The proposal, called ``Adopt-a-Site,’’ came a week earlier to the Streets and Buildings Committee from Elm Street residents Charlene and Jim Vrooman.

The main thrust of the program would be aimed at improving the appearance of the downtown area by plantings around sidewalk trees and weekly litter clean-ups.

The Vrooman’s proposal is patterned after Adopt-A-Highway programs in use across the country. Merchants, individuals, service organizations, families or groups would commit to sponsor a site and be expected to maintain it for one year.

Charlene Vrooman told the board they had identified 72 potential sites in the downtown area on Main and Pioneer Streets.

``We want to make Main Street look like it should,’’ she said.

John Irvin, the General Manager of the Otesaga Hotel, Cooper Inn and the Leatherstocking Golf Course, attended Monday night’s meeting to lend his support for the proposal. He said he sees a huge difference between how Cooperstown and other tourist towns present themselves. He said he frequently hears negative comments from guests about the appearance of Cooperstown’s Main Street.

Irvin said he endorses the Vroomans’ proposal and received positive responses in conversations with officials at the Hall of Fame and Farmers’ Museum.

Trustee Paul Kuhn said he thought the idea was great.

``I think it can beautify Main Street,’’ he said. ``If we can get the word out I think it will take off.’’

The board’s primary concern about the proposal was liability and village attorney John Lambert will be consulted before the board would commit to the program.

Trustee Milo Stewart, Jr., was also concerned about the appearance of plantings around the trees. In the past, he said, merchants planted everything from flowers to sweet corn and squash. He said he didn’t want to see a ``hodge-podge of plantings,’’ but believed it would be possible to come up with a beautification program.

The Vroomans had suggested using hostas for plantings around trees. Hostas, Charlene Vrooman said, were attractive, low-maintenance, perennial and relatively inexpensive.

The Streets and Buildings Committee had told the Vroomans that perhaps it was a program best administered by the Chamber of Commerce. Charlene Vrooman said Monday they approached the Chamber last week and were told it sounded like a good idea and they would help disseminate information, but the organization did not have that many members on Main Street.

On Tuesday, Jim Vrooman explained that he and his wife, who own the Phinney House B&B, had been thinking about the program for more than a year after seeing Main Street take on a shabby appearance. After Induction last year, the mulch which had been around the trees was trampled and strewn about and there was litter everywhere.

It was the quaintness and charm of the village which prompted them to move to Cooperstown, he said, but it has lost some of that charm because of the appearance of Main Street.

The problem, Vrooman said, is that visitors see the condition of much of Main Street and it sends the message that people here don’t care so the visitors behave without care. It’s a cycle he wants to see broken.

``It {Main Street} needs to be loved. It needs a little T.L.C.,’’ he said.

The Vroomans said they would like to see the proposal get under way after Induction Weekend and that if it is successful downtown, help it spread to more of the village.

In other business Monday night, the board

conducted a public hearing on a reduction of the village speed limit from 30 m.p.h. to 25 m.p.h. There were no public comments on the proposed speed limit change, but Mayor Carol Waller asked the board why the change was being made.

``I think we need to look into this. I think we need to know more about it before we pass it,’’ she said.

The change, Police Chief Diana Nicols said, would not apply to all village streets and suggested the board not act on the change Monday night.

Trustee Lynne Mebust, a member of the Police Committee, stated that she would like to be sure that lowering the speed limit would actually have a positive affect on safety which prompted the move to a lower limit.

heard a report from Police Committee Chairman Paul Kuhn that there are still several merchants who continue to violate the outdoor display rules.

Kuhn said he was sorry Chief Nicols had to continue to spend some time on the problem.

Nicols said she believes the merchants are improving and trustee Jeff Katz said that after a couple of warnings, it is time to start issuing fines to violators.

adopted an amendment to parking regulations to remove a loading zone in front of Stagecoach Coffee and establish a new one on the north side on Main Street in front of the Mohican Club.

Main Street businessman Glenn Hubbell asked the board what the reason was for the new loading zones. Main Street, he said, is only a block-and-a-half long. If you have to wait a few minutes because of trucks unloading, what’s the big deal, he asked?

``I think you’re doing a disservice to businesses downtown,’’ he said.

Mayor Waller told Hubbell it was an effort to make a safer Main Street.

``It’s a safety issue,’’ she said.

approved a bid for sidewalk construction along Walnut Street.

The low bid was submitted by Thomas Swatling and Robert Jorgensen, of Fly Creek, in the amount of $52,500.

The bid is contingent on them providing proof of insurance and completing all documentation in a timely fashion.

The only other bidder was Schoenecker Construction Company in Schoharie in the amount of $68,848.