Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: August 27, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: CROSS CONNECT INSPECTIONS ON MAIN STREET 1.At Tuesday's Strategic Planning : Workshop, Council Members asked questions about the e nforcement of cross connects of storm water into sanitary sewers along Main Street. Specifically, in the 200 block of Main Street where sidewalks have already been installed. I can report that staff had initially inspected for cross connects in the 200 b lock and did not find any cross connects. While performing inspections in the 400, 500, and 600 blocks, staff discovered some unusual connections between storm drains and sanitary sewers that they had not anticipated. As a result, we are now going back t o the 200 block to make sure that these types of cross connects do not exist in the 200 block. If we do find these unusual cross connects that we did not anticipate, we will need to dig them out and replace them. In some cases, these cross connects may n ot be going out to Main Street as originally thought, but may be going as far back as Jefferson Street. Even if we have to re-dig a sidewalk, I do not want to let a cross connect go by, as ignoring them will have long term consequences. I know that is not what I reported at Tuesday's meeting, however, I felt it was necessary to correct this information. Meanwhile, in the 400, 500, and 600 blocks, we are not putting any sidewalk in until we have confirmed that a cross connect does not exist. You may find some places where sidewalks are in, and these represent areas where we are satisfied that a cross connect does not exist. However, we anticipate we may have as many as ten to twenty illegal cross connects in these blocks. We intend to resolve each and every one of these cross connects before sidewalk is finally put in. The property owners in this area will be required to hire a plumber to connect a roof drain or other storm water drain to a storm water lateral that we are providing. We are making use of our Plumbing Inspector, who has the right, by law, to enter properties. We are also using our inspector to go back to inspections that were done in 2009 and confirm that cross connects we identified last year are also being addressed. This will remai n part of our ongoing effort to eliminate illegal cross connects into our system. Please understand that because of the age of these buildings, identifying these cross connects can be a trial and error type of process. In the end, we have an obligation to address these cross connects in order to protect the integrity of our sanitary sewer system. If you have any questions about this cross connect enforcement plan, please contact Assistant Public Works Director Steve Gohde. Weekly Newsletter August 27, 2010 Page 2 HEALTH MERGER UPDATE At Wednesday's Board of Health meeting the Board of Health 2. : , discussed the proposal from Winnebago County to merge our respective health departments. The Board of Health spent the last couple of months discussing a possible merger with representatives from Winnebago County, as well as Health Department staff. The Board of Health's primary focus has been on the impact of such a merger on the delivery of public health services in the city. The Board has identified several items that are valid arguments for and against a possible merger. I would say that the most persuasive argument in favor of merger is the ability to more effectively refer clients from county-only programs (WIC) to health programs administered by the city. The most compelling argument against merging is that the city currently enjoys a good deal of coordination between our sanitarians in our development review process so that we identify potential health hazards early on. There also exists the issue of being able to maintain some influence over local standards and levels of service. This is complicated due to the fact that the services provided by the County Health Department are more rural in nature, while the city's emphasis is more urban in nature. Finally, there is also the issue of what efficiencies may come from such a merger. The Board of Health has not discussed these in great detail, as this is not the scope of their charge. However, they acknowledge that cost considerations will become an issue as the Council reviews it. The Board of Health has asked if the city and county staff would take a look at other recent mergers of health departments and identify what lessons have been learned from these other mergers. Additionally, the Board has questions of the County Health Department with respect to how they will handle urban public health issues. Specifically, they want to know how the county will administer programs such as radon, lead poisoning, vicious animal bites, rabies and pool testing. The Board would also like to know what level of involvement the county would have in coordinating health review of development plans as currently exists in the city. Finally, the Board was concerned that the city's interests are protected in a combined Board of Health that represents both city and county interests. Once the Board has received this information from the county, they will get back to discussing the relative merits and demerits of a possible merger. