Oswego trustees examine results of community survey
Oswego trustees recently reviewed results of a community survey conducted last winter.
The survey process is intended to gather information to improve municipal services and help guide long-range planning as well as respond to the needs of the community, officials said.
This is the fourth survey administered for Oswego by ETC Institute. Previous surveys in the village were done in 2023, 2018 and 2016, according to Oswego officials.
The Kansas-based ETC Institute is a marketing research firm that specializes in community surveys for government entities.
The survey was mailed to a random sample of households within the municipal border of the village. Residents could either return their survey by mail or complete one online.
The survey generated 606 responses, ETC Institute Director of Community Research Jason Morado said.
The primary goal of the survey was to get an objective assessment of how satisfied residents are with village services and what they view as the top priority of the community. The analysis can compare Oswego with other communities across the country as well, the consultant said.
'We found residents have a very positive perception of the village – 88% of respondents rated Oswego as an excellent place to raise children and 87% rated Oswego as an excellent place to live,' Morado said.
'We also found the village is moving in the right direction. Satisfaction ratings have increased in 68 of 113 areas since your last survey two years ago in 2023,' Morado said.
Compared to survey results in 2018, the satisfaction ratings increased in 71 out of 113 areas since 2018.
'We have seen an overall increase in satisfaction both short-term and long-term,' he said.
Satisfaction concerning village services is higher than in other communities as well, Morado said. The village is above the national average in 55 out of 60 areas, Morado said.
Satisfaction with the overall quality of village services is 20% above the U.S. average, he said.
One of the areas Oswego rated the furthest above the national average was customer service from village employees. The ratings were 39% above the national average, he said.
The overall quality of police and fire district services, local ambulance service, library services and feelings of safety in the village were among the areas that received high ratings.
Areas of new development in the village, availability of affordable housing, job availability and transportation options received low ratings on a scale of one to five, Morado said.
Overall flow of traffic and congestion management received low satisfaction ratings.
'This is typical for a fast-growing community,' Morado said.
While the survey shows high ratings for overall municipal services, Village President Ryan Kauffman acknowledged traffic improvements remain on Village Hall's radar.
'We do have our work cut out for us because traffic is a problem – we know that and see that. Residents reach out to us about traffic all of the time,' Kauffman said.
For a community as rapidly growing as Oswego, traffic will continue to be an issue, however, strides have been made, officials said. One of the primary solutions is the widening of Wolfs Crossing to five lanes, he said.
'That will decrease some of the burden on Route 34,' he said. 'Our message to the community is that we hear you and we are working on it.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Orange County Coastkeeper teams up to award nearly $300,000 in beach accessibility grants
Orange County Coastkeeper works to protect and promote water resources in Southern California. The Costa Mesa-based nonprofit organization is now also making it easier for people to actually reach that water. O.C. Coastkeeper has teamed up with the California State Coastal Conservancy to award nearly $300,000 in new grants to help organizations purchase, maintain and promote beach accessibility equipment. The program is in its second year, said Genesee Ouyang, education director at Orange County Coastkeeper, which is overseeing an application process for the funds. Accessibility equipment includes items like beach wheelchairs, walkers, mats and kayaks. 'I'm just loving doing this whole thing,' Ouyang said. 'I've been talking about expanding our accessibility efforts since I started working at Coastkeeper, and the fact that this project came around was like destiny. It's really exciting, because this is definitely an issue that everyone agrees on. Literally, nobody that we've interacted with has been like, 'That's a dumb thing to fund.' Everyone is like, 'Wow, that's incredible, we need this.'' Since its launch in May 2024, the beach accessibility program has already distributed $100,000 in funds to six inclusive recreation projects across California. Crystal Cove Conservancy was among those to receive a grant. 'All of that funding was snapped up within one month,' Ouyang said. 'So, [the Coastal Conservancy was] like, 'OK, let's fund you with $100,000 more this time.' It's really, really exciting.' Applicants can ask for up to $30,000 of funding at a time, and the program is open to any organization in the state of California connected to waterways or the beach. Ouyang said the city of Newport Beach is among the second round of applicants, seeking to replace one of its beach wheelchairs, while the city of San Diego has applied for Mobi-Mats, roll-out mats that make traveling across soft sand easier. Garry Brown, founder and president of Orange County Coastkeeper, said that Coastkeeper views coastal access not as a luxury, but as a right that everyone should enjoy. 