The meeting began with a heated exchange between Ted Hargrove and trustee Paul Kuhn.

Hargrove owns two downtown buildings that he said pay almost $40,000 annually in village, town, county and school taxes.

``I think that’s a significant contribution,’’ he said.

He went on to say there have been numerous discussions about blocking the sidewalk with merchandise displays, but one of the big problems on Main Street is village trustee Paul Kuhn and his Guided Tours of Cooperstown.

``It’s not about me,’’ Kuhn told Hargrove after he had passed out photos of the trustee and his clients blocking the sidewalk.

``It’s is about you because you’re the main problem,’’ Hargrove replied. ``This guy is so much trouble he’s like the Pied Piper of Cooperstown. What we need are some solid common sense laws to display merchandise. If you want to follow this man you’re in trouble. If you want to kill the business district, you’re going town that road.’’

The next person to address the trustees was not a merchant, but Cooperstown native Tier French, who now lives in Boston and returns periodically to visit the village.

She complained about how difficult it was to walk down Main Street sidewalks because of tourists and merchandise on display in front of stores.

``All I want to do is walk down the street,’’ she said.

Trustee Jeff Katz commented that French was typical of some of the constituency the board must also consider.

Katz told the businesspeople that he believed there is common ground and that although they may not get everything they wanted, they would be able to display.

Joan Clark, whose family has a long business history on Main Street, said she had to agree with the merchants.

``Winter is nice. You can get down the street, but the merchants are dying,’’ she said.

Clark admitted that as a resident she is ``very inconvenienced at times,’’ but was happy to see all the stores on Main Street filled.

``I think Cooperstown will always be a busy place,’’ she said, adding that as a resident she respects Kuhn for what he does, but that he does block the sidewalk.’’

Jeff Foster, of Legends are Forever in the old theater building, told the board he believed merchants were being ``micromanaged’’ by the village.

What the law has done for several people is create problems, said Jim Florczak, owner of the Where It All Began Bat Company. He explained that in his case his store opens at 9 a.m., but he is not allowed to put his approved display out on private property until 10 a.m. and must remove at 6 p.m. even though he is open longer.

Village Mayor Carol Waller told Florczak that the hours were set in response to comments from village residents.

Kuhn explained that Friday’s meeting was the result of a planning committee meeting earlier the week in which he, Jeff Katz and Eric Hage had agreed the hours for outdoor displays should be opened up.

``If you want empty streets to walk down, move to Herkimer where I live,’’ said John Bullis, executive director of the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce. ``I would only hope the solution to these issues comes not through rancor and personal attacks, but comes through dialogue.’’

After the public comment period was closed, some of the trustees offered their own thoughts.

Kuhn said it was true that initially he had been in favor of abolishing all outdoor displays of merchandise, but that idea was not supported by the mayor and other trustees. He added that he had checked on what he needed to do to operate his tour business and was told a permit was not required.

Katz tried to dispel a persistent belief the board was anti-business. The display law started out to abolish outdoor displays, but was re-written because merchants said they needed the displays. At the same time there are residents who want Main Street ``cleaned up a bit.’’

``This village not only belongs to the merchants, but also the people who live here. We have to work together,’’ Waller said.

The trustees debated the display permit requirement for a survey and what constituted an alcove.

A motion was passed that within the facade of the building or an alcove, no permit is required. The motion passed with Kuhn the only dissenting vote.

A change in hours was also approved, but will require a public hearing before it can take affect.

Merchants will be able to have outdoor displays in place during their hours of operation. The hearing has been scheduled for July 16 at 9 p.m.