After welcoming incoming Council member Leighton Newlin and also swearing in returning incumbent Eve Niedergang, Mayor Mark Freda and the six Council members each offered a New Year’s statement to the public.
Niedergang had already signaled a slower pace for the new year by announcing earlier in the week that the Cannabis Task Force, which she chairs, had postponed its meeting scheduled for January 18. In an e-mail to various members of the community who had participated in the discussions, Niedergang explained that “we had set a date of January 18th to further discuss this issue and to hear from the community. But a number of people have expressed concern that this is too rushed. They have asked for the January meeting to be postponed so that we have more opportunity to inform the community about the meeting and to ensure everyone's voice is heard.
“I apologize if it appeared that I was trying to rush things there seemed to be a sense of urgency from some residents. I was responding to that, but we are happy to postpone for the reasons above.
“We are not sure what the alternate date will be, but it will most likely be sometime in March. I will let you all know as soon as we have a firm date. We envision this meeting as a discussion with the community rather than a ‘normal’ council meeting, so there will be time for a number of residents to share brief presentations etc. (Details to be worked out).”