REMEMBER TO
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OTE!
POLLS OPEN 6 A.M.-9 P.M. TUESDAY, NOV. 3 CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRES ON WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
E RE
F Volume 8, No. 4
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, October 30, 2015
Herzig’s Hopes: Jobs, Housing For All expected to affirm SEE VIDEOS ON ALLOTSEGO.COM his appointment
By DON MATHISEN ONEONTA
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he new mayor of Oneonta embraces the bold vision of turning the old D&H rail yards into a high-tech manufacturing district. In an interview days before the uncontested Thursday, Nov. 3, election
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Mason and Logan Stahl, Oneonta, brought the jungle inside as a triceratops and a lion at the Southside Mall’s annual Mall-O-Ween on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Partners Plan Park In Tribute To Dick Miller
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ity Hall, Cleinman Performance Partners and New Asbury Gardens are planning a park at Lettis Highway and Main Street as a tribute to Oneonta’s late Mayor Richard Miller. The park will include year-’round plantings, a walkway, benches, and a sculpture garden. Construction on the park, planned by New Asbury’s Brian Fawcett, will begin in the spring. COVERING COSTS: City Hall would be eligible for $415,000 to help cover police and emergency services provided to SUNY Oneonta students if a bill in the state Legislature passes, state Sen. Jim Seward, RMilford, has advised city officials. HELP THE NEEDY: The Food vs Fuel Project, led by retired SUNY Oneonta sociologist Sheila Serbay, is once again seeking donations in hopes of providing three months of meals to needy seniors countywide. Contact sheila.serbay@oneonta.edu or Box 155 Oneonta, NY 13820. Deliveries begin in December. FALL BACK: Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. Turn your clocks back one hour.
Complimentary
Herzig
last month to the city’s top job, Mayor Gary Herzig said job creation is his “number one priority … And our best opportunity is development of the rail yards.” Herzig is working with the Otsego Now, the former county IDA, to lure manufacturing and Please See HERZIG, B7
CONTESTED ONEONTA RACES ► For Common Council Ward I: Maureen Hennessy vs. Paul Van der Sommen Ward 4: Jeff Back vs. Laura Dohner vs. Michelle Osterhoudt Ward 5: Dana Marie Levinson vs. Madolyn Palmer ► For County Board District 4: Janet Hurley-Quackenbush vs. Andrew Stammel District 11: Gary Koutnik vs. James Phillips District 12: Craig Gelbsman vs. Amy HornburgHeilveil
FOR A LIST OF CANDIDATES COUNTYWIDE, SEE B4
Water Park Plan Due NEXT Month $160 Million Project Might Add 600 Jobs
MV500’s Plan Gives Details Of Investment Editor’s Note: Page 98 of the MV500 plan, “Sparking Transformation,” contained this description of the proposed local water park.
By JIM KEVLIN
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tsego Now has contracted with a consultant, Hotel & Leisure Advisors of Cleveland, ooperstown Destination Ohio, to complete a feasibilWaterpark: A Fourity study on a $160 million Season International indoor-outdoor waterpark Attraction. to be located somewhere Currently, Otsego County is working with a developer between Cooperstown and to construct a $160 Million Oneonta. indoor-outdoor waterpark The report may be combetween Cooperstown and plete within a month. Oneonta. “It’s fairly far along. The 400-suite resort They got a draft to us,” said – featuring 85,000-squareOtsego Now COO Elizabeth feet of indoor waterpark Horvath, adding, “There are and 43,000-square-feet of a number of properties that outdoor waterpark – expands have been identified, but the options for families staySix Flags photo none that have been anaing in the region for youth baseball camps, provides an Six Flags Great Escape Lodge in Lake George has a indoor water park of the lyzed.” Please See PLAN, A3 type being proposed in a $160 million indoor-outdoor water park between “This is the largest such Oneonta and Cooperstown. Please See PARK, A3
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Public Welcome At Planning Workshops
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tsego County strategic-planning consultants are planning four SWOT workshops at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, at Richfield Springs, Unatego and Edmeston central schools, and SUNY Oneonta’s IRC Building. At the workshops, the public will be asked to help identify the county’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, and threats to its wellbeing. “The open workshop format will get ideas on the strengths, opportunities and key priorities,” said Nicole Allen, planning services manager with the Laberge Group, an Albany consulting firm contracted to prepare a strategic plan for the county board. Then, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the same sites, Public Prioritization Workshop are planned to begin forming the SWOT results into action steps.
Scams Abound. Here’s How To Avoid Them LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
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ontrary to an email that went around a few months ago, Common Council member Madolyn O. Palmer was not stranded in the Philippines, begging friends, family and constituents for cash after her wallet and passport were stolen. She was safe at home in Oneonta, and the email was a classic scam. “I heard from people I haven’t talked to in ages!” she Please See SCAM, A3
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Aiesha Battle, state Division of Consumer Protection director, warns: If it sounds too good, it probably is.
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD