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Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, January 29, 2015
COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND
Downtown Valuations Rise, ‘Lake Views’ Drop 7 Years After Bust, Assessments Brought Into Line
By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
W
hen the Village of Cooperstown underwent a full property reassessment in 2007, Field View Develop-
ment Inc. had just won a court case reducing the valuation on its newly purchased Key Bank building from $1.2 million to $400,000. So all business blocks were reduced similarly. Since, sales of downtown properties have sug-
gested the reductions were too extreme, and resulting taxes were too low. That’s just one of the wrinkles in the 2007 revaluation of the Village of Cooperstown and Town of Otsego that are being ironed out
Clark: Only 1 M Left
HAVING A BALL!
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal
Nominated to run for the Cooperstown Village Board, John Sansevere, left, is congratulated by GOP County Chair Vince Casale.
GOP Picks Sansevere For Trustee
‘Retribution?’ No, She Says, Entering 4th Year At County Board Helm
COOPERSTOWN
A
Republican caucus Tuesday, Jan. 27, nominated John Sansevere, a member of the village Zoning Board of Appeals, to run for the Village Board in the March 18 election. The first Republican nominee since the Democratic sweep in 2011, Sansevere said he aims to return “common sense” to the deliberations. The Democrats nominated incumbents Jim Dean and Cindy Falk on the 22nd. PAID PARKING +: The Village Board Monday, Jan. 26, added a fourth street – Chestnut, from Main to Lake – to its candidates for paid parking this year. A hearing on that, plus Church and parts of River and Fair, goes to public hearing Feb. 23. NEW BOOK: Mayor Jeff Katz reports reviews are starting to appear for “Split Season,” his new book on the 1981 baseball season, due to be published this spring. HAPPY DAYS! Salestax revenues for the Village of Cooperstown are up 11 percent for 2014, Finance Committee chair Ellen Tillapaugh Kuch reports.
now as revaluation notices arrived in village mailboxes last week, to the surprise of some. After the 2007 reassessment, several downtown blocks sold for well over their valuations, said Village Assessor Al Keck, so “some of the ‘commercials’ have gone up bePlease See REVAL, A6
By JIM KEVLIN
W
hen Kathy Clark assumed the helm of the Otsego County Board of Representatives in 2012 and scanned the horizon, she saw three M’s. The first was The Manor, which was siphoning away $5 million from the $11 million local tax levy. That was sold in October to a private entity that continues to operate it as Focus Rehabilitation & Nursing Center at Otsego. The second was MOSA, the Montgomery-Otsego-Schoharie Solid-Waste Please See CHAIR, A7
Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
Cliff and Colleen Coleman boogie down on the dance floor at the Cooperstown PTA Masquerade Ball on Saturday, Jan. 25, at The Otesaga. At right, Roger Davidson and his wife Maureen, owners of Council Rock Brewery, brought a gift to the party – an exclusive American Farmhouse 5 Brew Ale, which was donated for the event by the Davidsons to aid the revelry.
Plunge ‘Heroes’ Aid Record 15 Ill Children By LIBBY CUDMORE GOODYEAR LAKE
I
t takes a special kind of bravery to dive into the icy waters of Goodyear Lake on a February afternoon, but to the Waters family, those people are heroes. “We’re doing a theme for the first time this year,” said Brenda Waters, who co-founded
Goodyear Lake Polar Bear Jump with her husband, Jamie, 20 years ago. “Everyone will go into the changing room in plain clothes, but emerge as superheroes.” “Maybe my mom will even dress up as Wonder Woman,” joked daughter Mataiah, who’s been taking the plunge since she was 3. Her brothers Wyatt and Jeremiah also Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA jump. Milford’s Waters family – Wyatt, Jamie, Please See JUMP, A3 Brenda and Mataiah – kept the jump going.
Chamber Board Elevates Hazzard To Full-Time Job COOPERSTOWN
T
he Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, Jan. 27, removed “interim” from Matt Hazzard’s title, affirming him as the organization’s executive director. Hazzard Since his appointment in June, Hazzard has been focused on building relationships with local businesses, partnerships with other community Please See HAZZARD, A6
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
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