HARTWICK - Only ten months after its last multi-year expansion plan was approved, the Cooperstown Dreams Park has submitted another that calls for a similar 20 percent increase in the number of players and coaches coming to the camp for a week of tournament baseball.

The new expansion plan submitted to the Hartwick town planning board is based on the acquisition of almost 60 acres of land from the Ingalls family. Paul Ingalls, one of the owners, is a member of the Hartwick planning board.

"Over a period of time there has been some speculation about the Dreams Park acquiring property owned by the Ingalls. I'm officially acknowledging it is true," Dreams Park CEO Louis Presutti told board members.

Ownership of the property has not yet been transfered, but it is under contract to be purchased, he said.

The parcel is the same one on which Eddie Einhorn, one of the owners of the Chicago White Sox, had planned to build his Cooperstown Baseball World.

Einhorn eventually abandoned his effort and located his facility in Oneonta.

More recently, the land was the subject of a lawsuit between Ingalls and Diane Hassman, who wanted the land for development purposes. The Dreams Park decided to exercise its option on the land and purchase it. The matter transaction ended up in court.

Presutti said the lawsuit has been resolved, but would not reveal the purchase price for the property. He did confirm it was over $1 million.

Ingalls' sale of the property and his position on the town planning board came up during the meeting when board member Orrin Higgins questioned a disclosure statement submitted by Presutti as part of his application.

Ingalls' involvement in the land deal was not noted in the statement and Higgins said he believed it was clear that he does have an interest that should have been disclosed. Ingalls' ownership of the land was mentioned in other application documents.

Presutti said he understood that because the sale was not contingent on the planning board's approval of the expansion plan that it did not constitute a conflict.

"I maintain he has an interest. You might want to look at that before the next meeting," Higgins told Presutti.

Higgins said Ingalls would definitely have to recuse himself from the board's review of the application and that he would feel better if Ingalls' interest was noted in the document in "black and white."

Town attorney Lynn Green, who represented Ingalls in the lawsuit over the sale of the land, will be consulted about the disclosure statement.

Ingalls did not attend Tuesday night's meeting and could not be reached for comment.

According to application documents, the additional parcel will boost the youth baseball camp's holdings to 180 acres. The new expansion plan makes use of approximately 42 acres of the land being purchased.

Currently, the camp plays host to 1,400 players and coaches each week, a number that will rise to 1,665 when the expansion program is complete. The expansion plan approved last year called for a similar 20 percent increase in participants.

Higgins also questioned Presutti about the number of visitors the park hosts each week saying that a more accurate number would take into account the family members who follow the players and coaches to Cooperstown. Higgins said it was his understanding that for each player, there are another 2.5 people who also arrive at the park to watch the games. He suggested that a more correct figure would be 4,500 to 5,000 visitors each week.

"Your numbers are very low compared to my math," Higgins said.

The plan calls for new lighted baseball fields to be built in 2006. The plan will raise the number of diamonds from the 18 now in use to a total of 22. An increase of four fields equates to an additional 16 teams at the park each week.

Also included in the 2006 construction season are eight new clubhouses for players, a concession stand, bath house, kitchen expansion, office building, fencing and screening, and a 400-car increase to two parking lots.

A new entrance is also planned. Presutti said their current driveway, which is shared with adjoining property owner Howard Reiss, will be moved approximately 150 feet north. The new driveway will give the park its own separate entrance to better control security at the park, he said.

During the review of the last expansion plan, there was talk of requiring the park to pay for a traffic signal at its entrance on route 28, but it was not made a condition of the planning board's approval.

Presutti said the traffic light was a possibility with this plan and that he was scheduled to meet with Department of Transportation representatives yesterday to discuss the new plan.

Scheduled for construction in 2007 are a memorial park and more fencing and screening.

For the third year and beyond are the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame, a permanent dining/assembly hall and the completion of the fencing and screening. The hall of fame and dining hall were approved earlier have never been built.

Presutti said the new plan will have a $1.5 million price tag. If the cost of previously approved facilities is included, that price jumps to $3.5 million, he said.

The planning board did not begin its review of the application, but instead decided to give members a chance to fully review the application documents.

The review will begin during the board's next meeting set for March 8.