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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: November 5, 2010 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: 1.BOARD OF HEALTH RECOMMENDS CONTINUED DISCUSSION OVER HEALTH CONSOLIDATION : At last week's Board of Health meeting, the Board approved a motion that recommends to the Common Council that the city go forth with a negotiated consolidation of the City of Oshkosh and Winnebago County Health Departments. During the discussions, members of the Board of Health acknowledged that there are several unresolved issues, particularly those that relate to the different levels of service provided by the respective Health Departments, as well as impact on city personnel. I only recently had an opportunity to speak with Board Health Chair Stan Kline regarding the next step with this recommendation. Chairman Kline believes that the appropriate measure would be to place a resolution on the Common Council Agenda that accepts the Board's recommendation and directs staff to begin specific negotiations on a possible consolidation. Chairman Kline emphasized that one concern from the Board Members is that this discussion takes place with all due haste. The Board feels that this issue should not be dragged out any longer. Meanwhile, a question that was rai sed at last evening's information session on the budget had to do with what the city has budgeted for the Health Department for 2011. I can report that a status quo budget has been budgeted for 2011, so regardless of the final outcome, we have the resources necessary to either consolidate with the county or continue on our own. Similarly, the County Health Department also prepared a status quo budget for their agency. I will be rd placing this resolution on the November 23 Council Agenda. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me. 2.STORM WATER CREDIT GAINS INTEREST : I am pleased to report that following Council's approval of a storm water credit policy, the County UW-Extension Office has received calls from residents interested in installing a rain garden to take advantage of the storm water credit for quality purposes. UW-Extension staff will be planning some additional training and developing other resources for people interested in rain gardens and rain barrels. We will need to rely, in part, on word-of-mouth so that people may become more aware of the possibility of a storm water credit. We will continue to make information available on the city's website so that they can refer to information about the residenti al credit. We will provide you information as interest develops in this storm water credit. If you have any questions, please contact Storm Water Engineer James Rabe. Weekly Newsletter November 5, 2010 Page 2 3.CITY FILES FOIA REQUEST OVER USPS PROCES SING PLANT : Council recently adopted a resolution expressing concern over the United States Postal Service conducting a study of the possible closure of the Oshkosh Postal Processing Plant without having conducted a study of all processing plants in the Lakeland region. After the Mayor and I attended a meeting with other local representatives with the US Postal Service back in August, we were concerned that the Postal Service was not forthcoming with information regarding why they suddenly suspended a similar review of the Green Bay processing plant without any explanation. When pressed, USPS representatives were reluctant to share any information about why this was done, citing proprietary interest. I do not know if there are any proprietary interests t hat would be compromised by providing us with this information. After discussing this issue with other business and governmental representatives, I felt it was appropriate to make this Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to identify specifically what caused the USPS to suddenly suspend the Green Bay study, yet proceed with a similar study of the Oshkosh facility with no delay at all. Please find enclosed our FOIA request submitted by City Attorney Lynn Lorenson. We will await the response from the USPS. Meanwhile, we expect that the USPS will be seeking public input on their final AMP report within the next few weeks. We will certainly respond to this report after we've had a chance to review it. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me. 4.DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES : Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include a letter to the Chief Financial Officer of Carmel Residence, Inc., thanking them for their payment in lieu of real estate taxes for t his year. This very commendable action is voluntarily done by Lutheran Homes of Oshkosh every year as payment for city services. The next item I'm enclosing is the latest report on the motel/hotel room tax. I am also enclosing the most recent issue of t he FOCUS newsletter, which features an article on 2009-2010 school finances. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I'm enclosing the following: The minutes of the th th October 6 Long Range Finance Committee meeting; the minutes of the October 7 Museum th Board meeting; the minutes of the October 13 Landmarks Commission meeting; the minutes of th the October 27 Transit Advisory Board meeting; the meeting notice, agenda and background th material for the November 9 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; and the meeting notice, th agenda and background material for the November 10 Parking Utility Commission meeting. th 5.UPCOMING MEETINGS : Meetings I have scheduled for the week of November 8 include the th following: On Monday, November 8, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Chamber th Governmental Affairs Committee. On Tuesday, November 9, at 10:30 a.m., I will be meeting with UW-Oshkosh representatives, as well as city representatives, regarding long range traffic planning around the UW-Oshkosh campus. Specifically, we will be looking at traffic plans as they relate to upcoming capital projects on Elmwood and High Avenues. At 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Public Works Director David Patek and I will be attending the Chamber of Commerce's Manufacturing Council meeting. The group has asked us to speak to them regarding the current th status of the Storm Water Utility. On Thursday, November 11, at 8:00 a.m., I will be attending Veterans Day ceremonies over at the Seniors Center. If you have any questions regardi ng my attendance at any of these meetings, please feel free to contact me. MAR/jdc