The board had approved a plan in April that called for a scaled-back version of the original. The first plan for the storage facility was to erect a 100-foot wide by 225-foot long steel-sided building. Those original plans were changed almost immediately to wood board and batten siding with windows to break up the monotony of the more than 21-foot side wall of the building. The length was also chopped to 165 feet.

The project originally spanned three lots, including a single family residence which is currently being prepared for removal to make way for the building, and the town planning board required the properties to be combined into one parcel. That was accomplished in February when the properties were transferred from Jane Forbes Clark's Charisma Partners to the Templeton Foundation for $382,000. Joe Middleton, Vice-Presdient of Facilities Mangement at Bassett Healthcare, told the planning board last December that the property would remain on the tax roles.

The land had been owned by Oneonta developer Eugene Bettiol Jr., who planned to develop the property into a fast food restaurant and a convenience store, but sold the land to Clark in December, 1994. At the time, local leaders lauded the purchase as a positive step to preserve the area referred to as the gateway to the village. One of the parcels, the former Odbert and Bob Sperry car dealerships, is now home to First Community Care of Bassett.

But since the planning board's approval in April, the foundation has rethought the plan and now wants to increase the size of the building to 200 feet in length. According to David Karl of the Templeton Foundation, after analyzing the storage requirements for the various Clark-related entities that will use the building, it was concluded that the additional space would be of "great benefit." A loading dock at the southern end of the structure will add 12 feet to the overall length.

The revised project was reviewed by the Otsego County Planning Board which passed a motion by Town of Otsego supervisor Bill Gates, who also sits on the county planning board, to approve the plan with the condition that the town review the application "cautiously with respect to the aesthetics of the finished project."

"This project falls within the gateway to Cooperstown and preserving its scenic values should be addressed," the county planning board minutes stated.

In a June letter to the town planning board, the Templeton Foundation's David Karl assured the board that trees and shrubs proposed in the approved plan would be stretched out along the 200-foot sidewall facing the road. "We will expand the originally proposed plantings to preserve the purpose of obscuring the structure from view from the road," he wrote.

The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the town office building at 811 Co. Hwy. 26, in Fly Creek. A copy of the site plan and all documentation is on file in the office of the town clerk where it may be inspected during regular office hours.