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?
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
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.
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.
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.
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