WATERVILLE — Phil Bofia is the new councilor representing Ward 2, as the City Council on Tuesday elected him over four others interviewed for the position.

Bofia, 31, a business analyst who works for CGI Group, an information technology consulting firm at 173 Main St., replaces Councilor Nathaniel White, who resigned last month and moved to Fairfield.

Bofia, a Republican who lives on Pleasantdale Avenue, received three votes Tuesday from Councilor Mike Morris, D-Ward 1; Jay Coelho, D-Ward 5; and Erik Thomas, D-Ward 7. Bofia was challenged for the seat by Keith Beal; Brad Hallowell, who received one vote from Council Chairman Sydney Mayhew, R-Ward 4; Winona Karns; and John Robertson, who also received one vote from Councilor Winifred Tate, D-Ward 6. Councilor Margaret Smith, D-Ward 3, announced she would abstain from voting on a candidate because of a conflict of interest. Beal is her father.

Bofia is chairman of KV Connect, an organization for young professionals; a member of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s marketing membership committee; a member of the Waterville Airport Advisory Committee; and a trustee of Kennebec Valley Community College. He also is president of Waterville Habitat for Humanity.

Bofia graduated in 2009 from University of Maine with a Bachelor of Science degree in management and played basketball while at the university.

In 2018 he was given the chamber’s 2017 Rising Star Award, which is given to a person under 40 who is in a management or other leadership capacity within a business organization and illustrates a combination of business success and community involvement. Bofia and his daughter, Alyssa, have lived in Waterville for nearly 10 years.

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“I am passionate about my community and serving the great people in it,” Bofia said Tuesday. “I enjoy working with people of all walks of life, as diverse as they come, because we are a diverse community.”

About 50 people turned out Tuesday for the council meeting held in the Chace Community Forum at the Bill & Joan Alfond Main Street Commons downtown.

Councilors voted for the Ward 2 councilor by written ballot with City Clerk Patti Dubois reading aloud the results.

Bofia will serve until a regularly scheduled city election — the next one is in November — and a successor is elected and sworn in. The successor would then serve the balance of the term.

Beal, of Ash Street, is an electrical and instrumentation technician for Sappi in Skowhegan; Hallowell, of Oakdale Street, is a sales manager for U.S. Cellular; Karns, of North Street, works for the state Department of Health and Human Services; and Robertson, of Colonial Street, is a firefighter and paramedic and owns and operates a small heating company that specializes in propane and natural gas installation and service.

In other matters Tuesday, councilors took the first of two needed votes to accept a 2018 federal BUILD grant for $7.37 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to implement Waterville Downtown Transit Corridors, Gateways & Revitalization Project.

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The grant is to be used to improve roadways, sidewalks, intersections and public green spaces downtown that will serve to divert through traffic away from Main Street and improve pedestrian access to and within the downtown district.

Mayor Nick Isgro encouraged councilors to accept the grant, as did Kimberly Lindlof, president and chief executive officer of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce.

City Manager Michael Roy noted that information about the grant is on the city’s website, waterville-me.gov.

Councilors took a final vote to approve a zone change for the First Congregational United Church of Christ property at 7 Eustis Parkway to allow the Children’s Discovery Museum, of Augusta, to move there. They also took a final vote to extend the city’s marijuana moratorium from Jan. 16 to April 18 to allow the Marijuana Advisory Committee and the council enough time to draft rules and regulations regarding the city review and approval of marijuana related activities.

The council voted to appoint Councilor Erik Thomas, D-Ward 7, and Jay Coelho, D-Ward 5, to the city’s solid waste committee and took a first vote to amend the city’s public safety ordinance to institute a new public use permit policy for use of public space. Councilors also voted to adopt that policy.

Isgro read aloud a proclamation on behalf of the council, recognizing Jan. 20-26 as Waterville School Choice Week.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17


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