Three governing bodies to split bill on $365K path project for Oswego East students

The Village of Oswego is teaming up with other governing bodies to create a path so all Oswego East High School students can safely walk to school.

At the Dec. 10 Oswego Village Board meeting, village trustees unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with Oswego Community Unit School District 308 and the Oswego Township Road District. As part of the agreement, the three government bodies will share the cost of installing a path to ensure that students can walk safely from Ogden Falls subdivision to the nearby school.

The project is estimated to cost approximately $365,000 and will be split evenly among the taxing bodies, with each government body paying approximately $120,000. Ogden Falls subdivision is located north of the high school campus.

“The sidewalk ends in the subdivision,” District 308 chief financial officer and chief school business official Raphael Obafemi told Oswego School Board members at the Oct. 21 school board meeting.

As a result, Ogden Falls students walking or riding bicycles to school have to travel across Kula Farm (located between the high school campus and Ogden Falls) or along Harvey Road, which creates a safety issue, school district officials said.

Currently, there is no sidewalk or other pedestrian or bicycle path extending from Ogden Falls to the high school campus. The proposed path would be on the west side of Harvey Road stretching from the corner of Treasure Drive to the northernmost entrance of Oswego East High School.

“The students that often use Harvey Road to get to OEHS will have a much safer commute to school,” Oswego management analyst Madeleine Upham said in a memo to village trustees.

The village plans to fund the project through its capital improvement plan. When the project’s final costs are determined, there is an option for any of the parties to discontinue their participation in the project should the financial cost of the path be higher than expected, creating a financial burden, Upham said in her memo.

“At that point, the remaining two parties may meet and decide to move forward or halt the project,” she said.