Politics & Government

Strategic Plan to Get Final Approval Tonight

The Oswego Village Board will vote on an implementation plan for their five-year guiding document in a special meeting tonight.

A banquet facility in Oswego. Higher-end restaurants in the downtown. An Orchard Road corridor thriving like Route 34. A focus on local businesses, and on green technology. And a satellite campus for a college or university within the village grounds.

These are some of the main goals of the village of Oswego’s five-year strategic plan. And after more than a year of work, the Village Board is set to give it final approval in a special meeting tonight.

The specific goals of the plan were adopted in December, but board members are scheduled to vote tonight on an implementation plan – essentially, how they hope to accomplish those goals. The document sets out 73 different strategies in six categories, intended to guide the village though 2017.

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The plan is so important, Village President Brian LeClercq has said, that Oswego put off hiring a full-time village administrator until it could be completed. In April, the board hired Steven Jones, who started work as the new administrator June 4.

Jones has read the strategic plan, and called it a good one. He said he’s seen many of these documents during his career – he has served as assistant village manager in Carpentersville, and village manager in Glen Ellyn, among other positions - and Oswego’s is a strong one.

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But he also emphasized that it should be a living document, growing and changing as Oswego does. 

The plan includes several goals for spurring development, including emulating the success of the Route 34 corridor on Orchard Road, marketing the downtown as the heart of the community, encouraging developers to complete existing projects, and creating a “Shop Oswego” program that will shine a spotlight on local businesses, using social media, the village website and advertising.

Under “Community Enrichment,” the plan calls for working to bring a major attraction downtown, such as a sports complex or a minor league team. By 2015 village staff hope to attract higher-end restaurants to town, and by 2017 they hope to encourage the development of a banquet facility.

By 2016, staff also hopes to open talks with a college or university about opening a satellite campus in town.

The plan also calls for an expansion of the village’s walking and bike trails by 2016, and the creation of policies to promote recycling, find alternate water sources, and utilize green technology in village buildings. One step specifically mentioned is the re-establishment of the Green Business Award.

And the long-gestating Oswego Metra stop is a big part of the plan as well. (Read more about that .) The plan also calls for increasing public transportation by January 2013, and creating a proposal to deal with unfinished sidewalks, paths and trails.

Tonight’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Village Hall, 100 Parkers Mill, and is free and open to the public.


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