Regardless of the outcome of the URI competition, Governor Cuomo inspired us as a region to pull together to map out our common future, and we as a region will continue to benefit from the work that MV500 did to create a strategy and vision for the entire Mohawk Valley.
For 2016, a top priority for Otsego Now will be re-developing the Oneonta Rail Yards, a major site within the City of Oneonta with significant infrastructure; the ultimate goal is to achieve shovel-ready status. To support this exciting project, the Otsego IDA received $500,000 in CFA funds to support the SEQRA and local approval process, as well as pre-engineering and design needs. It is planned for the Otsego County IDA and CRC to match the funds allocated by NYS.
We will be working closely with Norfolk Southern, relatively recent owners of the Rail Yards, to develop the site for such industries as light manufacturing, and for distribution and warehousing. If successful, the Rail Yards could help to make Oneonta into an important secondary freight transportation and distribution hub with easy access to both the I-88 trucking corridor and the Norfolk Southern rail freight lines. The site is also viewed as prime for manufacturing and potential food processing businesses, all of which translates into the creation of new jobs and private investment coming to the area.
In addition, the Otsego IDA was awarded $700,000 to acquire and prepare property for a new multi-purpose facility centered on a food hub, craft food and beer, and research and development connected to valued-added production, also to be located in the city of Oneonta. Tenants could include some or all of the following: value-added agribusinesses, an ag-specific workforce training space, an ag-centered incubator with a commercial kitchen, or one or two local craft brewers. Between the Ag Center and Hartwick’s Center for Craft Food and Beverage — the only facility of its kind in the entire state and also a recipient of a CFA grant award — the vision of Oneonta as a center of regional food and drink activity seems to be picking up momentum.
Other Otsego Now projects that received CFA funding were:
Oneonta Route 205 Corridor Study
We will commission a planning study of the Oneonta Route 205 corridor to identify and remediate critical traffic and safety issues which are limiting economic development and job creation.
Oneonta Airport Logistics Development Project
We will work with the Oneonta Airport Committee (check this name) to study the full range of possibilities for further development of the airport and the surrounding area.
Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad Feasibility Study
We will commission a study to determine the feasibility of a rail service connection for both workforce and tourism traffic along the CACV rail line between Milford and Cooperstown.