For the love of animals and the job - By Jim Beers (updated)

For all animal and pet owners, their animals are viewed like children of the family. Losing one or having one harmed is the worst possible scenario. Luckily for Windham residents, they have a caring, dedicated animal control officer, or ACO. Joe Payton, a 22-year-old Casco resident, is relishing the challenge his job brings. "I have two loves,” Payton said, “animals and law enforcement, so this position is a perfect match for me. I have a lot of time invested in both." 

On the job for two years now, Payton first fell in love with this field as a vet-tech. Doing that for three years gave him the experience to go after a job like this, he said. "In those three years I fell in love with the welfare of animals and wanted to make a difference with them going forward," he said. Working out of Windham's Police Department at 8 School Rd. in Windham, Payton is the lone animal control officer for the town. Although his schedule says 40 hours a week, he routinely goes way over that mark. In 2012, Windham's animal control office handled 833 calls. Payton rotates his work weeks throughout the year, Monday thru Friday, then Tuesday thru Saturday. Off-duty officers will take calls and make reports for Payton on his days off. "It can be time consuming,” he said, “some calls are informational, some go unfounded, but the majority of the time I have a chance to make a difference with an animal."

Payton's busiest time of the year is in the summer. "There are just more animals and pets out in the summer,” he said. “Vacation people, summer homes, state parks, campgrounds...nicer weather in general." He has to be extra vigilant in the summer months as it is a dangerous time for animals and pets. Payton sees more calls in these months, than any others. "You will see me parked in front of Walmart, Hannafords and Shaws stores in the summertime so that I am visible and it will keep the awareness constantly up,” said Payton. His number one call to deal with during the summer is still animals locked in cars with the windows either not rolled down at all, or not enough. "Every year it's the biggest problem," Payton said. So much so, he has printed notices that go on every store door in Windham, to remind people of the danger of leaving your animals and pets in a car when the days are at their hottest.

In addition, officer Payton has many more responsibilities as Windham's ACO. With his mission clear--to protect the welfare of all animals--Payton primarily deals with domestic animals. However, he also handles farm animal calls, wild animals and assists Maine's Game Wardens when the situation calls for it. During one call where Payton was helping the Warden Service, the cable TV show North Woods Law was filming at the same time and shot many scenes with Payton in them. He's pretty confident some of those scenes will make it onto an upcoming show this season. "It was really cool to be on a call with the Game Wardens and have North Woods Law filming us," said Payton. "They were telling me these scenes would be on a future show, so that's pretty exciting."

When Payton isn't out on a call, he is constantly looking at the animal laws and understanding how they work, and how he can make them better for the Town of Windham. "The laws pretty much stay the same. The Director of Animal Welfare for the state works on clarifying the existing laws for ACO's around Maine," he said. By working with the director on improving animal control laws, for example, Maine's ACO's are able to trap feral animals that aren't indigenous to Maine, allowing Payton more power to do his job. Payton's duties range from dog licenses, animal cruelty cases, rabies tags, rabies vaccines for cats, dogs at large, stray dogs, reimbursement for damage done by dogs, damage to livestock or pets by dogs, cruelty to birds, trespassing animals to working miracles for the residents of Windham.

That brings up what Joe calls his most successful, happy ending case to date. On October 15, 2013, a Tuesday, Windham resident Laurene Dumond had two dogs go missing from her property, a beagle and a wiemaraner, who has leukemia. Luckily, the Beagle was found that night. As the week went on, animal control officer Joe Payton was called on to see if he could help. On Saturday, Payton, along with Dumond and her two young daughters, set out to find the wiemaraner, using the beagle to help track the missing dog. 

"This man walked many hours,..many miles through the woods. He went above and beyond the scope of his duty," Dumond said. Payton, with help from the beagle, tracked the wiemaraner all the way to Methodist Road in Westbrook. "It was a last chance thing,” said Payton. “We had been out there all day and were about to turn around and head back when I noticed the dog through the trees in the woods. It was the ending everyone was hoping for." Dumond was overwhelmed by Payton and his care for her animals and his job. "Honestly, he impacted my daughters in such a positive way. He remained calm even though at times we had no clue where we were. We are so thankful to have him in our town," she said.

That's the way officer Payton would have every call turn out if he could. This young man's love of animals has him in the right position to make a difference. 

"We do care about every resident's pets, he said. All animals in town are taken very seriously and we work diligently to solve problems. We make every effort to get them home." From hours spent looking and finding lost animals or pets to staying with them at the veterinary hospital after they are injured to saving them from a hot vehicle or abuse, Windham Animal Control officer Joe Payton's value to the department and town is immense. Look for him on an upcoming show of North Woods Law, he's really excited about that!

