| Welcome to the Cooperstown Crier |
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
2-21-2007 By JIM AUSTIN Editor Mayor Carol Waller and trustees Jeff Katz, Paul Kuhn, Eric Hage and Lynne Mebust along with village clerk Teri Barown went to the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee meeting to make a case for why the village should receive the bed tax funds. And to do that, village treasurer Mary Ann Henderson created a spreadsheet from last year that shows almost $600,000 in annual tourism-related expenses. The expenses cover everything from trash receptacles and disposal to overtime for the DPW and police. But most of the expense is the depreciation for the garbage truck, water reservoir, UV disinfection system at the waste water treatment plant and the five trolleys, for a total of $486,000. The spreadsheet presented to the committee totaled $950,000 because it also included a one-time charge of $350,000, which represented one-half the capital cost of the UV disinfection system. The village, Waller said, was feeling the sting of losing the Hall of Fame Game, which generated money to offset costs associated with Induction weekend. Katz commented that previous discussion between the village and county had been somewhat adversarial, but hoped that moving forward there would be a spirit of cooperation. Jim Johnson, who represents the town of Otsego on the county board and chairs the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, said if prior discussions had been adversarial, he hopes to put that behind them. "I recognize the role Cooperstown plays in tourism," he said. Katz said some of the expenses were obvious, but others were not. In some cases, he said, it was the difference in expenses between being just a community of 1,900 residents and a community that attracts a large tourist population each summer. "We tried to present what, in our view, was summer specific," he said. "Our budget does not have a lot of room to make improvements; we're just trying to keep things going." Johnson asked in what ways the mayor and trustees saw the county partnering with the village, and one thing Katz and Waller both mentioned was the appearance of Main Street during the summer. "Main Street can look a bit ragged," Katz said. Waller pointed to Irish Hill, which has been "neglected" by the village for the last 30 years. "If we had some money to pay for tourist items, we could free up money for Irish Hill," she said. Committee member Keith McCarty commented that he would like to see data from other years to make a comparison, because the figures from 2007 were based on a record-setting crowd for the Induction. "We're trying on our own to do what we can to raise revenue, but we can't do it all alone," Katz said. "We hope you view this as a worthwhile investment that's in all of our interest," said Hage. "I agree with Eric. Making those investments is important," Johnson said. "The committee has a great interest in making sure the tourism is alive and well." Following the meeting, Katz said he thought there was a nice dialogue and that he hoped to build on the cooperative spirit. "It's a new board," Waller said. "I think Jim Johnson has a handle on the impact of tourism. I felt like they listened." |
Copyright 2007, Cooperstown Crier, Cooperstown, NY All rights reserved