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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: October 15, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: TH th SIGNAL AT 9 & WESTHAVEN 1.: As background for the October 26 discussion on the th temporary signal at Westhaven Drive and 9 Avenue, I wanted to provide Council with a chronology of this intersection since it has long been discussed as a potential location for a permanent traffic signal. The Traffic Review Advisory Board reviewed requests to signalize that intersection on four separate occasions from 2002 through 2005. In each case, the Board recommended against signalizing the intersection since it did not satisfy the traffic volume or crash warrants. Because of citizen concern over congestion and safety challenges at this intersection, the city looked at whether a roundabout might be appropriate for this location. This spawned the 2009 consultant study, from which I presented you some results in last week's Newsletter. In short, the study found that while there were problems in the morning and afternoon peak hours with delays on Westhaven Drive, these were not enough to warrant a signal. At the same time, we were concerned with the traffic impacts of USH 41 construction on this th intersection. Traffic models indicated that there would be a significant increase in traffic on 9 Avenue during the 2010 and 2012 construction seasons (with a reduction during 2011). Therefore, we worked with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to have a temporary signal installed at the intersection for these construction seasons. This is similar in concept to the temporary signal that was installed at that location several years ago when Witzel Avenue was under reconstruction. Knowing citizen interest in this intersection, we wanted to make sure that people were aware that this installation would be temporary and not permanent. The decision to install the temporary signal was discussed at the Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting in October, 2009. I followed up on that with communication to Council in a Newsletter in November of 2009. The Northwestern covered the same idea in a newspaper article on November 19, 2009. Staff is th preparing a more formal analysis of the intersection for the October 26 Council Meeting. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. Weekly Newsletter October 15, 2010 Page 2 WATERFOWL HUNTING NEAR MENOMINEE PARK 2.: Please find enclosed an e-mail from Officer Todd Wrage of the Oshkosh Police Department concerning interest from citizens in hunting the east shore of Lake Winnebago by Menominee Park. As you can see from the e-mail, it is currently legal for a person to park a vehicle in Menominee Park, cross park property with a firearm, and hunt in the water on the Lake Winnebago side of Miller's Bay. The hunter must be IN the water and must direct his fire out over the lake only. I am also enclosing a memorandum from former City Attorney Warren Kraft concerning this issue, along with a map of restricted hunting areas. One option for consideration is to prohibit the carrying of any firearm in a city park. This would not prohibit hunting in the lake, but would restrict access. If you have any questions concerning this issue, please contact City Attorney Lynn Lorenson. CITY PARKING LOTS 3.: As part of the 2010 Capital Improvements Program, the city hired a consultant to assess the physical condition of 53 of our city's parking lots. While parking lot projects have been included in the Capital Improvements Program for a number of years, this recently completed study has developed a long-range pavement management program for maintenance and reconstruction of parking areas, similar to what we already have for our streets. I have included a copy of the Executive Summary for your review, along with the proposed 10-year program. The findings have been circulated to several city departments and will be reflected in the upcoming Capital Improvements Program. The Parking Utility Commission considered the findings with respect to the lots under its responsibility at this week's meeting, and will likely make recommendations at its November meeting. If you have any questions, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. NOISE COMPLAINTS ON THE USH 41 PROJECT 4.: Please find enclosed an e-mail that Council Members received from a citizen about excessive noise created by heavy equipment operating along Highway 41 during evening hours. As you know, the Council voted to allow construction to take place during evening hours for up to nine weeks to minimize the impact on the driving public during daylight hours. I think that some of the noise problems stemmed from our mild weather, which left more windows open to the air and accompanying noise from construction. I expect that the noise will subside as the air gets cooler, the windows close, and the work moves south along USH 41, away from the residential areas. Council Member Palmeri contacted the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and received the enclosed response from the Corridor Construction Project Manager, Craig Treadway. As Mr. Treadway explains, the purpose of night construction is to avoid significant backups along USH 41 if this work were scheduled during weekdays. If the Council were to revoke the variance allowed for this project, it could have some major consequences to the project, which is explained in this e-mail. If you have any questions concerning this issue, please contact Public Works Director David Patek MAIN STREET UPDATE 