Mayor Ramps Up Effort To Promote Port City

by Steve Yablonski | September 9, 2014 7:42 am

OSWEGO, NY – At Monday night’s Common Council meeting, the mayor announced the formation of a new committee whose mission will be to promote tourism in the Port City.

“We no longer have a tourism and promotion department,” Mayor Tom Gillen told Oswego County Today. “We’ve got some people with some good ideas and we’re going to have them get together and see what they can come up with for the good of the city.”

They are scheduled to meet this week.

There has been a lot of events taking place in Oswego, the mayor said, citing the recent Dragon Boat competition as an example.

“Basically, we have a lot of great stuff to offer in Oswego,” the mayor said after the meeting. “That’s why I recently appointed the city of Oswego Promotion and Tourism Advisory Board. Their mission is to promote city activities and showcase our rich culture and history. We have a lot to be proud of. We have a wonderful city and we want people to invest in it; but first we have to invest in ourselves.”

The council took care of its regular business in less than 15 minutes.

Councilors OK’d a public hearing on the proposed Buildings, Vacant ordinance. The public hearing will be held at 7:10 p.m. on Sept. 22 in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

They also approved use of public space for:

• David Wahrendorf, owner of properties at 52 and 54 Liberty St. and 145 W. Schuyler St., in order to install a six-car parking area.

• The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, owner of property at 108 Sheldon Ave., in order to install a circular driveway and curb cut expansions.

• STRIDE to Save Lives, in order to place advertising signs for the 5K run/walk to be held September 20.

• And, use of the East Side Fire Station for a flu shot clinic sponsored by Rite Aid to be held October 8-10.

Canalview Development, owner of property at 220 E. First St., was granted a permit to landfill its property.

The second passage of the resolution closing Whitney Street (a paper street) was approved.

Matthew Brancato was appointed to the Board of Assessment Review.

The mayor was authorized to:

• execute a renewal contract with Oswego Hospital for medical testing and physicals.

• sign change order No. 2 with W.D. Malone Trucking and Excavating for project modifications to the Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation – Tenth Street Basin Project.

The transfers of funds from within the fire department and from within the Department of Public Works were approved. The DPW transfers are to pay for diesel and regular fuel which is used by all city departments. The fire department transfer is to cover SCBA repairs that were caused at a recent fire along with miscellaneous building maintenance repairs.

Several requests to travel were also OK’d:

• attendance at the Fire Service Instructor Course to be held September 25-28 and October 4-5 in Montour Falls. Request of Jeffrey M. McCrobie, Fire Chief

• attendance at the Train the Trainer Course (for two personnel) to be held October 8 in Montour Falls. Request of Jeffrey M. McCrobie, Fire Chief.

• attendance at the New York State Building Standards and Code Certification Course to be held during the months of October and December in Clay. Request of Jeffrey M. McCrobie, Fire Chief

• attendance at the New York State Fire/Arson Investigation Seminar to be held November 5-7 in Montour Falls. Request of Jeffrey M. McCrobie, Fire Chief.

• attendance at the Certified Lab Instructor Course to be held November 7-9 in Montour Falls. Request of Jeffrey M. McCrobie, Fire Chief.

• attendance at the New York Upstate Planning Association annual conference to be held September 17-19 in Rochester. Request of Amy Birdsall, Planning and Zoning Director.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/mayor-ramps-up-effort-to-promote-port-city/

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