At the Oct 22,2008 selectmen meeting. Selectmen Roberta Fraser makes the motion to transfer $250.000.00 from the water fund to the Capital Reserve. Which passed by a 5-0 vote. Watch where this money goes. Follow the money! In the past John Stetser got the selectmen to place money from the town sewage fund into the Capital Reserve Fund to spend as they saw fit. This is part of the reason we have no money in the Capital Reserve Fund for the Sewage account. Unless we have a unknown water project coming up, this money will be used somewhere else. The following is the minutes from the BOS meeting. Read for yourself.
8th Order of Business: Water Fund/Capital Reserve
Chairman Tedford talked with Treasurer Peg Tatro regarding money in the Water Fund
(roughly $318,000-$350,000.00). Chairman Tedford suggests transferring at least $200,000.00 from the Water Fund, to the Capital Reserve to earn better interest. Selectman Fraser makes a motion to transfer $250,000.00 from the Water Fund to the Capital Reserve, and if there is a problem with that transfer amount, Peg Tatro can come to next week’s meeting to discuss. Selectman Ruth seconds the motion and it passes 5-0.
So, under the guise of getting a higher return on the money it's transferred to a different account, where it can be spent on anything the Selectman deem necessary.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Can we afford these out of control budgets?
This was posted by Bob Davis Budget Committee Member and I approved this posting: Oct 28, 2008, The Budget Committee once gain fails to cut any serious money from the town budget. They did however cut a little money from the Selectmen’s proposed increases. Tonight it was Sharon Haley’s turn to discuss the Financial Dept’s budget. Last year her budget was $115,223.00. She came before us tonight, requesting an increase of $12,602.00 in her budget, which would have brought the total to $127,825.00. The budget committee, after a small debate, voted to cut $4,182.00 which includes the dept's performance bonus, bringing the new total budget to $123,643.00. This is actually another increase in town spending of $8,420 for this dept. These are not real honest budget cuts. What I discussed with the dept head, what everyone over looks, which doesn’t show up in her line item budget, is the hidden costs under the line item called insurance.
The accounting supervisor, Sharon Haley, receives a $43,474.00 salary. However, when we add in the hidden benefits of ; 3 weeks paid vacation, 10 paid sick days, 12 paid holidays, medical, dental and vision benefits and the cost of living raise and performance bonus she's received, her pay actually totals out around $55,557.42 (using 2006 -2007 stats). Now the accounting assistant, Amy Bond, receives a salary of $34,758.00. If we add her 2 weeks vacation, the 10 paid sick days, the 12 paid holidays and the cost of medical, dental, vision insurance and her raise and performance bonus, we come up with an actual total salary of $55,404.60.
Now as you can plainly see, the real budget numbers of the Financial Dept. are $160,554.42, not $123,643.00 and all of this is for just two people, in a downstairs office. We're not done yet, we still have 4 more offices to go. To make real budget cuts, I called for a cut of Amy Bond's hours and pay making the assistant job part-time. This job was done for years with one full time employee, Irene Ethridge, and a part-timer. In all fairness, the work load has increased a little; but can still be carried out the old way. There is no real need for having two full time employees and it's costing us a substantial amount of tax payer money to boot. We are headed for very hard times, with all of these increases; because if we don't act responsibly and really start cutting out the pork, next year people are going to be taxed out of their homes.
So what if the employees have to work a little harder and buckle down on these expense items, we all have to tighten our belts in bad economic times. This is letting the tax payers down and increasing the risk that some more of our neighbors and friends may lose their homes or have to move away because they can no longer afford to live in Winchester. I ask my fellow board members where is the fiscal responsibility that we are entrusted to carry out to protect the citizens of Winchester from continued over spending ? I didn't see any again, at last night's meeting.
The accounting supervisor, Sharon Haley, receives a $43,474.00 salary. However, when we add in the hidden benefits of ; 3 weeks paid vacation, 10 paid sick days, 12 paid holidays, medical, dental and vision benefits and the cost of living raise and performance bonus she's received, her pay actually totals out around $55,557.42 (using 2006 -2007 stats). Now the accounting assistant, Amy Bond, receives a salary of $34,758.00. If we add her 2 weeks vacation, the 10 paid sick days, the 12 paid holidays and the cost of medical, dental, vision insurance and her raise and performance bonus, we come up with an actual total salary of $55,404.60.
