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HomeMy WebLinkAboutnewsletter TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Mark Rohloff, City Manager DATE: February 18, 2022 RE: Weekly Newsletter 1. HEARING SCHEDULED ON 2022 CDBG ACTION PLAN: On Tuesday, February 22 at 5:00 PM, the City of Oshkosh is holding a virtual public hearing via WebEx to obtain public comments pertaining to the City’s 2022 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Annual Action Plan. Citizens wishing to provide comments at the meeting may appear remotely through the following link: https://tinyurl.com/2atcbr8a The proposed 2022 CDBG fund allocations will support low income housing development, rehabilitation, homelessness, and public service organizations. A draft Action Plan is available on the City’s website under News and Updates. If you have any questions, please contact Economic Development Services Manager Jason Pausma. 2. VIRTUAL REALITY TRAINING SIMULATOR UP AND RUNNING: On December 24, 2021 the Oshkosh Police Department received a donation through the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation for an Apex Officer virtual reality simulator. The Apex Officer simulator is a full immersion training experience that enables us to provide realistic training scenarios focused on de-escalation, mental health response, and use of force options for our officers. The system is designed so that it can be operated by a single instructor, enabling us to bring officers in from their patrol duties and run them through scenarios in short intervals. This allows us to provide de-escalation and use of force training more frequently and for shorter duration, which results in improved officer performance in the field. 3. POLICE DEPARTMENT STATE RE-ACCREDITATION UNDERWAY: A team of Assessors from the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Accreditation Group (WILEAG), were at the Oshkosh Police Department on February 10th, 2022, to examine aspects of the Oshkosh Police Department's policy and procedures, management, operations, and support services. The Assessors were tasked with verifying that the Oshkosh Police Department meets the Board’s state-of-the-art standards - a highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence. The Oshkosh Police Department has to comply with as many as 242 standards in order to gain accredited status. The Assessors reviewed written material, interviewed individuals, and visited offices and the places where compliance could be witnessed. The Assessors report back to the full WILEAG Board, which will then decide within approximately the next month if the Oshkosh Police Department is to be granted renewed accredited status. Accreditation status is granted for four years, during which time the agency must submit annual reports attesting continued compliance with those standards under which it was initially accredited. The Oshkosh Police Department is currently the only municipal law enforcement agency in the State of Wisconsin that is dually accredited at the state and national level. 4. THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN MUSEUMS: Museums provide a vital educational resource for our community. For K-12 education, museums use curriculum standards and exhibit content to create programming to support classroom learning. Facilitated field trips extend abstract ideas into literal terms. Beyond this, learning in museums can help students who have differing abilities or styles of learning. Understanding history nurtures personal and community identity, builds essential skills, and encourages leadership and civic engagement. The Oshkosh Public Museum has not had a structured education program for about 19 years. Comparing numbers, in the month of February 2002, the museum served 1340 students. In February of this year, we are currently projected to serve only 21. We are working to lay the groundwork for a strong relationship with the Oshkosh Area School District. A survey was recently sent out to 800 OASD teachers to get feedback on awareness about resources we provide and perceived barriers to coming to the Museum. We’ll be using the results of that survey to inform the goals for our educational program and strategic plans as we move forward in 2022. 5. ASSESSOR’S OFFICE ACTIVITY DETAIL FOR JANUARY 2022: 197 Real Estate Transfers Processed 6 Classification Shifts 264 Residential Permit Reviews 235 Sale Reviews 511 Permits Coded 7 Mobile Home Changes 4 Personal Property Contact 97 Personal Property Accounts Entered 76 Mailing Address Changes 6. ATTACHMENTS AND LINKS:  Attached - The weekly Museum Board memo and the Public Library February Highlights.  Save the date and get the details! Follow the link for information about the 2022 State of the City event: https://youtu.be/nTRnWs6cxvc 7. 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/. 8. 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 9. LOOKING AHEAD: Among the meetings I currently have scheduled for the week of February 21 include the following: At 7:45 AM on Monday I will be meeting with Mayor Palmeri to discuss Tuesday’s agenda. At 2:30 PM I will be meeting with Oshkosh Media staff to review the State of the City script. On Tuesday at 7:30 AM I will be attending the West Side Association Developers Panel. At 11:00 AM I will be meeting with staff to finalize the facilities work shop presentation scheduled for March 8. At 3:15 PM I will be attending the Best Western Hotel Board meeting. On Wednesday at 7:30 AM I will be attending the Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau board meeting. At 11:30 AM I will be meeting with staff to discuss street light replacement costs and policy updates. At 2:30 PM I will be attending a virtual meeting of the Be Well Fox Valley Leadership Table. At 8:00 AM on Thursday I will be with Oshkosh Media staff to begin recording the State of the City address. At 11:30 AM I will be attending a neighborhood meeting with staff to discuss the Evergreen Pocket Neighborhood. At 1:30 PM I will be meeting with Community