Windham Taxpayers

July 15, 2009
Eagle Tribune

WINDHAM — The field of candidates for the new community development director’s position has been whittled to four.

Selectmen will interview the candidates today and expect to chose the director next Monday in nonpublic session, Selectman Ross McCleod said yesterday.

Selectmen and Town Administrator Dave Sullivan will make the selection. They expect the person to be on the job by some time in August, McCleod said.

Personally, McCleod said he is looking for a self-starter who will listen to what the town wants for economic development and market the town accordingly.

“It has to be consistent with what the town wants,” he said.

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June 28, 2009
Eagle Tribune

WINDHAM — Old stone walls will be pushed and tall established trees cut to widen London Bridge Road at the Castle Hill Road end, clearing a swath for two-way bus travel by Sept. 1, and the opening of the new high school.

Work on the curvy half-mile section, scheduled to start next week, has some of the road’s residents concerned, surprised and, at least one of them, upset.

Selectmen on Monday voted, 4-0, to spend $263,000 in budgeted road maintenance funds for improvements to the half-mile section, as well as to Marblehead Road.

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June 24, 2009
Eagle Tribune

Board gets changes it wants for 1 Wall St. facility

WINDHAM — The Planning Board has unanimously approved a CVS, another retail store, and a temporary 70-space park-and-ride facility for 1 Wall St.

The board got the aesthetic changes it was looking for, a design more fitting to a rural setting and complementing colors for the buildings, before approving the development last week.

The site, off Route 111, already has a park-and-ride facility, but plans call for moving it to a nearby site if necessary.

The approval comes with a condition that the developer, Indian Rock Office Park II LLC, obtain any necessary state permits.

Monday, Planning Board Chairman Phil LoChiatto presented drawings of the development to the selectmen.

Selectmen Bruce Breton and Charlie McMahon said the CVS and retail building will help the local tax base, and the drugstore will provide a needed service.

Susan Mesiti, a principal of Indian Rock Office Park, hopes to break ground on the project this construction season, LoChiatto said earlier.

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June 24, 2009
Eagle Tribune

WINDHAM — Griffin Park will be closed after dark, a restriction put into effect by the selectmen Monday after graffiti was spray painted in the parking lot.

The graffiti reads “First” in large block lettering — yellow outlined in black.

A survey of people using the popular Range Road park yesterday turned up a majority who support the restricted hours, saying they enhance security and protect the park from vandalism.

“I hate people who destroy things, it’s so inconsiderate,” resident Ann Burnham said.

Burnham and her husband, Harry, Windham residents since 1960, watched their grandchildren play ball, swatting tennis balls with a plastic bat on a small diamond.

“It’s such a vast area with no lighting,” Harry Burnham said, defending the selectmen’s action.

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June 21, 2009
Eagle Tribune

Preserving rural character a challenge

WINDHAM — Old, new and a mix of the two mark the half-mile stretch of Range Road.

Old are houses, among Windham’s oldest. New are businesses, among Windham’s newest. The mix is seen in historic structures that have been converted to new, commercial uses. The half mile is book-ended by examples of this. The Windham Restaurant is at one end, The Common Man restaurant at the other.

Now, another historic home on The Common Man property is a candidate for preservation. It will get a new lease on life as a coffeehouse.

Toward the eastern end of the half-mile stretch, at 64 Range Road, an 18th century federal-style house is up for sale.

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