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Volume 15, No. 17
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AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE COMPLIMENTARY
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, February 9, 2023
Housing Project Goes Back to Drawing Board
CLOSES:
SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station Director Willard Harman confirmed Tuesday morning that Otsego Lake has frozen over. According to Dive Master Paul Lord, “I drove the length of the lake Saturday morning and it was frozen. It is unusual to see the lake freeze in one night. The lake was open Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. and frozen solid Saturday at 8 a.m.” TO BARN! In response to October’s call for assistance, David and Penny Wightman of Wightman’s Lumber have donated a barn on the famiPhoto by Joel Plue ly’s Crumhorn Mountain Back By Popular Demand property to Oneonta’s SwartWilcox House Museum. “It ONEONTA—“A Roadhouse Coup,” a movie about the notorious Eva Coo featuring is early 1800s with handlocal dignitaries, will be screened at the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center hewn beams and wooden in a return performance on Saturday, February 25 and Sunday, February 26. Pictured nails,” wrote Helen. K.B. above are Ben Guenther, owner of Five Star Subaru and a star of the production, Rees, president of the Friends and Lori Kelly-Bailey, writer, producer, director of the production, and owner of of Swart-Wilcox. “It is still a Tandem Cage Productions. Visit www.foothillspac.org for tickets and information. solid upright structure and, when moved, will be both a meeting room and a storage area for the SW collection.” FUNDS RAISED: More than $12,500.00 was raised at the January 29 auction held in preparation for the Paul Landers To Step Down; Oversaw Major Program 25th annual Goodyear Lake Polar Bear Jump on February and Facilities Development Over 15-Year Tenure 18. To learn more about the EDMESTON he has helped Pathfinder jump, visit pbjump.com or aul C. Landers, successfully navigate call (607) 286-7101. M.Ed., Coopersthese challenges as well as town, will retire as those incurred through the INSIDE the president and chief execCOVID-19 pandemic.” ► deer overpopulation being utive officer of Pathfinder A Search Committee of addressed, page 2 Village, according to an board members, parents, and announcement released trustees from the Village’s ► help name the ‘reading rabbit’ at village library of earlier this week by William Foundation Board has been cooperstown during Library F. Streck, MD, the chair of convened and started its Week, page 3 Pathfinder Village’s Board search, focusing on execu► free roaming, unaltered of Directors. A leader in tive-level candidates with cats a real problem, hurry to the human services field for expertise in healthcare, the Community Cat Forum four decades, Pathfinder intellectual disabilities, and page 5 Village is a livable communon-profit organizations. ► maintain heart health, be nity and service provider Landers will remain in his aware of strokes, page 8 Photo provided role through a successful that offers diverse residen► mental health in rural PAUL C. LANDERS transition of leadership. communities,an18-monthstudy tial, educational, vocational, health, enrichment, and lectual disabilities field, “Working on behalf of synopsis, page 8 other programs to people and for expanding commu- Pathfinder Village has with Down syndrome and nity-based options that been a great honor, and Follow Breaking News On people with disabilities more than just a job,” said other disabilities. “The Board of Directors, may access in all areas of Landers. “My work with the OTSEGO.com families, individuals and their lives,” said Dr. Streck. boards, staff and families friends of Pathfinder are “During Paul’s tenure, has advanced Pathfinder’s grateful to Mr. Landers for there have been significant mission so it offers relevant, his 15-years of service, for changes in programs and diverse services to individhis leadership in the intel- public funding for services; Continued on page 7
Pathfinder Village Announces Retirement of Long-time CEO
P
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ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Presstime Newsbites LAKE
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wn on o t
Changes in disturbed acreage, litigation stall project plans By CASPAR EWIG
COOPERSTOWN urther development of the proposed Bassett Hospital Averill Road housing project, for which the Cooperstown Board of Trustees had issued a special permit on January 5, has been stalled due to litigation instituted by adjacent property owners. On January 18, 2023, Michael Swatling and Carolyn O’Brien filed a petition in the Madison County Supreme Court in which they alleged that the Cooperstown Board of Trustees applied an incorrect standard when analyzing the project’s environmental impact in light of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. In their complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that the project should have been classified as a “Type 1 Action” since it is being constructed in the Glimmerglass Historic District. Instead, the village evaluated the project and issued its special permit as an “Unlisted Action,” and this improper designation requires that the special
F
permit be annulled, the petition contends. One of the factors determining whether a project is a Type 1 or an Unlisted Action is the acreage that will be disturbed during the construction phase of the project. When a project such as the present construction of multiple housing falls in a district with an historical designation and expects to disturb or substantially alter more than 2.5 acres, then it is defined as a Type 1 Action. When the Templeton Foundation originally presented its project to the village, it was represented to only physically alter 1.37 acres. “Upon further review by the contractor of the project, the plan which the village approved exceeded the 2.5-acre threshold,” Martin Tillapaugh, attorney for the Village of Cooperstown, explained, “and there was no point in continuing the litigation. Thus, I—as counsel for the village—and the counsel for Templeton and the plaintiffs, stipulated that the litigation would be Continued on page 7
HUD Funds To Combat Area Homelessness OFO Receives $716,456.00 By TED MEBUST
T
ONEONTA he U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a $1,162,978.00 commitment to two area homeless housing and services organizations, Opportunities for Otsego in Otsego County and Catholic Charities of Chenango County, on Thursday, February 2. OFO received $716,456.00
while the CCCC received $446,522.00. Alicka Ampry-Samuel, HUD regional administrator Region II, New York and New Jersey, presented the grants to organizational representatives Dan Maskin, chief executive officer of OFO, and Robin Cotter, CCCC executive director, in conjunction with William Rivera, OFO crisis intervention director and president of Continued on page 7
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD