September 2009 Archives
This is the weekly update sent out to subscribers from the Town of Meredith. Granted, it is from the desk of the Town Manager, but let’s face it folks, we have a de facto Town Manager in our very own Town Administrator. Or so it would seem, as he acts on his on accord for many different issues, agendas and even ordinances. Why, then, would it be asking too much for an informative weekly update that highlights the many goings on in our town, without forcing citizens to search the town webpage? The town calendar is not all inclusive, nor is it enough to decipher any real information. How ‘bout it folks? Let’s ask our town for more!
Town Manager’s Weekly Message
Keeping you informed about what’s happening in the Town of Meredith
This message is updated each Friday to keep residents informed about town issues and activities.
September 23, 2009
UPCOMING EVENTS IN MEREDITH:
Infrastructure Improvements Project Construction Notice
Sewer repair and road improvement work on Main Street between Waukewan St. and Lake St. began on August 31st. Trench paving is now taking place. Weather permitting, work may be completed by October 2nd however, that date is subject to change.
The roadway will be open to local traffic only from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; however access to sidewalks will be maintained. Traffic coming from the center of town will be diverted to Lake St. onto Route 3. Traffic coming toward the center of town from the intersection of Waukewan and Main St. will be diverted onto Mill St. then to Route 3. Although every effort will be made to maintain water and sewer service, temporary interruption of service could occur. NO OVERNIGHT PARKING WILL BE PERMITTED ON MAIN ST. FROM THE HUMISTON SCHOOL BUILDING TO THE RAILROAD TRACKS.
For more information contact Jerry Cedrone, Resident Engineer, KV Partners, LLC at 496-1282 or the Town of Meredith Water & Sewer Department at 279-3046. You can also click the links below to view the full construction notice and work detour map.
- H1N1 SWINE FLU INFORMATION –
The following letter from Town Administrator Carter Terenzini to a member of the MCA was in response to inquiries about what is happening behind the scenes at the town owned Lions Club property. Apparently, a lot has been going on and as is typical it seems with our Town Administrator, out of the public eye.
MCA
I write in response to your document request for (a) "All the staff members of the team that is developing the Lions Club property Sonya, Donna, Tom ect" (sic) and (b) "Also the reason all the staff meetings since 2008, time and dates, why they do not come under RSA 91 A, meetings to be posted and minutes." I will respond in the order you raised the issues.
a.) I am managing the project. I include the user agency (Recreation) and the maintenance agency (DPW) as appropriate to each discussion. I also draw upon those with experience and institutional knowledge of the history of the proposal and those who I believe can give me insight as to various volunteer efforts that might be undertaken. To date that has been Mr. Tom Howard and Mr. Larry Cotter. The project is being designed under the direction of Ray Korber, P.E. Principal in the firm of KVPartners LLC which is the Town Engineer. He draws upon those professionals on his team as he needs.
b.) RSA 91-A was crafted to ". . . ensure. . . public access to the actions, discussions and records of all public bodies. . .". A "Public body" means ". . .Any legislative body, governing body, board, commission, committee, agency, or authority of any. . . town. . .or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto." [RSA 91-A VI (d)]. Simply put, the appointed staff of any community is not a Public Body. The staff is not engaged hi a "meeting" as defined by RSA 91-A. Such a convening of staff and others thus does not trigger the requirement to produce and maintain minutes under this statute.
Notwithstanding that the Staff is not a public body for the purposes of RSA 91-A, we do and will provide substantial opportunity for the distribution of information and public discussion of the major construction projects being proposed or undertaken. For this recreation fields project I expect this meeting will be sometime in November.
I trust this has, again, answered these questions.
Carter Terenzini
Town Administrator
CC: BoS; Town Counsel
The MCA is pleased to publish this article, not to bemoan our selectmen, but rather to point out serious violations involving the Right to Know Law. This is an oft misunderstood and easily ignored law. However, when repeated articles are posted on our and other websites regarding the selectmen’s history of conducting business outside of the public’s presence, it is hard to tolerate continued defiance of the public’s right to know. We hate to see things go so far as a lawsuit, but unfortunately, change comes about when and only someone is willing to file such a suit.
It is our sincere hope that the selectmen will understand the error of their ways, and frankly those of our town manager, and conduct their business in public sessions. According to RSA 91, non public sessions are very specific about what can and cannot be discussed. We also suggest that our town officials learn and truly understand this law thoroughly. It is complex, but worth knowing.
www.citizen.com September 14, 2009
A Moultonborough resident's right-to-know lawsuit against the town, claiming selectmen met illegally in a nonpublic session on an unannounced date to discuss, plan and coordinate the process it would use to hire a new police chief, may have been stalled because of a failure to deliver copies of the legal documents to town officials.
Petitioner Paul Punterieri of 22 Nelson Road said last Wednesday that he called the Carroll County Sheriff's Office and discovered that the petition had never been delivered — or served — on the town. He was told the paperwork would be served in the next several days, most likely resulting in a new date for the hearing being set.
