I was torn between two subjects for this week’s column as both would be based on stupidity so I have to conclude that they are related although only in a very slight manner.

After watching the Windham Town Council on April 28 where Councilor Donna Chapman was ripped about the conditions she found at the Windham Skate Park, I thought it would make a good subject to write a column about but I realized I would run out of ideas to do a complete column. Then someone asked me to drive up River Road in Windham and look at the new rotary at the junctions of the River Road and Windham Center Road. I am beginning to wonder why I don’t have a marijuana card.

Councilor Chapman showed councilors and others in attendance a beer bottle and some cigarette butts she found at the skate park. She also mentioned the amount of trash that had accumulated there. She stated she would love others to meet her at the skate park and a good-sized group did, including Councilor Dennis Welch. Many bags were filled with trash, which tells me the oversight at the skate park has been lacking. Someone found a bag that appeared to have marijuana in it. It may or may not have been but the alarm bells went off when I heard about that. Then there was an item of clothing that appeared to be soiled with human waste and if it was, I certainly hope that the alarm bells are ringing for the parents who have children playing there. I suggest parents check conditions at the skate park and let town councilors know if something is wrong.

The cleanup of the skate park went well so now is the time for the Windham town councilors to take notice of the condition of all town-owned property in Windham, especially areas where children gather to play or recreate. It is obvious there has been a lack of supervision at many levels, which must be corrected immediately.

And it’s not like this is the first time this has happened in Windham since my wife and I have lived here. Some years ago someone pointed out to me that one of the emergency exits at the Windham Town Hall was blocked by a significant amount of snow, making an exit out of the building nearly impossible. That was immediately corrected but it shouldn’t take citizens or even town councilors to point out things like that.

So last Sunday I took a drive up River Road from Route 202 to Route 302. All the widening and removal of hills and valleys appears to be going well. It is rough enough that I now know why traffic has increased on Route 202 where my wife and I live. That trip went fine until I hit, or almost hit, the rotary under construction at the Windham Center Road where I came to a complete stop (no cars behind me). I have to wonder if the person(s) who designed that rotary would share their drugs with me or maybe it was a case of they needed drugs to design it better. Let me be fair here because I have a bias against rotaries because too many drivers must have been rotating when they got to one. A rotary would be fine if drivers could understand what “yield” means.

Please understand I don’t blame the construction firm building that rotary. To me the design seems like a complete overkill of granite, especially granite curbing. With the amount of heavy truck traffic on the River Road, that rotary also appears to be way too small to navigate correctly. For example, take the small rotary at the junctions of routes 202 and 237 in Gorham where tractor-trailer trucks cut directly across it and sometimes take out wires and poles. I also wonder how difficult it will be to clear snow off of.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham wonders if we will have sidewalks to nowhere emanating from the new River Road rotary.

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