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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.05.23 newsletter TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Mark Rohloff, City Manager DATE: May 5, 2023 RE: Weekly Newsletter 1. 2023 OSHKOSH COMMUNITY SURVEY NOW OPEN: The City of Oshkosh is conducting a comprehensive community survey for all residents beginning today, May 5. The survey is designed to provide a baseline of how the city government is serving residents, to gauge perceptions of the City of Oshkosh, and to make comparisons with peer cities. Residents are invited to complete the survey online by visiting https://polco.us/oshkosh23op. Some residents have already received the survey by mail as part of a sample group. The survey is open to all residents beginning today, May 5, through Friday, May 19. City staff have been working with an independent consultant, the National Research Center at Polco, to develop the survey. The survey, known as the National Community Survey (NCS), allows the City of Oshkosh to benchmark residents’ opinions against other similar communities. The survey includes questions about quality of life in the community, local policies, demographics, ratings of local government services, and resident use of services. The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. Survey responses are confidential and no identifying information will be shared. The NCS is a scientific survey format used in more than 350 jurisdictions across 46 states. Oshkosh has been conducting citizen surveys annually since 2009, and 2023 marks the second year that Oshkosh has utilized the NCS format. Survey results are expected in mid-June and will be used to inform and identify priorities for future planning and how best to allocate resources. Survey results will be made available via the city of Oshkosh website. 2. GO TRANSIT TO KICK-OFF TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLANNING: GO Transit with the assistance of the East Central Regional Planning Commission has selected SRF Consulting to help update GO Transit’s Transit Development Plan (TDP). A Transit Development Plan is essentially a transit agency’s strategic plan. GO Transit updates the plan approximately every five years. The planning process is expected to take 12-18 months. The plan takes a broad look at the agency’s transit service. The plan addresses items such as service area, routes, schedules, frequency, and fares, among other things. The plan will take a look at the current inter-city micro transit pilot and evaluate whether micro transit might be an option to cover some areas of the city that do not have fixed route service. If you have any questions about this or GO Transit, please contract Transportation Director, Jim Collins. 3. AGREEMENT REACHED ON CONTINUATION OF NO FARE STUDENT BUSING: Staff has been working with the Oshkosh Area School District (OASD) on renewing our revenue agreement to continue no fare busing for OASD students. We have also discussed ways to improve the program operationally. We have reached a tentative agreement based on the city and OASD sharing the net annual revenue loss based on current ridership and average fares. The agreement would continue this service for another three years, including the “tripper” bus at Oshkosh North. The tentative agreement will be coming to Council within the next month. If you have any questions on this, please contact me or Transportation Director, Jim Collins. 4. SHARED REVENUE REFORM BEING DEBATED IN MADISON: On Tuesday, Assembly Bill 245 was introduced by representatives on the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. Among other things, this bill addresses the reform of the Shared Revenue Program that has been discussed for many months now. The final product of this discussion is still up in the air, but it represents the most significant change in state-local funding in the past 30 years. I will provide some summaries under separate cover, but the proposed immediate impact to Oshkosh is that we will be looking at a 10% increase in our shared revenue funding for 2024. This translates into a $960,000 increase. While Oshkosh received the minimum increase proposed under this program, the real benefit from this legislation is the Shared Revenue Program will grow with sales tax revenue. The average increase in sales tax has been 3-3.5% over the past 30 years, so this is a sizable change from the frozen and reduced amounts we have been receiving in shared revenue over that time period. Meanwhile, a $300 million program is being proposed to provide innovation grants to local units of government for efficiencies in creating joint services. At the same time, the state will eliminate the personal property tax and make local units of government whole on their loss; although, it will not be adjusted for inflation in future years. I will provide some additional detail and be able to answer questions at Tuesday’s Council meeting. Meanwhile, please contact me if you have any questions. 