Now as you can plainly see, the real budget numbers of the Financial Dept. are $160,554.42, not $123,643.00 and all of this is for just two people, in a downstairs office. We're not done yet, we still have 4 more offices to go. To make real budget cuts, I called for a cut of Amy Bond's hours and pay making the assistant job part-time. This job was done for years with one full time employee, Irene Ethridge, and a part-timer. In all fairness, the work load has increased a little; but can still be carried out the old way. There is no real need for having two full time employees and it's costing us a substantial amount of tax payer money to boot. We are headed for very hard times, with all of these increases; because if we don't act responsibly and really start cutting out the pork, next year people are going to be taxed out of their homes.
So what if the employees have to work a little harder and buckle down on these expense items, we all have to tighten our belts in bad economic times. This is letting the tax payers down and increasing the risk that some more of our neighbors and friends may lose their homes or have to move away because they can no longer afford to live in Winchester. I ask my fellow board members where is the fiscal responsibility that we are entrusted to carry out to protect the citizens of Winchester from continued over spending ? I didn't see any again, at last night's meeting.
Monday, October 27, 2008
People in town not paying taxes!
Is this true? Are there some people in town not paying their fair share while the rest of us pick up the slack? Is this a case of our town officials unlawfully looking the other way?
We've received the following letter from a concerned citizen that this may actually be the case regarding a neighbor of theirs.
The letter writer provided us with their name; but wishes to remain anonymous.
We've received the following letter from a concerned citizen that this may actually be the case regarding a neighbor of theirs.
Hello there,
I wish to inform you that I discovered that I have nearby neighbors who live without permits of occupnacy and have done so for a long time (17 years). This makes me wonder how many other homes are there in town that do not have permits of occupancy and yet peole are living in it? This neighbor is( name has been removed while we investigate this claim),who has a an extension cord to his house from the phone pole to his house that gives electricity. Why are we allowing this to take place for so long? I wish to remain anonymous but my other neighbors are very upset that the building inspector has let him get away with it for so long. We believe that he has something on the building inspector. That he is also selling a piece of his property (a for sale sign by owner) is apparent and we are wondering why we weren't notified that he sub-divided his property.
How many places are there in this town with this problem? We need to tax them as well for it is not fair to others to see this happen.
What do you say?
The letter writer provided us with their name; but wishes to remain anonymous.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Cash strappped town in need of reform!
We are a cash strapped town with plenty of pork in our budget that needs to be cut, however those in charge are making sure that the dept heads are getting their fair share. They do not want to save the tax payers any money, they just want to protect their bottom line and keep their bonuses, raises and special perks. Take the Highway Dept., under Dale Gray's leadership for example. This dept is costing us thousands in perks that no other town government, would ever conceive of allowing such give aways.
The town Highway Dept has satellite TV, ( the excuse was they need to WATCH the weather to be fully prepared ) they get Green Mt. coffee delivered for $93.00/mo at our expense, they wear comfort fit jeans, jackets, and shirts at a cost to us of as much as $290.00 a month for cleaning, they get 10 sick days, paid vacations, cost of living raises each year and get to drive their own personal piece of town equipment back and forth to lunch on us. In next year's budget, Dale Gray, wants an increase in diesel fuel for the equipment, from $28,000.00 to $50,000.00 with no over sight or control of the usage. No selectmen can tell us, where this amount of fuel goes. To be fair it is hard to anticipate the cost of fuel for next year; but with no checks and balances, with no control, no paperwork, nothing to check the actual factual usage for town vehicles, you have to wonder. Could they be heating the town garage with it? It burns in a heating system just as well as it does in a town grader. It would burn cleaner in anyone's furnace then the grader. Could it be used in town employees personal diesel trucks? It does make you wonder, why no accurate records are kept, doesn't it? No one is being accused of any wrong doing and even if they were, most of the selectmen would protect them just like they protected John Stetser. We know Ken Bethiaume and Roberta Fraser wouldn't tolerate it, but that is just two who we feel actually concern themselves with how things are being done. This is why this year, we must elect people that will work in the best interest of the town and not their allegiance to their buddies. We must demand our officials keep accurate, honest records of all expenditures and make them available for viewing at any time, by both the town's Budget Committee and the public themselves. There must be accountability at Town Hall.
