Fire Station Debt Exclusion Passes At the Polls
By an unofficial count provided to the Courier, the debt exclusion ballot vote on Thursday, January 19 to approve the town borrowing $618,750 for "shovel ready" plans for the new Fire Station passed, with 143 votes in favor, 92 votes opposed. The debt exclusion was approved at Fall Special Town Meeting by an 88 percent majority but required a ballot vote to be finalized.
Voter turnout was light at the Old Murdock Senior Center, possibly because of the weather. It began sleeting around 2:00 p.m. and was snowing by 4:00 p.m. Thanks to everyone who came out to exercise their right and responsibility as citizens and vote!
Winchendon Police Chief Daniel Wolski Officially Sworn In
Police Chief Daniel Wolski is sworn in by Town Clerk Wendy Stevens
Photo by Rick Ward
At the beginning of the Quad-Board meeting (a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, School Committee and Audit Committee) on Tuesday, January 16, Winchendon Chief of Police Daniel Wolski was officially sworn in for duties by Town Clerk Wendy Stevens. Many members of the Police Department and members of Chief Wolski's family were in attendance along with other well-wishers. A solemn silence fell as the official words were spoken by Ms. Stevens and Chief Wolski:
"Do you, Daniel Curtis Wolski, solemnly swear and affirm that you will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform the duties incumbent upon you as the Chief of Police in the town of Winchendon in good faith, and to the best of your ability."
"Yes, I do."
"Do you, Daniel Curtis Wolski, promise to impart your professional standards of quality and integrity so that the conduct of affairs of your office shall be above reproach in their public confidence in the position of the Chief of Police."
"Yes, I do."
Do, you, Daniel Curtis Wolski, promise to uphold the Constitution of the United States, the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the bylaws of the Town of Winchendon, so help you God."
"Yes, I do."
At Chief Wolski's final affirmation, the crowded room broke into hearty applause.
Promising to be brief, Chief Wolski then said a few words.
"I know you have a lot of important things to attend to this evening, and me talking is not one of them. But I want to thank the Board of Selectmen. I want to thank the Town Manager specifically for elevating me to this position. And in trusting me to be my community's Chief of Police.
"I grew up in this town. And it's really an unbelievable opportunity to reach this level and be able to have the impact that I will be able to have as a Chief.
"A leader is only as good as his team. And there's many members of the Winchendon police department here tonight. And I have to say that they're among the finest group of people that you could have working for you. And I really thank them for showing up tonight and showing their support. It means a lot to me.
"My family is also here, my wife and my kids and my in-laws and my brother, and I appreciate them attending as well and showing their support. I look forward to embarking upon the goals and ambitions that I have. I'm energetic, I am ambitious. And there's a lot of great things happening in this community. And I'm looking forward to being a part of that. So thank you very much."
Winchendon PD Arrests Armed and Wanted Individual
In the wee hours (1:10 a.m.) of Monday, January 16, Winchendon Police Sgt. Joseph Champney and Ptl. Brandon Lucier stopped a suspicious vehicle leaving the Cumberland Farms parking lot by the Central Street exit. The vehicle had New York plates. The driver was eventually identified as Nathan Couture, age 25, of Webster, MA, who initially gave a fake name and claimed to have no driver's license.
Mr. Couture also lacked a license to carry for the loaded 9mm handgun found in his possession. A search of Mr. Couture's person and vehicle by Sgt. Champney further turned up suspected crack cocaine, fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine. There were two outstanding warrants for his arrest.
According to the police log record, Mr. Couture was arrested on charges of carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of a large capacity feeding device, possession of Class A drug, possession of Class B drug, motor vehicle operator refuse to identify self (two charges), felony failure to appear upon recognizance (three charges), operating a motor vehicle with suspended license-subsequent offence, and possession of ammunition without FID card.
Mr. Couture seems to be known to Webster Police. On June 4, 2020, the Webster Police Department reported arresting a Webster resident aged 22 of the same name after stopping him for driving with a suspended license. He was found to be in possession of 25 Gabapentin pills, Suboxone Strips, 30 Morphine pills, 2 bags of what was believed to be Crack Cocaine, 3 pills of what was believed to be Ecstasy, and $703. He was charged with Three Counts of Possession of a Class B substance with the intent to Distribute, Possession of a Class A Substance with the Intent to Distribute, Possession of a Class E Substance with the Intent to Distribute, Conspiracy to Violate the Controlled Substance Law, Possessing a Class B Substance - to wit a Subsequent Offense and Operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license.
