Even After Being Notified, Boards and Committees Ignore The Law

What does it take to get information to the public in a timely manner as required by law? Winchester's Town Clerk sent out a reminder to the following people to remind them of their duty  to provide minutes of their board's and committee's meetings within 5 days of said meetings and yet they continue to ignore him and the law, why? What compels public employees and appointees to act this way? Is it a lack of leadership or do we simply have people in a position that they simply don't belong?  Below we have attached the Town's "New Policy" regarding meeting minutes; something they should have adhered to long ago and still don't follow.

If you are having issues viewing these documents, follow this link to download a photocopy of them;

http://www.fileserve.com/file/4XBwWhM

March 2l PB Meeting - CONTINUING LIES BY SHARRA

The following email was sent to us this morning and we were asked to publish it on this blog. We don't necessarily agree with the writer or some of his comments; but  everyone is entitled to their opinion and we will under the right of free speech publish it.

           LIAR, LIAR - PANTS ON FIRE:  THE CONTINUING SAGA OF THE CORRUPT MARGARET SHARRA and the Planning Bd. of Winchester.

     The following is UNCONTROVERTED:

l)  On March 7 PB Meeting, Sharra DENIED knowing anything about rehearings/reconsiderations  by
the PB.  Sharra herself brought forward a MOTION TO RECONSIDER before the PB on the Robert
Van Dyke matter without Van Dyke or his Atty (Ratigan) being present.  (Oct l5, 2009)
2) At the March 21 PB meeting,Sharra Lied again when she said she DID NOT receive an E-mail
application formMichael Towne to be an alternate on the PB. (How can you miss an E-mail)
3) PB member Gordon made a motion to have the three losing PB members from the last election be
made alternates (staggered). The motion was seconded.  Then Sharra objected because she wanted to
make a motion first. The motion by Gordon that was seconded was not acted upon; the Board improperly and illegally on the Sharra motion, therefore they acted illegally and must be thrown out.
4) Sharra  LIED when she did not allegedly remember her motion one year ago when she put Ken Cole,
Will Dourdonis and Beaman on the Board.  This writer talked with her yesterday afternoon - she remembered

it then. 

5) Larry Hill and another person came into PB meeting with two signs, VOTE FOR BEAMAN. Hill and the other person were voted on the Board, upon Sharra's motion. The other person did not run for office but, who I was told, allegedly lives near Sharra but has been to no planning board meetings in the past

IN A DEMOCRACY

                    THE PEOPLE THAT RUN FOR OFFICE AND LOSE BECOME THE ALTERNATES     

 THAT IS THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

6) SHARRA  Lied to Mary Ryan and John Keenan by saying she did not know of any procedure where
the planning Board. could have a rehearing/reconsideration.
7) SHARRA HAS DEEP PSYCHOTIC PROBLEMS.  She is totally incapable of running a down the middle meeting (Calm and you hear all sides).  She only hears the Developer's side and is rude, obnoxious
to all opposition.  She has a duty to help mitigate legal expenses and tell the truth.  She has an inability
to be fair and unbalanced. 
8) Last night after lying about Towne's application to be an alternate on the board, she took strong umbridge to his candidacy by saying ,
"Mr Towne has cost this town a lot of legal fees, WHEN IT IS MARGARET SHARRA that has  cost the town $25,000 on Van Dyke matter for acting as Van Dyke's agent and requested the board overturn it's denial of his application and RECONSIDER their decision. She acted alone when she did this and her constant flouting of the rules and candor she be grounds for her immediate dismal; but we all know the BOS won't act. Birds of a feather as they say.
SHE SHOULD RESIGN FROM THE PB AND ESPECIALLY STOP TAKING THE MINUTES FOR THE PB.
HER MINUTES ARE SLANTED PROPOGANDA, FULL OF LIES, TOTALLY ONE SIDED
AND UNBALANCED BESIDES BEING A COMPLETE CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

I AM VERY DISTURBED BY WHAT TRANSPIRED LAST NIGHT, BEAMAN WAS ELECTED AS THE NEW CHAIR: BUT SHARRA ONCE AGAIN DICTATED WHAT WENT ON AND WHO GOT
PICKED TO BE ON THE BOARD AS SHE DID LAST YEAR. THIS TAKES THE LEGITIMACY AWAY FROM THIS BOARD AND ANY DECISIONS THEY WILL MAKE IN THE FUTURE.
 I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THE CONDUCT OF THE OTHER PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS IN NOT STANDING UP TO HER IMPROPER CONDUCT,

                                                               john douglas keenan
                                         

County Budget Hearing!

