Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
BY CRAIG FREILICH NorthCountryNow.com NORWOOD -- Larry Colbert, a Republican from Norwood, is running for the Potsdam Town Council to bring a conservative view to the town board, “which I don’t …
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BY CRAIG FREILICH
NorthCountryNow.com
NORWOOD -- Larry Colbert, a Republican from Norwood, is running for the Potsdam Town Council to bring a conservative view to the town board, “which I don’t think we have right now,” to keep taxes down and increase the tax base.
“There seems to be a habit of increasing the taxes every year and I don’t think that’s necessary,” Colbert said.
Colbert is an electrician, retired from Alcoa after 36 years, and has done a lot of electrical work since then. He has worked part time for Lowes and Wal-Mart, and served for a short time as code enforcement officer for the Village of Potsdam.
Colbert describes himself as a family man, married to Sandra Aldous for 49 years, with five children, 16 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is a member of Norwood Kiwanis, having served as president twice. He was a Norwood firefighter for 25 years, and volunteered with the Boy Scouts for 50 years.
“The Town of Potsdam has a lot to offer, with two colleges, two villages, the beautiful Raquette River, and the wonderful people who live here,” he said.
He wants to work toward improving the business climate in the township.
“I think we can do better, as far as enticing tourists and small business.”
An idea Colbert has along those lines is revising some property zoning from residential to business.
“One of the things I found out is that the land across from BOCES in Norwood is still zoned residential. There has been no new construction, no buildings, for years. I think we could do better if it was zoned commercial. We might be able to entice people to develop it,” he said. “And there are other places in the township that could be zoned for light commercial use. We need to keep the town growing.”
He also said he would want to be certain “to keep our infrastructure in shape.”
Another concern of Colbert’s is “discrepancies” in some property assessments in the town.
Colbert is running against Democrat Toni Kennedy for a board seat with one year left in its term. The seat became open following the death in May of Town Supervisor Rollin Beattie.
