Blame Price of Gas, Not Trustees

To the Editor:
The Letter to the Editor, written by Ted Hargrove and printed in the Aug. 1 Freeman’s Journal, accusing Trustee Jeff Katz of being responsible for what Mr. Hargrove perceives as a loss of revenue for the rental of Doubleday Field, is incorrect.
This accusation is insulting to Jeff Katz and to the rest of the Board of Trustees.
No one trustee has the “power” to make a decision by him/herself that will affect the Village of Cooperstown in any way. Every decision has to be approved by a vote of all of the trustees and the majority dictates if the decision is accepted.
Mr. Hargrove blames the parking situation in Cooperstown for what he describes as the “worst Hall of Fame weekend in my memory.”
Come on, Ted, don’t you know what is going on in the economy? Do you know the price of gas? Do you actually think fans interested in coming to Induction Weekend will factor in the cost of a few extra dollars for parking and that will keep them away?
Mr. Hargrove states that the “new rules” for parking limit each driver to two-hour parking. The two-hour limit parking law has been in effect in Cooperstown for at least a decade. It is not a “new rule.”
He says it is to force the driver into paid parking. Has he forgotten that there is no paid parking enforced by the village anywhere except in Doubleday parking lot?
There are two independently owned parking lots in the village that require a daily parking fee, one on Chestnut Street and one at the Baptist Church on Elm Street. The Village has nothing to do with these and does not receive any revenue from them.
Mr. Hargrove asks in his letter that information be published in the paper informing the public about money coming into the village from tickets.
How about paid parking? I guess he didn’t notice the one-sentence article on the front page of the same Freeman’s Journal in which his letter appeared, that is headed, CASH ON HAND.
I quote, “Mayor Carol B. Waller said the Pay & Display machines in the Doubleday Field parking lot are generating $1,000 a day.”
Doesn’t sound like this “business practice is destroying our village” as Mr Hargrove states in his letter.
As for the loss of parking spaces on Main Street that Mr. Hargrove laments in his letter, these are the spaces reserved for delivery trucks to deliver goods to the merchants on Main and Pioneer Streets.
AND, the times that those spaces are blocked off to regular parking are limited to a few hours each day.
Before there were designated loading zones the delivery trucks, usually large trailer trucks, often double parked while unloading, presenting a hazard to pedestrians and drivers alike.
It is my guess that Mr. Hargrove would be the first to complain if trucks were not accommodated on Main Street enabling the merchants to receive their much-needed merchandise.
Ted, I think you ARE blowing smoke. Get your facts straight before going public. My suggestion to anyone wanting straight facts, not Mr. Hargrove’s interpretation of them, is to go to the village clerk and/or the village police for your information.
GRACE KULL
Village Trustee, Cooperstown

Preserve Nature, Yes, But Just Don’t Ban Drilling Outright

To the Editor:
A recent letter in The Freeman’s Journal grossly misstates my view of drilling and says I’ve offered nothing in the way of assistance to constituents. It’s campaign time, and that means truth is the first victim.
I have offered information to property owners at my office and put a special section on my Web site that offer property owners helpful information and links to resources on the subject.
My office has responded to calls from constituents, and I’ve attended meetings on the subject to listen to constituents’ concerns.
My view’s been clear – I support updating DEC regulations that flow from legislation enacted this year on drilling – but not a ban.
The DEC will prepare a generic environmental impact statement, and it’s my view that local governments should be an involved agency under SEQRA so that their views must be considered when drilling permits are reviewed.
That’s why I drafted a model resolution and circulated it to the municipalities I represent.
Careful review and strict environmental standards – yes. An outright state ban during a time of record high home heating prices – no.
JAMES L. SEWARD
State Senator, 51st District
Milford

If Village Won’t Act, Declare Your Property Pesticides-Free

To the Editor:
Though our village trustees are opting for an all-is-well attitude about pesticides and herbicides, some of us remain alarmed about progressive toxic-chemical accumulation.
Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) with offices in New York and Connecticut, is a group also alarmed by the wide-scale use of toxic chemicals that cumulatively affect people, especially children. They are trying to get New York State to ban the use of toxic pesticides in schools and school yards. CCE maintains that casual acceptance of toxic chemicals into the environment of children shows a lack of caring.
Mark Shapiro’s book “Exposed” compares the attitudes of the U.S. to the 98 other nations that have signed a global treaty called the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS). This treaty identifies “the dirty dozen” chemicals that have horrific consequences for people and the natural world. The treaty also allows additions to be made to the list of harmful chemicals. In spite of the fact that we already ban some of these chemicals, the U.S. did not sign on to this treaty.
This refusal to value people and the environment above the vital forces of economics reveals, to me, a tragically self-defeating philosophy.
The European Union has become a leader in embracing the principle of precaution in this matter and does not allow its hands to be tied in the face of formidable economic interests. Yet, the EU does not appear to be suffering economically by adopting this precautionary principle.
Since our government drags its feet about anything that will hamper some corporations, can’t we start at the community level?
Why can’t our village get out front and embrace a people-first principle by banning the use within the village of pesticides and herbicides considered toxic to people or the environment?
I encourage my fellow villagers to join me and others in declaring our properties to be free from the use of toxic chemicals.
SAM WILCOX
Cooperstown

