Voters in Oneonta will have a new early voting location this year.
The Oneonta Common Council has approved the use of the Laskaris Skateroom at the Brenner Recreation Center in Neahwa Park as an early voting polling place for the Otsego County Board of Elections.
The motion was passed unanimously as part of the council’s consent agenda on Tuesday, March 18. The city will provide the facility to the BOE at no charge.
The Finance/Human Resources Committee reviewed the proposal at its March 13 meeting. According to the proposal, the BOE has similar agreements with other municipalities and governmental agencies to use facilities for early voting, none of which charge a fee. Since the Laskaris Room is not rented for public use, there is no set fee for its use.
The Brenner building will be used exclusively for early voting. On Election Day, the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center will continue serving as the city’s primary polling place.
If the Brenner building becomes unavailable, the county BOE offices will serve as the backup early voting site.
Located next to Hodges Pond, the Brenner building houses city departmental offices and the skateroom, which serves as a warming area during ice skating season and a staging space for park events year-round.
Early voting will take place from June 14 to June 22 for the primary election and from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2 for the general election. BOE staff will be in the building on June 13 and Oct. 24 to set up voting equipment.
Polls will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and from noon to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, according to the BOE.