BETTER THAN HEARSAY - Spinning the Ballfield Wheel

WINDHAM - Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows in the continuing and increasingly contentious dispute over a possible plan to create two little league fields at the Windham Path.

One has to wonder what will happen if the Windham town board actually votes to move forward with the controversial project, a decision that is expected sometime this fall.

No one on the 5-member town council has voiced opposition to putting the fields at the Path, a concept announced this past January. 

The same cannot be said for a group of folks who do not want them there, period, saying they will irreparably harm the Path’s allure of peace and quiet and surrounding natural beauty.

They have organized ”Friends of the Windham Path,” circulating petitions imploring government officials to find another location for the fields and directly involve them in the decision-making process.

Consistent requests are being made at the town council’s twice-monthly meetings to establish a committee composed of representatives from Friends of the Windham Path, the little league and the council.

Government leaders have just as consistently denied the requests, stating emphatically that all known options have been reviewed and rejected for viable reasons, none of them checking all the necessary boxes.

Friends of the Windham Path - and anyone else - has been invited by the council to find a doable alternative. Thus far, nothing has been produced.

No specifics have been given by the group as to what the committee would do, how they would do it and how long they would be active, until now, responding to a request for details, in an email, as follows:

“The citizens of the Town of Windham have been looking for a solution to address the parking and other infrastructure needs of the Mountain Top Little League. 

“The Town Board’s consideration of relocating the Mountain Top Little League complex on the Windham Path has been met with resistance by many who desire to find an alternate solution. 

“From the very first day it was learned of the Mountain Top Little League’s needs, the movement to preserve the Windham Path has been advocating to choose a solution that will meet everyone’s goals.

“The Town Board members have had an opportunity to enhance community governance and public engagement to help find a solution that will enhance our town and protect two important resources.

“We have asked for a collaborative committee made up of the folks looking for alternatives to the placement of the field on the Windham Path, people representing the Mountain Top Little League and Town Board members. 

“This idea has been rejected in every meeting for the last three months without a reasonable explanation, creating divisiveness in our town, and deepening the sense that we are not being heard by the people we elected. 

“This committee would continue to meet and collaborate until a workable solution is found and presented to the Town Board, the Little League and Windham citizens.

“The question is a serious one—"Why not form this committee?”

“Operating transparently and making the decision-making process accessible to the public is the most basic responsibility of local government; being held accountable to their constituency for their actions and decisions. 

“This includes full transparency when it comes to all expenditures, current and in the future.

“It is time to strengthen community bonds to achieve common goals and to restore our faith in our local government. Let us work to demonstrate that all problems have a solution when we pull together.”

The email was submitted by local resident Jonathan Gross and attributed to Friends of the Windham Path.

Town supervisor Thomas Hoyt, asked to respond to the email, said, “the town has allowed complete public participation at its board meetings.

“This shows the willingness of the board to listen to all comments and concerns from all members of the community, either at a town board meeting or even along the street.

“We are listening to people. It’s not that we are ignoring anybody. We have been talking about this publicly since January [2024].

“Furthermore, the town, on numerous occasions, has answered any and all questions and concerns in verbal and written form about a proposed ballfield,” Hoyt said.