Cobleskill’s mayor-elect believes it’s time to start thinking outside the box.
And just maybe, that means not dissolving the village, but expanding it.
Mark Nadeau doesn’t take office till December, but he’s been working on the job since he threw his hat into the ring six months ago.
In an overview of what he hopes to accomplish in the next four years Friday, Mr. Nadeau said he’d also considered running for supervisor, but decided on mayor, “where I can do the most good.
“Being CEO of the village…with the proper backing and a buy-in by the town, I think we can offer leadership by example to other communities and together, we can be successful,” Mr. Nadeau said.
“People are tired of the status quo and success breeds success. If we can grow Cobleskill, we can be successful.”
It’s in that growth that Mr. Nadeau says he’s started thinking outside the box.
Through most of the current administration, Cobleskill has been at odds over water and sewer service with the village insisting on annexation first and the town blaming the dispute on the loss of Lowe’s.
Mr. Nadeau still believes in annexation—exchanging land for services—which he also sees as including police protection.
And instead of dissolving the village into the town, something that’s under study, he like to go the other way: Dissolving and expanding the village boundaries to encompass the town.
“As a community, we need to grow. Why not go the other way and grow the village?” he asked. “We already have the experience managing things like water and sewer…”
As mayor, Mr. Nadeau sees himself as a catalyst and a team-builder and calls himself a leader and a listener.
“It’s give and take,” he said. “We have to hold people accountable to do what they say and we have to get people working together like a family, a real community.
“That’s why I want to work with the supervisor at my side,” he added, a reference to the town’s decision to move to Mineral Springs Road as a tenant for the Village of Cobleskill—a move Mr. Nadeau helped negotiate.
The move to the village offices came after an effort to convince the village, town, County Planning and the Industrial Development Agency to share space at the old Newberry’s Building on Main Street fell through.
Mr. Nadeau still sees Newberry’s as a hub for downtown; something that would draw business and traffic.
He’s also set a goal of 2010 for getting the boarded-over front windows in the privately-owned building replaced.
“Activity breeds activity,” he said.
“And imagine if we had all the services someone needs in one space. You could help people through the process, lead them down the hall to IDA…”
Looking down the road, in 10 years, Mr. Nadeau sees the Village of Cobleskill “as a leading example in Schoharie County of true leadership…of community cooperation, efficient government…pro-business with respect to our past and growing opportunities for our youth.”
Big goals, he admits, and something that begs the question of what people can do to help.
“We need people who aren’t afraid of getting dirt under their fingernails to pitch in and help by volunteering and working like a team,” he said.
“It will take a team. Backup. Someone behind us. But I’m confident we can get it down.”