The town Highway Dept has satellite TV, ( the excuse was they need to WATCH the weather to be fully prepared ) they get Green Mt. coffee delivered for $93.00/mo at our expense, they wear comfort fit jeans, jackets, and shirts at a cost to us of as much as $290.00 a month for cleaning, they get 10 sick days, paid vacations, cost of living raises each year and get to drive their own personal piece of town equipment back and forth to lunch on us. In next year's budget, Dale Gray, wants an increase in diesel fuel for the equipment, from $28,000.00 to $50,000.00 with no over sight or control of the usage. No selectmen can tell us, where this amount of fuel goes. To be fair it is hard to anticipate the cost of fuel for next year; but with no checks and balances, with no control, no paperwork, nothing to check the actual factual usage for town vehicles, you have to wonder. Could they be heating the town garage with it? It burns in a heating system just as well as it does in a town grader. It would burn cleaner in anyone's furnace then the grader. Could it be used in town employees personal diesel trucks? It does make you wonder, why no accurate records are kept, doesn't it? No one is being accused of any wrong doing and even if they were, most of the selectmen would protect them just like they protected John Stetser. We know Ken Bethiaume and Roberta Fraser wouldn't tolerate it, but that is just two who we feel actually concern themselves with how things are being done. This is why this year, we must elect people that will work in the best interest of the town and not their allegiance to their buddies. We must demand our officials keep accurate, honest records of all expenditures and make them available for viewing at any time, by both the town's Budget Committee and the public themselves. There must be accountability at Town Hall.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
How many raises did you receive last year?
It seems that some town employees enjoyed 3 raises annually for the past 3 years. One: annual raise for performance, Two: the cost of living and three; the (zinger) performance bonus. Can you image only one person failed to receive the performance bonus last year! The payment is a given! Some raises where done at the expense of the tax payers by calling it a promotion. At the Budget Committee meeting Tuesday night the motion from Ken Gardner to remove the line item "performance bonus" from the budget was passed by a 6 - 2 vote. This was the same amendment that Bob Davis attempted to attach to a motion 2 weeks ago and it failed. Colleen DuQuette and Roberta Fraser voted to keep the performance bonuses in the budget.. Upset at the outcome, outraged member Colleen DuQuette said, she will make a motion to increase the annual raises next meeting. Will she succeed? We will let you know.
Bob Davis went on record as saying, if we do not make an honest attempt to cut the taxes,the tax payers will be angry and outraged. At the deliberative session we know people will not consider a default budget and will attempt to cut the budget by $500,000.00 or more and at least one $1,000,000.00 from the School Budget ...Winchester Informer feels, we can do this! It is our best weapon! The Budget committee is quite evenly split, between the people that want to cut taxes and the ones that want to allow continuous overspending. There are several people up for re-election this year for Budget Committee and we would love to see the people in town stand up and vote out those that would continue the current trend. If anyone would like to run for these open seats the process is am easy one to follow. It is so simple and doesn't require much of your time. Just $1.00. Please help support those of us who promote change and vote out those who continue the unchecked spending. It's time to remove these people who think the tax payer is an endless supply of dollars. We cannot continue to follow this path of tax and spend and expect our town to grow and prosper, it's time for change.
