By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- Former village trustee Abigail Lee has been appointed to the village Board of Trustees to fill the seat left by Eleanor Hopke’s departure.

“I’m excited to serve the community again,” Lee said.

Mayor Reinhold Tischler has also appointed long-time village Department of Public Works worker Jim Corbett to be the new department superintendent with the retirement of Bruce Henderson.

Lee, currently marketing director SUNY Potsdam PACES Administrative Services, served two terms as a village trustee from 2006 to 2010, when she declined to run again so she would have time to pursue a master’s degree in education.

Lee was executive director of the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce 1998 to 2004, and is a member of the board of directors for the Potsdam Consumer Cooperative..

Lee will serve out the balance of Hopke’s term, roughly seven months, but will not run this November to keep the seat, she said. “It’s a short-term appointment.”

Jim Corbett, head of DPW building maintenance when his appointment as superintendent became effective this week, has just started his 32nd year with DPW. He has also been a volunteer with the Potsdam Fire Department for 40 years, and spent 25 years as a volunteer with the Potsdam Rescue Squad. He and his wife Susan teach several safe boating courses each year.

Mayor Tischler announced those appointments and also the appointment of Trustee Steve Warr to be deputy mayor, a position also held by Hopke.

Trustee Hopke resigned and is leaving for Rochester, where her husband, recently retired Clarkson University Professor Phil Hopke, has taken a position as an adjunct professor doing research with the University of Rochester Medical Center.