County Budget Hearing! 
Cheshire County Courthouse -
Tonight, Monday, March 21st
Superior Court house jury assembly room at 7 pm


All Selectmen should attend from every town in the county and people concerned over the increase in county taxes coming and proposed state budget cuts. Let them know you're tired of picking up the tab for all of their spending ways and no means other than to pick our pockets to pay for it.

Town Served: Sharra and Ruth Named Personally

We have received a copy of the most recent lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Keene this past week and served on the town Monday naming the Planning Board and Sharra and Ruth personally for their conduct during the Mitchell Sand & Gravel LLC, application process. The planning board gave Mitchell "conditional" approval January 3, 2011.

Despite overwhelming evidence, provided by the communities of
Winchester , Swanzey and Ashuelot contrary to the applicant's
testimony and citing all of the health risks to the public with both
the manufacturing process and the increase in diesel truck traffic and
more toxic fumes and particulates being released into the air, the
Planning Board completely ignored the evidence and made their
decision.

Included in the 17 page, 101 topics are charges of bias,
prejudgement, rules and regulation violations and many procedural
errors both State and Town and their own Planning Board Rules of
Procedure.

The suit names both Margaret Sharra and Gus Ruth as biased persons and that they both had prejudged in favor of the applicant long before the board granted approval.

That both had misinformed the public and members of the Planning Board itself with their testimony during the proceedings and that Ruth physically demonstrated his approval for this applicant, when he forcefully grabbed the microphone out of Mary Ryan's hand while she was giving testimony to the ZBA on the serious health hazards associated with asphalt mix plants and told her he did not want to hear what she had to say.

The suit also charges Sharra purposely misled Mary Ryan when a request for rehearing/reconsideration was submitted by Mrs. Ryan. Sharra stated she wasn't sure if their were any procedures that covered this request and also stated she would consult with the town's attorney and contact her with the proper information. Sharra never did and in fact opened a hearing without notifying the public or even Mrs. Ryan and the other people who signed the request.

The Planning Board's own Rules of Procedure outlines the proper steps to take when hearing a request for reconsideration and at the LGC ( Legal Government Center ), where members attend instructional classes,
there is a two page document available on Planning Board Rehearing Procedures. Which was submitted to the board as part  of the rehearing request.

The suit also alleges that Margaret Sharra deliberately held back information submitted by Mrs. Ryan and did not give a full 16 page copy of  the request to the members of the board but  instead gave them just the first 4 pages, leaving out all of the supporting evidence to corroborate the many procedural errors they committed and the fact they were breaking the law in granting an approval of the applicant's application. The Supreme Court has already ruled that a Planning  Board can not accept incomplete Site Plan Applications

The file is just too large to upload page by page for all to see but we can  provide for those that do wish to read the full complaint a link to download it.

After reading this latest suit against the town, the opinion of this blog and that of two attorney's consulted, is that the Planning Board violated many procedures and that it did in fact commit errors of law and that both the original request for a rehearing and the court filing were done in a timely manner and within the time frame allowed by law.

 It is quite obvious given the serious nature of this complaint, that some board members acted in bad faith. The question also is, was this done intentionally as the suit claims?

Links to the lawsuit in PDF format;

http://www.fileserve.com/file/jT3EZkh       ( pages 1-12 )

http://www.fileserve.com/file/mv4ajFv       ( pages 13-16 )

Little Faith In Officials

The following are my impressions of what transpired at the Winchester Planning Board meeting Feb. 21 during the discussion surrounding the board’s decision to approve the asphalt plant.

I cannot believe professional courtesy between Winchester town employees is so lacking that when a letter was delivered to town hall asking the planning board to reconsider its approval of the plant, the letter was sent back via registered mail to the person who had already hand-delivered it in order to meet the deadlines for such appeals.

