HomeMy WebLinkAboutOshkosh Sustainability Plan - Community Health DRAFT - 25 July 2025Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025
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Chapter: Community Health
Introductfon
Community health and the well-being of residents is fundamentally linked to the City of Oshkosh’s
overall sustainability, as health and wellness foster social cohesion and resilience. This chapter focuses
on initfatfves that improve public health, support actfve lifestyle choices, support access to fresh foods,
and reduce negatfve environmental factors that affect health. From operatfng one of the largest senior
centers in Wisconsin to upgrading parks for greater accessibility, the City's efforts are both broad and
impactiul.
This chapter also addresses critfcal health issues such as lead service line replacement and mental health
initfatfves through coordinatfon with Winnebago County. By mitfgatfng health risks and enhancing access
to care, we can build a more sustainable and supportfve environment for all residents.
Past Accomplishments
The City of Oshkosh has already made progress towards sustainability with the following
accomplishments:
• Operates one of the largest and most visited senior centers in Wisconsin, offering several
programs and partnerships for the greater community
• Upgraded multfple parks (South Park, Westhaven, Circle Park, Roe Park) with features like
inclusive playgrounds, accessible restrooms, and poured-in-place surfacing
• Several completed and planned trail constructfon projects to provide opportunitfes for outdoor
recreatfon and access to the riverfront and lakefront
• Launched an Internal Employee Wellness Committee
• Administers housing rehabilitatfon programs by providing financial assistance to low and
moderate-income households to help purchase or upgrade their homes.
Background
Health Assessment. According to the Winnebago County Community Health Improvement Plan
(CHIP), data indicators for mental health, substance abuse, and social support in Winnebago County
were at least 5% worse than statewide indicators. At the same tfme, data indicators for morbidity,
chronic disease preventfon, oral health, communicable diseases, sexual health, access to care, health
literacy, and the natural environment were at least 5% better than statewide indicators. The CHIP
recommends several strategies that the City of Oshkosh can support to make improvements in
community health that relate to sustainability concerns. In general, when community health/public
health is threatened, it can diminish the social sustainability of the community and detract from social
cohesion, an important factor in the success of urban communitfes. Social cohesion refers to the
strength of relatfonships and sense of belonging, trust, inclusion, and shared values among members of
a community. Social cohesion tends to lead to more resilient, stable, and peaceful social conditfons.
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The Community Health Improvement Plan recommends the following prioritfes and strategies
(sometfmes paraphrased for clarity) that are most relevant to the Sustainability Plan:
• Integrate public health into local municipal planning processes and decision-making systems so
health outcomes are considered in decision-making processes
• Coordinate actfvitfes among agencies that serve similar populatfons to increase access to
multfple services
• Support efforts to ensure a range of affordable housing is available to all
• Increase access to and consumptfon of fruits, vegetables, and healthy beverages while
decreasing consumptfon of sugar-sweetened beverages in children and adults
• Improve mental health systems of care and mental health among residents
• Improve access to treatment and recovery optfons for substance abuse
Lead Service Lines. Natfonwide, lead service lines (LSL) are prevalent in older citfes, predominantly
in the urban core of those citfes developed prior to WWII; however, installing them was not banned untfl
1986. Studies have shown that exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all
age groups:1
• Infants and children can display a decrease in IQ and attentfon spans
• Lead exposure can lead to new, or exacerbate existfng, learning or behavioral problems
• Adults exposed to lead are at increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney, and
nervous system problems.
In recent years, more funding has become available from state and federal sources for LSL replacement,
shining the spotlight on this problem.2 Financial assistance is available to residents who qualify to
replace LSLs on their property. The City of Oshkosh has an online tracking and interactfve map platiorm
illustratfng the progress made towards LSL replacement as part of a “Leady” campaign.3 Financial
assistance for the private property side of the lead pipe issue is also available. Nearly half of the city’s
water lines are known or suspected to be lead, so this is a widespread concern.
The Arts. Oshkosh has an actfve arts community supported through a number of organizatfons
including the Oshkosh Art Collectfve and Oshkosh Fine Arts Associatfon. Public-sector support of the arts
includes the Oshkosh Public Museum, which plays a major role in promotfng arts and culture through its
collectfon, educatfonal programs, events, and the Museum, Arts, and Culture Board. The museum is
housed in a beautfful old building that can provide challenges to stewarding its collectfon for current and
future generatfons. Oshkosh provides guidance for public art and beautfficatfon via the 2019 Strategic
Plan.4
Food Desert. Reducing barriers to fresh food can be extremely challenging. Retailers selling fresh
food often rely on several inflexible factors to make their private business models work, including access
and visibility to large traffic volumes, needing large parcels of land for large surface parking lots, and
proximity to consumers willing to spend enough money. Entrenched dietary preferences and the ease of
accessing convenient low-nutritfon foods has a compounding effect, driving down the feasibility of
providing economically viable fresh food markets. Government interventfon is often necessary to work
towards reversing this trend and restoring traditfonal food systems and access to local agricultural
products in an economically sustainable manner. This can include strategies such as offering incentfves to
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fresh food providers, hostfng and supportfng farmers markets, or conductfng community outreach to
improve knowledge of healthy diet practfces.
