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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: May 13, 2011 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: WATER UTILITY RATES IMPLEMENTED 1.: We were recently notified by the PSC that the final steps in the water utility rate increase process have been completed, and the adjusted rates are being implemented for services rendered on and after May 10, 2011. Per the Council's final approval on April 12, 2011, the city and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) held nd a joint public hearing on May 2 on the 9.2% requested increase. There was no oral or written testimony submitted through the hearing process, nor was the case contested in any manner. As such, the administrative law judge, on behalf of the PSC, issued the final order approving the rate adjustment on May 5, 2011. Please note that the rates will be pro-rated over the next three month period, with the new rates being in full effect as of the second week of August. Please contact Finance Director Steeno or me if you have any questions or would like additional information on this item. MEETING WITH COMMERCE SECRETARY ENCOURAGING 2.: This week, I had an opportunity to accompany City Managers throughout the state to meet with Commerce Secretary Paul Jadin. I have been fortunate enough to work with Secretary Jadin on other issues related to economic development, and I had an opportunity to catch up with him and discuss thoughts that he has for the Department of Commerce (DOC), as well as the newly created Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). As you may know, the Department of Commerce will effectively be eliminated on July 1, 2011, with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a quasi-public agency, succeeding the DOC for all areas except regulatory affairs, which are being transferred to other state agencies. Secretary Jadin invited City Managers to discuss his vision for the newly created agency. He briefed us on the preliminary organizational structure, as well as the new reporting relationships that we may see with the WEDC. Secretary Jadin pointed out that even though WEDC will be separate from the state government, he will remain a member of the Governor's cabinet for all practical purposes. Secretary Jadin also pointed out that he will place a greater emphasis on the WEDC's area managers. We are fortunate enough that our newly assigned regional manager is Frank Frassetto, Town of Black Wolf Chairman, whose office is located at the Chamber building here in downtown Oshkosh. I indicated to Secretary Jadin that we would work closely with him, as well as Mr. Frassetto, in identifying initiatives and programs that the DOC/WEDC may be able to help us with. Weekly Newsletter May 13, 2011 Page 2 We also discussed some of the issues facing economic development, primarily the lack of private funding for economic development projects. Secretary Jadin indicated that one of the initiatives with the new WEDC will be to focus on creating venture capital and angel investment opportunities for business financing. As the WEDC was created to help streamline the processes that businesses need to go through in order to expand in the state, we also made several suggestions on things that could be done to facilitate business development. One of these areas is to improve the ability of cities to review and approve commercial site plans without seeking state approval. This is done in other communities throughout the state, but the DOC has been reluctant to give other communities the ability to review commercial building plans. The members of my group expressed an interest in working with WEDC on improving the timelines that businesses need to get projects approved. If you have any questions on the city's role with DOC/WEDC, or if you have any other questions regarding my meeting with Secretary Jadin, please let me know. OCMS PROGRAMS WIN STATE BEST 16 AWARDS 3.: In case you missed one of the awards displayed in my office Tuesday night, I am pleased to announce that Oshkosh Community Media th Services (OCMS) collected 16 awards at the 13 Annual Wisconsin Association of Public, Educational, and Government Channels (WAPC) Video Festival on May 5, 2011. The 16 awards were the most collected by any city in the state. Eight of the 16 programs received the coveted first place Award of Excellence honor, which was also a state record. The programs were broadcast on CitiCable 10 and CATV 2 in 2010. I am enclosing a listing of all of the awards, which were produced by both OCMS staff and local citizens. Congratulations to Dean Leisgang, our OCMS staff, and all local producers and volunteers, for their hard work and these much deserved accolades. OPENING WEEKEND FOR MENOMINEE PARK ZOO 4.: As you may know, the Menominee Park Zoo and facilities opened this past weekend and the weather cooperated. Hence, we had the second best opening weekend since 2003. I am happy to report that everything was working and ready to go. In revenues, the total for the train, concessions and Lakefly Café on Saturday was $1,383.95, and on Sunday, we collected $2,300.20. Zoo donations for the weekend totaled $146.26, and the feed machines for the animals collected $241.62. Thank you to all of our Parks employees who worked diligently to make opening weekend a huge success. If you have any questions concerning opening weekend, please feel free to contact Parks Director Ray Maurer. 