I planned for this column to be about the proposed sewer project for Windham but soon realized that some on the Windham Town Council and staff in the Windham town hall are prepared to have the taxpayers of Windham finance the first manned trip to Mars. The only thing worse is that they could become really goofy and want to settle Pluto as well or was it Uranus? Sorry, I digressed already.

I have no doubt that four Windham town councilors will vote to put the sewer project on the ballot without having the slightest clue what the cost will be in the end (wonder why I stated that). Those four councilors will be Noel, Hayman, Call and Nadeau if I am right. Please remember councilors Noel and Hayman originally ran on a platform of lowering your taxes. It is well known that Windham starts projects and some are still not completed. Look at the BMX Bike Park located behind the Windham Skate Park. Has the parks department done anything with the sports field built as part of the Lincoln Circle subdivision?

Windham residents just received a property increase of nearly 3 percent thanks to an increase in the RSU-14 budget, the Cumberland County Budget and the Windham municipal budget. Since we all use electricity, Central Maine Power just stuck us again for another increase. The Windham Town Council recently approved spending nearly half-a-million dollars on dump trucks, most of which will be paid for with future municipal budgets. If that isn’t bad enough, there is now a proposed schedule to build Lippman Park around Chaffin Pond. That proposal includes such things as a dog park, athletic fields with lighting, courts for basketball and volleyball, woodland play area, walking trails and many other things as well.

I don’t know how the Parks and Rec will come up with the nearly $2 million needed for the six-phase proposal but it is obvious that they will have to compete with other projects like a new home for the Public Works Department or a new building for the Windham Police Department to say nothing about the annual cost increases of the school and municipal departments along with the ever-increasing Cumberland County budget.

Those are just local issues and there is something even larger and more sinister looming on the horizon, our very own federal government which at the present is about as functional as the Hatfields and McCoys or perhaps better resembling the Alien vs. Predator movie. NASA wants to send astronauts to Mars so I suggest we send all 535 members of Congress and I’ll even help pay to get them there. They can figure out how to get themselves back.

We have a national disaster with a broadening drought, turmoil in the Middle East with a possibility of a war between Israel and Iran, a Congress on vacation so who knows if the so-called Bush tax cuts will be extended before Jan. 1, 2013 and something nobody has yet to determine, the real cost of ObamaCare. You’ll know next year if you sell your house, buy anything at any store or even see a medical professional.

I will definitely vote “No” for any proposed sewer project in Windham, especially since it appears the four Mouseketeers will place some of the burden on citizens of Windham who will still have to maintain their septic systems and never be connected to the sewer. There’s also the unknown cost of the project and the gentleman who writes for this newspaper, Rick Roberts, was absolutely correct when he called the sewer project “Windham’s Big Dig.”

Then there’s the cost of connecting your plumbing to the sewer if it goes by your house. Do you have lots of ledge or is your home located some distance from the planned sewer pipe? Can you afford a second mortgage to pay for the cost of connecting to the sewer system or the betterment taxes? Better find out quick.

Lane Hiltunen, of Windham, is not worried about a Mormon being president as he worries far more about the many morons who are going to be elected.

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