Cooperstown, Otsego Approve Annexation

By DARLA M. YOUNGS
COOPERSTOWN

The Cooperstown Village Board of Trustees and the Otsego Town Board unanimously approved annexation of just over 13 acres located in the Town of Otsego to jurisdiction of the Village on Wednesday, April 10.

Officials met at the Cooperstown Central School on March 22, 2023 to review the proposed Village of Cooperstown Southern Boundary Extension/Annexation, comprised of four parcels of land, all of which are uninhabited and tax exempt. Those properties and their owners are:

• County of Otsego (3.9332 acres; Tax Map No. 131.00-1-25.00 Hwy Dept.)
• Village of Cooperstown (6.5207 acres; Tax Map Nos. 131.-1-20.00 Hwy Dept.; 131.00-1-18.00 Blue Lot; no known tax number, Linden Avenue from Blue Lot to NYS Route 28)
• Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society, Inc. (2.7226 acres; Tax Map No. 131.00-1-13.00—section from Village line to southern end of Blue Lot)

Improved public safety is the impetus for the annexation which, put simply, “is the incorporation of one territory into the territory of another.”

The transfer of jurisdiction over this acreage will allow the Village of Cooperstown Police Department to patrol and have authority over properties housing highway vehicles and fuel storage. It will enable the village to improve pedestrian safety in that area by maintaining and clearing sidewalks and crosswalks near the high school and village-owned parking lots. The annexation will also allow the village to control the entirety of Linden Avenue, including roadway maintenance, paving and plowing.

Officials said the Village of Cooperstown will assume all liability for the sidewalks and streets, “thus reducing the liability exposure to Town of Otsego residents.”

“The Village owns most of the property in that area and has always maintained Linden Avenue,” said Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh in a telephone interview on Tuesday, April 16. “We installed sidewalks on the east side of the street, which we clear in the winter—school children should be kept safe—and there are six crosswalks that we paint each year.”

Tillapaugh said the joint Annexation Resolution signed by town and village officials last week is the final step in what has been a long, complicated process stalled by, among other things, the COVID-19 pandemic.

An initial survey of the west side of what is known as the Linden Avenue Extension was conducted six years ago, Tillapaugh said, with a second survey following to include the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society, at their request. In addition to the final joint resolution, Tillapaugh said New York State officials recommended that all parties sign a petition of intent first.

“All involved property owners signed petitions and individually passed their own resolutions,” Tillapaugh said.

This past February, Tillapaugh presented the completed packet—including all petitions and resolutions—to the Otsego County Board of Representatives for the county’s seal of approval.
Tillapaugh stressed that there are no tax implications as a result of this process.

“The village has been caring for these areas for the past 14 years,” she said. “Our jurisdiction to do so, envisioned almost 14 years ago, has simply been formalized.”

Tillapaugh also addressed the advantages of the annexation, were those properties to be developed in the future.

“There is potential for development, but the highway department land is a brownfield,” Tillapaugh explained. “The Town of Otsego doesn’t have the resources to implement a remediation grant, but the village does.”