Cost Questions Stall

CVS’ Motel Purchase

Fire Made Demolition More Expensive

By JIM KEVLIN • for www.AllOTSEGO.com

COOPERSTOWN – CVS Healthcare has asked for another 30-day delay – the final one, the company says – to study how much more razing the Cooperstown Motel will cost because of the Aug. 9 fire, according to attorney Martin Tillapaugh, who represents former motelier Al Brien’s estate.

Following the raging fire that extensively damaged the existing building, the original Aug. 19 closing on the five acres at Chestnut and Beaver had been delayed until last Wednesday, Sept. 21, and has now been delayed 30 days until Oct. 21, the lawyer said.

“It’s counter-intuitive,” Tillapaugh observed, but suspicious fire, and dousing it, broke the intact asbestos insulation into particles that are harder to collect and dispose of.   Also, fire debris has to be taken to a special landfill – the closest is outside Buffalo –  further adding to demolition costs, he said.

The company is also trying to get a better handle of general environmental costs of clearing the site for a 10,000-square-foot drive-thru pharmacy it is proposing there.

Tillapaugh said CVS’ representatives have assured him this is the last extension they will seek.

The desireable site on the village’s southern gateway became available after the motel’s proprietor of the past five decades died last October.   CVS, which operates an 8,500-square-foot store on Main Street, outbid a half-dozen other bidders in early July, and is seeking permits from 22 Main to move forward.