The village's concert committee still has hope there will be a performance this summer on Doubleday Field.

Two weeks ago, the committee to met to assess the possibility of a concert on the historic field after it was learned that John Fogerty and John Mellencamp will not be appearing in Cooperstown. There had been discussions about a twin bill featuring the two performers, but they opted to play at larger venues.

The change left the village with no concert plans and chances looking slim that there would be a one this summer.

The committee decided to wait another two weeks because Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce director Polly Renckens said she was working on some possibilities.

Monday morning, Renckens told the board she was cautiously optimistic about a concert.

A local person, who Renckens said will remain anonymous for now, is willing to act as promoter for a concert. And a performer and opening act, who she declined to name, have been found that she believes would be a good choice for Cooperstown.

Renckens said she thought she had also found a talent agent, but was told Friday that they were "uncomfortable with the numbers."

She has since located another agent and an offer had been made.

Renckens said Wednesday morning that she is waiting to hear if the offer will be accepted. If it is, the concert would Thursday, August 11.

In the meantime, there are some issues, she told the committee, which must be discussed.

One of them is breaking down and loading up following the concert. Requiring the crew to wait until the next morning would cost more because of the lay over and Renckens said she would like to keep costs as low as possible to increase the chances of being able to have a concert.

"It's a stand-alone concert that has to pay for itself," she said.

There were come complaints last year from residents around the field, but there may be ways to minimize the disruptions in the neighborhood.

Doubleday Field head groundskeeper Joe Harris said he believes it would be much easier to load and unload if the village regraded and paved the short access road from Elm Street to the field. That way, he said, trucks could back down and be loaded right at the field rather than having to continually travel in and out with a forklift.

A lot of the noise last year, he said, could be attributed to the backup beepers on the three forklifts being used.

Another issue, Renckens said, is the $20,000 paid to the state police last year for additional security and traffic control outside the stadium.

"I'd really, really like to get out from under that," she said.

Renckens said they would use the same firm from Albany that provided inside security again, but hoped to be able to use personnel from the sheriff's department instead of the state police.

Village police chief Michael Crippen said he had no objection as long as he had adequate coverage. He said that deputies from the department would have to be paid overtime for their work.

Mayor Carol Waller said she believes there is a willingness on the part of the sheriff Donald Monday to help out.

The last issue that needed to be addressed, Renckens said, was that if there is a concert this year and it is successful, the promoter would like to be guaranteed the same opportunity next year.

The mayor said that is something the board of trustees would have to agree to.

Last year, Waller said, the promoter paid the village $20,000 up front for the rental of the field. This year, the village would not receive the upfront payment, but would get somewhere between $2.00 and $2.50 per ticket for the rental of the field.

The chamber of commerce, which sold 8,000 tickets last year, placed a surcharge on the tickets it sold and would do so again.

The committee had some concern about tickets costing more this year, but fire chief Jim Tallman said he believe that last year's $48 price from the chamber was still low.

"If you had to raise it $5 to $10, I don't think it would be a problem," he said.