Otsego board endorses home rule

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January 5, 2012

By JOE MAHONEY Staff Writer The Daily Star Thu Jan 05, 2012, 02:30 AM EST

COOPERSTOWN -- In a message to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Otsego County Board of Representatives went on record Wednesday in support of state legislation that would allow communities to ban heavy industry.

The resolution to endorse a bill authored by state Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, was supported by eight of the 14 county lawmakers at the first meeting of the new year. All seven Democrats backed the measure, which would have failed had they not been joined by Rep. Pauline Koren, R-Milford. The board's other six Republicans voted "nay."

Until Wednesday, Koren, who had come out against hydrofracking in her campaign last year, had not staked out a position on home rule.

Koren said she hoped the measure would not have "unintended consequences," such as a town using home rule to try to restrict a gas supplier from transporting fuel to a local gas station.

But the fact that Seward, who lives in her district, is trying to pilot the measure through the Legislature helped convinced her the measure deserved her support.

"He's put a lot of effort and thought into this," she said.

Pushing the resolution for the last several months has been Rep. Rich Murphy, D-Town of Oneonta. He said he was pleased it passed, not because it would have an impact on Cuomo and state lawmakers but because "it was the right thing to do."

Home rule supporters overcame strong vocal opposition from Rep. James Powers, R-Butternuts. He argued only the state Department of Environmental Conservation is equipped to regulate gas drilling and asserted town board members would make uninformed decisions that could infringe on landowners' rights.

The board voted on the issue after local citizens sounded off on both sides of the debate. One of them, Robert Harlem Jr., president of Oneonta Block Co., said local businesses could face new headaches and entanglements if home rule results in them having to obtain permits for transporting products and materials.

Richard Downey of the pro-drilling Unatego Landowners Association said enacting home rule would be akin to erecting a sign stating, "New York Is Not Open for Business."

But Brewery Ommegang spokesman Larry Bennett confronted that argument directly, saying, "We're just not open to business to people who simply want to pillage the environment _ such as gas companies."

Freshman Rep. John Kosmer, D-Town of Otsego, said claims that home rule would lead to negative "unintended consequences" amounted to a "red herring" pushed by drilling advocates out to stymie towns from making their own choices.

In other business, the board approved a resolution that keeps salaries flat for more than 80 appointed and elected officials employed by the county.

Before doing so, board members approved a motion by Powers to go into a closed-door executive session to discuss the salaries. A Daily Star reporter objected to the move, saying the state Public Meetings Law does not allow for secret meetings to discuss salaries for public employees.

County Attorney Ellen Coccoma reviewed the law and declared the reasons being given were not sufficient for a secret session, and the board meeting was kept open.