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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.20.24 Newsletter TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Mark Rohloff, City Manager DATE: September 20, 2024 RE: Weekly Newsletter 1. CONTINUED VANDALISM AT SOUTH PARK SPARKS EARLY CLOSURE OF RESTROOMS: Over the past few weeks, there have been multiple incidents of vandalism and graffiti throughout South Park, which have resulted in thousands of dollars in damages. This includes spray painting in restrooms, on park shelters, and on other amenities. The Parks Department staff is working with the Police Department staff to identify individuals caught on video, as many of the City parks have video cameras located in them. However, due to these occurrences, the restrooms at South Park will be locked at 7:00 p.m. every day through the rest of fall season, effective immediately; the restrooms will remain open during the daytime hours. Signage has been posted on restroom doors advising of the early closure and park shelter renters are being contacted to ensure they have access to the restrooms during their rentals. We are asking citizens to be vigilant to what is happening in the parks and, if they see anything suspicious, to contact the Oshkosh Police Department at 920-236-5700. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ray Maurer, Parks Director, at 920-236-5080. 2. ROUNDABOUT LANDSCAPING IMPROVEMENTS COMING SOON: Thanks to a partnership between the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, the Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the City of Oshkosh, 12 City-maintained roundabouts and 3 traffic islands will be getting a new look this fall. The next landscape renovation will start on Monday, September 23rd with the roundabout at Jackson Street and Murdock Ave., and require the inner lanes to be closed at times. Once that work is finished, landscaping work will take place at the two Witzel Ave roundabouts. Next will be the four 9th Avenue roundabouts, followed by the HWY 21/Oshkosh Ave. roundabouts and the traffic splitter islands. Lastly, the roundabout landscaping at Algoma Boulevard, Fernau Avenue, and Lake Butte des Morts Drive will be completed. There will be lane closures and redirected traffic while the roundabout landscaping project continues. Each location is estimated to take a week or less. All of the roundabout landscaping improvements should be completed by November 15th. Notices of lane closures will be posted on Oshkosh Media's Facebook page. The first phase of this project was completed earlier this summer as the landscaping in the medians along South Park Ave./Hwy 44 was improved. Thank you to the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation and the Oshkosh Convention and Visitor’s Bureau for partnering with the City to improve these highly-visible areas of the city. If you have questions, please contact Travis Derks, Landscape Operations Manager, at 920-236-5080. 3. COMMUNITY SERVICE DRIVES LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS AT THE OSHKOSH FIRE DEPARTMENT’S STATION #18: A new partnership involving The Riverside Program with Oshkosh West and Oshkosh North High Schools, Fox Valley Technical College, Oshkosh Fire Department, and Oshkosh Parks Department will help to rejuvenate the landscape at Fire Station #18 located at 811 E. Murdock Ave. The Riverside Program is designed to serve students who desire an alternative setting yet are committed to completing high school. The program models getting students job skills through community service. The students use a variety of activities and curriculum. Specifically, it seeks opportunities to empower students while giving back to the community. The project will have the Oshkosh Parks Department remove the old landscape plant material from around the building. The students in the Riverside Program will then work with their instructors to purchase the plants and install them at the fire station following a pre-approved landscape plan. If you have questions, please contact Travis Derks, Landscape Operations Manager, at 920-236- 5080. 4. CITY SHORT TERM RENTAL ORDINANCE: Council Member Nichols inquired about our short-term rental ordinance, which was adopted 5 years ago before many Council Members were in office. Staff thought it would be good to brief Council on this issue, as short-term rentals have increased in popularity and may increase with the upcoming NFL Draft in Green Bay next year. The City adopted a short-term rental ordinance in 2019 to address the increase of home rentals reserved through online applications such as Airbnb, VRBO, etc., due to the significant growth in popularity among visitors. The ordinance was designed to level the playing field for those who pay room tax (hotels, motels, etc.) and contribute to tourism promotion in the community by requiring those who operate short term rentals and/or rent through lodging marketplaces to pay the same room tax that hotels, motels, etc. pay. When Council was considering the ordinance in 2019, they were aware that many homes in Oshkosh are rented out during the EAA Air Venture Convention and did not want to negatively impact the residents that rent their homes out for that brief time period. Therefore, Council approved language that would only require a short-term rental permit if they plan to rent their home to any person(s) for more than 16 nights in a calendar year. No short-term rental can be rented more than 180 total days in any consecutive 365 day period. If a resident chooses to rent their home out for more than 28 consecutive nights, that home will be considered a long-term rental. The Chapter 8 ordinance outlines requirements that the owner of the rental needs to follow as well as the process to have the permit revoked. There are State of Wisconsin requirements that home owners renting their home out may need to follow in addition to the City ordinance, depending on the situation. To date, there are 29 active short-term rental permits and none have been revoked. For additional information, please visit the Planning Services website and click on the “Applications/Brochures” link on the left side of the page and then scroll down to the “Short Term Rentals” section. Please contact Director of Community Development Kelly Nieforth if you have additional questions. 5. INITIAL SIDEWALK AND DRIVEWAY APPROACH REHABILITATION PROGRAM LETTERS: Letters were sent last week to property owners in the 2025 Sidewalk and Driveway Approach Rehabilitation area. These letters explain that the City’s Water Utility staff may have begun locating the water curb stops. The Utility marks the curb stops with blue paint and places a blue “X” on the street or sidewalk to note the location. A City staff member will be walking the program area and preliminarily marking any defective sidewalk sections and driveway approaches with fluorescent green paint. Staff will inspect the sidewalk again in the spring to determine if corrective action is needed for the sidewalk and driveway approaches. Issues that will require repairs include cracks, raising, settling, or incorrect cross slope. The 2025 Sidewalk and Driveway Approach Rehabilitation Area is generally described as the area within Witzel Avenue to the north, Ohio Street to the east, South Koeller Street to the west, and West Waukau Avenue to the south. Additional information will be mailed to property owners in the spring. The information will include information about the construction, the City’s Contractor’s information, and a way to receive Project updates via e-mail. If you have any questions, please contact Engineering Division Manager / City Engineer, Justin Gierach. 6. MUSEUM GEARING UP FOR CENTENNIAL EVENTS THIS FALL: OPM 100, the Museum’s year-long centennial celebration, continues as the year turns to autumn. Special thank you to our Centennial Mission Partner: Wisconsin Public Radio. For tickets and more information, visit the Museum’s website. Sawyer Saga, Part III Opens Saturday, September 21st From the U.S. Senate to Algoma Boulevard, the Sawyer family carved a lasting legacy in business, politics, and philanthropy. In this final installment, Part III explores how the Sawyer family encountered the myriad changes emerging in early twentieth- century Oshkosh. Preserving Memories Workshop – Caring for your Treasured Textiles is Saturday, October 5th This hands-on workshop with the OPM Collections team will help you keep your textiles safe for years to come. Learn the dos and don’ts of textile preservation while working with the pros! Then, take your new skills and resources home with you. This workshop is relevant for preserving textiles including uniforms, quilts, wedding dresses and other clothing, embroidery, and other household textiles. Toast to a Century: A Sparkling Celebration + Benefit is Friday, November 8th On November 8th one hundred years ago, the Museum opened its doors here on Algoma Boulevard. Join us as we mark this once-in-a-lifetime milestone at OPM. “Toast to a Century” benefits OPM, ensuring a shining start to our second century of service to the Lake Winnebago Region. Tickets directly support our mission to preserve and promote history in Oshkosh. 7. THIRD-ANNUAL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION SET FOR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND: The Museum will host its third-annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Celebration on Saturday, November 2nd. This event, held at OPM, will feature a community ofrenda (altar), traditional mariachi, dance from Ballet Folklórico Xanharati, and fun for the entire family. Don't miss out on this unique cultural experience and join us as we celebrate the rich traditions and customs of Día de los Muertos. The Museum will also welcome the community with free admission on Saturday, November 2, 2024, thanks to Marigold Sponsor The Taqueria. 