5.: In case you have not noticed, the electrical contractor has returned to begin work on installing the wiring for the street lights and traffic signals on Main Street. This is the positive sign we were looking for so that we could see some light at the end of the tunnel with respect to the completion of the Main Street project. Once the electrical contractor is done, city electrical crews and WPS will come in and finish the work that needs to get done to energize the street lights and traffic signals. Weekly Newsletter October 15, 2010 Page 3 Meanwhile, the traffic markings are complete. Once the electrical work is done, it is expected that Main Street, in the 100 to 300 block, will be able to be opened. I should point out, however, that the DOT still determines whether or not the project is substantially completed, and they alone determine when Main Street will be opened. If progress is made and it appears as though Main Street may be opened, I will contact the DOT and stress the need to get Main Street opened as soon as possible. If you have any questions about this project, please contact our liaison to the DOT, Assistant Public Works Director Steve Gohde. FINAL RECOMMENDATION ON 2011 STORM WATER FEE 6.: If you will recall, the Storm Water Utility Committee had previously recommended the adoption of a 28% increase in the storm water fee, with the caveat that the rate increase could be lowered if the Finance Department was able to identify the use of reserves and grant funds to lessen this increase. I am pleased to report that Finance Director Peggy Steeno analyzed our projected cash flows and fund balances for the next couple of years. Her recommendation is that we can limit our increase in 2011 to 15%. Furthermore, she believes that we will be able to avoid any fee increase for 2012. This information was reported to the Storm Water Utility Committee, and they took no additional action, which reaffirmed their direction to staff. We will continue to monitor our Storm Water Utility's financial condition on an annual basis, and make appropriate recommendations. However, now that Ms. Steeno has completed this analysis, I do not expect that we will be recommending any increase for 2012. If you have any questions about the fee analysis, please contact Finance Director Steeno or me. US 41/WIS 21 INTERCHANGE 7.: Please find enclosed a letter from DOT Northeast Region Director Mike Berg, which he sent to us on behalf of Transportation Secretary Busalacchi regarding the reconstruction of the subject interchange. The letter acknowledges the concerns Council expressed regarding the closure of Highway 21 to traffic during reconstruction in 2012. While the DOT acknowledges the impact and their willingness to work to minimize disruptions to businesses and the public during construction, there is no indication that the DOT plans to change the design or construction schedule of this project. OVERNIGHT PARKING ON UW-OSHKOSH CAMPUS 8.: Council Member Palmeri and I were contacted by UW-Oshkosh Vice President for Administrative Services Tom Sonnleitner regarding the Council's action regarding the Lincoln School property that the University recently purchased. Mr. Sonnleitner apologized for not being at Tuesday's Council Meeting at which time he could have answered questions from the Council. The first issue that he wanted to point out was that there was some confusion over the purpose of the Lincoln parking lot. Mr. Sonnleitner confirmed that he had stated at one time that the Lincoln School parking lot was not for a specific residence hall. While he did say that, however, he pointed out that it was done in the context of the specific purpose of the use of the Lincoln property for the Children's Center and LLCE Division. He pointed out that the University is currently between 800 and 1,200 short for staff and students. Because the University has an overall shortage of parking spaces for resident students, and because they will probably continue to have that problem for many years, they requested the use of the Lincoln lot for the next year until such time as the resident students are displaced in favor of those who will be working in the building. Weekly Newsletter October 15, 2010 Page 4 Because it will take additional funds and time to implement the plan for the building at the former Lincoln School, the University feels they need to use the property in the most cost effective way to help defray costs in these tough economic times by making parking available to students. Not allowing the University to sell spaces to resident students will disadvantage many students who bring cars to campus. Mr. Sonnleitner pointed out that if overnight parking was prohibited on this lot, it would be the first "no overnight parking" in the University's inventory, which would cause much confusion among people who park on University property. Mr. Sonnleitner indicated a willingness to work with the neighbors to minimize the impact of the lot. Mr. Sonnleitner has requested that the Council reconsider this condition. I cannot place it on the Agenda until at least one Council Member who voted in the affirmative notifies me that they wish to have this reconsidered. If any Council Member wishes to reconsider this matter, please contact City Clerk th Pam Ubrig so that we may put it on the October 26 Agenda. In the meantime, if you have any questions, I suggest you contact Mr. Sonnleitner or Community Development Director Allen Davis. NEW CENSUS GROUPINGS COULD NEGATIVELY IMPACT TRANSIT 9.: Over the past several months, the U. S. Census Bureau has been considering the