Cooperstown to consider
marijuana response in November
By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN — The village of Cooperstown’s Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 8, to discuss options about opting out on the state’s cannabis dispensary plan.
Municipalities have until the end of the year to opt out or they are considered open to hosting sites for marijuana sales or use.
Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh said she thought the chances Cooperstown got selected for a site were small anyway, but she wanted the village residents to have a say in the decision.
Tillapaugh said she thought opting out and scheduling a village referendum for the March elections would be a smart way to let villagers have their say on the issue.
Trustee MacGuire Benton said he thought framing the issue as opting out was a bad idea. He said the trustees could study the issue and decide to allow the deadline to pass without taking action, thereby opting in. Although opinions differed on a potential referendum, all of the trustees seemed to agree they did not have a full grasp of the new laws or the village’s role in the matter and wanted to use the next month to learn more.
Tillapaugh said the first November meeting would be an information session for villagers and trustees, with lots of time for discussion and questions. The normal November meeting at the end of the month will include a public hearing on the issue, beginning at 7 p.m., and potentially a vote by the trustees.
The trustees also discussed the continuing problems in the mornings at Cooperstown Elementary School, where the unintended consequence of making Walnut Street one way has jammed up Delaware Street.
Heidi Geisz, a local mother, shared a petition of about 25 parents who asked the village to reconsider its options with school drop offs and pick ups and to undo a change that prohibits stopping and standing on Walnut during peak school hours.
Tillapaugh and Cooperstown Police Chief Frank Cavalieri both admitted the current system is not working. Tillapaugh said she is in on-going discussions with Cooperstown Elementary School Principal Tracy Durkee on a solution.
The trustees also scheduled a public tour of the new wastewater treatment facilities for 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 7. The old plant was commissioned in 1969. State funding helped build the new plant, which had a 2019 ground breaking.
Not surprised that Trustee MacGuire Benton wants to opt in regarding Cooperstown and the marijuana issue. Really, do families intent on visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame want to visit town and see a marijuana dispensary? It is always about the money. The people who stand to gain financially from selling the drug want to opt in. No thought is given to how this will affect the community and those who live here. A sad commentary on how there are those who put money ahead of morals. And no, I did not support the legalization of marijuana. There will be more traffic accidents, more emergency room visits and we will experience all the negatives that the state of Colorado experienced after they legalized pot. To all members of the Board of Trustees, get some backbone and keep this scourge from Cooperstown!!!
Cooperstown will not be happy until someone invents a time machine and brings the entire town back to 1954. This town already shot down the dunkin donuts and continue to stop anything that looks remotely like progress. A marijuana dispensary would bring much needed sales to the town and its business in the winter and year round. If people were concerned about accidents and emergency room visits then I suggest banning alcohol sales entirely….. but that’s never going to happen now is it. That little bit of hypocrisy is conveniently overlooked. So, you can change with the times and vote yes or continue to gasp and clutch your pearls when ever anyone suggests anything new or different. Feel free to retain your holier than thy smirk while you ignore the facts. Baseball is dying, our children are leaving Coop by the droves for bigger and better places. We are slaves to the tourism industry and failure to keep up with the times will doom Cooperstown and every one in. Apparently we have learned nothing from the 2020 covid shutdowns.
The most important reason to not have such a business here is that it will fail, because it doesn’t make good business sense. A store in Cooperstown will also compete with other stores that do have a chance, such as one will surely find in Oneonta or Utica. Better to allow those stores to succeed, and know that small cottage businesses or groups will form to procure or indulge in its consumption, because it has always been an informal, under the table type of activity. Also, older generation weed smokers will not just walk in the front door of such a business, due to the stigma attached because of marijuana’s previous illegal status.
Any seasoned marijuana smoker, or consumer of its products, will know how to get some if they want. We have no problem going to Oneonta for Walmart or BJ’s club, and buying the appropriate amount of merchandise to make the trip worthwhile. Buying weed won’t be any different.