Windham town councilors will choose one of three candidates to fill a vacancy on the council, which was depleted by resignations in the fall.

The council is scheduled to make the appointment at a meeting scheduled for 7 tonight at Town Hall.

The candidates are Peter Anania, president of Anania and Associates Investment Co., which owns Maine Cedar Log Homes and other businesses in Windham; Lawrence MacDonald, who lost his first bid for Town Council in November; and David Nadeau, a Planning Board member who also lost in his run for the council in November.

The appointee will fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Bill Tracy in November. Tracy, who was the council’s chairman, cited personal reasons for leaving his at-large seat just days after the election.

Tracy served one year of his three-year term. The council’s appointee will fill his seat until November 2011, when residents will elect a candidate for the year remaining in the term.

Tracy’s resignation followed months of criticism by former Windham police Sgt. Michael Denbow, who accused Tracy of having a conflict of interest in the town’s controversial move to join Cumberland County’s emergency dispatch system.

Tracy is director of business banking for Gorham Savings Bank, which does business with Cumberland County. Denbow lost his job in August for allegedly launching an unauthorized investigation into the matter.

Tracy was the third councilor to leave the seven-member board in the fall. Carol Waig resigned and Donna Chapman dropped her re-election bid. Both quit in connection with the emergency dispatch system controversy, and both were critical of Tracy.

Peter Busque, the council’s vice chairman, said the new member will join the council at a busy time of year.

The council is beginning work on the town budget for the next fiscal year, and facing decisions about a $67.8 million sewer system proposed for the northern section of town, where groundwater has been contaminated.

The council is also dealing with several public works projects, including an application for state transportation money to rebuild River Road.

“Things are getting busy,” Busque said.

 

Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at: bquimby@pressherald.com