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Volume 216, No. 49
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dick white tournament coming up, page 10 VISIT www.ALLOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, December 19, 2024
Newsstand Price $1
Richards Avenue: One Year After December 9 Gas Explosion By TERESA WINCHESTER and ROBERT BENSEN
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ONEONTA ecember 9, 2024 marked the one-year anniversary of the gas explosion at 18 Richards Avenue in the Town of Oneonta. The house was blown to smithereens and took the life of its sole resident, Desmond Moan. Other homes and lives were also shattered that December night. Just after 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 10, via a media release, Otsego County Sheriff Richard J. Devlin Jr. announced that the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control, assisted by his own office, had determined that the cause of the explosion was accidental, resulting from human error. At a public meeting held Monday, December 18, at the Town of Oneonta’s town hall, Otsego County Undersheriff Cameron Allison shared the determination that Moan had discharged a firearm within the house, damaging a branch of the residential gas line and resulting in a gas leak. The ignition source was said to
Photos by Teresa Winchester
Polly and Charles Bailey stand in front of their Christmas tree at 15 Richards Avenue on December 9—one year to the day after a gas explosion at 18 Richards Avenue had forced them to live elsewhere for 12 months (left). Father Paul Hamilton, Rector-in-Charge of St. James Episcopal Church in Oneonta, performs a blessing of the Bailey home on Richards Avenue (right).
be the furnace in Moan’s basement. Most Richards Avenue residents interviewed doubt that claim. No one heard a gunshot. The investigation is now in the hands of the New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. Four pages of records released to Iron String Press in April revealed no substantive information. The requested $8.00 payment for a 32-page report was sent to DHSES on December 5 but, at this writing, the report has not been provided to representatives of this paper. Between 15 and 25 people were displaced immediately after the explosion, according to Patricia Leonard, executive director of Family Services Association of Oneonta. Some took refuge at a motel for a few days; others were displaced longer, and some have still not returned to their homes. Insurance, contracting, and inspection issues have delayed repair and reconstruction for all impacted by the disaster. According to Paul Neske, codes officer for the Town of Otsego, all Continued on page 12
Viewing Platform Scrapped; Funds Redirected to Fairy Spring Park By DARLA M. YOUNGS
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COOPERSTOWN ollowing strong public opposition regarding the Village of Cooperstown’s proposed viewing platform at the northern terminus of Pioneer Street, and a call from residents for increased transparency from village leadership, village officials have decided not to proceed with the project. According to Cooperstown INSIDE ► the timelessness of vintage clothing, page 2 ► rules of civility ensure democracy, page 4 ► derosa: prognosis for mankind? page 4 ► letters question policy reversal, page 4 ► dostal: ‘not retired, but rewired’, page 5 ► mccaffery’s loss is our loss, page 6 ► berkson: A tale of christmas past, page 6 ► holiday fun! page 12 Follow Breaking News On
Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh, the proposed viewing platform—some eight years in the making—was conceptualized as a result of public input, including the village’s 2018 Parks Survey 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. “It was from the [Comprehensive] Plan and the survey that the idea of an accessible, ADA-compliant viewing platform arose,” Tillapaugh said. “As a result, the village applied in 2018 for a planning grant for the development of the concept, which will provide better visual and pedestrian access to waterfront within the Village of Cooperstown for non‐boaters
of all ages and abilities.” Discussion of the proposed Lakefront Park viewing platform project had been tabled temporarily following a November 25 public informational meeting led by Delta Engineer Director of Landscape Architecture Michael Haas. Haas reviewed plans for the platform, which was to be installed in Lakefront Park. The plans received push back from members of the public as well
as some village trustees. On Tuesday, December 17, Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh confirmed that the viewing platform is no longer under consideration. “Accessibility for all users of the village’s six public parks is a desired goal of village leadership,” Tillapaugh said in an e-mail on Tuesday. “In light of the strong opposition to the Lakefront viewing platform, Continued on page 11
Shopping at the Last Minute? Check Out Cooperstown By SARAH ROBERTS
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COOPERSTOWN ain Street Cooperstown and the surrounding avenues are lined with small, local businesses that give the village its distinctive flavor and identity. While in the summer these shops bustle with visiting baseball teams, Hall of Fame goers, those drawn to Glimmerglass State Park and others, in the winter months their main clientele is locals from Cooperstown and other nearby communi-
ties. At no time is this local focus more prominent than at Christmas time—with special deals for shoppers, community decorating and visits from Santa Claus. Alessandra Paul, operations and marketing coordinator for the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, listed some of the many retail businesses Cooperstown has to offer when it comes to shopping locally this holiday season, including J. Gorman Fine Jewelry, Mohican Flowers, and Photo by Sarah Roberts a variety of baseball, The window of LJ’s Sassy Boutique has been compared to those on New York City’s famous Continued on page 13 Fifth Avenue.
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S AWARD-WINNING WEEKLIES 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD