by Bea Peterson
The Village election on Wednesday, March 18, held no surprises. All the candidates, Mayor David Borge and Trustees Ric DiDonato, Kevin O’Malley, Bob Ryan and Karen Sprague, were running unopposed. More residents signed the petitions to get them on the ballot than turned out to vote! Actually 47 people came to the polls and 10 people cast absentee ballots. The vote for each candidate varied from 51 to 55 votes each.
[private]Mayor David Borge has been elected for a second term. He quickly admits anything that has been accomplished during his first term was the result of the work of the entire Board. “No one person is responsible,” he said. He believes the last two years have brought many improvements to the Village, from an Economic Development Plan as a result of the formation of Hoosick Rising, to the Zoning update to solar panels on the Village buildings and upgrading equipment and training of the Police Department.
Another accomplishment was that individuals laid off by Oak-Mitsui received assistance from the Federal Trade Act to receive counseling, schooling and job training.
Future plans underway include further improvements to the Municipal Building. “We’ve already put a new roof on the building and the Police Department has been updated,” he said. “And additional improvements will begin this week.”
Work is underway to install solar panels at the old landfill, which will be beneficial to the Village as well.
“We’ve added six acres to the Greenway that will be developed this year to create access to the River,” he said. Work will resume on the corner of John and Main Streets in a few weeks, and that’s certainly a good sign, said Mayor Borge. “In the future we will be working with landlords regarding vacant buildings. We will continue to work with not-for-profits and we will be taking a Regional approach to solving community problems.”
“We will continue to work on the water situation,” he added. [/private]