By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
COOPERSTOWN _ The Otsego County Board of Representatives is exploring options to create a larger children's waiting room in the county office building in Cooperstown.
When parents and guardians go to family court and other courts in Cooperstown, their children often stay in the waiting room, playing with toys and games and reading books.
The second-floor room was welcomed by patrons when it opened several years ago but no longer meets state standards, according to Rep. Greg Relic, chairman of the county's Public Safety and Legal Affairs Committee.
``It's small and doesn't have running water or a bathroom,'' Relic said.
Although the waiting room is grandfathered in _ accepted because it has been in use for years _ the state has said it would like the county to create a better space, he noted.
The county has considered a few possibilities, director of Building Maintenance Doug Czerkies said Tuesday.
``We started looking in the basement, then we looked at the second floor,'' Czerkies said. The board is eying the security office _ the former court clerk's office _ on the main floor, he noted.
The waiting room measures about 140 square feet; the security office is about 100 square feet larger, Czerkies said.
``We could put a bathroom in there, and then we'd eliminate the problem of the children having to use a public bathroom,'' he said.
Czerkies estimates the security office could be converted for $20,000 or less, a price that includes some asbestos abatement. But having it done by April 1, which the board would like, will be difficult, he said.
The board wants the project done before April 1 _ the start of the state budget year _ because reimbursement money for the project is included in this year's state budget but may not be there in next year's, Relic said.
Former Board Chairman James Powers, R-Butternuts, said he believes the board should create the waiting room on the second floor in a space adjacent to the current room, giving children more space and improving their security by keeping them away from the main door.
``The children are the most important ones here, and after spending $1.3 million on the court annex, I think we should remember that,'' Powers said.
Otsego County Judge Brian Burns said he sees positives and negatives in both proposed locations. The room on the first floor would be farther from family courtrooms, perhaps shielding children from outbursts of emotion, he noted.
``It's in less of a hot spot,'' Burns said.
Relic said finances in this tight budget year dictate going with the downstairs location, unless there is a compelling reason not to. Enlarging the room on the second floor would entail a sizable asbestos abatement project and drive the local cost to more than $80,000, he said.
``If we go downstairs, it's not going to cost nearly that,'' Relic said.