Bob Davis went on record as saying, if we do not make an honest attempt to cut the taxes,the tax payers will be angry and outraged. At the deliberative session we know people will not consider a default budget and will attempt to cut the budget by $500,000.00 or more and at least one $1,000,000.00 from the School Budget ...Winchester Informer feels, we can do this! It is our best weapon! The Budget committee is quite evenly split, between the people that want to cut taxes and the ones that want to allow continuous overspending. There are several people up for re-election this year for Budget Committee and we would love to see the people in town stand up and vote out those that would continue the current trend. If anyone would like to run for these open seats the process is am easy one to follow. It is so simple and doesn't require much of your time. Just $1.00. Please help support those of us who promote change and vote out those who continue the unchecked spending. It's time to remove these people who think the tax payer is an endless supply of dollars. We cannot continue to follow this path of tax and spend and expect our town to grow and prosper, it's time for change.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Preserving the Historic Look of Ashuelot Village
The Informer has received a request to open a discussion on preserving the older buildings in Historic Ashuelot Village in a natural way instead of using synthetic siding. We received the following letter and thought this was a very important issue that merits space on our blog. Welcome people of Ashuelot Village!
People in the village of Ashuelot would like to see it begin to be thought of as an Historic place.
We are asking that the Historic district preserve the look of the exterior facade of old buildings such a the Hotel in the village, by painting, and not siding with synthetic materials.
Historic Commission Public hearing tonight: Monday Oct 20 at 7 pm at the Town Hall
Please stand up for our history in this simple way.
We already have our beautiful covered bridge, lets keep looking good, and become a destination that people travel too, throughout the state.
Thank you.
Julia Ferrari
People in the village of Ashuelot would like to see it begin to be thought of as an Historic place.
We are asking that the Historic district preserve the look of the exterior facade of old buildings such a the Hotel in the village, by painting, and not siding with synthetic materials.
Historic Commission Public hearing tonight: Monday Oct 20 at 7 pm at the Town Hall
Please stand up for our history in this simple way.
We already have our beautiful covered bridge, lets keep looking good, and become a destination that people travel too, throughout the state.
Thank you.
Julia Ferrari
Saturday, October 18, 2008
What's Van Dyke up to?
The Informer has received the following emails asking us to start a new discussion. It would seem that many people are keeping an eye on what has been going on out on Franklin Mountain this past week and are very concerned.
Would it be possible to start a new discussion regarding that contractor Van Dyke and what he's up to now out on the mountain?
Keene Road resident
What's Van Dyke doing up on the mountain now? Thought he couldn't do any more digging while there was a lawsuit pending? Could we start a discussion on this subject?
thanks,
Mary K.
Saw that contractor tearing up more of the mountain by Shamrock this past week, why is the town letting them work when there's a lawsuit filed against the town? Isn't this illegal? Be a good topic to discuss on the blog don't ya think?
Green Valley folks
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Diesel Truck Expenses ..
The Informer has received the following email asking us to start a new discussion on possibly saving the town some money on fuel expenses .. We'd welcome feedback from everyone on this subject and if you have other cost saving ideas, please bring them forward.
I would like it if there is a way we can start a new blog to address the issues of the diesel truck expenses. I sincerely believe that it is time for the town to get a veggie conversion kit for the diesel truck instead of forking over thousands in diesel fuel expenses. I have done some research and discovered that a veggie oil conversion kit and labor would run an average of 2 grand. There is a such a mechanic in Rhode Island. Is it possible that this blog can address money saving methods for the town to survive?
Thank you.
Sincerely Yours,
Silverhawk Spirit-Carroll
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Questionable Conduct and more Payouts
We have been informed by reliable sources that at the Oct. 7th Budget Committee meeting a question in regards to a line item expenditure out of the A.C. Lawrence Account came up. The answer provided was that the BOS have approved paying John Gomarlo some $15,000.00 or more he is demanding for 520 day hours of accumulated sick time he never took. At the rate of 10 days/80 hours per year, this goes back some six years that he never took a day off. Though this practice of paying employees for unused sick time was disallowed several years ago, John is demanding he get paid. With no way to replace this money, once again the taxpayers will be forced to foot the bill. It was also reported that John has used up all of his pay allowance under the Land Use Dept. and wants to be paid out of the Highway Dept. budget. Dale Gray objected to this and reminded the board that Gomarlo doesn't even work for he Highway Dept. Despite this fact, the Selectman overruled Gray and approved the payments anyways. This is just plain wrong and outrageous conduct by our BOS. What do you think, should he be paid for this unused sick time or should the Selectman have stood firm and refused under the town's rules on not continuing this practice and should the Selectmen have taken the money from other accounts to cover this leaving us to foot the bill once again?
