Robert Burns was sworn in as Windham’s town manager on Tuesday, July 1. He has been serving as assistant town manager since late 2021, and before that, worked as Public Works director in Gorham for 18 years.

Burns recalled the tumultuous time period before he and outgoing Town Manager Barry Tibbetts were hired, when there was a great deal of turmoil between the Town Council and then-manager Tony Plante. He said the town, under interim manager Don Gerrish, tried to line up a manager, but couldn’t get it worked out until they found Tibbetts. Burns described how he “shadowed” Tibbetts during the course of his tenure as assistant town manager, attending every council meeting, and said that every member of the council was in favor of him becoming manager.

Tibbetts has served as Windham town manager since March 2020. Previously, Tibbetts was town manager in Kennebunk from 1998 to 2016. He told Lakes Region Now that he was stepping back from his full-time role because he was nearing age 70, but will work with the town in a more limited capacity until December. He praised Burns, saying the assistant town manager role was necessary for Windham, a town of 20,000 inhabitants.

Tibbetts said when he first stepped in as town manager, he called on the town to hire an assistant and assistant finance director, as well as establishing a succession plan. He said there aren’t a lot of people going into municipal government, and if they had an assistant manager who Tibbetts could work with for three years or more, a succession plan would enable great continuity.

Burns said one of his accomplishments during his years as assistant town manager was last year’s transition to curbside collection for trash. He also acknowledged a number of other projects, including straightening out incomplete subdivisions such as Rio Drive, beginning the installation of the North Windham Sewer Network, and working with the Maine DOT on the North Windham Moves project.

Tibbetts elaborated on the sewer and North Windham projects. For the sewer network, he said the project connecting North Windham businesses to the town’s sewer network will have a new sewer plant functioning by 2026. He said Windham was the first community to have funded a sewer plant primarily through TIF funds.

North Windham Moves, which focuses on improving walkability and traffic in the North Windham business district, improves on the Century 21 Downtown Plan that Windham implemented in 2018, and is set to improve traffic flow in the area by 35%.

Tibbetts compared Windham’s situation to that of North Conway, New Hampshire, which previously had its economic growth limited by traffic congestion. When it added a bypass, Tibbetts said, it helped the community significantly.

He also spoke about Windham’s financial positioning. He said auditor Peter Hall told him Windham is one of the strongest communities in southern Maine financially, and that the town is set to receive another upgrade to its bond rating, increasing its credit rating and allowing the town to borrow at a lower percentage. This, he said, would save Windham at least $250,000.

“Windham is poised for some business growth and some real nice residential growth,” said Tibbetts.

Regarding his priorities, Burns said the sewer and transportation projects would be a major focus for Windham into the 2030s. He said he is looking forward to working with the Town Council to look at the impacts of the town budget, as well as working with departments to help with their missions and make improvements where possible.