One week earlier, this same person had been arrested by Webster police on three counts of Possession of a Class B Substance, as well as two counts Wanton Destruction of Property under $1200, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and an outstanding warrant.
Winchendon BOH Scores 1,000 New COVID Test Kits to Distribute Free to the Public
Chair of the Winchendon Board of Health Keith Kent told the Courier, "the Board of Health is happy to be able to announce to the public that as the existing test kits we have are FDA extended to expire at the end of January, working with the Massachusetts Department Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Health Agent James Abare just worked on this existing round of tests, and we just received an additional 1,000 tests of iHealth Labs home COVID-19 antigen test kits."
The new tests are rated to expire June 28, and will be distributed beginning February 1. There are two tests in each kit. "We will have [them] available for all Winchendon residents at the town Board of Health office during normal hours of business operation," Mr. Kent said. "We will also make these available to the Winchendon public school nurses' office also as available and needed just as we did with the large block tests of kits we got, again, from the Mass Office of Health and Human Services. We perform this for the town for all public health purposes, to promote public health and to ease the financial burden on our local residents during these challenging times."
The previous batch of test kits has been almost entirely distributed. Mr. Kent told the Courier that test kits were made available to voters at the polls in Old Murdock on Thursday, January 19, and some 90 test kits, an entire case, were taken by voters.
Winchendon's COVID numbers are still high, running around 11.5 percent for the last eight weeks. "It just goes to show that with the virus substrates continuing to mutate. It just goes to show why having people being able to test and differentiate between the flu and COVID-19 is so important, because we have people who have family members or elderly relatives who are either immunocompromised or have pre-existing conditions, being able to differentiate between the flu and COVID-19 is more important than ever. So we protect those groups of people who cannot protect themselves."
The Board of Health office is located in Town Hall, 109 Front Street, Winchendon, and is open during Town Hall business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mondays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Town Hall is closed on Friday. The BOH phone number is 978-297-3537.
BOS Concludes Lengthy Debate on Special Municipal Employee Designation
In their meeting on January 9, the Board of Selectmen once again took up the question of Special Municipal Employees, which they had previously debated at length in their meetings on September 12, September 26, and December 19, 2022. The question initially came up in response to specific citizens who were members of town boards but also had been employed part-time by the town. The example discussed was Glenn LaRochelle who serves on the Board of Health and the Conservation Commission, and had been hired as an employee at the transfer station. There were other persons alluded to but not named. The December 19 discussion ended with a tied vote, as the full Board was not present.
(See "BOS Vote to Classify Conservation, BOH members as Special Municipal Employees" in the October 20-27 2022 edition of The Winchendon Courier and "Discussion of Special Municipal Employees Sparks Fierce BOS Debate" in the December 19-January 5 edition of The Winchendon Courier)
The Special Municipal Employee designation applies equally to all present and future members of the boards it applies to, and not just to given individuals serving in those roles. It is defined in Mass. General Laws Chapter 268A ("Conduct of Public Officials and Employees") Section 1 (n). Appointed or elected members of town boards may be designated Special Municipal Employees and therefore subject to the state conflict of interest laws.
Town Manager Justin Sultzbach began the January 9 discussion by introducing his revised memo from the December 19 meeting, listing Special Municipal Employees in Winchendon, which was based on lists approved by unanimous vote in 1963 and 1984 by the Boards of Selectmen sitting at those times. His proposed list was essentially the same as the 1984 list. "One thing that did come up that I also wanted to address, was ... the question of what if there's a scenario where a teacher or a school employee got elected to the School Committee," Mr. Sultzbach said. "That's actually already not allowed by law under Mass General Law. And so I amended the recommended motion just to quell those concerns, and put that in there."
