VOORHEESVILLE – Budgets were passed with overwhelming ease and unopposed candidates for seats on the school and library boards claimed victory on Tuesday night.

Six-hundred-fifty-five voters turned out to decide on the school district’s $24.7 million budget, the $7.7 million capital project, two new school buses, and a new capital-reserve fund.

When the votes were tallied:

– 401 were in favor of the district’s budget and 231 voted against it;

– 438 voters were in favor of purchasing new buses and 109 were not;

– 416 voted to create a new capital-reserve fund and 208 voted against it; and

– 414 voted for the capital project and 205 against.

Superintendent Brian Hunt said that a kickoff meeting for the $7.7 million capital project will take place this week.

In that meeting, Hunt said that the district will map out the first phase of the project, prioritizing items that can be approved relatively quickly by the New York State Education Department. The the roof of the elementary school, for example, Hunt said, would need only an architectural review. There are other items, such as new labs, that would be subjected to multiple reviews – mechanical, electrical, plumbing – by the education department and would take longer to be approved.

Hunt said that some project items would be submitted in the next few months, but added that it takes about 43 weeks for a review by the state education department. At best, the district is looking to begin portions of the capital project in the summer of 2019 – “and that is probably optimistic,” Hunt said.

Cynthia Monaghan and Michael Canfora were also sent back to the school board with four-year terms.

With 439 votes, this will be Monaghan’s third term on the board, while Canfora will begin his second term after receiving 430 votes. There were 51 write-in votes.

Monaghan told The Enterprise that she is excited to continue the board’s work. Canfora said that he was pleased that the capital project passed, and said that it was financially prudent, “and that a lot of needs will be met.”

The Voorheesville Public Library Board of Trustees will have a new member as Alan Kowlowitz was elected to a five-year term. And, nearly 70 percent voted for the library’s $1.18 million budget for next year, 437 to 190.

David Gibson, a library trustee, told The Enterprise that the library’s staff and board have been working very hard to manage costs, and that this is the fourth consecutive flat budget without any reduction in services.