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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: February 5, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY BOARD UPDATE 1.: On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting of the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) upon the request of Board Chair Ron Hardy. There are several initiatives underway by the Board at their committee level, some of which include water quality issues. In the interest of assisting the SAB in making sure that issues involving several departments receive prompt attention, I requested that the committee funnel their requests of staff through me so that I may insure that any request gets a thorough review at all levels. This is consistent with the SAB's charge to advise the City Manager. I also suggested that any resolutions or policy issues coming to the Council and/or the appropriate committee (e.g., Plan Commission, Parks Board, etc.) come from the entire Sustainability Advisory Board. Planning Director Darryn Burich also reported that he is actively completing a draft of a sustainability plan. I suspect that the steering committee will be taking this up within the next month. Please contact Mr. Burich if you have any questions regarding the work of the Sustainability Advisory Board. APARTMENT ASSOCIATION SEEKS RELIEF 2.: On Monday, Finance Director Steeno and I met with representatives of the Winnebago County Apartment Association. The Apartment Association is seeking to have the city cut off utility service for renters who fail to pay their bills in a timely fashion. The apartment owners are concerned that when bills are unpaid, they are placed on the property tax bill as a liability of the apartment owner instead of cutting off service. The Apartment Association cited several communities in the area, including Omro and Appleton, that cut off service for failure to pay. However, the majority of communities do what we do (as recommended by the PSC) so that we get paid by either the owner or the tenant of the building. In the interest of keeping an open dialogue, I have agreed to investigate some of the practices in those communities that shut off service. I remain reluctant to recommend a shut-off policy, as I believe that we would eventually lose money since we, not landlords, would be left with unpaid bills. The system we have in place insures that we get paid for delinquent water bills, although the Apartment Association feels that the landlords should not be responsible for final payment. We will keep the Council apprised of this process as we continue to investigate it. Weekly Newsletter February 5, 2010 Page 2 TH STATE OF THE CITY SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 15 3.: Please be reminded that our annual State of the City event will be held at the Oshkosh Convention Center on Monday, th March 15, at 6:30 p.m. Staff is underway with preparing information for the presentation. The presentation will take a different twist this year, with more of a forward focus rather than a "year in review" format. I've also asked departments to set up display booths to promote initiatives within their departments. We will continue to recognize Boards and Commission members for their years of service. We are working on preparing an invitation list to be as inclusive as possible. If you have any suggestions beyond Boards, Commissions, and specific community groups, please pass those suggestions onto Jackie so that we may widen our invitation list. Thank you in advance for your assistance. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 4.: Items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's U.S. Highway #41 Project Newsletter, which was inadvertently left out of your packets last week. This newsletter identifies Highway #41 projects in Winnebago County for 2010. I am also enclosing the latest hotel/motel room tax report, which gives you the statistics for the close of 2009. The February Newsletter from the Oshkosh Auxiliary Police is also enclosed, which includes the events they have scheduled for the months of February and March, 2010. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I'm enclosing th the following: The minutes of the January 13 Board of Appeals meeting; the minutes of the th January 13 Landmarks Commission meeting; the meeting notice, agenda and background th material for the February 9 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; the meeting notice, th agenda and background material for the February 10 Parking Utility Commission meeting; the thst minutes of the January 11 Advisory Park Board meeting; and the minutes of the December 1 Police & Fire Commission meeting. The last item I'm enclosing is the latest issue of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, which features an article on 2009-2011 state budget. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 5.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of February 8 include the following: On Monday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Chamber's Governmental Affairs Committee. On Monday, at 10:30 a.m., I will be attending the ribbon cutting for the U.S. Census Bureau's office at 2211 Oregon Street. On Monday, at 1:30 p.m., Public Works Director Patek and I will be meeting with representatives of property owners in th the area of 9 and Washburn. This is an area we have identified for a potential storm water detention pond. On Monday, at 4:00 p.m., I will be attending a special meeting of the Redevelopment Authority. On Tuesday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a Well City Breakfast th at the 20 Avenue YMCA. At 9:00 a.m. that day, I will be attending a meeting regarding the Community Branding Project that is underway with various agencies in the city. Immediately following that meeting, I will be meeting with Community Foundation representatives regarding the "Taking Root Fund" project to plant 1,000 trees this year. On Wednesday, th February 10, at 1:30 p.m., I will be meeting with County Executive Mark Harris to go over staff research that has been done to-date on the possible merger of city and county Health th Departments. On Thursday, February 11, I will be at a meeting of the Wisconsin City/County Management Association. The Association will be the host group for the 2011 International City/County Management Association Conference in Milwaukee. I am serving on the host committee and will be helping to develop educational and field visit programs for my fellow City Managers and Administrators. If you have any questions regarding these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me.