'For decades, we've fought to keep beaches clean, public and protected from threats,' Brown said in a statement. 'Now we're confronting another barrier: physical inaccessibility. Everyone should be able to experience California's coast, and we're proud to help make that a reality through this program.' Ouyang said there is about $75,000 accounted for in the second round of founding, meaning that more than $200,000 is still up for grabs. There is no deadline to apply; the funds are available until they run out. 'All of us could use this equipment one day, if we have the privilege of getting old and needing a beach wheelchair or a walker, or even just mothers with strollers using the beach mats to get all the way to the water,' Ouyang said. 'There's just so many types of people who can use this stuff.' To learn more about the beach and coast accessibility program or to apply for a grant, visit
New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
The Lumberjack Psychic Is Never Wrong
In the private lore of my family, there is a mysterious being who is invoked now and again in conversation: the lumberjack psychic. I am the only one who knows for sure that he is a real person, because I met him. His words to me have rippled through the years, challenging me to trust what I can't yet clearly see. For the first two years of medical school, I lived in Kansas City, Kansas, with four other students in a gently dilapidating, spacious home across the street from the medical center campus. It had been previously owned by an older couple, the husband deceased and the wife shuffled off to a nursing home. I only knew the woman through her magnificent backyard garden, filled with heirloom peony bushes yielding exuberant blooms in spring that filled the whole house with heady fragrance (and ants). I cared for those peonies tenderly, and to this day I am still seeking plants with the same aromatic wallop. The lower floor had grass-green carpeting and a galley kitchen that I most remember for being the place I once cut off the tip of my left middle finger. (Fortunately, the emergency room was steps away, and I walked there, holding the detached tip, until the doctor sewed it back on.) Of the roommates, I was closest to Angie, a studious girl from rural Kansas, the most organized person I had ever met. She seemed to marvel at my relatively carefree disdain for attending classes or going to bed at reasonable hours. One night, from her room, she called to me as I was going out: 'You're going to be the first one to find someone. I'll still be sitting here studying.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Cargo ship carrying new vehicles to Mexico sinks in the North Pacific weeks after catching fire
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A cargo ship that had been delivering new vehicles to Mexico sank in the North Pacific Ocean, weeks after crew members abandoned ship when they couldn't extinguish an onboard fire that left the carrier dead in the water. The Morning Midas sank Monday in international water off Alaska's Aleutian Islands chain, the ship's management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, said in a statement. 'There is no visible pollution,' said Petty Officer Cameron Snell, an Alaska-based U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson. 'Right now we also have vessels on scene to respond to any pollution.' Fire damage compounded by bad weather and water seepage caused the carrier to sink in waters about 16,404 feet deep and about 415 miles from land, the statement said. The ship was loaded with about 3,000 new vehicles intended for a major Pacific port in Mexico. It was not immediately clear if any of the cars were removed before it sank, and Zodiac Maritime did not immediately respond to messages Tuesday. A salvage crew arrived days after the fire disabled the vehicle. Two salvage tugs containing pollution control equipment will remain on scene to monitor for any signs of pollution or debris, the company said. The crew members of those two ships were not injured when the Morning Midas sank. Zodiac Maritime said it is also sending another specialized pollution response vessel to the location as an added precaution. The Coast Guard said it received a distress alert June 3 about a fire aboard the Morning Midas, which then was roughly 300 miles southwest of Adak Island. There were 22 crew members onboard the Morning Midas. All evacuated to a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby merchant marine vessel. There were no injuries. Among the cars were about 70 fully electric and about 680 hybrid vehicles. A large plume of smoke was initially seen at the ship's stern coming from the deck loaded with electric vehicles, the Coast Guard and Zodiac Maritime said at the time. Adak is about 1,200 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. The 600-foot Morning Midas was built in 2006 and sails under a Liberian flag. The car and truck carrier left Yantai, China, on May 26 en route to Mexico, according to the industry site A Dutch safety board in a recent report called for improving emergency response on North Sea shipping routes after a deadly 2023 fire aboard a freighter that was carrying 3,000 automobiles, including nearly 500 electric vehicles, from Germany to Singapore. One person was killed and others injured in the fire, which burned out of control for a week. That ship was eventually towed to a Netherlands port for salvage. Thiessen writes for the Associated Press.
