Lockport has stayed ‘financially stable’ through COVID-19 pandemic, mayor says at State of the City address

Mayor Steve Streit touted how Lockport has remained “financially stable” despite a “dark year” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during his annual State of the City address on Tuesday.

Like many communities, Streit said the city encouraged residents to support Lockport’s local restaurants as they were forced to shut down indoor dining as cases surged. The city dedicated nearly $300,000 towards small business grants to help those struggling, he said.

“A lot of cities took COVID really hard,” Streit said. “It hit their finances hard. It really brought them to their knees. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for the city of Lockport.”

The mayor attributed Lockport’s relative success to its diversified tax base which helped the city maintain its financial stability. The city only took a small hit to its sales tax revenues during the last fiscal year and maintains about $10.5 million in cash reserves, he said.

Streit also touted the city’s revamped downtown area which includes new public parking, crosswalk signals and even valet parking service on the weekends for patrons, which is paid for through gaming revenue from local businesses. He said one of the real “stinky” aspects to the pandemic was that it prevented the city from holding a proper ribbon-cutting ceremony when the upgrades were completed.

With more restaurants, developments and visitors continuing to come to Lockport’s downtown, Streit said the city has been working on challenges in the area like having adequate parking.

“These are good problems to have,” he said. “I’d rather be solving problems of being too busy and having too many people down there than having a ghost town.”

The mayor also detailed plans for new business developments, including at the Chevron parcel just north of the downtown. The city recently purchased the land which it calls “Maker’s Park” to encourage small entrepreneurial development.

The land used to be a Texaco oil refinery. Streit said the future use of that land has been “very big concern” for the city.

Streit said the city has also been trying to address the truck traffic by asking software companies to ensure drivers have accurate GPS directions to find their destinations without driving on smaller, residential roads. Despite challenges, he said he wants Lockport and its neighbors to take a regional approach to pressure the companies to enhance their trucking practices for residents.

“There’s no reason why we can’t tell a software company, ‘You’re route for this address is wrong,’” he said.