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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: August 13, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: FOLLOW-UP TO CITIZEN STATEMENTS 1.: At Tuesday's Council Meeting, there were several citizen statements that staff did not immediately have information about that I would like th to share with the Council. You may recall that Mr. Carrow on 5 Avenue talked about flooding in his yard. This flooding is caused by blockage that one of his neighbors caused following his neighbor purchasing property from the city some years ago. Once the city has sold property, we exercise limited authority over how that property is used. As a result, the issues that Mr. Carrow raised, while valid, are civil matters, not regulatory matters at this time. Still, I had directed staff to provide a storm sewer lateral to the property so that Mr. Carrow could get rid of this water. It appears as though Mr. Carrow does not want to go to the expense of putting in any drainage tile or catch basin on his property that would connect to this lateral, nor does he want to go to the expense of pursuing legal action against the neighbor. Other residents in this area and throughout the city have been denied similar requests. During staff discussion, it was pointed out that the city could enact rules regarding residents grading and filling. This would add additional regulatory authority to the city, but obviously, when the city does that, there is also backlash from people who feel they are being over-regulated. I have asked Mr. Davis to look at options for regulating small scale grading and filling as an option for us. As a follow-up to the gentleman asking about the USPS facility, I was informed that the Chamber has arranged a meeting with Representative Petri's office. It appears as though this meeting is rd scheduled for the week of August 23. Although I do not believe it is a public meeting, I will certainly update the Council as progress is made in this area. With respect to Mr. Sosnoski's comments, while I am disappointed in personal attacks on city staff, I do want to provide an update to you on what is going on in this regard. I can report that staff is working on revising the city ordinance regarding non-conforming uses. This means that properties that currently do not meet code shall be required to correct improvements such as parking lots when these parking lots are improved. This would remove any ambiguity that Mr. Sosnoski cited. Weekly Newsletter August 13, 2010 Page 2 Regarding Mr. Sosnoski's claim that his name was placed on a letter sent to property owners, I have reviewed the letter sent by Mr. Burich, and no mention was made of Mr. Sosnoski in that letter. However, affected property owners made a public records request about who had made the complaint. As a result of that request, we did disclose that Mr. Sosnoski made the request. Because these items were not listed on the Agenda, I did not want staff to get into a debate with any resident on an issue that is not publicly noticed. Should any Council Member wish to discuss any of these above issues at length, please let me know and we will place it on an upcoming Agenda. BOND SALES VERY SUCCESSFUL 2.: I am pleased to report that the four borrowings the city executed earlier this week, as approved by the City Council at your meeting on Tuesday, were extremely favorable. As was done last year, eligible debt issues were offered as both traditional tax exempt bonds and Build America Bonds (BAB's), which are taxable issues offered through the federal stimulus program. Like last year, the BAB option was more favorable than the tax exempt option. You may recall that last year's undertakings were also favorable, representing the lowest rates the city had received in at least 25 years. This year's rates were even lower, with the 20 year new money issue coming in at an interest rate of 2.885% (compared to 3.21% in 2009), and the 10 year new money issue coming in at 1.93% (compared to 2.41% in 2009). These low rates will save the city considerable interest costs over the life of the loans. In addition to the low interest rates, Ehlers, our financial advisor, has estimated the savings of completing these issues as BAB's $316,959 rather than the traditional tax exempt method at approximately over the life of the loans. In addition to the two new money issues, we completed two refunding issues, which will replace existing debt with new, lower cost debt. The rates on the new undertakings were 2.18% for the tax exempt piece and 3.04% on the taxable piece. Due to these extremely low rates, the city will save $2,611,155 over the next 14 years by completing these two refundings. Please find enclosed a press release issued by Ehlers, with our permission, detailing the information. With these deals wrapping up, we will now be turning our attention to the utility borrowings that will be presented to you at the two Council Meetings in September, as outlined in earlier communications. Please contact Finance Director Steeno or me if you have any questions or would like additional information on these current or upcoming issues. OSHKOSH NORTH DETENTION BASIN 3.: There have been some delays in obtaining the DNR Construction Site Permit for the Oshkosh North High School Detention Basin Project, as well as the Water Quality Certification related to the DNR and Army Corps of Engineers' review of the wetland delineation. The delays in receiving these permits delayed the start of construction. st The original plan was to have construction complete prior to the start of school on September 1. Due to the delay in start, construction will not be completed by that time. If the weather cooperates, the excavation and off-site hauling of material should be complete prior to the start of st school on September 1. The topsoil installation will either be complete, or very close, by stst September 1. This will leave landscaping work to be completed after September 1. If you have any questions concerning this detention basin, please contact Storm Water Engineer James