David Cole has resigned as town manager effective the end of September.

GORHAM — Longtime town Manager David Cole, who is stepping down Sept. 29,  is being praised as a respected, effective and collaborative leader who will be hard to replace.

Town Council Chairman Michael Phinney described Cole as very calm. “I think David was an amazing town manager,” Phinney said. “I’m sad to see him go. David has huge shoes to fill.”

“David was a great resource to the community, and he’ll be missed,” said Phil Gagnon, a former councilor and chairman.

Town Councilor James Hager said Wednesday that Cole has worked hard to make Gorham a better place. “He has certainly earned my respect in the way he keeps the ship afloat,” Hager said.

Cole began duties as town manager here Jan. 10, 1994.

“For the past 23 years, I have had the privilege of serving the town of Gorham as its town manager,” Cole wrote in his resignation letter to town leaders on March 2.

Cole, who turns 65 this spring, doesn’t have immediate plans but will undoubtedly stay busy. “I need to step back,” saying he hasn’t had much chance to think about it.

“I’m not going to sit on my deck and knit mittens,” Cole said this week in his office at the Gorham Municipal Center. “I may go read a book.”

As town manager, Cole has fostered the working cooperation of the town and the university.

Before named town manager here, he was city manager in Old Town nine years, town manager in Lincoln three years, and in China, almost four years. This year marks Cole’s 40th year in municipal management.

The son of a lobsterman, Cole grew up in Tremont on Mount Desert Island. He graduated from the University of Southern Maine and earned a master’s degree at University of Maine in Orono. As a college student in town, he recalled seeing movies at the Playhouse Theatre on State Street.

Cole and his wife, Kathy, have two adult children, who were educated in Gorham schools.

“I wish David and his family the best of luck,” former town councilor and board chairman Matt Robinson said Tuesday.

When Cole assumed duties here as town manager, the municipal center was located at 270 Main St. He said the building had a heating problem and he worked bundled up in a coat while seated at his desk.

Then, everything was located at 270 Main St. – fire and police departments, town clerk, welfare office and school superintendent. During his tenure, the town has had six school superintendents.

In 2006, the municipal offices relocated to the renovated junior high school at 75 South St. It’s one of the town’s major projects completed during Cole’s time. Others include two new schools, an expanded Baxter Memorial Library, new Public Works facility, new police station and renovated Fire Department.

“All these projects turned out well,” Cole said.

Robinson praised Cole as a gentleman and for being fiscally responsible while other towns struggled with finances. “We never got in trouble with that,” Robinson said.

Cole said the most important project was construction of the Bernard P. Rines Bypass that opened in December 2008, easing traffic congestion in Gorham Village. “It ended a 55-year effort,” Cole said.

He said there had been 16 bypass studies. Cole and town councilors Burleigh Loveitt and Michael Phinney traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby for construction funds. They met with U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins along with Rep. Tom Allen’s staff.

Now, Cole said, the Town Council has said finishing the corridor with a highway to the turnpike is the panel’s top goal.

Cole said the town has grown into one of the state’s fastest growing communities and is now the 15th largest municipality in the state. The town’s population has jumped to more than 17,000 from 14,141 in the 2000 census.

He said the town was growing fairly fast when he first came here and has continued unabated.

In his resignation letter, he recognized the “incredible and highly professional” town staff. “Wonderful employees here, very dedicated,” he said Monday in his office.

He thanked his wife, Kathy, for her support, town councils and the community  “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you,” he wrote in his letter.

Cole said Monday that he has enjoyed the job here. “It’s been very rewarding,” he said.

The Town Council now will grapple with the task of  finding Cole’s successor. “I’m glad I’m not looking for his replacement,” Robinson said.

Robert Lowell can be reached at 854-2577 or rlowell@keepmecurrent.com