Windham Town Council establishes sewer rate for North Windham wastewater system

By Ed Pierce

During the final Windham Town Council meeting of the year on Dec. 9, councilors established a sewer rate for the new North Windham Sewer District, setting the amount at $16 per cubic feet per month based upon usage effective April 1, 2026.

Members of the Windham Town Council listen to a
presentation about Freedom of Access Act rules during
a meet8ing at Windham Town Hall on Dec. 9. From
left are Councilors Katie Cook, Maggie Terry, David
Nadeau and Mark Morrison. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

Windham Town Manager Robert Burns said that this initial rate is offset by Tax Increment Financing funding, and the rate could eventually decrease as more businesses in North Windham start using the sewer system.

“We have put in a terrific amount of time doing research and analyzing our budgets and trying to project into the future the operational costs in conjunction with the water district for this facility,” Burns said. “Recognizing that at initial startup the plant will not be anywhere near full capacity or even at half capacity. We will be subsidizing some TIF funds to keep those rates affordable for our businesses.”

Still under construction, a new wastewater treatment facility is being built on the grounds of Manchester School in North Windham. It was approved by voters in 2023 and is expected to remove 25,000 pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants each year being dumped by septic systems into the aquifer and watershed. The installation of sewers is expected to stimulate significant economic growth in Windham and lead to development in the area by industries and businesses not willing to locate here because of associated septic system issues and costs.

Through an agreement between RSU 14 and the Town of Windham, in exchange for locating the new wastewater treatment site at Manchester School, the town has created four new playing fields for youth sports at the school. RSU 14 will also be able to shift its wastewater treatment operations at Windham High School to the new facility.

The new North Windham Wastewater Treatment facility will use Membrane Bio-Reactor technology with innovative drip dispersal and will be the first system to use drip dispersal of this scale in Maine. This technology is designed to improve the quality of local groundwater and local waterways, and was selected for its reliability, flexibility, and cost effectiveness.

Burns told the council that the TIF subsidy is $6 per cubic feet per month and amounts to more than $1 million in TIF funds.

Councilors also awarded $1.2 million to Wyman & Simpson, Inc. for the town’s portion of $607,250 in general obligation bond funding for replacing Varney’s Bridge on William Knight Road in conjunction with the Maine Department of Transportation. Seven bids were submitted to replace the bridge, which was originally built in 1950.

During a MaineDOT inspection six years ago, issues were found with the bridge’s concrete abutments, and reduced the allowable load to 3 tons, making it not possible for construction trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks, and other large vehicles to cross the bridge because of the weight limitation.

The bridge is a steel structure and scouring from the river has caused erosion where the bridge’s concrete abutments contact the water. There has also been rusting on the steel supports which need to be replaced.

Bridge replacement work is expected to start this coming spring and be completed by summer 2026.

The council also awarded a disbursement of $3,766 from the Substance Prevention Grant Program Fund to fund Windham Middle School’s orchestra and choral student participation during the Trills & Thrills Music Festival in New Hampshire next spring. Councilor Maggie Terry questioned how the funding fits the criteria for a substance prevention grant but was informed that the program allows grants for healthy and positive activities. The Trills and Thrills Music Festival is a non-competitive, motivational, one-day music festival for students participating in elementary, middle school and high school bands, orchestras and choirs.

In other actions, the council voted to appoint Councilor Katie Cook as representative to the Natural Resources Advisory Committee, and the Master Fee Schedule pertaining to Shoreland Zoning application review fees.

Councilors approved updating the town’s Shoreland Zoning District fees to $75 for clearing or removal of vegetation and the zoning review fee to $250. Burns said that the fee changes are intended to better reflect the complexity and staff time involved in reviewing applications within the shoreland zoning districts, particularly those involving expansions of non-conforming structures and "greatest practical extent" determinations which often require moving structures away from the waterbody or wetland.

