Common Council meets to handle busy agenda

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·3 min read

Sep. 8—The Oneonta Common Council discussed its police review committee's report, hired a new public works director and deputy public works director and approved a grant from the FAA to expand the Oneonta Albert S. Nader Regional Airport during its Sept. 7 meeting.

Council members who were not on the the Community Advisory Board Review Committee committee had several questions about the report that was compiled by council members Mark Drnek, Luke Murphy, David Rissberger and Len Carson. Council members were tasked in April to compile a report based on the recommendations of the Community Advisory Board.

The CAB was formed in 2020 as a response to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests, Mayor Gary Herzig said.

"Chief Doug Brenner and I thought we should form a committee of community members to address their issues with the police department," Herzig said.

About a week later, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered every municipality with a police department to form similar committees to address any problems residents had with the police department.

"We had a slow start," Herzig said of the formation of the committee. "A majority of our population are college students and we felt we needed to hear from them."

However, after the COVID-19 outbreak at SUNY Oneonta, classes again met virtually and the SUNY student left the committee, Herzig said. Chief Brenner then retired in January, and the committee rushed to get the report completed by the April 1 deadline, he said. The council approved the report March 31, and the council members have been working on the report since then, Herzig said.

Murphy, who was also on the police review committee, said the council members wanted to address every concern the members raised, but they also needed to get the opinions of City Attorney David Merzig and Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl as to the recommendations to see if the council could legally make the police department adhere to its recommendations.

Muehl and Merzig raised concerns about taking some language out of the online complaint form, and Council Members Scott Harrington, Kaytee Lipari Shue and John Rafter had questions about their concerns.

Council members traded questions and answers about false reporting and anonymous tips for more than an hour before they decided that they wanted to discuss the report at a special meeting. Herzig asked council members to submit their questions and concerns to City Clerk Kerriann Harrington by Friday and the CABRC would meet Tuesday, Sept. 14 to discuss the answers. The public hearing on the report was supposed to take place Sept. 21, but it has been postponed until October.

Council members unanimously approved accepting a $343,171 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to design a new 3,350-foot partial parallel taxiway at the municipal airport. The design includes the relocation of a segmented circle and perimeter fence.

The council also unanimously appointed Christopher Yacobucci to the position of public works director and Jonathon Williams to the position of deputy public works director. The position of city engineer was eliminated and the position of public works director was created, City Administrator Greg Mattice said.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.