A scheduling notice in the court file notes that Punterieri "shall serve the petition upon the town" and that failure to do so may result in the action being discontinued without further notice.
Punterieri filed his petition in Carroll County Superior Court in Ossipee on Aug. 27 and a court hearing was scheduled for this Tuesday.
The suit names Selectmen Karel Crawford, chair, Ed Charest, Jim Gray, Joel Mudgett and Betsey Patten as respondents. It also names Town Administrator Carter Terenzini.
Terenzini said last Wednesday he has not been served with the suit and could not comment on anything regarding pending litigation.
Terenzini also declined to comment on whether the suit has stalled efforts to hire a new chief or the status of the search process.
Punterieri argues that any and all discussion of how Police Chief Scott Kinmond's successor would be named, if and how a search/screening committee would be formed, and who would be appointed should have occurred in public session.
Kinmond, the town's current chief who has served for 24 years, is retiring from that post and will become the town's road agent.
"The plaintiff is contesting that the decision to appoint a committee (or accept volunteers), the membership of that committee and the process leading up to the interviews violates RSA 91-A as they were never held in public session," the suit states.
In the suit, Punterieri argues that the town set precedent when it filled two key positions — the first-ever town planner and a town engineer — by hiring them in full public session. He maintains that a similar process should have been following for naming a new police chief.
Volunteers who have agreed to serve on a committee looking for a new chief, according to minutes of the committee's work, are Belknap County High Sheriff Craig Wiggin, Merrimack County High Sheriff Scott Hilliard, Auburn Chief of Police Ed Picard, Moultonborough citizen Peter Whelley, and Peterborough Town Administrator Pam Brenner.
All of us in the Lakes Region, whether we live on lake front property or not, are ultimately going to be affected by the infestation of Milfoil in our lakes. The amount of tourism dollars that are spent in the area has a direct impact, not only on hotels and seasonal operations, but year round businesses that depend on the lake for attracting people to the area. If businesses are affected, so will the number of job opportunities for summer residents, students, and year round residents, all of whom, are tax payers, in one way or another.
Each of us has an obligation to learn more about this weed and how to begin to eradicate it from our lakes. Otherwise, we will eventually live around a great big swamp!
Please visit some of the following websites for more information:
www.squamlakes.org/sla/milfoil/htm
We encourage citizens to actively participate in discussions, forums, lectures etc, regarding the invasion of this weed, to learn as much as possible in order to persuade our local government to take the eradication of it much more seriously and back it up with dollar support. This weed has a much more serious effect on our economy in the long run, if left unattended, than anything else currently before us.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
We like this editorial by the Meredith News and here’s why. Finally, local representatives that actually keep the very people that they represent informed, without making them spend countless hours researching the happenings in Concord. It’s too bad that this is not happening in our town of Moultonboro. We would like the same here, as well as in Tuftenboro and Wolfeboro that are represented by our own Betsey Patten. We would like to encourage her to do the same for the good folks that elected her.
Fall may not officially be here for a couple more weeks, but with schools starting this week and Labor Day weekend right in front of us, it’s about time to say goodbye to summer. As cooler weather approaches, so will the return of news from the State House, courtesy of our local state representatives. What we’ve seen in the past year from reps like Kate Miller in Meredith, Bill Johnson in Gilford and Belmont, and Liz Merry in Sanbornton is not only willingness, but an eagerness to provide constituents with the lowdown on House debates and votes through their local newspapers. Before the summer break, Johnson had been regularly submitting capsules of pertinent information regarding what he saw happening in the House of Representatives. This has accomplished a couple of things: first, it has made state news more accessible, particularly because Johnson writes in layman’s terms and with a bit of color, so readers aren’t wading through the typical political jargon. Second, Johnson gives us insight into the whys and hows of the House voting process, candidly noting the reasons behind his decisions while acknowledging the other point of view as well. For Meredith, Miller has regularly submitted letters to the editor to keep her constituents informed. Although her district doesn’t cover Moultonboro, Sandwich or Center Harbor, what Miller has to say is pertinent to all of our Meredith News readers. Like Johnson, she provides updates of the goings on in the House and continuously invite conversation from her constituents. Merry has done the same for Tilton and Sanbornton with her letters and updates. At Salmon Press, we’re grateful that our towns’ representatives are readily providing vital statewide information to our readers, because while we pride ourselves on bringing readers news at the most local level, we also recognize the importance of knowing what’s happening at the state level, that the impact of House and Senate votes are often widely felt by the residents of our towns. The downside to being a truly local, weekly paper is that we don’t have the resources to report on state affairs ourselves – we’re busy attending local board meetings – and have to rely on outside sources to gather that information. Until this past year, our papers didn’t have a single state representative from any of the districts we cover actively sending us news we can use. Now, true to their campaign word, reps like Miller, Johnson and Merry are channeling such vital information through us. We hope their updates continue in the coming year, and that you appreciate reading them as much as we do.
