HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter
Date: July 2, 2010
To: Mayor & City Council
From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Subject:
COUNTY PRESENTS PROPOSAL FOR HEALTH DEPARTMENT CONSOLIDATION
1.:
At Wednesday’s Board of Health meeting, County Health Director Doug Gi eryn made a
presentation to the Board of Health regarding a conceptual plan for possible consolidation of the
city’s and county’s health departments. We were joined at the meeting by Dennis Hibray,
Regional Director with the State Division of Public Health. Mr. Gieryn’s presentation to the board
was essentially a s ummary of his report, which I am providing to council under separate cover.
Attached to this newsletter is the executive summary of this report prepared by Mr. Gieryn. This
conceptual plan is not at the point where a final decision could be made on any proposed merger.
However, it does provide a good idea of what the County Health Director is proposing in terms of
staffing and general level of services that would be provided. What is not addressed in here are
concerns that we have from a cost standpoint, as the county is proposing that the city supplement
current funding to the tune of nearly $150,000 annually. It should also be pointed out this proposal
has not gone through any committee at Winnebago County either. Having said that, Mr. Gieryn
will be making an update report to the County Board of Health on July 2. As you go through the
report, you will see that there are several gaps and overlaps in service between the two agencies
that would need to be reconciled, specifically in the area of sanitation services.
The Board of Health responded by assuming their traditional role by focusing on how this
proposal promotes public health. They did not get into any of the details of costs or personnel
issues, as those items are not within their traditional purview. The Board of Health indicated that
this was a proposal worth continuing to discuss amongst themselves. As a result, the board has
scheduled an extra meeting for Tuesday July 20, at which time they have asked Mr. Gieryn to
return so that they may ask him questions after they have had an opportunity to re view the
conceptual plan in more detail. Councilor Herman is the council representative to the Board of
Health. I would suggest that council mem bers provide input to Mr. Herman so that he has your
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thoughts on the public health aspect as he approaches the July 20 meeting. You are also welcome
to contact either me or Interim Health Services Officer Mark Ziemer if you have any questions or
concerns regarding the contents of this report. At a later time, I will provide the council with
comments and recommendations based on the financial aspect of this report. However I believe
that it is appropriate for the respective Boards of Health to review and provide their input before
we take any official action on this matter.
Weekly Newsletter
July 2, 2010
Page 2
Meanwhile, the State Division of Health is required to approve our Health Officer, and we will be
seeking another extension of authorizing Mr. Ziemer as our interim Health Officer for at least
another two months. If you have any questions regarding this process, please advise me.
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FOLLOW UP TO JUNE 27 STORM:
2. As the council is aware, early Sunday morning we
experienced a severe rain storm in the city that dumped approximately 2.48 inches of rain between
2:00 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. 2.5 inches of rain in one hour is classified as a 50 year storm, so it was
certainly a storm of significance. As storm sewer system s are typically designed for 10 year
storms, the flooding of streets was to be expected. At the same time, with some power failures
throughout the city, basements may have flooded due to lack of backup power in some sump
pumps. However the primary statistic I wanted to point out from this storm was that our sewerage
treatment plant was its design capacity of 100 million gallons per day at 3:00 a.m. This clearly
demonstrates that there are many instances of storm water infiltrating our sanitary sewer system.
The result was not unlike our 2008 storm, but to a lesser degree, as several basements were found
to be experiencing sewerage backup. Those people who have not heeded our advice to install
backflow preventers were most certainly at risk to have backup in their basements. Our sewerage
treatment plant is not designed to handle surges of storm water that does not require treatment. In
accordance with DNR regulations, we were required to notify the DNR that some waste water
entering our facility was only subject to primary sewerage treatment and disinfection prior to
discharge. This means that certain amounts of water did not go through the secondary treatment
process. By law, we are required to notify the DNR of this instance. Please find attached our letter
to the DNR.
