Windham creates new Council Ordinance Committee

The Windham Town Council has created a new Council
Ordinance Committee to review and handle all ordinances,
whether related to zoning or non-zoning issues that are
new or modifications. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE 

By Ed Pierce

By a unanimous vote, the Windham Town Council has created a new five-person Council Ordinance Committee like those of other municipalities to handle all ordinances, whether related to zoning or non-zoning issues that are new or modifications.

During the Town Council’s December Goals meeting for the upcoming year, Windham Town Manager Barry Tibbetts had suggested that councilors might want to consider starting a new Council Ordinance Committee specifically to address ordinance issues. The membership of the new committee would consist of three town councilors, the Assistant Town Manager and the town’s planning director.

Tibbetts said nearby communities of Scarborough, Falmouth and Gorham have such a committee and have been useful in making recommendations to the full council. The new committee would be charged with evaluating, addressing, or redirecting zoning and ordinance change requests

According to Tibbetts, the ordinance committees of Scarborough, Falmouth, and Gorham meet on a regular basis or as needed.

He said that the full council would receive all requests and then forward them as necessary to the Council Ordinance Committee for zoning and non-zoning items. The committee would evaluate the council’s request and direct items to the Long Range Planning Committee or choose to address the language and forward it to the Windham Planning Board. 

From a non-ordinance perspective, the committee may choose to draft new or amend existing language for consideration by the full town council. The new committee may choose to draft new or amend existing language for consideration by the council.  Zoning items could include such issues as performance guarantees.

Items related to the Comprehensive Plan would be reviewed by the Long Range Planning Committee, which may not specifically include all zoning ordinance issues and Tibbetts said that the existing charge for that committee may need to be modified.

Committee meetings would be public and posted and would include public comments from residents. Three councilors will sit on the committee so as to not constitute a quorum of the council. 

Councilors approved a motion to create the Council Ordinance Committee and following a discussion, three Windham Town Council volunteers were approved to sit on the committee, and they are William Reiner, Jarrod Maxfield and David Nadeau. Assistant Town Manager Bob Burns and Planning Director Amanda Lessard will also serve on the new committee. <