The citizens of Otsego County have a right to know what their local governments are doing and how decisions are being made. But the public’s access to information can vary, especially when the towns are small, with tiny staffs, and the issues are complex.…
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Town of Springfield
Your September 3, 2026 article on whether the Town of Springfield or the Town of Otsego should be the lead agency for the proposed Manocherian subdivision raises some important questions (“Springfield Asks the State for ‘Lead Agency’ Authority Over the Manocherian Project” by Debra Moffitt).…
Town of Springfield officials have asked the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to settle a dispute with the Town of Otsego over which municipality should be the “lead agency” and key decisionmaker about a controversial plan to build 126 homes west of Otsego Lake.…
“Without a complete Site Plan application, any determination regarding which community may sustain the greatest environmental impacts, and which agency has the broadest governmental powers to investigate such impacts, is premature,” Huntsman wrote.…
In 2002, a General Environmental Impact Statement identified 120 species of birds as breeding, or probably breeding, in Otsego County. Thirteen were listed as “threatened,” or of “special concern.”…
There are several points that are worthy of public enlightenment regarding what can be viewed as separate administrative considerations that have become linked due to the unforeseen sketch plan submission by Manocherian.…
If every proposal involving large parcels is discouraged before the environmental review is complete, we should not be surprised when housing shortages continue for another generation.…
More than 20 nonprofits received awards, covering workshops and education programs in civic education, grave restoration, school programs, indigenous history, and research.…
The Town of Otsego will take a second look at proposed changes to its comprehensive plan after the blueprint for land-use laws drew complaints from residents and a Manhattan developer who owns hundreds of acres.…
With 1,500 acres of largely undeveloped land in play with the proposed subdivision, there is the need to address the consequences of transforming the property as it currently exists into the plan the Manocherian family continues to pursue.…