5. OSHKOSH POLICE DEPARTMENT PROMOTIONS: On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, during a Police and Fire Commission meeting, the Oshkosh Police Department celebrated the promotions of Lieutenant Brian Schuldes and Lieutenant Matthew Harris to the position of Captain. The Patrol Operations Division will be led by Captain Brian Schuldes and the Criminal Investigation Division will be led by Captain Matthew Harris. Congratulations Brian and Matt! 6. MUSEUM’S SECOND-FLOOR TRANSFORMATION DEINSTALLATION PHASE: The Oshkosh Public Museum’s transformation of its second-floor galleries remains on schedule. Our newest long-term exhibition This Is Winnebagoland successfully opened on April 1, 2023. Museum members and City leadership experienced the exhibit for the first time during the special preview open house on Friday, March 31. Transformation of the former Memories & Dreams gallery space began on schedule on April 3. Museum staff continue to carefully remove objects in stages to return them to safe storage. This process will continue over a period of several months as objects are cleaned, documented, and re-photographed for storage. Construction has already begun to continue the transformation of the OPM’s second floor. This space, which will house the future Waldwic Gallery (temporary exhibition gallery) will allow the OPM to bring in traveling exhibitions from around the country and showcase items within our collection. It will be unveiled in 2024. The entire first floor of the Museum, including People of the Waters and the Apostles Clock, as well as the Menominee Clans Story and This Is Winnebagoland, continues to welcome visitors and field trip groups. 7. MUSEUM EDUCATION PROGRAM CONTINUES TO HOST REGIONAL FIELD TRIPS: The Oshkosh Public Museum continues to welcome students from Oshkosh and surrounding areas, including Ripon and Appleton, on field trips. In May the Museum will host 250 students, ranging from grades 1 – 4, including the first field trip visit to the new This Is Winnebagoland exhibition. Three of these schools will visit the OPM for the first time! The OPM is proud to continue enhancing regional opportunities to explore history and culture of the Lake Winnebago Region with its next generations. 8. OSHKOSH MEDIA COVERS ARBOR DAY CEREMONY: Fourth grade students from Franklin Elementary School helped plant trees to celebrate Arbor Day in the city this past Friday, and Oshkosh Media was there to capture the event. The trees were planted at Garden Club Park, and the city was honored with the Arbor Day Foundation’s “Tree City” award for the 42nd consecutive time. City Landscape Operations Manager, Travis Derks, led the ceremony. To see video of the event, click here to go to the Oshkosh Media YouTube channel. For more information, contact Travis Derks at (920) 236-5080. 9. NEW 274 AREA CODE IS COMING TO THE WISCONSIN 920 AREA CODE REGION: To ensure a continuing supply of telephone numbers, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has approved an all-services overlay for the 920-area code. The 920-area code serves most of the northeastern portion of the state, including communities such as Appleton, Beaver Dam, Berlin, Fond du Lac, Fort Atkinson, Green Bay, Manitowoc, Oshkosh, Ripon, Sheboygan, Sturgeon Bay and Watertown. The new 274 area code will serve the same geographic area currently served by the 920-area code. Beginning May 5, 2023, customers in the 920-area code region may be assigned a number in the new 274-area code when they request new service or an additional line. Customers receiving the 274-area code will be required to dial the area code and phone number for all local calls, just as customers with telephone numbers from the 920- area code do today. 10. GET INVOLVED: If you are interested in serving your community, please consider becoming a member of a Board, Commission or Committee. Follow the link below to apply: https://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/BoardsAndCommissions/ 11. 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/ 12. LOOKING AHEAD: Among the meetings I have scheduled for the week of May 7, include the following: On Sunday, May 7, at 2:00 PM I will be attending the retirement reception for Library Director, Jeff Gilderson-Duwe. On Tuesday at 7:30 AM I will be attending the Community Sounding Board meeting at UW Oshkosh. On Tuesday at 2:30 PM I will be meeting with staff to plan for our next meeting with our surrounding Sanitary Districts regarding our sewer service agreements. On Wednesday at 2:00 PM I will be meeting with staff to prepare for our next bond rating call with Moody’s Investor Service. At 4:00 PM I will be meeting with representatives of the Grand Opera House board. On Thursday at 7:30 AM I will be attending the Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation executive committee meeting. At 4:00 PM I will be attending the Day By Day Warming Shelter grand opening event. If you have any questions about my schedule, please do not hesitate to contact me.