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Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, November 28, 2024
Volume 17, No. 5
Newsstand Price $1
Residents Oppose Tax Hike, Request More Transparency By MONICA CALZOLARI
T Photo provided
The proposed viewing platform at the terminus of Pioneer Street would be cantilevered over the Otsego Lake seawall, suspended by precast concrete piers, and would feature brick pavers, plantings, benches, and informational signage.
Viewing Platform Project Plans On Hold By DARLA M. YOUNGS
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COOPERSTOWN iscussion of the proposed Lakefront Park viewing platform project has been tabled for the time being, following Monday night’s informational meeting, led by Delta Engineer Director of Landscape Architecture Michael Haas, and the subsequent Village Board meeting. Haas reviewed plans for the platform, which was to be installed at the northern terminus of Pioneer Street, in Lakefront Park. The plans received push back from members of the public as well as some village trustees. The project was conceptualized about eight years ago as a result of public input, Tillapaugh told Iron String Press, including INSIDE ► the return of voices of cooperstown, page 2 ► Top journalist speaks on 2024 election, page 3
the 2018 Parks Survey circulated via the village newsletter and numerous public charrettes for the 2016 Comprehensive Plan, which emphasized the need for greater ADA-compliant accessibility and access to Otsego Lake via Lakefront Park for non-boaters, including a walking/fishing pier. “The public put a great deal of priority on recreation,” Tillapaugh said Monday night. “There is an entire section in the Comp Plan on Lakefront Park.” “During the course of these meetings, we got tons of feedback,” Tillapaugh added. According to Tillapaugh, there was a lot of support for a long pier, “but a pier is not something we want there, it’s too much. We wanted something that was ADA compliant and complemented the
Cemetery Gate Restoration Gets Underway This Week By CASPAR EWIG
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FLY CREEK s of Tuesday, November 26, the ► being informed: whose first steps to refurbish the Fly duty is it? page 4 Creek Valley Cemetery gate have been undertaken. Jeffrey McCormack, a ► roos: c-town small in local contractor, has removed the existing more ways than one, gate and taken it to his premises to repair page 4 and restore various damaged parts, as well ► 1994 CCS grad receives as to clean and renew the entire structure. fetterman award, page 6 Restoration is expected to be completed by spring 2025 and a dedication ceremony for ► Tourney raises funds eventual reinstallation of the gate is planned for hospice, page 6 for the 150th anniversary of the founding of ► dickensian-style stroll the cemetery on July 14, 2025. planned at hall, page 7 “Although the gate definitely needed refurbishing,” Christine Olsen, president of Follow Breaking News On the Fly Creek Valley Cemetery Association, said, “the impetus of undertaking the restoration at this time was that we received a
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[Lake and Valley Garden Club] buffer strip.” A planning grant from New York State Parks and Historic Preservation written in 2018 paid for consultant Haas and, in 2023, the planning grant was closed out and the village applied for a construction grant in July 2023 through the state’s Consolidated Funding Application. A public hearing on the project was held in December 2023. There is no contract as yet— the village is just putting the pieces in place, Tillapaugh said. During his presentation, which included project schematics and renderings, Haas said the viewing platform design concept took into consideration the size of the overlook, materials to be used, consistency with the village’s Continued on page 10
ONEONTA he November 19 Oneonta Common Council meeting attracted about 25 concerned citizens, the equivalent of a full house. There were 20 motions on the agenda. The council debated various issues for more than four hours. Just before 10 p.m., the council approved the proposed 2025 budget and voted to exceed the tax cap. By this time, only three members of the audience remained. Two were city employees, Brian Knapp, the fire chief, and Chris Yacobucci, director of Public Works. These meetings are livestreamed for remote viewing and recorded for anyone to watch after the fact at https:// www.youtube.com/user/CityOfOneonta/library. Mayor Mark Drnek preempted some of the public’s concerns with a speech near the beginning of the meeting, which started about 6 p.m. He addressed the vacancy of the Seventh Ward Common Council seat. The seat was vacated in September by Bryce Wooden. Mayor Drnek recommended Michael Forster-Rothbart on November 19, weeks after his first nomination was rejected. Forster-Rothbart has lived in Oneonta for 15 years and has owned his home in the Seventh Ward since 2011. “Mike currently serves the city as a member of the Environmental Board. He’s also a member of the Oneonta Greenway Committee, and I think, importantly, he worked on the city’s Comprehensive Plan,” Drnek said of Forster-Rothbart. “He is also keenly aware of the city’s increasing difficulties funding and maintaining its quality of life and understands how that complicates efforts of recruitment and the support of our economy…He is committed to this city’s future and would relish the opportunity to play a part in placing it on a path to success.” There are eight wards in the City of Oneonta repreContinued on page 9
Photo by Caspar Ewig
Gate restoration is expected to be completed by spring 2025.
$5,000.00 grant from the [Community Foundation of Otsego County] Otsego County Cemetery Restoration Fund. This fund supports the preservation and historic quality of Otsego County cemeteries.” However, as Walter Dusenbery, cemetery association treasurer, noted, “The cost of restoration is estimated at $13,500.00, so we are embarking on a campaign to raise the additional funds.” The original gate was manufactured by the Page Woven Wire Fence Company of Michigan and was a part of an extensive gate and fence system. “The exact date of installation is unknown,” said cemetery sexton Wesley Ciampo, “but in a conversation with a descendant of the company’s founder, it is estimated to have been installed around the turn of the century.” Continued on page 10
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S AWARD-WINNING WEEKLIES 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
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