After posting this, we found some of the reported information to be incorrect; however if we were to edit this to reflect the errors, it would skewer the responses below. So for good or bad we have decided to leave the original post unedited to avoid any confusion editing could create.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wastewater Treatment facility Upgrade report:
In February of 2004, the town was notified by the state DES that the town's WWTF was approaching 80% of it's permitted flow. In June of 2004, the town retained Tata & Howard to conduct an evaluation of the plant and report on it's condition and submit recommendations. At last night's Selectman's meeting the board received a report from Tata & Howard that basically states the plant is out dated, needs new rotors with automatic controls within the oxidation ditches, recommends the installation of two(2) new center feed clarifiers with flocculators in the center well, recommended the replacement of the existing chlorination/dechlorination system with an Ultraviolet Disinfection System (UVDU), the installation of a packaged centrifuge system within the existing drying bed enclosure, installation of a new generator, installation of a new return activated sludge (RAS) and waste activated sludge(WAS) pumps, the purchase of new laboratory equipment and additional I/I investigations. Additional upgrades would include upgrades to the existing headworks such as a new grit removal system and grinder and the on site construction of a septage receiving facility. Based on this evaluation the estimated probable implementation costs for the recommended improvements which would also include a 25% engineering and contingencies fees was at the time of the report $2,970.000.00. Based on escalation costs of 15%, the estimated probable implementation cost has risen to $3,415.000.00.
All of this was based on the projected population of Winchester being around 5,350 by the year 2026. There was no discussion on just how the town is suppose to pay for all of this or why the plant has been so neglected all these years or where the money ear-marked for this plant has gone in the past. With people exiting New Hampshire in droves ( US Census report ) does anyone seriously think Winchester's population is going to increase to those projected numbers, especially with the town fast approaching maximum build-out and that there are only three potential areas remaining in town for development? While there is no doubt the plant needs some serious upgrades, do we really need to be looking at a complete re-build at such a high cost?
All of this was based on the projected population of Winchester being around 5,350 by the year 2026. There was no discussion on just how the town is suppose to pay for all of this or why the plant has been so neglected all these years or where the money ear-marked for this plant has gone in the past. With people exiting New Hampshire in droves ( US Census report ) does anyone seriously think Winchester's population is going to increase to those projected numbers, especially with the town fast approaching maximum build-out and that there are only three potential areas remaining in town for development? While there is no doubt the plant needs some serious upgrades, do we really need to be looking at a complete re-build at such a high cost?
Monday, September 29, 2008
2008 - 2009 Proposed Budget Increases Again
Once again our Board of Selectman show that they have no fiscal responsibility and continue to spend, spend, spend. Raises, bonuses, and now huge department budget increases across the board, just more of the same from the people we entrusted with our tax dollars.
There are important reasons that voters value fiscal responsibility in their elected officials. Managing public money is a matter of public trust, and a charge that should not be taken lightly. They are entrusted to wisely manage our resources and to prevent runaway spending and out-of-control government growth by requiring all departments to run more efficiently. Instead, they continue to increase department spending and award those that ignore their department's budget and continue to over spend,year after year.
They need to apply the brakes on this runaway spending and establish a tradition of frugality that will require departments to run more efficiently, instead of rewarding those that don't. If they can't; or won't, and continue on as they have, then we need to find people who will have the public's and town's best interests at heart and remove those that are only looking out for themselves.
There are important reasons that voters value fiscal responsibility in their elected officials. Managing public money is a matter of public trust, and a charge that should not be taken lightly. They are entrusted to wisely manage our resources and to prevent runaway spending and out-of-control government growth by requiring all departments to run more efficiently. Instead, they continue to increase department spending and award those that ignore their department's budget and continue to over spend,year after year.
