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HomeMy WebLinkAboutnewsletter Date: January 8, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: MEETING WITH APARTMENT ASSOCIATION 1.: This week, Planning Services Director Darryn Burich, Finance Director Peggy Steeno and I met with representatives of the Winnebago Apartment Association. There were two items of concern to the Association that they wished to discuss. First, they are most interested in partnering with the Community Development Department on rental rehabilitation programs so that they may improve the condition of existing multi-family housing stock in the city. We do have limited CDBG funds that are committed to rental rehabilitation, and we want to make sure that multi-family property owners are aware of the avai lability of these funds. We will continue to work with the Association in this regard. Secondly, the Apartment Association has concerns about tenants who are delinquent on their utility bills with the city. They have asked for our assistance in ways in which they can recoup lost funds. We explained to them that we would be happy to assist them, however, we cannot sacrifice our financial security in this regard. Some other things that we are looking at doing is figuring out ways to monitor the payment h istory of tenants so that should delinquent tenants seek a new utility service, we can develop a method by which we can identify that and bring it to the attention of an apartment owner. The Apartment Association would like us to recoup these funds before we provide the service. We are working on ways in which we can reconcile this over a long term period. We are also looking at ways to improve notification processes to landlords so that they are aware when tenants are becoming delinquent on their utility bills. We are pursuing some suggestions made by the Apartment Association that are being done in other communities. We agreed to have a follow-up meeting in February at which we can discuss this. I view this as the beginning of an ongoing discussion with the Apartment Association about issues of mutual concern. SAWYER CREEK STORMWATER MANAGEMENT 2.: As the Council is aware, there are two items on Tuesday's Agenda regarding the official mapping of areas we have identified for possible acquisition as stor m water management basins. One such area is in the vicinity of State Highway #91 and James Road. Please find enclosed a letter that we sent to one such property owner, along with the concept plan map for the proposed detention basin in this area. We've been meeting with these residents recently and I believe we've done our best to make them aware of all of the projects we have planned for this area. Hopefully, this will make for a smoother discussion at Tuesday's Council Meeting. If you have any questi ons regarding this matter, please contact me or Public Works Director David Patek. Weekly Newsletter January 8, 2010 Page 2 ADDITIONAL STREET MAY BE NEEDED FOR 2010 CIP The Public Works 3. : Department hired AECOM to perform drainage basin analysis in t he areas of all street reconstruction projects proposed for 2010. The recommendation is to install a large relief storm sewer to provide flooding relief for the properties in the Ohio Street area drainage basin. rd th This area is roughly bound by 3 Avenue, 8 Avenue, Michigan Street and Idaho Street. The th most economical location to install a relief sewer is in Michigan Street (Fox River to 5 th th th Avenue), 5 Avenue (Michigan Street to Dakota Street), Dakota Street (5 Avenue to 8 th Avenue), and 8 Avenue (Idaho Street to Ohio Street). Staff had previously proposed to install th th the storm sewer in 8 Avenue, Dakota Street and 5 Avenue in 2010. This proposed solution will require additional utility work in Dakota Street. This work is not currently included in the th th CIP. Dakota Street, from 8 Avenue to 6 Avenue, is an existing concrete street with utilities originally installed in the 1950's. For the first two blocks, the proposal is to install the large storm sewer and patch the concrete street. The property owners would only be assessed for a th storm sewer lateral (the assessment for a storm sewer lateral is $300). Dakota Street, from 5 th Avenue to 6 Avenue (approximately 250 feet) is a cold mix street with utilities, originally installed in the 1920's. The proposal is to add this block as a concrete street reconstruction project in 2010. The sanitary sewer, water main and storm sewer will be replaced and concrete pavement placed. The remaining portion of the storm sewer relief system will be installed with th the reconstruction of 5 Avenue, east of Ohio Street, in 2011. A neighborhood meeting will be th held on January 18, at 5:30 p.m., in Room 404 of City Hall to discuss this project with the th th property owners along Dakota Street (between 5 Avenue a nd 6 Avenue) who had not previously attended an informational meeting. A copy of the notice of this meeting is enclosed. If you have any questions concerning this issue, please contact Assistant Public Works Director Steve Gohde. OSHKOSH CORPORATION STORAGE : Please find enclosed a memorandum from 4. Planning Services Director Darryn Burich regarding the history of the Evco property on Ripple Road and Oshkosh Corporation's proposed use of this site as a vehicle storage area. Council had asked staff to pr ovide this information following public comments at the December 22, 2009 Council Meeting. This item is on Tuesday's Agenda under Deputy Mayor Palmeri's comments. I'm providing this information in advance of the meeting. If any other questions come to mind prior to Tuesday's meeting, please contact Mr. Burich or me. I also want to point out that staff is continuing to work with Oshkosh Corporation in encouraging them to work with the neighbors to address their concerns. Mr. Bohn from Oshkosh Corporation has been out to view the site and is aware of these concerns. UNDERGROUND UTILITY UPDATE Staff met with representatives of Wisconsin Public 5. : Service, AT&T, and Time Warner Cable this past week to get an update from them on collecting information regarding costs and considerations for undergrounding utilities. What I have asked this group to put together is a general summary of costs and considerations that go into any type of undergrounding project. I have also asked them to use the area of Frankfort and Harney as a test model for illustration purposes. They will estimate what it would cost us to underground utilities in this area without doing any major engineering or design work. I believe that they will have this information available to us in the next few weeks. Once we have this information finalized, I will share with the Council so that you may begin discussions on this issue. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding this matter. Weekly Newsletter January 8, 2010 Page 3 UW-OSHKOSH FACILITIES PLANNING & LAND ACQUISITION : Over the past few 6. months, I have had numerous conversations with representatives from UW-Oshkosh regarding long range plans and upcoming projects that they are pursuing. Among those projects is a biodigester facility for which they are seeking some grant funding to support their sustainability efforts. They want to create a model project in which organic waste may be converted into bio- energy. They are looking at possible areas for this type of facility i n the area their facilities maintenance building. Given the proximity of this area to our sewage treatment plant, they thought that this may be an appropriate location for a biodigester. They have asked us if we would be interested in partnering with them on this project, specifically in which they can use the area of our former animal shelter. I am open to this possibility, but recognize that the long term expansion needs of the sewage treatment plant are something we need to keep in mind at all times. We are continuing this conversation, and I will provide updates to the Council as UW-Oshkosh firms up their plans. Some of our more tenured Council Members may recall that UW-Oshkosh has long been interested in the Deltox area near Steiger Park for expansion. All Council Members are likely aware that the University's River C enter was severely damaged during the 2008 floods. With the University being so land-locked, they are continuing to look for places to expand and replace River Center. Approximately five years ago, the city and the University partnered on a joint appraisal for the Deltox site. This appraisal came in at $625,000. The University has asked if we would be willing to partner on an update to this appraisal, as their facility is getting to the point where they seriously need to look at replacing River Center. I have agreed to work on another joint appraisal to update the value of this property. Once this is done, we will likely be negotiating a final price, terms and conditions, and forwarding this to the Plan Commission and Council for your review and approval. I should point out that this land acquisition by the University has been on the city's downtown riverfront plans for a number of years, so it is consistent with all of our long range plans. In the meantime, please contact me if you have any questions as you may need additional information about the history of this project. Finally, our discussion with the University have pointed out the need to have ongoing discussions about the University's long range facilities plans, and how these might dovetail with the city's capital improvements plan. The University and I have agreed that we need to have regular meetings to go over our respective plans so that we reconcile our individual needs. We will begin meeting shortly to go over our recently approved CIP, as well as the University's five year facilities plan. I will keep Council apprised of this as we identify opportunities or possible changes that we may need to consider with our CIP. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 7.: Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include the October and November reports of the 2009 hotel/motel room tax for the city. I am also enclosing the January 2010 Newsletter from the Oshkosh Auxiliary Po lice, which lists the events they have scheduled for the months of January and February. Insofar as th minutes are concerned, I'm enclosing the minutes of the December 15 Plan Commission th meeting; the minutes of the December 8 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; the meeting th notice, agenda and background material for the January 12 Traffic Review Advisory Board th meeting; the meeting notice, agenda and background material for the January 13 Parking Weekly Newsletter January 8, 2010 Page 4 th Utility Commission meeting; the minutes of the December 16 Board of Appeals meeting; the th minutes of the December 7 Sustainability Advisory Board meeting; the minutes of the th rd December 16 Transit Advisory Board meeting; and the minutes of the November 23 Housing Authority meeting. I have quite a few items to send along to you today from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. The first four are their FOCUS newsletters, which deal with various issues concerning the state budget. The last two items from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance are the publications of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, which feature articles on long-term tax and spending ranks; and total Wisconsin taxes for 2009. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 8.: Meetings I have planned for the week of January 11 include: On Monday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Chamber's Governmental Affairs Committee. At 2:00 p.m. Monday, I will be meeting with a financial analyst to review documentation regarding Oshkosh Corporation's request for financial assistance through our TIF Districts. This financial analysis is required as part of any TIF assistance that may come th about. On Wednesday, January 13, at 1:30 p.m., I will be attending a meeting of the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission E conomic Development Committee. At 3:30 p.m. that day, I will be meeting with representatives of City Center Hotel regarding their proposed remodeling plans. On Thursday, at 12:30 p.m., I will be attending a DARE th graduation ceremony at Jacob Shapiro School. On Friday, January 15, I will be attending a meeting of the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities in Milwaukee. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc