There will be an open public meeting to discuss the proposed changes brought forth by several members of the Winchester Planning Board in an attempt to pave the way for businesses like Clean Power Development and asphalt plants, making it easier for them to get approvals to bring forth their operations in Winchester. These changes do not offer any protection for the town; nor are they necessary, they will eliminate existing guidelines that could provide obstacles under the current regulations for these businesses to get approval. This is not how the Planning Board should be acting. Their sole purpose is to enforce the regulations and make absolutely sure the town and it's citizen's are protected, not make it easier for unwanted and detrimental businesses to be allowed to establish themselves in our community.
We urge all members of the community to attend and voice their
concerns over these proposed changes and ask why and who is behind
this move. The Planning Board will be meeting Sept. 20th at 7:30pm at the Town hall on the main floor. You can be sure those who will benefit from these changes will be there in full force. Without comments and opposition from the public you can be assured these changes will more than likely pass and leave Winchester a wide open town with no protections.
Third on the agenda is a project that is prohibited in the Aquifer, but earlier this month, the Zoning Board reversed Leroy Austin's ( our Code Enforcement Officer for those who don't know ) motion that this business/project is NOT allowed.
Notice of Meeting
9-20-10
The Winchester Planning Board will be meeting on 9-20-10 at 6:30 pm on the Main Floor of the Town Hall for the following:
1. the board will be reviewing the proposed impact fee schedule with Lisa Murphy of SWRPC
2. The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed updates to the Site Plan Review Regulations
3. The board will consult with Rob Snedecker, representing Rob Mitchell on a proposed asphalt mixing plant.
4. The board will review the minutes of 8-16-10 for approval.
5. Any old or new business.
Is this what you want? There is too much APATHY in this town. Stop relying on everyone else to protect your town. SHOW UP!
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On the surface, impact fees look good to finding new revenues to draw on for schools , roads, sewers, and larger government. Don't be fooled. It will add thousands of dollars to building permits, that will strangle this town's abilities to attract decent people to live here. Our properties are being taxed for upgrades to municipal services already. That is what property taxes are for. This is just another tax and slush fund to keep the gravy train on the platter for our public employees. The federal housing and state housing authorities will be the only ones to cough up when they expand subsidized housing. Most of the towns around us don't want them and you know what we'll get out of it. The only impact at the planning board level should be to get rid of some of the members that support this.
She thinks she's a sly fox and hides behind her double talk and pretense of knowledge when all the while she'll do whatever it takes to help her other employer and put money into her own pockets. Ask around and you'll find out what transpired before she purchased the house on Main Street just down from the ELMMC, how many interested buyers who approached her only to be told that they would not be able to get a permit to hook up to the sewer plant if they turned the place into an apartment building. How'd she get the permits? How many times has she pulled that crap? Now she wants to throw out protections in our site plan regulations to help CPD get in the door and who knows whose next. Time for the rest of you to wake the hell up to what has been going on for years.
We all know it happens but who the heck is going to stop her is what I want to know. She is so cocky and thinks she is invincible. WHY WHY WHY is it allowed to continue???? We all know and it keeps going on and on and gets more and more serious and causes more and more impact on us all.
People need to go to this meeting, question why these changes are warranted and hold the whole board accountable for her actions. When people oppose her actions she often backtracks and starts to change course, perhaps if enough of us show up and let her know we are wise to her these changes won't be implemented.Sitting back, doing nothing and relying on other people to go and make the difference is not an option, we all must show up and let her know we're not going to stand by and let her and a few others ruin what's left of this town. It's time we all start doing what these people at the Informer are doing, get involved and take action, now!
Where is this asphalt mixing plant going to go in? Just what we need a smelly plant with more truck traffic on our roads, when does this crap stop and real business come here?
First it's a damn smelly garbage recycling plant, then they want to pollute downtown with a wood burning plant, and now it's a smelly asphalt plant. Don't these board members ever think of the neighbors to these proposed projects? Would they want to live next door, have their property values ruined and put up the the smells and truck traffic fumes and noise from those diesel motors and heavy trucks coming and going all day long. What the hell is the matter with these people? Is this the only kind of business Winchester can attract? Why?
Where were you people when the junk yards, gravel pits, the cement plnat and the motocross came into town. How did you vote? Blame yourself!!! Now your trying to shut the barn door after the horses got out!
Spoke with someone who had way different things to say about the Tamworth Plant than John Gomarlo and buddies spoke of at the BOS meeting and other times; saying there was no pollution, smell, plumes, etc. WRONG. There are plumes; it does smell and some people have had to move due to health issues that arose as a result. And their plant is not sitting downtown!!!! And all these plants/pits and racetracks on the aquifer????? And all with steady truck traffic???? This town will sure smell with more than corruption and palms being greased. And I hear the state offered to come in and advise the planning board on the permitting process. Don't see that Margaret wanted any help. She might have to follow the law and then the rest at town hall couldn't say, they were unaware of what needed to happen. Go Monday night!!!! And don't we have a Beautification committee??? Hmmmm just what I want to see??? Race tracks, sand pits, trucks, asphalt and bio mass!!!! Gag, cough,choke and break your ear drums!!!! And strange idea of beauty!!! Yup that's what tourists want to see and kayakers want to experience on the Ashuelot!!!!!
Sounds to me like we should require Maggie to resign. Yes, smells like a conflict of interest. We may want to file that away as after all if things are not voted on perhaps we may once again find the town in the middle of a lawsuit because she persued her selfish self interest. She's been told no by the judge once but obviously "NO" is not in her vocabulary.
Here's a couple of examples of the new regulations that shows just how badly these new changes will be and how slanted they are written to help the applicant get their approval even if they don't comply with all conditions set forth by the state and board.
"Conditions on the approval,
all conditions shall be met within a specific period of time, or, if not specified, within one year from the date from the approval. Conditions administrative by nature will not require another public hearing but any change or decision by the board requires another public hearing. Compliance is determined by the board."
So, even if an applicant hasn't met all of the conditions set forth, the board can still approve the application simply by saying they have.
..and another that leaves me scratching my head.
Compliance:
" No substantial deviation from the plans as approved shall be permitted without approval from the Planning Board. “Substantial Deviation” will be monitored by the Code Enforcement Officer/Building Inspector."
In other words the applicant can make changes as they go providing the board or code enforcement officer doesn't feel they are significant. This is so wrong.
.. or this nonsense:
"A motion to approve that does not get an affirmative vote by a majority of the board members, does not result in an automatic disapproval of the application. A new motion to disapprove, including reasons for the action, should be offered and another vote should be taken. Similarly, a motion to disapprove that does not receive a majority vote, does not result in an automatic approval of the application. If a motion is made which results in a tie vote, that motion fails and the board should try rewording the motion that a majority of members can approve."
How ridiculous is that, If board members don't vote to approve, doesn't that mean they are voting to disapprove the application? Why does someone have to make another motion and word it differently until it finally results in an approval? How does this make any sense?
Somebody show this to the state please!!!!!!! This is beyond ridiculous. It is a bunch of gobbledegook or Margaret legaleeze to shove CPD and the asphalt plant down our throats as well as who knows how many other of her projects coming down the pike???? Like spending town money on the Old Scotland Road on the spaghetti lines. What's in it for who???? The lines have had to be paid for by the property owners when they needed work up until this project. They want to get this through before the end of December and definitely before new warrant article time. Time to push back and HARD!!!!!!
The state has proven we are on our own to take care of our own problems, they want no part of "the arm pit" of the state township.... called Winchester.
When you figure out how to get these dumb head registered voters that refuse to get off their asses to take time to vote, let me know.
Why all of a sudden is it necessary to start changing regulations, is there something else going on here that we need to know about? Who is behind making these changes and for what reasons? From what has been posted by the Informer, none of this looks good for us or the town as a whole.,
Sharra knows she can pretty much do what she wants with the support she gets from the BOS and the Beamans, she pretty much has a free reign. She also knows that there aren't enough people organized to stop her from ruining this town and will continue to do whatever she wants with no repercussions. We had a chance last year to stop this nonsense, but somehow she got elected back into office and feels she's invincible and is now running around like a high priestess. She counts on no one showing up next Monday night in opposition so that she can push her changes through and help businesses like CPD come in. It's up to all of us to show up and show her we are wise to what she's trying to do, or otherwise we can all start packing up our kids and looking for another town to live in, this one will no longer be safe or healthy for them.
According to the state there are RSAs governing what she can and can't do about changing these regulations. Start reading!!!! Money may talk in Winchester but not at the DES level. Can't someone who has her proposed changes show them to the state???? ( Along with everything else)
Nobody will.
One person says everyone should get off their asses, the next one says they have all this credible information, then someone says lets bring this to the state, The state RSA's governing what she can do? START READING?
Read what? no links.
Soon there will be another topic and this all fizzles out.
I don't know what to do. Maybe I'm dumb. We all hide behind this blog.
People are going to have to band together and start speaking out in public, show those in power that they are going to be held accountable and that they are going to have to answer to the people. That first step needs to be tonight at the Planning Board meeting and then again on Wednesday night at the BOS meeting. People need to come in droves and listen, ask questions and respond, take part and show they are concerned with what's going on in town. People need to step up and show up, otherwise it's more of the same old thing, lots of talk, little action. The few of us who are vocal can't speak for everyone and can't do it alone. If you care about the future of Winchester and want this town to be a better place for all and not just the privileged few who want to hang onto the status quo, then you need to be at town hall at 7:30pm tonight and in front of that microphone. There is power in numbers, that's how these people got into office and have the power to do what they do.
They will laugh when they read my comments because they know you won't be there, this is exactly why this town faces so many issues and why they get away with so much. Are you going to continue to let your family and neighbors down? Is it more important to take action or sit home and watch Chronicle or Dancing With The Stars? You decide for yourselves, they're counting on it.
It certainly will be interesting when the people affected by this project band together. Leroy followed the rules and a specific crowd didn't like it so they changed them. Asphalt plants smell. Of course it is not going to be built in their back yard so once again put it on top of the aquifer like the tracks and the town can just afford to drill new wells. Or better yet go to water rationing when the wells are contaminated. But wait, it will not affect some of our selectmen as they have their own wells. I guess that they don't understand the concept of a fiduciary relationship. You act in the best interest of the whole community not just a select few.
Well all the sheeple stayed home last night and watched TV while citizens from Swanzey made their pleas to our PB. What's wrong with the people of Winchester, don't you care about what goes on in our town enough to stand up for yourselves? I am ashamed to be living amongst such spineless, apathetic fools. When your backyards and homes smell like burning asphalt and you can't stand the smell, remember you had the chance to speak up and didn't lift a finger to help yourselves or your neighbors. Go bitch in the mirror and place the blame squarely where it belongs.
Do you people in Winchester care about anything? Do any of you have any common sense and know right from wrong? I could not stand to live around such people that won't lift a finger to stand up for themselves. Give up Informer, you're wasting your time on these fools, what great examples they are for their children.
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