They need to apply the brakes on this runaway spending and establish a tradition of frugality that will require departments to run more efficiently, instead of rewarding those that don't. If they can't; or won't, and continue on as they have, then we need to find people who will have the public's and town's best interests at heart and remove those that are only looking out for themselves.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Am I missing something here?
Over the past few months, we've all heard the same old cry, time and time again about how our town is so broke and that we've all got to look at ways to stop the bleeding; yet it seems that our Board of Selectman are still wearing those rose colored glasses from times gone by. After talking about shutting down street lights to save money on this year's budget, the board unanimously decides to hire a new Executive Assistant, at an undisclosed rate of pay at a recent nonpublic session held Sept. 3rd and at the same meeting, gave several town employees not only a 3% raise, they also voted to give these same employees a bonus too.
Highway Dept. Sup. John Gomarlo, received a $958.00 bonus
Cemetery Dept.Sup. Norm Struthers, received an $810.00 bonus
Sewer Dept. assistant, Fran Domenick, received a $975.00 bonus
Water Dept. Sup. Gary Puffer, received a $1388.94 performance bonus.
Checking back on another nonpublic session, held on Aug. 27th, we found that they had done the same thing earlier, giving Margaret Sharra, Land Use Dept. a $1.00/hr raise and an undisclosed performance bonus, and then raising the salary of the Sewer Dept Sup.,Rick Meleski, after a 90 day review, to $42,900.00. How is this saving the town, us taxpayers, any money if they continuously hand it out as fast as it comes in?
Though I don't begrudge anyone being compensated for doing their jobs well, this is a slap in the face to all of those in town who are struggling to keep their heads above the ever rising tide rolling over them in food and energy costs and constant town tax increases. For a town that's so broke I wonder where they found the money to do this, surely turning off a few lights isn't going to offset the cost of these raises and bonuses and a new hiring. Anyone want to bet we'll see it reflected in the new budget? If you're happy with this, then go back to sticking your head in the sand; if not, then attend the next Board of Selectman's meeting and let them know. And if they refuse to listen, then send them a message in March, that the buck stops here!
Your comments, both pro and con are welcome ..
Highway Dept. Sup. John Gomarlo, received a $958.00 bonus
Cemetery Dept.Sup. Norm Struthers, received an $810.00 bonus
Sewer Dept. assistant, Fran Domenick, received a $975.00 bonus
Water Dept. Sup. Gary Puffer, received a $1388.94 performance bonus.
Checking back on another nonpublic session, held on Aug. 27th, we found that they had done the same thing earlier, giving Margaret Sharra, Land Use Dept. a $1.00/hr raise and an undisclosed performance bonus, and then raising the salary of the Sewer Dept Sup.,Rick Meleski, after a 90 day review, to $42,900.00. How is this saving the town, us taxpayers, any money if they continuously hand it out as fast as it comes in?
Though I don't begrudge anyone being compensated for doing their jobs well, this is a slap in the face to all of those in town who are struggling to keep their heads above the ever rising tide rolling over them in food and energy costs and constant town tax increases. For a town that's so broke I wonder where they found the money to do this, surely turning off a few lights isn't going to offset the cost of these raises and bonuses and a new hiring. Anyone want to bet we'll see it reflected in the new budget? If you're happy with this, then go back to sticking your head in the sand; if not, then attend the next Board of Selectman's meeting and let them know. And if they refuse to listen, then send them a message in March, that the buck stops here!
Your comments, both pro and con are welcome ..
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Should we put a stop to "double dipping"
It is a known fact that there are quite a few town employees who hold several different salaried positions; while this might be said is a good idea in regards to having experienced people fill those positions, it also gives the appearance in some cases as impropriety, bias and/or nepotism. We feel with the infusion of "new blood" so to speak, perhaps even more qualified people would and should be given the chance to come forward and provide their input to the benefit of us all. The practice of filling positions without being elected by the citizens of Winchester should also be stopped, this too wreaks of favoritism and impropriety. We feel that each town position is important and therefore should be filled with the most qualified candidate and that candidate should be an elected one in all fairness. In these hard economic times, should we not be getting the most bang for our buck? The subject was also broached in another discussion here on the board that perhaps in another effort to save the town some money, several depts. could/should be combined; ie: sewer and water for example. What do you think? All this talk about change and the future of Winchester should perhaps start at our town hall.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Appauling Situation Calls for Action Now !
