I was just wondering about something, and I was hoping someone a whole lot smarter and wiser than me could give me an answer. I have been noticing that there is a lot of discussion about the idea of charging people for parking on the streets of Cooperstown. I think this is a good idea mainly because I assume that one of the benefits of paid parking is that the village would be able to make some money and thus lower the taxes for village residents such as myself. But then I read that in order to do this, someone has come up with the idea that the residents should pay a $10 fee for a sticker that gives us the privilege of parking for free on those same village streets. I just cannot figure out why the residents should have to pay anything at all for this sticker.

I know that someone said that the $10 is to cover administrative fees to run the sticker system, and I have no argument that someone has to be paid for creating those stickers and giving them out _ so of course there will be administrative fees. I just thought that one feature of paid parking was that this system would reduce the cost for residents of living in the village. This may sound like a crazy question, but I was just wondering if this paid parking could pay for the cost of the stickers.

I guess I am assuming that the paid parking would make some money, and that some of this money could go directly back to the residents in the form of free stickers. Is that too much to ask?

Of course, this all assumes that the paid parking will actually net the village a few extra bucks. When I read that the cost to each village resident was $120 to haul away the garbage of visitors on Hall of Fame Weekend (someone smarter than me figured out that it cost that much), I realized that the Village must enjoy using tax money for someone else’s benefit. And if the Village has the ability to pay $24,000 to haul away garbage for someone else’s party, then maybe they could also find the way to cover the cost of stickers for the residents. That way, the residents would not get stuck for the stickers.

And just one more thing _ I hope I can get a sticker for each car that I own, and that I am not limited to just one sticker.

George Seeley

Cooperstown

Treated poorly

My husband, kids and I were greatly relieved to find a B&B with rooms available (on a weekend where most hotels/ B&B’s were booked).

My father, brothers and sisters and I are traveling to carry out my mother’s last wishes after she recently died. Mom asked to be buried next to her parents in the nearby town of Hartwick.

The innkeeper at 42 Montgomery certainly seemed welcoming when I made the confirmed’ reservations, and she seemed’ sincere in her condolences on the purpose of our visit.

A week later, we were beyond devastated to receive a call that the innkeeper cancelled our upcoming reservations!

Apparently she forgot’ about a better offer she had in which the entire Inn was rented for two nights. So much for confirmed’ and so much for her condolences. We were burying my mother, for goodness’ sake! How inconsiderate can a place be?

Danette Dierdorff

Southbury, Conn.

Field fee raise unreasonable

I am one of the people that have been participating in the Legends of Baseball tournament since 1996. I come up every August with my wife and three children and we stay locally (this year we stayed at Abbey’s Cottage and Lee Malone was a most gracious hostess). Thom Lach’s estimate of a family spending $1,000 to $1,500 for the week is a fraction of what I spend. With three kids ages five, six and seven, and a wife that’s not exactly thrilled watching us play all day, my family patronizes nearly every local business in town during the week. Between accommodations, food, entertainment, souvenirs, fuel, and general walking around money we spend over $3,000 for the week.

This has become a tradition that brings many families and friends together and we hope to continue in the future, but each year it becomes more expensive to vacation in Cooperstown. I understand that costs of doing business go up _ I own and operate a business in New Jersey. But how can a business raise prices by 250 percent and remain in business? The town should conduct itself like a business. No person can wake up tomorrow and all of a sudden pay two-and-a-half times more for what they are paying today and absorb it. I know if my mortgage increased 2.5 times, or gasoline went to $7.50, a gallon it would create a hardship for me.

I respectfully ask that the town committee reconsider the dramatic increase of the field fees. The increase of $600 per game is unfair, especially when you see that a good customer is being asked to pay an additional $27,000 for the same service next year. When gas goes up 50 cents a gallon, we all moan about and pay it because there’s no viable option, but if the cost went to $7.50 a gallon there’d be lots of people NOT using their vehicles. The increase in the field fees takes the case of the latter. As a group, some of us can afford the individual increase and others cannot. I will most likely visit every other year if the camp still exists. I am a typical participant. This increase can put one of Cooperstown’s biggest supporters out of business. Please reconsider this increase.

Jerry Mallach

Basking Ridge, N.J.

Support

parking plan

Charging for Doubleday Field parking was proposed earlier in the year, and then criticized by merchants and others. In response, a broader proposal has been created under the leadership of trustee Lynne Mebust. At Tuesday night’s public meeting, this proposal was met with some criticism as well. It’s all too easy to say a plan needs more work, more thought, more input. Let’s not continue to send plans back to the drawing board with endless circular arguments. This only results in nothing getting done.

The plan takes into account local concerns, and was informed by what already works in towns like Skaneateles and Lake Placid. Because of the constraints on the Village of Cooperstown imposed by the County and the State, this parking plan is one of the few ways we as a Village can generate revenue without raising property taxes.

Permits, on sale daily during the winter and on select days during other seasons, will primarily benefit locals. People voiced concerns about snowbirds and college students, and the plan can be adapted to accommodate them. The exact amount charged for parking in Doubleday Field is another issue that can be reviewed, resolved, and revisited as necessary.

As I see it, this plan will cost me just $10 for a permit, while generating significant revenue for big-ticket capital projects, such as sewers, water, streets and sidewalks. The Parking Plan is designed so the majority of the cost will be paid by tourists, who often expect to pay for parking anyway. The conservative estimates for revenue will more than cover the cost of the paid parking machines.

I also support the longer-term solutions of gaining more local control over parking and other issues, but these may take years.

Let’s support the Parking Plan now, and provide the Village with a near-immediate, and needed, source of revenue.

Peg Odell

Cooperstown