Shannon Trainor promoted to executive director of Crossroads - By Elizabeth Richards

Crossroads has a new, but familiar, face at the helm. Shannon Trainor, LCSW, CCS, the former clinical director for the organization, was unanimously chosen by the organizations board of directors to step into the executive director position. 

Crossroads was founded in 1974 as a 30-day residential treatment program for women with substance abuse and mental health issues. The Boulton Center for Women and Children, located in Windham, was Crossroads’ original program, which made the organization what it is today, said Trainor. While a lot of people still think that is the only program, the organization has expanded into much more, including two inpatient programs for women, and two outpatient programs which provide substance abuse and mental health services to both men and women. 

Last year, the organization received a $1.5 million SAMSHA grant to work with pregnant clients and clients with infants up to 12 months old in their residential program. While Crossroads had already been doing that, Trainor said the dollars from the federal government enhance the program by providing a lot of case management services that are not covered under current state funding for substance abuse. 

One of the things that makes Crossroads unique is their gender specific approach, said Trainor. “Women bring a lot of different things to the table than men do,” said Trainor. “It’s not a cookie cutter one size fits all, it really is very individualized depending on what gender you’re working with,” she said. 

Trainor worked for four years as the clinical director of Crossroads prior to accepting the executive director position. She began her career doing in-home counseling with children and families in Lawrence, Mass. While at South Bay Mental Health, she was promoted first to clinical supervisor, and then became the clinical director of the Lowell site. When she moved to Maine with her husband, she worked as the clinical director at Goodwill Hinkley, and was then promoted to director of programs and services. When Goodwill Hinkley closed for restructuring and laid everyone off, Trainor landed at Crossroads. 

She took over the reins as executive director on September 30^th, and things have been a flurry of activity ever since. “It’s been a whirlwind of a month,” she said. The organization held their inaugural signature fundraising event, a masquerade ball, at Dunegrass Country Club in Old Orchard Beach on October 19^th. The event was the first large scale fundraiser for the organization and was a big success according to Trainor. “We had a lot of people come out and support Crossroads. We raised a lot of money for patient scholarships,” she said. 

Fundraising, marketing and development will be Trainor’s areas of focus as executive director in the upcoming years. While many nonprofits in Maine rely on state funding, Trainor said Crossroads is trying to move away from that due in part to unreliability and inconsistency in payment. They have been expanding into private insurance and self pay markets, beginning with their outpatient programs. They are launching a new residential program, which is a restructuring of their six month halfway house which lost state funding. This will become a 10-bed 30-day residential treatment program for women that will be for self paying or private insurance clients. 

Trainor said that Maine does a good job of offering treatment options to people on Maine Care or who are uninsured, but there haven’t been any in-state options for those with private insurance or the ability to pay out of pocket. These clients, then, have been travelling out of state for treatment, and have to transition back into Maine with no connections in their community, which can make it more difficult to maintain recovery and sobriety, said Trainor. 

Her focus on fundraising relates directly to supporting women in getting treatment. “We wanted to be able to raise funds, to be able to help support patient scholarships and provide financial assistance to those who qualify,” said Trainor. “That’s really what the fundraising dollars are going to. To help women stay in Maine, stay connected, and be able to get treatment in their own community,” she said. 

Although fundraising events such as the masquerade ball are part of the fundraising efforts, Trainor said it’s important to cultivate private donors as well. “It’s really important to get other donors, and people who support the Crossroads mission that want to give back financially to help support treatment,” she said.

Raymond earns AAA credit rating from Standard and Poor's - By Michelle Libby

Raymond has learned that they have earned a AAA credit rating from Standard and Poor’s and are only one of three towns in the State of Maine to have received that rating. 
 

Raymond is selling a bond for $2 million to do road repairs and rehabilitation projects. In order to do this work, it needed to have a rating assessing its financial strength and overall management of the town.

This was the first time that Raymond sought a rating and by earning the AAA rating it became the first town in Maine to ever earn that score on the first time, said Joe Bruno, a member on the Raymond Select Board.

“Getting a AAA is unheard of on the first time,” said Bruno. “It’s just the affirmation that we’re doing well. It means a lot.” 

“I’m really excited about it,” said Raymond town manager Don Willard. “It was our first try. We weren’t anticipating this outcome at all.” By having the AAA rating and not using the Maine Municipal Bond Bank as it has done previously, the town can get a better interest rate on its loan. “It could be very significant in terms of savings,” Willard said. 

The town was cited as having a strong management team and “prudent fiscal policies” in the report. “S&P also reflected in their report that Raymond has healthy reserve levels, very strong tax collections, high income levels and very strong per capita market value of real estate,” the town said in a press release. 

