GRANVILLE – With the town election on April 9, Select Board Chairman Richard Woodger is up for re-election and running against challenger Nicole Berndt.
Woodger has a long history of being on the Select Board as he has serving on the board for almost 30 years. Growing up, Woodger’s father served on several boards including Select Board, as did his father-in-law. In order to get himself started in town politics, Woodger joined the Finance Committee.
“Getting involved with other boards gives you quite a bit of insight of what the responsibility is of town politics,” said Woodger.
After his father passed away from lung cancer, being such a big mentor in his life, Woodger knew he needed to become a member of the Select Board in order to honor his dad. Almost 30 years later, Woodger has been a part of hiring several police and fire chiefs, along with a number of changes in infrastructure throughout town.
Granville Select Board incumbent Richard Woodger. (Photo courtesy of Greg Fitzpatrick)
Leading up to this election, the 73-year-old was contemplating stepping down from the Select Board after such a long tenure, but Woodger has some major concerns about Granville that he wants to help solve.
“I do have a very strong concern about the future of the town, where it’s going and how we’re going to finance things,” said Woodger.
A main concern is what to do with the building that used to be functioning as the Granville Village School. Since the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School Committee decided to vote in favor of closing the school on February 9, 2017, Woodger and his fellow Select Board colleagues have been working on bringing the building up to par and figuring out what to do with it.
Whether it’s been town officials, business owners, or residents in the community, people have their opinions on what the former school should be used for in the future. Woodger’s name is on the plaque that commemorates the last renovation of the Granville Village School and he believes strongly that the school can still exist.
“I want to see that as a school if it’s at all possible,” said Woodger. “That’s what it should be, that’s what it was built for.”
In the past year, Woodger says that he’s received calls and has spoken with a couple people that have ideas about keeping the building as a school, and one of his main focuses if re-elected, will be to figure out this problem.
Besides the school concern, Woodger is eager to try to improve the town’s emergency services. Since Woodger believes that the services are already strong, he wants to enhance that even more.
“We’re having good luck with them (right now),” said Woodger.
On the fire department side, Woodger wants to work on adding more personnel for the ambulances, as he is concerned that there might be a time when the department doesn’t have the proper amount of people for the ambulances.
Aside from being on the Select Board for almost 30 years, Woodger has also been running Rockwood Farms, a family-owned farm, since 1968. This long into his tenure on the board, Woodger doesn’t feel that he needs to put up signs or posters about his re-election, instead, he wants the community to know what his focus and concerns are moving forward.
“You try to do the best you can for the people in town,” said Woodger. “I’m concerned about the future of Granville.”
