BETTER THAN HEARSAY - Planners Ponder “What’s In a Name?”

By Michael Ryan

WINDHAM - There is more than one Gas Hole in the world and the question is; will there be another in the town of Windham?

A planning board public hearing is scheduled for June 5 on a gas pump and vending machine enterprise proposed by local business owner Nick Bove.

The venture will be located at the former Main Care refueling station along Route 23, at the east entryway to town, across from Brooksburg Road.

Bove presented his concept at a May 22 planning board meeting, saying he wishes to 'breath life back into” the spot which in the distant past was the Brooksburg Service Station and Coffee Shop.

It was colloquially known as Andersen’s, selling Mobil gas with the familiar red-and-white flying horse Pegasus logo on the signage.

Windham town officials later rented the space for an ambulance squad headquarters prior to creating their own building, two years ago.

It could be relatively simple for all the right boxes to be checked, in terms of site plan regulations and any change-of-use requirements that may or may not pop up, given the site’s history.

Complexities could arise, however, over the name of the undertaking which planning board members questioned at some length during their May 22 session which got off to an unusual start.

“Before we get going I would respectfully ask for [planning board chairman Thomas Poelker] to recuse” himself from the proceedings, Bove said, basing the request on “prior actions.”

“The last time I spoke at a planning board meeting] you told me to shut up, and then you said to the [newspaper] that I was a problem and I continue to be a problem,” Bove said.

“You and I have a lot of history,” Bove said, prompting Poelker to say, “all right then, we’ll postpone this hearing and we’ll go and pull records out. I hear what you’re saying. It’s not going to happen tonight.”

“On record I ask you to recuse yourself,” Bove said.

“Just for the record, I might have asked you to be quiet but I never said shut up,” Poelker said. “I want to also go on the record, I think [Bove’s] putting words there that didn’t exist.”

Planning board member Lisa Jaeger interceded, saying, “all right. The record is noted. Let’s just do a sketch plan and figure out what’s going on with that,” and the regular meeting resumed.

The discussions initially centered on routine planning board matters such as addressing potential change-of-use issues, which Bove said should unfold without much ado.

“I am turning a gas station into a gas station,” Bove said. “I’m not doing a change of use. I’m surprised at the town saying I need a site plan.

“I want to get the lights on, get [the site] looking good, smelling good, feeling good, getting cars pulling in there,” Bove said.

The Gas Hole would be open 24/7, self-service, unstaffed, well-lighted and safe, “so a young lady can pull in at 11:30 at night and feel comfortable pumping gas,” Bove said.

Bove said he has secured the required licensing to operate the gas pumps, stocking the vending machines with candy bars, soda and chips etc., as well as “ten o’clock at night when nothing’s open in town” sundries and necessities such as toothbrushes or tissues.

The talks took a turn as Poelker said, “there’s a lot of things that are going to come up” and planning board member Michael Trocooli said, ‘just to give you a heads up, there’s been a little bit of controversy about the name.

“I don’t know if you’re married to that name,” Trocooli said. Jaeger added, “if that’s what you’re going with, that should be part of the public hearing. I’m sure people will have questions about it.”

“I’m not really partial to the name,” planning board member Claudia Lane said.

“Does anybody else have an opinion on the name?” Poelker said.

“It’s in bad taste, in my opinion,” Jaeger said.

Bove responded, “it’s going with the Route 66 look, that theme,” perhaps referring to a mural along the legendary highway in Cuba, Missouri, depicting “Danny’s Gas Hole,” a old-fashioned, back roads service station.

in Independence, Kentucky, and “GasHole” is a documentary film on the history of oil prices and development of alternative fuels.

Bove, asked for his thoughts on the name said, “I think it’s great. It’s catchy. It’s funny. It’s not offensive. There are no swear words in it. It’s silly.”

Jaeger said, “you think it’s funny, okay, but it’s definitely going to raise eyebrows. We’re trying to preserve the character of the town.”

“I’m not doing it to fly in the face of the community,” Bove said. “There are several angles that can be taken. If it’s taken like, ‘Nick Bove is opening a gas station called Gas Hole, what a jerk,’ that’s where the negativity is going to come from.

“But it’s fun, It’s good. It’s a different world of marketing than it was twenty years ago. Calling it ‘Nicks 24/7,’ isn’t going to do it. It’s going to be classy. It will work,” Bove said.

'I am asking you to look at the world we are in. It’s not all of us consuming things. It’s other people driving down Route 23,” Bove said.

The subject is expected to be raised in more depth at the public hearing. “The [town’s sign law] does not have one word about a name,” Bove said.

“I will do everything I can to make you happy,” Bove said, related to size, shape and lettering. “The name is staying. I have money in the name. There is already an LLC.

“When was the last time [the planning board] told someone not to name [a business] something? It’s never happened. We are both on unchartered ground,” Bove said.

“We are supposed to go with community standards,” Trocooli said. “That’s a big thing on our planning board, Yes, it is subjective, but we have to make those kinds of decisions all the time. Let’s wait for the public hearing.”