Seems nothing changes in our town, more of the same old, same old, stick it to the taxpayers. The heck with rules and regulations! We received an email this morning from Budget Committee member, Bob Davis, who attended last night's Board of Selectman's meeting and came away disgusted after he learned the following:
As we all know this past weekend races were held at the Winchester Speedpark Motocross Track; as evident by the noise, increased traffic and all the campers parked along the roadway entrance into the track and along the river at the back of the track. What you don't know according to Bob's email was that our town Fire Chief, Barry Kellom, took a fire truck out of service to re-fill the water tanks on campers parked at the speedway. According to Bob, the selectman were told that Gary Puffer, our Water Superintendent, had opened the gates over the weekend at the town's pumping station and filled the truck with un-metered water, which was then used to fill an unknown number of campers at the track. Who authorized this? It surely wasn't the selectman who seemed to be caught by surprise at the news. Would this not be considered theft of service by both of these men? Who paid for the water and the gas for the truck and do both of these men expect to be paid overtime for working this weekend? Does the town have some kind of secret contract with the owner's of this track to supply town water to patrons camping at the track over the long Labor Day weekend? Besides the obvious, what would have happened had there been a fire and this truck was needed? Just how much longer would it have taken to respond if it had to be driven to the water plant and refilled, before heading out to the fire? Another thing Bob pointed out, was what happened to the grey water and sewage in the tanks of these campers.No one seemed to have an answer. As an owner of a camper himself, Bob knows you must empty the used water before refilling with fresh. As water is used, it either goes into the grey water holding tank or your sewage tank. Was this waste water dumped on the ground or worse, into the river? This area is in our town aquifer and there are protected wetlands and the town's wells only feet from where these campers were parked. Unless Gary Puffer and Barry Kellom can explain their activities this weekend and where the water went, then one must assume they allowed without question dumping of gray water into our aquifer and wet lands at the Winchester Speedpark. This whole situation stinks! Everyone should be calling the town hall and demanding their resignations. We can not afford to continuously put up with this kind of conduct.
As we all know this past weekend races were held at the Winchester Speedpark Motocross Track; as evident by the noise, increased traffic and all the campers parked along the roadway entrance into the track and along the river at the back of the track. What you don't know according to Bob's email was that our town Fire Chief, Barry Kellom, took a fire truck out of service to re-fill the water tanks on campers parked at the speedway. According to Bob, the selectman were told that Gary Puffer, our Water Superintendent, had opened the gates over the weekend at the town's pumping station and filled the truck with un-metered water, which was then used to fill an unknown number of campers at the track. Who authorized this? It surely wasn't the selectman who seemed to be caught by surprise at the news. Would this not be considered theft of service by both of these men? Who paid for the water and the gas for the truck and do both of these men expect to be paid overtime for working this weekend? Does the town have some kind of secret contract with the owner's of this track to supply town water to patrons camping at the track over the long Labor Day weekend? Besides the obvious, what would have happened had there been a fire and this truck was needed? Just how much longer would it have taken to respond if it had to be driven to the water plant and refilled, before heading out to the fire? Another thing Bob pointed out, was what happened to the grey water and sewage in the tanks of these campers.No one seemed to have an answer. As an owner of a camper himself, Bob knows you must empty the used water before refilling with fresh. As water is used, it either goes into the grey water holding tank or your sewage tank. Was this waste water dumped on the ground or worse, into the river? This area is in our town aquifer and there are protected wetlands and the town's wells only feet from where these campers were parked. Unless Gary Puffer and Barry Kellom can explain their activities this weekend and where the water went, then one must assume they allowed without question dumping of gray water into our aquifer and wet lands at the Winchester Speedpark. This whole situation stinks! Everyone should be calling the town hall and demanding their resignations. We can not afford to continuously put up with this kind of conduct.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
It's Time To Enforce Winchester's Noise Ordinance
Bob Davis is circulating a petition to get the town's selectman to enforce our new Noise Ordinance. Below is a copy of his petition;
