County not ready to give up on Cook Park yet
NORWICH – Just as funding for state parks got tossed up while juggling this year’s budget, county legislators are wondering whether this might be the year to pull the plug on Cook Park.
Finance Committee Vice Chairman Dennis Brown, D-Pharsalia, floated the idea at a meeting of the Ag, Buildings and Grounds Committee Tuesday. The Greene-based, 116- acre campground is totally taxpayer-funded, with $23,000 projected for operations next year.
“Twenty-three thousand is twenty-three thousand,” Brown said. “Maybe it’s best put somewhere else like highways. We have to cut someplace.”
Many improvements were made to the county’s largest public park over the past two years, and both revenues and seasonal reservations have been up. Chenango County Youth Bureau Director Kathy Clemens coordinated a $16,500 facelift in 2008, opening up summer jobs for 15 youth volunteers affiliated with Headwaters Youth Conservation Corps and The Place. Other county agencies, such as Soil and Water Conservation, assisted.
Town of Preston Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan, who has repeatedly questioned the campground’s viability over the years, agreed that the improvements have made a difference in seasonal reservations and daily use. He also pointed out that campground attendance is up across the nation due to the poor economic climate.
However, he reminded the committee that Cook Park “is still heavily funded by taxpayers.”
“I feel better about it than I used to. We’ve made progress. But we’re never going to have it off the levy. It’s just not a widely-used facility,” he said.
Chenango County Buildings and Ground Director Julie Gates said the park could be much more viable if the pond were equipped for swimming and or boating. The campground is managed by a part-time employee who also works in Gates’ department.
City of Norwich Supervisor Linda Natoli defended the park, calling it “a little treasure.”
“We’re close to not having it be such a drain. We should give it another year or two. This is one of the good things that makes us not a total social services county. Too bad we’ve got to whack all of our good programs to be a social services county,” she said.
Supervisor Lawrence Wilcox, R-Oxford, also a member of Finance, suggested raising Cook Park’s estimated revenues for next year from $21,000 to $25,000.
“It looks like revenues could be better than what we budgeted,” he said.
Brown agreed to amend Gates’ 2011 budget for the department with the higher revenue goal, and made a motion to pass it along to Finance for consideration.
Committee Chairman Robert Briggs, R-Afton, agreed, saying, “We’ve come this far with it, we ought to see it through further.”
Finance Committee Vice Chairman Dennis Brown, D-Pharsalia, floated the idea at a meeting of the Ag, Buildings and Grounds Committee Tuesday. The Greene-based, 116- acre campground is totally taxpayer-funded, with $23,000 projected for operations next year.
“Twenty-three thousand is twenty-three thousand,” Brown said. “Maybe it’s best put somewhere else like highways. We have to cut someplace.”
Many improvements were made to the county’s largest public park over the past two years, and both revenues and seasonal reservations have been up. Chenango County Youth Bureau Director Kathy Clemens coordinated a $16,500 facelift in 2008, opening up summer jobs for 15 youth volunteers affiliated with Headwaters Youth Conservation Corps and The Place. Other county agencies, such as Soil and Water Conservation, assisted.
Town of Preston Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan, who has repeatedly questioned the campground’s viability over the years, agreed that the improvements have made a difference in seasonal reservations and daily use. He also pointed out that campground attendance is up across the nation due to the poor economic climate.
However, he reminded the committee that Cook Park “is still heavily funded by taxpayers.”
“I feel better about it than I used to. We’ve made progress. But we’re never going to have it off the levy. It’s just not a widely-used facility,” he said.
Chenango County Buildings and Ground Director Julie Gates said the park could be much more viable if the pond were equipped for swimming and or boating. The campground is managed by a part-time employee who also works in Gates’ department.
City of Norwich Supervisor Linda Natoli defended the park, calling it “a little treasure.”
“We’re close to not having it be such a drain. We should give it another year or two. This is one of the good things that makes us not a total social services county. Too bad we’ve got to whack all of our good programs to be a social services county,” she said.
Supervisor Lawrence Wilcox, R-Oxford, also a member of Finance, suggested raising Cook Park’s estimated revenues for next year from $21,000 to $25,000.
“It looks like revenues could be better than what we budgeted,” he said.
Brown agreed to amend Gates’ 2011 budget for the department with the higher revenue goal, and made a motion to pass it along to Finance for consideration.
Committee Chairman Robert Briggs, R-Afton, agreed, saying, “We’ve come this far with it, we ought to see it through further.”
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