Windham News : Political

Windham neighbors want dust and stone grinding to stop

Salem Editor — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:56:00 GMT

More than 20 Windham residents, citing unbearable noise and a wall of stone dust enveloping their homes, directed state officials to deny a crushing permit for a development site on Ledge Road on Monday night, May 5.

The state Department of Environmental Services held a public hearing to gather input about whether the Air Division should approve a permit for a Lowell, Mass., company to continue crushing stone at its Ledge Road site along Route 111.

While blasting at the Meadowcroft site has prompted criticism from nearby residents who’ve had contaminated wells since last summer, residents are also reporting an unending film of stone dust enveloping their properties from stone crushing on the site nearby.

“We’re prisoners in our own home,” said Greg Kindrat of 61 Haverhill Road. “We can’t go outside with our kids. There’s tons of dust.”

The permit, described by DES Air Resources Division Chairman Craig Wright, would allow Meadowcroft to operate three crushing machines and one large dieselfuel engine at the site with certain fuel and dust output guidelines. Julia Whistle of 55 Haverhill Road said previous conditions have been so bad that she criticized any proposal that would allow the development site to crush rock without supervision.

“I’m sorry you’re understaffed but so are we,” she said. “What are we supposed to do? Suck in the dust all the time?”

Joanne Vignos of 4 Meetinghouse Road said the clouds of dust and noise levels up to 112 decibels have made conditions outside her home unbearable.

“I could not even go outside in my backyard unless I wanted to hear grinding, blasting and crushing,” Vignos said.

Nancy Butcher of 59 Haverhill Road asked if there would be unannounced checks on the operation to make sure the site would be in compliance.

“I think based on what I heard I can commit to that,” replied DES Compliance Bureau Administrator Pamela Monroe.

While Wright said that the Air Division of DES had no authority to weigh noise as a factor in issuing the permit, Vignos said it should be considered in some form as an effect on the environment.

“I think there are other kinds of pollution besides air ... I have no life because of this project at my home,” she said.

Wright said written input on whether to grant the permit could be submitted to the DES Air Division office through 4 p.m. on Friday, May 9.

Windham candidates file for office

Salem Editor — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:15:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

Two three-year seats on the Windham Board of Selectmen are up this March and four men are running: Bruce H. Richardson, former selectman Galen Stearns, Planning Board member Ross McLeod, and state Rep. Charles McMahon, a former selectman.

Alan Carpenter and Margaret Crisler are not seeking re-election.

Other candidates for town positions include: Philip LoChiatto, Rick Okerman, Planning Board, two seats, three years; Peter Griffin, moderator, two years; Gail Webster, Mark Brockmeier, cemetery trustee, one position, three years; Robert A. Skinner, supervisor of the checklist, one position, six years; Alphonse J. Marcil, Jr., trustee of trust funds, one position, three years; Thomas J. Murray, Zoning Board of Adjustment, one position, one year; Mark Samsel, Zoning Board of Adjustment, one position, three years; Anne-Marie O’Neil, Carolyn B. Webber, Joyce Wilt, library trustee, one position, one year; Mark Branoff, library trustee, two positions, three years.

Two three-year seats are available on the school board this year. Al Letizio Jr. and Elizabeth Valentine are not seeking re-election.

Christine Lane, Mark Brockmeier and Michael Hatem, who is making his third bid for the board, have filed their candidacies.

Also running for school district positions: Mary Ann Horaj, clerk; Elizabeth Dunn, moderator; and Maura Pennisi, treasurer. Those are one-year positions.

Rezoning amendment up for vote again

Salem Editor — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:19:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

For the second consecutive year, Windham voters will be asked if they want to rezone land on Route 111 to allow retail development on the site.

State Rep. Mary Griffin and other residents have signed their names to a zoning amendment by petition that, if approved in March, would reclassify 29 acres of vacant land from Professional, Business and Technology to a Business Commercial A district.

According to the petitioners, the change is intended to allow a retail development on the land, which is located at the intersection of Route 111 and Wall Street.

Shoppers would access the new businesses through the current Route 111/Wall Street intersection, which they currently travel through to go to Shaw’s Supermarket and Sovereign Bank.

Last year, a change to the land’s zoning was opposed by the planning board and was rejected by voters by a roughly 2-to-1 margin. This year’s proposed change is opposed by most board members, who claim the plan doesn’t benefit the community and runs counter to its master plan.
Griffin said she submitted the petition at the request of a constituent, Myrtis Fineman, who owns the land with her son, Neil. The family has tried to develop the property under current zoning without success, she said.

Griffin said it’s estimated that a multi-tenant retail development could produce roughly $442,500 in property tax revenue annually. That could help offset the cost of the town’s new high school, which Griffin said she believes will cost $60 million without staff.

Griffin said she’s concerned people are going to have a hard time being able to afford to live in town if it remains a bedroom community.

Senior citizens on fixed incomes got hit hard with higher taxes under a recent property revaluation, and there is an educational funding crisis in Concord, she said.

Windham, Griffin said, is perceived in the state’s capitol as a rich town “that doesn’t need anything.”

“I think we need a commercial tax base for everything going on,” Griffin said, adding that she doesn’t believe retail shops and “mom-and-pop” stores provide enough tax revenue.

Opponents of the proposed zoning change, such as Chris Rossetti, said many residents don’t want to see big box stores built in town.

“We want to keep the rural charm and serenity, which is what attracted us to come here in the first place,” Rossetti said.

Such a development would increase traffic in Windham because it would attract people from out of town, he said. There are already large retailers just minutes away from town that Windham shoppers can go to, he said.

Rossetti said he’s also concerned about the adverse environmental impact to the town and to Cobbetts Pond that could be caused by thousands of vehicles visiting the site.

