MIDDLETOWN, VA- It was nearly a year ago that the Middletown government was rattled by the resignation of its Mayor, Town Attorney and two Council Members. Town officials say they're now recovering from that rough patch.

"We want to show people that we're here for the long term," says Middletown Mayor, Charles Harbaugh. "We want to be there for you. We want to have the same people, the same team working on these things for three, four, five, six years to come."

The latest sign of recovery was Monday's re-appointment of former Town Attorney David Griffin, who left the position last year.

"We've been advertising for a town attorney for a few months now and David Griffin agreed to come back and work for the town of Middletown," Harbaugh says. "We're pretty excited about it because it gives us the opportunity to answer our legal questions that we've had for quite some time, and it gives us a stable position in the future to work with."

The Middletown Mayor says the town is finally on a more productive path again. And, with a Town Attorney back in office, he's optimistic they will continue moving forward to better finances and legal planning.

"We're working with a comprehensive plan and possibly a boundary adjustment in Middletown," Harbaugh says. "We need a lawyer on the staff for those types of questions."

Town officials hope that after years of delay on their comprehensive plan, they are now gaining traction all around to get it done.

"We're getting stuff accomplished," Harbaugh says. "We cut the budget last year $200,000. Financially, we're fixing things in the long term with that. We're making repairs and improvements to the town and I think that he's seeing that Middletown has improved its stance."

David Griffin declined to comment on his re-appointment.