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08 - 2024
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Trustees Pondering Culverts, ‘Heroes’ Banners, Sign Law By KRISTIAN CONNOLLY
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COOPERSTOWN he two mostdiscussed topics at the Cooperstown Village Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, August 26 had trustees looking both low and high across the village landscape. On the one hand was an issue related to amending a Special Use Permit in order to allow the construction of dwellings over a stream and culvert on a private property in the village. On the other hand was whether to pursue a request made by interested parties to update village law in order to allow signs to be hung from utility poles in the village. While neither matter was ultimately decided by the trustees on Monday, both will be the subject of future board meetings and/or public hearings, beginning with the next meeting on Monday, September 23. With regard to the proposed construction project over the stream, a INSIDE ► oneontan a coach at paralympics, page 2 ► hunters can qualify for ammo rebate, page 3 ► animal welfare orgs work together, page 3 ► Olympics, DemocracY and Patriotism, page 4 ► lots of letters, page 4 ► ayres talks about CBOs, funding, page 5 ► end-of-summer events abound, pages 8-9 ► places to go and people to see, page 12 Follow Breaking News On
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Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, August 29, 2024
Volume 16, No. 44
request has been made by the owners of 28 Railroad Avenue—The Railroad Inn—to add three twostory dwelling units to the property. The proposed site for the new construction is over Willow Brook and a culvert on the property. A site assessment by local engineering firm Hermann Engineering made several recommendations, including for foundation construction to protect the culvert in the future; pre-construction replacement of the existing culvert due to its current condition; and for the village to have an easement for future maintenance access. A public hearing on the subject opened and closed without comment, setting the clock at 62 days for the trustees to reach a decision. The trustees then held a lengthy discussion, primarily focused on three questions: ownership of the culvert; where the responsibility lies, or should lie, for maintenance of the culvert; and whether a water course located on private property in the village is something for which the village can claim ultimate rights and paramount interest to control it. A forthcoming study from the Army Corps of Engineers will help to clarify whether it is advisable for the project to proceed in its proposed location (i.e., to build structures over a stream and culvert), but in the meantime, the trustees agreed—after agreeing to disagree for now on who exactly has ownership and responsibility for the culvert—to bring the issue to the village Planning Board and also discuss the project again, with the village attorney in attendance, at the Continued on page 6
County Offers Advice on Safe Bat Handling By KRISTIAN CONNOLLY
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Photo by Teresa Winchester
Congressman Marc Molinaro, Senator Peter Oberacker, Otsego Land Trust Executive Director Gregory Farmer and Otsego County Conservation Association Executive Director Amy Wyant exhange ideas and information regarding the 668-acre property in Milford formerly known as the Camp Henderson Scout Reservation. The property has been available for purchase since 2022.
Parties Meet To Consider Uses for, Conservation of Former Boy Scout Camp By TERESA WINCHESTER
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MILFORD ome 20 representatives from Otsego County environmental organizations, governmental bodies and agencies, and Boy Scout-related personnel gathered on August 23 at the former Camp Henderson Scout Reservation on Crumhorn Lake in the Town of Milford. They were joined by U.S. Congressman Marc Molinaro (R-19th District) and State Senator Peter Oberacker (R,C-51st Senate District). All parties were seeking a harmonic convergence to ensure the conservation of the 668-acre former scout camp, one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land remaining in Otsego County. The extensive acreage features abundant woodlands, 63 acres of wetlands and more than 11,000 feet of frontage on New York State Department of Environmental Conservation classified streams. It is also immediately adjacent to the Susquehanna State Forest. Also part of the package are numerous buildings, including a 10,000-squarefoot dining hall in good condition, a tower for rock climbing, a craft building and 20-30 other structures, in varying states of repair and suitable for different uses. The land, owned by Leatherstocking Council BSA, was put on the market in 2022 as a result of collateral damage resulting from multiple sexual abuse lawsuits, which led the Boy Scouts of America to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2020. Other factors such as poor camp attendance, camp condition, and a denial of an “Intent to Operate” also played a part in the decision to sell. The asking price is $6.9 million, with no constraints as to how the property can be sold, subdivided or used. The meet-up was organized by the Otsego Land Trust to provide Continued on page 10
OTSEGO COUNTY n the region known as the home of baseball, it’s not surprising to find some concern about how some folks are handling their bats. But we’re not talking about swinging lumber on the ballfield. We’re talking about everyone’s favorite flying mammal: Vespertilionidae, or the common bat. And what’s alarming, according to the Otsego County Department of Health, is that this year’s rise in county residents being started on a post-exposure vaccination course for rabies can be linked to one factor in particular: Residents do not know the proper way to handle a bat. In data last updated August 20, the county health department reports that it “has started 50 individuals on Rabies Post Exposure Prophylaxis (vaccination).” Laura Bryant, LPN, is the rabies coordinator for the county health department’s immunization program. Bryant said that while the number of animal samples collected in the county and being sent out for rabies testing is on par with other years, there does feel like there’s been a noticeable uptick in the number of humans being treated for possible rabies exposure. Treatment involves a four-shot regimen given over a two-week period, with the first shot boosted with immunoglobulin to help the immune system. “The 50 doses of ‘post-exposure’ are because we have not been able to test an animal, or we had a sample that was unsatisfactory, so for safety reasons [we start the vaccination course],” said Bryant, who also noted that there have been no recorded cases in the county of a human contracting rabies. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bats are statistically the most commonly reported animals to have rabies, and that most people in the U.S. who die of rabies were exposed to a bat with rabies. In an effort to combat potential human and pet exposure to a possibly infected bat, the Otsego County Rabies Information and Statistics webpage directs people to an informative, threeminute, 10-second video produced by the Minnesota Department of Health about how you can safely remove a bat from your living space. The short version of how to safely collect a bat: Don’t panic, don’t grab any tools or sporting goods to try to kill Continued on page 2
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