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August 20, 2010

Board works to meet Gateway project deadline

JIM AUSTIN THE COOPERSTOWN CRIER

— With the deadline to secure more than $1 million in federal funding right around the corner, the village board struggled Monday night to pull together the remaining loose ends for the design of the project.

The board conducted the environmental review of the project with the assistance of attorney Douglas Zamelis, who prepared Part II of the DEC’s State Environmental Quality Review for the board.

Board members agreed with Zamelis’s assessment that the project would create only small to moderate environmental impacts. The board, acting as lead agency for the SEQR review, voted to make a negative declaration for the project because there were no significant impacts.

Board members also approved a resolution calling for the village to maintain the project’s parking lots, roads, sidewalks, and plantings.

The maintenance agreement was a document insisted on by the Town of Otsego Planning Board, which must approve the project’s site plan. The planning board had scheduled a special meeting Tuesday night to discuss the project, but required the village to address some issues in time for the meeting.

Trustee Jeff Katz expressed his concern about the maintenance agreement because over the years, the board had assured taxpayers they would not have to bear that burden.

``Once it’s adopted, it’s on our taxpayers and I think that’s unwise,’’ he said. ``I would be uncomfortable with it.’’

Trustee Neil Weiller said he agreed with Katz.

Katz also commented that the village may have little or no need to plow snow in the winter in the parking areas. Bassett, which plans to use the lot for employee parking, would have a reason to plow and has stated in the past that they intend to maintain the facility.

``Bassett has stated verbally that they would do it,’’ Katz said. Trustee Chuck Hage, the chair of the committee overseeing the project said maintenance will be provided for.

``It’s my feeling the village will not be stuck,’’ he said.

``It’s a question of who’s paying for it,’’ Weiller said.

As recently as April, Bassett Hospital Vice President Joe Middleton, a member of Hage’s committee, re-enforced the idea they would maintain the lot because hospital employees will be using it.

There was always the assumption that it would not be a burden to the school or the community, Middleton said in a project committee meeting.

Katz said he understood the town planning board was concerned primarily about the streets and sidewalks in the project and suggested removing references to parking areas from the resolution.

But Peter Loyola, of CLA Site, the company hired to do the project design work, said parking areas had always been lumped in with sidewalks and roadways by the town.

Trustee Lynne Mebust suggested adding ``as needed’’ to the resolution as a solution. ``Frankly I don’t see the need to qualify it,’’ Hage said.

``While we don’t have a formal arrangement, I’m confident the village will not bear the cost.’’

``I just think it’s a mistake,’’ Katz said prior adoption of the resolution.

The planning board was also concerned about provisions for RV parking so the board adopted a statement indicating the village’s intention to study RV parking and willingness to work to accommodate them. New Cooperstown Central School Superintendent C.J. Hebert and Board of Education President Anthony Scalici attended the meeting and discussed the school’s latest stance on an easement to site a drainage facility under the junior parking lot. The school had earlier agreed to donate the land to the village, but later rescinded the commitment.

With the commitment gone, the planning board wanted the village to get an easement or, at a minimum, a letter of authorization from the school board before proceeding with the site plan review.

In a letter to the village board last week, Hebert wrote that the district is ``deeply committed to acting as a cooperating partner in this worthwhile venture,’’ which he described as ``advantageous to the community of Cooperstown.’’

The price tag for that cooperative partnership was set at $75,000 by the school board. One of the six conditions demanded by the district is a payment of $75,000 from the project’s federal funds in return for the easement to use the land.

Hebert said Wednesday morning the district is supportive of the project and that the $75,000 was half the estimated cost to pave the junior parking lot.

``Our first priority is to be good stewards of the district’s assets. We’re hoping to come out of this with revenue that would put us in a position to pave the lot at some point in time,’’ he said.

Katz said the school should receive fair market value for the easement, but that was to be determined by an independent appraiser. That value was not currently available, Loyola said.

The school also wanted assurances the village will assume responsibility for damage caused by the drainage/storm water system if it should occur.

Additionally, it wants the village to resolve concerns expressed by the town planning board’s engineer about the drainage system.

Loyola said the engineers had different approaches to the same problems, but that in a test conducted Friday, 2,000 gallons of water was dumped down a 15-foot hole at the site and drained in 10 minutes.

There is no restrictive layer that would hinder drainage, Loyola said.

During the discussion of getting the engineers reviewing CLA Site’s design in agreement, the contentious relationship that has developed between Loyola and Hage was clear.

Loyola made reference to the village’s reviewing engineer not being a highway engineer, but a landscape architect like himself. The comment was aimed at Hage, who had complained in July when he wanted to hire an engineer to review CLA Site’s work that Loyola was not a highway engineer. ``The head of the firm under contract with the village, the individual managing the CIT project, is a landscape architect, not a highway engineer,’’ Hage wrote in an email.

When Loyola pointed out that Steve Wilson of Clough Harbour Associates, who was hired by the village to review CLA Site’s work, was not a highway engineer, Hage fired back, ``I don’t care if he’s a dumbo and you’re a white knight’’ and continued to press Loyola about getting all three engineers in agreement as to how to handle storm water drainage.

It became obvious the board would be unable to satisfy the conditions set by the school district Monday night and Mayor Joe Booan ended the discussion.

``I guess we’re at an impasse,’’ Loyola said.

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