Joe Drennan
Staff Writer

In a close race, Glen Miles defeated incumbent Renae Fry 557 votes to 531 votes for seat C on the Columbus Township town board.

ìIím disappointed with the results, we put a lot of time and effort in our campaign,î Fry said. ìIn the end I think the voters voted on one single issue.î

Fry, who has served on the town board for the past six years, and served on the planning commission three years prior to her town board service, will be replaced by Miles at the next town board meeting on Wednesday, March 23.

With all the extra free time, Fry plans to spend more time with her family.

ìI had my kids after I was involved with government so my kids have always known mom was involved so it will be interesting to have my Wednesdayís back,î Fry said. ìMy kids are old enough to where theyíre in activities, so theyíll appreciate having me around.

ìIím not missing the idea of missing some of the contentious aspects of being a town board member. There is such a stress that I am not going to miss,î Fry added.

Taking on the incumbent, Miles says he was confident he would win the election.

ìBecause of the backing in the community, I was pretty confident through the campaign that I would win the election,î Miles said. ìI thought I would have a little bit more of a margin of victory.î

Now that heís elected, Miles says the first piece of business he wants to initiate is starting incorporation talks. With the township on the verge of mass development in its freeway district, he knows the last thing township residents want is to lose those new businesses to a neighboring community.

ìOnce we have all the information put together on incorporating, then we have to get the involvement of the community to see whether or not we want to go down this road,î Miles said.

Apart from incorporation, Miles says he plans to encourage development of the freeway district, but Miles wants to make sure the ìrightî developments come to Columbus Township. Miles also wants to work on upgrading infrastructure from the I-35/CR23 bridge to blacktopping the many miles of gravel road in the township.

Miles, co-founder of the CCC, says the North Metro Harness Initiativeís plans for a harness racing track/card room in Columbus Township may have all the necessary approval at the moment, but legal matters are still tied up in litigation. Miles says the track is not on the top of his priority list simply because the issue is out of the town boardís hands, but if it were to come back to the board, heíd certainly be involved in acknowledging the communitiesí concerns.

ìI know this was a very controversial and heated race and I am glad to have this behind me,î Miles said. ìI wish Renae well and that she will continue her work with the township. She has done very good work and she has been a very good benefit to the township.î

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