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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: June 24, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: 1.HIGHWAY 41/21 INTERCHANGE RECONSTRUCTION: As the council is aware, at Tuesday’s meeting Deputy Mayor King brought up the issue of the impact of local traffic due to the reconstruction of USH 41 at STH 21. Deputy Mayor King and other council members expressed interest in having a representative of the Wisconsin DOT come to a future council meeting to discuss with council the plans for this construction project, including the decision to reverse the two roads at the interchange, as well as the impact on traffic during construction. Mayor Esslinger also pointed out that he had sent a letter to the DOT and was awaiting a response. Yesterday I received a copy of the DOT’s response, as well as the letter that Mayor Esslinger had sent to the DOT’s Northeast District office. Both letters are attached for your review. During the council discussion, Deputy Mayor King also brought up the issue of information being shared with the business community. I am aware that the DOT has had numerous meetings in the past with various stake holders in this project. I am providing the council with a copy of a letter that was sent by Chamb er President John Casper to business and property owners in this area. I previously reported on this meeting that was attended by DOT Northeast Area Director Mike Berg. In addition to this meeting, staff has met with representatives of the Chamber and the West Side Association to plan for impacts on businesses during construction. As I previously reported, I have asked staff to facilitate whatever accommodations may be necessary to address signage needs throughout the construction process. Staff is current ly identifying what changes may be necessary to liberalize the rules to assist businesses in the area, without sacrificing public safety. A project of this magnitude requires that we update the community frequently so that people are constantly made aware of what is going on with this project and how it may impact them in the immediate future. This informational process will continue through the completion of this project in 2012. City staff will continue to supplement information provided by the DOT in order to customize it for our community’s needs. I think we all acknowledge that a project of this magnitude will have a negative impact on businesses in the short run; I believe that the benefits resulting from this project will improve access to our busi nesses in the future. If you have any questions regarding the public informational issues, please do not hesitate to contact me. Meanwhile staff will be scheduling a workshop between the council and the DOT for an upcoming council meeting. Weekly Newsletter June 25, 2010 Page 2 2.HEALTH MERGER UPDATE: Interim Health Services Officer Mark Ziemer and I have had additional meetings with County Executive Mark Harris and County Health Director Doug Gieryn regarding the possibility of a merger of our respective Health Departments. Mr. Gieryn has been working on a conceptual proposal that he would like to present to our Board of Health. The Board th of Health will be meeting next Wednesday, June 30. The purpose of the meeting is to get an indication from our board if this conceptual idea is something worth pursuing. Mr. Gieryn will be nd making a similar presentation to the county Board of Health at their Friday, July 2 meeting. If each of the respective boards of health believes that this conceptual proposal is worth pursuing, I will forward additional information to council so you are aware of what is being proposed to date. For a merger such as this, the devil is in the details, and many procedural, personnel, financial, and policy issues would still need to be addressed before a proposed merger could proceed. However, I believe the conceptual plan will give the respective boards an opportunity to determine if this is in each of our agencies’ best interests. Following the meeting, I will provide the council wi th an update on where the Board of Health is on this issue so that the council can see where this may or may not be going in the coming months. If you have any questions in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me. GRAND OPERA HOUSE UPDATE 3.: General Services Director Jon Urben is pleased to report that the bids received for the recarpeting of the mezzanine level of the Grand Opera House came in well under budget. The council may recall that we conservatively budgeted $35,000 for this carpet replacement. Mr. Urben reported that the bids for the carpet came in at approximately $19,000. There is some minor painting that will need to accompany the new carpet work, but most of this will be done by city crews and not result in much additional cost. I have previously reported that we would be bringing this back to council for bid award. I had made that statement because I had expected that the bids would be in excess of $25,000, which would require council approval. Although this amount does not trigger council approval, I know that the council was very interested in this issue and would be pleased to hear that the carpet came in so much under budget. Meanwhile, the Grand Opera House F oundation continues with its separate project of constructing