From the Owego Village Mayor’s Desk

I wanted to take some time to write to you as summer is winding down and update you on what’s going on in the village. This has been a crazy year. 

First, I would like to thank everyone on behalf of the board for the support in the election on Tuesday. Our village board will remain the same and we are committed to work for you with only the best interest of the village residents and business / property owners in mind. 

We had a hot summer and I am very grateful that we were able to work with the state and county health department to get our Marvin Park pool open. The season went great, even with COVID. This was a huge undertaking this year for our lifeguards, and DPW staff. 

This summer has been a challenge for everyone and every town and village. I had no doubt that our village would weather the storm of this pandemic and come together to support each other. Tioga County as a whole is doing great with the pandemic as our numbers are some of the lowest around; we still need to be careful, but we are doing a great job. 

Behind the scenes at the village the gears are still turning. We are working with the state to try and bring the DRI projects to life. These projects have been slowed down due to changes at the state level due to COVID, but we are assured that they are still on track to happen. 

Our Waste Water Treatment plant is in the final stages of construction of a major update. This has been a huge project with all the ups and downs of any major construction project and I will say our Director of Utilities, as well as Trustee Pelton, really have stepped up over the past year and a half or so and have kept close tabs on this project, keeping it on track and on budget. We are scheduled to finish up the phase 2 upgrades in October or November. 

Also at the Waste Water plant we will be doing a phase 3 which will add more disinfection to the water that leaves our plant bringing us in compliance with regulations set by the DEC well in advance of when they required us to have the changes implemented. Phase 3 will not need a raise in EDU rates due to the fact that we successfully were awarded grants to cover the costs. 

In the theme of construction, our new DPW / Clerks office, which is funded by a NY Rising grant received after the 2011 flood to bring our offices up out of the flood plain is moving and on track, it will be going to bid very soon as the design is getting finalized now. This project will cost taxpayer’s nothing. I know there is an argument that every grant comes from tax dollars, which is true, but also keep in mind some community is going to get that grant either way, so if we can it, that is great. 

We are committed to staying within the 3-million-dollar budget that NY Rising is providing. The new building will go right beside our current DPW location at 20 Elm St. but be raised up out of the flood plain, and it will house our DPW offices, Code Enforcement offices, and all operations currently at 178 Main St. including the Clerk’s office, Mayor’s office, conference rooms, and board room. 

With the seasons changing, and just as a reminder, DPW will pick up all your leaves and brush; all you have to do is get them to the curb. They do not need to be bagged. If you would like to bag them so they don’t blow back all over your nice clean yard they just ask that you use either clear plastic bags or the big paper bags. 

Also, on that same note something very exciting coming up is our village cleanup day sponsored by Upstate Shredding. Adam Weitsman has reached out and is assisting the village in planning and executing a village-wide cleanup day on Oct. 3. There will be more information coming very soon about this. 

A project that is on the docket is to place dumpsters around the village for residents to get rid of “stuff”, whatever you would like, garbage and metal. You get the “stuff” to the appropriate dumpsters located in each area of the village and we will do the rest. There will also be volunteers to help assist in the various projects. 

More information and details can be found on our website, www.villageofowego.com, and in future press releases in the very near future. Thank you for taking the time to read our update and stay safe and healthy.