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VISIT www. Volume 215, No. 39
AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, September 28, 2023
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Village Reviews Application from Templeton Foundation Averill Road Project Back for Second Look By DARLA M. YOUNGS COOPERSTOWN ollowing two lawsuits and 90 minutes of oral argument in Madison County Supreme Court in April, Templeton Foundation has resubmitted plans for its proposed multi-residential project on Averill Road and is once again seeking the issuance of a Special Use Permit by the Cooperstown Board of Trustees. Trustees met Monday night, September 25 to, among other actions, review materials submitted for the Averill Road project. Templeton Foundation attorney Matt Hamlin was accompanied by project team members, who gave a presentation to the board which included review of the project site plan, an overview of the housing units, and the result of work to date with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Gas and Electric and other entities. Aside from village representatives and the project team, only five people attended the meeting. Hamlin reminded trustees at the outset that the project had been halted seven months ago due to a “technicality of SEQRA [State Environmental
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Three new fenced-in areas of Wilber Park are deer exclosures.
Exclosures Help Demonstrate Impact of Deer Overbrowsing By SANDRA BRIGHT ONEONTA s you stroll through Wilber Park in Oneonta, you may notice three new fenced-in areas, small enough to beg the question of purpose. These are deer exclosures, meant to monitor and show the impacts on the environment of overbrowsing by white-tailed deer. The park has seen a great deal of damage from an exploding population of deer in recent years. As older trees die a natural death, there should be young saplings, one- to five-feet tall, rising to take their place, but overbrowsing destroys many and stunts the growth of others. Hemlock trees look sickly, with few needles left. Local botanists suggest that spring
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INSIDE ► local bass fisherman wins tourney, page 2 ► Book recounts greek migrant crisis, page 3 ► clerk race dominates letters TO THE EDITOR, page 4 ► hats off to community foundations, page 4 ► aging population an issue statewide, page 5 ► local sports SCORES AND updates, page 6 ► New financial section, page 6 Follow Breaking News On
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wildflowers such as trillium and bloodroot are being eaten before they can bear fruit, often before they can bloom. Hungry deer, competing for dwindling resources, browse on less-desirable food like beech tree leaves and mayapple. Other signs of deer overpopulation are the expanding areas of ferns and invasive plants, and smaller trees with no foliage below 4-5 feet (the height most deer can easily reach). What would the forest look like without such overbrowsing? Over the coming months and years, the area inside the exclosure will recover and show what could be growing if not for the deer. The area outside the fence can be compared to what grows within as the deer population is reduced to a sustainable level. The public location Continued on page 12
Quality Review Act] classification.” Misclassification of the project by trustees and subsequent issuance of a Special Use Permit in January led to the first of two lawsuits filed by attorney Douglas Zamelis on behalf of clients Michael Swatling and Carolyn O’Brien, who alleged that the Cooperstown Board of Trustees applied an incorrect standard when analyzing the project’s environmental impact and that the project should have been classified as a “Type 1 Action” since it is being constructed in the Glimmerglass Historic District. According to NYSDEC, “Classification of an action as Type I requires that the review move on to the next step—determination of significance— positive or negative. Those actions identified on the Type I list carry the presumption that they will result in at least one significant adverse impact on the environment. Therefore, the likelihood of an involved agency issuing a positive declaration is greater than for other actions. A positive declaration requires the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement.” Hamlin said Templeton could have reapplied immediately, but “the owner Continued on page 12
Major’s Inn Gearing Up for Annual Quilt Show GILBERTSVILLE titch in Time’’ is the theme of this year’s quilt show, mounted annually at the Major’s Inn in Gilbertsville. It will take place October 6-8. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Lunch will be available each day from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. More than 300 quilts, featuring both traditional and contemporary designs, will be fully displayed in this year’s show. A number of vintage quilts will also be on view. The show’s featured quilter is Lucy Kise of Laurens, who has been quilting for more than 50 years. A native of Hope, New Jersey, Kise belonged to the both the Evening Star and Pocono Mountain quilters before moving to Laurens with her husband in 2012. Kise then joined the Susquehanna Valley Quilters. While still in New Jersey, Kise participated in quilt retreats, which sometimes involved piecing together a “mystery quilt.” For this project, participants would Continued on page 11
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The Averill Road project, as proposed, would include both apartments and townhomes to house Bassett Medical Center workers.
Remembering Former Mayor Wendell Tripp
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COOPERSTOWN ormer Village of Cooperstown Mayor Wendell Tripp passed away last week at the age of 95. Tripp served as mayor from 19962001 and was a fixture for many years in village government. Current Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh and Jeff Katz and Carol Waller, also former mayors, share their thoughts on his passing: As mayor, Wendell brought an intelligent and witty approach to all village discussions. I recall one speech he gave at the Fire Hall, probably around 1999, for what was then known as the Annual Inspection Day and Clambake. He
lauded the volunteers for their service and extemporized for about 10 minutes about the life of Thomas Jefferson and his service to our nation. I suspected it was the first time that a history lesson on Thomas Jefferson had ever been delivered at the fire hall. He also brought his wit to the writing of the “Village Voices,” which 23 years ago tended to be one page, and very different from today’s “Village Voices.” With regard to a noise ordinance proposed in 2000, he uses lines like: “The Board does not pass local laws whimsically.” The noise ordinance Continued on page 13
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