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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.03.21 Newsletter TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Mark Rohloff, City Manager DATE: September 3, 2021 RE: Weekly Newsletter 1. RELAY PLATFORM DEACTIVATED BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 1: The Oshkosh Police Department was informed by Relay staff that due to business related matters, the Relay platform will be deactivated beginning September 1st. The Oshkosh Police Department received a lot of positive feedback from our citizens about Relay and we feel that having a mobile application in which citizens can report non-emergency incidents to officers (and include photos) is a valuable tool. We want to continue to have a mobile application similar to Relay to offer our community another way to easily communicate directly with officers. The Oshkosh Police Department will begin researching other platforms to replace Relay and hope to offer a similar mobile application in the near future. Thank you to all of the citizens that used Relay and who continue to support our department as we bring more technological advancements and convenient, innovative ways for citizens to communicate directly with officers. 2. OSHKOSH MEDIA CABLE OUTAGE: This week staff from Oshkosh Media learned that a piece of equipment installed by cable provider Charter has failed, and has caused both Gov TV and Life TV to go down on Spectrum Cable. Staff is working with Charter to address this equipment failure, and the city’s Gov TV cable feed should be restored by the middle of next week. However, the city’s Life TV cable feed will remain down for the duration of the equipment replacement period, which is expected to take a couple months. Staff is working with Charter to expedite this process. In the meantime, viewers can see live feeds of both Gov TV and Life TV on several Oshkosh Media streaming platforms. The free Oshkosh Media channel on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV devices has live streams of both channels. You can also see live streams of both channels on www.OshkoshMedia.org. Gov TV is still available to AT&T U-verse customers on channel 99. Government meeting replays and other videos are available on-demand on the Oshkosh Media YouTube channel. If you have questions, please contact Jake Timm in Media Services at 236-5261. 3. UPDATE ON ARPA REPORTING: On August 31, the City was required to submit a one-time Interim Report of American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds to the U. S. Department of Treasury. This initial report noted that no decision has been made as to the expenditures at this time. We noted that the City Manager was in the process of collecting information from civic groups after holding listening sessions and that the City Manager was in the process of providing a summary to City Council. One item that was required in the report was the calculation of lost revenue. Based on our calculations, using a formula and tool created by Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), the City reported a revenue loss of $10,201,743 through December 31, 2020. This was based on the adopted Interim Rules provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury. It also accounts for the loss in room tax collections. This amount is now available to use by the City Council at their discretion. Staff will calculate revenue reductions, if any, for 2021, 2022, and 2023. 4. POTENTIAL REFUNDING OF ELIGIBLE CITY BONDS: City Staff is working with Ehlers to present and consider the refunding of two eligible debt issues, the 2012B and 2012F bonds. The plan is to present and request approval of a parameters resolution at the September 28 City Council meeting. The resolution would delegate to the City Manager or Finance Director the authority to award the sale of the refunding bonds provided that the parameters (such as minimum savings) are met. The use of the parameters resolution approach provides flexibility as to scheduling of the sale so that it does not need to occur on a Council meeting date. This approach is beneficial for two reasons: 1. Unlike a new money issuance, the City does not need to proceed with these transactions. If market conditions were to deteriorate prior to the planned sale date to the point where the savings become negligible, we can elect to postpone the sale to a later date, or not proceed at all. 2. The sale can also be scheduled on a day with less market activity which may increase interest and competition in the offering. As most local governments tend to meet on Mondays and Tuesdays, parameters sales are normally scheduled for Wednesdays or Thursdays when sale calendars are lighter. The sale date flexibility benefit can benefit new money issues as well, and in some communities, Ehlers presents a parameter resolution for the issuance of new debt. Staff and Ehlers will present the parameter resolution and can discuss any concerns. If this approach is something the Council is comfortable with we could consider using it going forward for all issues. Attached are the pre-sale reports for both issues. Within each report is a list of parameters to be considered. These parameters will be included in the resolution for your consideration on September 28. 5. NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING REMINDER: A neighborhood meeting is scheduled for September 9th, 2021. The meeting will be held at 6:00pm in the current Merrill School cafeteria. The meeting is intended to give neighbors and interested individuals an opportunity to provide feedback on a preliminary site plan and potential traffic / roadway changes being proposed by the Oshkosh Area School District. The conceptual site plan includes a single delivery access point on Jackson St. The Oshkosh Area School Districts is also proposing to switch the travel direction of the existing one-way paired streets of Kentucky St. and Central St. to allow for efficient traffic flow for student drop off and pick-up on Kentucky Street. The preliminary site plan is attached to this Newsletter. Tentative project timeline includes:  Plan Commission workshop - September 21st  Traffic & Parking Advisory Board review - October 12th  Common Council ordinance reading/review for the one-way streets changes - October 26th  Common Council ordinance and action for the one-way streets changes - November 9th  Plan Commission for a zone change and Planned Development - November 16th  Common Council for 1st reading of the zone change - November 23rd  Common Council for 2nd reading of the zone change and Planned Development approval - December 14th Anyone interested in learning more about the project can contact Mark Lyons at mlyons@ci.oshkosh.wi.us. 6. CALEA ACCREDITATION: The Oshkosh Police Department (OPD) completed the “virtual on- site” Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) assessment on August 23-25, 2021. This was the culmination of a 4-year process to show compliance with the 36 chapters and 459 standards required for CALEA compliance. CALEA is a national credentialing authority. OPD’s initial accreditation occurred in 1994. OPD is currently the only municipal law enforcement agency in Wisconsin that is nationally accredited. In the Exit Interview with the Assessors, they had nothing but positive things to say about OPD. Additional comments by the Assessors were:  All staff were well prepared.  Everyone they had contact with appears to be excited to work at OPD.  There were a total of 38 interviews conducted (17 with internal OPD employees and 21 with citizens, professional contacts, etc.). Everyone they encountered had nothing but good things to say about OPD and the employees and they commented that this is due to the community support generated from Team Policing efforts and the ownership every employee has for their assignments. They said the citizens they talked to said they love knowing their officers and value the relationships they have established.  The pride and professionalism in the organization is evident.  CALEA has been part of the organization for so long that it is part of the agency culture and is engrained in our agency.  The proofs provided were really detailed and squared away. It appears the department is performing really well. Thank you to all employees that participated in the preparation for the assessment. 7. THE RESULTS ARE IN: Thank you to everyone that participated in the 2021 Sole Burner 5K Walk/Run! And a big thank you to everyone that donated to the individual members or the City of Oshkosh team. The City of Oshkosh Sole Burner team had 12 members that walked in person or virtually and raised $870 in donations. We challenged the City of Appleton to join us and create the largest team and raise the most funds. The winning team’s captain is receiving a small gift basket of items from local businesses in the losing team’s city. Although we did lose this year’s challenge to the City of Appleton as they had 23 members and raised $1,249 in donations, it was a BIG WIN overall! Between the City of Oshkosh and the City of Appleton teams we had 35 total members and raised over $2,100 for the American Cancer Society. We have challenged the City of Appleton to a rematch for the 2022 ACS Sole Burner scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Make your calendars! For more information contact Kim Wallmuller, Administrative Assistant, Oshkosh Fire Department at 920.236.5233. 8. 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/. 9. COVID-19 RESOURCE LINKS AND INFORMATION: 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 10. UPCOMING MEETINGS: As a reminder, City Offices will be closed on Monday September 6, and I will be out of the office on Tuesday September 7. Among the meetings I have scheduled for the remainder of the week include the following: On Wednesday at 3:00 PM I will be attending the virtual meeting regarding the Chief Oshkosh Monument Project. At 10:00 AM on Thursday I am meeting with staff to discuss the extension of utility services to accomplish housing and economic development goals. At 2:00 PM on Friday I will begin meeting with department heads to discuss their 2022 operating budgets. These scheduled meetings will continue through September 24. If you have any questions about my schedule, please contact me.