From the Desk of the Village of Owego Mayor Michael Baratta III

I wanted to start the New Year off with updating everyone on projects going on in the Village of Owego. As many of you know, we have many projects in the works right now thanks to our Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant we received from New York State. 

These village-owned projects are finally coming to life, and I will outline each village project below with a status, and expected schedule. 

Southside Lighting – This project will re-energize the streetlights on the south side of the Court Street Bridge, down to the on ramps each way for route 17. This project has completed design and is currently getting DOT permits, and will be bid out to prospective contractors near the end of February for spring construction.

Parking Lots – This project will re-pave all village parking lots, and better lay them out with more obvious signage for easy identification. These include the lot behind the movie theater, the Court Street lot, the county lot behind CVS, and the Hyde Lot. This project also includes an infrastructure improvement in the Court Street lot to replace a sewer line running behind Lake Street. This project is in final design and will be bid out to prospective contractors near the end of February for spring construction. 

Marvin Park – This project will completely re-build the bathroom facilities, re-surface the existing basketball and tennis court, repair the pillars at the entrance, add signage, replace fencing along Main Street, improve the walking trail, add to the existing playground and resurface the play area to new standards, and completely rebuild the skate park with a “cast in place” concrete design. This project is in final design and will be bid out to prospective contractors near the end of February for spring construction.

Central Fire Station – This project will put a new roof on Owego’s historic fire station as well as restore the historic clock tower. This project is in design and scheduled to be bid to contractors later in the winter for summer construction. 

Water Front Project – This project includes improvements to the river walk for easier maintenance, improvements to Draper Park to add a performance area and kayak dock, and improvements to the nature trails along the Owego Creek. This project is in design and will be bid to contractors later in the winter for summer construction.  

North Avenue Art Park – This project turns the vacant “pit” next to Fire Station number 2, across from the Community Shop, into a new village park focused on the arts. This project is in conceptual design, an overall shape and layout have been defined, and the architects are refining the designs with a more detailed schedule to follow. 

This update is just for the projects of the DRI that the Village of Owego is responsible for managing, there are many other projects that were awarded to private business or other organizations that are also progressing in design or construction. As you can see we have a lot of dust to look forward to this coming summer but this all means a better village for everyone who lives, works and enjoys spending their time here in Owego. 

We, as a Village Board, are committed to working hard to keep our projects moving forward in a transparent way, and on budget. These projects are 100% funded by New York State with no local match, and are not costing taxpayers any extra tax revenue. As always, board meetings and any work sessions are available live or in person at 22 Elm St. To attend online, you can use the Go To Meeting software, and we also record and post them on YouTube – just search Village of Owego to find our channel.