Economic Resiliency & Recovery Plan – North Shore Council of Governments

The North Shore Council of Governments (NorCOG) is a collaborative committee of Oswego County municipalities along the northern shore of Oneida Lake, including the towns of West Monroe and Constantia and the villages of Cleveland and Central Square. Several broader regional growth opportunities created a need for a comprehensive analysis of the North Shore area’s economic and community development needs, with the aim of ensuring that communities could leverage and align regional growth with community character. With this goal in mind, NorCOG engaged MRB Group to develop a joint Economic Resiliency & Recovery Plan to help guide the use of limited local capacity and fiscal resources in pursuing economic development and community projects that will best serve the North Shore into the future. The resulting plan is the combined work of the partner municipalities, the Tug Hill Commission (who provides technical and administrative support to NorCOG), and MRB Group, and is informed by various local and regional plans and the input of stakeholders. 

RESULTS 

MRB worked with community leadership and stakeholders to create a strategic plan that addresses five focus areas and identifies practical actions to advance development in those areas. Each area addresses a distinct component of resiliency and economic opportunity as identified by the community, including: Existing Business Expansion and Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure Updating and Expansion; Expanding Recreational Offerings; Expanding the Tax Base; and Zoning and Policy. In addition to this strategy, the plan articulates a community vision and clearly outlines a road map for the communities to begin implementation. The plan also explores the use of existing municipal properties in the strategy’s implementation.  

Big Idea

Ensure that communities could leverage and align regional growth with community character