Ultimatum: No Game? No Induction

To the Editor:
It is most disappointing that the Baseball Hall of Fame, a New York State museum that receives very little financial support from Major League Baseball, has so supinely acquiesced in the elimination of the traditional Hall of Fame Game.
Perhaps it’s time to play hardball with MLB – no Hall of Fame Game, no Induction!!! Let’s see who blinks first!
How infuriating that Bud Selig and the players’ union have so casually thumbed their noses at all the faithful fans who have supported them through the years.
Is it too much to ask a Major League team to come to Cooperstown once every 10 or 12 years to play one exhibition game?
One would think that any reasonable, moderately aware ballplayer, enjoying his princely lifestyle, might have it in his heart to give a little back to the very people who have made that lifestyle possible.
BERNARD J. ENRIGHT
Town of Otsego

Where Have All The Bats Gone?

To the Editor:
I have noticed that there are no bats on the lake. What has happened to cause this? At sunset, I used to see dozens of bats fly over the lake, catching insects.
I sat on my porch the other evening and saw not one bat fly over the lake.
I now have mosquitoes on my porch, which I have never had before.
What has happened? What do we do to bring back the bats?
SALLY SEAVER JOHNSON
Cooperstown

Hall Ought To Be Limited To Only Baseball Players

To the Editor:
Elect Marvin Miller to the Baseball Hall of Fame!!!! What next: the official scorer who records a perfect game or an outstanding groundskeeper?
Miller belongs in the Lawyers Hall of Fame. As head of the players’ union, he turned control of the teams from the owners to the players.
And in doing so he enriched the players beyond their or anyone’s belief. And probably enriched his own bankroll!
The only losers here were the fans who now have to pay outlandish amounts for tickets, to the point that a family of five shells out over $200 for good seats.
The Hall of Fame should have been limited to players only, generally pitchers who win 300 games and batters who hit well over .300.
Some choices for the veterans division are only favoritism, and umpires and owners should have their own Hall.
ED LYNCH
West Nyack

Every Time Someone Suggests Something Why Is Someone Else Always Against It?

To the Editor:
I don’t understand why every time something that could potentially enlarge our tax base, create jobs, and overall encourage economic growth for our community, the immediate response is, “How can we stop this”?
I have seen this here in Springfield with a ball-park project on County Route 31, a motorcycle track, and recently with MSG Entertainment and the ballfield project on Allen Lake Road. This is also the same mindset taken toward wind turbines and natural-gas exploration.
I’m not saying there is no reason for concern or that we shouldn’t be cautious. I myself am concerned that my neighbor, who shares a property line, has opened his land up to natural-gas exploration. One of the soon-to-be-wells will be on his property.
Did I have questions and concerns? YES! How will this affect my water, my property’s value and my quality of life are some of the big ones? The truth is I will stay informed and monitor my water quality. Mostly I will wish my neighbor good fortune because he is my neighbor and it is his land!
Recently, our town board voted down a moratorium which some hoped would stop all Class I projects in Springfield. I commend the board for its decision. Those who voted this moratorium down represented their constituents well.
As you can recall, there were 189 signatures turned in opposed to any moratorium that would impede or prevent economic growth and or development for Springfield. I know some will say that there were 353 signatures turned in the same evening as the vote that were ignored by the board. These signatures had nothing to do with the moratorium. They were aimed at the MSG project that is currently before the Planning Board, not the town board.
These signatures were gathered by a handful of NIMBYs using unfounded information and scare tactics. Believe it or not, I was not familiar with this term a year ago: Not In My Back Yard. NIMBYs seem to surface when it directly affects them. The group usually consists of 40-50 folks all wanting to know, “How can we stop this”? They will be at every meeting for as long as it takes to kill the project and then they are gone. As long as the next proposed project isn’t in their backyard they are seldom heard from again.
These people may want what’s best for Springfield almost always, except when it directly affects them. If they truly cared about the community, they would allow MSG and other projects to go through the process and address true concerns.
By true concerns, I am talking about traffic, ecological impacts, water quality and trash removal, to name a few; not a couple of women with body paintings at a concert in Tennessee.
Do I feel MSG is the best option for Springfield? Maybe not, but it will create economic growth, some full-time jobs, many summer jobs, an outlet for arts and products, and mostly it will preserve the viewshed. This is the same view that was such a hurdle in the approval of the subdivision of 20 lots on one of the farms MSG is proposing for the concert site.
Instead of, “How can we stop this,” Why not, “How can we grow through this?” Some things that will come from this are: a larger tax base, commerce, jobs and green space. We as a community could also negotiate to receive economic perks from MSG for our town’s willingness to allow this concert and all that is entails.
I know Bonaroo is continually used as a scare tactic to gather opposition to MSG, but has anyone asked what the community in Tennessee gains economically from this music fest?
Some things we could ask MSG to contribute to could be: Fire and EMT budget, town highway budget, scholarships for Springfield graduates, and a town park on a portion of this property. These are just a few suggestions of things that we as a community could gain from this.
This project could work, if we are open-minded and willing to work with MSG as a community toward a better Springfield. This is not to say we let big business walk on us, but with us, toward the future.
PAUL LEENTJES
East Springfield

