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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.16.20newsletter DATE: October 16, 2020 TO: Honorable Mayor and Common Council FROM: Mark Rohloff, City Manager SUBJECT: Weekly Newsletter 1. CITY HALL TO BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR VOTING ONLY: As a health precaution to reduce the number of people in the building, and as a safety measure for voters and staff, Oshkosh City Hall will only be open to the public to conduct election activities at the City Clerk’s office beginning Monday, October 19th through November 6th. No other in-person services will be available in the building during this time period. We want those wishing to cast in-person absentee ballots to do so in as safe a manner as possible. Out of an abundance of caution, voters will be the only members of the public to be able to conduct business in City Hall. City of Oshkosh departments offer many online alternatives for customers to conduct business with the city. The entire list of online services can be accessed on the city’s website at https://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/Online_Services.aspx. Departmental updates and other resources are also posted on the city’s website. 2. INFORMATION FOR NOVEMBER 2020 GENERAL ELECTION: Residents of Oshkosh have the following options to cast their ballot for the November 3rd General Election:  Request an absentee ballot. To request an absentee ballot to be mailed, go to https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/ through Thursday, October 29th. Clerk Ubrig encourages voters to do this sooner rather than later and to return their ballots in the drop box near the entrance of City Hall.  Come to the City Clerk’s Office during the in-person early absentee voting period. In-person early absentee voting begins on Tuesday, October 20th through Friday, October 30th, weekdays from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., a friendly remember that voters need to bring their photo ID.  Go to your designated polling site on Election Day. November 3rd, polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm. To get information on polling site, visit myvote.wi.gov or the election page on the City website www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us Clerk Ubrig, staff and election helpers have been busy processing the absentee ballot requests since mid-September. The City of Oshkosh has just under 37,000 registered voters, at the close of business on Thursday, October 15th – over 15,000 absentee ballots have been mailed and 9,651 ballots have been received back in the office. 3. SOUTHWEST INDUSTRIAL PARK PAVING PROJECT MOVES AHEAD: The City of Oshkosh received approval from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to move ahead with bidding out the Southwest Industrial Park paving project which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021. The City received $1.5 million dollars from the EDA to pave Compass Way, construct Transit Drive, improve Clairville Road, and reconfigure the transload terminal driveway. The project will improve the access to the Southwest Industrial Park and will encourage economic growth in the park. If you have any questions about the project, please contact Justin Gierach, Engineering Division Manager / City Engineer or Kelly Nieforth, Economic Development Services Manager. 4. ROUTES TO RECOVERY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AID – COVID-19: Wisconsin's local governments are on the front-lines of supporting their communities through the COVID-19 health crisis and into economic recovery. The “Routes to Recovery: Local Government Aid Grants" are aimed at helping local government address some of their most urgent and unique COVID-19 recovery needs. Administered by the Department of Administration (DOA), Routes to Recovery Grants have been allocated to every Wisconsin county, city, village, town, and federally recognized tribe. The effort is funded by $200 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars. The City of Oshkosh was granted $1,092,523 under this program. The City has requested reimbursement of COVID-19 expenditures as follows: Emergency operation activities 703,183.24 Medical and protective services and equipment 77,210.27 Cleaning, sanitizing, and other costs of COVID-19 mitigation 72,233.58 Temporary isolation housing for infected or at-risk individuals 4,100.00 Paid leave for public health and safety employees 4,106.36 Increased workers compensation costs due to COVID-19 15,742.59 Purchases of services or equipment to facilitate telework by public employees 31,524.84 TOTAL REIMBURSEMENT $908,100.88 Of all of our submittals, only two claims were denied in the amount of $12,410.61. The final reimbursement request will be submitted by November 6, 2020 in the amount of $184,422, of which, $154,100 is encumbered; $20,000 for COVID-19 promotional support for the community and $10,000 for technology enhancements to allow for telework has been approved for COVID-19 expenditures under this program. This does not include any wages for emergency operation activities. The amount reimbursed will be treated as additional revenue within the General Fund and the appropriations will also be shown in the General Fund. I am recommending that no budget amendments be made to the General Fund since they could have an adverse impact on the ability for the City to qualify for the Expenditure Restraint Program. Any additional expenditures incurred related to COVID-19 will be submitted to FEMA for 75% reimbursement. 5. LEADERSHIP FORUM: On Tuesday, October 13, 2020, Oshkosh Corporation sponsored a virtual worldwide Law Enforcement Leadership Insight Series Event where Chief Dean Smith was invited to speak. Chief Smith had an opportunity to present on what it means to be a leader in law enforcement today. He discussed how the Oshkosh Police Department responds to various types of calls, how we build back into our staff to support their needs, and how we keep our community safe while protecting the rights of all. Chief Smith would like to express his sincere appreciation to Oshkosh Corporation for inviting him to be a part of their global initiative on leadership development. 6. OPD MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS 5K: While the OPD Law Enforcement Mental Health & Wellness Awareness 5K didn’t happen in real-time this year with the current global situation, participants completed their 5K goals by running with us virtually! The Mental Health & Wellness 5K is a family friendly run/walk event for all ages. Participants received t-shirts and medals were awarded to the top 3 male and female participants, as well as the top 3 youth participants 12 years old and under. The dates of the virtual run were September 25 – 28 and participants chose a variety of ways to complete the run such as running the initial 5K map route in Oshkosh, running their own route or even using a treadmill. Run times were logged at the end of the run and top runners were awarded with medals. This year’s run raised nearly $1500.00 with all proceeds benefiting the Resiliency Initiative, which provides support, training, and education and raises awareness of mental health resiliency for officers, non-sworn staff and law enforcement families. The Oshkosh Police Department would like to extend a special thank you to everyone who supported or participated in this year’s event. We look forward to another successful 5K in 2021! 7. COVID-19 RESOURCE LINKS AND INFORMATION:  Citizen Covid-19 Information Site:  https://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/covid19.aspx  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:  https://www.cdc.gov/  Wisconsin Department of Health Services:  https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/  Winnebago County Public Health Department:  https://www.co.winnebago.wi.us/health/divisions-program-areas/communicable- disease/covid-19-coronavirus/wchd-covid-19-situation 8. ATTACHED REPORTS & UPDATES: Attached please find the weekly Museum Board Memo. 9. MEETING MINUTES FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: All meeting minutes are uploaded to the website upon approval. Please follow the link below for the most updated information & meeting minutes: https://onboard.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/. 10. UPCOMING MEETINGS: Among the meetings I have scheduled for the week of October 29 include the following: On Monday and Tuesday I will be participating virtually with council and staff in our all day budget workshops. On Friday at 1:30 PM I will be on a conference call with city managers from other cities that have UW Campuses to discuss issues of mutual concern, particularly as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have any questions regarding my schedule, please contact me.