You can do this.

We received a few e-mails from concerned people wondering why no post lately?

Well, first of all it was the holidays and we chose to focus on family and friends and not town issues,This is not our job or our life.

Secondly we feel we have given the people all the tools they need to find the information they need, it’s all right in the town minutes.

Our goal was always to hand this blog back over to the original blog owner after this year’s voting.

Now with that said here are 2 things we feel you should be thinking about and researching.

The study to close Thayer Library, This is totally un-needed and frankly stupid! The whole problem with Thayer library is the new board of Trustees! The selectman would be better off trying to research a way of just dismissing this group and starting all over with the old bylaws in place and new trustees who understand the importance of not making the tax payers financially support this place and not to compete and duplicate services that Conant is already providing. During the takeover of the Trustee board and it was hostile and full of lies, the new trustees were told over and over again that it would be a danger to put this burden on taxpayers and it would be senseless to duplicate Conant’s services, in the end Thayer would be closed.  Not listening they did this anyway and here we are with the library itself paying the price of bad decisions made by a few people.
Get rid of the Trustees, not the library!!!!!

A second thing of importance that we feel you should be paying attention to is the law suit against the planning board because of their decision to deny the Dunkin Donuts/gas station from coming to town. This was scheduled to be in court last week and we do not know the outcome yet, but for the first time we actually hope the Town of Winchester/Planning board loses! We do understand that the actions of 1 board member and 1 alternate will be used in the suit against the Planning board. Comments that they made and not removing themselves from the whole application will favor the Group wanting to build. It was very obvious that Gordon was only interested in protected her friend(Plifka/Kulicks) business in town and not serving us the towns people. Bellans failure to understand and interpret laws and inaccurate letters to the Keene sentinel was also very obvious and pointed out by the towns own attorney. Guess who will be paying for the mistakes and wrong actions by these two? You the taxpayer, and in way more ways than just the legal fees.

How and why?
The loss of property tax that this vacant lot being developed would have created
The loss of potential jobs
The loss of the town’s part of the food tax
And the fact that other businesses who might want to come to town someday now feeling that they do not want to deal with our dysfunctional planning board.
Not to mention the large legal bill that will be caused by the inappropriate actions of a few planning board members.

See for yourself

Santa's visit to Ashuelot's common 2012

   Santa is coming to Ashuelot December 15^th 1-3 PM

By Village christmas tree on the common

 

 All Ashuelot & Winchester Kids Are welcome to sign up

Birth to 10  to See Santa and his elves and recieve a gift

Sign up books for presents are at    

Ashuelot Post Office - Winchester Learning Center (Donna Howland)  

Aubuchons Hardware and Winchester town hall             

 

Sign up’s close December 7th

Enjoy the holiday refreshment and music.

Keep checking in for more information more to be announced soon.

also follow us on Facebook "Ashuelot Village & Children's Fund "

Parking on the day of the event across covered bridge by the Sheridan house museum

The very bad habit of Alternates wasting our tax money!

The Select board has recently adopted a new policy on how board members can contact the town attorney or the LGC (Local government center)

Any board member who has a question or needs information from the town’s attorney is requested to submit it in writing to their chairman of their board and the chairman will hand this to the town administrator who will forward the request to the Attorney’s office and the information or answer will come back through the same procedure in reverse.

Some people have been calling this censorship but it is the exact opposite.

Now everything will be documented in writing and every board member will see the same exact question and the same exact answer.

In the past if a board member “John Doe” contacted the attorney and asked a question there would be no documentation of the question or the answer and the rest of the board members would have to rely on “John Doe’s interpretation” of the information, as you could imagine false or misunderstood information could and has been relayed back to the entire board in the past.

This will also prevent duplicate request, all costing us big money in legal fees

The town’s attorney states this is a common policy for most towns in NH and is the right thing to do.

This new policy came to be after Historic District Commission alternate Julia Ferrari contacted the town’s attorney last year a dozen times asking the same question, costing us over $4,000 in legal fees. If any of you have dealt with her you understand she has the habit of repeatedly asking the same question over and over hoping to finally get the answer she is looking for. When using this strategy with an attorney it gets very expensive.  This entire event was reflected in the Select board’s minutes over several meetings, they are not on the web site but you can go to the town hall and find these.  It should be noted the HDC never discussed or voted on having alternate Ferrari call the attorney and her claims that the HDC chairman could not do it because he was unavailable was denied by the chairman 2 times in front of the Select board.