That’s right. Instead of walking the letter to the board’s chairwoman (who apparently works in the building), it was sent back (with costs incurred by the town to do so) without giving the deliverer a chance to respond to the alert left on their answering machine.

It was protested that the planning board doesn’t have any authority in what another town office does, which I would say is true. It was then suggested that the entire problem could have been avoided and all deadlines met had the deliverer brought the letter directly to the chairwoman.

Town Hall is Town Hall.

I don’t think missed deadlines (as perceived by the planning board) and the often cited RSA about appeal procedure supports the board’s position that “they don’t have jurisdiction” over the matter of their decision to approve the asphalt plant.

I guess that means the board considers their decision a done deal and I often heard them contend that it will require direction by the New Hampshire court system to re-open the question. When a board member questioned this decision, her motives for asking her question came under suspicion, rather than having the substance of her question addressed.

I agree with the same board member who said that, as a taxpayer, she would prefer the whole matter be resolved outside of a courtroom.

Look, I get it. This is a contentious issue that has taken up a huge amount of the planning board’s time. But, the seemingly passive-aggressive avoidance to review their decision weakens my faith that they are able to make balanced and fair decisions in the first place.

JENNIFER MARIE BELLAN
Ashuelot

Selectman's Meeting Minutes 03-02-2011

MINUTES of the BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING Wednesday March 2, 2011 Board Members Present: Vice Chairman, Roberta Fraser; Theresa Sepe; Kenneth Gardner; and Gustave Ruth. Also present Joan Morel, Town Administrator, and Executive Assistant Shelly Walker.  Chairman Sherman Tedford is absent. The meeting convenes at 7:00 PM. 1st Order of  Business: Open Meeting and Acceptance of Minutes Selectman Sepe makes a motion to accept the regular minutes of February 23, 2011.  Selectman Gardner seconds the motion.  Motion carries 3-0 with 1 abstention.   2nd Order of  Business: Other Business Previously, the Board of Selectmen had a letter composed communicating their deep concern regarding a 15.4% increase of the County budget. At their last meeting the Board made revisions. All Board members signed the letter. The Water Warrant for this quarter has been submitted in the amount of $60,567.86.  Selectman Fraser makes a motion to sign the Warrant.  Selectman Sepe seconds the motion. Motion carries 4-0. Seven customer service windows in the Town hall need replacing. Three companies were contacted for quotes. JA Jubb submitted a quote in the amount of $2,305.00 and Cheshire Glass submitted a quote in the amount of $1,935.00. After a brief discussion, Selectman Sepe makes a motion to accept the quote from Cheshire Glass to replace these windows. Selectman Garnder seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. The Forest Fire Warden has appointed Barry Kellom, Robert Dingman, and Bruce Lawrence as Issue Agents to issue Burn Permits. Selectman Ruth makes a motion to approve these appointments.  Selectman Gardner seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. An Elderly Exemption Application for Map 17, Lot 25 has been submitted.  Selectman Fraser makes a motion to approve this application.  Selectman Ruth seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. Two Veterans Tax Credit applications have been submitted for Map 18, Lot 11. After discussion, Selectman Ruth makes a motion to approve the first application. Selectman Sepe seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0.  Selectman Sepe makes a motion to approve the second application for Map 18, Lot 11.  Selectman Ruth seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. The Road agent has submitted a copy of a salt purchase requisition in the amount of $2,076.38 for the Board’s review. The Road agent noted on the requisition that this purchase would overdraw the Salt line of his budget by $4,965.36. All Board members noted the fact. A letter granting Dapkus (Stateline) Fireworks permission to sell New Hampshire permitted fire works has been submitted for 2011. Selectman Ruth makes a motion to approve and sign this letter.  Selectman Gardner seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. In 2010, Article #11 for bus service in the amount of $15,500.00 was approved. Selectman Gardner makes a motion to add this to the carry-over list for the Board to vote on in June.  Selectman Ruth seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. J.B. Mack of SWRPC would like to schedule a meeting with the Board to discuss the Tannery site , and Tata & Howard would like to meet regarding water issues.  