Now that 2009 has passed into history, we can look forward to a better year in 2010.

2009 wasn’t a very good year; but then it was predicted to be terrible, so expectations were pretty poor to begin with. Let’s hope that in 2010 things continue to improve.

In retrospect, 2009 was not a great year for many people. With unemployment very high, and many people feeling nervous about taking on new expenses, many people scaled back their spending. However, we have made it to the end of the year, and now economic news is at least mixed. Locally, it seems that the holiday season was a bit better than forecast for retailers, and the housing market seems to have stabilized.

On the Village front, 2009 also seemed to be in a holding pattern as the fate of St. Paul’s remains undecided. As with governments around the country, the Village has also had to look very carefully at costs and revenues. Many projects were deferred during the spring budget negotiations. However, the environmental impact review of demolishing St. Paul’s will be on the agenda in the next few months, and projects that were deferred last year will be considered again this year.

Here’s hoping for a better 2010, and a resolution to the St. Paul’s issue that most people like.

Meg Morgan Norris

Publisher