the Grand Opera House lounge on the second floor. All indications point to the completion of this project in time for the Grand’s reopening in mid September. If you have any questions regarding the progress in construction of the Grand, please contact Gene ral Services Director Jon Urben. ELEVATOR AT CITY CENTER/GARAGE CLOSED FOR REPAIRS 4.: A recent inspection of the elevator that serves the City Center garage has indicated that the hydraulics supporting the elevator are not holding the ir required weight limit per standards for this type of elevator. As a result, staff has found it necessary to close the elevator until these repairs can be made. Fortunately, with this being summer, most people using the City Center garage can access the City Center Hotel off its main entrance. This will however, prove to be a barrier for disabled individuals, who will have to park on the first level in order to access the City Center Hotel. People parking on the second level and above will have to use the stairs during this p eriod. Meanwhile, staff is bringing in an elevator consultant to help us prepare specifications and bid documents to get the repairs made. This person is also skilled at identifying the specific repairs so Weekly Newsletter June 25, 2010 Page 3 as to avo id unnecessary costs and delays in completing this project. The elevator consultant indicated that we should plan the elevator to be closed for as long as eight weeks. This time frame would obviously impact EAA Convention attendees, so we are working diligently to get this work done prior to EAA, but there are no guarantees. This is not a budgeted project, so I have asked the finance and facilities staff to work together and identify possible funding so urces for this emergency repair. If you have any questions regarding this repair issue, please contact me at your convenience. INFORMATION ON OSHKOSH CORPORATI ON TIF GRANT: 5. Under separate cover, council will be provided this week with a copy of the proposed development assistance grant that was prepared as a result of negotiations between the city and Oshkosh Corporation. This grant is th scheduled to go before council for consideration at their July 13 meeting. I wanted to provide this information as much in advance as possible so the council has an opportunit y to review it. I encourage council members to contact me directly if they have any questions regarding the grant. Additionally, I have asked staff to prepare a background memo explaining details of the development assistance grant. The key component of the agreement is that most of the grant was put into a “pay as you go/paygo” format. This memo will accompany the proposed agreement. If you have any questions regarding this development agreement, please contact City Attorney Lynn Lorenson or me and we will work to get your questions answered as soon as possible. LONG RANGE FINANCE COMMITTEE UPDATE: 6. I am pleased to report that the Long Range Finance Committee has schedule d their first meeting. It was a bit of a challenge coordinating nine schedules, working around work schedules and summer vacations, but we have now secured a date that all members are able to attend. The first meeting is scheduled for 5:00 th p.m. on Wednesday, August 4, and it will be held in the Council Chambers. The agenda includes an o rientation which covers parliamentary procedure, the open meetings law, public records, ethics, and a review of the enabling ordinance. The committee will also be discussing how future agendas will be created, what day, date, and time regular meetings will be held, the selection of a committee chair, and topics for future meetings. If you have any questions regarding this committee, please contact Finance Director Steeno or me. UPCOMING MEETINGS 7.: Among the meetings I have scheduled for the week of June 28 th include the following: On Tuesday June 29 7:30 a.m. I will be meeting with representatives of OAEDC and the Chamber to discuss possible future expansion of the Universal Business Park. You may recall that one of my goals was to identify a location for a new business park once the Universal Business Park was sold out. We are close to having sold out all parcels in Universal th Business Park, so the time is appropriate to consider alternatives. On Wednesday, June 30 at 7:30 a.m. I will be attending the Board of Health meeting as I mentioned previously to discuss potential mergers of the City/County Health Departments. On Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., I will be attending the annual “Take Your Child To Work Day” event at the Oshkosh Transit Center. This is an opportunity for the city employees to bring their children in and see how certain aspects of the city th are run. Finally, at 1:30 p.m. on June 30 I will be attending the monthly meeting of the OAEDC Executive Committee. If you have any questions regard ing my attendance at these meetings, please contact me. Weekly Newsletter June 25, 2010 Page 4 Please note that I wil l be out of the office on vacat ion from July 2 until July 13. If you wish to discuss anything with me prior to the July 13 Council mee ting, please contact me by July 1 if possible. I will be available via cell phone throughout my vacation if I need to be contacted for any reason. Due to my absence, there will be no formal newsletter on Friday, July 9. MAR/jab