8. MUSEUM GEARING UP FOR A BUSY FIELD TRIP SEASON: As the Oshkosh Area School District’s 2024 – 2025 academic year begins, the Oshkosh Public Museum is busy preparing for a bustling fall field trip season! All third graders in the Oshkosh Area School District visit OPM as part of their social studies curriculum. Field trips explore the Museum’s award-winning People of the Waters exhibition, the Menominee Clans Story, and see their classroom learning brought to life. Beyond elementary students, OPM hosts a wide range of groups and ages for field trip experiences. This includes students from UW-Oshkosh Honors Creative Writing courses, local memory care groups, and other school districts around the state. 9. OPD ADDS A SUCCESSOR THERAPY DOG: On September 18, 2024, the Oshkosh Police Department added a successor therapy dog to the Department, who follows in the large paw prints of K9 Magic, who tragically passed away in late 2023. K9 Gema is a professionally trained, two-year-old female Yellow Labrador 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. She is a very friendly dog, loves treats, and is always excited to meet new people. The OPD continues to be proactive in seeking various strategies to help officers deescalate situations and bring them to peaceful resolutions. Gema’s love, kindness, and support will bring a sense of calm to high stress situations and will be an important asset to both the Department and the City of Oshkosh. Gema was trained through a program called Journey Together. Journey Together Service Dog Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization in Oshkosh. 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. This organization has a unique training program for their service dogs. The service dogs reside at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution and inmates apply to the program to provide training in a number of areas and care for the dogs. Community volunteers go to the facility to provide instruction with inmates and take the dogs out of the prison to provide experiences that are not possible in a correctional facility. This partnership significantly decreases the cost of training service dogs, increasing the number of dogs who can be trained and placed in the community. The OPD feels that partnering with Journey Together and the Oshkosh Correctional Institution helps to support rehabilitation programs and also support citizens in our community who are diagnosed with PTSD. Gema 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, UKC SPOT and Advanced Trick Dog. Journey Together typically trains their dogs from the time they are 8 weeks old until they are two years old. Chief Dean Smith stated, "We are very excited to welcome K9 Gema to our team. She will continue the great work that K9 Magic started and will be a blessing to our community. We are very thankful that Journey Together donated K9 Gema to our Behavioral Health Team.” Behavioral Health Officer Scott Sopata stated, "I was very excited to hear that the City of Oshkosh and our Police Department wanted our facility dog program to continue. Magic opened so many doors of success and I know that Gema will continue that legacy while this program continues to grow. It was an honor to work with Journey Together, their trainers, and volunteers during this successor dog process.” The Oshkosh Police Department feels that mental health wellness is a priority for both its employees 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. 10. OPD WELCOMES NEW COMMUNITY SERVICE OFFICER: On Monday, September 16, 2024, Evan Knaggs joined the Oshkosh Police Department as a new community service officer. Evan is originally from Oshkosh, graduating from Oshkosh North High School in 2023. He is currently enrolled at Fox Valley Technical College in the Criminal Justice program. Prior to becoming a community service officer, Evan was employed with Pick N’ Save in Oshkosh. Congratulations and welcome to the team, Evan! 11. ATTACHMENT: Oshkosh Public Library Calendar of Events – October 2024 12. 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. 13. 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. 14. LOOKING AHEAD: The meetings I have scheduled for the week of September 22nd include the following: on Sunday at 4:00 p.m., I will attend the Oshkosh Area School District’s Public Dedication and Open House for Menominee Elementary School. On Monday at 10:00 a.m., I will meet with staff to go over the results of the National Community Survey conducted earlier this year. On Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., I will meet with Councilor Larson and City Clerk Bartlett to discuss liquor licenses. On Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., I will meet with Library Director Eschete and Finance Department staff to continue discussions related to the 2025 operating budget. Wednesday evening, I will attend an event hosted by the Whitburn Center for Governance and Policy Research on the UW-Oshkosh campus featuring former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels Jr. If you have any questions about my upcoming schedule, please do not hesitate to contact me.