WINDHAM – Windham voters on Tuesday made their feelings clear regarding the proposed North Windham and Windham Center sewer project by voting overwhelmingly, 6,513-2,036, against the project.

If approved, the sewer referendum, which has dominated local politics and council meetings for months as Windham’s leaders have worked with engineers on system design and funding strategies, would have allowed the Windham Town Council to borrow up to $37.8 million toward the system. The sewer was touted as a solution to groundwater pollution and business expansion that would allow denser development of the North Windham commercial strip.

Windham voters opposed to the project often cited the poor economy when interviewed outside the polls on Tuesday.

“I live on Highland Lake so I’m really interested in water quality,” said Delores Robinson. “But I voted no because this is a bad time, given the economy, for people’s taxes to be going up.”

Elizabeth Brisk also voted no, saying, “I think it’s fiscally irresponsible right now.”

Finances also entered into the equation for Ken Emerson, who voted no.

“I have high enough taxes now,” he said. “I know the businesses need it up in North Windham but I don’t think the taxpayers should be the ones to pay for it.”

Other residents who voted against the sewer said they had other reasons.

Barrett Taylor said he didn’t know “too much about it. We live out toward the country and I didn’t know how we’d get sewer out there anyway, so I just voted against it.”

Jack Cassidy said he “didn’t like the way it was brought up, it was thrown in here. And I really didn’t think it was out in the public with enough information getting out.

“Do I think it’s important?” Cassidy said. “I do. But get the information out, let us read it and make an informed decision.”

Ron Dyer, dressed in hunter orange, said sewer was the main reason he came to the polls.

“I voted no because I just put a new septic system in at my house and if they go with that, then that would have been for nothing,” he said.

However, Judy Eycleshymer, who voted for the sewer, said, “I feel the town needs the infrastructure to be able to expand and also protect the lakes in the area. So for me it was about that.”

On Wednesday morning, Councilor Kevin Call, who was the most outspoken advocate for the sewer project during the past year as the town worked to design the project, said, “I would say I’m disappointed, but not surprised.”

Call said the development of the sewer’s preliminary design, conducted by the Portland engineering firm Woodard & Curran at a cost of about $75,000, was a “necessary step, and I think we need to continue looking for a solution that suits everyone. I feel this problem is not going to go away and only get worse over time. My overall opinion is time is not our friend in this situation.”

Since there are pollution issues involving nitrates and salt in the aquifer underlying North Windham, Call also said he fears that eventually North Windham will “end up with a very similar system to what was proposed, but it’s going to cost a lot more money down the road.”

The town has completed the preliminary engineering and would need to spend between $450,000 and $600,000 for more detailed schematics that would narrow the cost estimate and allow bidding on the project. Call said he would advocate for continuing the process but that the next phase of engineering “is something for this new council and future councils to decide. I do think we need to move forward. I would love to have a system that people agreed on and we could try to get to the point of being shovel-ready.”

Call also said the council heard residents’ overwhelming vote against the project.

“We understand people don’t want to spend money at this time, but again it’s a step in a long process,” he said. “We needed people to get involved and that’s what’s happened. I was afraid people weren’t taking the issue seriously, and if nothing else, people are more educated and realize we have a problem in North Windham.”

Patrick Corey, who created www.nosewer.com to advocate against the sewer project, said the reason the sewer didn’t pass “was the way it was funded. I think that was the biggest thing.

“When the town realized the scope of the project that they had built and the level of residential taxpayer subsidy they would need, they should have taken a step back and gone back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that was more within the scope of what the residents were willing to pass,” Corey said.

Because of the lopsided vote, Corey said any future proposal “would have to radically change,” he said. “And it would take real work and engagement with the community to make that happen. I don’t know how soon people are going to have the appetite to do that, but I’m certainly going to be there to examine the proposals and work with people if I’m invited to the table.”

Lines stretch for hundreds of feet in and around Windham High School Tuesday as voters turned out by the thousands to cast ballots. Windham and other towns in the Lakes Region mirrored state and national results by voting for President Barack Obama, Angus King for U.S. senator, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and in support of gay marriage.   
Liz Wisecup, a former Windham town councilor who has been outspoken on the sewer project, urged voters heading to the Windham High School Tuesday morning to vote against the $62 million proposal.