5.NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM : Please find enclosed a city-wide Neighborhood th Watch meeting notice and agenda. This meeting will take place on Thursday, May 19, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, 1100 East Murdock Avenue. In addition to our Police Department representatives, Andrew Prickett, our Property Maintenance Inspector, will be in attendance to answer any questions. City Clerk Ubrig has noticed this meeting so that any and all Council Members may attend. If you have any questions concerning this meeting, please contact Officer Joe Nichols of the Oshkosh Police Department. 6.INVITATION TO INFORMATIONAL MEETING ON CAFÉ ORDINANCE : Please find enclosed an invitation from Associate Planner Jeff Nau to all North Main Street restaurant and tavern owners to attend a public informational meeting on the café ordinance on Monday, May th 16, at 1:00 p.m., here in City Hall. Weekly Newsletter May 13, 2011 Page 3 7.OTTER AVENUE PARKING LOT RECONSTRUCTION : Please find enclosed the notice regarding the public informational meeting that will be held next Thursday, May 19, 2011, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., in Room 404 of the Oshkosh City Hall. As you can see from the attached informational sheet, representatives from the city and Gremmer & Associations, Inc. (design consultant) will be there to receive comments and answer questions. Reconstruction of this parking lot is anticipated for late summer of 2011, and is expected to be completed in approximately two months. If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please contact Public Works Director David Patek. 8.AVIATION INDUSTRIAL PARK UPDATE : On Thursday, Community Development Director Davis went to the County Aviation Committee meeting to participate in the discussion regarding the acquisition of the Brennand farm for a potential aviation industrial park. You may recall that at one time, both the Brennand and Glatz farms were being considered. However, it appears as though the Glatz family is not interested in selling at this time, resulting in the county only looking at the Brennand property at this time. The Brennand property is owned by two separate branches of the Brennand family, and they have requested separate appraisals for each of the properties. The risk that the Brennand family runs is that the appraisals may actually come in less than the appraisal that was done last year. That would certainly impact how much the federal government would consider reimbursing, as they reimburse based upon the appraised price of the properties. As a result of this discussion at the meeting, the county will be conducting these separate appraisals and reviewing them at a later time. What this means for the city's involvement is that we will wait to evaluate and prepare a TIF plan until such time that a sale appears to be imminent. Mr. Davis and I feel strongly that this represents an excellent economic development opportunity for both the city and the county, and we will continue our efforts working toward this goal. If you have any questions on this matter, please contact Mr. Davis. 9.FIRE DEPARTMENT CPR STUDY FEATURED ON MILWAUKKE TV : The Council may recall that earlier this year, the Fire Department announced the release of a study that was testing a new CPR-type device. The Oshkosh Fire Department was a participant in this blind study. The results of this study were then published in a medical journal prior to the FDA review of this CPR device for use nation-wide. The device, known as a "RESQ-PUMP" device, is an alternative CPR device that enables circulation to take place both on the down and upswing of the CPR compression. We were fortunate enough that Fox News in Milwaukee came up to interview our Fire Department based upon the results of this study, as well as interview a patient who recovered from a heart attack with the aid of the "RESQ-PUMP" device. It certainly was a thing of pride that our Fire Department was chosen to participate in this four-year study, which concluded in 2009, but the fact that we were able to highlight some clear benefit is certainly an improvement of which we can be proud. The actual device demonstrated a 53% improvement in lives saved as a result of using the device. The city will await FDA approval before we can look at using this device on a regular basis. We will be forwarding the Council a link to the Fox News broadcast so that you can see some of the details yourself. If you have any questions regarding this study and its results, please do not hesitate to contact Fire Chief Franz. 