Welcome: Watervliet council agrees to seat new councilman early.

Officials agree to seat new councilman early

WATERVLIET, N.Y. » The City Council is now back at full strength after Mayor Michael Manning and Councilman Charles Patricelli finally agreed to appoint Councilman-elect Frank Mc Grouty to his spot on the board.

The council has been one member short since Democrat Nicholas Foglia resigned for personal reasons in February. Since then, the council has been made up of Manning and Patricelli, a pair of Democrats.

Shortly after Foglia resigned, Manning and Patricelli began conducting interviews to try to appoint a new councilman. Manning and Patricelli disagreed a few times on who to appoint to the empty seat, and they eventually decided to wait to appoint someone until after the election.

McGrouty ended up winning the Democratic primary in September along with the general election in November.

During last week’s council meeting, the resolution to appoint McGrouty was tabled by Patricelli. On Thursday night Patricelli and Manning both voted in favor of appointing McGrouty before the usual starting date, Jan. 1. McGrouty will now be able to vote on the 2018 proposed city budget and other council matters during its next regular council meeting Dec. 21.

Patricelli recently sat down with McGrouty and city General Manager Jeremy Smith in a meeting where they went over some parts of the 2018 proposed budget.

“I think at this particular point and time, I think I was able to accomplish what I needed to accomplish and maybe not accomplish as much as I wanted to,” said Patricelli after the council meeting on Thursday night. “If Mr. McGrouty comes in now, he’ll be able to help out [with the budget] , he claims he has a financial background in budgeting, with working with the school district, so now is the time we may be able to [use] it.”

McGrouty has been a city resident for 64 years and said he has lived in pretty much every area of the city. McGrouty retired after 27 years as city firefighter and also served on the city’s school board for 12 years. McGrouty is also active in several youth programs, including Watervliet Little League, and is the owner of a small business.

“I think he’ll be a good addition,” said Manning. “He’s been here attending [the council and budget meetings] and watching along, I think he’s a good addi-

tion and the people thought he’s a good addition.”

McGrouty was swornin in at City Hall after the council meeting Thursday night with some city officials, and will have his own formal swearing-in ceremony at 1 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Watervliet Elks Lodge.

“I’m excited,” said McGrouty before being swornin. “It’s been a long process and I didn’t think I was going to get sworn in since my term starts in January and here I am a month early.”

The annual salary for the councilman position is $15,752.