This introductory letter is to inform you about myself. As you may know, last spring I went door to door in neighborhoods that were affected by the loud noise of the racetracks, to ask for signatures and your support, on a petition to ask the town selectman to enforce the noise ordinance that was passed by the voters in 2001. In my attempts to get them to do this, they informed me that the ordinance was unenforceable. So I returned to the Selectman’s meetings, time and time again until my perseverance finally paid off. A new Noise Ordinance was drafted and passed by the voters in March of 2008. Now I am asking you, if you will commit yourselves in joining me, in supporting the enforcement of this new Noise Ordinance. With a new petition of names in hand, I will ask the Selectman to enforce the ordinance and make the racetracks significantly reduce their noise. If this fails, I will then call everyone who showed an interest to set up a meeting and at that time ask all to decide if we should go forward and look into filing a legal action to force the town to comply. If we do decide to proceed, we should then organize a committee. I have spoken with the law firm of Rath, Young and Pignatelli, who represented a group of citizens from Tamworth, NH who organized and called themselves the “Focus Group”. They formed to fight the noise of a racetrack in their community .. and won. This law firm has the experience and legal know how and I believe that their outline of the “Enforcement of the Winchester Noise Ordinance” is the right way to proceed if it comes down to it. I have spent a lot of my own money and time, in my efforts to get this far. I know I can not afford to continue this fight alone. I strongly believe a united front will persuade the selectman to act. Therefore; I am asking you for your help and support and to join me if you want to try and do something about this noise situation. We are not going to try to put them out of business, we just want them to adhere to the noise ordinance and the will of the people. If there is no interest to support my efforts, then you will not hear from me again on this matter. This is a one time plea to join me in trying to make Winchester a better place for all. I thank you all in advance for your support.
You can contact me by calling 239-7299.
Bob Davis
We'd ask that everyone in favor of a quieter Winchester to please get in touch with Bob and sign his petition and show your support by attending the meeting with him when he presents his petition.
This introductory letter is to inform you about myself. As you may know, last spring I went door to door in neighborhoods that were affected by the loud noise of the racetracks, to ask for signatures and your support, on a petition to ask the town selectman to enforce the noise ordinance that was passed by the voters in 2001. In my attempts to get them to do this, they informed me that the ordinance was unenforceable. So I returned to the Selectman’s meetings, time and time again until my perseverance finally paid off. A new Noise Ordinance was drafted and passed by the voters in March of 2008. Now I am asking you, if you will commit yourselves in joining me, in supporting the enforcement of this new Noise Ordinance. With a new petition of names in hand, I will ask the Selectman to enforce the ordinance and make the racetracks significantly reduce their noise. If this fails, I will then call everyone who showed an interest to set up a meeting and at that time ask all to decide if we should go forward and look into filing a legal action to force the town to comply. If we do decide to proceed, we should then organize a committee. I have spoken with the law firm of Rath, Young and Pignatelli, who represented a group of citizens from Tamworth, NH who organized and called themselves the “Focus Group”. They formed to fight the noise of a racetrack in their community .. and won. This law firm has the experience and legal know how and I believe that their outline of the “Enforcement of the Winchester Noise Ordinance” is the right way to proceed if it comes down to it. I have spent a lot of my own money and time, in my efforts to get this far. I know I can not afford to continue this fight alone. I strongly believe a united front will persuade the selectman to act. Therefore; I am asking you for your help and support and to join me if you want to try and do something about this noise situation. We are not going to try to put them out of business, we just want them to adhere to the noise ordinance and the will of the people. If there is no interest to support my efforts, then you will not hear from me again on this matter. This is a one time plea to join me in trying to make Winchester a better place for all. I thank you all in advance for your support.
You can contact me by calling 239-7299.
Bob Davis
We'd ask that everyone in favor of a quieter Winchester to please get in touch with Bob and sign his petition and show your support by attending the meeting with him when he presents his petition.
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