The first resolution of the Clifton Park Town Board passed mere minutes after seven town officials were sworn in Wednesday, Jan. 2, including Supervisor Phil Barrett.
Taking the oath of office at the Clifton Park Town Hall were councilmen Scott Hughes and Thomas Paolucci, County Supervisor Anita Daly, Town Clerk Patricia O’ Donnell, Highway Superintendent Richard Kukuk and Town Justice Robert Rybak. All were returning to their positions.
We had a terrific 2007, Barrett said. `I’m sure we’ll have a great 2008.`
Hughes, who was elected in November after being appointed to the board in April, said he hopes to make government more transparent. He said he plans to do this by airing all town board meetings online through a video streaming process.
The town shows all of their board meetings on cable television, but, as some residents noted, they are not always regularly scheduled or shown in their entirety.
Hughes said, `I want residents to have multiple vehicles available to access information.`
At the 2008 organizational meeting following the swearing-in ceremony, the first resolution of the new year, which included several appointments to town positions, passed despite some discussion.
Although some members had conflict-of-interest concerns about the appointment of commercial real estate agent Joel Koval to the town’s planning board, the resolution passed unanimously.
Looking forward, the town board appointed several members to the newly created Community Arts and Culture Commission. The commission, made up of representatives from different areas of the arts, including members of the Clifton Park Players and Clifton Park Community Chorus, plan to create awareness for the arts and culture offerings in Clifton Park.
According to Town Clerk Patricia O’Donnell, a member of both the town theater and choral group, those organizations would like to see a community center built to showcase residents’ artwork and performances.
The board also re-established the number of members on the Open Space, Trails and Riverfront Committee. The committee will contain 13 members including William Mackesey, who provided a trails subcommittee report to the board at a Monday, Jan. 7 town board meeting. In the report, he laid out the subcommittee’s plans for the future.
Mackesey said the trails subcommittee presented a package to the open space subcommittee, which focuses on creating standardized signage for town-owned open space and trails to make it easier for the community to identify these landmarks. Another plan the committee will be looking at in 2008 is the creation of trails leading to schools.
`As you can see,` Mackesey said.` The trails committee has a full plate for 2008 and beyond.“
