Sag Harbor - With the trees and flowers finally blooming, and warm weather just weeks away, Sag Harbor is once again flourishing with activity, as stores reopen, restaurants set up outside seating, and boats begin to refill the marinas and harbor. Earlier this week Hamptons.com sat down with Sag Harbor Village Mayor Brian Gilbride to discuss the state of Sag Harbor as we enter the busy summer season, as well as to discuss the various issues facing the village now and into the future.

How would you rate the economic growth and potential growth for the Village of Sag Harbor in 2010 and headed into 2011?

Brian Gilbride: We are suffering just like any other Village or municipality is suffering with the way things are going throughout the country. I think Sag Harbor is a survivor and I believe that we're about built out here. I think the survivor instinct in many of the people and businesses in Sag Harbor means that we hold our own. I'm not saying that we're better than others but we do hold our own.

What do you consider to be the top three most pressing issues facing the Village of Sag Harbor at this time?

BG: One of the top issues facing Sag Harbor is keeping the Village the way it is. I am lucky enough that I was born and raised here, and this village today is very similar to when I was much younger. The second item I would say is taking care of a couple of environmental issues. We've had a pretty big cleanup of Keyspan and National Grid behind town. We are in the process of cleaning up a drainage ditch after having two years of studies done. We're going to be getting a filtering system for that. We take great pride in cleaning up the bays all around Sag Harbor; we participate with the pump out boats so we've done a lot in the cleaning of the environment around Sag Harbor and in the harbor and bays. We're very proud of that. Thirdly, we've had five long time employees of the Village retire. The long time superintendent of highways retired, the long time village clerk administrator retired, the long time maintenance person retired, the long time person in the building department person retired, and one other custodian retired. At the end of the day we've had a lot of institutional knowledge leave and we're in the process of learning again. Luckily or unluckily, I've been here 17 years as a trustee, as a deputy mayor, and currently as mayor. I've also been a fire chief. I'm a 43-year member of the fire department; I've worked for the highway department and did many other things. I've been around a long time and that means that I can sometimes remember things that help other people out around here, and sometimes we have to do a little rooting to find it.

Are there any future projects planned for the Village Sag Harbor that will directly effect business owners?

BG: I will say that we try to work very hard with both the Chamber of Commerce and the business district. For example, this year with the terrible winter we had, this village never closed down this winter. We had the streets plowed, we had Main Street open every morning at 8 a.m., and we had snow removed. The staff did an excellent job; Village Hall was open every day except one.

Are there any plans in place to increase visitor and tourist dollars to the Village that haven't been attempted in the past?

BG: By the Village itself? No. We're a very friendly village, we have a lot of people come visit by boat and things like that, but that's more a Chamber of Commerce issue. All I can say is that it's difficult to find a parking space from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Sag Harbor is a great place to come down to. You can sit on Long Wharf, Marine Park, maybe even Long Beach! There are a lot of really nice things to do in walking distance to the restaurants.

Can you update us on any plans that are in the works for the Bulova Watch Factory?

BG: I wish I could. I can only tell you the rumor mill is that there are new developers very close to a deal. I wish I could tell everyone that something was going to happen there. Right now a lot of people are worried about that building maybe not being able to survive because of the winters we've had. Something is going to have to happen this year.

Is there an update on the completion of the condominiums at 21 Water Street in Sag Harbor?

BG: It would be good for the village. I've heard from the building department upstairs that they're going to start up again. We were told that if they do get started that they'd have less than three months worth of building or construction to finish the project. If that gets done and they have units available that would be great for the Village.