Mr. Sultzbach reiterated that the designation did not exempt anyone from disclosing any conflict of interest, and specifically would not allow anyone to serve on a board or committee which controlled their salary or compensation for any other town position they held. He went on, "So a lot of what I heard I've heard in the community ... is the thought that the Board is is trying to implement something new or put something new in place. And that belief, unfortunately, is an error. This is something that had been in place when when JFK was in office. It's pretty much a reaffirmation of the existence of those lists, in the same way that they reaffirmed [the 1963 list] in 1984."
Selectman Barbara Anderson argued strongly against the proposal. "Let me let me go one step further and explain to you that our former town government has changed substantially since 1963, where there was no Town Manager at all," she said. "The Board of the town was literally run by the people and the Board of Selectmen made those determinations as they needed." She argued that "everything is changed" and it was "nonsensical" to "affirm" the older lists. "I think that it really is not in the power of the Board of Selectmen to choose to do this. And I would put that on the Special Town Meeting warrant, let the people choose their form of governments, not ours, that we don't determine who's a special employee and who's not."
Board Chair Audrey LaBrie pointed out that the Town Charter (click here to view the 2021 revised Charter), in its list of appointed committees (page 7), states, "A person shall not serve concurrently as a member of more than 1 of the following multiple member bodies: Planning Board, Board of Appeals, or the Conservation Commission." Mr. Sultzbach explained that the Town Charter could have stricter rules than the state and the town's rules would prevail. If there were any questions about a situation, it would be decided by the Inspector General's office.
Ms. Anderson raised the issue of poll workers being special employees and whether that could cause trouble, saying she wanted to "call Bill Galvin's office" (referring to Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin, whose office oversees elections) and ask. Mr. Sultzbach said he would encourage her or anyone else to do that. "I would encourage anybody if they feel at any time there's something improper going on in our town government, please, please report it," he said.
Board Vice Chair Rick Ward said, "What we're looking at tonight is an administrative action no matter how you want to look at it. In 1963 and in 1984, two Boards of Selectmen unanimously approved these lists. They are both effective now. And all these people on the list are currently Special Municipal Employees. That has not changed. The legal counsel has told us it has not changed. Common sense tells you it has not changed."
Mr. Ward went on, "The fact that we voted one several weeks ago was a mistake. We should not have voted that because they were already [Special] Municipal Employees...It was after that fact that the Town Manager found in the files that we already had this. They were already Special Municipal Employees. So we didn't have to do that vote. We're not doing anything new...So now does it have everybody in here? No, doesn't have the Recreation Commission. Maybe that will have to be added down the road. It doesn't have the committee that's going to come out of the CPA if that gets approved by the town, maybe that will have to be added down the road. This is just bringing together the two forms that two votes have already taken."
Mr. Ward made a motion "that the Board vote to designate those listed above as Special Municipal Employees as permitted in MGL Chapter 268A, the Massachusetts Conflict of Interest Law. With the understanding school employees are already not permitted to serve on the School Committee by law, superseding previous lists submitted in 1963 and 1984 and further directs the Town Manager to notify the town clerk of this updated list."
The Board approved the motion 4-1, with Ms. Anderson casting the nay vote.
The 1984 list of designated Special Municipal Employees includes the following boards and committees (elected and appointed): Board of Health, Planning Board, Board of Assessors, Board of Library Trustees, Registrars of Voters, Zoning Board of Appeals, Council on Aging, Industrial Development Finance Authority, Personnel Board, Historic Commmission, Finance Committee, Arts Lottery Council, Wiring Inspector, Sealer of Weights and Measures, Keeper of Lockup, Civil Defense Director, Fence Viewers, Library Custodian, Moderator
Winchendon Dive Team Assists in Jaffrey NH Rescue
On Sunday, January 15, at 12:40 p.m., the Winchendon Civil Defense Dive Team received a call for assistance from the Jaffrey NH Fire Department. Two persons who had gone through the ice on Lake Contoocook (which belongs to Jaffrey although it extends into Rindge, NH) were successfully rescued.
As reported by the Keene Sentinel and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, the incident began at 12:22 p.m. when a person ice windsurfing on the lake ice fell into open water. A bystander who was ice fishing moved his ice fishing sled to support the windsurfer until rescue crews arrived, but as crews attempted to pull the windsurfer from the water, the sled tipped, ditching its owner into the lake water as well.
