Editor,
I do agree with Mr. Drew’s statement in his letter to the editor in last week’s issue of the Lakes Region Weekly. In his letter he stated that Mr. And Mrs. Billington in the last 10 years have donated and volunteered hundreds and hundreds of hours on town committees and boards. To say they are to be commended and or thanked would be trivial.
A while back in a letter to the editor if this newspaper, I came down on our town manager, Mr. Billington, for working on his subdivision while holding down the full-time job as our town manager. I’m afraid I did not explain my issue with this clearly and wish to apologize for any misunderstanding I created.
Yes, the town manager is entitled to pursue and endeavor to enhance his family’s income. He has a right to it and I wish him the utmost success in his efforts.
The issue that I messed up in clarifying was as our town manager, his workweek is Monday through Friday, maybe 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. But as any manager of any town, I’m sure he works some days 10 to 12 hours a day and also on weekends. It’s a 60 to 80 hour-a-week job, and a thankless job at times. And definitely underpaid. Also, it sacrifices time with his family. This we can never thank him enough for.
But creating a real estate subdivision also entails a huge block of one’s time. One must communicate in person with dozens and dozens of professional people. Go over plans, blueprints, interview, screen and select contractors, contracts to sign, permits to obtain, work with his financier, architect, surveyor, septic tests, tree removal, roads to build, water lines to lay, electrical service, phone service, cable TV service, earth moving contractors, pavement contractors, bonds, real estate brokers and advertisement, just to name a few. All this even before houses are started to be built.
Maybe, Mrs. Billington or some other partner is handling all this and Mr. Billington checks on the project on his lunch break. I don’t know.
Again, let me wish the Billingtons good fortune in their new quest as entrepreneurs.
Peter Hassapelis
Standish
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