What Development Would Be Satisfactory?

To the Editor:
Springfield seems to me to be in turmoil and I would like to address a few of the problems from my experience and point of view.
First, the anonymous letters. I received one earlier in the year and several more went out a month or so ago.
Anonymous writing is anonymous only so long as folks choose to allow it to remain anonymous. People who write write: letters, articles, paragraphs on applications, lesson plans, things that they sign and sometimes pieces that they choose not to sign.
In this day of computers there is a simple program that is not expensive to buy and free if it can be can borrowed. Put into it a few dozen letters and it will group the letters as to author with about 99 percent accuracy.
If the letters in question contain threats or are libelous or are intended to intimidate a public official, a court order can be obtained to check the suspect’s computer hard drive.
Or, we all know how easily companies can invade our mail boxes and send junk spams to everyone on our address list.
Not so easily done, but still not difficult and without physically touching the computer, a Trojan horse can be attached and the hard drive checked for the shadows of things written and long ago deleted. As the hard drive exists, our writings are immortal.
Only so long as no one wishes to take the writer[s] of these letters to court or to embarrass them before their neighbors will they be allowed to remain anonymous.
The letters in the paper concerning our public officials and town planning and the future of the town seem all to miss one point. By doing nothing our town is changing.
One writer speaks of growth that is negative. We have that today. Thirteen years ago, Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School had about 1,040 students. This year they are expecting around 600.
Every year a few more homes fall into ruin, a few more barns collapse.
This is true negative growth and negative growth that impacts our taxes and services, jobs for our children and the quality of our lives. Developers do not buy farm land to farm. Perhaps MSG Entertainment’s project is not the perfect solution for our town. Exploring the plans of the company has barely begun.
Any person who wishes to stop this project without both exploring what the project will entail and also considering possible viable alternatives for the land in question is intellectually dishonest.
Dan Rosen’s statement that town officials should not meet with people who are considering investing in our village is silly. How do people who wish to buy/build know what building in the Town of Springfield entails if they do not talk with our public officials?
Not only is there nothing illegal about these meetings they, are necessary if there is going to be any change in our town excepting the continuing degradation of our tax base and environment. A lecture on ethics and morality by Dan Rosen is farcically humorous.
I have not spoken with the three board members who voted against the moratorium. Still, I think it quite unfair to state that any of these men “sabotaged” the comprehensive plan.
There has been talk and more talk about zoning and a comprehensive plan and what comes of it is more talk and that talk still goes on. And on.
Could the people who are so emotional about putting the moratorium in place NOW not be as easily accused not of wishing to control development but of stopping this project and perhaps all development?
GAIL LARSEN
East Springfield

CCS Students: Thanks For The Help

To The Editor:
As everybody in Cooperstown already knows, the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction brings added work and, of course, enjoyment to the high school kids, staff and people involved in the community. A successful Hall of Fame Induction could never be possible without the help of some great people around the community.
On behalf of the Cooperstown Central School student body, we would first like to thank the community as a whole. To the students and their parents who came to help, thank you. You all did a very good job and worked hard.
Behind the scenes supporting the students were the custodians. Mr. Bennett and his staff worked long hours, and were doing whatever was necessary to keep the induction moving along smoothly. As all of the students know, a good number of us would have been lost without the help of Mr. Hascup and his son; the two always knew what needed to be done and they did so quickly. Mr. Smith and his family should be thanked in the same light as well, they did a great job of cleaning up after the induction was over.
Also, we would like to thank Mr. Kuch and the class advisers, Mr. Goode, Ms. Schliening, Ms. Pindar and Mrs. Murdock. Mr. Kuch and the class advisers put in many hours making sure that everything happened according to plan.
To the law enforcement personnel, security personnel, and the Cooperstown ambulance squad, we thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to keep us safe. Permits were needed at the induction and the students thank those who kindly granted us the permits.
We would also like to thanks Coca-Cola and Blue Bunny for providing the soda and ice cream to sell at the induction.
Again, a huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone involved in the induction. We couldn’t have done it without your hard work!
THE CCS STUDENT BODY
Cooperstown

Labels: Letters to the Editor, Opinion