School District Gives Positive Budgetary Update

A total of $562,786 will go directly toward reducing the tax bill to Windham residents.

The school district delivered positive news to residents on Oct. 17 when it reported that a $562,786 budget surplus will reduce the tax bill for residents. The impact, according to School Business Administrator Adam Steel, will be about $100 to a Windham home valued at $350,000. Board member Michelle Farrell clarified that the school board is not inflating the budget. Steel said that a good part of the surplus came from excess revenues. "We had $184,000 came from excess revenues," he said. "We have to anticipate what our revenues will be for the year (and) I always anticipate conservatively." According to Steel, the surplus comes out to 1.3 percent. Construction on the kindergarten wrapped up this summer, and Steel said that the official …

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Letizio Expansion Gets Final Approval

The building will see a massive new piece added to the back.

According to one resident at the Planning Board meeting on Wednesday, the A.J. Letizio Sales & Marketing business has served as the entrance from the west side of Windham for a number of years. Thanks to a 4-0 vote from board members, that business is finally set to undergo a massive expansion. For all the time I've lived in the town of Windham, the entrance coming west off I-93 has always been Mr. (Al) Letizio's property and it's always been really well maintained," said Bob Young, a resident and Chair of the Economic Development Committee. Town planners gave final approval for an extra 9,009 square feet to be added to the back of the building, spread out over three floors. The building addition, according to Project Engineer Peter Zohdi…

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Business Spotlight

Lobster Tail Maintains Community Atomsphere

The local restaurant has become a home away from home for locals.

Mark Smith is satisfied to say that he hasn't punched a time card or had a boss in over 50 years. For his whole life, he has been in some capacity of food service, mainly seafood. But it wasn't always The Lobster Tail, the restaurant that Smith owns with two locations in Windham and North Andover, Mass. Smith spent 16 years honing his craft with his own wholesale seafood business. But when Butcher Boy Markets was building its new plaza in North Andover, there was Smith's opening for something different – a location all of his own – because Butcher Boy wanted someone who knew fish. "I knew I wasn't going to continue at the place I was at," Smith said. So the first location for The Lobster Tail was born, stating as a seafood marketplace. …

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New School Lunch Menus Now Available

The options are now available online.

With the hiring of new Food Service Director Rhonda Peckham before the summer, the Windham School District will see drastic changes to its school lunch menu for the fall. The school district issued a letter to parents dictating all of the changes that will take place starting on the first day of school: Dear Windham families, This fall, Windham school cafeterias are meeting tough new federal nutrition standards for school meals, ensuring that meals are healthy and well-­‐balanced and provide students all the nutrition they need to succeed at school. Now is a great time to encourage your kids to choose school lunch! School meals offer students milk, fruits and vegetables, proteins and grains, and they must meet strict limits on saturated …

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Impervious Surface a Hurdle for AJ Letizio Expansion

Town planners saw a preliminary application on July 19.

Town planners saw a preliminary site application for an expansion of A.J. Letizio Sales & Marketing on July 19, with the big issue discussed being the impervious surface on the property. According to the town's commercial zoning regulations, impervious area of any building lot is limited to 30 percent. Impervious surfaces include mainly artificial structures, such as pavement for parking lots or driveways. According to Peter Zohdi, who is the engineer for the project, the plan currently exceeds that limit. As part of the construction, Al Letizio Jr., president of A.J. Letizio Sales & Marketing, plans to fund the removal of paved land that is on state-owned property just above his own property. Zohdi asked if the board would include that …

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School District Food Service Off and Running

Windham's new food service director has been busy in her first month.

It's been a hectic first month for Windham's newest food service director as she works to get the district's program launched. Rhonda Peckham, a Windham resident who comes to the town after serving as Pelham's food service director for two years, has had a laundry list of tasks, the least of which is hiring 21 new employees from a pool of 250. On Tuesday, Peckham spent over five hours interviewing candidates, vetting prospects for their food service experience, cashier skills and other related qualities. District Business Administrator Adam Steel sang Peckham's praises as he introduced her to the school board. "She brings a lot of energy and experience to the table," he said. That energy has seen Peckham networking around the region. One …

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School District Ditches Food Service Provider

Many school board members voiced displeasure with the Vermont-based Abbey Group.

Following a recommendation from district business administrator Adam Steel, the Windham School Board voted unanimously on April 3 to discontinue The Abbey Group as the food service provider for the schools.  The district will begin its own food service operation next fall, something that has never been done before in Windham. According to Steel, it's a move that is actually the most common thing in New Hampshire schools. By severing ties with the Abbey Group, which is based out of Vermont, the hiring process for a food service director will begin almost immediately. That employee will be eligibile for state retirment, and Steel said that the industry standard is also to have the director's medical insurance included. A lot will stay the …

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IMAGE GALLERY: Explore Tamaja Pies

We stopped by Windham's newest food service business in the Village Green Plaza.

With just over three weeks until Thanksgiving, it's the perfect time of the year for pie. That makes the timing perfect for Tamaja Pies, which opened their doors just over two weeks ago in the Village Green Plaza. The new store suffered a bit of a setback as they had to reschedule an open house for the public originally planned for Nov. 1. According to Facebook page, they will soon be announcing a makeup date to welcome the public in. Before that open house happens, we want to give you a virtual tour of the shop. Windham Patch stopped by last week to check out the new digs and to sit down with owner Susan Lewis about her new business adventure. We will have a full story on Tamaja Pies when the new date for the open house draws closer. For …

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