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Windham Councilors Look to Own Agendas, June Elections

January 29, 2008 - WINDHAM -- During the next six months, the Windham Town Council faces crucial tasks such as honing the 2007/08 municipal budget while keeping property taxes in check and updating land-use ordinances to better reflect residential and commercial development on the town's horizon.

Although one could easily predict lengthy discussions to ensue, these tasks will best be completed by "coming together and working as a unified group," according to Councilor Donna Chapman. "I'd like to see us get over our issues as a council," Chapman said. "It's not the biggest challenge, but it's as issue."

During the first council meeting of the year on Jan. 8, Town Manager Tony Plante said he plans to spend time with each councilor individually, discussing personal goals that need to get on the agenda during the next several months.

"There's the completion of the budget in May, the elections in June. By the end of May, this council, for all practical purposes, is done. I'll be talking to individual councilors to see what they want to do during the next five months," Plante said. "So, they can feel good about what they accomplish here."

Individually, most councilors have projects in mind they think will improve the town in which they live. Councilor Blaine Davis has been pushing for the council to explore ways to improve the communication between the town and its citizens.

"I would like to see an entirely new communication system that is comprehensive and communicates with people in more than one or two ways. I would like to see the Intemet utilized. We should put out a newsletter that tells what the town has been doing," Davis said. That newsletter could be mailed to residents or presented on the town's web site or both, he said. Davis also advocated the use of bulletin boards around town. In addition, he hopes to have taped meetings put on DVD instead of VHS format because that would improve the quality exponentially and because most people don't own VHS machines anymore. Plus, he'd like council meetings to be available on the Intemet, accessible to residents from their home computers.

"The Queen of England just launched her own YouTube channel to stay connected with the people. If that's good enough for the Queen, it should be good enough for the council," he said. "People should be able to go onto the town web site. You should be able to type in what you paid for taxes and see break down of tables" like the ones provided in the town's financial audit that was done by Runyon Kersteen Quellette.

Davis said he listed the things he would like to accomplish as a town councilor on his computer. He said most were goals for 2007, but he is now shifting those potential achievements to 2008. "I would like to see some restructuring done department by department, starting at the council level," he said. "We need to take a good look at how the council functions. We should review the processes and procedures we use to update them," he said, adding there isn't any policy on setting or creating policies. "The town needs some reorganization, some modemization," Davis said. "Just because we did it that way 30 years ago doesn't mean it should stay that way. It was great 30 years ago. It is not so great now. There are better ways." "I'm a firm believer in being methodical about everything - doing it with strategy. If you have a strategy or a plan or a process for how you tackle certain issues, it can get done," Davis said. "Without a process, it's all going to fall apart and nothing is going to get done."

Councilor Kaile Warren also considers making improvements department by department to be one of the most important tasks the council could accomplish. "I'm all about continuous improvement of process," Warren said. "I won't just set the bar higher and say, 'Figure out how to get over it.' I'm the type of leader who will set the bar higher and help them achieve it."

Councilor Robert Muir said since 2003, especially around budget time, he visits each town department to see how well it's performing. "I know departments are looking at ways to do things better," he said. "I don't know if I have any pet projects, I am looking at the town as a whole," Muir said, at first. Then, he reconsidered. "There is the development down at the old Keddy Mill. I think it's going to do amazing things for the town of Windham, not just south Windham," he said. Muir said when the Little Falls Wastewater Conveyance system goes on-line the town will be able to bill the Maine Correctional Center, and residents of the recently built senior citizen facility and the future residents of the proposed condominiums. Essentially, when the Keddy Mill housing development is finished, it will help support the sewer system financially as well as the wastewater conveyance system supporting future growth in that area, Muir said.

"The developer has the permits to take down the building. When that's done, the new condos will be better aesthetically plus we'll be getting rid of an environmental nightmare," he said.

What makes the completion of the condominium project and the new sewer transport system particularly exciting for Muir is that he's been a part of the projects - not since their conception, he said, but for a number of years. Councilor Chapman said she would like to see some type of sewer system in North Windham where more development has been occurring around bodies of water like Highland Lake and Collins Pond. Aleady, money is being spent to put in numerous private septic systems, she said.

"Those are things that nobody wants to talk about. And that's all going to cost money. Right now, the way we're going we're not going to be able to sustain the growth in North Windham," Chapman said.

Aside from the practicality of providing North Windham with a uniform sewer system, Chapman wishes the town would take over the Parson Smith farm, creating a destination for tourists and towns-people as well as a source of revenue for Windham. She has been working on the business plan for the town to purchase and promote the privately owned Parson Smith Farm, which is listed on the National Historical Register as Windham's original town site. The land could turn into an income producer as an agricultural business and a location that groups could reserve for events.

"I'd like to see it tumed into a place where all the residents of Windham can go," Chapman said. "There are 124 acres and part of land set on the Presumpscot River. The oldest cemetery is down the street and over the hill."

She added some of the opportunities include holding Civil War re-enactments and Boy Scout Jamborees. During an upcoming work session, the council will appoint people to a committee to review the likelihood of the town assuming ownership of the Parson Smith farm. Councilor Warren thinks the council should jump on welcoming an experimental vertical farm to its town. A vertical farm, which is the brainchild of agricultural scientists, would be up to five stories high and would have the potential to produce enough food to feed 50,000 people. Warren said.

"It would be a profit center, a destination center, a place to educate students statewide," he said, adding that getting such an agricultural experiment facility to locate in Windham would have great benefits for the town.

In the next six months, the composition of the seven-person council could change, depending on the outcome of summer-time elections. According to the Town Clerk, the office will start accepting nomination papers in March for two seats, the east district and at-large district. Voters will choose from candidates on June 10, and whoever wins will be swom in at town meeting on June 14, said Town Clerk Linda Morrell. With terms coming to an end in June, neither Councilor Carol Waig nor Chairman John MacKinnon have said for sure whether they plan to seek reelection, although Waig said she's been asked to run again. Waig said she's leamed there are boundaries and procedures for accomplishing her goals at the council level.

"It's been an interesting experience. It's opened my eyes a lot to things you can and can't do. When I ran for councilor, I made promises, coming in as the new person, I was going to change everything and make everything better. I was one of those gung-ho councilors. I sat back and listened and learned before opening my mouth. You have to change things according to what is allowed," she said.

As far as the upcoming elections go, Warren said he would like to see some new faces on the council, and hopes Windham voters feel the same way.

"The town of Windham is at a major tipping point. I don't think the town has ever had a more major election than the one coming up this summer. If the town doesn't make a decisive decision this June, it will flounder," Warren said.

Councilor Chapman said there's a balance that can be achieved between councilors who've served longer and ones who're new to municipal govemment. "I think we can leam from older council members who have experiences as long as they are staying open minded," Chapman said. "In the public eye, you have to always learn and grow. With economics and everything changing, if you don't change, too, you better get off the highway."

"I think we can learn from older council members who have experiences as long as they are staying open minded." Council member Donna Chapman.

Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of articles examining the issues facing Windham in 2008, as seen by members ofthe Windham Town Council. By Dawn De Busk

SOURCE: WINDHAM INDEPENDENT

DATE: 01-17-2008


Lakes: Highland Lake
Regions: Sebago


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