TWI cries over broken window

At last week's City Council meeting Woodstock Realtor Tom Harding said that window that had been removed from the west side of the old house had gone into the dumpster; thus, the "broken window." He said it was an honest mistake.

No doubt about it. I'm sure he wishes whoever on his renovation team had failed to look at the plans and the Historic Preservation Commission directions had been more careful. That "little" oversight might add $3,000 to his renovation expenses. Or maybe only $1,500.

The Woodstock Independent's news editor Mike Neumann wrote a fine article on Page 1 of this week's paper, recounting the City Council meeting and the vote to deny Harding's appeal of the denial of his revised Certificate of Appropriateness (to allow the new, incorrect window to remain). Confused yet?

And then I turned to Page 4, where "Our View" rips the HPC and the City Council for their 3-2 votes. Those votes mean that Harding must restore the window to the plans that were approved; i.e., remove the double-hung windows and install one single pane.

And why not?

TWI's editorial board seems to believe that its okay to be careless. TWI wants the City Council to have a little compassion and show they are flexible. Just let it slide, in other words.

Maybe the next time my $30.00 is due for my TWI subscription, I'll be a little tardy in remitting; like, maybe, 4-5 months tardy. I wonder if they'll have a little compassion for me, and show me how flexible they are, by continuing to deliver my paper weekly.

Are you laughing yet?