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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.23.24 Newsletter TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Mark Rohloff, City Manager DATE: August 23, 2024 RE: Weekly Newsletter 1. NO GARBAGE OR RECYCLING COLLECTION ON LABOR DAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND: Due to the City’s observance of Labor Day, there will be no garbage or recycling collection on Monday, September 2, 2024. Collections for the remainder of the week will be one day later. Garbage and recycling collection scheduled for Friday, September 6th moves to Saturday, September 7th. Regular services will resume on Monday, September 9th. Additionally, the City’s yard waste drop-off site located on West 3rd Avenue (between Idaho Street and Ohio Street) will be closed for the holiday on Monday, September 2nd. The drop-off site will reopen on Tuesday, September 3rd. Residential curbside brush collection for September will take place on the regularly- scheduled garbage collection day the week of September 9th through September 13th. If you have any questions, please contact Public Works Field Operations Manager Ryan Lemke or Public Works Sanitation Manager Eric Moran. 2. PARKS DEPARTMENT PROJECT UPDATES: The Parks Department and Streets Division crews have successfully completed two significant park trail restoration projects. In South Park, a stretch of approximately 400 feet along the north corridor, from the horseshoe pit past the tennis and pickleball courts, has been restored and is now open for public use. In Rusch Park, the section between Newport Avenue and Ruschfield Drive has been reconstructed with new concrete and asphalt sections enhancing the trail for multi-use. These upgraded trails provide convenient paths for students heading to Carl Traeger Elementary and Middle Schools. Pollock Community Water Park closed for the season on August 18th, and the Parks Department wasted no time diving into replastering the popular zero-depth pool. The replastering project will continue throughout the fall. If you have any questions regarding park projects, please contact Chad Dallman, Assistant Parks Director, at 920-236-5080. 3. FEELING STRESSED? TRY FREE YOGA SESSIONS AT THE LEACH AMPHITHEATER: Bring sunshine to your soul with a free, after-work yoga session at the Leach Amphitheater. Sessions will start at 5:00 p.m. on the following Wednesdays: August 28th, September 11th, and September 25th. Bring your mat and peaceful attitude. StudiOM conducts the class, and the views overlooking the Fox River at the Leach Amphitheater make it a perfect place for a relaxing class. In addition to feel-good yoga, it’s time to make plans to attend one or all of the late summer and fall park events: • The last Wildlife Wednesday at Menominee Park Zoo o August 28th - GEE Funny Farm from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. • The last Brews on the Bay in Rainbow Memorial Park from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. o September 4th - Ian Seaholm and the Night Thieves • Touch-a-Truck on Saturday, September 21st from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Leach Amphitheater • Brews in the Zoo on Friday, October 18th from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. • Zooloween Boo Saturday, October 19th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. If you have any questions about upcoming events, please contact Jenny McCollian, Revenue Facilities Manager, at 920-236-5080. 4. POWERING CONNECTIONS AT THE SENIORS CENTER: In early August, the Oshkosh Seniors Center launched several new intergenerational programs around music, art, crafting, and woodworking. These programs allow grandparents to spend quality time with grandchildren creating memories. Programs like this will continue into the fall and beyond to provide more opportunities for expressing creativity and learning within different generations. The Oshkosh Seniors Center looks forward to September National Senior Center Month. This year’s theme is “Powering Connections,” which highlights the critical role senior centers play in providing opportunities to start making and renew existing connections. The Center offers these opportunities through its programming and with offerings through partner agencies. Having positive connections is critical for mental health, which, in turn, helps aid in physical well-being. Looking further ahead to 2025, the Oshkosh Seniors Center anticipates a change to the structure and cost of nail care appointments offered through a contract with Valley VNA. The Oshkosh Seniors Center contracts for this important service to offer appointments on multiple days each week. Currently, appointments are scheduled at 20-minute intervals at $28 per appointment. The new appointment length will be 30 minutes, which will give the participant additional time with the nurse/technician, and the 2025 cost per appointment will increase to $47. According to Valley VNA, this increase is necessary due to direct costs of providing the service increasing and the quantity of appointments available per day to cover these increased costs. This change is anticipated to have a positive effect on the ability of Valley VNA to hire and retain staff to fulfill their contract with the Center; it will also increase available days of service and improve the experience for participants. While this increase in price is significant, it is within the range of similar contracted providers of this necessary service. This change also brings the length of time offered per appointment on par with other providers of this service. If you have any questions about this, please contact Dan Braun, Seniors Center Manager, at 920-232-5300. Seniors Center Program details and registration information may be found on the Oshkosh Seniors Center webpage. 5. COMMUNITY OUTREACH AT UW-OSHKOSH’S 2024 TITAN FEST STUDENT OPPORTUNITY FAIR: Every fall, UW-Oshkosh holds Titan Fest as part of student orientation. Titan Fest takes place the day before classes start and welcomes area businesses, non-profits, and student clubs to line the sidewalks between Reeve Union, Fletcher Hall, and Horizon Village. This year’s event takes place on Tuesday, September 3rd, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Oshkosh Parks Department will have a booth to encourage students and clubs to consider volunteering or pursuing a part-time seasonal job with our department in the summer of 2025. It’s an electric atmosphere as the new and existing students return to campus. The student opportunity fair is held at just the right time to recruit volunteers for the Parks Department’s Touch-A-Truck on September 21st and Zooloween Boo on October 19th. Please consider volunteering with the Oshkosh Parks Department. Available opportunities are on the Parks Department’s volunteer website. If you need more information about community events or volunteering with the parks, please contact Kathy Snell, Special Events Coordinator, at 920-236-5080. 6. GET INVOLVED IN A BOARD OR COMMISSION: If you are interested in serving your community, please consider becoming a member of one of the City’s citizen advisory boards, commissions, or committees. There are current openings on the following boards and commissions: BID Board Board of Review Board of Zoning Appeals Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee Landmarks Commission Long Range Finance Committee Plan Commission Sustainability Advisory Board To learn more about the boards and commissions, or to complete an application to serve, visit our boards and commissions webpage. If you have questions about current openings, please contact the City Manager’s Executive Assistant, Kami Zuercher, at 920-236-5002 or kzuercher@oshkoshwi.gov. 7. AGENDAS AND MINUTES FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Upcoming board and commission meeting agendas can be found on our Meeting Notices web page. All meeting minutes are uploaded to the City’s page for boards and commissions upon approval. 8. LOOKING AHEAD: The meetings I have scheduled for the week of August 26th include: on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., I will meet with staff regarding the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Jackson Street bridge project in order to provide aesthetic feedback that can be incorporated into their project. On Wednesday at 5:00 p.m., Finance Director Julie Calmes and I will meet with Council for the second budget workshop, where we will discuss early projections and get some direction on priorities. I will be out of the office on Friday. As a reminder, City Hall will be closed on Monday, September 2nd for observance of the Labor Day holiday. If you have any questions about my upcoming schedule, please do not hesitate to contact me.