OSWEGO – Last night, Wednesday January 12, Mayor Billy Barlow addressed the City of Oswego in his seventh State of the City.
Starting out the updates, Barlow said all Downtown Revitalization Initiative projects are completed or close to being completed; over $100 million has been invested in the core downtown area with new buildings, such as the Litatro and Riverwalk buildings, which include commercial space and residential space.
“Over half the residents who moved into these new buildings moved in from outside the city, in some cases outside the county, into our downtown,” Barlow said. “Who is going to live in all these apartments? People who want to move here because they see the positivity and progress, and realize Oswego is a special community and the place to be. That’s who.”
He said Harborview Square and East Lake Commons, other apartment buildings under construction, will offer affordable housing with apartments from $600 to $1000 a month.
Along with the DRI projects, he said businesses have been investing and modernizing, taking advantage of funds made available to them.
Moving to the waterfront, Barlow spoke of the impact on improvements made to the waterfront area, such as Wright’s Landing and the Splash Pad. He said phase two of work on the Cahill Building pier will be conducted this spring.
He then spoke of code enforcement efforts, improvements to public amenities, infrastructure, cutting taxes and lowering sewer rates.
Looking forward to 2022, Barlow said the city is looking toward Lake Ontario by revamping Sheldon Beach, where Flat Rock is located. At the marina, he said the new Wright’s Landing Pavilion will be opened, and will launch Oswego Sunset Tiki-Tours to get people out on the water.
During the weekends of the summer, there were several city events, such as concerts and block parties, and Barlow plans to do the same this year. Depending on conditions surrounding COVID-19, Harborfest and the 4th of July parade are anticipated to be brought back, and there will be three downtown block parties, Summer Concert series, Water Street Square Concert series, and Halloween Creepy Crawl.
Moving on to small businesses, Barlow discussed grants given to small businesses through the REVIVAL fund and Blizzard Bucks.
“In 2021, because of residents making a concerted effort to shop local, we generated the most sales tax in the history of city government, over $17 million,” Barlow said. “That’s well over $2.5 million more than any other year on record. When the community supports local small businesses, the economy expands and our community strengthens.”
Moving forward, the city plans to continue to support local businesses with different initiatives, including another round of Blizzard Bucks in February, and will be partnering with a delivery service, Food Fetched, in March with no delivery fees for local dining options.
Barlow then spoke of the energy industry in the area, and said that electric vehicles are “the way of the future.” He aims to install another seven electric car charging stations throughout the city this year.
He said all of these changes and improvements have the idea of families being raised in Oswego, and has been working to encourage people to move to Oswego.
Barlow said the city plans to add a fitness court to Breitbeck Park, designed for those aged 12 and older, and will be revamping the playground.
For pre-teens and teenagers, a skatepark will be constructed in the late summer along the East Linear Riverwalk. It will be under 24/7 surveillance, will include restrooms, and easy access from both sides of the river. The city will work with local businesses and organizations to hold events.
“COVID has had a terrible impact on our children, an impact I believe we won’t entirely see or feel until years from now, making it vital now more than ever to create venues, events, activities, and being more attentive to the youth in this community,” Barlow said.
He then addressed issues that the city still faces, such as homelessness, addiction, and crimes. He said more money has been put into the police department for more officers on shift, allowing for more canvassing efforts, quality of life patrols and extra time for investigations.
Barlow then announced the city is allocating $250,000 to creating a City of Oswego Drug Task Force to combat drugs and crime, beginning next month.
“County [Drug] Task Force results have been lackluster to date with resources stretched too thin and the scope too wide for our urgent needs,” Barlow said. “The City of Oswego has a real problem and needs a real solution by creating our own task force. We’ll still work with the County Task Force, but we’ll substantially increase the amount of focus, time, energy and resources being devoted in Oswego.”
The city will also take part in the 30 by 30 program, which is aimed at hiring more women in local policing. The goal is for 30% of the Oswego Police Department to be women by 2030.
Addressing COVID-19, he said the community must be smart and careful. He urges residents to take the virus seriously and be mindful of community members most at risk.
“Our healthcare system is delicate and careless behavior can lead to more economic restrictions,” Barlow said. “For some people that could mean the loss of their small business and livelihood. For others, contracting COVID, regardless of the variant, can cause severe pain, in some cases death. And we all need to remember this virus affects people differently.”
He said taking others’ personal accounts into consideration does not cost a thing; it is just considerate and decent. He said people, such as those on the front lines of the healthcare system, have worked too hard to watch progress slip back.
He said government in Washington D.C. is a mess and state government is just behind, but local government in Oswego has “flown above the fray” for six years now with Democrats and Republicans cooperating, councilors and the mayor working together.
“To keep progressing, I need you to work with me and believe in this community as we finally realize our full potential,” Barlow said. “There is an undeniable renewed confidence in this community and we have made tremendous progress in recent years. The state of our city is strong and getting stronger every day. We have more going for us today than any time in recent memory. We just need to stick together and remember the reason we were all put here in the first place, our primary responsibility and obligation as leaders, as a society, as human beings, is to give the world your best and leave this place better than you found it. And that’s exactly what we are going to do this year.”
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How about doing something for the people that pay the taxes