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Volume 217, No. 7
VISIT www.ALLOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, February 13, 2025
Newsstand Price $1
Common Council Approves Expenses, Shares Services, Debates Vision of City’s Future By MONICA CALZOLARI ONEONTA n Tuesday, February 4, the City of Oneonta Common Council met for more than two hours and covered a variety of topics in an agenda supported by 154 pages of detailed documentation. Council members approved warrants totaling $487,574.60.00 for payment by the finance director and authorized more than $280,000.00 in other expenses. The two largest expenses were $97,928.00 for a 2025 Kubota frontend loader and $73,322.00 for water treatment plant equipment. As a reminder, the City of Oneonta manages a $20 million budget. Its annual operating expenses exceed revenues. The $1.68 million deficit in the 2025 adopted budget is being funded with fund balances. In an e-mail response dated February 4, City Administrator Greg Mattice answered questions submitted ahead of the 6 p.m. meeting. He said, “The expenditures on tonight’s council agenda are included in the 2025 adopted budget. In some cases, the council must still approve certain contracts and/or funding from Restricted Reserves.” For example, the Kubota will be funded from the Highway Equipment Reserve. It will replace a 2016 front-end loader. Mattice added, “The loader is being purchased off a New York State contract, which is allowable per New York State law and city purchasing policy; essentially, bidding has already
O Library Lovers
Photo by Marla Russo
COOPERSTOWN—On Tuesday, February 4, the Cooperstown Rotary Foundation presented representatives of the Friends of the Village Library with a check for $1,000.00 to support the printing and distribution of the Welcome Home Cooperstown brochure. The presentation was made during a well-attended WHC gathering at Village Hall, which recognized February as Library Lovers’ Month with children’s story time and a proclamation by Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh. The gatherings will continue on the first Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at 22 Main Street. Welcome Home Cooperstown hosts monthly gatherings designed to bring together new area residents with longtime community members, to welcome them and assist them in building connections to established residents and institutions, and to encourage them to make the Cooperstown area their permanent home. Pictured above are: Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh, Cooperstown Rotary Foundation member Bertine McKenna, and Friends of the Library Board Members Lynne Mebust, Martha Membrino, and Karen Katz.
Restoration Funds Available SPRINGFIELD fter completing a successful first round of cemetery projects throughout Otsego County, the Otsego County Cemetery Restoration Fund has announced a second round of funding.
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INSIDE ► program to quit smoking offered at bassett, page 3
“The history of our county can be told through the people in our cemeteries—those who founded the towns and villages, who established farms, who built long-term businesses, and who fought a Revolutionary War,” offiContinued on page 9
been done by New York State and we are piggybacking on the state contract to buy this equipment.” Chris Yacobucci, director of Public Works, explained the necessity of the $73,322.00 equipment purchase. He said that the city creates its own chlorine. According to a Finance and Human Resources Committee report dated January 30, the Water Treatment Plant utilizes a proprietary chlorine disinfectant generation system called MIOX. There are two MIOX units at the plant for redundancy, with each used for one month at a time on an alternating basis. One unit was replaced in 2024. The older unit has been in use for more than 16,000 hours. The manufacturer advises that the average life span for a cell is approximately 10,000 hours. On February 4, the Common Council gave its consent for the City of Oneonta to enter into a two-year agreement with Rt. 23 Associates, the owner of Southside Mall, to continue to allow Oneonta Public Transit buses to pick up and drop off riders at the mall. The city will receive $7,660.00 in revenue per year as part of this agreement. Mattice explained, “This is a negotiated amount that the mall owners agreed to pay….They recognize the value of public transit coming to their front door. This contract, and others like it, benefit OPT by supplementing the income generated from fares and state/federal reimbursements for ridership/mileage.” Mattice provided a history of OPT Continued on page 8
Milford’s Menagerie: The MCS 2025 Capital Project By BILL BELLEN
MILFORD estled neatly between the rolling hills of Oneonta and the baseball-infused ► malonE: distribution Americana of Cooperstown lies and wealth, page 4 the quaint Village of Milford. This is the proud home of ► lwv holds workshop Milford Central School, where on running for public office, page 4 342 students commute across the district to enrich and enhance their ► buttermann throws hat education. in the ring for oneonta However, as anyone who has mayoral post, page 6 been to the school knows, the ► a bonfire of invasives? physical quality of this educamaybe! page 6 tional facility has begun to wane in recent years. This is the driving Follow Breaking News On Photo by Bill Bellen motive behind the district’s highly Milford Central School District Superintendent Kristen Shearer sat anticipated capital project; an down recently to discuss the district’s capital project. initiative intent on bringing new ► LSU Prof To Speak on Rural, small town usa, page 3
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life to this upstate community. Windows with broken seals seep wintry air and chill classrooms. Kitchen utilities predate the building they reside in. Ventilation is inadequate and outdated. These issues will all be addressed in energy-saving measures via the capital project, providing a more insolated building with technology that will make possible a variety of new meal options for Milford’s dedicated cafeteria staff to prepare. Upgrades and refurbishments are also planned in the performing arts center and the upper playground, giving students revitalized environments in which to play and perform. “I gotta tell you, the bus garage Continued on page 9
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S AWARD-WINNING WEEKLIES 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD