Delgado Visits County Board, Surprising Some He Discusses Broadband, Energy, Opioids, Housing; Fields Questions, Shakes Hands By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – “He’s here. I know he’s here,” county board Chair David Bliss said around the noon hour, looking into Clerk of the Board Carol McGovern’s office through a door at the front left of the board meeting room. Suddenly, there he was: Congressman Antonio Delgado, D-19, all 6-foot-4 of him, who said he’d just driven up…
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GOP Chair: Hire Manager, But Shrink Government COOPERSTOWN – Reacting to the news a vote on creating a county administrator may come by December, Republican County Chairman Vince Casale said fine, but it should be done by shrinking county government in other ways. “I fully believe the addition of a county manager is a good idea and is needed,” Casale said. But “I believe it should come with additional reforms, such as term limits and reducing the size of the…
EDITORIAL How Can We Make 8th Most Vibrant Arts County Thrive? What? In a United States that some insist on characterizing as a burning dumpster, can there be good news? Well, here it is: Oneonta, as Otsego County’s “urban core,” has been ranked the eighth most-vibrant small community in America in Southern Methodist University’s fifth annual Arts Vibrancy Index Report. According to the Census Bureau’s American Factfinder, there are 16,360 towns in the U.S. Not all of them, of course,…
Administrator Vote Possible In December $75,000 Put In 2020 Budget, But It’s Unclear If The ‘Ayes’ Will Win By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – A vote on creating a county administrator position may come as soon as December, county Rep. Meg Kennedy, R-C/Mount Vision, told the county Board of Representatives meeting this morning. “This is momentous,” reacted county Rep. Gary Koutnik, D-Oneonta, the board’s vice chairman. “We have a timeline!” Retiring at year’s end, he said hiring…
NYSEG BRIEFS ENERGY TASK FORCE Pipeline Expansion To Begin Next Year By JENNIFER HILL • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Work on increasing the DeRuyter-Oneonta gas pipeline’s capacity by 25 percent will begin next year, NYSEG has told the Otsego County Energy Task Force. That could mean the “interruptible power” – Oneonta’s colleges and Fox Hospital are required to switch to more expensive fuel oil when temperatures drop below zero – will kick in less often, county Rep. Michelle Farwell,…
from the ENERGY TASK FORCE Energy Task Force Goal: To Avoid Us Vs. Them To the Editor: Your June 20-21 editorial on the Otsego County Energy Taskforce ends with the sentence: “We’re all in this together.” We on the Taskforce Leadership Committee couldn’t agree more. But the editorial’s main assertion that the business community has been shut out of the process is not based on fact and includes inaccuracies and unhelpful hypotheticals that need to be corrected. Chief among these…
With Paper Replacing Plastic, Does County Want 2¢ A Bag? So Far, 27 Counties Decide To Opt Out By JENNIFER HILL • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – On March 1, 2020, “single-use” plastic bags will be banned from New York State supermarkets and other stores. That’s settled. The question still remaining is whether the Otsego County Board of Representatives will charge a nickel for each paper bag used. That’s not settled. County Planning Director Karen Sullivan and Planner-Trainee/Recycling Coordinator, Shane…
Otsego Chamber Policy Declares Independence Regarding Energy Issues Renewables Supported, But Decompressor, Too By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Otsego County businesspeople support all energy options – renewables, yes, but also the controversial decompressor station proposed for West Oneonta – states a county Chamber of Commerce “Energy & Infrastructure Policy” released in the past few days. The statement came bottom-up from the Oneonta-based organization’s countywide membership, said Chamber President Barbara Ann Heegan, who also chairs the Economic…
COUNTY CLERK WORRIED Republicans Pass Resolution Against ‘Green Light Bill’ Stammel Sole Democrat To Oppose Driver’s Licenses For Illegal Aliens By JENNIFER HILL • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – With only one Democrat supporting the 8-3-3 vote, the Otsego County Board of Representatives today sent a resolution to the state Assembly opposing the so-called “Green Light Bill” allowing illegal immigrants to obtained drivers’ licenses. Voting aye were Republicans Ed Frazier of Unadilla, Kathy Clark of Otego, Peter Oberacker of Schenevus,…
EDITORIAL Boys, Welcome To Baseball Mecca – Have A Joint The other day in downtown Cooperstown, a kitchen worker stepped out onto Main Street’s sidewalk in the middle of the day, lit a joint, took a few tokes and went back to work. You might think, get used to it. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Legalization of marijuana, which the ascendant Democratic majorities in the state Legislature and Governor Cuomo expected to become law in January, has foundered…
