Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: April 23 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: CHLORINE LEVELS BEING MONITORED AT WATER TREATMENT PLANT 1.Council : may recall that staff at the Water Filtration Plant encountered an unusually low level of chlorine th residual in the water leaving the treatment plant last Friday, April 16. The chlorine level reached a point of concern such that I actually opened the Emergency Operations Center in the event that a "boil water" order was necessary. Fortunately, due to the outstanding efforts of water filtration staff, we were able to avoid this drastic measure. Staff was not entirely satisfied that we had identified all the causes that led up to the chlorine level dropping, so staff continued to monitor it over the course of the past week. It appears that a line feeding chlorine from the storage tanks into the water filtration process is damaged and was the cause. Staff continued to look at other possible causes as well, and closely monitored chlorine levels throughout the week. Later this week, we encountered another situation where chlorine levels dropped, and traced the possible cause to the process where ammonia is added to the system to keep the level of chlorine stay at an acceptable, residual level as it makes its way through the water system. The concern this time was that chlorine levels were also dropping throughout the distribution system. At no time did we go below any level that would have required a boil order, however, we worked at it continuously until the chlorine levels returned again. We consulted with the DNR throughout the process, and they agreed with our approach. Staff believes that we have resolved the current issues that have caused the chlorine levels to drop in these recent incidents. However, because chlorine is important to ensuring the quality and safety of our water, we are continuing to monitor the situation on a 24-hour basis. We are in the process of purchasing some replacement equipment for the chlorine feeder system. We will also identify if any other equipment and/or materials need to be replaced in the water treatment plant, as some of this equipment may have reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced as part of our ongoing plant maintenance program. I want to thank the water treatment staff for their continuing efforts to maintain our water quality, as well as the staff in other areas of the water and wastewater system who stepped up to assist the treatment plant in monitoring the water quality throughout our system. If you have any questions regarding these issues, please contact me and I will get the answers for you as needed. Weekly Newsletter April 23, 2010 Page 2 WATER QUALITY CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT 2.: Please find enclosed the City of Oshkosh's annual Drinking Water Quality Report (also known as the Consumer Confidence st Report). This report is required to be provided to our citizens each year, no later than July 1. As such, staff will be distributing the report to our citizens through the utility bills that will be mailed in April, May and June. The information included in the report covers all required language, as well as additional information to provide our citizens as much detail as possible regarding our water system. As the report demonstrates, Oshkosh Water Utility provides drinking water that meets or exceeds all federal and state requirements. As noted in the previous item, our efforts to maintain quality keeps us with this high level of performance. For more information on this item, please contact Utilities Superintendent Steve Brand. JOINT PLAN COMMISSION/COUNCIL WORKSHOP 3.: Following last year's unveiling of the Community Visioning Study, we held a Joint Workshop between the Council and the Plan Commission at which time the Visioning Study was discussed with both groups. One of the end results of the meeting was that a joint meeting such as this was beneficial to both groups, and both Council Members and Plan Commissioners indicated that having a future Joint Workshop may be worthwhile. At a recent Plan Commission meeting, Commissioners expressed an interest in another combined Commission/Council Workshop to discuss comprehensive planning. I believe the purpose of the discussion was to identify the current status of the Comprehensive Plan, what has been done to implement elements of the Comprehensive Plan, and to discuss any changes to the Plan that have been discussed and/or anticipated. The Plan Commission also discussed the visioning process, and that they were planning to take action on the non-binding resolution, supporting the visioning process, that would be forwarded to Council afterwards. The timing of the visioning resolution and discussion of the Comprehensive Plan actually work very well together, so I believe that it why the Commission felt it would be beneficial to have a joint meeting at this time. As Council has been discussing Workshops that you feel would be appropriate to have, it may be beneficial to have similar Joint Workshops with other boards or commissions in the future on topics that may be of mutual benefit to each of the bodies. If you have any thoughts on additional Joint Workshops, please feel free to bring them up at Tuesday's meeting, and we can look at trying to schedule them. OSHKOSH USE OF STIMULUS FUNDS 4.: School Superintendent Bette Lang, County Executive Mark Harris, and I were contacted by Joe Fahey of the Institute for Wisconsin's Future (IWF) regarding a survey