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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: August 26, 2011 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: AFTERMATH OF CVS 1.: Following Tuesday's Council Meeting at which the CVS development project was turned down by Council, I have received numerous calls and inquiries from members of the community and Council Members regarding the next step in this process. From my standpoint at this time, the development project has been rejected by the Council and no further action is anticipated. However, as you've read in recent newspaper accounts, CVS remains interested in Oshkosh and in this site, in particular. Whether or not that location comes to fruition for CVS remains to be seen. However, as I was asked about the options available to you, I see that two basic options are available. First of all, CVS could resubmit an application for a development. There is no provision in our municipal code that prevents CVS from submitting the same or revised plans for development at this site. From a practical standpoint, merely submitting the same plans that have been rejected would not make much sense. A second option would be for Council to reconsider its motion from Tuesday night. If the Council agrees to reconsider this matter, then the Council could make any amendment to this development as you see fit. In both scenarios, I feel that public comment and input would still be necessary. The advantage of "starting over" is that the process would, once again, go through both Site Plan Review and the Plan Commission prior to going to Council. However, if the application is virtually the same as initially presented, it may be further drawing those lines in the sand. If Council were to reconsider the item, there is no requirement that the Council would need to take final action at that moment. In fact, there may be some other items or issues that Council may wish to ask about or have reviewed with the applicant and/or neighboring residents before you take final action. At this time, no Council Member has made any request of me to place this back on the Agenda for th consideration at the September 13 Council Meeting. Should any Council Member wish to have this item reconsidered, please contact me so that we may schedule it accordingly. DEVELOPMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS 2.: Community Development Director Davis and I have been discussing, for some time, a concern that has been heightened by the CVS issue - the conflicts of our major transportation corridors, particularly those that are adjacent to well- established residential areas. This type of conflict is not common in older cities, and the main issue has to do with how can these major transportation corridors, which may have previously been residential in nature, coexist with the residential areas. Mr. Davis has several observations, some of which involve the development of neighborhood plans. The purpose of a neighborhood plan is to dig deeper than what you might see in a comprehensive plan, and invite the input of a specific neighborhood to help us in developing these plans. Weekly Newsletter August 26, 2011 Page 2 In reviewing our zoning code, this may also require the updating of our zoning code, particularly the addition of more zones that may be specific to neighborhoods that back up to these commercial corridors. These types of transitional zones are very common in larger urban areas, and we certainly qualify in that. Mr. Davis and I have discussed this with several Council Members, but I think that in light of the CVS issue, this points out the need for us to work on this issue. Mr. Davis and I will be strategizing on how to discuss this with both the Plan Commission and City Council, but I wanted to make you aware that this is an evolving issue that will require the input of the community and Council Members, along with the cooperation of staff. I welcome your comments on this matter. POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES GRANT AWARD 3.: Council may recall that several weeks ago, you approved a grant that the Police Department filed with the Department of Justice. The purpose of the grant was to acquire tactical equipment upgrades to improve officer safety. I am happy to report that the city will be receiving approximately $30,000 from the Federal Department of Justice to upgrade the equipment for our special tactical unit. I am enclosing the application abstract for your information. Congratulations to Chief Greuel and his staff for writing a successful grant application. Please contact Chief Greuel if you have any questions regarding this grant. WIOUWASH TRAIL 4.: As Council may be aware, one of the features of the USH 41 bridge over Lake Butte des Morts is the addition of a trail extending over the length of the bridge, from Lakeshore Golf Course over to the area by Ecklund Motorsports. The purpose of this trail is to connect to the Wiouwash Trail that runs along the east side of the lake and Fox River. During discussions with the DOT, Winnebago County had agreed to accept responsibility for maintenance of this trail, provided that they no longer had maintenance responsibilities for the Wiouwash Trail from USH 41 to the southeast. These discussions took place approximately six to seven years ago, and the city had been approached about assuming responsibilities for the Wiouwash Trail in this area, from USH 41 back to UW-Oshkosh. Although there were discussions in this area, no formal agreement had been reached in this matter from the city's standpoint. The Winnebago County Parks Department has contacted Parks Director Ray Maurer about assuming responsibility upon completion of the USH 41 bridge. Mr. Maurer has researched this issue and was unable to locate a final document in which the city took responsibility for this trail. While we understand the reason for this proposed transfer, we also recognize that the county will be assuming a brand new trail in brand new condition, whereas the Wiouwash Trail has not been maintained in recent years, and is not up to current trail standards. We will be discussing these issues with the county so that we do not inherit a trail that is in substandard condition. Eventually, this issue will need to be approved by the Council in order for us to assume maintenance responsibilities for this trail. If you have any questions regarding this issue, please contact Parks Director Maurer. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 5.: Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include a memorandum from Principal Planner Robin Leslie concerning the Community Development Block Grant allocation for the 2011 program year. Please contact Robin if you have questions concerning this information. I am also enclosing two publications from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, the first being the FOCUS newsletter, which contains an article on property value decline. The Wisconsin Taxpayer features an article on Wisconsin th Transportation. The last item I'm enclosing is the minutes of the August 10 Parking Utility Commission meeting. Weekly Newsletter August 26, 2011 Page 3 th UPCOMING MEETINGS 6.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of August 29 include the following: On Monday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a Leadership Oshkosh Steering Committee meeting. On Wednesday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the OAEDC Executive st Committee meeting. On Thursday, September 1, at 9:00 a.m., I will be attending a meeting with city and county staff to review the Country USA and Rock USA special events. Because these events take place in the jurisdiction of both the city and Town of Nekimi, we want to make sure that our efforts are coordinated with the event planner. If you have any questions regarding my schedule, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures