Windham begins ‘soft opening’ with focus on safety, service to residents

By Lorraine Glowczak

As the COVID-19 state restrictions slowly lift, Windham’s Town Hall has officially taken steps to open its doors to the public as of Monday, May 18 and will continue to do so until further notice.

The hours of operation will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and will include a maximum capacity of 15 customers at one time in the building. Other measures are in place to protect all involved with this ‘soft opening’ to avoid exposure.

“Our main goal is to keep both town employees and the residents as safe as possible,” Windham Town Manager, Barry Tibbetts said. “To do so, there are many procedures we have put in place to guard against the spread of the virus.”

The preventative actions include staff not only wearing masks and gloves as well as providing a greeter at the door to maintain the required social distancing measures, but wet mats with a chorine solution also will be placed at the door’s entrance and employees will have their temperatures taken upon arrival to work. (Police/EMS/Fire employees’ temperatures will be taken twice a day because of their extent of public exposure).

Private offices will be closed to the public and all important and necessary meetings that must take place in person will be held in conference rooms where proper social distancing can be adhered to. Additionally, all paperwork will be processed with ultraviolet (UV) wands and set aside for three days.

“We will process all registrations, paperwork and incoming mail with UV wands which can kill most of the virus instantaneously,” said Tibbetts. “Once it goes through that process, everything will be set aside for three days to eliminate any possibility of spreading COVID-19 onto the employees.”

In addition to these safety precautions, Tibbetts said that Ion Air Purifiers have been installed at Town Hall. Windows will be open and fans have been placed around the hallway areas to create a fresh airflow to prevent any lingering droplets of coronavirus.

Protective shields have been installed for both the staff and residents. Tibbetts said that 6-foot spacing is being used between all visitors.

Should anyone who experiences any symptoms after visiting the Windham Town Hall, please notify town management so it can alert town staff. If you forget your mask, they will have some available for visitors.   

“For those who do not want to wear a mask, we will offer special in person appointments from 8 to 9 a.m.,” Tibbetts said. “I am certain no one wants to get sick. We are only as safe as we collectively want to be.”

For further questions or information, contact the Town Manager’s office at (207) 892-1907 or batibbetts@windhammaine.us.