Mayor Mark Drnek delivered his “State of the City” address to nearly 100 people gathered at the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center in Oneonta on Tuesday, February 18. “The state of our city is strong,” he said.…
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Greg Mattice
On Tuesday, February 4, the City of Oneonta Common Council met for more than two hours and covered a variety of topics in an agenda supported by 154 pages of detailed documentation. Council members approved warrants totaling $487,574.60.00 for payment by the finance director and authorized more than $280,000.00 in other expenses.…
Robert Semaya, manager of LFT Amsterdam LLC, the owner of Clinton Plaza and Levites Realty Management LLC, was not able to be at the meeting in person. He sent his property manager to address the entity’s concerns about how the shortage of convenient parking downtown has contributed to a 40 percent vacancy rate in Clinton Plaza.…
Lee shared, “During 2019, $843,517.00 of the fund balance was used due to investing over $1 million into equipment needs. (In) 2020, the pandemic hit. Due to the leadership of the excellent department heads, over $2 million of expenses were delayed due to the unforeseen consequences of the pandemic, which meant that those delayed expenditures needed to be realized in the future.…
If changes to the village sign law are approved as proposed, this could open up the door for Hometown Heroes banners to be hung on utility poles on portions of Lake Street, Pine Boulevard, Chestnut Street and Glen Avenue—the equivalent of about two miles, or 15 percent, of village streets—but only with approval from NYSEG via its sign application for nonprofit organizations.…
“Having watched the spirit of our community fracture during these past two months, and holding, as I do, the ideal of collaboration and respect for one another, I was forced to a difficult decision,” Mayor Drnek said in an e-mail on Wednesday, March 27.…
The proposed Rehabilitation Support Services housing project at 27 Market Street has been met with strong public push-back, but city officials contend that misinformation, disinformation and fear are driving the response.…
We, the concerned citizens of greater Oneonta, are frustrated by the apparent lack of transparency in the administration of our City Hall government. Dear Mayor Drnek and city staff, your behaviors of ignoring us are clear and your unwillingness to listen and act accordingly is causing this divide in our city.…
To address the controversy about parking, the mayor’s office is designing an illustrated parking map which will be available as a brochure throughout the business district soon. That map will be displayed as a poster on the city’s trash cans.…
Mayor Comments on Budgetary Measures, Development Strategies By WRILEY NELSONONEONTA Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek discussed new city revenue sources at the Common Council meeting on May 2. Drnek had raised the issue of unsupported spending in a November council meeting; the city could not spend enough to meet its goals without breaching its tax cap or drawing from its general fund. “The continuing escalation of costs in health-care insurance, fuel, equipment purchases, maintenance, and staffing will require a choice to…