Alternate Ferrari is now a full member, how did that happen?

Most recently we have Planning Board alternate Jen Bellan absolutely ignoring this policy and contacting the town’s attorney on her own (13 pages worth)
And as a result we have received a very interesting letter from the town attorney

Upton & Hatfield. You can read this letter on the very bottom of the select boards minutes 11/7 2012 http://winchesternh.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/WinchesterNH_Selectminutes/I03B1A3AE

Planning Board Minutes 10/22 2012http://winchesternh.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/WinchesterNH_PlanningMinutes/I03B0B68C

 Reflect the chairman asking Jen Bellan why she continues to not follow policy and asked her if she understands the policy or needs a copy of it, Bellan states she knows the policy but will continue contacting the town’s attorney going against the rules.

Ok people how much money do you think her repeatedly contacting the attorney with 13 pages of false information is costing us tax-payers? Without a doubt Bellan has stated she understands the rules, so if she is willing to keep ignoring them these legal bills should be turned over to her to pay, not us tax payers. Remember she is only an alternate.
When you read the attorneys letter you will basically see him tell Bellan that she does not have a clue what she is talking about, she does not understand how to interpret laws and all the false information she is spreading around will be used against the planning board in the upcoming law suit against the planning board.

What will it takes to get some of these planning board members off the board before they bankrupt our town and us individually?

A Town Board being allowed to double their budget because of their own bad decisions?

We have had this information for some time but have waited for it to show up in the town’s minutes

Everything in Red is the legal published minutes that can be looked up for yourself on the town’s web site.

The “new Trustees” of the Thayer library have requested to double the budget for Thayer Library. On august 15th 2012 Select board Minutes. Trustee Harriet Charland asked the select board to take over the care (lawn mowing etc.) of Thayer Library. The Selectman stated that the Town halls Maintenance man did not have time to do this and they should include this in next year’s budget.
9/12 2012 Select board Minutes, Selectmen approve doubling Thayer’s budget from $2,000 to $4,000, The Budget Committee discussed this on 10/18 2012 and eventually approved it also. This is your Tax money.

The Trustees reasoning for increased budget are that they now are responsible for all the utilities of the library and upkeep on building and ground’s due to their bad decision making.

The past trustees for many years held a library lawn & book sale on Columbus day weekend. This event always brought many community members together for a fun time and help their local library make some decent money for that library’s running cost.
The New board can’t be bothered to do this and have cancelled it, but they have no problems or guilt holding their hands out asking you for your tax dollars

It must be noted that the new trustees falsely accused the past board and library director of being in-active and as the many of you who visited the library and attended the events know this to be untrue.
The New Trustees last community event was a birthday party for Jen Bellans dog at the library, sounds unreal but we are not making this up, the Library has literally gone to the dogs.

A little history on the Library,
For over a hundred years it has functioned without being a Burden on tax-payers because the library Director, who ran the library, took care of the building and grounds, paid for all the electric, phone, ½ of the heating cost (fuel oil) and in recent times offered to supply Internet to the library for no cost to the tax payer. Many library Directors have come and gone over the century of this being in affect and all it cost the Town of Winchester….Nothing! The library’s Directors pay was to be able for their Family’s to live upstairs.
In recent years the hostile takeover by the “new board of trustees” this is what they call themselves Goal seemed to be to drive away previous board members some serving for over 30 years and take over the running of the library. They have succeeded as the many resignations prove, but now are not willing to stand up and do the work they created themselves. When discussing the option of no longer compensating (free rent) the Library Director and Maintenance person Kim Gordon (are you sick of this name yet?) told the board that if they voted to do so she would be willing to run the library and mow the lawn and take care of everything, reflected in the Library minutes on or around August 2011. Soon after voting to no longer compensate the library Director, Kim Gordon became too busy to live up to her agreement and here you are folks you are being asked to use your tax dollars for this board’s lack of judgment and bad decision making.

We have been informed of a letter being submitted to both the Budget Committee and Select board on this matter, it is referred to in B.C. Minutes 10/16 2012. But it looks like the select board has ignored it and not discussed or included it in their minutes.
We are trying to get a copy of this for you to read.

