Knoras honored for long stretch of service to town

Former Select Board member Michael Knoras was honored for his 16 years of service Monday night.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140326/NEWS02/703269970

Michael Knoras holds the two-part proclamation that the town of Springfield gave him Monday night in honor of his 16 years on the Select Board. Photo: SUSAN SMALLHEER / STAFF PHOTOPublished March 26, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Knoras honored for long stretch of service to town By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — He may be off the Springfield Select Board, but he’s not forgotten. Former Springfield Selectman Michael J. Knoras was honored Monday night with a proclamation for his 16 years of service on the board. Knoras was defeated in his bid for a third, three-year term during Town Meeting Day elections. Knoras had previously served in the 1970s and 1980s, for a total of 16 years. Knoras, 80, a lifelong resident of Springfield, was first appointed to the Board of Selectmen in 1970, and served the town until Town Meeting Day 1981. He was elected again in 2008 after a hiatus of 27 years. “Ten years was not the end of Michael Knoras’ service to the town. Again in 2008 Michael Knoras was elected to the Board of Selectmen and faithfully served through town meeting of March 2014,” the proclamation concluded. “Much was accomplished during those 10 years: projects, ordinances, resolutions and actions too numerous to enumerate,” the proclamation stated. During his first stint on the board, according to the proclamation read by Town Manager Robert Forguites, Knoras worked with four different town managers and two interim managers. In addition, the town launched a variety of town government improvements and expansion. In 1975, according to the list compiled by former town personnel director Linda Rousse, the town started a citizens Electric Advisory Committee, with the goal of building a hydroelectric dam on the Black River, as well as building the town’s new fire station, the establishment of the North Springfield Industrial Park, and the next year, the addition to the library. At that time, the town’s economy was booming with the machine tool industry in high gear, and the town also started several key infrastructure projects. In 1974, the town bought its first computer for accounting purposes. Knoras spent his professional career working in the machine tool industry, first with Jones & Lamson Machine Tool Co., and ending with The Goldman Group, which in the late 1990s owned all three major manufacturers. He and his wife raised a family of four children, three of which still live in Springfield, along with their children. During the past six years, Knoras served on the board that dealt with regular road construction projects, as well as town support for a new home for the police department and the transformation of the original Fellows Gear Shaper building into a health center, as well as new street lights, a project near and dear to Knoras’ heart. Knoras received a standing ovation from his fellow board members and people attending Monday’s regular Select Board meeting, and he shook hands with all the members of the board, as well as the town employees, including Forguites. The honor came at the first regular meeting of the Select Board since the elections. 2014TopNewStories