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City of Oswego, Port Authority officials take construction feud to court
OSWEGO N.Y. — Construction of a storage facility at the port, meant for the transport of pot-ash or salt, is now at a standstill after city officials took the Port Authority to court.
“Their whole attitude should have been one of picking up the phone and talking to us,” the Executive Director of the Port Authority, William Scriber said.
Now, Port Authority officials are trying to prove that the structure will help the city if completed.
“With this project, we’re putting a lot of money into this local economy,” Scriber said.
Scriber explained that the port runs as its own business, creating jobs, and opening opportunities for the local economy without the help of tax money. But Mayor Barlow said they are going about the project in the wrong way – upset that the structure will block the view of the iconic Oswego lighthouse coming into the city.
“What would really be the win is for the port to build what they originally proposed, that being the 55 foot dome..What you can do is completely skirt the entire review process,” Mayor Billy Barlow said.
What stands now is a roughly 68-70 foot tall square structure, something city officials said they never agreed on. But Scriber said the height difference won’t change that view of the lighthouse from the Marina.
Photo of the structure as it stands now from First West St. in Oswego, NY. Photo by reporter Melanie Higgins. “If you’re not changing the holding capacity, or position…It’s not a major change…It’s still going to block that view, which by the way, isn’t a historical registered view,” Scriber said.
But Fort Ontario on the other hand is a historical view of the lighthouse, and Scriber said that was the view that they worked through with the SHPO review – where the State Historic Preservation Office reviewed and eventually approved the initial proposal of the 55 foot dome.
“The view of the Fort is not in the least obstructed by the building,” Scriber added.
City residents are split, some feeling as though the structure isn’t a big deal, and others agreeing with the Mayor. Lee Chetney is a city resident who said the view of the lighthouse is going to be, ”forever changed.”“You used to be able to come into the city…and ‘wow, I made it to Oswego, and look at how beautiful it is’ now they put that thing up and I hope they take it down because it’s just terrible,” city resident Lee Chetney said.
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Pierre Notches Double Double In Lakers’ Win
The Oswego State men’s basketball team defeated Buffalo State on Friday by a final score of 69-59. With the victory, the Lakers improve to 11-11 overall and 8-7 in the conference while the Bengals drop to 8-14.
While Oswego had struggled to get going offensively in previous games, they were able to come out strong against the Bengals. The Lakers went on 8-0 and 11-0 runs respectively during the first half and held a 26-18 lead going into halftime. Jamir Ferebee led the team with a game high 18 points during that span and finished with 22 points.
Oswego maintained a balanced scoring attack for the second consecutive game as Tyler Pierre (13), Josh Ivey (12) and Liam Sanborn (11) joined Ferebee in scoring double digits. Along with 13 points, Pierre also collected 13 rebounds giving the junior his fifth double double of the season.
The Lakers will face Fredonia in a SUNYAC matchup on Saturday as they try to move over .500 for the first time since January 6th. Tip off is scheduled for 4 pm.
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Student Association Update: March 1st
The Student Association held their weekly meeting of the Senate on Tuesday evening making it the sixth meeting of the Spring semester. The number of senators required to begin the meeting were met and following the approval of the agenda and minutes, the meeting was well under way.
The National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE), were the first and only guests to the Senate for the evening. NABSE is a community service driven organization, working to bring awareness to inequalities of education. Their first project will be shipping school supplies to underprivileged children in Haiti and will be tabling every Tuesday in the Marano Campus Center to raise money and collect supplies. They are also looking to hold educational programs that shed light on the mission of their club, but NABSE do not currently have the funds to support the programs they wish to hold. They presented their budget to the Senate asking for funds to help with funds the organization needs. Two senators will be writing a budget and bill, which will be voted on at a later time and date.
Following the guest to the Senate, the meeting moved swiftly to executive reports. Emily Nassir, SA President was the first to deliver her executive report in which she shared updates on current projects she has been working on. Nassir said that the website for SA is currently being worked on and she will have more updates as there is more progression in the making and launching of the new SA website. SA has paid for the student discount app which will be renewed shortly and will give students access to partnered businesses in town, who provide discounts to students at their place of operation. Nassir also revealed new ideas that she wishes to begin working on such as, getting more involved in opening week on campus in the fall, as well as homecoming held in October.
Shelby Gallaro, SA Vice President was next to deliver her executive report. Gallaro shared with Senate her current project. She is working in a new Pay policy for senators which could potentially go into effect in the fall. This new pay system would allow senators to directly earn money as opposed to the current system which is done through dock pay. Following Gallaro’s report, SA Director of Finance, Matthew Peters took the floor to deliver his executive report. Peters stated that all of the requested budgets for next semester have been submitted by the clubs and organizations on campus. SA will begin to look through the requested budgets and will be working on them starting the beginning of next week. There were no new updates on OzFest, but Peters assured that he will be updating the Senate as new information comes in and planning progresses.
In Hall Council reports, senators shared success of programs their halls held this past week as well as plans for new programs in the future. Cayuga Hall had a great turnout for their movie themed laker night. Funnelle hosted a recycling event “Going Green for Green”, in which they collected many recyclables which will be used to help future programs in their hall. Johnson is currently working on their event with all four lakeside dorms, where students will be able to participate in intramural sports as a friendly competition between all the halls. Johnson will be bringing new updates as planning for the event advances.
There were no special orders for the evening, so the meeting moved to the first and only general order for the evening. Rules and judiciary proposed a bill that would amend the vacancy protocol in the constitution that SA is required to follow. The bill to amend the vacancy protocol passed by general consent.
Following the only general order for the evening, the meeting was adjourned. SA meets every Tuesday in Lanigan 106 at 6pm. If students, organizations or clubs have any questions, concerns or proposals, they are encouraged to attend these meetings, as they are all open to the public.
