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News
Oswego to lose some downtown parking : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisOswego to lose some downtown parking
| Lot behind old fire station to be sold with building, officials told
| by John Etheredge
| 2/25/2010
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The pending sale of the old Oswego Fire Protection District Station No. 1 on Main Street in downtown Oswego will result in the loss of about 24 public parking spaces located behind the station, Fire Chief Brad Smith told a gathering of area governmental officials last week.
Smith said the parking lot-which is owned by the fire district-will be sold with the now vacant station.
"The parking goes with the building, so the downtown is going to be suffering for parking spaces," Smith said.
The small parking lot was constructed in the 1970s to provide needed additional parking for the downtown business district. Currently, the lot frequently fills with vehicles on weekdays.
The fire district vacated the station last October when it moved into its new Station No. 1 at 3511 Woolley Road, Oswego.
Smith said the fire district is seeking bids for the old station and noted that it has an appraised valued of about $1.2 million.
The new owner of the building will, presumably, use the parking lot for employees and/or customers.
A lack of parking areas has been a continuing issue in the village's downtown since at least the 1960s.
The parking lot behind the fire station was an early attempt by village, fire district and downtown merchants to address the problem.
The downtown area lost several parking spaces on Main Street in the mid-1990s-much to the chagrin of Main Street merchants-when the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) widened Route 34 to four lanes through the downtown area.
Last summer, the village used funds from a state grant to have additional parking spaces installed along sections of Adams Street near the fire district's parking lot and on Harrison Street on either side of Washington Street (U.S. Route 34).
In addition, the downtown area will gain 66 more parking spaces later this spring when contractors for the Oswego Public Library District construct a new parking lot for library patrons at the corner of Jefferson Street, U.S. Route 34 and Ill. Route 25, adjoining the library building. The lot is expected to free-up parking spaces on nearby Main Street.
Smith made his comments during a Feb. 16 intergovernmental meeting hosted by the village at village hall.
Schools face difficult
'range of scenarios'
Also during the meeting, Oswego School District Superintendent Dr. Dan O'Donnell said he and other school district officials are attempting to determine how much the district will receive in state financial aid for the coming school year.
"We have a range of scenarios, none of which are good," O'Donnell said. "The best scenario calls for us to cut $3.3 million and the worst scenario we had at the end of last week was that it could be as much as $16 million."
O'Donnell said the potential for a $16 million funding cut was suggested by State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, who is chairman of the House's appropriations committee for elementary and secondary education.
Due to Chapa LaVia's position in the House, O'Donnell said, "We have to take that (potential $16 million) cut fairly seriously because it comes with some weight with her position."
He added, "I think she (Chapa LaVia) was floating that as a worst case scenario. I hope so, because $16 million would be devastating to our district."
In the meantime, O'Donnell noted the school district board was set to consider a plan to cut $5.5 million from the district's budget this past Monday night (See related article on page one, this section).
"It's not going to be easy for any of us, but we will get through it and we will carry on. We'll have a good education for our children," O'Donnell concluded.
Vickery: County working
to speed tax disbursements
Kendall County Board Chairman Anne Vickery told the gathering the county's new supervisor of assessment, Andy Nicoletti, and Jessie Hafenrichter, chairman of the county board of tax review, have been working to adjust the county's property tax schedule so that it is comparable to other area counties.
Up until last year, the county had annually been mailing out tax bills later than other area counties. The delay resulted in the late distribution of property taxes to local taxing districts. In prior years, the Oswego School District-the largest government agency in the county-had to sell tax anticipation warrants (TAWS) to cover its expenses until the tax revenues were received from the county. The school district had to pay interest on the TAWs, costing school district taxpayers additional money.
Referring to the county's efforts to speed the arrival of tax bills, Vickery said, "All of the taxing districts will be getting their money at a much faster rate than you had been the last several years. That should help everybody."
Vickery added that county government has been able to avoid having to layoff employees like other units of local government.
"Kendall County has been fortunate to weather the storm so far," Vickery said, adding, "It's been through careful planning, support and the hard work of our board members and appointed officials who have worked together to maintain a high level of service that the taxpayers deserve and expect."
Vickery added that the county completed a major expansion to the courthouse in Yorkville last year on schedule and under budget.
She said county officials are planning an open house at the courthouse this spring.
Public can view park
district budget on web
Bill McAdam, executive director of the Oswegoland Park District, reported the park district has had to make "hard choices" over the past year due to the recession.
He noted the park district recently changed its fiscal year to correspond with the calendar year. As a result, the agency's new fiscal year started last Jan. 1.
Interested residents can monitor the park district's budget by visiting the agency's web site at oswegolandparkdistrict.org, McAdam said. From the home page, residents can find the budget by clicking on "fiscal responsibility."
As a cost-cutting measure, McAdam said this year the park district chose not to print or mail its annual report to district residents, but instead put it on its web site. He noted the agency will still provide a paper copy of the report to anyone who requests one.
McAdam said the park district also continues to rely on the support of local and area businesses to help finance popular programs such as PrairieFest. He noted that last year the park district received $69,000 in business and corporate sponsorship contributions.
"Without that support we wouldn't be able to do some of these programs and we have to thank them for that," he said.
Currently, the park district owns and maintains 55 parks covering about 900 acres, McAdam said. Of those 900 acres, he said 367 are being maintained as natural areas.
Looking ahead, McAdam said the park district plans to begin work this fall on second phase improvements to Prairie Point Community Park located behind Prairie Point Center between Grove and Plainfield Roads in Oswego.
"We just finished phase one. That included ballfields, a gravel parking lot and a skate park," he said.
The second phase will include installation of lights at two ballfields, lights for the skate park, public bathrooms, a pavilion structure and a splash play pad.
"There will be no standing water (at the splash play pad), but you'll push buttons and water will squirt all over; it's actually pretty cool stuff," McAdam said.
Also this year, the park district will replace the playground equipment at the Oswegoland Civic Center at 5 Ashlawn Avenue in Oswego. McAdams said the existing equipment is the now the oldest in the system.
"Some significant updates" will also be completed at the 42 year-old civic center building in conjunction with the Fox Valley Special Recreation Association, according to McAdam. He said the improvements will include making all of the doors and access points at the building fully accessible.
The village invited Bristol Township to send a representative to the meeting, but no one from the agency attended.
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