On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, Windham voters will elect two town councilors, two school board directors, and weigh in on a referendum to fund a new public works maintenance facility.

The referendum, Question 1, seeks funds for the construction of a $7.66 million, 29,000-square-foot public works and maintenance building on Windham Center Road. If approved, the new facility would replace the 8,783-square-foot existing structure, which was constructed in 1979 on a 29.5-acre site on the southerly side of Windham Center Road.

The facility, which services both municipal and Regional School Unit 14 transportation and maintenance activities, has been periodically renovated through the years, with a 14,000-square-foot sand and salt shed built on site in 2000.

Town officials say the facility is generally too small and is poorly designed, leading to frequent complications as public works and bus drivers cross paths with each other and drive over ill-defined areas of stockpiled materials such as road gravel. Due to a scarcity of truck bays, public works trucks are left outside during the winter, leading to service delays and the need for premature equipment replacement and repairs. In 1999, voters rejected a $3.9 million bond to construct a new public works and maintenance facility at the Windham Center Road site.

The proposed bond principal is $7,657,193 for the project, and projected interest on the bond is an additional $2,508,880, raising the long-term project cost to $10,166,073.

Meanwhile, the competition is less than stiff this year for the two Windham Town Council seats and two Regional School Unit 14 Board of Directors seats representing Windham.

There is only one competition for one of the four seats, with David Lydon challenging incumbent Dennis Welch for a three-year, at-large seat on the council.

Meanhile, Timothy Nangle is running unopposed for the three-year West District council seat that has been vacant since Matt Noel resigned on Nov. 18 of last year.

Marge Govoni, the chairwoman of the RSU 14 board of directors, is running unopposed for re-election to a three-year, at-large seat, while board member Dawn Dillon is also running unopposed for re-election to a three-year, at-large seat.

See www.windhammaine.us/DocumentCenter/View/2072 for the Windham sample ballot.