regrouping of how census data is summarized for regional purposes. Specifically, they are looking at a process known as "agglomeration" in which cities are grouped together in larger metropolitan areas for purposes of statistic gathering by the Census Bureau. In this case, Appleton and Oshkosh would be grouped together in a single metropolitan area. Currently, these areas are grouped individually. While this may provide some value to the U. S. Census from a statistical standpoint, the problem lies in the fact that federal agencies use these metropolitan areas as a basis for distributing aid, including transit aid. You may have heard that Appleton is facing the loss of transit aid after the 2010 census is certified because their metropolitan area will exceed 200,000 population. If an agglomeration of the Appleton and Oshkosh areas took place, Oshkosh would be grouped into this new metropolitan area, in which case our transit aid would also be in jeopardy because we would be part of a larger metropolitan area. I do not know if the U. S. Census Bureau's goal in this agglomeration process is to negatively impact federal aid to transit systems, but the fact remains that under the current rules, we would lose transit aid that we have not been in danger of losing at any time. While staff has been preparing this information, Congressman Petri's office contacted us and asked us for our input into this matter, as they suspected some negative implications for this agglomeration. We have shared our concerns with Congressman Petri's office and have asked his assistance in making our case known. I suspect that agglomerations that are being proposed down in the Racine/Kenosha area will also have an impact, so I expect other smaller metropolitan areas in the state and throughout the country to raise this issue as well. If the agglomerations were only for statistical purposes, I would have no issue with what the U. S. Census Bureau is proposing. However, with negative impacts on transit aid and possible other aids, we must oppose this proposed statistical change. If you have any questions regarding this issue, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. Weekly Newsletter October 15, 2010 Page 5 HEALTH INSURANCE FUND RESERVES EXPLAINED 10.: At Tuesday's meeting, a former Fire Department employee questioned the use of reserves in the city's Health Insurance Fund to hold down costs of health insurance. I asked staff to review and respond to the letter he provided to Council (enclosed). First, it is important to recognize that no funds have been taken from our health insurance reserve for proposed pay adjustments. In fact, we have used reserve funds to hold down the increases in the health premium paid by the city and employees, both current and retired. Second, through the changes we instituted in our health insurance administrative contract, our health care providers receive payment for their services more quickly. This reduces the health providers' costs, which, in turn, is passed onto the city, its employees, and its participating retirees, in the form of reduced claims costs and lower premiums. Because we are paying less for claims, the city does not have to place as much money in our insurance fund. Third, covered members also directly benefit from this initiative in that savings are applied before any deductibles, co- insurance and co-pays are calculated, thereby reducing the employees' costs further. Finally, because the city is self-funded for health insurance, we constantly monitor our reserves so that they are maintained at an acceptable level to strike the appropriate balance between keeping rates low and having sufficient reserves to cover large claims and other unexpected costs that may affect the fund's cash flow. Please contact Assistant City Manager/Director of Administrative Services John Fitzpatrick or me if you have any additional questions about this issue. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 11.: Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include the report on the consolidation of the Rock County and City of Beloit Health Departments that was referenced at last Tuesday's Council Meeting. The next item I'm enclosing is Museum Director Brad Larson's weekly memo to the Museum Board. I'm also enclosing the thst minutes of the October 5 Plan Commission meeting; the minutes of the September 21 thth Downtown BID Board meeting; the minutes of the July 15 and August 19 Storm Water Utility rd Committee meetings; the minutes of the August 3 Police & Fire Commission meeting; and the th meeting notice, agenda and background material for the October 27 Transit Advisory Board meeting. UPCOMING MEETINGS 12.: As I had reminded Council earlier, I will be attending the International City/County Management Association annual conference in San Jose, California thth from Saturday, October 16, through Wednesday, October 20. Sessions I will be attending at the conference include Engaging Citizens in Public Art; Economic Outlook for Cities; Consolidating Services; Data Analysis for Management Purposes; Leadership; and Sustainable Public Buildings. st Upon my return on Thursday, October 21, I will be attending a "meet and greet" for OASD th Superintendent Don Vegut at 4:00 p.m., the Senior Center's 35 anniversary celebration at 5:00 rd p.m., followed by the 6:00 p.m. Budget Workshop. On Saturday, October 23, I will be making a presentation to Professor Karl Nollenberger's class on leadership in local government. If you have any questions about my attendance in any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc