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Volume 14, No. 19
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ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch State says “gifting” pot is a no-no, page 2
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AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE COMPLIMENTARY
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, February 10, 2022
Cooperstown CSD sets anti-bullying, anti-racism agenda Ted Potrikus
Tara Barnwell
Telly in her element Telly couldn’t have been happier than to get on the ice and snow that fell on Cooperstown last week. The two-year-old Bernedoodle enjoyed playing and relaxing on the snowbank in front of her mom’s shop on Main Street. Jen Howard, owner of Cooperstown Classics, said, “Telly lives for this weather. It’s her favorite time of year!” The good girl is full-grown, topping out at 75 pounds. INSIDE ►LAST OF THE DEERSLAYER?: Fenimore leader, historians, school board weigh future of Cooper murals, page 3.. ►OH THAT LOOKS GREAT ... ON YOU!: Cooperstown resident looking for best costumes in 2021 movies, page 12 . ►OPERA HONORS THREE: Glimmerglass Festival names three lifetime trustees, page 12.. ►A FEW THOUGHTS ON IMPORTANT THINGS: Our columnists this week unsubscribe from Spotify, think the D.A. has it right, consider COVID in Otsego County, cherish a good saunter through the desert southwest, examine childcare challenges, and think about CBD for dogs. Pages 4, 5, and 6. Follow Breaking News On
AllOTSEGO.com
Cooperstown Central School Superintendent Sarah Spross says she and the district’s Board of Education are moving quickly to address student-raised complaints about bullying and racism on school grounds as they investigate complaints parents have raised about school leadership. “Any complaint that has been brought to my attention has been investigated,” Ms. Spross said. “Personnel matters at any level demand complete confidentiality. We know people want action or an immediate response whenever a complaint is raised, but that’s just not the way it works.” Board of Education President Timothy Hayes said the Board and school administrators follow a specific process in matters involving personnel. “The Board of Education is bound by a volume of rules and laws on how to deal with situations like complaints, and it is a process,” Mr. Hayes said. “I’m not always certain that people understand that. Some issues won’t be solved in an instant and we owe it to everyone to follow the process that is laid out for us by state law.” Explaining that the Board discusses personnel matters in Executive Session closed to the public, Mr. Hayes said, “An Executive Session duly called is the end of the feedback loop. We’re prohibited by law from discussing what we’ve said and decided in Executive Session. I cannot go back to a person who raised an issue and say, ‘Here’s what we discussed and here’s the outcome.’ It’s just not possible.” “This is not a Board of Education that sweeps things under the rug,” he said. “There is not a person on this Board that backs down if people believe that the delivery of education is being denied.” “People have to trust the process and understand that we are asking all of the questions that need to be asked,” Mr. Hayes said. Continued on page 7
Doubleday renovation picks up again in spring Doubleday Field might be blocks away from the Baseball Hall of Fame but the two stand side-byside as Cooperstown’s marquis attractions. Unlike the Hall of Fame, however, the iconic Field is Village property and long in need of extensive repair and updating. Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh continues to move forward with renovations she says will return the site to its former glory. “Doubleday Field will have a lot more plusses for Village residents, tourists, and teams that rent the field,” she said in a discussion with The Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta. “This is a funding stream for Cooperstown. That’s only one reason to keep it up.” A 2017 planning document listed a variety of problems demanding attention: a need for on-site locker facilities, concession stands, and accessible, modern bathrooms;
fix a drainage system so heavily blocked it causes otherwise avoidable rain-outs; address Willow Brook running directly beneath the first-base bleachers; fix structurally unsound third-base bleachers; create a safer pedestrian approach to the Field through an active and busy parking lot; build seating compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Despite pandemic delays, crews completed the first phases of renovation in 2020 — with a renovated parking lot featuring improved pedestrian access, the demolition of the third-base bleachers, renovation of the historic 1939 grandstand, and, among other projects, covering Willow Brook to protect it from litter tossed from the firstbase bleachers. Still on the agenda: finishing the third-base building that will house locker rooms. The venue has remained open for rental throughout the major renova-
tion project, except for the summer of 2020 when COVID restrictions shut down team sports activities. Mayor Tillapaugh credited her predecessor, Jeff Katz, for spearheading the original Doubleday
Field renovations during his time in office. With an original price tag of $5.8 million, construction began in 2019 but hit some snags – including “soil Continued on page 7
The new structure in the works along Doubleday Field’s third-base line will house locker facilities and other amenities when it opens later this year.
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