Because many members of the public are curious about what the city has done in the aftermath of
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the 2008 storm, I will be providing an oral report to council at the July 13 meeting about efforts
that have been done to date. As you can see from the above, one of the important issues is dealing
with the undocumented inflow and infiltration (I & I) problems that are prevalent throughout the
city. Our I & I mitigation efforts are going to have to continue into the future until we have the
implementation of measures to control I & I. This will involve the eventual checks of cross
connects between sump pumps and our city sanitary sewer system. As we go through street
construction, we are looking for any diversions of storm sewers into our sanitary sewers and are
correcting those as we find them. At the same time, our efforts to construct storm water retention
ponds have had some positive results; however, until we build more of the larger ponds the
benefits will not be completely visible. Finally, while the construction of new larger storm sewers
in our storm sewer system are beneficial, it is the connection to the larger storm sewer pipes that
outfall to our streams and rivers are also necessary. So while we may have some benefits short
term by constructing storm sewers on a single stre et, until all of the interconnections are made,
there will continue to be localized street flooding, particularly when the storm event exceeds the
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statistical 10 year storm. We will have more information for the council at the July 13 meeting.
If there are any topics or issues you would like us to address prior to the meeting, please contact
Public Works Director Dave Patek who will be preparing a presentation.
Weekly Newsletter
July 2, 2010
Page 3
CITY EMPLOYEES RESPOND TO BARE ESSENTIALS CAMPAIGN:
3.I am pleased to
report that employees and visitors to city facilities responded very positively to the pleas from the
Oshkosh Area Food Pantry and St. Vincent De Paul Store for the “Bare Essentials” campaign.
From City Hall, Senior Center and Oshkosh Transit (including our generous “transit riders”), we
were able to deliver six boxes containing approximately 180 pounds of food to the food pantry.
We also delivered several boxes of other personal items and clothing, particularly socks and
underwear, that are most in demand at St. Vincent’s. Additionally, donations were collected and
delivered to the food pantry and St. Vincent’s by our Police Department, Fore Department, and the
Library. Figures from those two facilities were not available at the time of thi s newsletter’s
writing. The “Bare Essentials” campaign was merely an effort to highlight the continuing number
of families facing economic stress in our community. The attached letter from food pantry director
Steve Vickman says it all. This city and its d epartments will continue to cooperate with the
recommendations in the Self Sufficiency initiative to coordinate our efforts with our non-profit
agencies to better address the issues of poverty in our community. Congratulations to everyone
who was generous enough to participate in this initial campaign.
HIGHWAY 21 CORRIDOR INFORMATIONAL MEETING:
4. Even though the reconstruction
of the STH 21/USH 41 interchange has barely begun, the DOT continues to work on long range
plans for the STH 21 corridor. Last year, staff met with DOT and other local officials to discuss
issues about potential changes to the STH 21 corridor, including possible freeway access
restrictions on STH 21 between USH 41 and the city of Omro. Although these plans are easily 20
plus years into the future, the DOT is actively seeking input on this so that people may make long
term plans and provide input for the DOT as they look to plan this corridor for the future. The
DOT will be holding a public informational meeting with area residents at Oa kwood School on
Wednesday, June 23, 2010. This meeting will be held at Oakwood School. Please find attached the
information from the DOT inviting the public to attend this meeting. Council members are
certainly welcome to attend this event if they so choose. I am sure that the DOT will be continuing
to seek input from the city on this subject. If you have any though ts on this matter, regardless of
whether you attend the event or not, please feel free to pass them along to Public Works Director
Patek and me.
STRATEGIC PLANNING UPDATE:
5.I previously reported that we will be making a
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presentation on the strategic plan at the July 13 council meeting. Department heads have been
actively working on items for the strategic plan. However, with other pressing item s upon them
this summer, we do not feel that the report is in a format that is acceptable for presentation at the
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July 13 meeting. At this point, I plan to make a presentation to council at the August 10
meeting. I feel that giving staff a little more time to put final touches on the report will make it
more beneficial for council. I believe it would also assist us in planning for the 2011 budget. If
you have any questions regarding our efforts on completing the strategic plan, please contact
Assistant City Manager/Director of Administrative Services John Fitzpatrick.
Weekly Newsletter
July 2, 2010
Page 4
CITY MANAGER OUT OF OFFICE:
6.Just a reminder that I will be out of the office on
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vacation from Friday July 2 until Tuesday July 13. I will be a t the Tuesday July 13 council
meeting. I will be checking my e-mails regularly and have my cell phone on in case you need to
contact me for any reason. Assistant City Manager John Fitzpatrick will also be available should
council members have any urgent needs here at city hall. As a result of my absence, there will no
newsletter next week. Jackie may forward council information that she deems relevant for the
council to review.
MAR/jab