Griffin said she had been advised there would be no runoff into the pond, which she does not want
to see contaminated.

Rossetti said he also fears increased commercial property could cause the town to lose state school aid, and possibly become a donor town.

Although stores would bring in higher tax revenue, costs for increased fire and police protection will rise, he said.

Tax revenue of $442,500, Rossetti said, brings only $81 in tax relief to each residential taxpayer. He said he questions if traffic congestion, and damage to the environment and the town’s rural charm, is worth it.

Town spending could rise

Salem Editor — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:18:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Town spending in Windham is expected to increase roughly 6.7 percent if the selectmen’s proposed 2007 budget and all money warrant articles are approved by voters in March.

Town officials have crafted an operating budget of $11,100,309. If that budget and warrant articles totaling $905,965 are approved, town spending will total $12,006,274. That’s an increase of $886,019 or roughly 8 percent from the previous year.

But officials are taking into account money from various sources – revenue funds, state bridge aid grants, and donations – totaling $144,344.

The total budget would, therefore, be a net of $11,861,930 – up $741,675 or a 6.67 percent increase – from the 2006 budget of $11,120,255.

Some of the increases in the proposed operating budget include a 25 percent increase in health insurance premiums, a 3.5 percent cost of living adjustment for workers, step increases for some employees, changing the police prosecutor, recreation coordinator, and a highway department laborer to full-time status, and increased costs for road maintenance.

The following money warrant articles will be on the ballot: $89,250 to build a garage for the police station; $65,000 to repair a fire truck, Engine 3; $54,080 to purchase a new trailer for the transfer station; $75,000 for a used tractor for the transfer station; $85,000 for the town’s overall 20 percent share of costs associated with the proposed bicycle paths on Lowell Road; $104,860 for economic benefits for the police union; putting $57,975 into a capital reserve fund for fire department apparatus; $15,000 for an engineering study for a salt shed/highway garage; putting $120,000 into a capital reserve fund for a salt shed and land; $50,000 to make renovations to the Bartley House, a town administrative building; $13,000 for the town’s overall 20 percent share of costs associated with renovations to the Depot Historic Area; $30,000 for the property maintenance trust; $30,000 for earned time trust; $104,800 for engineering to replace Castle Hill Road Bridge; and $12,000 for marketing and maintenance of Searles School and Chapel.

Town of Windham sticks with auditor

Salem Editor — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 17:58:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen
Staff Writer

After collecting and evaluating bids for auditing services, Windham officials are sticking with the auditor they have been been using.

During their Oct. 30 meeting, Windham selectmen voted unanimously to award a three-year contract to Vachon, Clukay and Co. of Manchester.

The company bid to audit the town’s books for $9,875 in the first year, $9,953 the following year, and $9,920 in the third year. It budgeted 109 hours to do the job annually.

Their costs were less than half of those of another firm selectmen considered. Melanson Heath & Co. of Nashua bid to do the job for $21,000 for each of three years. The company budgeted 230 hours to do their work each year.

Assistant Town Administrator Dana Call recommended that the town continue working with the Vachon firm. Although the Melanson’s approach at the job provides some benefits, she and Town Administrator David Sullivan are comfortable using Vachon and can’t justify spending twice as much money to use the other firm, she said.

“We don’t have any concerns with (them),” Call said. “We feel they do an appropriate audit.”

Selectman Alan Carpenter said he found answers provided by Vachon during a previous presentation to be vague. Selectman Galen Stearns suggested having the people who conducted future audits, rather than the company’s owner, come before selectmen to answer questions.

Three firms responded when the town put auditing services out to bid.

Prior to the meeting, Call and Sullivan narrowed the list down to two firms and interviewed them after opening technical proposals.

The other bidder was James A. George of Boston, which bid $8,000 to do the job each year.

The company does not have any municipal clients and was eliminated from consideration, according to Call.

Some Windham homeowners may get tax relief

Salem Editor — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:02:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen
Staff Writer

Because Windham’s elderly residents are expected to be hit hard in the pocketbook when they receive their property tax bills this fall, selectmen are hoping to come up with a way to help them.

Due to a revaluation this year, property values are increasing 40 percent on average.

Last year, voters increased exemptions for the elderly and the disabled. Officials sought those higher exemptions in light of the revaluation to help them.

But while warrant articles to modify exemptions passed, a separate warrant article to fund a revaluation was defeated in 2005. The revaluation was approved this year.

Officials are concerned because new exemptions don’t keep pace with new values for the elderly this year, effectively lowering their exemptions.

That has selectmen thinking about how they can ease the burden.

“We have long-term residents in this town. I think we have a duty and a responsibility to them,” said selectman Galen Stearn at the board’s Sept. 25 meeting. “If we can do something to help them, especially seeing how this is going to be a larger hit than everyone else is given, I’d like to do whatever we can to do that.”

Voters in 2005 raised exemptions to $125,000 for seniors 65 to 74 and to $150,000 for seniors 75 to 80 for those who qualify for the break.

Older seniors are totally exempt if they qualify. Disabled who meet certain criteria have a $125,000 exemption.

The current tax rate is $19.46 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation. Assessor Rex Norman is predicting a tax rate of approximately $16 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation when it’s set this fall.

The average taxpayer — an owner of a $400,000 house — will see an increase of $800 to $1,000.

“This year, the elderly will be hit probably the hardest,” Norman said.

Town and school district spending is up more than $4 million, including roughly $2.6 million in bond costs for the town’s new high school.

Selectmen may decide to help 74 elderly and disabled homeowners by lowering their values through an abatement process. The move would shift roughly $30,000 onto other taxpayers to absorb.