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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: July 23, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: EXTENSION OF TRANSIT SYSTEM'S HOURS OF SERVICE 1.During my State of the City : presentation, a couple of citizens mentioned the need to expand the hours of service of our Transit System. This input is not in isolation. In fact, the lack of evening service is the area most commonly cited by the public as needing improvement with our Transit System. Consequently, the Transportation Department has been working on various proposals over the last 18 months, with extensive collaboration with city staff inside and outside of the department, contact with other transit systems in the state, as well as community input from the Transit Advisory Board and others. I am enclosing a memorandum from Transportation Director Chris Strong dated June 14, 2010, which provided an update on the proposal to change the hours of transit service. A proposal th has now been developed, which will be offered for Coun cil consideration at the August 10 City Council Meeting. The primary benefit of this proposal, from a customer perspective, will be to extend our hours of service on week nights by one hour, with a contraction of service of two hours on Saturdays. If this proposal is approved, our buses would operate on a half-hour frequency from 6:15 a.m. to 7:10 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, and from 8:15 a.m. to 6:10 p.m. on Saturdays, effective August 30, 2010. This proposal is significant from an operational pe rspective, as it would be the first extension of our hours of service since the city purchased the transit system in the late 1970's. From an employee perspective, this will facilitate improvements in work schedules for many drivers, which has been a goal expressed in the budgeting process over the last couple of years. Normally, it would be appropriate to defer consideration of this type of proposal into discussions about the operating budget. In this case, the proposal is interwoven with many aspects of the collective bargaining agreement currently under negotiation. In addition, because of fuel cost savings experienced by the department this year, there would not be any need to increase general fund outlay to support this service expansion in 2010. M ore information will be available th to you in advance of the August 10 vote. In the meantime, if you have any questions on this issue, please feel free to contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. ND NEW CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL STARTING AUGUST 2 2.: I am pleased to report that nd Mr. Kevin Ciabatti will be starting with the city on August 2 as the new Chief Building Official. Mr. Ciabatti is from Rockford, Illinois, and has a degree in architecture. His duties for the City of Rockford's Construction an d Development Services included improving customer service and working closely with staff, designers and contractors. He also taught building code classes at the local community college, and has been working on completing his licensing as an architect. Weekly Newsletter July 23, 2010 Page 2 We are looking forward to welcoming Mr. Ciabatti to our city and introducing him to the City Council and our citizens. If you have any questions concerning our building inspection department, please feel free to contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. UPCOMING CITY BORROWING 3.: As you know, the city has committed to a very large Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), as well as borrowing plan for 2010. To that end, we are in the process of preparing for the bond sale to obtain the funds to finance these projects as approved. The funds approved to be borrowed in conjunction with the 2010 CIP total approximately $42,375,000. Due to the large amount of funds needed, the borrowing will be split into three smaller borrowings planned for August 20, 2010 (General Fund – General Obligation Bonds and Notes - $13,635,000); September 14, 2010 (Storm Water Revenue Bonds - $19,090,000 plus reserve requirement); and September 28, 2010 (Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds - $9,650,000 plus reserve requirement). The splitting of these borrowings will ensure that we do not over saturate the market on any one day, which would cause the city to get unfavorable rates on the borrowings. In addition, by using revenue debt for the utilities, we are matching the obligations with the funds that benefit from the borrowing, and managing the city's debt burden in recognition of the regulatory limit of 5% of equalized value for general obligation debt. In addition to the above borrowing, we a re planning to present, for your approval, an additional $21,480,000 of refunding (refinancing) issues of General Obligation Borrowing. These bonds will be sold on th August 10, the same day as the new money issues that are General Obligation Borrowing. Due to currently favorable interest rates, by completing the refinancing of this existing debt, the city is expecting to save over $1.4 million over the remaining life of the debt. The present value savings (in today's dollars) totals over $1.2 million. Please note that the borrowing is taking place later in the year this year than it has in the past. The main reason for this is that we are able to save a fair amount of interest costs since we didn't need the funds earlier in the year. In addition to the interest savings, borrowing a little later also allows us to see how projects are going and potentially reduce the amount of borrowing if projects allow for it. We are currently reviewing all 2010 projects to determine if, and how much, we can reduce our borrowing. You will be receiving more detailed information on the upcoming borrowings, including the expected interest rates, with th th your packet on August 6, for the meeting on August 10, and similarly for the other borrowings. However, please let Finance Director Peggy Steeno or me know if you have questions that we can address prior to that. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 4.: Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include Museum Director Brad Larson's report to the Museum Board, updating them on the Museum's newest activities. I am also enclosing two copies of the FOCUS Newsletter, published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, dealing with property tax recap – municipal and th total levies. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I'm enclosing the minutes of the July 13 Traffic th Review Advisory Board meeting, and the minutes of the July 14 Board of Appeals meeting. UPCOMING MEETINGS 5.: I will be out of the office all next week, so Assistant City Manager/Director of Administrative Services John F itzpatrick will be in attendance at next Tuesday evening's Council Meeting. If you have any questions between now and Tuesday, please contact John.