Averill Road Parties Have Day in Court

Templeton Foundation To Proceed with Geotechnical Testing on Site, Contingent Upon DEC Compliance

By DARLA M. YOUNGS

WAMPSVILLE

Following 90 minutes of oral argument on Thursday, April 6, Madison County Supreme Court Justice

Hon. Patrick J. O’Sullivan has determined that the Templeton Foundation can move forward with geotechnical testing on its property at Averill Road in Cooperstown, in order to understand the subsurface conditions of the potential development site. However, in order to do so, Templeton must first satisfy the conditions of a Notice of Violation issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation two days earlier.

Events Leading Up to April 6

DEC’s Notice of Violation is the latest action taken against Templeton, which seeks to build housing for Bassett Hospital employees on its Averill Road acreage. On January 18, environmental attorney Douglas H. Zamelis filed a petition in the Madison County Supreme Court on behalf of clients Michael Swatling and Carolyn O’Brien, in which they alleged that the Cooperstown Board of Trustees applied an incorrect standard when analyzing the proposed housing project’s environmental impact in light of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. Trustees had approved a Special Permit for the project on January 5.

Upon review of the complaint and realizing these allegations had merit, attorneys for all parties agreed the suit should be discontinued but with the full right of Templeton to reapply. The defendants “immediately capitulated,” Zamelis said to Judge O’Sullivan on Thursday.

Zamelis then filed a second petition on behalf of his clients on March 19, again in Madison County, contending the Averill Road housing project was already under construction without the necessary Special Permit from the village

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