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Home My WebLink Aboutnewsletter TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Mark Rohloff, City Manager DATE: March 18, 2022 RE: Weekly Newsletter 1. EAST LINCOLN AVE AND ROSALIA STREET CONSTRUCTION SET TO START: The general contractor for the East Lincoln Avenue and Rosalia Street Reconstruction Project is Carl Bowers and Sons Construction Co., Inc (Bowers). Bowers plans to mobilize equipment on site and begin tree removal the week of March 21st. Utility installation will begin the week of March 28th on East Lincoln Avenue and the week of May 9th, tentatively, on Rosalia Street. The purpose of this Project is to reconstruct East Lincoln Avenue, from North Main Street to the railroad tracks, and Rosalia Street, from Washington Avenue to Ceape Avenue. Sanitary sewer, water main, storm sewer, and corresponding laterals will be installed, replaced, or repaired, as needed; and electrical work will be completed prior to placing new concrete pavement. If you wish to sign up for e-mailed construction updates for Contract 22-05, please send a blank e-mail to contract2205-subscribe@lists.ci.oshkosh.wi.us. You will receive an e- mail stating your subscription request has been received. You must reply to the message within five (5) days to complete the subscription. If you have any questions, please contact Construction Management Supervisor, Mike Blank. 2. PLEASE DON’T FLUSH WIPES: The City is seeing an increase of materials that should not be flushed into the wastewater system. Recently, the City’s 28th Avenue Pump Station had its pump capacity reduced by 80% from wipes plugging the pump. Even wipes marketed as flushable should not be flushed. These wipes do not break down like toilet paper and can cause blockages in your home’s sewer system, as well as the City’s system. These blockages can result in basement backups in our community. Media Services will be helping spread the word via social media and through other media sources, additional information is also available on the city’s website at: https://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/PublicWorks/WastewaterUtility.aspx. If you have any questions, please contact Assistant Director of Public Works / Utilities General Manager, Steve Gohde. 3. OPD ADDS A NEW MEMBER TO ITS TEAM: On February 08, 2022, the Oshkosh Police Department has added a therapy dog to the Department. Magic is a professionally trained, two year old female Golden Retriever who will provide emotional support to both members of our community and Officers. She will be working with our Behavioral Health Officer, Scott Sopata, who since October 2021 has been responding to behavioral health related calls, highly sensitive/emotional calls for service, as well as being used to support employees of the Oshkosh Police Department after Critical Incidents. The Oshkosh Police Department continues to be proactive in seeking various strategies to help Officers deescalate situations and bring them to peaceful resolutions. Magic will work "her magic" by bringing a sense of calm to high stress situations and will be an important asset to both the Department and the City of Oshkosh. Magic was trained through a program called, Journey Together. Journey Together Service Dog Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Their mission is to provide highly trained service dogs to people diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Dogs are placed at no charge with qualified Wisconsin residents who are 18 years or older. Magic has completed extensive training with Journey Together and with Officer Sopata. She has several Certifications: Canine Good Citizen, Advanced Canine Good Citizen, Urban Canine Good Citizen and Trick Dog. Journey Together typically trains their dogs from the time they are 8 weeks old until they are two years old. The Oshkosh Police Department has partnered with Winnebago County Human Services who will be providing a Mental Health Crisis Specialist Co-Responder to the team in the near future as well. This Co-Responder will be working with Behavioral Health Officer Sopata and will respond to calls for service with him to provide assessment and brief counseling to citizens experiencing a mental health emergency and determine the best intervention/ treatment options. Funding for this new Co-Responder position is provided by Winnebago County (Human Services) and the City of Oshkosh and is currently posted online: https://www.co.winnebago.wi.us/human-resources/employment-opportunities Mental Health Wellness is a priority for both the Oshkosh Police Department and community members. By incorporating a Behavioral Health Officer, a therapy dog, and a Mental Health Crisis Specialist Co-Responder to our team as well as having a Mental Health and Resiliency program for employees we are striving to promote this wellness in our community. 