10.SUSTAINABLE OSHKOSH ANNUAL REPORT : Several months ago, the Community Development staff and members of the Sustainability Advisory Board participated in an area-wide discussion of sustainability efforts at the local level. Weekly Newsletter May 13, 2011 Page 4 The City of Oshkosh was one of several participants from Winnebago and Outagamie Counties that reported to this group about different initiatives that we had created over the past several years as sustainability has become a more relevant topic. Principal Planner Robin Leslie prepared the enclosed Sustainable Oshkosh Annual Report for public distribution. We will also be placing this annual report on the city's website. Congratulations to the members of the SAB, as well as all city staff and community members who helped make many of these accomplishments possible. If you have any questions regarding this report, please contact Community Development Director Davis. 11.CITY TO PARTNER WITH UW-O ON WATER TESTING : Over the past several months, we have been working with UW-Oshkosh on a possible venture in which the University would provide water testing services for pool water and well water samples. The city's Public Health Division currently tests pools monthly, as well as provides a service to test well water from both inside and outside the city. While these services have been well received, it does require the set up of a third lab in the city. With some staff changes in the Public Health Division, as well as needed lab staffing requirements at the Water Filtration Plant, I recently assigned the newly hired lab person to the Water Filtration Plant. When the University approached us, it made sense to free up staff to perform other functions (particularly at the Water Plant), as well as provide the University students with an opportunity to provide some much needed lab experience. As a result, we are notifying people who are receiving lab services that the city will no longer be providing these services, and directing them to the University for these services. Meanwhile, our public health sanitarians will continue to enforce our pool regulations as before. We are excited to be able to provide this opportunity for the University students to do this work, as well as continue to provide these much needed services to the community. If you have any questions regarding this change, please contact Mr. Ziemer or Denise Krueger, Interim Health Officer. 12.DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES : Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include the latest issue of the FOCUS newsletter, published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, which features an article on a new sales tax. Insofar as minutes are rd concerned, I'm enclosing the minutes of the May 3 Plan Commission meeting; the minutes of the thth April 7 Museum Board meeting, and the minutes of the April 19 Downtown BID Board th meeting. I am also enclosing the PowerPoint presentation given at the May 9 public informational meeting on the Westfield Street Bridge and approaches. The last item I'm enclosing is the latest issue of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, which features an article on the University of Wisconsin system. th 13.UPCOMING MEETINGS : Meetings I have scheduled for the week of May 16 include the th following: At 12:30 p.m. on Monday, May 16, I will be attending the Police Department's DARE graduation ceremony at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School. On Tuesday, at 6:45 a.m., I will be attending the employee recognition program at the Street and Central Garage Division. On Wednesday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the United Way Annual Recognition Breakfast. At 9:00 a.m., I will be attending the grand opening event for the biodigester facility at UW-Oshkosh. Later that day, at 2:00 p.m., I will be participating on a panel that will discuss the cooperation between the University and the city on the biodigester facility, particularly the city's participation in providing excess methane gas from the Wastewater Treatment Plant to the biodigester facility. Weekly Newsletter May 13, 2011 Page 5 At 11: 30 a.m. on Wednesday, I will be meeting with Charlie Carlson, the consultant who is doing the city compensation and classification study, to review the city's Strategic Plan and how this ties in with the goals of the study. On Thursday, at 8:00 a.m., I will be participating with a group of stakeholders who are working with Community Development staff to improve the commercial development review process. At 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, I will be attending a strategic planning session with Chamco. At 6:00 p.m. Thursday, I will be participating in Cheryl Hentz's "Eye on Oshkosh" program. Ms. Hentz will be asking me questions related to the impact on the city due to the Budget Repair Bill and the upcoming 2011-13 state budget. If you have any questions concerning my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc