A new Public Safety facility is proposed for North Windham 795 Roosevelt Trail. Contributed / Town of Windham

The Windham Town Council approved the purchase of 5 acres of land at 795 Roosevelt Trail on Dec. 12 for the future site of a new Public Safety building for North Windham, which would be shared with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department. The building will be located just behind the Windham Mall, on land currently owned by John Lee Windham Development, between Franklin Drive and the new Veterans Memorial Drive.

Town Manager Barry Tibbets said that a new Public Safety building in North Windham is needed because the current fire station is many decades old and “has a little bit of rust here and there.” The facility at the new location would increase the Fire Department’s response times to North Windham and to the easterly side of Windham by avoiding traveling through Boody’s Corner, he said.

In addition to a new fire station and sheriff’s office, the proposed facility would include a new Windham police substation.

The cost of this building would be approximately $6 million to $7 million, with $2.5 million for site work, according to a Dec. 9 letter from Tibbetts to Cumberland County Manager James Gailey.

The future site of the combined North Windham Public Safety building. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

The area where the proposed facility would be located is due to be improved by the North Windham Moves Project in the future; the location could improve response time to residents, Tibbetts said.

Windham Fire-Rescue Chief Brent Libby told the Lakes Region Weekly that the current fire station is over 50 years old, and has challenges with electrical issues, HVAC, bathroom facilities, and inadequate crew space, as it was not designed to accommodate 24/7 staffing. Libby noted that his predecessor had previously considered the Franklin Drive location, and that location, combined with the upcoming road improvements, would make it significantly easier and safer for firefighters to access and leave the station. Leaving and arriving at the current location is challenging because of its proximity to a frequently congested intersection, he said.

After unanimously approving the purchase of the land, the council discussed and approved a potential memorandum of understanding and lease agreement between the town and Cumberland County for the use of about 3,000 square feet of the new building. This, according to Tibbetts, would create more of a regional approach of helping the county, while also helping the town indirectly, and described the price of purchase, $250,000, as “very fair.”

The agreement would be in the form of a “trade-out,” Tibbetts said. In exchange for the office space, the sheriff’s office would invest money into the ongoing North Windham sewer project. It would pay its share of electricity, heat, etc.

A bond, which would need to be approved by town residents, would be used to pay for the proposed facility. At the end of the life of the bond, which is likely to last 20 years, there would be a look at any remaining capital improvements, which could include things like paving, siding, new floors or bathrooms. Going forward, the sheriff’s office would share proportionately in these costs, Tibbetts said.

Councilors hope by September of 2025 or 2026 they will see a finalized design and costs for a guaranteed maximum pricing and a plan for sharing an operational cost formula with the sheriff’s office (electric, heat, water, maintenance), and present to Town Council a design and pricing plan and establish a voter approval timeline and county agreement. Windham would place the bond request before the voters in either June 2025 or June 2026 depending on the timeline.

If the proposal is approved by all parties, Tibbetts said, the sheriff’s office patrol operations would move to the Windham facility. He added that detective and lab operations would remain in Portland.

Sharing the space with the county would mean that Windham would likely have 18 or 19 deputies based there, commuting through different parts of town, helping the Police Department to some extent and reducing the need for the town to have additional officers on patrol, Tibbetts said. These officers would not be operating on Windham’s schedule, but simply coming back to or leaving base.

“We believe this is a great project for Windham and working with the county to provide better county services for the surrounding (towns,) establishing better relationships,” Tibbetts said in the letter to Gailey.

The sheriff’s office would pay approximately $1.2 million to the town, or about $60,000 a year, over the 20-year life of the bond The funds would be designated for the sewer on Franklin Drive to be connected to the building, Tibbetts said. He added that he wanted to avoid charging rent during the bond period because that would create issues for the town.

Councilor Nick Kalogerakis said the lease money would eventually run out, necessitating the imposition of charging the sheriff’s office market rate rent in the future.

Councilors Jarrod Maxfield and William Reiner said there should be an option for future councilors to review the deal ahead of the 20-year bond deadline so they wouldn’t be locked into the current rate.

An amendment was added that allowed for a review at the 18-year mark, two years before the bond’s expiration, for any capital improvements, rental agreements and/or space allocation.

The council voted unanimously to approve the memorandum of understanding and lease agreement between the town and county as well as the amendment.