The council also received Freedom of Access Act training presented by Town Attorney Ben McCall of the Drummond Woodsum Law Firm and reviewed an informational handout regarding the upcoming sewer connection process in the new year. Windham Planning Director Steve Puleo briefed councilors about a new timeline for an updated 2016 Town Comprehensive Plan requiring changes mandated by the Maine Legislature’s approval of LD 1751 requiring legal compliance, address housing affordability, and sustainable growth for the next decade. LD 1751 requires municipalities to adopt housing-friendly policies, including density allowances and streamlined permitting. <

Maine DOT work to ramp up in Windham over summer and into 2023

The $1.5 million replacement of Varney's Bridge over the
Pleasant River on William Knight Road in Windham has
been scheduled by the Maine Department of Transportation
to be performed in 2023, instead of this summer, as it was
originally proposed. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

By Ed Pierce

Unlike last year when bridge work on Route 115 created a significant impact upon motorists and traffic in Windham, the summer months of 2022 are going to see fewer Maine DOT projects in the community, but that will change again heading into 2023.

Only two Maine DOT projects planned for this summer in Windham according to Maine DOT’s Three-Year Work Plan, but both should affect commutes into the town.

The first project that Maine DOT is undertaking this summer in Windham is the installation of adaptive traffic lights in North Windham stretching from the Route 115 intersection north along Route 302 to Trails End Road. The cost of this project is $1.45 million and the new upgraded traffic lights are expected to alleviate congestion along the Route 302 corridor by adjusting the timing of red, yellow and green lights to accommodate changing traffic patterns and equitably distributing moving vehicles through the area.

The second project affecting Windham motorists will be the preliminary design engineering work for the construction of a bike and pedestrian trail/path on the Mountain Division Line from Bridge Street in Route 202 crossing in Windham. This is a $450,000 project. 

Projects in Windham by Maine DOT will increase substantially in 2023 and 2024.

Some of those projects include:

** Installation of backplates with yellow reflective safety strips and supplemental signal heads along Route 302 from Portland to Windham at a cost of $395,000. 

** Highway construction and rehabilitation for Route 302 starting 0.45 of a mile west of Outpost Drive extending west 0.14 of a mile and including the Route 202 roundabout. The cost of this initiative is $585,000.

** Repaving Route 302 starting at the Route 202 roundabout and extending north 2.85 miles.

** Replacement of Varney’s Bridge over the Pleasant River on William Knight Road at a cost of $1.5 million.    

** Bridge deck replacement for Loveitt Bridge over the Pleasant River some 0.13 of a mile north of Laskey Road at a cost of $1 million.

** Construction of a new pedestrian sidewalk on the west side of Route 302 in North Windham running from Shaw’s Access Drive about 0.48 of a mile north to Amato Drive at a cost of $3.1 million.

** Highway and safety improvements at a cost of $156,000 to be made at the intersection of Route 302 and Albion Road.

In updating the state’s Three-Year Work Plan earlier this year, Maine DOT Commissioner Bruce A. Van Note said the value of these types of projects helps ensure the safety, economic opportunity, and quality of life for residents.

“In 2021, Gov. Janet Mills proposed, and the Maine Legislature approved, two General Fund initiatives that provided nearly $106 million to Maine DOT,” Van Note said. “This unprecedented level of General Fund support saved Maine DOT’s capital transportation program by offsetting a state Highway Fund revenue hole caused by the reductions in fuel tax revenue from the pandemic and high construction cost inflation.” 

He said that during last year’s statewide election, more than 70 percent of voters approved a $100 million transportation bond, providing much-needed state match for federal and other funds to support Maine DOT’s capital programs.

According to Van Note, maintenance and operation of Maine’s extensive highway and bridge system accounts for a large portion of Maine DOT’s overall work activities.

“This work is essential to the movement of people and goods and to the health of the Maine economy. It is also an essential and cost-effective means of protecting the state highway and bridge system,” Van Note said. “From year to year, and within CY2022, actual expenditures for this work will depend on the constantly changing condition of the transportation system and, importantly, on weather. For those reasons, overall expenditures for routine maintenance and operation of the highway and bridge system are shown in the Three-Year Work Plan as approximate, annual budget figures.”

He said that highway and bridge maintenance and operations work accounts for $535 million in this 2022-2024 Work Plan, while three-year annual averages for major maintenance and operations work statewide include:

** $10.3 million in bridge and structural maintenance.

** $5.2 million in bridge and other infrastructure inspections and inventory.

** $15.5 million in custodial maintenance.

** $22.4 million in drainage maintenance.

** $6.6 million in operational and safety maintenance.

** $9.9 million in surface and base maintenance.

** $46.4 million in winter maintenance. <