“No words can really say or express how much they’ve done for this village,” said Mayor Brian Maher at a special meeting of the Walden Village Board last week.

Maher formally announced the retirement of three essential components of the team at Village Hall, Nancy Mitchell, the village clerk; Jan Weiner, treasurer, and Julia Byington, account clerk.

“They’ve put their whole lives into this village for the last 30 years,” said Maher.

“They will be hard to replace and will be missed.”

Maher stated that the Village Board would pass a resolution at their regular meeting on September 14, recognizing the three women for their many years of service.

The account clerk position will have to be filled by an individual off the county list.  Village Manager John Revella did not believe that an individual taking the test now would be able to make it onto the county list in time for when the village needs to fill the position.

The village clerk and treasurer positions are appointed, and the village is currently accepting and reviewing applications.  Revella stated that he had already received 10 applications by the time of the meeting.

“The way the economy is, people will be looking for this kind of position,” said village Attorney Kevin Dowd.

Maher stated that they hoped to fill the positions at their meeting on September 14, if possible.

Anyone interested in the village clerk or treasurer positions should send their resume to the Village Clerk at 1 Municipal Square, Walden, NY 12586.

The board also discussed at their meeting possible changes to the village’s employee medical benefits.  Namely, asking employees to contribute toward their benefits, given continuing rises in rates.  They did acknowledge that given the health care bill, the village could be looking at a “whole new ballgame” in a just a couple years.

In the end, Maher asked Weiner to prepare a recommendation on the issue by the board’s next meeting.

It was announced at the meeting that Senator William B. Larkin will be speaking about health care reform and local small businesses at a meeting of the Walden Business Association on September 10.  The meeting will be held at 8 a.m. at the NY School of Music in Walden, for all who wish to attend.

The board accepted two bid proposals at the meeting as well.  According to Mitchell, Shamar, out of Liberty, was the low bidder for work to be done on the roof of the municipal building, with a bid of $30,900.  That bid comes in at approximately $19,000 less than the village bonded for.

Aqualogics, on the other hand, was the low bidder for the telemetry project on the village wells.  The low bid was $48,000, $2,000 over what was anticipated.

Revella also advised the board that work on the tennis courts is underway and the project is expected to be completed by Oct. 22.

By Rachel Coleman
rcoleman@tcnewspapers.com