Tuesday night after much discussion, the vote to sell
Windham Youth Soccer Association (WYSA) land recently purchased by the Town of
Windham from the Portland Water District was postponed for a month so that all
interested parties can discuss the future use of the land. Representatives from
WYSA were in attendance, but other organizations were not.
“We put more time into selling a condemned building on
Main Street than we have for this,” said one town counselor. Another called the
quick sale short-sighted on the part of the town.
“We know there is a problem with field space,” said
chairwoman Donna Chapman. It was also pointed out that if a new middle school
is built on the site of the existing one, that more fields will be inaccessible
causing more need in other locations.
WYSA has been preparing for the purchase of the land for
five years, they said. Although they have been using and maintaining the fields
for almost 30 years, they have never owned the property.
If WYSA no longer continues the maintenance of the
property, then the town will have to pick up the tab, which could be close to
$100,000, according to Dan Hancock. “What’s your plan to pay for that if it’s
not WYSA?” he asked.
The council plans to meet with all interested parties
before the 30 days are up to come to some sort of use agreement.
“We’re sorry we couldn’t work this out tonight,” said
Chapman.
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