$4,000 doesn’t seem like a lot but in recent years tax payers are losing their homes and struggling to pay their taxes. People are begging the town to curb cost or at the minimum keep it leveled. Now this board has been allowed to double their budget, could this be opening the door for all the other boards and departments to raise theirs also?

A couple of things to throw out there.

Had a refreshing vacation and there was a few days that post and comments didn't get published. Sorry

We are reserving the right to edit for content etc. We have received some comments that had very valid points but because of name calling or also including information that was blatantly false or hostile we chose not to post. In the future if we think the comment is important we will edit and let you know that that we did, we will not change the overall post just remove name calling and hostility.

It looks like people are now understanding how important having the right information is, I know of some people that in just the last year have made it the habit of reading minutes and getting accurate information before they make a decision or unknowingly help spread false information around.

But now comes the hard part, who has ideas or answers, we still seem to be stuck in the finger pointing stage but besides learning and voting we will have to do more. We would love to see your comments on what we can do to turn things around.

How can we lower the tax rate?

How can we improve our school and educate our kids and prepare them for the world? (And remember just throwing money at it doesn't work)
How can we bring business to town?

How can we build more single family homes?

So let’s take a break from finger pointing, It looks like people are aware of who the trouble makers are. And let’s explore some answers.

What do you think?

More Sentinel reporting "Again"

Legal costs add up against town budgets
By Garrett Brnger Sentinel Staff
WINCHESTER — Small-town politics can come with a big price tag.
The town of Winchester has spent a considerable amount of time and money in recent years dealing with legal cases — 2.1 percent of last year’s operating expenses. While one nearby town has spent more and another much less on legal expenses, Winchester is unique due to the variety of its cases.
Winchester spent $63,038 in fiscal 2012 on legal expenses — the majority of it on court battles. Between fiscal 2009 and 2011, it spent $50,190, $39,436 and $34,866, respectively.
Town Administrator Joan C. Morel estimates only about $8,000 of the 2012 sum was spent on costs unrelated to court cases, such as appraisals or legal advice.
This year looks to be no different. The town’s legal expenses are up to $12,419 since its fiscal year began in July. The budgeted amount approved by voters is $25,000 for the entire year.
In the 2011 calendar year, Swanzey spent $15,390 in legal expenses. The town has almost 2,900 more residents than Winchester and its budget this year of $7.2 million is almost twice that of Winchester’s. Since January, Swanzey has spent $9,723 on legal costs.
However, Swanzey Town Administrator Shane O’Keefe said the expenses are “entirely unpredictable” and occur incidentally.
Richmond is an example of that. In 2006, Winchester’s neighbor to the east spent $7,565 on legal expenses out of a a budgeted $4,900. Five years later in 2011, the town spent $70,398 — more than nine times that amount. In 2010, it spent $50,761.
A handful of cases each year cause the majority of the expenses, said Richmond Town Administrator Roberta A. Fraser, who is also chairwoman of the Winchester Selectmen.
Though Fraser did not have a bottom-line number for Richmond’s court battles from 2007 to 2011 with the St. Benedict’s Center, she said it’s “safe to say the number is in the tens of thousands.”
A reassessment fight with Public Service Co. of New Hampshire in 2011 and ’12 cost the town $45,740, not including the $11,781 settlement. It also contributed to both the preceding year’s sum and the $24,044 Richmond has spent on legal costs since January.
The difference between Richmond and Winchester is the number of cases, Fraser said. While Fraser estimates Richmond has about a half-dozen cases a year, Winchester, which has a population about four times as large, has 17 cases on its 2012 legal calendar.

