By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Differing views over how the Allenstown Planning Board should conduct its business have led to discord between its members.

Planning board Chairman James Rodger, who was recently absolved of any wrongdoing following a police probe initiated by another board member, said he feels like he’s on the television show “Survivor.”

Other board members, meanwhile, don’t have Rodger’s new phone number, and say they hope the experienced chairman will end his boycott of half the board’s meetings.

“Right now it’s almost dysfunctional,” Rodger said of the board.

Much of the trouble seems to have arisen when the board voted earlier this year to relieve Rodger of his secondary duties as planning coordinator/secretary, a position Rodger said the town desperately needs.

In June 2005, Rodger took on the paid responsibilities of the planning board, including taking meeting minutes; corresponding with applicants, engineers and lawyers; and mailing and posting notices.

Rodger, who said his intention last year was to do the coordinator work until they could hire someone else, was paid $10 an hour, part time.

Earlier this year, the board voted to dissolve the position and reconfigure the board’s meeting schedule.

The planning board had been meeting with applicants on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Now the first Wednesday meeting is designated as a board workshop, where members do the work that would be done by a planning coordinator, said Rodger.

“As far as I’m concerned, that first meeting is not mandatory,” said Rodger. “It’s hard enough to have people volunteer time on these boards without telling them they have to do the work a land use secretary should be doing.”

Sandy McKenney, who’s new to the board this year as the selectmen’s representative, said the monthly workshops give new members a chance to learn the intricacies of planning board work, and provide ample time to for members to review site applications and “work as a team.”

Rodger, who’s been on the board since 1998, hasn’t attended the board’s workshop meetings.

“We want Jim (Rodger) to stay on, but right now he’s not communicating with us,” said McKenney.

Board member Art Houle, who withdrew from the board last year but was reappointed earlier this year, said the dissolution of the paid planning position wasn’t necessarily intended to be permanent.

“We said, ‘Let’s try this for six months and see what happens,’” he said.

As for Rodger’s recent absences, “He hasn’t been going to those, and shame on him.”

McKenney suggested the dissolution of the planning coordinator/secretary position was in part to ease Rodger’s’ workload. “He shouldn’t be secretary because he’s the chairman of the board and he runs the meetings,” she said.

Rodger said he’s not intent on doing the work of a paid planning coordinator/secretary, but he said the board loses continuity, consistency and the time of the volunteer board members when the position doesn’t exist.

He suggested paying someone for 10 hours a week each for planning and zoning would keep Allenstown’s land use boards up to speed with such volunteer boards in other similarly sized towns.

“To have the whole thing dependent entirely on volunteers is kind of a stretch these days,” he said. “Allenstown is behind the curve.”

On Aug. 3, a planning board member approached the police department questioning whether Rodger, being chairman, could be paid for the extra work.

“It was a dispute as to whether the planning board could pay personnel and hire personnel without approval from selectmen,” said Police Chief Shaun Mulholland.

Mulholland said the planning board was indeed authorized to hire outside help as long as the board didn’t expend beyond its annual budget.

The allegation of misapplication of funds was “unfounded,” Mulholland said.

Rodger named Houle as the complainant. Houle denied airing any complaint against Rodger or the board to the police, and Mulholland declined to disclose the name of the planning board member that approached his department.

Rodger, Houle and McKenney each said they think any personal differences between board members can be overcome.

“We need to talk as a board,” said McKenney.

The board is currently looking for volunteers to fill three alternate positions.