"If we have good weather, we’re still only halfway there," said village police chief Diana Nicols at a meeting Friday attended by more than 20 village, county, state and Hall of Fame officials. "We’re still looking for spots."

Much of the meeting focused on discussing what progress had been made so far in planning for what is expected to be one of the largest induction ceremony crowds ever July 29 when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn join the Hall of Fame.

Nicols said the list of street closures, one-way designations and roads closed to parking had been finalized and reported that progress had been made in finding staging areas for emergency personnel and bus parking.

She said some ideas were still being worked out, such as a potential plan to have one lane of the Susquehanna Avenue bridge closed to vehicular traffic on Sunday to facilitate the flood of people traveling on foot from downtown to the induction site at the Clark Sports Center.

Nicols also said the police were working with the NYSDOT in arranging for electronic signs to be placed on major routes leading into Cooperstown for the weekend. She said the exact message those signs would display was still being determined.

"It should start with Don’t plan on parking in town’," she said.

Village trustee Jeff Katz suggested information on street closures and available parking be posted on the websites of the village, chamber and area newspapers.

"Getting the information to people before they hit their cars makes it easier for everyone," he said. "There will be less scrambling once they’re here."

In the same vein, Nicols proposed printing and laminating maps to give to area B&B’s and hotels which could then distribute photocopies to their guests.

Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce executive director John Bullis said he could contact other area chambers like Utica and Oneonta and ask them to disseminate that information to chamber members.

Fire chief Jim Tallman said emergency responders from neighboring departments would have personnel assisting in Cooperstown. He said some will also be on standby at the Hartwick Seminary and Fly Creek fire halls in case of emergencies outside of the village.

Tallman also discussed where the best location for unloading buses would be in the village.

He said the induction site was not a good location. Nicols suggested the elementary school parking lot might be a good location within walking distance of the induction grounds. Some consideration was made to having a bus loop with a drop-off location on Main Street, which will be closed to traffic.

Trolley committee chairman Giles Russell said the five village trolleys were ready to go and that the radio system used to inform people coming in to the village was in place.

He said the signal is strong enough to be heard from as far out as Three Mile Point on Route 80, Pop’s Place in Milford on Route 28 south of the village and the Cooperstown Bat Company north of the village.

Twice during the meeting, Russell raised the point that while much discussion had been made about where not to park, little progress had been made finding parking accommodations for the majority of vehicles coming into the area.

"We’re only 40 percent there with the expected numbers," he said. "If we are really planning for 60,000, we donĘt really have a plan yet."

Mayor Carol Waller responded that progress was being made and that they would figure something out.

"I’m confident we’re going to handle this weekend well," she said.

Otsego County emergency services coordinator Butch Jones suggested golf carts be used to transport people from the induction site if necessary.

He also suggested that a changing station for parents with infants be set up in order to provide some privacy. He recommended a company like Coppertone be contacted as well to arrange for free sun tan lotion in case it’s an overly sunny day.

"I think we’ve made great progress," Waller said at the close of the hour-long meeting.

The next induction meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 13 at 10 a.m. in the village meeting room.