From the Mayor’s Desk :
Owego Residents,
I wanted to take a minute to update everyone on some things that the Village of Owego has been working on over the last few months. The village DRI grant projects are well into construction and will be finished this spring and summer. Here is a project by project status:
Marvin Park – we have completed improvements to the playground, the basketball courts have been re-surfaced and re-done to a new surface and to add pickleball courts, we are still working on a more permanent net solution right now the village has 3 portable nets that you can borrow to use on the new courts once the weather breaks. The new skate park is complete and everyone is loving it, we will be doing an official opening in the spring. This skate park was designed by professional skate park designers and built by specialized contractors and is a one of a kind feature that’s not found in other area parks. The fence along main street was replaced. New signs have been installed at the main entrance as well as the skate park and other areas of the park. New lights now light up the skate park and basketball and pickleball courts. The only ongoing project still to be completed in the park in the construction of new bathroom facilities which will be complete in the spring. Total Project Construction Cost – $2,355,997. Keep in mind these numbers do not require any sort of match from the Village and are all funded from NY State.
Downtown Parking – Last summer we completed the parking lot project where all of the municipal lots were re-surfaced and the lighting in the lots was repaired or replaced. Total Project Construction Cost – $466,824
Lake Street Infrastructure – A sewer line that serves the buildings on lake street that runs under the court street parking lot was in dire need of replacement. This was a privately owned line that is now replaced, sloped correctly and owned and maintained by the village. This was a critical DRI project to support the development and businesses on Lake St along with the apartments on the upper floors of those buildings. Total Construction Costs – $185,754
Southside Lighting – As many know the lights along southside drive have not worked in many years, we are happy to report they are officially back on. This project also fixed other electrical issues in the downtown. Total Construction Costs – $204,383
Central Station – Owego Central Fire Station will be getting much needed repairs to the clock tower structure as well as a new roof, this work will take place in the spring. Right now were just waiting on NYSEG to do some work on the transformers near the clock tower before we can put up the scaffolding that’s required to do the job. Current time line is to start the work in the April time frame. Total Construction Costs – $499,455
North Avenue Art Park – The art park was originally in the DRI scope, then cut due to finding some contamination at the site, things have shifted and its partly back on the table now but for a different scope. The streetscape along North Avenue will be cleaned up with DRI funding to make things flow better and look better as you approach the downtown. This project is still in the design phase and will still include artistic elements to clean up the view from North Ave. Total Budget – $219,704
All of these projects are projects that are much needed improvements in the village and we are grateful that the state chose to fund them. Supporting these projects the state DRI funding also covered $30,000 in legal services related to the projects as well as $522,560 in design and architectural fees. Overall the DRI invested $4,484,677 in village projects. The remaining monies from the DRI were awarded to private projects around the village and most of them have been completed.
Just a reminder with the worst of winter is typically in February, please keep your sidewalks clean. If you know of a resident who is unable to shovel for some reason please get in touch with us and we can see if there is a way to help. Things coming up on the radar include the village elections, March 18th from Noon to 9pm at 22 Elm St. This year one trustee from each of our 3 wards is up for election.
Thank you to all of the Village employees, the board of Trustee’s as well as all of our volunteers on both the fire and ambulance sides. This fall and winter have been great and we have worked together as one team with the betterment of our village as our top priority.
Michael Baratta III
Mayor – Village of Owego