Development Director Kelly Nieforth. On Friday at 8:00 AM I will continue with recording the State of the City Address. If you have any questions about my schedule, please contact me. 1331 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh WI 54901 • 920.236.5799 • oshkoshmuseum.org MEMO TO THE MUSEUM BOARD February 17, 2022 To the Board, Staff began the week deinstalling White Christmas: The Exhibition. On Monday, the graphics and other 2-dimensional pieces came down and were packed away. On Tuesday, the Henry’s arrived to assist with the deinstallation and packing of the textile portions. Both Mr. and Mrs. Henry were pleased with how the Oshkosh Public Museum (OPM) showcased the collections. Particularly special is their desire to continue traveling the exhibition throughout the country. I believe the expertise and advice they received from Anna and other staff members will be valuable to them as they move forward with their plans and continue to grow the collection. Heather French-Henry also was gracious enough to draw the winner of our Operation Waverly prize for the two hand-made ornaments. That video was posted on social media and received nearly 300 views on Facebook in the days since it was posted. I presented to the Mid-Morning Kiwanis last Friday morning. It was my pleasure to discuss my background and feature the world-class collection of Tiffany Studios decorative art contained within the OPM collection. My hope is to continue promoting this stellar collection and share just how important it is to American artistry. I also emphasized the vitality of museums and history. Museums provide a safe place to explore the unknown and ask questions. Exhibits and artifacts can bridge generational divides that outside of the gallery, may feel too wide to get beyond. During the presentation, I also touched on the value of understanding and exploring history. History nurtures both personal and community identity. Look at towns with a strong sense of historic character; often that identity can attract business and increase tourism. The study of history also requires understanding what makes a source valid and requires a grasp of ideas such as continuity, historical perspective, context, and causation. The presentation was well- received, and I look forward to doing more community outreach with groups in the area! Please note that this will be my last regular weekly memo to the board. I will send out memos if there is immediate news to share, but standard updates will be reported at monthly board meetings moving forward. Many thanks for all you do, Sarah Phillips Museum Director Oshkosh Public Library Highlights February 2022 1. Submissions are open for two contests that give local writers a venue for their creativity. • OPL is partnering with the Downtown Business Improvement District to offer the 2022 April Poetry Walk. Local poets have until Feb. 28 to submit original poetry for consideration. A curated selection of original poetry will be displayed in storefront windows along Main Street from April 1-30. • The annual Lakefly Writers Contests are also accepting entries in several categories through March 5. This year’s theme is Into the Unknown. Winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony on May 7, at the conclusion of the Lakefly Writers Conference. The library is also partnering with Oshkosh Poet Laureate Tom Cannon to offer poetry workshops for teens and adults in March and April; and children are invited to add their original poems to the “Poet-Tree” display in the library’s lower level throughout April. OPL is proud to be involved in initiatives that offer community members the opportunity to develop and share their creative talents. 2. Prominent Black Wisconsinites was the focus of a talk presented by Community Engagement Librarian Sandy Toland at the Oshkosh Seniors Center recently. Twelve people attended the presentation, including a member of the League of Women Voters - Winnebago County. As a result, Sandy was invited to present the same talk to the League in March. 3. National news coverage about social workers in libraries brought OPL and the work of the City Library Collective (CLC) into the spotlight recently. Library Director Jeff Gilderson-Duwe was interviewed about the Whole Person Librarianship concept and staff training that OPL will be integrating into our new customer service model. An article was featured in the Oshkosh Herald and a segment aired on WBAY-TV2. 4. Taking the library out into the community creates new opportunities to match people with the resources and services they need. During a recent Connect Through Tech program at the Seniors Center, a gentleman asked Community Engagement Librarian Sandy Toland what the library does to help adults with reading. She connected him with the Winnebago Area Literacy Council and he has already been matched with a tutor. 5. The library participated in the Downtown Oshkosh Chocolate Stroll on Feb. 12. OPL was one of more than 20 locations throughout the downtown area handing out chocolate treats to 200+ participants. Adding a literary flavor to the event, staff added wings to gold-wrapped chocolates to recreate the golden snitches found darting and dashing through Quidditch matches in the Harry Potter novels. 6. Staff in Children’s & Family Outreach are connecting with students at Lighted Schoolhouse afterschool sites and the Boys & Girls Club to promote the Wild Winter Read Off (WWRO). To create buzz about the challenge, staff are leading activities about the amazing world of honeybees featured in the book Bee Dance. They learned how the bees communicate, made their own bees and worked with their “hive mates” to forage for nectar and pollen to sustain the hive. About 340 kids are logging their reading and will receive a free book from the library upon reaching their group reading goals. Bee Dance was written and illustrated by WWRO featured author Rick Chrustowski, whose work inspired many of our winter children’s programs. Chrustowski will visit the library for a special event on Feb. 19.