Winchester does have a strong record in court. Neither Morel nor the town’s attorney, Bart L. Mayer, could remember a case in which the town did not prevail. But Morel says they all cost money.
“We do ask for legal fees; we haven’t been granted any,” Morel said.
Some cases in Winchester are filed by the town to enforce zoning codes and ordinances such as trash-filled yards, but this year the town is the defendant in a majority of cases.
Defendant or plaintiff, the cases in Winchester and Richmond often have some common features, Fraser said.
Winchester resident Terrance P. Qualters has been involved in nine cases against the town since 1981, said a clerk at the Cheshire County Superior Court.
The town has taken several properties from Qualters due to back taxes, and has taken him to court to remove him from the properties. However, Qualters has fought the town on each step because he believes the town government is corrupt.
“I don’t like this town (government) of Winchester one single bit,” Qualters said.
The town is such a popular adversary, it has even faced itself. This year the town almost had $419,000 in spending disallowed because selectmen filed suit against the budget committee.
Although the case was settled through a consent decree, it still required the town to pay for two lawyers.
In some cases, the town gets blamed no matter what happens. For example, both the applicant and opponents of a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts in Winchester have brought the town to court over the same project.
When the Winchester Zoning Board granted S.S. Baker Realty a zoning variance in 2008 for a proposed combination convenience store, gas station and Dunkin’ Donuts, local grocery store Kulick’s Inc. appealed the decision. The case reached the N.H. Supreme Court, which upheld the board’s decision in September 2010.
The town is back in court over the same project now, but against S.S. Baker, which is appealing the Winchester Planning Board’s rejection of the project.
Kulick’s owner, Stanley S. Plifka Jr. is not surprised by the volume of legal action the town sees.
Winchester is filled with cliques and personalities who clash, Plifka said, and “with the decisions the town makes, they’re lucky they don’t get sued more than that.”
That extends to officials in town government. In March 2011, planning board member Kim N. Gordon filed an affidavit in a case against the town alleging then-board Chairwoman Margaret Sharra had acted inappropriately during an asphalt plant application.As a result, selectmen considered removing Gordon from the board but ultimately did not. Gordon filed a right-to-know suit against the town afterward, alleging she should have been allowed to attend a non-public meeting in which selectmen considered a letter from its legal counsel.
Gordon was unsuccessful in both the right-to-know request and her attempt to get the town to pay her legal fees from the selectmen’s deliberations.
Sharra, who is now the town land use administrator, said the appeal process for land use cases can be frustrating but does not begrudge people who use it. She just wants them to think twice about filing suit against the town.

New wild life post from Irene Ruth

Wildlife could use your help, starting now.

When leaves start to fall, some folks view that as a call to start clean-up. But from a wild animal’s point of view, that means removing potential winter food and cover sources, leaving fewer resources for them to use.

• Leave dead flower stalks, leaves, and seedheads standing. ( Large seedheads like those of black-eyed Susans, sedums, purple coneflowers, joe-pye weed, and sunflowers are favorite wildlife foods. So are the seeds of zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, phlox, grasses and dianthus. ) They’ll feed wildlife and also provide cover.
• Ferns—which sometimes stay green well into winter—are used by wildlife for hiding from predators, from the weather, and as a food source.
• Berry-producing plants such as bayberries, junipers, and cotoneasters are a food source for many wildlife species, year round.
• Building a brush pile is an easy way to clear your yard of stray branches and twigs, and at the same time provide a safe hidey place for ground-nesting birds, chipmunks, rabbits, and even hibernating reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Create the brush pile in an out-of-the-way corner of your property, preferably close to food sources but away from buildings. Start with a layer of larger limbs, then stack branches loosely on top and add vegetation and leaves to create nooks and crannies of various sizes.
• A firewood pile, made with the logs piled crisscross can make spaces that offer temporary shelter to birds and small mammals trying to get out of the weather.
• Water is one of the most important resources you can provide for wildlife, especially in winter when their usual watering holes often dry up or ice over. Provide a dish of water near your home. If wild animals don’t have to search for water, they can save energy, which may mean the difference between life and death on the coldest days.
So, take a look out in your yard, and decide which things you can do there to help wildlife survive the coming cold weather. And enjoy winter wildlife watching.

Links to Town's Web Site and important minutes

On the right side of this page you will find many useful links to sites for our town and some of its organizations.

We have included direct links to Planning board, Budget Committee, Select board and Historic District Commission's minutes
Please take a moment and read these.

A big Thank you to all who put on the Pickle Festival

Once again another Winchester's Pickle Festival has come and gone. This is a great event that brings good times to our community and draws people in from other towns. It gives friends and neighbors and chance to get out and mingle on our main st. and by the looks of all the smiles on the children's faces looks like they enjoy it also.
This may be one of the only times when we get some positive publicity in the local papers and people all work together to make it happen.

It would be great to see more events like this in our town, Most people feel that is the benefit of living in a small community. Does anyone have any ideas of events we could do?

And again, Thank you to all who work hard to make this event happen for us, Your work is greatly appreciated and you all deserve a big applause.