BLOOMINGDALE — The three candidates running for two open seats on the St. Armand town board are Don Bates, an incumbent seeking a third term on a board he feels is doing good work; Sheridan Swinyer, a former town justice with “deep roots” and a desire to update the town’s infrastructure; and Stephanie Bolduc Mikesell, who moved to town two years ago and wants to make it a great place for her newborn daughter to grow up.

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Stephanie Bolduc Mikesell

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Stephanie Bolduc Mikesell said she’s learned service through her previous work — 12 years at the U.S. Department of the Army, six years at the Pentagon and in civilian jobs in the service industry.

She also said she’s learned about the issues facing the town since she moved here in 2019, whether through conversations or direct experience. She said her family has struggled to buy a home, and they still rent instead of buying a major fixer-upper.

Bolduc Mikesell said before she moved here, she was in a group that encouraged women to be more involved in national security issues. This year, local Democratic organizer Sue Abbott-Jones told her councilwoman Jen Fuller wasn’t running for reelection, meaning there would potentially be no women on the council — except, of course, for town Supervisor Davina Winemiller.

“I’ve got to put my money where my mouth is,” Bolduc Mikesell said.

Bolduc Mikesell said she found out she was pregnant right before political parties began petitioning. She was too sick to go out and collect signatures, so she created the Route 3 Party. Her daughter is now three weeks old and she said she plans to raise her in St. Armand.

Bolduc Mikesell lives on the Saranac Lake side, and her husband, Ethan, owns Hex and Hop Brewing on the Bloomingdale side.

“We’re just back-and-forth on that road a lot,” she said. “To me, it’s (Route 3) sort of like, the main artery that ties the town together.”

She said she’s running to connect both ends of the town, like the road does.

On the Saranac Lake side, Bolduc Mikesell said water infrastructure in the Rockledge neighborhood and parking around Moody Pond — at the trailhead to Baker Mountain — both need the town’s attention.

Short-term vacation rentals are not a problem in St. Armand like they are elsewhere, she said, but she’d still like to incentivize long-term rentals rather than de-incentivizing STRs. She’d like the town to possibly offer tax benefits for good quality apartments.

Bolduc Mikesell said she wants to devote time to the town, because it supported Hex and Hop through its first winter of operation.

“They kept us alive through the 2019-20 winter,” Bolduc Mikesell said. “It was rough because we were pretty brand-new and didn’t have a super big following yet. We’re very appreciative.”

She wants the town to be a space for more small businesses. She also said basic zoning codes are needed so residents can have a say when big businesses come to town.

“Making sure there is a plan for how we want to develop the community, so that when there’s national businesses that want to come into town we’re able to have a conversation beyond just approving building permits,” she said.

But she said zoning must not put a “huge personnel burden” on the town, either.

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Sheridan Swinyer

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Sheridan Swinyer has lived in St. Armand his whole life, so he says he’s “fully aware” of the challenges the town faces and is prepared to meet them.

For 12 of those years, he was the town justice and attended monthly board meetings, so he got to see how the town operates.

“I have a strong moral sense of right and wrong, and I am committed to ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent appropriately,” Swinyer wrote in an email.

Swinyer said he wants to improve the Youth Field and youth sports programs.

“I feel it is vitally important that our children and grandchildren have the opportunity to play sports in a safe and well maintained environment,” he wrote.

He fondly remembers days on the ballfield in his youth and hopes that improvements to the field would bring today’s children back to play there. He said he supports the newly formed St. Armand Youth Task Force.

Recently, Swinyer said housing prices have “skyrocketed.”

“It’s kind of starting to take it out of the hands of the normal working person,” he said.

He’s unsure of what solutions there are, but knows there are options out there.

Swinyer said the town will likely introduce zoning codes in the near future and wants to be there to ensure it moves in the “right direction.”

“Code enforcement is vital as it protects homeowners and businesses in making sure that construction work on their property is safe and properly completed,” he wrote.

If the town had zoning codes, the new Dollar General store might have ended up in a different location.

But he’s heard discussions about introducing zoning for decades, getting a spark but eventually fizzling out. He wants to make sure people actually want it for the long-haul before passing codes.

Swinyer also said infrastructure — particularly the sewer system — needs improvement.

“We need to make sure that these vital systems are upgraded to current standards,” he wrote.

He said the town should seal up its older lines to keep stormwater from infiltrating and expand new sewer lines to streets which currently don’t have service.

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Don Bates

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Don Bates said he’s running for a third term on the town council because the job has been “a privilege and an honor.”

“The past eight years has afforded me the opportunity to gain an understanding of the inner workings of our town,” Bates wrote in an email. “We have worked hard to keep taxes in check while making sure that the town continues to thrive.”

He gave credit to other town employees, adding that he’d like to keep working with them and supporting their efforts.

“Both Davina and (Town Clerk Barbara Darrah) do a great job researching and obtaining available grants in order to lessen the burden to the taxpayers,” he wrote.

He also said he has 30 years of experience in business, “both as rank-and-file and management, which helps to provide a different perspective to the daily operation of the town.”

“I would like to continue working with Davina and the rest of the board to address the issues as they arise, to the best of our ability, with the best interest of the community, and its people,” he wrote.

“We work together as a team to address the issues and solutions that best meet the needs of our community,” Bates wrote. “We serve the people, always looking for opportunities to enhance the town while assuring that everyone’s voice is heard.”

Bates said he is looking for opportunities to work with local investors to provide affordable housing. He said it’s a need in the community and wants to support solutions.

Bates said there is a lack of regulation on building in the town, and that he’d like to introduce some zoning laws, without adding too many. He said he’d like to review neighboring communities regulations and see what they’ve got before selecting the codes that best fit St. Armand and passing those.

“I am open to zoning discussions as long as they meet the needs of the community without over-regulation,” Bates wrote. “Our intention is to create a committee to include members of the community in order to review and consider zoning that would best serve the community.”