The Partial Observer by Jeanne Dewey

Enough Is Enough: We Want a Dog Park

With all the current turmoil in our country, and in the world, it feels a little trivial to write about a dog park; however, it also feels necessary at this point. The Cooperstown Parks Board has been pursuing a Village Dog Park for more than 10 years, to no avail. Not because there is no public support—there is actually overwhelming support for a dog park—but because of red tape and unnecessary roadblocks.

Many area residents may remember another time of red tape and roadblocks in the early 2010s, when the Cooperstown Intermodal Transit and Welcome Center was being designed and built. The beloved Beanie Ainslie Cooperstown Youth Baseball field was displaced when the Transit project was started. A huge amount of planning and negotiating took place with hopes to rebuild a new CYB field close to the original location. Efforts included the Village of Cooperstown paying $50,000.00 to CCS for a permanent easement to a parcel of unused land on Linden Avenue, where the new field was to be built. The Village of Cooperstown spent tens of thousands of dollars preparing the site to make it appropriate for a youth baseball field, adding electric, water, a sidewalk, and soil remediation to ensure its safety. The Village of Cooperstown then paid CYB $130,000.00 to build the new ball field on the Linden Avenue parcel, but ultimately, the CYB president at the time chose to move the ball field elsewhere (Hartwick).

The permanently eased land on Linden Avenue has remained empty since the agreement was signed on February 28, 2010 by then VOC Mayor Joe Booan and then CCS Board President Anthony Scalici. The Village of Cooperstown public works department has faithfully maintained the property since then: mowing the grass, clearing the snow and keeping the sidewalks clear, for almost 15 years.

To me, and many others, this unused but well-maintained parcel of land that was permanently eased to the Village of Cooperstown 15 years ago seems like the perfect location for a village dog park. It is flat, away from residences, safely walkable for most village residents and has ample parking for those who are unable to walk the distance.

It even has a water supply that was placed 15 years ago in anticipation of the CYB field being relocated there. So, why is this ideal location not being utilized?

Firstly, Cooperstown’s current mayor, Ellen Tillapaugh, doesn’t want a dog park there. I have not received a valid reason (or really any reason), despite asking both directly and indirectly.

Secondly, because Cooperstown’s Village Attorney, Martin Tillapaugh, sent a legalese letter to CCS’s superintendent asking if the permanently eased land in question, which clearly states is for the purpose of “a village parking area, subsurface drainage, recreation facility, and maintenance,” could be used for a dog park. Because the communication came from Cooperstown’s attorney, and not the mayor or the Board of Trustees, the CCS attorney needed to be the one to respond.

CCS’s attorney is from Albany and has no understanding of the property or history of the easement. He has said the easement (that Cooperstown paid $50,000.00 for) essentially can’t be used by the village for anything.

As a Village of Cooperstown taxpayer, and as a CCS District taxpayer, I am dismayed at the waste of money, with no benefit to anyone.

If you, too, are dismayed by this situation, and want our community to benefit from the investments made over the past 15 years for a recreational facility, please let the Village of Cooperstown and the Cooperstown School District know.

In these trying times, a Cooperstown dog park is needed more than ever…Dog parks build connection among community members, improve the health and well-being of the dogs and people who utilize them, and attract new people to the community. Every vibrant, growing, friendly community needs a dog park.

Jeanne Dewey is a resident of the Village of Cooperstown.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT NECESSARILY THE VIEW OF ALLOTSEGO AND ITS AFFILIATES.