4. COMING SOON - FAMILY DISCOVERY DAYS: Discovery Days at the Oshkosh Public Museum is an exciting new family program launching May 2022. This new monthly program invites families to learn together through facilitated, hands-on activities at the Museum on the second Saturday of every month. Discovery Days will engage families with young learners, especially ages 5-10 who are not yet in grades that take field trips to museums. Discovery Days reaches family audiences who are not currently served by the Oshkosh Public Museum educational programs. Opportunities like Discovery Days creates investment and support for our community, enhances community resources for STEM learning, and introduces new spaces for play-based arts education. Family Discovery Days invites our future generations into continuous curiosity about their community’s heritage and history. More to come! 5. PASSING THE TORCH...OR SCALES OF JUSTICE: City Attorney Lynn Lorenson and Assistant City Attorney Amy Vanden Hogen recently participated in a panel discussing the importance and work of a City Attorney’s office with the State and Local Government Law Society (SLoG Law) at the University of Wisconsin Madison Law School. SLoG Law is an organization for students interested in state and local affairs. The panel was a follow-up to Local Government week where City Attorney Lorenson along with city attorneys from Madison, Milwaukee and Eau Claire taught one week of the University’s Lawyering Skills course in January. Both Attorney Lorenson and Attorney VandenHogen are graduates of UW Law School and it was an honor for them to be asked back to participate in the panel to share their experiences working for the City and encourage the students to consider a career in municipal law. 6. ASSESSOR’S OFFICE ACTIVITY DETAIL FOR FEBRUARY 2022: 177 Real Estate Transfers Processed 6 Classification Shifts 32 Residential Permit Reviews 11 Sale Reviews 1 Review upon Request 452 Permits Coded 4 Mobile Home Changes 2 Personal Property Contact 279 Personal Property Accounts Entered 25 Mailing Address Changes The City of Oshkosh Assessor’s office continually strives to provide fair and equitable real estate assessed values. Please contact our office with any questions at 920-236-5070 or lalger@ci.oshkosh.wi.us. 7. SPREAD THE WORD: The 2022 Oshkosh State of the City will debut on Monday, March 28 at 6 p.m. The State of the City is a look at Oshkosh’s recent accomplishments and a look ahead at what’s to come for the city. The program will air on Oshkosh Media’s Gov TV, and stream live on the Oshkosh Media YouTube channel, OshkoshMedia.org, and Oshkosh Media’s free Gov TV channel on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. This year’s program is a virtual event featuring the City Manager’s address highlighting our city’s progress, looking at what’s to come in 2022, and looking ahead to future goals. The program will also feature Community Partnership awards, Citizen Service awards and much more. The State of the City will also be available on-demand on the Oshkosh Media YouTube channel. For more information, contact Communications Coordinator Andy Radig at 236-5269. 8. LINKS:  Save the date and get the details! Follow the link for information about the 2022 State of the City event: https://youtu.be/qnemFLy3_H4 9. 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. 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 11. LOOKING AHEAD: Among the meetings I have scheduled for the week of March 21 are: At 7:30 AM on Monday I will be meeting with Assistant City Manager John Fitzpatrick and Mayor Palmeri to discuss Tuesday’s agenda. At 9:30 AM I will be meeting virtually with our new strategic plan facilitator to discuss next steps. At 11:00 AM I am meeting with Human Resource Manager Michele Behnke. At 2:00 PM I will be meeting with Chief Mike Stanley and Finance Director Russ Van Gompel. At 3:00 PM I am meeting with Public Works staff to discuss Witzel Avenue specifics. On Tuesday at 11:00 AM I will be meeting with staff to discuss the outline for the second quarter virtual employee meeting. At 5:00 PM I will be attending the Jackson/Oregon Street Bridge workshop along with Council. On Thursday at 2:00 PM I will be participating in the second quarter virtual employee meeting. If you have any questions about my schedule, please contact me.