I noticed in last week’s packet for the Windham town councilors that there was a letter from an engineering firm representing Hardypond Development, which has proposed the redevelopment of the Mallison Falls Mill area into a residential area instead of being zoned industrial.
The letter requested that the Windham town councilors make Mallison Falls Road a one-way road from the railroad trestle to the intersection of High Street by the Windham correctional facility. That is their proposal to alleviate the traffic problem caused by having residential property on one side of Mallison Falls Road and parking on the other side because of the railroad trestle located at the bottom of a steep hill. Traffic coming down the road from the prison would not be able to see pedestrians until it was too late to avoid them.
From a logical standpoint it makes sense to have only one-way traffic up the hill if one supports only the redevelopment of that mill and not consider the rights of all those citizens who transit that road on a daily basis. Liz Wisecup is a former Windham town councilor that I recently spoke with about this subject. Her comment was pure and simple that she would no longer support any Windham town councilor that voted to make Mallison Falls Road a one-way street and inconvenience a whole bunch of other citizens not residing in the proposed redevelopment project. I fully agree with her and other citizens have as well. It would be nice to see that area of the old mill redeveloped but not at the expense of all Windham property owners along with road restrictions on Mallison Falls Road. I also know that Hardypond Development will be asking for a TIF zone for property tax breaks and that makes my blood boil.
Perhaps what is most laughable is that some Windham town councilors have labeled the redevelopment of the mill as economic development, which in reality it is not. No residential development is economic development, although politicians will say anything while unfortunately knowing a lot about nothing. It is time for the town of Windham to show all the property taxpayers any fiscal impact that any new residential construction has on our town and school budgets in the future if, in fact, they are capable of doing that. Windham has grown like a weed being fed a diet of Miracle Grow without much thought about the impact on our property taxes. There is no possibility of future growth lowering property taxes although some in government will proclaim business growth will. I have seen the growth of businesses in Windham and yet my property taxes continue to increase.
One variable that I never considered until now is the proposal to increase the size of the correctional facility located on Mallison Falls Road. I don’t remember how it was proposed to expand but I seem to recollect it would be on the other side of the road down High Street. Maybe it’s possible the expansion could eliminate the road at the top of the hill, which would make Mallison Falls Road a dead-end road at the prison and then a one-way road would be a mute point at that point. For those who presently transit the road this is still a huge roadblock that would force them to take another road.
Now the funny thing is that I watched the Windham town councilors discussing the problems with the roads around Forest Lake, which have tremendous problems and the town of Cumberland is considering stopping emergency services for. It is not a pleasant discussion because it appears there is a disconnect between the councilors and the Windham town manager, which is nothing new at all. This leads me to think it is time to take an even more serious look at anyone running for the Town Council this election cycle.
Lane Hiltunen of Windham believes it is time for some elected and appointed officials to hit the highway.
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