Coop Village Considers Noise Law Changes, Sheriff Partnership

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
COOPERSTOWN

Cooperstown trustees set a public hearing for amendments to the village’s noise ordinance and considered a mutual aid agreement with the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office but paused in light of its cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement during their January 26 regular meeting. The board also increased dock slip rental costs for 2026 by a small margin.

The board set a public hearing to be held during its next meeting, on February 23, for proposed amendments to the village’s noise ordinance. The main proposed changes set new decibel limits according to property type, focused on mechanical sound.

“What is new is separate rules for amplified sounds like music from a radio or a mic for voices and mechanical sounds like from an HVAC,” Deputy Mayor Cynthia Falk told AllOtsego. “If you have a party, you can go up to 70 dB as heard from an adjoining property during daytime hours with music, laughing, and talking.”

Daytime sound emanating from a residential property to another residential address would be limited to 55 dB, and to a non-residential at 60 dB. Sound emanating from a non-residential address to a residential property would be limited to 60 dB, and to another non-residential property at 70 dB. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., these sound limits are reduced by 10 dB.

A vacuum cleaner produces approximately 70 dB of sound in its immediate area.

The proposed legislation exempts snow removal equipment “when used in their customary manner in a size appropriate to the task.” It also requires that outdoor HVAC units intended for more than seasonal use receive a “Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board.”

In the meeting, Falk said she and Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh were trying to address complaints received “about the noise that is made from mechanical units, particularly related to the heat pumps.”

The board also considered a law enforcement mutual aid agreement with the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office. Normally a standard agreement, one line drew some board members’ concern: mutual aid could include “conducting joint investigations and executions of warrants.” The Otsego County Sheriff’s Office recently signed a 287(g) Warrant Service Officer agreement with ICE which allows corrections officers to execute immigration warrants on individuals in their custody.

“We had a discussion about what is a ‘warrant’,” said Trustee Joseph Membrino, referring to Falk. “Typically, it is a judicial warrant issued by a branch of the government, not an administrative warrant issued by the action agency, and that’s coming up a lot in the ICE activity.

“The larger question is: Do we do this at all?” Membrino said.

Recognizing the village has already had similar agreements, Membrino said, “Can we get the mutual aid and ongoing response and cooperation that we are getting without this agreement? If that’s the case, I would set this aside as unnecessary.”

Cooperstown village passed a resolution this past fall condemning “the seizure, detention, and impending deportation of law-abiding immigrants” and current practices of the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is part.

Falk said “I’m not sure what the intersection is between what they have said they will do and what we have said we won’t do, and mutual aid. We know that others in the village have this concern as well, because they have come to Breakfast with the Board and have asked us about our police department. I would not want to be in the position where someone is hesitant to call 911 because you don’t know who’s going to show up, whether it’s going to be the village or the sheriff.”

Tillapaugh agreed the warrant question was the “most concerning” to her, and pointed out that because village police do not operate 24/7 certain incidents would receive the Sheriff’s Office regardless.

The board did not vote on the mutual aid agreement and is waiting for more information.

The board reviewed dock slip rental prices for the docks for 2026, voting to increase costs by $50.00 for residents and $100.00 for non-residents. For exterior slips, interested Cooperstown residents will owe $850.00, and non-residents $1,850.00. Interior slips will cost $650.00 for residents and $1,450.00 for non-residents. Current holders must apply by March 31, after which point vacant slips will be assigned to those on a waitlist. The passes last from May 1 to November 1, 2026.

Darla M. Youngs contributed reporting to this story.

Update 1/30/26: Additional information about the noise law has been added.