Top Hotelier Joins Otesaga •F
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Cooperstown’s Newspaper
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JIM MILES IN LEADERSHIP AT WILLIAMSBURG, HERSHEY/B1
For 204 Years
RICHFIELD SPRINGS • CHERRY VALLEY • HARTWICK • FLY CREEK • MILFORD • SPRINGFIELD • MIDDLEFIELD Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, October 18, 2012
Volume 204, No. 42
COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND
Newsstand Price $1
OAKS CREEK, BROOKWOOD PUBLIC ACCESS SECURE
Land Trust Executive Leaves Legacy Of Success Trust completed acquisition of six-acre Deowongo Island – “the place of echoes” – in Canadarago Lake. COOPERSTOWN That comes a month after a ceremony in a parking lot atop Panther Mountain, eter Hujik must love it when a just east of Canadarago, announcing the plan comes together – because Land Trust’s acquisition of 106-acre Fetwhat a plan it is. terley Forest. Coincident with the Friday, Oct. 12, Fetterley Forest and Deowongo Island announcement Hujik has accepted a posi– Richfield Springs’ Schoenlien family tion in Virginia after six years as Otsego Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal made it available under very attractive Land Trust executive director, the Land Please See HUJIK, A7 Peter Hujik at Otsego Land Trust’s Deowongo Island. By JIM KEVLIN
P The Freeman’s Journal
Fall
Trustees 350 INTO To Revisit COOPERSTOWN ‘Industry’ Definition
Newspaper folks who may have felt a little embattled in recent years got a lift from Cindy Seward, state Sen. Jim’s better half, at the Otsego County Chamber’s Small Business Banquet Thursday, Oct. 11, at The Otesaga: Her jacket, from Jane Morgan’s Little House, Aurora, was bedecked with newspaper clippings/MORE PHOTOS, A3
Moratorium Rejected By Richfield, 3-2
68 Percent Of ‘Commercial’ Land Undevelopable, Officials Advised
RICHFIELD SPRINGS
By JIM KEVLIN
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he Richfield Town Board, 3-2, Monday, Oct. 15, rejected a 10-month moratorium that would have blocked fracking, windmills and all industrial development in the town while a comprehensive plan was developed. Voting nay, despite 20 residents speaking in favor in the RSCS auditorium, were Town Board members Bonnie Domion, Mary Margaret Snyder and Laurie Bond; voting aye were Supervisor Fran Enjem and Bill Seamon. 7 SUSPENDED: Seven CCS varsity soccer players on a team that had won 11 games in a row have been suspended from play after a keg party. The team lost 2-0 to Hamilton Friday, Oct. 10, but have two wins since. MEET CANDIDATES: A Meet the Candidates Forum for Tom Hohensee (D) and Paul Russo (R), who are running for Otsego Town Board, is 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, at the town hall in Fly Creek, sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
COOPERSTOWN
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n the village, 68 percent of land zoned “commercial” can’t be used for commerce because of proximity to homes and other restrictions. When Zoning Enforcement Officer Tavis Austin advised the Village Board of that at its September meeting, it resulted in some consternation. One response to that consternation comes at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22, when trustees have set a public hearing on allowing “light manufacturing” inside commercial properties, as long as such uses are invisible from the outside. The focus for now is the Railroad Avenue area, where Jim Florczak’s Where It All Began former bat-fabricating plant and the former Agway, renovated by Mike Manno, are vacant and for sale. Looking ahead, Delaware Otsego Corp., the railroad company, may eventually want to do something different with the former railroad Please See ZONING, A3
Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
Chip Northrup serves baked beans to Anouk Lambers during the “Fall Into Cooperstown” community celebration Sunday, Oct. 14, on a closed-off block of Main Street between Fair and River. More than 350 celebrants partook, including (in top photo) Ruth Stewart (red jacket) with daughter Annie; behind them is county Rep. John Kosmer, who represents Cooperstown. This was the first – but not the last, according to Mayor Jeff Katz – community celebration of the end of the summer season and the return to off-season normality/MORE PHOTOS, A2
Jail Ministry Gives Sheriff Devlin A Surprise Thank You By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
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heriff Richard J. Devlin, Jr., lets God into the Otsego County Correctional
Facility, and the Jail Ministry appreciates it. “In a lot of places, 12-step programs and Bible study aren’t allowed,” said Co-Chaplain Doug Coddington, Richfield Springs. “To allow us to come in is a great blessing. He’s a
great supporter of this ministry.” And so at its 53rd annual meeting Thursday, Oct. 11, at Holiday Inn Southside, the Jail Ministry surprised the sheriff with a plaque expressing its appreciation, accompanied by Please See DEVLIN, A6
Sheriff Devlin (with wife Laurie) was surprised and please with by the Jail Ministry’s appreciation. Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
SATurdAy, OCT. 22 • FridAy, OCT. 28 • SATurdAy, OCT. 29
GHOST OURSY! T NIGHTS ONL
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Visit FarmersMuseum.org/bump for complete details & schedule.
Bring your family to our spooky, lantern-lit tour of the Museum's historic village. Hear tales of ghostly happenings & scary hauntings. Tour Times: 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00pm Tour Admission: $10.00 per person (ages 3 & up) Advance reservations required. Call (607) 547-1452.
Come harvest some spooky fun! TM
State Highway 80, Lake rd. • Cooperstown, Ny • 607.547.1400