OSWEGO – Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow announced the beginning of New York state’s phase two reopening plan for the city during an interview on WSYR Thursday night.
Barlow said area businesses meeting the criteria outlined in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s FORWARD Plan can successfully move to reopen.
“From my perspective, the governor set out the seven metrics a couple of weeks ago,” Barlow said. “We met the seven metrics just in time to meet the phase one opening, and we haven’t seen any significant slippage in the data and the numbers since we met those seven metrics.”
Businesses included in the phase two opening are professional services – finance and insurance, in-person retail, administrative support and real estate, rental and leasing.
“I think what most people are excited about are the hair salons and barbershops,” Barlow said, adding that businesses will need to meet the guidelines for social distancing and precautionary sanitary conditions.
Oswego Valley Insurance Agencies have started phase one of their reopening plan last Tuesday, allowing two workers to return to each office.
“A receptionist has been here the whole time,” OVIA Personal Line Insurance Agent Jissell Jimenez said. “Everyone was working remotely at home during quarantine.”
The agency will be fully staffed on June 8, when their second phase of reopening will begin. However, the office will remain closed to customer walk-ins until further notice.
“Right now, no clients are being seen, so the doors are locked,” Jimenez said. “But we’ve asked them to drop things in the drop box and just kind of communicate that way [with] email [or] anything virtual.”
Sanitized workstations, masks, staggered lunches, health safety signs and a plethora of hand sanitizer will be the new normal at OVIA, along with regularly scheduled office cleanings.
Barlow has also signed an executive order allowing expedited use of public space applications to be approved in 48 hours as opposed to the normal two-three week timeframe. This will help Oswego restaurants and bars prepare for the phase three reopening plan.
When asked about Harborfest, the mayor referenced not only the pandemic, but the renovations taking place at Wrights Landing and along the water front.
UPDATE: As of noon May 30, Barlow announced that Harborfest is cancelled.
“I’m not overly optimistic; I think it makes sense considering canceling the festival,” Barlow said. “But we’re still having the conversation, looking at all the logistics, looking at what other festivals are doing around the state before making a final decision.”
The marina is one of the more popular sites during Harborfest as it occupies carnival rides, concessions and games. The festival itself is spread out over several sites in the Oswego area and plays host to over 75,000 visitors annually.
Barlow said the city is in constant contact with the event officials to see if it is possible to proceed forward. The city will make a final decision in the next two weeks.
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