Amanda Lessard will serve as interim assistant town manager for the Town of Windham until a permanent candidate can be hired by the Windham Town Council.
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| Senior Planner/Project Manager Amanda Lessard has been appointed to serve as interim Assistant Town Manager for Windham until the Windham Town council can interview and hire a permanent candidate for that position. FILE PHOTO |
Burns became the first person to hold the position of Assistant Town Manager for Windham with his appointment to the role in December 2021 and was named Windham Town Manager by town councilors when Barry Tibbetts stepped down from that position June 30.
Lessard had served as Windham’s Planning Director from 2019 to 2024 when she joined Royal River Conservation Trust in Yarmouth as Conservation Director. She subsequently was rehired by the town and will now assist Burns in his duties on an interim basis until councilors appoint a permanent assistant town manager
As a town planner, Lessard was involved in everything from the creation of Windham’s Comprehensive Plan, handling zoning issues, reviewing subdivision and commercial building plans to the development of the town’s Open Space Master Plan.
As Planning Director, Lessard led Windham to partner with Presumpscot Regional Land Trust to purchase and conserve 661 acres near Little Duck Pond in East Windham. Called the East Windham Conservation Area, the project acquired the forested acreage for recreational opportunities in Windham while also adding 1,545 feet of undeveloped water frontage on Little Duck Pond, the 150-acre Deer Wintering Area for hunting, and Atherton Hill. She helped Windham obtain a $1 million grant from the Land for Maine’s Future initiative for the project. In 2021, voters from Windham approved a $1.8 million conservation bond using open space impact fees and another $400,000 raised privately from public donations. A Land and Water Conservation Fund federal grant of $500,000 also was obtained to pay for the infrastructure improvements at the site and it officially opened in May 2024 as one of largest unfragmented forests in the Greater Portland region.
She also was instrumental and played a key role in the town’s creation of a new $40.4 million sewer and wastewater treatment project for North Windham. Voters passed a 2023 referendum authorizing the project after decades of proposals, studies, and ballot failures and once completed, a new wastewater treatment facility is under construction on the grounds of Manchester School, which will address environmental issues in North Windham by removing 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 going forward 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 a special 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 this year.
Lessard also has been part of the development of a master plan for the South Windham/Little Falls Village area to bring more focus on what that area will look like in the future. That included adding more available parking in South Windham, the sale of the old South Windham Fire Station, bringing new commerce to the area, along with road improvements and new sidewalks.
Lessard became interested in municipal planning while working for the Maine Department of Transportation. She has a degree in geography and completed community planning classes at the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. Lessard lives in Westbrook and is married and the mother of a son. <
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