By JIM AUSTIN
Editor

The summer tourist season usually ends with Labor Day weekend, but this year the hubbub on Main Street won't die down until November.

The day after Labor Day is the target date to start the Main Street reconstruction project which, at times, will feature detours, one-way traffic, no parking and closed streets as work progress from River Street to Pine Boulevard through the downtown business district. Businesspeople and residents along the route will likely experience delays, congestion and difficulty as they and their customers come and go while the project is underway.

Businesses which depend on deliveries through their Main Street entrances may be in line for some headaches.

"We're going to try to maintain traffic on Main Street," said village DPW coordinator Brian Clancy. "There may be some cases where we might have to go to one-way traffic. In some cases with the sewer work we may have to shut down the street for a day or two."

The project includes not just the rebuilding of the road and curb, but also sewer and water line repairs and upgrades that are being undertaken at the same time in an effort to avoid having to dig up the street after it has been rebuilt.

Clancy said some of the sanitary sewer main running under Main Street and most of the storm sewer lines will be replaced along with water mains, fire hydrants and valves.

The road surface will be milled to remove between three to eight inches of asphalt so that there is a full six inches or curbing visible. Soft spots in the road base will be dug down 18 inches and a new base put down before resurfacing.

Most of the sewer work is concentrated between River and Pioneer Streets. Because is easier to keep the proper grade going from the lowest to highest points, the sewer work will begin at River Street. Street closings, if necessary, are likely to occur in sections of Main Street as work progresses.

Any detours that are put in place will first be approved by police chief Michael Crippen, streets superintendent Carter Coleman and Clancy.

Cooperstown's only stoplight intersection - where Chestnut Street crosses Main - is the location of a concentration of storm and sanitary sewer lines and water pipes that will require extensive work to replace, Clancy said.

But a detour of NYS Highway 80 which runs concurrently with Glen Avenue, Chestnut Street and Lake Street did not worry Clancy because he said the state does not maintain the highway in the village. When the Chestnut Street crossing is closed, it could force traffic off the state highway onto residential streets to the east or west. A representative from Lamont Engineers - the firm the village has retained for the project - is currently checking with the New York State Department of Transportation to make sure there will be no problems, Clancy said.

Maintaining the flow of traffic on Main Street during the construction will come at a price - parking.

"Parking is going to be a tough one. In order to maintain traffic we won't have parking," Clancy said.

While sewer and water line work is being done closer to the center of the 50-foot wide main thoroughfare, traffic will be forced toward the curbside where cars normally park. The trench for the sewer main is only four-feet wide, but the excavators, dump trucks, men and machines will make it a tight squeeze at times. Soil and asphalt milled from the road surface will be trucked off-site where it will be stockpiled until it is needed for backfill.

Clancy said letters were sent to more than 50 Main Street property owners informing them of the coming project, but the letter dealt primarily with repairs to water lines and made no mention of the potential for disruptions for the two-and-a-half months the project is expected to take.

He said the village also intends to put notices in its publication, Villages Voices, that is mailed with water bills.

"If we have to close down the road, we have to close down the road. It's going to be an inconvenience, but we have to look at the endproduct," he said.

Mayor Carol Waller said Tuesday afternoon that she knows there will be disturbances, but see no other way to accomplish the job that would be less intrusive for residents and businesses.

"We've got to bite the bullet and do it," Waller said. "And fall is the best time."

The mayor explained that when the streets committee started the process to prioritize which streets needed the attention first, Main Street kept coming up at the top of the list.

"This boy ain't wheeling it from end of town to the other," said UPS driver Mark Kubis Wednesday morning. Kubis said he had heard the village was going to do some paving, but didn't realize the magnitude of the project. "I'll look into it. I have a package for the village today," he said.

The volume of freight drops off after Labor Day, especially for food and beverage deliveries, but merchants will have to start thinking about making arrangements to take deliveries, he said, as he thought out loud about trying to maneuver his truck up and down a street clogged with construction.

Trustees last week formally approved the project and expect bid advertisements will appear next week with a bid opening set for July 19. Clancy said it take approximately one week to review bids and make the award. Earlier estimates put the price tag at over $700,000, according to Clancy.

"We have to do it before Main Street gets worse. We're going to do it as fast as we can, but I don't know how else to do it," she said. "I'm probably going to get a lot of heat for this, but we can't do it in the winter."

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The Cooperstown Pony League 13 year-old squad continued its season this past week with a pair of away games against Schenevus and Cherry Valley.The team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the first game when

Schenevus came from behind to score four runs in the final inning to take a 12-11 victory. The Cooperstown offense was led by Brian Segit who had one walk, three hits, and scored four runs. Andy Manes also added some punch with two hits and two runs.

Tim Smith handled the pitching duties, and recorded 12 strikeouts in taking the tough loss. Cherry Valley served as host for the next game, with Cooperstown dominating the home team to take a 12-7 victory. Wesley Carroll went four for five and scored three runs to lead the offense. Brian Segit and Tim Smith each scored multiple runs, with Frank Petroskey, Andy Manes, Mitchell Adsit, Sean Gates, and

Derrick Rich each adding a run. Pitching duties were split between Brian Segit (4 innings and 3 runs allowed) and Wesley Carroll (3 innings and 4 runs allowed) with Segit picking up his first victory of the year.The Cooperstown team is now 2-1 on the year and will play its next game this Thursday at the Beaver Valley field.