Bara sworn in as Utica village trustee

The Utica Village Board again has a full house. Eric Bara was sworn in and seated Thursday to the vacant trusteeship.

Mayor David Stewart also named Bara the liaison to governmental affairs. Bara replaces Kylie Mattioda, who resigned earlier this year, and would stand for election in April 2027 after Mattioda’s unexpired term ends.

“Welcome aboard,” Stewart told him.

The new trustee is a junior high history teacher at Waltham Elementary School, where he is a Scholastic Bowl coach, an eighth-grade sponsor and the history fair coordinator. Bara also serves on the Waltham Elementary Education Foundation committee and is a Utica Township Community Building manager.

In other business, the village is applying for a grant from T-Mobile with the hopes of helping to fund the construction of tennis and pickleball courts near the basketball courts at Carey Park.

Although the village was unsuccessful in a previous effort to win the $50,000 grant, Stewart said he wants to pursue it to chip in with private donations pledged to the Carey project.

In other matters, the board:

• approved a fireworks event Aug. 16 at Jamie’s Outpost.
• donated $3,000 and approved road closures for the annual Veterans Day parade, which this year is scheduled for Nov. 2.
• approved an increase, effective in July, on the monthly rate for trash collection to $21.79 per household (up from $20.74).