County Hears Airport Concerns, Debates DMV

By BILL BELLEN
OTSEGO COUNTY

The Otsego County Board of Representatives meeting on Wednesday, August 6 started out with a bang. Following a short address by Edward Dawyot and mirroring similar remarks made by a group the night before at the City of Oneonta Common Council meeting, numerous individuals brought to the board’s attention their concerns over proposals for expansion of the Oneonta Municipal Airport.

Randy Miritello spoke first on behalf of the Otsego County Wilderness and Watershed Coalition, which he described as “a group of families banded together to protect our properties from threat of eminent domain and clear cutting.” He stated that these actions are what the airport is pursuing in order to apply for the FAA grant spoken of at the July board meeting. Miritello detailed that the clear-cut would cover roughly 140 acres on privately-owned property, directly affecting 10 families near the airport, none of which, he said, are interested in signing over easement rights for work to be done. He criticized the proposal for catering to the wealthy using tax-funded services, contending that much of the fuel sales at the airport are not from jets, but from people with sports cars seeking clean fuel. He added that many jets do not refuel locally because they have exclusive fuel contracts with the airports they are based out of.

Jim Forbes, a licensed professional engineer and fellow airport neighbor, spoke next. He noted his concerns for the Oneonta water supply and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation-classified streams that feed it, given potential runoff from a clearing of this magnitude. Forbes also said it has come to light that city officials were unaware of the possible necessity for eminent domain prior to their voting in favor of pursuit of the grant.

Forbes then read from his address to the Oneonta Common Council from the night prior:

“Clearing for an airport is a New York State DEC regulated activity. I have verified this with the DEC. It is also amplified by the $64,000.00 fine levied by the DEC in 2012 on the city and [their partner firm].”

The DEC fined the City of Oneonta $64,000.00 in 2012 for mismanaging clearing of the airport site and causing severe sedimentation to a protected stream and the Oneonta reservoir.

Forbes went on to detail how 50 percent of the 90 acres to be cleared to the northeast of the airport are wetlands with biofilters, endangered species and protected wetland easements. He also shared that there were only 10 flights during Hall of Fame weekend, four of which were “touch-and-gos.” He said his personal recommendation is to stop pursuing the FAA grant.

Karen Miritello addressed the board next and stated that she has lived on her property for 25 years. She explained the municipal complications due to the airport being owned by the City of Oneonta, located in the Town of Laurens, and with some of the planned clearing being in the Town of Milford.

She spoke about the beauty of the woods on her property, and how vital they are to her family’s way of life and those of the many creatures who live on their land. In addition, she shared concerns that Matt Kent, the owner of the new fixed-base operator at the airport, owns a timber company and could potentially use the timber from all this clearing for baseball bats and woodchips for fuel.

“Now, I take no issue with anyone making an honest living, but I do have a problem when private ambition masquerades as being in the public’s best interest,” she said.

Miritello requested that the representatives nominated to the Airport Commission by the county “ask hard questions” and respect the land around them.

Mark Pawkett came to the podium next, agreeing with the previous speakers and also criticizing recent technological mishaps with recordings of discussions about the proposed airport expansion.

Once public comments wrapped up, and with no special presentations on the docket, the meeting moved along to reports from standing committees.

Rep. Keith McCarty (District No. 9, Richfield, Springfield) spoke for the Public Works Committee and recounted that, among other requests, Tim Donahue has asked for approval to award a bid to Lancaster Development to pave the perimeter of the emergency services red barn for $164,510.00. McCarty shared that the old New Lisbon tower site is nearing completion, and that Dan Zimmerman discussed the timber sale for parcel number 12 in Middlefield.

Otsego County Board Chair Edwin Frazier Jr. asked IT Director Brian Pokorny to make a statement on the county’s video loss on Facebook. Pokorny explained that Facebook used to keep videos on the site forever, but recently changed its policy to delete them after 30 days. He said the IT department is working with Facebook to try and retrieve those videos, but they are not optimistic due to more than 500 meetings being lost. Roughly six months of recordings are saved in Zoom and they will be put on YouTube, the main platform that the board will be using for all meeting recordings going forward.

Rep. Jill Basile (District No. 14, City of Oneonta Wards Seven and Eight) spoke for the Human Services Committee and shared that there was a request for approval to pay for a criminal court order of about $51,000.00 for the month of May. There was also a request for approval of a resolution to contract with Catholic Charities for the Rental Supplement Program Services for $125,940.00.

Rep. Daniel Wilber (District No. 10, Burlington, Edmeston, Exeter, Plainfield) spoke for Public Safety and Legal Affairs and told the board that they received a five-year grant of about $20 million. Minutes from the committee meeting clarify that $16 million is for the establishment of a specialized pharmacy at Bassett and $4 million is to support the ambulance program.

Rep. Margaret Kennedy (District No. 5, Hartwick, Milford, New Lisbon) spoke for the Administration Committee and said members had reviewed and approved the mobile DMV program that is set to begin in Hartwick and expected to add more locations next year. She later pulled Resolution 275 on the subject from the consent agenda to make amendments to the legislation.

The board then moved on to special committee addresses. Discussion over purchasing policy and administrative streamlining was interrupted by Rep. Basile’s update regarding the county’s tiny homes. She shared that the homes are completed, but that two do not have Internet or TV. This sparked minor debate over whether those amenities were necessary in order for tenants to move in.

County Administrator Steve Wilson reported that at the end of July, about 52 percent of the county’s annual budget had been spent, with roughly $81 million remaining. Rep. Kennedy shared some information she learned about AI from a meeting she attended, including its tendency to reaffirm biases and please the user.

Upon the request of Chair Frazier, Rep. Kennedy also shared some information gathered from a meeting with farmers from nearby counties and Congressional Representative Josh Riley (19th Congressional District) regarding the addition of funding for roll over protection bars to the Farm Bill. Frazier said Congressman Riley also showed an interest in appropriating funding to replace potential cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in order to continue allowing farmers’ produce to reach food banks.

With discussion seemingly complete, Res. 275 was amended to allow Otsego County insurance coverage of participating municipalities and to resolve that the board supports the mobile DMV measure. It was questioned what the cost of this would be on the county, with Rep. McCarty notably voicing his opposition. He voted no to approving the amendment and said he saw the program as a waste of resources that could be put toward the Oneonta or Cooperstown DMV offices instead.

“I feel this is very unnecessary. Anybody can be at a DMV office within a half an hour or 20 minutes from Oneonta or Cooperstown. I think this is a waste of resources. If you want more time, put more time into Oneonta.”

There was further debate between numerous board members and Rep. McCarty over logistics and the value of keeping the revenue made by the DMV program. Upon the final vote for the amended resolution, Rep. James Powers (District No. 2, Butternuts, Morris, Pittsfield) changed his vote to a no as well, althought the vote did ultimately pass.

Following this debate, Rep. Kennedy motioned to withdraw Res. 286 in order to reevaluate some of the language regarding the county’s purchasing policy. There was then discussion over whether Frazier would nominate anyone to the Airport Commission, to which he replied that nobody was willing to commit to being appointed. Concerns were raised about the time of their meetings being at 4 p.m., unlike the typical nighttime meetings for city boards and commissions.

Among two late resolutions, Late Resolution A was put forth without objection as Res. 293 to appoint members to the America 250 Committee to plan and organize celebrations, with Reps. Catan, Mickle, Kennedy, Basile, and Scanlon being appointed. The remainder of the meeting was spent in executive session before board members returned briefly in order to adjourn.

The next Otsego County Board of Representatives meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 3.