from the ENERGY TASK FORCE Energy Task Force Goal: To Avoid Us Vs. Them To the Editor: Your June 20-21 editorial on the Otsego County Energy Taskforce ends with the sentence: “We’re all in this together.” We on the Taskforce Leadership Committee couldn’t agree more. But the editorial’s main assertion that the business community has been shut out of the process is not based on fact and includes inaccuracies and unhelpful hypotheticals that need to be corrected. Chief among these…
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Otsego Chamber Policy Declares Independence Regarding Energy Issues Renewables Supported, But Decompressor, Too By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Otsego County businesspeople support all energy options – renewables, yes, but also the controversial decompressor station proposed for West Oneonta – states a county Chamber of Commerce “Energy & Infrastructure Policy” released in the past few days. The statement came bottom-up from the Oneonta-based organization’s countywide membership, said Chamber President Barbara Ann Heegan, who also chairs the Economic…
COUNTY CLERK WORRIED Republicans Pass Resolution Against ‘Green Light Bill’ Stammel Sole Democrat To Oppose Driver’s Licenses For Illegal Aliens By JENNIFER HILL • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – With only one Democrat supporting the 8-3-3 vote, the Otsego County Board of Representatives today sent a resolution to the state Assembly opposing the so-called “Green Light Bill” allowing illegal immigrants to obtained drivers’ licenses. Voting aye were Republicans Ed Frazier of Unadilla, Kathy Clark of Otego, Peter Oberacker of Schenevus,…
JOSH EDMONDS’ 45 DELAWARE He’s Built The Future Cooperstown House Efficient, Affordable By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Josh Edmonds has built the future at 45 Delaware St. • POINT ONE: A partner in the Simple Integrity construction firm, Edmonds has been paying $4,000 a year to heat his home in Springfield Center. The 2,600-square-foot house he’s just finished building at 45 Delaware will cost $254 a year to heat. “That’s a pretty substantial difference,” Edmonds said in…
Energy Task Force Offers Public Workshop, Preps Energy Studies By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – While the big tasks are still ahead for the Otsego County Energy Task Force, Barbara Ann Heegan, Otsego County Chamber president and chair of the Economic Development sub-group of the county’s Energy Task Force, is making sure that small businesses and the public can learn what they can do on the local level. “We will be hosting a talk on ‘Understanding Energy…
Republican Chair: More Races Likely For County Board ‘A Few Potential Candidates’ Will Run As Independents, Casale Says By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – More Republican candidates then initially thought will be challenging Democrats this fall, county Republican Chairman Vince Casale said after Thurday evening’s AllOTSEGO.com report on petitions filed. While it appeared only two county board seats would be contested this fall, the GOP chair said “a few potential candidates” will file independent petitions to challenge Democrats…
COLUMN ABOLISH OTSEGO NOW! By ADRIAN KUZMINSKI • The Freeman’s Journal & Hometown Oneonta In my column of Aug. 9-10, 2018, I suggested that Otsego County might follow the example of Tompkins County and set up an Energy Task Force. I had little expectation that anything would come of it, but, thanks to a bipartisan effort led by county Representatives Michelle Farwell and Meg Kennedy, that Task Force is now a reality. The Task Force will have to face the…
‘Reform Caucus’ Proving Its Worth, But Will It Survive 2019 Elections? Leading up to the 2017 election of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, the terms “Reform Caucus” and “Sensible Center” were used in this space, and they were controversial. Some of the candidates identified with that label won election or reelection. (Whether that was because of or despite of the designation is certainly fodder for debate.) Foremost among them, as it turns out, was David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield,…
Energy Taskforce Sets Out Ambitious Plan in 1st Meeting by JENNIFER HILL • Special to www.ALLOTSEGO.com WEST ONEONTA – In the first convening of the 38-member Otsego County Energy Taskforce Town Hall Wednesday evening, County Board Rep. Meg Kennedy, a founder of the group, announced its end goal: an ambitious plan “that will address the current and future energy needs of Otsego County” by October 2020. Calling the plan’s timeline “ambitious,” Kennedy said the Taskforce aimed to complete a draft of the…
Koutnik Set To Retire As Season Starts In Oneonta, 5 Out, 7 Plan To Run For City Council By JIM KEVLIN & JENNIFER HILL Usually, roses are budding before local candidates start circulating nominating petitions. This year, with the primary for state races joined with federal offices and moved up from September to Thursday, June 25, petitions are being circulated before the first crocus. That change set off a flurry of electioneering in the past few days. In the City…