Attend the
hearing
Springfield’s Town
Board has scheduled a public
hearing regarding its
Comprehensive Plan for
June 1, 7 p.m. at the Springfield
Community Center located
in Springfield Center.
The Plan was compiled,
through diligent efforts on
the part of the eight-person
Comprehensive Plan Committee,
using information
and data gathered about
the Town of Springfield, as
well as input from the Town
residents through the Resident
Survey, the Planning
and Visioning Workshop,
public attendance at
monthly meetings, and previous
public hearings on
the draft document.
I wish to commend my
fellow committee members
for their public service,
commitment to the plan,
and for their efforts to create
a plan that represents
the wishes of the citizens.
The Planning and Visioning
Workshop was well organized,
well attended, and
openly run. The survey
questions were carefully
considered, the survey
broadly distributed, the returns
closely monitored and
independently tabulated,
and the level of community
response statistically valid.
While working over particularly
difficult sections
of the plan, the committee
would often refocus itself
with the idea that our task
was to develop a plan that
reflects the results of community
polling and not by
our own personal feelings
or agendas. I am proud to
have taken part in the development
of the Plan and I
feel that its adoption by the
Town Board is critical to
Springfield. The Plan provides
a clear vision and
goals and suggests strategies
and action plans to
reach those goals.
I am very excited about
the opportunities afforded
by this plan to the populous
for community service and
civic involvement. The Plan
calls for the establishment
of various committees to focus
on and support economic
development, recreation,
historic preservation, community
events coordination,
and agriculture.
I strongly encourage all
who have participated in
this most democratic process
— the folks who at-
tended the workshops, the
meetings, all residents and
landowners who completed
and mailed your surveys —
to demonstrate your support
for the Comprehensive
Plan by attending and
speaking at the Town Board
meeting.
David Staley
Springfield Center
Staley is Co-Chair of
the Town of Springfield
Comprehensive Plan
Committee and member of
the Town Planning Board.
Board thanks
its residents
The Cooperstown Central
School Board of Education
would like to thank the
community for its support
of our recent budget proposal
for the 2009-2010
school year. As you know,
we have all been faced with
the challenges of local,
State, and national economic
conditions. The recent
federal stimulus funds
enabled the New York State
legislature to reinstate
school aid funding to levels
comparable to those in
2008-2009. While this is
very helpful and appreciated,
it is important to note
that stimulus funding will
continue for only one additional
year beyond the coming
year. This means we
will continue to have difficult
fiscal decisions facing
us in the near future.
It is our intent to continue
to monitor district expenses
very closely, strive
to maintain programs that
are valued, maintain our
facilities, and work diligently
to negotiate contractual
agreements that provide
a fair wage while being
sensitive to ever increasing
health care costs. This will
not be easy, but with your
input and understanding
we hope to continue to develop
fiscal plans that the
community feels it can support.
Again, please accept our
appreciation for your support
of Cooperstown Central
Schools.
CCS Board of Education
Members
Listen to the
experts
The foremost experts
concerned with monitoring
and maintaining the water
quality for Otsego Lake
have now weighed in on the
proposed Walker development
off of Browdy Mountain
Road, and they have
urged the Town Planning
Board not to allow it to go
forward.
At the May 5 public
hearing, Dr. Willard Harman
of the SUNY Biological
Field Station, and Win
McIntyre, speaking for the
Watershed Advisory Commission,
made it clear that
this development will not
be good for the lake. It will
allow run-off containing
nutrients like phosphorus
to enter the lake, and the
lake is already struggling
with more nutrients than it
can handle.
These two Otsego Lake
experts made it clear that
Mr. Walker’s stormwater
run-off mitigation system,
however conscientiously
designed, will not be sufficient
to fully protect the
lake, because the technology
doesn’t exist to completely
and effectively contain
run-off from a
steep-slope development
over time.
In addition to the environmental
aspects, Mr.
Walker’s scheme to build
three new houses and connect
their driveways to his
private road, violates Town
regulations regarding
roads. It violates four different
road laws designed
to ensure safety and ready
access by emergency vehicles.
So the Planning Board
would have to waive four
different laws in order to
approve his proposal.
The final public hearing
is scheduled for Tuesday,
June 2 at 7:30 pm, giving
concerned citizens another
opportunity to voice their
desire to see the lake protected
and the laws upheld,
not waived.
The lake is an invaluable
resource, not only as
an aesthetic and recreational
treasure for residents
and the source of
drinking water for Cooperstown,
but also as an attraction
for vacationers and
tourists; it is a foundational
support for the local economy.
Yet regulations to protect
the lake from the effects
of steep-slope
development are virtually
non-existent, and development
is outpacing the lake’s
ability to handle the environmental
consequences.
The Planning Board must
stand in the gap.
If Mr. Walker’s proposal
is approved, it would set a
dangerous precedent with
far-reaching, long-term,
negative consequences for
the lake and the community.
The Planning Board
should listen to the experts
and vote ``No’’ on Mr. Walker’s
proposal.
Marilyn L. Bradshaw
Cooperstown