Rabe. Weekly Newsletter August 13, 2010 Page 3 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT 4.: Please find enclosed a request from Mayor Esslinger to change the city's ordinance on residency requirements for department heads. In his e-mail, he cites an ordinance currently in place in the City of Appleton. I am providing that excerpt for the Council's review. I am also enclosing an excerpt of Section 2-36 of the Oshkosh Municipal Code regarding requirements for boards and commissions. As you can see, Appleton's requirement is that department heads and members of boards and commissions reside in the city within 12 months of appointment. Our code requires immediate residency for members of boards and commissions. Our code is silent on department heads, although I do make residency a condition of employment for department heads on an administrative level. As was mentioned at Tuesday's meeting, there is an Attorney General's opinion from 2006 that we were made aware of that applies to Chapter 64 cities such as Fond du Lac and Oshkosh. This AG option, while not legally binding, does indicate the AG's thought that a Chapter 64 city may not impose a residency requirement by charter ordinance. This suggests that Council may not regulate this requirement. The opinion does not address if I have authority, as City Manager, to mandate residency as I currently do. Because the Mayor has made this request, I have asked the City Attorney to place it on the Agenda per my direction. If any Council Member has questions about this item being on th the August 24 Council Agenda, please contact me directly. BOARDS & COMMISSIONS SURVEY 5.: Please find enclosed a summary of the survey that was recently conducted of our boards and commissions. I will not make any specific comment about any question because of the number of questions asked. However, the answers are certainly intriguing and shed light on areas of satisfaction and/or concern with respect to various boards and commissions. We can certainly dissect some of this information and determine if there are any issues that are specific to one board or commission. I am working to summarize the other th questions at the end of the survey. I will place this item under my reports at the August 24 Council Meeting in case you want to ask any additional questions regarding the survey. If you have any other information you would like out of this report in advance of the meeting, please contact me or my secretary, Jackie. BOARDS & COMMISSIONS COMMITTEE 6.: Following discussion at Tuesday's meeting regarding the coordination of the Sustainability Advisory Board's and the Parks Board's opinions on the storm water plan, I wanted to share with Council something that I want to implement as part of the strategic planning initiative. In the area of communications, I want to create a committee by which chairs of boards and commissions meet with the City Manager to share information, much like I do with department heads at our staff meetings. I think that ideas that go across different boards and commissions can be discussed here and perhaps even brought back to the respective boards and commissions for input. Hopefully, this type of dialogue will make all boards and commissions more aware of what is going on in the city. I will be sending out an invitation to the chairs of our boards and commissions, inviting them to a series of three to four meetings annually, at which time we can share this information. It is my intent to make these public meetings. Although that may not necessarily be required, I think it is good public policy. If you have any thoughts or suggestions on this idea, please let me know. Additionally, I will th place this on my City Manager announcements at the August 24 Council Meeting in case you would like additional discussion. Weekly Newsletter August 13, 2010 Page 4 SNELL ROAD RECONSTRUCTION 7.: I have been informed by Public Works Director Patek th that the DOT expects that Snell Road to open sometime near August 20. Some problems were encountered due to soil conditions that predate reconstruction of this road. The contractor has repaired those weak spots, which has delayed the project for approximately one week. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact Mr. Patek. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 8.: Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include the latest report on the hotel/motel room tax. I am also enclosing the Museum update from Assistant Museum Director Mike Breza. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I'm rd enclosing the following: The minutes of the August 3 Plan Commission meeting; the minutes of thth the July 20 Downtown BID Board meeting; the minutes of the June 30 Health Board meeting; th the minutes of the July 20 special meeting of the Health Board; and the meeting notice, agenda th and background material for the August 18 Transit Advisory Board meeting. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 9.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of August 16 include the following: On Monday, at 7:00 a.m., I will be meeting with Wendy Hielsberg of the Convention & Visitors Bureau regarding the Convention Center operations. At 10:00 a.m. on Monday, I will be meeting with Carla Omachinski regarding projects being undertaken by Southwest Rotary. At 11:00 a.m., I am meeting with Comfort Suites Manager Brian Wogernese. At 2:00 p.m. Monday, I am meeting with the Winnebago Apartment Association. On Tuesday, at 8:30 a.m., I am meeting with a student who is studying City of Oshkosh government for her Masters thesis. On thth Thursday and Friday, August 19 and 20, I will be attending the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Chief Executives Institute in Ashland. During my attendance at that conference, I will be making a presentation, along with Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna, on methods to keep Councils informed, of which I will highlight this Newsletter in particular as one method. If you have any questions about my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc