait.It seems as though all of the BOS suffers from this condition.
Have a great night! Thanks for the information informer.
I hear that Mrs Sharra is getting warrant articles together to benefit friends and family. If this is true is it being done on company time with town equipment? If its true its as bad as the hwy boys pinny woods rd fiasco. Take a good look at zoning changes before you vote.
Word has it that at the Dec. 21st meeting, she attempted to get the board to make changes to over 2 dozen ordinances and regulations, none of them for the town's benefit. From what we heard she was met with lots of opposition and continued to badger the board for nearly an hour in an attempt to get her way; but in the end, the board, led by Ken Berthiaume, Jack Marsh and Kim Gordon, who questioned many of her changes, moved to deny them all. This woman's motives have become so obvious there's no doubt in anyone's minds that she does not work in the best interest of the town or it's residents. She has another agenda and even the board couldn't be swayed to go along with it. It's time we vote her out and take control of our town's future, otherwise; there will be sweeping changes made leaving Winchester a wide open town with little regulations to protect it.
Anyone in doubt about how dangerous these changes would have been to our town need only request and pick up a copy of them in the Planning Board office, they are supposed to be available to the public.
We will be doing a blog on this meeting as more information becomes available. We'd advise everyone interested in learning the truth to speak with one of the board members about the meeting.
Article 14 Got a call this morning about 3 or 4 Winchester PD on detail work in Keene. If this is so good for Winchester let the detail money pay for the new vehicles. Vote NO just like the budget comm. did.
I think the PD needs to get tires for the vehicles with the money .....the tires on the Expedition are all worn out and not fit for the snow we get - doing all those details must be wearing out their budget and is costing us money again. The selectmen won't be able to cry foul when one of these vehicles rear ends someone because it can't stop in time, because all they have to do is go look at them for themselves.
Not to worry folks...the expedition finally has snow tires on it...Why Roberts waited to so long to have them put on is anyone's guess.
They should last forever, the chief told the voters at deliberative a couple of years ago that the 4x4 only gets used in bad weather or emergencies, and we all know the chief of police wouldn't lie. Rumor has it that it hauled a camper to Hopkinton fair a couple of years ago, hard to believe.{NOT}
Here you have it folks. Another lie by the one and only Chief Phillips who said in the deliberative session the Expedition is only used during the winter and for emergencies. If what he said were true, the Expedition would only be used during the winter because there hasen't thus far been any emergencies that required the use of the expedition. It looks like Chief Phillips got caught with ihs hand in the proverbial "Cookie Jar".
If what Chirf Plillips said is true, why did the he allow the Expedition to be used numerous times this past summer and last summer for road details in Keene?
If Chief Phillips did in fact say during the deliberative session that the Expedition was only used for emergencies and during the winter it must be documented in the minutes which can be used against him to show he lied and deliberately misled the people.
This is another opportunity to get rid of Chief Phillips. The only problem the Town of Winchester has is the BOS does not have the "balls" to do what is right which is to hold accountable the one and only laughingstock chief of police of Cheshire county.Chief Gary Phillips.
Its no wonder that when Phillips attends the monthly Chief of Police meetings that he sits alone while the other chiefs ignore him.
re; Roberta Fraser
I too would like to know how someone who continues to cry poor mouth, whines over people questioning her in regards to her overwhelming tax debt, yet, continues to live like a queen. I know if I owed back taxes for years I wouldn't be taking several expensive vacations a year, nor would I be sending my children to expensive private schools either. I would be concentrating on getting my debts paid off as fast as I could so I wouldn't be paying a ton of interest or taking a chance on losing my home to the town. One might think something wasn't on the up and up with this type of behavior, especially being a public official. Can someone explain to me the rationalization behind this conduct?
In regards to the Expedition tires
Maybe they were waiting for the after Xmas sale at Fairfields.
Wonder what Fairfields is giving for kickbacks this year?
The Selectmen have backed off on some of the spending petitions, think they can feel a little pressure? Talk to your neighbors and get them to deliberative on the 30th.
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