Raymond has consistently had a flat budget, not borrowing from its surplus, yet being able to fund what it needs. “It speaks to the financial security of the town,” said Willard. “The economic development contributes to the desirability of living in Raymond, hopefully,” he added. 

The town will not have to be assessed again until it needs another bond, said Bruno. In the report it states that these statements are opinion and that it projects financial stability two years into the future. 

“The town government is being run very well,” said Bruno. “From the selectmen to the budget and finance side of things.”

Armstrong Dental hosts pumpkin contest - By Michelle Libby

From a teeth brushing Dracula to a minion, Dr. Stanley D. Armstrong, a dentist at 744 Roosevelt Trail has been celebrating Halloween by having his staff create one of a kind pumpkin sculptures for nine years. For the past week, clients, guests and visitors have been voting in the office for their favorite pumpkin creation. This year, the office upped the stakes by hosting the contest online through Facebook as well.

“Some people make sure their recall appointment falls on the pumpkin week,” said office manager Robbyn Mooradian.

The pumpkins were brought into the office last Friday while the office was closed. Each person snuck the creation in so no one would know whose was whose.

“We’re a competitive bunch,” said hygienist Brandy Stubbs. 

At press time, one day before the final votes are to be tallied, Linus from “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” was in first place in the office and online.

 

            The winning creation creator will receive a gift certificate, according to Mooradian. For those who voted, there will be two random drawings for the two contests with a dozen whoopie pies from Molly’s Cupcakes on the line for the winners.

Green signs mean darkness for streetlights in Windham - By Michelle Libby

Last week 107 streetlights in Windham were tagged with green signs announcing that the lights did not meet the criteria of the policy written by the energy advisory committee and approved by the Windham Town Council last June. 

Windham has been upgrading lights in all of its buildings to become more energy efficient and will continue to do so, including the types of vehicles it will buy in the future, according to town manager Tony Plante. So far none of the changes have had a direct impact on anyone living in Windham, but this time many in the community are concerned. 

Ken Cook on Kelly Lane took up a petition and got 100 percent participation from the people on his street which stands to lose all of their lights. “They’re going to put the neighborhoods into darkness. In these times of increased vandalism and crime I can’t believe they want to turn the lights out,” Cook said.

When assessing all of the streetlights in the community systematically, it was found that eight additional lights were needed and would be added to make intersections, dangerous curves or hills or other hazardous areas safer for drivers and pedestrians. 

 “A couple of years ago the town got a grant from Efficiency Maine to study its energy usage and come up with strategies for reducing its energy usage, its energy footprint, its exposure to future energy price fluctuations, and its energy costs. The town council adopted an energy plan in 2011, and later formally created an energy advisory committee. The committee has conducted energy audits of municipal buildings, and we have made many improvements to reduce the town's energy use. More work still needs to be done, and the streetlight review process is part of that broader effort,” said Plante.

 “It is not the policy of the Town of Windham to use public funded street lights as ‘security lighting’ for private property, or to illuminate business entrances or entrances to private streets,” according to the written policy. This policy is adopted to balance the important public safety purpose that street lighting serves with the cost of renting 335 streetlights in Windham.

“Public safety is number one in priorities. It’s one of the reasons for having streetlights – to see and be seen,” Plante said. He explained that lights have been added over the last 25 years where they might not have been needed. 

There will be a public meeting on the streetlight review process on November 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the town council chambers before the lights are turned off for good. There are options for keeping the lights on, according to the town. Individuals may request that lights remain on town accounts, or have the lights transferred to private accounts managed by Central Maine Power (CMP). This is the opportunity for the community to make a legitimate plea for keeping a light. 

The town’s streetlights are owned and managed by CMP, according to Plante. Windham rents the lights from CMP By turning off these lights, Windham will see a savings of approximately $12,000, he said.

CMP does not rent LED lights, which use less energy, according to Plante. However, all of Windham’s traffic signals have been converted to LED lights. 

“We are using energy that doesn’t need to be used,” Plante said. The town is concerned about its energy footprint. How much energy does it use? Why is Windham paying for lights that don’t meet its written policy? These are the questions the council and town officials are wrestling with.  

“This is not a done deal,” Plante said. “As energy prices go up, motor fuel, heating oil, it creates budget stress. We want to have less exposure to those kinds of financial fluctuations,” Plante said. 

The town is encouraging everyone with concerns attend the Monday night meeting at 6:30 p.m.

The policy and a map showing which lights meet the policy, and which lights do not can be found at http://www.windhamweb.com/Windham_News/Streetlight_Review_Process.html . A large format hard copy of the map is available for review in the Planning office.

For more information on this process, please contact Ben Smith in the planning department at 894-5900, ext. 6123.