By Dawn De Busk

The Windham Town Council reviewed the idea of creating a local youth council during its workshop Tuesday; and although there was an option to vote next week on establishing a youth council, the general consensus was to first hold a public input meeting to see if community members supported the concept.

Three members of the 15-person Lewiston Youth Advisory Council (LYAC) talked about some of LYAC’s successes: Going through the process to get Lewiston named American City of the Year, creating film called Smashed about underage drunk driving that will be used in the state’s driver education classes, pushing to have a digital sign installed at the high school, designing a comic book on the connection between noise pollution and loss of hearing, and starting a Trash and Recycling Committee to study and prevent litter problems in the city.

“People say youth are the future. But, youth are the present,” said 17-year-old Luke Jensen, the LYAC Chair.

The LYAC includes students from varied backgrounds, and an all-adult committee selects those youth council members, according to Jensen. Also, LYAC projects are paid for through fundraising, rather than from money in the city budget, Jensen said.

“We’ve raised a lot of money. We don’t ask the town for much,” he said.
According to PROP’s Community Promoting Healthy Coalition Project Manager Chanda Sinclair, if the town council approved a youth council in Windham during its next meeting, advertising for the council positions would begin Dec. 1, and an information night would be held sometime during that month. The deadline for applications would be Jan. 7, and interviews would be conducted on Jan. 14, with

candidates being informed if committee had chosen them the following week. A training workshop would be held, and the newly formed youth council would likely meet twice a month, Sinclair said.

Councilor Liz Wisecup asked the council to put the brakes on the project, and to not hold a vote before holding a public input period.

“You’ve put this on a fast-track. What if the community isn’t interested?” Wisecup said. “The more the community knows about it, the more the community can embrace it. Without community input, how do we know what people think?”

Sinclair said that was a step she could go back and incorporate into the plan. “I would love to get community support first,” she said.

Chair Carol Waig said many meetings – such as an annual drug awareness forum – aren’t well attended, but that

doesn’t show lack of support in the community.

“Just because only a few people show up, doesn’t mean there’s not an interest,” Waig said.

Windham Assistant Town Planner Ben Smith also proposed a plan to have students sit on the Planning Board to learn and provide input, but not as voting members.

Waig suggested Smith attend the future public meeting to inform the public about the proposed youth council concept. She said she hoped the LYAC members could participate in the information night too. In addition, the council will invite the Windham School Board.

A date for that public forum has yet to be set.