Write a commentCity of Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow and the Oswego Common Council passed a resolution during Monday night's Common Council meeting calling on the International Joint Commission (IJC) to suspend Plan 2014 and establish a plan that better protects the interest of municipalities, private land owners, and emergency responders.
The resolution, passed unanimously by the Common Council, references the estimated $7 million in damage caused by the high water levels from Lake Ontario since 2017, including the temporary closure of the City owned and operated Wright's Landing Marina.
"Municipalities and private land owners along Lake Ontario continue to feel the devastating effects of Plan 2014 as our shoreline continues washing away, municipal infrastructure is becoming severely damaged, and restoration costs continue to increase. It is totally unreasonable and asinine to expect our property owners, including year-round home owners, to live under these conditions due to a plan we know is flawed," said Mayor Billy Barlow. "The IJC knows Plan 2014 is directly causing dangerous situations with devastating effects along our shoreline. They must take swift action to prevent this damage from compounding by suspending Plan 2014 until reasonable adjustments can be made and sustain maximum outflows whenever possible," Barlow said.
Robert Corradino, President of the Common Council, said “Our community has had extreme flooding for 2 of the last three years in places we haven’t previously had flooded. It is obvious that Plan 2014 has had a negative effect and should be repealed. I strongly urge the IJC to suspend the current plan as soon as possible and replace it with a plan that does not continue to devastate the Lake Ontario shoreline.”
Mayor Barlow also took the opportunity to mention the City's intention to apply for Governor Cuomo's $300 million REDI funding, in addition to funding to be received from FEMA, to repair the damage caused by the flooding and build back Oswego's waterfront. The plan will mix infrastructure repairs with economic development projects and will focus on raising parts of the Wright's Landing Marina to prevent future closures should the IJC fail to take action on revising Plan 2014.
