Community Input Needed on Village's Strategic Plan

Oswego residents will get their say Tuesday night on the five-year direction of the village.

The Village Board is presenting the fruits of months of strategic plan labor to the public at a community forum set for 7 p.m. at , and resident input is strongly encouraged.

“I think if any views haven’t been heard, they need to be heard tomorrow night,” Village President Brian LeClercq said.

A draft of the village’s strategic plan, which has been called a roadmap for Oswego's future, will be presented and residents will be able to make comments on the document. Community input will then be included in the final draft, which should be ready for approval by the Village Board in the coming weeks.

The eight-page document includes a description of the village, a mission statement, guiding principles, a vision for 2017 and strategies for making that vision a reality.

The village to help facilitate the crafting of the plan. From there a 12-person steering committee was formed that included elected officials, village staff, business owners and residents. Workshops were held with village staff, stakeholders and the steering committee.

All the information gathered during those meetings has been broken down into the eight-page document prepared for Tuesday night. The community dialouge and adoption of the plan are the final two steps in the process.

“A lot of work has gone into this and I hope people will take it seriously,” LeClercq said. “Every step of the way we went out of our way to make sure everyone was included. Beyond that, I think this process has brought a lot of people together in the community.”

As part of her profession, Trustee Gail Johnson has been involved in the formulation of many strategic plans. She encouraged residents to attend the forum and get involved in village's future.

"If people have ever thought 'Oh, I wish there's someway I could do something in the community,' this is it," she said. "This will be a safe environment, there will be a moderator involved and people should feel free to ask questions and give their input."

The planning process has been successful, according to Johnson, but the hard part lies ahead.

"I thought it was a fantastic process," she said. "But the difficult part is putting all these plans into action."

A copy of the draft plan is attached to this article.