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| Anglers Road expansion on Route 302 |
By Lorraine Glowczak
“We rarely celebrate the projects
that have been completed and have successfully taken place by the Town [of
Windham],” stated the Director of Windham Economic Development Corporation
(WEDC), Thomas Bartell. “For example, we never had a ribbon cutting for the
Anglers Road Project that has promoted recent profitable business and
development expansions which have contributed to the town’s recent successes.”
The truth is, as a society, we often find fault in
municipality efforts but rarely take a moment to focus on the accomplishments
that contribute to a socially, financially, culturally and environmentally
healthy community. It is for this reason we take the time to celebrate a few accomplishments
that have occurred in recent years in Windham, often with the help of civic
minded volunteers.
Although there are many successes to highlight, such as the headway
Windham has made in supporting the water/lake quality improvements of which The
Windham Eagle and other local newspapers have reported, the focus of this
article will be on the following: Brand Road improvement, LED streetlights and economic
development as a result of the Angler Road project.
Brand Road Improvement:
Windham is a small, rural town that is growing and
expanding. In order to keep up with the growth, roadways must keep up as well. Although
there are many roadways that need to be considered, Brand Road has been a challenge
for the Town of Windham for many years. Thirty years to be exact.
Brand Road is a town road located in North Windham between
two major thoroughfares, Routes 115 and 202. As such, Brand Road is travelled
by many motorists as a shortcut between the two routes. Having to withstand
heavy travel, Brand Road became unsafe and, especially during the winter
months, impassable.
Windham citizen, Mike O’Brien, purchased property on Brand
Road in 1985 and has lived there since 1989 – when it was a small dirt road. He
has been a long-time advocate to improve the road’s safety.
“During the 1990s, as more homes were being built on the
road, there was significantly more traffic
and it was becoming problematic,”
O’Brien explained. “Not only were there potholes but there were many dangerous
incidents that included a town sand truck that slid off the side of the road
and spilled sand and salt. Unfortunately, the salt killed trees along that lined
the side of the road.” O’Brien also added that there were many incidents that
involved school buses as well.
It was a that point that O’Brien looked to the Town Council
to improve the roadway for safety reasons. “I was told in not so kind words to
forget about it,” he said. That was his first attempt 30 years ago.
But O’Brien didn’t stop there. He collected signatures and submitted
petitions – not once, not twice but three times -to no avail. It wasn’t until
2014 when he approached the then new Town Councilor, Jarrod Maxfield that
O’Brien’s persistence paid off.
“Mike called me up soon after I was elected in my first
election,” began Maxfield. “I invited experienced Town Councilor, Dave Nadeau,
to join me in talking to Mike. We went to his house and sat in his garage with
a neighbor on a Saturday morning and had a conversation. After listening to his
story, we told him we would do what we could to improve Brand Road.”
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Town Councilors David Nadeau (L) and Jarrod Maxfield (R)
stand on the improved and more safe Rand Road
with Windham resident and advocate Mike O'Brien |
Fast forward to today; Brand Road has been widened and
paved. “Kids are able to ride their bikes and
people can walk their dogs on the
road safely now,” O’Brien stated. “I can never thank Jarrod and Dave enough.
When they sat with me in my garage and listened to me – they promised they
would not drop the ball. And they didn’t. They stayed with me the whole way to
get this road improved for safe travel. Jarrod and Dave would calm me down when
I felt upset and they kept me informed. Again, I can never thank them enough.”
LED streetlights:
The Town of Windham is working with the communities of Raymond,
Gorham and Standish to cut costs that stem from energy and electricity
consumption produced through essential streetlights by converting them to LED
street technology.
The towns are working with a consulting firm, RealTerm Energy,
a company that works closely with municipalities to install reliable and
affordable LED lighting upgrades, often providing the service to groups of
towns working together. In this case, the collective buying will be a result of
the collaboration between the four Lakes Region towns.
Although the exact cost savings is still being analyzed, it
is determined that the upgrade to LED
stoplights will cut cost significantly.
“Based on RealTerm’s analysis, the Town could see a potential 77% savings in
its annual streetlight costs, and a five to six-year payback on the initial
capital investment to purchase the LED lights,” stated Gretchen Anderson,
Stormwater Compliance Officer.
Anderson also stated there are other benefits in addition to
the cost savings. “Converting to LED streetlights has multiple benefits. The
Town has the ability to reduce its energy consumption by 71% and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70%, while improving visibility and public
safety. Furthermore, the town can make the most of the streetlight conversion by
utilizing Smart Control technology.”
According to axiomtec.com, Smart Control technology allows a
city to schedule lights on or off easily and set dimming levels of lights so a
city can provide the right level of lighting intelligently.
Smart street lighting
control systems accurately detect light failure and other maintenance problems
in real time so malfunctions can be fixed quickly. This intelligent system
provides the operator with web access for automatic or manual monitoring and
control over illumination performance.
Additional smart automation systems such
as temperature and pollution sensors, traffic signals, security, fire
detection, visibility conditions and traffic sensors may be integrated and
supported easily.
As Anderson stated, LED and Smart Control technology can
further increase energy and maintenance
savings, decrease light pollution, and
increase safety on Town streets.”
The completion of this street-light conversion is still
being determined and the timeline is forthcoming.
Economic Development as a result of Anglers Road Project:
In approximately 2008, the Town had a vision to develop the
land behind Bob’s Seafood at the intersections of Route 302 and Anglers Road
with the purpose of business and economic growth. There was one challenge,
however, in that plan. Angler’s Road is a private road, and as such, state and
federal transportation funding would not be available to expand Angler’s Road
to accommodate traffic.
“As a result, we (WEDC) had to purchase the land in order to
give the town the right of way, making it a public roadway,” explained Windham
Economic Development Corporation’s (WEDC) Director, Thomas Bartell. “This
purchase facilitated the construction and allowed for Federal and State DOT
participation in the funding of the project.”
As Bartell explained in this week’s Real Estate column,
the Windham Town Council provided the
“patient capital” to finance the purchase of the land via a low-interest loan
through the Tax-Increment Financing program. The “patient capital” was vitally
important to the success of this project which ended up being ten years in the
making.
Bartell explained in an interview that there was much that
had to happen in 10 years in order for the
project to be completed
successfully. “There was a lot involved such as the planning and design process
and market evaluations – all that simply takes time.”
Although it did take some time, the property is now all
sold, and the town is paid back what is due to it, including interest.
The original vision of 10 years ago is now a reality. As
Bartell stated, the Angler’s Road intersection has been upgraded, Bob’s Seafood
has been transformed into a full-scale restaurant, bar and seafood with a 2,000
square foot expansion – adding 25 new jobs, the addition of the community-based
Momentum organization as well as the newly built 42 unit condos. Plus, there is
more coming in the near future.
And speaking of the future, perhaps it will be good to stop
from time to time and recognize the accomplishments that do take place within
the town. Whether you are or have been a town manager, a town councilor, town
staff or a town volunteer – we take this moment to say thank you for a job well
done. Of course, there is always room for improvement….but for now….let us
focus on the good that has been accomplished so that we, as a town, can move
forward in a positive and solution-based manner.
