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COOPERSTOWN WINTER CARNIVAL HAS OLYMPIC THEME/ 3
For 206 Years
VISIT WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, January 23, 2014
Volume 206, No. 4
COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND
36% Hike Shocking Hartwick Taxpayers Supervisors Butler, Ryan Trade Blame By JIM KEVLIN
Newsstand Price $1
BOARD VP: ‘WE LISTENED’
CCS Shrinks Bond, Plans March Revote
HARTWICK The Freeman’s Journal
Traffic is crossing the Route 11C bridge between Hartwick Seminary and Phoenix Mills for the first time since April.
Traffic Flows Freely Again On 11C Span HARTWICK SEMINARY
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en months after the 11 C bridge was damaged when a too-large truck became stuck in the steel beams, the bridge reopened at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17. On Wednesday, March 21 2013, The 80-year-old trestle was damaged Wednesday March, 21, causing lengthy detours all summer. The temporary approaches to the new bridge will be repaved come spring, according to county Highway Superintendent Ron Tiderencel. RENERT INDICTED: An Otsego County grand jury Thursday, Jan. 16, indicted Barry Renert, 62, on attempted murder, second degree, and two other charges in the Dec. 23 gunplay at Seventh Inning Stretch. BLOOD NEEDED: Due to weather-related cancellations, an emergency blood drive is 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at Christ Episcopal Church’s social hall, 69 Fair St. Make an appointment at 1-800-red-cross or redcrossblood.org CAUCUS DUE: For results of the GOP’s 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, at 22 Main to nominate candidates for the March 18 village election, check WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
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fter four years of dipping into a $1.7 million budget surplus – originally, the equivalent of the annual budget – the Town of Hartwick ran dry. Then came the final surprise, according to Town Supervisor David Butler: The town’s annual $55,000 contribution to the state pension fund was doubled this year to $110,000. “It just came to a head,” said the second-term supervisor. “We don’t have a surplus to work with.” So when town property owners opened their tax bills in recent days, they found a surprise: a 36 percent increase over the year before. The news brought two dozen residents to the town board’s monthly meeting Monday, Jan. 13, but there’s nothing that can be done: Once bills are sent out, they cannot be changed. “It’s water under the bridge,” said Butler. An indication of trouble to come arrived last September in the form of the state Comptroller’s Office’s Please See AUDIT, A7
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal
CCS School Board Vice President Mary Leonard, third from right, chairing in President Dave Borgstrom’s absence, announces a $5.959 million bond issue will go to a public vote on Wednesday, March 12. Others are, from left, board members Jean Schifano, Andy Marietta and Tony Scalici, Superintendent of Schools C.J. Hebert, and board members Marcy Birch and Theresa Russo.
Town of Hartwick’s Tax Hike Figured In School Board Paring
COOPERSTOWN
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he Village of Cooperstown is finally getting its due, said Mayor Jeff Katz after receiving word that a $2 million federal transportation grant will allow the full
or details of the CCS $5.959 million bond issue to be voted on Wednesday, March 12, visit WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
COOPERSTOWN
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fter paring 10 percent off the bond issue that voters defeated by an unusual 180-180 tie in early December, the CCS board voted Wednesday, Jan. 15, to send the pro-
$2 Million To Pay For All Sidewalks By JIM KEVLIN
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By JIM KEVLIN
plan to fix-up Main Street to go forward. “Pushing the argument of Cooperstown, and its importance, is how Katz we got this grant,” said Katz. Village Please See GRANT, A6
posal back to the voters Wednesday, March 12. “We listened to what (voters) said,” said CCS Board Vice Chair Mary Leonard in announcing the decision.
In deliberations, the school board identified three areas that came in for the most criticism in the original $6.6 million proposal and removed them from the new $5.959 million proposal, Leonard said. They were: installing acoustical tiling in classrooms, installing energy-efficient LED lights in the high school Please See BOND, A7
Bank Of Cooperstown Closes On Branch ONEONTA
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he Bank of Cooperstown closed the deal Monday, Jan. 20, on land in Oneonta that will be home to the 5year-old institution’s first branch. Announcing the news a couple of hours later, Bank President Scott White said work – in the form of asbestos remediation on two buildings that will be razed – had already begun. All approvals – from the state DepartJim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal ment of Financial Services and FDIC, as Bank of Cooperstown President well as zoning and planning approvals from Scott White holds up an artist’s renPlease See BANK, A6 dering of the Oneonta branch.
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION