I have one nice thing to report in this column and that’s what happened during the Windham council meeting of Nov. 22. The councilors who created such a rile the week before apologized for their behavioral malfunctions and that is greatly appreciated.

I have no problem with councilors disagreeing with each other. However, the disagreement should not result in name-calling or other insults or insinuations among the councilors or even worse, toward those attending the council meeting.

It is a very good sign for Windham’s citizens so let’s see what happens during the Dec. 13 meeting where the councilors have to vote for leadership positions. At that point the citizens of Windham will know what is in store for Windham’s future.

During that same meeting, Donna Chapman reported that a tax increment financing district in Windham had expired in 2004 and no one seemed to have noticed. I am not going to discuss whether or not that TIF district has or hasn’t expired. Some of the taxes collected from TIF districts are to be used for economic development. All I see that money being used for is studies, most of which end up in a filing cabinet at some point. I happened to notice that on Monday, Nov. 28, the town of Windham paid for a public notice requesting sealed bids for proposals for retail market analysis and recruitment services. Evidently it’s to attract more retail businesses and shoppers to come to Windham and leave their money. Yep, just what Windham needs, another study.

My first thought on reading this public notice for a retail study if it is approved by the town councilors means there’s more money out the window. If Windham has paid town staff for economic development, why doesn’t the town have staff that is capable of doing market analyses instead of farming everything out to have studies done? At this point I would say fire the staff and use that money to pay for studies that the council wants done. Windham also has the Windham Economic Development Corporation and the local Chamber of Commerce. I would think that should be an adequate number of qualified people assisting in attracting businesses to Windham. If it isn’t, then something is seriously wrong.

My second thought is why do a study just to bring more retail businesses to town. Isn’t it time the town of Windham seek business with higher salaries and benefits than another retail store? I think it’s high time to convince larger industrial and manufacturers to our town instead of bringing another store to compete with existing stores. There’s only so much money to spend in the local economy and another store doesn’t mean that spending money will increase dramatically just because of a new business. I don’t need another place to purchase a riding lawnmower or a meal at restaurant. However, I would like to shop at a well-stocked bookstore rather than deciding on which of four stores to buy some automobile parts.

Windham appears to be stumbling along as usual. Only with new, dynamic leadership and staff will Windham truly move into a positive future. Let’s hope this new council can accomplish that.

Lane Hiltunen, of Windham, wonders if there’s more than just a sewer pumping station planned for the Anglers Road property.