Both individuals were pulled from the water by Jaffrey Firefighters with assistance from bystanders, who helped pull ropes for the rescue sled and provided information on the condition of the ice. The ice surfboarder was in the water for approximately 40 to 50 minutes and was taken by ambulance to Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, NH to be treated for hypothermia. The second person was assessed on scene by EMTs and declined further treatment.
The air temperature at that time was approximately 37 degrees, with a water temperature around the freezing mark.
The Ledger-Transcript quoted Jaffrey Fire Chief David Chamberlain as saying, "Ice is unpredictable, especially on a body of water like Contoocook, which has varying depths. Just because it's safe on one part of the lake doesn't mean the whole thing is safe." The ice on lakes and ponds in the area are untrustworthy with the wide variations in temperature and the many above-freezing days and nights in this unusually mild winter so far. Last winter, an ATV went through ice on Lake Monomonac which had been solid enough to drive on just hours before.
Besides the Winchendon team, Jaffrey FD was also assisted by N.H. Fish and Game, Jaffrey Rindge Memorial Ambulance, Peterborough Ambulance, the Water Rescue Task Force, Jaffrey Police, Rindge Police, and several bystanders.
Beals Young Adult Prize for Poetry Call for Entries
WINCHENDON, MA, January 18 -The Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon, Massachusetts seeks entries into its first Beals Young Adult Prize for Poetry. The competition is open to teens in grades 9 through 12 who live or go to school in Winchendon. Ten finalists will be chosen by the judges to read their work at the awards presentation on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Prize money of $100, $50 and $25 will be awarded to the top three competition finalists. Submissions for the contest are now being accepted through Friday, March 31.
Entrants may submit only one, original and unpublished poem. Submissions must be emailed to bealspoetryprize@gmail.com (Word docs preferred). Notification of receipt of entry will be via return email, and competition finalists will be notified on or before Friday, April 14.
The Beals Young Adult Prize for Poetry is brought to you with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Call the Library at 978-297-0300 or go to bealslibrary.org for more information.
Town Manager Reviews 2023 Robinson-Broadhurst Requests for BOS
At the Board of Selectmen's meeting on January 9, Town Manager Justin Sultzbach reviewed the requests made for funding 2023 from the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation.
- Five self contained breathing apparatus replacements. "That's actually something that's in our capital plan that we're trying to get off of it, if we can get it funded from a different source," Mr. Sultzbach said. "It's a pretty big expense, that project has been vetted extensively and almost landed last year, and Chief Smith agreed to push it back one more year. But I would say anything after that we're kind of pushing it."
- A 2023 Volvo backhoe for the Department of Public Works.
- Dual enrollment enrichment activities for the schools. "Which is pretty typical. I think last year, it may have been laptops," Mr. Sultzbach clarified.
- Beals Memorial Library. "Just a little bit of extra contingency for Phase Two for the sprinkler system, and that was basically the expense to move things downstairs into the basement. That was unforeseen," Mr. Sultzbach said.
- Recreation Department, ~$15,000 for holiday decorations for the streetlight poles. Mr. Sultzbach explained, "We've seen a lot on that on social media, people hoping for something to get up there in the holiday season once that project is complete."
- Recreation Department, $20,000 to help supplement the Grand Opening and fireworks.
- The Council on Aging, $35,000 for a new transportation van for Meals on Wheels. "Their current van is usable but starting to get to that tipping point where you're kind of better served not continually maintaining or replacing something," Mr. Sultzbach said.
- Granite benches for Grout Park.
- Department of Public Works, LED electronic message board for the entrance of the Community Park.
- Department of Public Works, funds for enhanced security systems at the amphitheater in the Community Park. Mr. Sultzbach explained, "The reason being that such a large investment is being made. Robinson Broadhurst did build some of that into the budget but just something about that area that attracts... So it's a good investment. It'll help us hold people accountable."
- Planning and Land Use, $10,000 for Fall Fest
- Town Manager's office, $100,000 for the Gateway Park on Beech Street. "We wanted to do something substantial down there. And that would be all through a public input process in terms of the final design of of that," Mr. Sultzbach promised.
- Blair Square Infrastructure Design. "So from soup to nuts, the total cost to design what's left, and we have made an investment to this point, but the remainder it'd be about $270,000. There is precedent through the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation with Central Street, where they did help pick up some of the design costs. And that goes right back to wanting to have a shovel ready project. So we'll see how that goes."
Board Chair Audrey LaBrie put in, "I just want to make sure that as we're getting these pieces in place to actually accomplish something there, that we have public input, public hearings. We make sure that it's out there, and plenty of time for people [to give input]."
Mr. Sultzbach said, "The main goal there is to try to redesign that area in a way that works for the businesses there, and it works for the citizens that walk there, and I think that's kind of an important piece. So I agree wholeheartedly." - Public buildings elevator safety, $19,000. Mr. Sultzbach said, "Basically, elevator code had changed. And unfortunately, for a lot of the municipal elevators we have, they are now out of code because of that. As well as there's chip boards in the panels of the elevator that apparently create an issue for a firefighter call and could automatically close the door and effectively trap somebody in there...the state has given us an extension because I had reached out to them explain that this is a large cost. It's not typical for our community of our size to have as many elevators as we have, just by the nature of the way this town was built originally and the way it ended up evolving. So they did accommodate us, our elevators have been inspected and passed and we did get an extension. So it's my hope that the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation funds that but I'm also gonna build it into the capital plan just in case."
- Community Preservation Act match for five years, $90,000 a year.
- Full-time Recreation Coordinator. Mr. Sultzbach said, "Originally we had talked about part time, which we presently have, and then slowly growing that, but feedback we received from Robinson Broadhurst Foundation is that they really want to support that amphitheater and they want to see it succeed, and so they're willing to fund a full time role there...this is for one year, but in the conversations we've had they agreed that they would do it for several years. My only ask is to give us an opportunity to get on our feet here. I do agree it should be self funding...my ask to them basically is can you do what you can to set us up for success here rather than failure and they've been accommodating."
- Exterior renovation of the barn in the Community Park.
- Water main transmission line, $1,020,000 for a three year committment. "That's something that we're actively working on," Mr. Sultzbach said. "That transmission line went down last week. So it's very much a real problem. And we're really kind of scrambling to come together for that. So it's also worth worth mentioning that Mr. Croteau and I met with Congresswoman [Lori] Trahan's staff at our local office several weeks ago, in an effort to try to line up additional funds for that as well, and they seemed pretty open to it. So we'll see where that goes."
Mr. Ward said, "The reason I'm asking is because when we went to the meeting in April for the Robinson Broadhurst folks, they were pretty open about this is not a good year for them financially as far as a good return on their investments. And from what I'm hearing, we're not going to get all this, it's not gonna happen. So my concern is that we get the things that we really feel a critical need, that really we want." He added that outside of Town Hall's requests, other entities in the town had requested items totaling $1.3 million.
Mr. Sultzbach said that was an excellent point. His number one top priority would be the main water pipe. "But if there are any other ones on this list, if you want to communicate through the chair or right now in this moment, please let me know and I'll bring that forward to them as well," he said. "But I think there's a few on here that stand out as more immediate and pressing needs and some that are kind of nice to haves. The nice to have ones are unique because we typically don't build that into our capital plan because we just can't afford it."
The Robinson Broadhurst Foundation announces its grant awards in late May of each year.
Community Park Amphitheater Rapidly Taking Shape
Thanks to the unseasonably snow-free and mild weather, the amphitheater in the Winchendon Community Park is progressing at a rapid pace. The stadium seating has been set in place, grass sod has been installed, concrete steps and walks have been poured, and the stage and roof framing are rising to the sky. These photos taken on Thursday, January 19 show how much has already been done. The amphitheater is on track for its Grand Opening Day on June 10!
The stage as seen from the top of the seating area.
Photo by Keith Kent
Seating tiers as seen from the stage.
Photo by Keith Kent
The steps leading down to the stage.
Photo by Keith Kent
Close-up of the stage with the steel frame for the two-section roof.
Photo by Keith Kent
Photo copyright © Beals Memorial Library