Windham voters on Tuesday defeated a proposal to borrow $7.66 million to build a new public works building, and elected two councilors and two school board directors.

While 1,110 residents rejected a referendum for the proposed 29,000-square-foot public works garage, which would have also housed the Regional School Unit 14 transportation and maintenance activities, 997 residents supported the measure.

The new facility would have replaced the existing 8,783-square-foot public works building on Windham Center Road, which was constructed in 1979, and would have added about $56 a year to the tax bill of a $200,000 home in Windham. Voters in 1999 also rejected a bond for $3.9 million to build a new public works and maintenance facility.

Town Manager Tony Plante on Wednesday told the Lakes Region Weekly he was disappointed with the outcome of Tuesday’s referendum. He said it was “too early to say what the town plans to do” in response to the voters’ decision to reject the public works bond, but that the council would likely take up the issue again in the near future.

“We spent the last three years trying to get a handle on what condition our facilities are in, what ability our facilities have to meet our department’s needs, and try to come up with alternatives to address those needs,” Plante said. “This was the highest priority facilities need that the council identified in our facilities master planning process. We came up with a design that addresses the deficiencies in the existing facility and the shortcomings of the site in a way that is economical and that makes good reuse of the site, and does it in an environmentally responsible way.”

Plante said Tuesday’s vote doesn’t mean the need for a facility diminishes. Councilor David Nadeau, who has long been a proponent for capital improvements in town, agreed. “I was sad that it failed,” he said.

Nadeau said he wants an explanation of why residents turned it down.

“I’m frustrated,” he said. “There was a lot of study, and work done, to get here. My hope is that we can come to some consensus to put it back out there in front of the public, and put it out again to some future referendum.”

In other Windham election results, incumbent Dennis Welch was re-elected to fill the at-large Town Council seat for a three-year term, with 1,049 votes. His challenger, David Lydon, got 773 votes.

Welch, who has served on the council since 2011 and works for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, did not return requests for comment by the Lakes Region Weekly’s deadline.

Timothy Nangle was chosen to fill the Town Council West District seat on Tuesday in an unopposed race where he garnered 1,626 votes. That seat has been vacant since Matt Noel resigned last November.

In an uncontested race for the RSU 14 School Board, Windham voters chose incumbents Dawn Dillon and Marjorie Govoni to serve three-year terms. They earned 1,222 and 1,115 votes, respectively.