After a few weeks of deliberation, the Windham Town Council ceded a small parcel of town-owned land near the Westbrook border to River Road resident Bruce Elder.

This summer, under the impression that he already owned the property, Elder had the land surveyed in hopes of selling the property or giving a piece to neighboring Crossroad Youth Outreach, a non-profit reform program where juveniles offenders are taught Bible-based morals.

However, after the $5,000 survey, Elder discovered that he never owned the land, even though he had paid taxes on the property for 40 years.

“I think they did the right thing,” Elder said of the councilor’s decision to give him the land. “They corrected a situation that was wrong.”

Though the tax map had listed that the property belonged to Elder, it was discovered that the town has owned the land since 1948 when a resident defaulted on his taxes. The town then bought the land from that resident for $14, two dollars more than the taxes due.

After discovering Elder did not own the land, Tom Truscott, director of Crossroad Youth Outreach, asked the council if they would sell the land to him. While discussing the situation at a council workshop, Councilor Carol Waig suggested that the town give the property to Elder since he had already paid in taxes what the land was worth. Then Elder could decide what he wanted to do with the property, she said.

Still, some councilors had reservations about giving away a piece of town land instead of putting it up for “open bid” as is town policy.

“This is not my property to give away,” said Council Chairman Robert Muir at Tuesday’s meeting where the issue was resolved.

Councilor John MacKinnon questioned what the town would do for those Windham residents who had been incorrectly taxed in the past.

“Those people did not have the opportunity to recoup their loss,” MacKinnon said. “What do you say to them?”

Councilor Lloyd Bennett argued that this situation was an exception and that the property in question was only of value to residents abutting it.

“It’s landlocked; it’s a piece of property that you can’t get to without going over someone else’s,” Bennett said. “There’s no public access.”

Councilor Carol Waig asserted that, given the circumstances, transferring the property over to Elder was the “right” and “moral thing to do.”

Councilor Michael Shaugnessy agreed by saying that it was the town’s “responsibility” to correct the situation.

With the decision made final by a 4-to-2 (Muir, MacKinnon opposed) council vote, Elder will soon be meeting with Community Development Director Roger Timmons to “cross the T’s and dot the I’s” on the transfer. Then he will talk with Truscott, director of Crossroad Youth Outreach, about giving a piece of land to the organization.

“We’re going to work something out so that we can enhance his program,” Elder said.

If he acquires a piece of the land, Truscott said he plans to build a cottage for his family to separate them from the Crossroad group home where they currently live with juvenile offenders on a one-by-one basis. The cottage would allow him to keep his family safe and take more juveniles into the group home, he said.

“It will allow us to utilitize this place for what it’s meant to be,” Truscott said.

At Crossroad, Truscott teaches the offenders “how to live a quiet life and work with their hands” so as to “earn the respect of others and please God,” he said.