As we embark on a new year, there is much to look forward to in town. We hope to see the return of many annual celebrations in 2022, including the Memorial Day Parade and the Fourth of July fireworks. We also eagerly anticipate the progress and conclusion of some business matters that have been topics of discussion in recent years.We are long overdue on building the new Department of Public Works building. The current building has been in disarray for years and is undersized. Last year, this led to issues during a snow storm that forced schools to close for a day, as we did not have space to house an adequate salt supply. This land on Industrial Parkway was selected as the location of the new DPW facility years ago. Though we understand that COVID-19, costs of materials, and supply chain issues have delayed construction, the fact of the matter remains that another year has passed without a new building. We hope to see a groundbreaking come this spring.We also hope to move forward with a definitive plan for the pools. We have been told that having two pools is no longer financially tenable, so we hope to see a plan focused on renovating one of our existing pools. We have heard from the Council to expect news on this soon.We have, additionally, years ago at this point, purchased roughly 20 acres of Open Space land of Strahman and Licari properties. We hope to see them open for public use this year, either as a camp, park, or something else residents can utilize.These matters were each listed by Mayor Ed Meinhardt as things that he looks forward to working on this year. We would also throw permitting certain cannabis businesses in town on the Council’s upcoming “to-do” list as well. The Council has worked well through two years of a pandemic, and we expect more of the same moving forward.There is much to accomplish in 2022, as there is every year. We haven’t even touched on goals for the Board of Education, Planning Board, or Zoning Board. But this is a nice place to start, and Livingston will be in good shape if we can check all of these items off by the time we ring in 2023.
