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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: September 3, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: REGULATION OF CHICKENS IN URBAN AREAS 1.I wanted to follow up with Council on : th steps that staff has taken as a result of the discussion at the August 24 meeting regarding a possible ordinance to permit domesticated chickens in urban areas. I have directed staff to bring this issue to both the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) and the Board of Health for their review and discussion. Given the zoning issues associated with this, I've also asked the Planning staff to review this for possible discussion by the Plan Commission. To the degree that any of these bodies have conflicts with one another over their view of such an ordinance, it may be appropriate to identify a couple of members from each of these boards to meet on an ad hoc basis and reconcile their viewpoints for a possible ordinance. At this point, my plan of action is to ask the Health staff to provide information to the Health Board on health related issues associated with such an ordinance. For staff serving the SAB, they will provide information on what's being done in other communities, analyze provisions in these various ordinances, and offer options to the SAB on features that may be contained in such an ordinance. The SAB can also ask staff for any additional information on the sustainability benefits of such an ordinance and provide staff with suggestions on what features they would like included in an ordinance. If there are no items that need to be reconciled, staff can prepare an ordinance for Council to review. If you have any additional thoughts or suggestions on how we may want to approach this, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will pass this information along to staff. BOARD OF HEALTH SEEKS MORE INFORMATION ON POSSIBLE MERGER 2.: As I reported last week, the Board of Health has deferred action on making any recommendation regarding a possible merger with the Winnebago County Health Department. During the course of th their meeting on August 25, the Board raised several questions that they would like answered before they have another discussion on this topic. Staff has compiled the questions from the Board of Health on an attached sheet for your review. The Board of Health raised many legitimate questions. Some of the major concerns have to do with assurances that the county may give to ensure that certain health services would be maintained by the county. Because some of the differences between the city's and county's Health Departments are based on urban versus rural health priorities, there are several items that the Board of Health is concerned about that they would like to see maintained regardless of who provides these services. As you review this document, you will see these concerns come to light. If you have any questions regarding the items raised in this list from the Board of Health, please contact Interim Health Director Mark Ziemer or me. Weekly Newsletter September 3, 2010 Page 2 TRAIN QUIET ZONE ON NORTH SIDE 3.: Some Council Members may have reviewed a request from Mr. Skip Zacher, who lives in one of our city's northside subdivisions. He and other neighbors have made a request of the city to work toward getting a quiet zone for trains going through this area. In order for a quiet zone to be established, the city is required to make some findings based upon research the local government would have to conduct at its own expense and submit to the railroad. The three intersections in question are at Snell Road, Butler Avenue, and County Y. Some of these intersections are also located in the Town of Oshkosh. Mr. Zacher has also asked if Sherman Road and Indian Point Road could be included in this request. Both of those intersections are entirely out of the city limits and would require complete support from the Town of Oshkosh. Staff is prepared to include in the 2011 CIP engineering work necessary to analyze the three intersections that are partially in the city. We would eventually need to get support from the Town of Oshkosh to cost share in intersections that are partially or entirely within the town. It is believed that a resolution from Council may assist in getting the Town of Oshkosh mutual support for funding this type of analysis. If you have any interest in pursuing this matter in advance of it being considered in the CIP, please contact me and I would be happy to place it on the Agenda for Council discussion. Otherwise, I will wait until the CIP is prepared and the Council may have a discussion at that point. If you have any questions about this matter, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. NEIGHBORWORKS INTERESTED IN EXPANSION TO OSHKOSH 4.: The Board of Directors of Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Southest Wisconsin approved the application to create a Neighborworks affiliate in Oshkosh. Their Board of Directors voted unanimously for the expansion. Assuming Neighborworks America approves the application, the city and NHS will be entering into an agreement that includes funding and operations. The city's share of the funding will come from CDBG funds that have been set aside for this type of arrangement. City staff will be working on these details in the upcoming budget process with NHS and the Oshkosh Community Foundation. If you have any questions concerning this issue, please feel free to contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 5.: Other items I'm enclosing with today's st Newsletter include a press release sent out on August 31, notifying our residents that as of st September 1, a change in state law mandates that the Sanitation Division will no longer provide curbside collection of electronic items. These items now have to be disposed of at the Winnebago County Landfill recycling location. I am also enclosing the latest issue of the FOCUS newsletter, published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, which features an article on comparing the finances of Wisconsin with other states. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I'm enclosing the thth minutes of the August 17 Plan Commission meeting; the minutes of the August 16 Grand Opera th House Advisory Board meeting; the minutes of the August 4 Long Range Finance Committee th meeting; the minutes of the August 6 special meeting of the Board of Health; the meeting notice, th agenda and background material for the September 8 Parking Utility Commission meeting; the thth minutes of the July 29 Library Board meeting; and the minutes of the August 11 Board of Appeals meeting. I am also enclosing the latest report on the hotel/motel room tax. The last item I'm enclosing is the latest issue of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, which features an article on how county administration and finances stack up. If you have any questions on any of these items, please feel free to contact me. Weekly Newsletter September 3, 2010 Page 3 UPCOMING MEETINGS 6.: Much of my time following Labor Day involves budget meetings with departments. I will be meeting with multiple departments throughout the week to discuss their budget requests for 2011. This is done with a goal of having the budget delivered to Council th by approximately October 8. Therefore, the bulk of my week will be spent in these budget meetings. Additionally, I will be joining Public Works staff in attending the Storm Water Utility th Committee meeting on Thursday, September 9, at 7:30 a.m. One of the items on this Agenda will be a discussion of proposed storm water rate increases. In order for us to fund our very aggressive storm water program, we will need to consider substantial increases in our storm water rates. I have mentioned this on multiple occasions, but it is time to get the financing mechanissm in place to support our storm water efforts. Before this item goes before the Council and is incorporated into the 2011 budget, staff wants to discuss it with the Storm Water Utility Committee so that they may provide some input. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc