Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met March 5.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
CALL TO ORDER
President Gail E. Johnson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Physically Present: President Gail Johnson and Trustees Ryan Kauffman, Karin McCarthy-Lange (attended at 6:02 p.m.), Pam Parr, Luis Perez (attended at 6:04 p.m.), Judy Sollinger and Joe West.
Staff Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator; Christina Burns, AVA/HR Director; Tina Touchette, Village Clerk; Jeff Burgner, Police Chief; Jennifer Hughes, Public Works Director; Mark Horton, Finance Director; Rod Zenner, Community Development Director; Corinna Cole, Economic Development Director; Jay Hoover, Building & Zoning Manager; Julie Hoffman, Special Events Coordinator; and David Silverman, Village Attorney.
CONSIDERATION OF AND POSSIBLE ACTIONS ON ANY REQUESTS FOR ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION IN MEETING
There was no one who participated electronically.
PUBLIC FORUM
Public Forum was opened at 6:01 p.m. There was no one who requested to speak; the Public Forum was closed at 6:01 p.m.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no Old Business.
NEW BUSINESS
F.1. Fire and Police Memorial Overview
Chief Burgner addressed the Board regarding the first responder memorial. Oswego Resident, Logan Goodbred, is working towards his Eagle Scout and is proposing a Fire and Police Memorial, as his project, to assist in achieving the award. He approached President Johnson, Fire Chief Veseling and Police Chief Burgner and proposed constructing a Fire and Police Memorial at the Oswego Public Safety Campus. The location will be the grassy area on the east side of the Oswego Fire Station #1 training room. Logan has presented this to the Oswego Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners to obtain approval for construction on the site. Logan is responsible for the overall design, budget, project schedule and gaining approval from government bodies. He will rely heavily on Village support during fundraising or in-kind donations for the project. He is also engaging the respective Oswego Fire and Police Unions to gain support from those groups as well.
Logan Goodbred presented the overview to the Board:
• Create a space where First Responders can be recognized for their service to the community
• Partnering with:
➢ Oswego Fire Protection District ➢ Oswego Police Department
➢ Village of Oswego
• Entails:
➢ Brick patio area with a brick or stained concrete pathway leading to the area
✓ 350-400 sq. ft.
➢ Engraved paver bricks throughout the memorial
➢ 3 flags/flagpoles with lights shining on the them
✓ 20-foot U.S. flag in the middle
✓ 15-foot Fallen Firefighter flag; “Red Line” on left or right
✓ 15-foot Police Officer flag; “Blue Line” on left or right
➢ Bronze statues of a firefighter helmet and police hat
➢ Natural area surrounding the statues with flowers, mulch, etc.
➢ Misc. limestone outcroppings around the memorial
➢ Four American flag benches around the outside perimeter
➢ Plaques for Firefighter/Police Officers for line of duty deaths
• Site:
➢ Between Oswego Fire Station #1 and Oswego Police Station off of Woolley Road ➢ Right side of fire station training room
• Cost:
➢ Roughly $12,191.00; total will be closer to $15,000.00
➢ Lowering cost by:
✓ Selling engraved bricks to the community ✓ Asking for donations
✓ Asking people to donate time and tools
✓ Using available “green” materials
• Timeline:
➢ Get project approved by Scout Board in May 2019
➢ Approval date mid-summer; collect funds
➢ Order materials and arrange dates sometime in the summer ➢ Complete project by late summer, early fall
Oswego Fire Protection District to take care of electricity and the upkeep of the memorial would be coordinated between the Oswego Fire Protection District and Oswego Police Department.
Board and staff discussion focused on upkeep would involve mowing and trimming; wonderful idea; what he needs from the Village Board; support to push the projects and sell bricks; suggested selling the bricks for $100 instead of $50; bricks can be customized for a higher price; Veterans Park project may be able to donate bricks to help lower the costs; Trustee West belongs to a Veterans group that meets on Thursdays; Logan could come and present the project; he needs man power and getting the word out; great job presenting. There was no further discussion.
F.2. Discussion of a Downtown Construction Impact Mitigation Plan
Director Cole addressed the Board regarding the mitigation plan. Construction is expected to begin in the downtown late this spring. In a few years, people will be able to experience the downtown with new independent restaurants, better pedestrian access, and new retail options. In the short term, people will have to deal with construction and its possible negative effects. Staff set out to make an honest assessment of how construction can impact the existing downtown businesses and broader Oswego community and created a plan to limit negative effects and support the downtown business community. She presented the Construction Impact Mitigation Plan (CMP):
• Responsibility of government and what a private business should do
➢ It isn’t the role of the Village to perform essential operational functions of any business ➢ Usually businesses don’t want the Village to be involved
➢ Need to identify the line between support and overreach
➢ Setting businesses up for success
• Types of initiatives that can help businesses; it isn’t appropriate for the Village to be involved
➢ Construction related promotions where there are discounts or sales events that area businesses put on to attract new customers during the construction period
✓ This is a primary way business can insulate themselves from construction impacts
➢ Communication initiatives
✓ Substantive informational materials already circulated
✓ Holding an open house for the public on March 20th
✓ Held outreach open houses for downtown businesses to get feedback
✓ Sent surveys, letters, and made phone calls to downtown businesses to get feedback and keep them informed
✓ Viewing outreach efforts to the businesses as a part of the Business Outreach program
✓ Project meetings with the downtown
✓ Dedicated email address for downtown outreach
✓ Working with GoOswego web developer to create a page on the site that will be easily updated with traffic information or other outward communications
✓ Working with the AACVB to continue to market the downtown as a destination
✓ New intern is creating GoOswego blog posts and listicles promoting Oswego businesses
✓ Putting up signage letting drivers know that the downtown is still open for business
➢ Promotional activities
✓ 3 out of the 4 workshops in March and April are geared towards marketing and self-promotion
➢ Parking replacements
➢ Education
✓ One of the top 3 requests of downtown businesses was assistance in marketing their business
✓ Development centers, SCORE and Oswegrow
➢ Financial assistance
✓ Dedicating some of the Community Relations advertising budget towards marketing the downtown
Matrix to assess the practicality and efficiency of each initiative
➢ Cost
➢ Staff time commitment
✓ Limited staff, time and money
➢ Feasibility
➢ Connection to the broader community
➢ Equitability.
✓ Important because of the number and diversity of the downtown business ecosystem ✓ Wouldn’t be fair to preference one business, or a single type of business, over others
Special Events
➢ With the old Alexander Lumber property unavailable, the downtown will no longer have the main source
of parking for events
➢ Parking and street closures mean it will be difficult, during construction, to host events that require
closures on Main Street
➢ While events are good for many businesses, others do not like or simply do not benefit from events
➢ Street closures on Adams and Jackson and closing Main Street means that several businesses are closed off from access
➢ Very important for the Village to be equitable to all businesses in the downtown, prioritize safety, minimize impacts on the residential areas surrounding the downtown and choose the most efficient and effective use of time and money
➢ Recommending not to host a Main Street summer festival, in 2019, that requires Main Street to be closed and requires significant parking
➢ Expecting street closures for the 2020 event season; will review the events when 2020 approaches
➢ Will still hold Christmas Walk with the use of trolleys as an added element of fun and seasonal cheer
CMP is a living document with staff continuing to use it as a framework to build new initiatives that are responsive to changing conditions in the downtown.
Board and staff discussion focused on top priority is the communication piece; got compliments on the newsletter; not having Main Street events makes sense; Country Market still being held; Adams Street will be closed; PrairieFest parade will be allowed; special event process handles the issues of each events; being pro-active with events; re-occurring event applicants have been notified for the past two years of possible construction and the possibility of needing to relocate the events; Christmas Walk more important for the downtown businesses; significant parking burden; when text message communications will be available; surveys showed the businesses preferred email communications; nothing worse for retail is construction; signage and communication is important; biggest impact is events; getting value out of the AACVB publications; a lot of money in digital publications; GoOswego has a tab specific for the downtown; important to put fresh content on the site; AACVB agreed to talk to the Downtown Association. There was no further discussion.
CLOSED SESSION
There was no Closed Session held.
ADJOURNMENT
The Committee of the Whole meeting adjourned at 6:37 p.m.
http://www.oswegoil.org/pdf/3-5-19-cotw.pdf
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