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. DECISION ON TRANSIT HOURS DEFERRED : At last week's Transit Advisory Board 3. meeting, Transportation Director Strong reported to the Board that the Council had turned down the recommendation from staff to add one additional weekday hour t o the transit service. It appears as though several of the Transit Board members had observed what had taken place at the Council Meeting and wanted to be responsive to the concerns expressed by Council about possible change in hours. Along similar lines, the Transit Advisory Board and transportation staff have been discussing the development of a comprehensive Transit Development Plan (TDP) that would take a look at transit demands over the next few years, in pursuit of a comprehensive plan for the Transit System. The Transportation Department will be contracting with the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to prepare this TDP. The timeframe for the preparation of the TDP is that work will begin later this year and should be completed b y mid- 2011. Given the comments from Council, and given the valuable information that would come from the TDP, the Transit Advisory Board directed Mr. Strong not to pursue any changes in hours until after the TDP is complete. Weekly Newsletter August 27, 2010 Page 3 Given the range of options that may be evaluated during the TDP process, the Board felt that it would be more valuable to have a decision on hours being made in the context of the larger TDP. Furthermore, given the reluctance of Council to extend evening hours on a very limited basis without knowing demand issues, it was felt that the more comprehensive approach would assist Council in making any decision on possible expansion of evening hours. For that reason, the Transit Division's 2011 budget will remain effectively unchanged from the 2010 budget. Assuming that the TDP is completed in mid-2011, any recommendations on possible service changes would be presented to Council and be incorporated into the 2012 budget. If you have any questions on this matter, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. TH SEPTEMBER 15 AGENDA : I apologize for any confusion or surprise when Council 4. th th Members discovered that the September 14 Council Meeting would be moved to September 15 as a result of the election on Tuesday. City Clerk Pam Ubrig made me aware of the issue as we th were preparing for the August 24 meeting. Because this rescheduling is automatically incorporated into the code, I did not appreciate the inconvenience that it may caus e to some Council Members who had other plans for that evening. Given the fact that this has been incorporated into the code, the only way that this meeting could have been changed would have been if another ordinance had been adopted. Given the late timeframe in which we recognized this upcoming meeting, and the three week time period between meetings in this case, we simply missed that and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Having said that, th Council Member Palmeri has indicated that he will not be able to attend the September 15 meeting due to a prior commitment and asked that the residency ordinance be moved back to the th September 28 meeting. I will be making that adjustment per his request. If any Council Member th is aware of an item that you would like moved to the September 28 meeting, please let me know and I will accommodate your request. Furthermore, if your schedule will not allow you to attend th the meeting on Wednesday, September 15, please let City Clerk Ubrig kn ow so that we can confirm that we will have a quorum for whatever items do make it to that Agenda. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES : Other items I'm enclosing with today's 5. th Newsletter include the minutes of the August 10 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; the th minutes of the August 11 Parking Utility Commission meeting; and the minutes of the August th 18 Transit Advisory Board meeting. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 6.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of August 30 include the th following: On Monday, August 30, at 10:30 a.m., I will be meeting with staff to discuss grant requests that the city will be seeking with respect to training for LEAN/Continuous Improvement Programs. We have been working closely with Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) on possible training programs that may involve LEAN training that may be grant funded. I am pleased to report that FVTC did receive a grant, and they will be seeking our input on how they can best meet our needs to introduce Continuous Improvement processes into our organization. I will keep st Council updated as this progresses. On Tuesday, August 31, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Leadership Oshkosh Steering Committee. Weekly Newsletter August 27, 2010 Page 4 st On Wednesday, September 1, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the quarterly meeting of the FVTC Advisory Committee. On Wednesday, at 1:30 p.m., I will be on a conference call with Moody's Investor Services regarding our upcoming utility borrowing. The utility borrowing will take place th shortly thereafter, and we will likely have bids to present to Council at the September 15 nd meeting. On Thursday, September 2, at 9:00 a.m., I will be meeting with staff to review the riverwalk bid awards and discuss the matching funds that will be needed for this project, as well as riverfront docks. If you have any questions about my attendance at any of these meetings, please contact me. MAR/jdc