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Cooperstown’s Newspaper
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►THINGS TO DO IN GREATER COOPERSTOWN
For 211 Years
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VISIT www.AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Volume 211, No. 22
COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, May 30, 2019
Newsstand Price $1
For California Family, Dream Come True P.J. Mellana of La Habra, Calif, takes a selfie of wife Kari and kids Cooper, 7, P.J., 14, and Reagan, 11 at their Milford home.
Son Played Ball, Parents Found Retirement Home
Summer
By LIBBY CUDMORE
Dreams
COOPERSTOWN
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COME TRUE
hen P.J. Mellana spent a post-graduation week in Cooperstown with his dad in 1997, he never imagined that, one day, he would own property in the land that baseball built.
“We love it here,” he said. “Last summer, my son P.J. was on a traveling team, and he played at All-Star Village. We just fell in love with the area.” So Mellana, who lives in La Habra, Please See HOME, A8
Up From The Ashes
The Freeman’s Journal
Lloyd Wilkinson anchors the corner of the Cooperstown Veterans’ Club unit in the Monday, May 27, Memorial Day Parade/MORE PHOTOS, A3
Village Adopts Noise Law As Season Begins
‘The Grove’ RSS UNDETERRED Considered Unfunded, For Village Riverside Housing Project In Cooperstown?
Units Live
By LIBBY CUDMORE
By JENNIFER HILL
COOPERSTOWN
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COOPERSTOWN
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hether it’s a rock band late at night or a big barking dog, it could be against the law after the Village Board passed the much-anticipated noise ordinance during its meeting Tuesday, May 28. The ordinance decreases the acceptable decibel level from 85 decibels to 80 after 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and after 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The village will buy a decibel meter, so police can monitor complaints. Someone found in violation can face a ticket and a fine. The motion passed with a resounding “AYE.” “I think that was just about 88 decibels,” said Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh.
Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
Doug Hallberg, the Oneonta stained-glass designer, installs the “Christ at Gethsemane” window in the new Milford Methodist Church. The window was salvaged from the church that burned on March 12, 2017.
2 Years After Fire, Milford Methodists Anticipating ‘Starkly Beautiful’ Church
Main Street. “What are we going to do?” asked Pam Dubreuil, the Moores’ daughter, an aide at Milford Central School. Her dad, the retired town justice, chaired so deliberately, officials said the church’s Board of Proverbs, 3:5-6 at a press conference in the Trustees. Oneonta State Police Barracks “We just have to build By JIM KEVLIN three days later. Lola Rathbone, who chaired Mil- another church,” said ► MARIA NOTO, standout Lady ford Methodist Church’s building Pastor Sylvia Barrett, who Hawkeye with her sister Chriscommittee, is flanked by Pastor had been with the conMILFORD tina in the state championship Sylvia Barrett and Rathbone’s basketball team a few years husband Tom, who volunteered as gregation since 2013. Two years and three t was about 4 a.m. clerk of the works on the job. ago, was back in the village Saturday, May 25, singing the months later, that’s on March 13, 2013. National Anthem at the 11th almost been accomplished. The 1930 Milford Methodist Church Hall of Fame Classic. Pending a final building inspection and had burned down the night before in a ragCertificate of Occupancy, the congregation ing fire that was seen for miles, and tearful and forlorn congregation members gathered will soon be worshiping in a modern buildPlease See CHURCH, A7 in Bob and Glenda Moore’s kitchen on East “Trust in the LORD with all your heart ON OTSEGO.com and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways ►THE MAN WHO DROVE head-on acknowledge him, into a police cruiser Tuesday, May 21, at Routes 20 and 80, and he will make Springfield Center, probably did your paths straight.”
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or Josh Edmonds, the lot at 10 Chestnut St. represents a chance to solve two problems in the village – adding housing and reducing energy consumption. “The village needs longterm rentals,” he said. “And I see a need for more energyefficient construction.” Edmonds, a passive-house consultant through, Simple Integrity, his contracting company, has proposed a two-story, 12-unit building on the lot at 10 ChestPlease See HOUSING, A8
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SS didn’t get the state funding for its controversial Riverside Apartments, but that doesn’t mean it’s giving up. The state Office of Homes & Community Renewal didn’t approve the 64-unit complex for low-income housing, but Altamont-based Rehabilitation Support Services still plans to move forward, said Ed Butz, RSS managing director. “There are many more applications than there is funding available,” he said. “It’s Please See RSS, A8
Son Returns, Succeeds Mother, MCS Mainstay That’s On School Board. Wards Also Plan Collaboration In Brewery, Catering By JENNIFER HILL MILFORD
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Milford family dynasty is born, in both politics and business. In the political sphere, Susan Ward is retiring 18 years on the Milford Central school board, the The Freeman’s Journal past eight as the board’s president. Susan Ward holds up Tuesday, May 21, her son Will, son Will’s campaign 22, won the seat in a five-way race poster. three days after he graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in political science, becoming the youngest person in the county elected to a school board. Please See MOM, SON, A8
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD Brenton P. Dadey
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