Sustainable Initiative Gets Town Approval

After three meetings and almost 10 hours of public debate, the Windham Board of Selectmen narrowly voted to sign an agreement to enter into a regional planning program.

The heavily contested Sustainable Communities Initiative saw a 3-2 decision from the board, with Selectmen Ross McLeod, Kathleen DiFruscia and Roger Hohenberger voting in favor.

Chairman Bruce Breton and fellow board member Phil LoChiatto both opposed signing the agreement. Both announced their opposition to the plan in previous meetings, saying that they do not want to sign a contract with federal dollars involved.

For much of the discussion, Hohenberger appeared as though he would side with the opposition, questioning many times why Windham should need to sign a contract if the town already pays dues for the Rockingham Planning Commission.

Cliff Sinnott, Executive Director of the RPC, explained that Windham doesn't have to sign the agreement, but the town would not have a chance to be a project partner for a Regional Advisory Committee making many of the plan's decisions.

"The development process is going to be sort of an iterative thing, but it's going to be done primarily under this Regional Advisory Committee," Sinnott said.

Kerrie Diers, who serves as Executive Director of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission, added that signing the agreement will help Windham get points toward grants for future projects.

The possibility of giving that up pushed Hohenberger to vote for signing the agreement, although he added that he agreed with a lot of the public opposition as well.

The reason behind much of the plan's opposition came from the belief that Windham would be giving away its authority for the federally funded program.

Windham Rep. Charles McMahon argued that opening the door to federal funding will allow other people to make decisions for the town.

"Historically Windham has never given away their authority on determining what happens for our town, and I don't think we should start now," he said.

Peter Griffin, who serves as the town's representative to the RPC, argued that he hasn't heard any complaints about the federal funding being accepted for Interstate 93 or the rail trail.

"I'm concerned because money from the federal government is considered dirty, it is considered horrible," Griffin said.

Phillip Messina, a resident who formerly lived in Massachusetts, said that the plan was against why he moved to Windham.

"I moved from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to avoid things being jammed down my throat," he said.

A few residents, including Betty Dunn, argued that the study will be completed regardless of whether Windham participates.

"If we're not there as a participating member during this study, then who is looking out for us?" she asked the board.

Earlier outcry against the initiative labeled its attachment to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a problematic factor.

Sinnott instantly dismissed that HUD would have substantial involvement in the development of the long-term regional plan.

"It's not substantial involvement over the development of the plan, it's substantial involvement in the oversight of the work that we're doing," he said.

On hand for the first time in the three meetings was Greg Carson, who works for the N.H. office of HUD as field office director.

Carson explained that language in the grant such as "minimizing sprawl" and accepting participation from those who are "underrepresented" is targeted for cities like Los Angeles and New York.

"HUD doesn't even look at those issues for rural communities," he said.

Carson, a lifelong N.H. resident, added that HUD's involvement is simply making sure that taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately.

He also reinforced the importance of signing on the dotted line for Windham's federal grant status, and explained that it "doest not matter to HUD one bit" whether a town signs the agreement.

"It only matters to you in terms of what you want to do," Carson said.

According to Sinnott, there is no guarantee that by signing the agreement, Windham will be a part of the Regional Advisory Committee.

The motion to sign the agreement came with an amendment from DiFruscia, making it clear that the the regional planning will be advisory only.