Cooperstown's new mayor, Carol Waller, will appoint long-time sewer board chairman Theordore Peters Jr. to the village board when she takes office April 1.

Waller's move from the board of trustees to the office of mayor will create a vacancy on the board for the remaining year of her unexpired term. The mayor is authorized to make the appointment unilaterally and does not require board of trustees approval for her selection.

Initially, she gave the nod to trustee David Sanford, one of two incumbent Republicans defeated in the recent village election. Waller said she had looked to Sanford because of his experience and knowledge of the village's operations and infrastructure.

The new mayor will take office with two fresh faces on a board that took on additional work when it decided, after much study and debate, not to hire a village administrator. Some of extra work has been absorbed by Brian Clancy, who last year became the department of public works coordinator to oversee many of those day-to-day operations. It is still a system that leans heavily on the trustees to deal in committees with issues once handled by the village administrator.

According to Waller, late last week, Sanford told Waller he was having second thoughts about accepting the appointment. She asked him to think about it over the weekend, but by Monday he had decided to decline the appointment.

On Tuesday, Sanford said only that his decision was motivated by personal reasons.

He did say that he would help the village through the process of re-evaluating village property and will do so through an appointment to the planning committee.

Prior to joining Leatherstocking Corporation, Sanford worked in the Otsego County Office of Real Property Tax Services and his experience there will come in handy as the village undertakes a reval, Waller said.

To fill the empty board seat, Waller again turned to someone with years of experience dealing with the village's infrastructure - Theordore Peters Jr.

"He has a vast knowledge of the village's infrastructure. He's been on the water and sewer board and will be an excellent addition to the board," she said.

Waller, a co-owner of Mohican Flowers, said she will be very busy as a new mayor and Peters knowledge of the workings of the water and sewer systems will be invaluable, particularly because the village has committed to large capital investments for long-range infrastructure improvements.

Peters confirmed Tuesday afternoon that he had accepted the one-year appointment to the board.

"I'm happy to support the mayor and the village and will give it my best," he said.

Peters, a biochemist, retired from Bassett 14 years ago after having worked in the research lab since 1955. He still holds the title, Research Scientist Emeritus.

Although he had not held elected office in the village, he has chaired the sewer board and also served on the water board since 1975. He said one former mayor used to joke that Peters "dealt with new and used water." He also served a short time on the village parks board.

Peters, who said he has seen a lot of mayors come and go, has no issues he would like address during his year on the board. "We have enough issues with chlorination and dechlorination, the ongoing renovation of the collecting system and the evaluation of the plant operations," he said.

He also pointed to the need for a new water reservoir and the streets reconstruction project which begins this fall with Main Street. The village is facing a lot of potential expense, he said.

"He's absolutely thorough and very dedicated to the village. I'm thrilled he has accepted," Waller said.

The new mayor is scheduled to be sworn in Monday and will announce her appointments to boards and committees after taking office.