Author: Bea Eliastam

Contact the State Tax Advocate at 802-828-6848

View the Rules of Procedure for the Town of Windham Board of Abatement

THE WINDHAM SELECTBOARD MEETING SCHEDULED FOR 5:30 PM TODAY IS BEING POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT MONDAY, AUGUST 26, AT 5:30 PM DUE TO TOWN-WIDE POWER OUTAGE. PLEASE LET YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS WHO ARE WITHOUT POWER KNOW THAT TODAY’S MEETING IS POSTPONED.

The Windham Zoning Board of Adjustment will hold a public hearing at the Meeting House (26 Harrington Rd) at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 for the purpose of hearing a request from George Wichelns to remove a garage located at 24 Chase Road in the South Windham Historic District and build a barn in the same location.

Those interested in submitting written comments or attending the hearing remotely should contact Bill Dunkel, Chairman of the ZBA, at bdunkel1455@gmail.com

The application is available for review at the Windham Town Office (5976 Windham Hill Rd, Windham, VT, 05359).

Participation in the hearing is a prerequisite for making any subsequent appeal.

EDIT: Please note, the original message below and linked agenda noted the date incorrectly as August 16th. The date of the next meeting is August 15th; the content below has been edited accordingly.

Happy Summer Everyone,

We took off July per last regular meeting; it’s been a hot second! 

Our Regular Meeting is next Thursday August 15th starting at 4 pm at the Schoolhouse or join us on Zoom. See agenda. Our usual time/date for this Thursday was not chosen for a variety of reasons. Some of these include agenda items that we have been waiting back for information such as in the case of tuition reimbursement requests. Additionally, a number of unavailable parties especially at our SU are unable to attend. Apologies for the late notice. 

We will be discussing the Schoolhouse for the majority of the meeting. We contacted the select board to discuss times/dates for a meeting regarding the town’s involvement with the building. We will have more details to report following our meeting for those meeting details. Additionally we have a build request to discuss by the Windham Energy Committee. We will also discuss a number of topics revolving around Building Operations. Finally, there is interest in a Family Fun Day around school start to come together – food, drinks, games. 

Please note – there may be changes to the agenda prior to next Thursday. Either in-meeting or reposting the agenda 48 hours before depending on our correspondences in the next week. We will update you with any changes made prior. 

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about any of the above or more. 

Regards,
Dan Roth
Vice Chair
Windham School Board

Check out the latest edition of the Windham News and Notes

Everyone is invited to join one or all of the upcoming Windham Book Club events, hosted at the Meeting House.

View the list of upcoming books and times below, and see which one/s you can attend.

Happy reading!

July 10 @ 3:30pm
Remarkably Bright Creatures
by Shelby Van Pelt

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

August 7 @ 3:30pm
The Violin Conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb

Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music. 
 
When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he’s lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.

September 4 @ 3:30pm
The Wind Knows My Name
by Isabel Allende

Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler is five years old when his father disappears during Kristallnacht—the night his family loses everything. As her child’s safety becomes ever harder to guarantee, Samuel’s mother secures a spot for him on a Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria to England. He boards alone, carrying nothing but a change of clothes and his violin.

Arizona, 2019. Eight decades later, Anita Díaz and her mother board another train, fleeing looming danger in El Salvador and seeking refuge in the United States. But their arrival coincides with the new family separation policy, and seven-year-old Anita finds herself alone at a camp in Nogales. She escapes her tenuous reality through her trips to Azabahar, a magical world of the imagination. Meanwhile, Selena Durán, a young social worker, enlists the help of a successful lawyer in hopes of tracking down Anita’s mother.

Intertwining past and present, The Wind Knows My Name tells the tale of these two unforgettable characters, both in search of family and home. It is both a testament to the sacrifices that parents make and a love letter to the children who survive.

October 2 @ 3:30pm
The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray

A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

November 6 @ 3:30pm
The Women
by Kristin Hannah

From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah’s The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

Hi All, 

We have our voting day tomorrow at the Windham Meeting House starting at 10 am. Among other items, we will be voting on the proposed school budget. 

Last Informational Meeting, Laurie and I both provided analysis on the budget. Here are links to those discussions and presentations: 

Laurie starting at 40:05 – Budget – Article 2 discussion – Laurie

Daniel starting at 50:25 – Budget – Article 2 discussion – Daniel

I recommend watching the full video to hear our full discussion(s) and Q/A’s: Informational Meeting 5-28-24

Also, as promised, here is the budget scenario calculator I promised (see below). You only need to fill in the appraisal information for your parcel into the 2024 housesite value and your income to see the final bill after property tax credits for each year and scenario. I make the point in the budget presentation just how powerful the property tax credits truly are to each scenario – flattening every scenario/year to roughly the same tax bill. Furthermore, I use Census, Windham Appraisal data and Vermont Tax gov documents (all publicly available and included) to show how at least 70% of returns or families meet this credit threshold. If you prefer an alternate calculator (although not tailored specifically to Windham), it is available at our state’s tax department website – Vermont Dept of Taxes – Property Tax Credit ’24 calculator as well as a Property Tax Explainer.

One significant change has been made that otherwise was not in my assumptions. If a budget does not pass we as a district are subject to 87% of our last year’s budget. What was not factored into the assumed debt service we’d run into if we had a failed vote is that 87% is considered borrowed and would have debt service – interest calculated until such time as the Educational Spending covers the note. What this means is the debt service looks more dire in a failed 87% scenario. Between the SU and the school board, we recommend that a budget passes and the 87% scenario should be absolutely avoided as it will have financial consequences into our future school years. The documentation has been provided by Bob and Laurie at the SU on how budget failures work (also below). 

Hope this information is helpful to guide your votes tomorrow and please refer back to the (below) previous school board update for some of the common questions answered. 

See you tomorrow!

Daniel Roth
Vice Chair 
Windham School Board

Additional Resources

Tomorrow, June 8th at 10am, the Meeting House will be open for a School Board vote. There are several items to be voted on and we encourage all Windham residents to attend. You can watch a recording of the Special School Board Informational Meeting from May 28th, which can help educate voters about each measure on the ballot.