Windham council takes final votes

Windham council takes final votes
WINDHAM
12/14/2012

By Bill Cleary

On Dec. 11, the Windham Town Council met for its last regular meeting of 2012 and took several votes to establish its agenda for the upcoming year and perform some housekeeping.

The council’s first two orders of the evening were held over from the council’s Nov. 13 meeting. The first, calling for the appointment of a councilor to the Windham Economic Development Corporation’s (WEDC) executive board of directors, was postponed due to the absence of Councilor Peter Anania, who had indicated an interest in the position and had gathered support from the council.

”Mr. Anania is a businessman in the town of Windham — he owns multiple businesses in the town,” said Councilor Scott Hayman. ”I think that his service on the Windham Economic Development Corporation could be a vital asset to what they have going on there.”

The council voted, 4-2, to appoint Anania to the board, with Councilors David Nadeau and Thomas Gleason dissenting. Councilor Dennis Welch was absent.

WEDC President Dan Hancock also expressed support for Anania as a member of the board and said he hoped to work more closely with the council in the future.

”I think we would welcome as much council involvement as you’re willing to give,” Hancock said. ”I think it’s important that we work together to accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish.”

The second held order called for the council to approve a representative to the Greater Portland Council of Governments’ executive committee. Although Nadeau had previously expressed interest in the position, the council voted, 6-0, to reappoint Town Manager Tony Plante.

The council voted 4-2, with Nadeau and Gleason again dissenting, to appoint Hayman as the council’s liaison to the Land Use Ordinance Committee. Hayman, who has been interested in serving on the committee since 2010, his first year on the council, questioned the role and necessity of the committee.

”I’m not so sure the impact fee process and job lies with the Land Use Ordinance Committee. I think that more or less should lie with staff and Tony to come up with those ideas of impact fees for us to act on,” Hayman said. ”I think that we may have potentially too many cooks in the kitchen on that task.”

Council Chairman Matthew Noel, with support from Nadeau and Hayman, proposed a discussion at the council’s next meeting, on Jan. 8, 2013, to examine the charge of the committee and its place in developing town ordinances.

The council unanimously voted to reappoint Nadeau to the Public Easement Advisory Committee.

The councilors also unanimously approved a master development plan for Lippman Park. The plan, proposed by Parks and Recreation Director Brian Ross, calls for the implementation of parts of a larger plan composed by consulting firm Mitchell Associates in August with the purpose of creating a community-useable park as quickly as possible.

At an estimated cost of about $470,000, Ross’ plan includes basic amenities and improvements, as well as a woodland play area, a picnic area, a nature center building and a fishing dock, and omits athletic fields, new trails and other extensive landscaping included in the Mitchell plan.

”I think it’s better to do it more quickly than not,” Plante said. ”The idea behind everything the council has been doing, behind the Lippmans’ generous gift, was to create a community park. I think the idea was that we would see the benefit of that sooner rather than later.”

The council can still take action at a later date to implement other proposed features.

Gleason left the meeting early for personal reasons following a brief executive session concerning legal matters. The remaining five councilors unanimously voted to approve a collective bargaining agreement with the town’s public works employees who are members of Teamsters Union Local 340 to expire June 30, 2015, and to issue a municipal quitclaim deed on a town-foreclosed property.

The Windham Town Council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Windham Town Council Chambers for a presentation of the results of the annual town audit. The council’s next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 8.