The city of Oneonta satellite office of the Department of Motor Vehicles, along with certain county clerk services, is scheduled to open Tuesday, Nov. 12.
“We are thrilled to announce the much-anticipated opening of the Otsego County DMV satellite location,” Otsego County Clerk Jennifer Basile said in a statement Wednesday, Oct. 16. “This project has involved countless steps and processes, starting long ago.”
The county clerk’s office governs the county DMV. In February, the county Board of Representatives approved using $21,942 to purchase mobile equipment for satellite DMV services for Oneonta. Basile’s office ordered the mobile equipment from the state that month.
“We expected a six- to 12-month wait for the equipment, but we’re delighted to say that we’ve received everything in record time,” Basile said in a statement.
Basile said Thursday, Oct. 17 that while the initial plan was to open the DMV satellite office on the first floor of 242 Main St. in Oneonta, the the DMV office will be housed where it was located previously on the bottom floor.
“The opportunity came up for us to renovate and open the DMV satellite where it used to be, which is the bottom floor, accessed by the parking lot, but it’s still in the same building,” Basile said. “It took a lot of work to get the office ready and the IT installed, but we’re opening.”
The satellite location will offer DMV services as well as certain county clerk services, including certified copies, clerk-required certifications for specific documents and notary services, according to a news release.
The satellite DMV location will operate 9-11:30 a.m. for walk-ins and noon to 3:30 p.m. for appointments Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The clerk’s services will be available 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, the release stated.
The Oneonta DMV office closed in May 2020 based on budget cuts that came in response to COVID-19, according to Daily Star archives. The Cooperstown DMV remained open because it was located in the county office building.
Basile said in February that the mobile equipment could be loaded into a vehicle and driven to a site to allow residents to access DMV services, restoring a version of services that were once at the physical building.
The Otsego County clerk’s office thanked the building services team, IT department, Otsego County Public Safety and Legal Affairs Committee and the Board of Representatives for getting the satellite office ready to open in Oneonta, according to the release.