All Board members were in agreement to schedule a work session for March 16, 2011 at 10 AM. WEDC has submitted a Term Sheet proposal for the Boards review. This matter was tabled and will be addressed at the Boards next meeting. The Chairman announced that there is an upcoming workshop “Road Management for Town Officials” to be held in Keene on June 24th.  Anyone interested in attending should notify the Executive Assistant so that she may enroll them. The Chairman read a letter of Resignation from John Hann, the Chairman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Financial Department has submitted a request for clarification on the normal Highway Department hours for payroll purposes. Selectman Gardner makes a motion to set the Highway Department hours for during the months of May thru October, their work week will be Monday thru Thursday, 6 AM to 4:30 PM and for November thru April, their work week will be Monday thru Friday, 7:00 AM thru 3:30 PM.  Selectman Ruth seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. Jason Lodge of Hoyle & Tanner has submitted Change Order #1 for the Old Westport bridge project.  There are no costs associated with this change order, only the completion date would change from April 30, 2011 to May 25, 2011.  Selectman Sepe makes a motion to approve Change Order #1.  Selectman Ruth seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. The Board reviewed a memo regarding racetrack applications for permits and fees.  Selectman Fraser makes a motion to set the permit application fee to $100 per track. Selectman Sepe made a friendly amendment to include applications must be filed in a timely manner with the Town Administration setting the due date.  Selectman Fraser accepts the amendment.  Selectman Ruth seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. 3rd Order of  Business: Office Documents A memo has been submitted from the Financial Department regarding seven pair of uniform pants that were lost by an employee.  Crown uniform has offered to replace all seven pairs if the Town pays $120.00 for four pairs of pants. After a brief discussion, Selectmen agreed that the employee was responsible.  Selectman Gardner makes a motion that the Town will not pay for the lost pants.  Selectman Sepe seconds the motion.  Motion carries 4-0. 4th Order of Business: Open to the Floor (15 minutes) Herb Stephens came before the Board to notify them that Vermont Yankee will be conducting a drill on March 8, 2011.  That is voting day, so a skeleton crew will respond. Dan Bechard came before the Board to discuss re-opening his father’s salvage yard and repair shop. The Board directed him to speak with the Land Use Assistant about the process. Theodore Whippie handed out photocopies of an article recently published on cnn.com relating to skyrocketing water bills.  Mr. Whippie briefly discussed with the Board his concern of the cost of new replacement water meters in town. The Chairman reminded everyone that March 8, 2011 is voting day, and polls will be open from 8 AM-7 PM. 5th Order of Business: Any Other Business The Town Administrator had given all Board members an informational handout on a possible policy for meeting minutes.  The Town Administrator would like the Board to review and edit this information before composing a policy regarding minutes. 6th Order of Business: Adjournment Selectman Ruth makes a motion to adjourn.  Selectman Gardner seconds the motion and it carries 4-0.  The meeting adjourns at 7:45 PM. Respectfully recorded, Shelly Walker Executive Assistant March 2, 2011 BOS Regular Minutes approved by:                          Sherman Tedford, Chairman        Roberta Fraser, Selectman Gustave Ruth, Selectman Theresa Sepe, Selectman          Kenneth Gardner, Selectman

Planning Board Headed Back To Court

A lawsuit against the Town of Winchester's Planning Board has been filed in Superior Court as a result of the ruling giving Mitchell Sand & Gravel a Conditional Approval to build an asphalt plant. The ZBA gave Mitchell a special exception to build the plant in the Agricultural Zone on top of the Protected Aquifer Zone despite the numerous health hazards associated with a plant of this type and the threat of contamination to the Ashuelot River;  the Town's water source as well as many private wells. Rushing to judgement; both the ZBA and Planning Boards hastily ruled in favor of this project despite mounds and mounds of evidence and testimony from many concerned citizens of both Swanzey and Winchester.

The suit was filed based on procedural errors and regulation violations which is the norm for this board under Margaret Sharra's direction and will once again result in costly litigation. A copy of the complaint against the town will be made available once the town has been officially served. This is not a frivolous lawsuit as will be claimed by certain individuals; but a very serious matter and violation of laws and regulations on procedures that were simply ignored. It's too bad that we can not hold these individuals that voted in favor of this proposed project, responsible for wasting the town's hard earned taxpayer money defending their illegal actions.