HARTWICK SEMINARY - Life in the village is about change abruptly.

The Cooperstown Dreams Park will open Saturday for its eleventh season with more teams coming each week than ever before.

During the Dreams Park's abbreviated first summer in 1996, there were six fields in play with 25 to 35 teams a week for the four-week season.

Ten years later, there are 22 diamonds and 96 teams from across the country coming for each of the 11-weeks during the season. A total of 1,056 teams are expected this year. Dreams Park CEO Louis Presutti said approximately 1,500 players and coahes attend each week.

The park, he said has 300 full- and part-time employees.

Next week is reserved for players 10-years-old and younger. The remainder of the season will for players 12-years-old and under.

The park has grown steadily since its inception, but that should come to a halt, according to agreement between Presutti and the Hartwick town planning board.

One of the conditions of the approval of the park's latest expansion plan last August was that Presutti had to agree there would be no more new fields on an almost 60-acre parcel the park acquired from the Ingalls family.

"With the completion of the approved facilities, Dreams Park will reach its optimal size and will not be building any additional fields at any time in the future. We have always been cautious not to outgrow the high standards with which we operate and our ability to offer all guests a personalized baseball experience," Presutti said at the time.

Tuesday evening, Presutti avoided a problem at the Hartwick town planning board meeting. The park had been issued a stop work order by town enforcement officer Neal McManus because the new entry to the park did not conform to the design approved last year by the board.

During the meeting, Presutti agreed that if you look at the drawings you see a straight line, but the new drive into the park is curved.

"It was moved a little," he said, "but the functionality is there."

He explained that it had to be moved to intersect with Route 28 where the Department of Transportation determined it should be.

"I don't think the DOT could over-rule us without informing us," said planning board co-chairman Ferd Thering.

"I thought we agreed to let the DOT pick the spot," Presutti said.

McManus said the reality of the situation is that a new drawing of the road as it's built should be submitted.

Town engineer Wayne Bunn said he had been to the park to look at the drive and also had examined the drawings. The change in the driveway didn't seem like it presented a problem, he said.

Presutti told the board they were right and had to approve it, but if they looked back they would see everyone agreed the drive had to be where the DOT said it should be.

"I didn't go up and put a stake in Route 28," he said.

Thering told Presutti to provide the board with a drawing showing the change in the drive.

And the traffic light at the entrance to the park will have to wait another year.

NYSDOT Region 9 public information officer Katy Mangan said Tuesday changes in the state highway, including a left-turn lane for southbound traffic into the park, is planned for October. Following that, a signal will be installed by the start of the 2007 season.

Mangan said the park applied for a highway permit to put in the new drive and agency required a traffic signal as a condition of the approval of the permit. But because the park was unable to have a traffic light in place this year, they agreed to have law enforcement personnel on site to direct traffic during peak times, she said.

Presutti confirmed this week there would be traffic control at the entrance.

"We are excited and eagerly awaiting the arrival of our teams for the opening of our eleventh season. The improvements to our facility since last year will enhance our ability to continue to provide the ultimate youth baseball experience in the country," Presutti said. "I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of our staff and contractors in preparation for the 2006 season and invite the local community to visit during our eleven weeks of operation."