According to the USDA, an area in Central Oshkosh is considered a food desert due to the lack of access
to fresh foods in proximity to residents. Addressing this issue is the Oshkosh Food Co-op, Northeast
Wisconsin’s only food co-op, opened in 2021. The Food Co-op offers a Food for All program, offering a
20% discount for low-income customers. Support for this locatfon is critfcal to ensuring that residents
have access to fresh, nutritfonal food in the center of Oshkosh.5 Oshkosh also offers a local farmer’s
market from June-October and an indoor farmers market during the winter months.
For additfonal informatfon on the resources outlined in this chapter, check out:
1 The Federal Actfon Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures and Associated Health Impacts:
https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/documents/fedactfonplan_lead_final.pdf
2 Lead Service Line (LSL) replacement informatfon: https://www.oshkoshwi.gov/PublicWorks/Documents/2024-
2025_Lead_Service_Line_Replacement_Packet.pdf
3 LSL replacement interactfve map/inventory:
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/8fab3f666235406e924429499fed3bff/page/Water-Service-Inventory-EN
4 Oshkosh Strategic Plan: https://www.oshkoshwi.gov/StrategicPlan/
5 Oshkosh Food Co-op: https://www.ncg.coop/partners-find/wi/oshkosh-food-co-op
Goal(s):
Access: Ensure adequate access to parks, recreatfon, outdoor amenitfes, and the arts to support active
lifestyles and mental wellbeing.
Disease prevention: Strengthen communicatfon channels for responding to disease vectors, especially
those exacerbated by climate change, to support community members’ health during public health
emergencies.
Recommendatfons
1. Lead Service Line Replacement. Contfnue to replace lead service lines (LSL) across the
community.
o Lead Responsibility: Public Works
o Time Frame: Ongoing
o Implementation Details:
▪ Contfnue offering free inspectfons to identffy LSLs.
▪ For propertfes with known or suspected LSLs, provide informatfon on how to
minimize lead exposure through drinking water.
▪ Seek additfonal state and federal grant sources to provide further financial
assistance to low- to moderate-income households for LSL replacements.
▪ Expand Oshkosh’s funding assistance to include private property funding from
available resources.6
▪ Consider producing a print map of the community showing likely LSL areas
based on electronic mapping resources to promote awareness of the presence
of LSLs to communitfes with limited internet use.
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2. Health Assessment. Partner with the Winnebago County Health Department to update the
Community Health Assessment and seek to provide recommendatfons specific to the City of
Oshkosh to disaggregate data from the County for priority issues.
o Lead Responsibility:
o Time Frame: Long term (5+ years)
3. Fresh and Healthy Food. Identffy policy barriers to providing access to fresh and healthy foods
across the community, such as zoning, permitting, and residentfal landscaping policies that
prevent fresh food markets or fresh food productfon in residentfal propertfes and districts. Enlist
fresh food vendors as an economic development support mechanism.
o Lead Responsibility: Planning Division
o Time Frame: Priority (<3 years)
4. The Arts. Review and formally update recommendatfons in the 2019 Public Art and
Beautfficatfon Strategic Plan.
o Lead Responsibility: Community Development AND Oshkosh Public Museum
o Time Frame: Short term (<3 years) and medium term (3-5 years)
o Implementation Details:
▪ Short term: consider all optfons to preserve accreditatfon of the Public Museum,
choose an optfon, devise a plan, and move forward.
▪ Consider recommendatfons that have not been accomplished and whether they
remain relevant.
▪ Consider the current status of the Public Museum, and the need to balance
preserving history and culture of the building vs. responsible stewardship of the
artffacts within an aging building that’s difficult to modernize.
▪ Consider strategically fundraising in the context of what is determined to be
necessary for the long-term sustainability of the museum, both the building and
its contents.
5. Disease vectors. Employ strategies to reduce increased disease risks during emergencies, natural
disasters, and public health crises.
o Lead Responsibility: Planning Division, Forestry Division, Sanitatfon Division
o Time Frame: Medium term (3-5 years)
o Implementation Details:
▪ Create a natural disaster waste management plan to expedite the removal of
waste during disaster response that creates risk of fire, personal injury, and
disease vectors.
▪ Coordinate with healthcare instftutfons and public health organizatfons during
public health crises for novel disease vectors to deploy appropriate strategies
that mitfgate health risks.
▪ Ensure the presence of emergency communicatfon systems for public health
crises.
▪ Contfnuously monitor wildlife habitats in urban ecosystems to be aware of the
risk of communicable diseases from potentfal animal-human interactfons.
Additfonal recommendatfons impactfng community health related to air quality, water quality, and
access to green space are included in the chapter on Environmental Conservatfon.
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Further reading:
6 Wisconsin DNR Lead Service Line Replacement Funding Program:
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/aid/documents/EIF/privateLSLreplacementFundingProgram.html