Sheehan didn't waive her constitutional right to free speech when she signed an agreement to sell her land, the court ruled. Moreover, it would be impossible for the town to prove that 15 people — the margin of loss in the vote — changed their mind because of Sheehan's actions.
Two Ossipee residents, Joy Gagnon and Joshua Arnold, have filed a civil complaint alleging the right of residents to vote on the Camp Sokokis purchase was compromised by the town's failure to meet the open meeting provisions of the state's right to know law. Specifically they said people who waited outside because of a lack of seating could not hear or register as voters or get handouts to explain how the meeting would operate. The complaint asks the court to mandate a new vote to be held in a larger venue.
People of a certain age can remember when Mount Whittier was a thriving ski area with a cross-highway gondola. The neglected West Ossipee property has a new owner, and he's looking for ideas on what to do with it.
Ossipee officials will recount the votes from the November 28 special town meeting at which voters narrowly turned down the purchase of Camp Sokokis on Ossipee Lake. Meanwhile, a hearing on a state judge's temporary restraining order preventing the campground's owner from selling to another buyer has been continued to January 4. The town's complaint to the state is that the seller, Dianne Sheehan, violated the terms of the sales agreement by urging residents to vote against the purchase.
A majority of Ossipee voters favored the town's plan to purchase Camp Sokokis for recreation. But the vote failed to muster the required two-thirds majority.
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