Windham Looks at New Baseball Fields, Dog Park

By Michael Ryan

WINDHAM - There won’t be an exploding scoreboard when some kid belts a Ruthian homerun out of the park, but Windham could be home to two new baseball fields in the not-too-distant future.

Town board members, last Thursday night, took the first step in potentially building the fields where little leaguers and t-ballers can come.

It was expected the decision would be made to move forward after town supervisor Thomas Hoyt, during a recent radio interview, announced he would be recommending the project to fellow council members.

Delaware Engineering has been asked to begin assembling logistics and preliminary cost estimates for the fields which would be created on land immediately adjacent to the Windham Path, along Route 23.

And in a separate but geographically related prospect, Hoyt said outside money is being raised to potentially erect a dog park at the same site.

Many puzzle pieces need to fit together for the baseball fields to happen, with any ground-breaking not anticipated, if at all, until 2025.

The move is being prompted by changes at the current little league facility which has provided a place to “play ball” for 60 years, along South Street.

New owners of a business bordering the field are adding rental properties on what has been used as a parking area by little league parents.

Some parking is still available near the field, behind what used to be the Windham bowling alley, but that could also be lost down the road.

If the new fields are built, the primary goal, beyond providing a place for baseball, would be preserving the allure of the popular Windham Path.

“Whatever we do, if we do it, would be done with utmost professionalism. We don’t want to lose the scenic value of the Path or do anything to mar the beautiful vistas at the Path,” Hoyt says.

“I brought this idea up with the Windham Foundation in November [2023] and they thought it was a good community activity,” Hoyt says.

“They were open to assisting the community,” Hoyt says, emphasizing no commitments have been made financially or otherwise.

In other matters:

—Council members made the appointments and designations required to keep local government running as silky smooth as possible, including:

Local planning board chairman Thomas Poelker as representative to the Greene County planning board (3-year term starting March 15, 2024);

Planning Board/Architectural Review Board members (Poelker, Claudia Lane, Michael Triccoli, Lisa Jaeger, Nathan Holdridge and recording secretary Sandra Allen.

Public Library Board of Trustees members (Carol Spear/president, Sandra Schellhorn, Margaret Scarey, Cynthia Telles, Peter Peters, Danielle Larsen and Wendy McInerny);

Board of Assessment and Review members (Richard Fournier/chairman, Albin Beckmann and Peter O’Brien);

Dominick Caropreso (code enforcement officer/building inspector), Bruce Feml (dog control officer), Kyle Schwarz (water superintendent);

Audit Committee, (councilmen Kurt Goettsche and Van Valin), Webpage Officers and Communications Committee (councilmen Ian Peters and Goettsche);

Building & Safety Committee (councilmen Stephen Walker and Van Valin), Fireworks Committee (councilman Walker and supervisor Hoyt);

Highway Committee (councilmen Walker and Van Valin), Ambulance Operations and Planning Board liaison (councilman Peters);

Chamber of Commerce and Windham Fire District Commissioners liaison (councilman Goettsche), Youth Officer (councilman Van Valin);

Union Negotiating Team (police chief Selner, supervisor Hoyt, councilman Peters and highway superintendent Gary Thorington);

Town Officer in Charge of Parks (supervisor Hoyt), Town Officer in Charge of cemeteries (councilman Van Valin);

Persons in Charge of Fixed Assets (Bette Rhoades and supervisor Hoyt), Social Services bookkeeper to the Newton Fund (Bette Rhoades);

Grant Writer Committee (supervisor’s office as needed), Centre Church Property Contact for Entry/Key Holder (Carol Spear);

SWAC Committee (councilman Walker, primary and councilman Van Valin , secondary), Greene County EMS Representative (councilman Peters), Sewer District grease traps inspector (Josh Vital),

Town Banks (Key Bank/Windham, NBT Bank (for escrows), Greene County Commercial Bank, National Bank of Coxsackie and Bank of Greene County; Official Town Newspaper (Mountain Eagle).

Town clerk Bonnie Poehmel, who also serves as Registrar of Vital Statistics, recorded 11 deaths in 2023 and no births.