they have been conducting to document the use of Stimulus Funds in various urban areas. The IWF collected information from each of the agencies to identify our use of Stimulus Funds, as well as to identify Stimulus Funds that may have been spent in the area that did not directly involve local agencies. Mr. Fahey has asked if each of us would be willing to address a group of citizens to discuss the information from this report and how we have made use of Stimulus Funds. In addition to reporting on the actual use of the funds, I believe that the IWF's goal is to demonstrate that there have been some valuable outcomes as a result of the Stimulus money, particularly as it relates to job creation and investment in public infrastructure. Weekly Newsletter April 23, 2010 Page 3 th The IWF has tentatively scheduled a community meeting for Thursday, May 20, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Because this event involves all of the local government entities, we are hoping to utilize Oshkosh Community Media Services to replay this event on Cable Channel 10, as it may provide some information to the general public as to how all of the local entities have used Federal Stimulus Funds. As we learn more details about this event, I will pass it along to you. CITY AWARDED GRANT FOR CLEAN-UP IN SOUTH SHORE REDEVELOPMENT 5. AREA : Please find enclosed a letter from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), informing the city that we will receive a grant to clean up a brownfield that is located in th the South Shore Redevelopment Area. The specific property in question is 1 East 8 Avenue, which is the former Miles Kimball building. You may recall that the Redevelopment Authority owns this site and is currently leasing it back on a temporary basis. This project will contribute toward the clean-up of some prior environmental contamination that the city was aware of. Were it not for this grant, estimated to be in the amount of $200,000, the city would be responsible for all of the costs of this clean-up, which would likely be funded from TIF dollars. The savings achieved through this will enable us to devote more Tax Increment Funds to assist in the development of this site. If you have any questions regarding this grant award, please contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. OSHKOSH CORPORATION TIF UPDATE 6.: Staff has been meeting with representatives of Oshkosh Corporation to prepare the Development Assistance Grant (DAG) that was planned with the formation of the TIF District near Oshkosh Corporation. Specifically, staff is working through the issues directed by the Council to address topics such as headquarters location and performance st guarantees. We believe that we will be able to have this language worked out on or about May 1, th which would put this item on the May 11 Council Agenda. As soon as we have a final version of the DAG document, I will forward it to you in advance of putting it in the Agenda packet so that you have adequate time to review it and get back to us with any questions or concerns. If you have any questions regarding the status of this project, please do not hesitate to contact me. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 7.: Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance's FOCUS Newsletter, which talks about tax th filing. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I'm enclosing the minutes of the March 16 Downtown th BID Board meeting; the minutes of the April 13 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; and th the minutes of the April 14 Parking Utility Commission meeting. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 8.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of April 26 include the following: On Monday, at 1:00 p.m., I will be meeting with representatives of the BID to discuss concerns in the 400 East Parking Lot as they relate to the disposal of residential trash from tenants in that area. On Tuesday, at 2:00 p.m., Finance Director Steeno and I will be meeting with representatives of the Apartment Association regarding utility buildings for renter occupied housing. Weekly Newsletter April 23, 2010 Page 4 On Wednesday, at 8:00 a.m., I will be attending a meeting that is being sponsored by the City and County Health Departments regarding the unveiling of a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). This has been a year-long effort in which both agencies have been working to develop community initiatives to address promoting healthy lifestyles, physical activity, obesity and diabetes prevention, and encouraging healthy recreational opportunities. On Thursday, at 2:00 p.m., I will be attending a meeting at the UW-Oshkosh Campus Services Building to be briefed on activities at the University that may involve some coordination with city departments. On Friday, at 10:00 a.m., I will be attending the annual meeting of the Board of Directors for the East Central st Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. Finally, at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 1, I will be attending a class of Professor Karl Nollenberger, at which time the class will present their report on the 2010 budget survey that they conducted for us. I will have more information available for Council after I receive this report. I will certainly have this on an upcoming Council Agenda for discussion after Finance Director Steeno and I have an opportunity to review it. If you have any questions regarding any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc