OSWEGO, NY – The Oswego County Legislature met for about an hour Thursday afternoon and then recessed until Dec. 15.
“This is a regular legislature meeting. But it won’t be conducted in a regular way,” explained Barry Leemann, chair of the legislature. “This meeting will be recessed after Resolution 33. Then we’re going to reconvene and conduct a public hearing on the budget on Dec. 15. Our meeting will continue immediately after the public hearing.”
Only members of the public wishing to speak on the resolutions of the day were permitted to address the legislature.
About six people were signed up to speak on general topics (the possibility of closing the Hannibal transfer station). They were told to come back Dec. 15.
The public comment period has to be at the end of the meeting, according to the agenda.
Oswego Mayor Randy Bateman addressed the legislators and urged them to approve a resolution “authorizing the execution of a deed from the county to the city relative to a certain vacant property adjacent to Route 104.
The city will construct a new road on the property.
“There are two purposes for this. The first and foremost is safety reasons. If anyone’s been to Wal-Mart, Aldi’s or Staples out there, they know it’s a hard time getting back on to 104, especially if you’re going to turn left. So we plan to work with the merchants in the area and the New York State DOT to construct a traffic signal at that intersection,” Bateman said.
The second reason is for future development. By getting this street it opens up the back side, or the north side, of the Staples store and allows the city to plan for development in what is now pretty much a landlocked area, the mayor explained.
“That would definitely help the city but will also help the county and the school district in the form of taxes,” he added.
The parcel is 60′ X 1,028′ adjacent to Wal-Mart and runs northwesterly from 104 to the city so that a new city street can be dedicated, which will foster economic development and improve traffic patterns and safety in the area, according to the resolution.
The county can convey property to a municipality without seeking public bids.
The land isn’t a county roadway and is no longer needed for county purposes and it is in the public interest to convey the land to the city, legislators said.
The legislature passed the resolution 23-0-2 (legislators Art Gearsbeck and Jim Oldenburg were absent).
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