VanHeertum Retires From Board

By Joshua Walther

COBLESKILL - At the Cobleskill Village Board on Tuesday evening, the Board received and accepted the resignation of Larry VanHeertum, Sr. as a serving trustee.

Mr. VanHeertum had previously served on the Board for a number of years and had won his latest election by a landslide, with more than double of the votes from the runner-up.

The resignation, effective immediately, was received with little fanfare by the Board, and neither Mayor Rebecca Stanton-Terk nor the rest of the members gave any further public explanation.

Once they had passed a motion to accept, the Board went on to appoint Mike Lent, Sr. to Mr. VanHeertum’s seat for the rest of the term.

Mr. Lent was previously the rescue squad captain, and Mayor Stanton-Terk explained that he was very knowledgeable of how Cobleskill’s meetings are run, allowing for little difficulty in adapting to his new position.

In other news, the Board was excited to share that the construction progress on the playground in Nick Iorio Park is coming along well.

“The company that has been working on that has been working very diligently,” said Mayor Stanton-Terk regarding the building of the replacement to the old wooden Imagination Creation.

Once building is complete, the next phase will involve another company coming to lay soft-surface mats to cushion falls, followed by the sports court expansion and the back fence replacement.

While Mayor Stanton-Terk could not give a firm date that work will be completed by, she affirmed that “It will be done very, very soon.”

Finally, the rescue squad reported that they have their new ambulance rig in service, and they are “very excited” to have two ambulances running once again.

In conjunction with their new vehicle, the Board approved their ride along program, allowing observers to come aboard and see them in action.

The Board said that any observers are strictly prohibited from assisting the team in any way, and they will not benefit from workman’s compensation. More regulations may follow as the Board drafts a mandatory waiver in the coming weeks.