Hearing on Oakwood CDBG grant brief, positive

A very small crowd turned out for a public hearing regarding a Community Development Block Grant for the acquisition of the Oakwood Inn and surrounding property Tuesday morning. The meeting was held at the Syracuse Town Hall.Kristine Christlieb, a community planner with Region 3A, led the hearing explaining the Town of Syracuse and Oakwood Retreat LLC, owned by Rex Parent and his sons, have applied for a $700,000 CDBG grant with $359,800 to be used to benefit low to moderate income jobs. Christlieb explained the purpose behind the grant is to create jobs.The meeting was opened to the public, made up of four Oakwood Park residents who attended and Tom Niezer, an attorney for Ian Rolland, receiver for the Oakwood Foundation.Niezer started by asking if no comments were good comments. An Oakwood Park resident asked what is considered moderate income.Christlieb explained it varies throughout the county but is based on the number of people in a family.Christlieb also explained the grant was awarded a few weeks ago and Oakwood Retreat LLC has 18 months to meet the requirements of the grant.Henry DeJulia, town manager, said "We see this as a good economic development opportunity for the community," noting Oakwood will bring visitors to the area and benefit other businesses in the community."We see it as a positive."