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HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: October 28, 2011 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: CVS PHARMACY WORKING GROUP MEETING UPDATE 1.: The CVS Pharmacy Working Group met with Community Development Director Davis, Planning Director Burich and I on October th 26 to review and discuss possible, economically feasible land uses, potential negative impacts on their neighborhood, and potential ways to mitigate those impacts. In preparation for the meeting, City Assessor Steven Schwoerer prepared three documents (enclosed) regarding the potential for economically feasible land uses. Attachment 1 illustrates the calculation of land acquisition, site preparation, and development costs for a range of land uses. Mr. Schwoerer then compared the projected annual rent per square foot required for each land use to the actual annual rent per square foot for each land use currently in Oshkosh. His analysis identified six possible land uses that could be th economically viable at the 9 Avenue/Koeller Street site. Those uses are in bold-face on the enclosure: Limited Service Hotel, Fast Food Restaurant, Drug Store, Convenience Store and Car Wash, Retail Multiple Tenant Strip of four or more units, and Office Building-multiple tenants. Other land use options are listed, but are not considered economically viable. As an example, the projected annual rent necessary for a new medical office was calculated to be $21.90/square foot (SF). However, the market rent for a medical office in Oshkosh ranges from only $11.11/sf to $20.34/sf, meaning that the rent for a th new medical office at 9/Koeller of $21.90/sf would be too high and out of the range for the Oshkosh medical office market. Mr. Schwoerer prepared Attachment 2 as an analysis of additional land uses provided by neighbor Dave Dahlke, a member of the Working Group. Mr. Dahlke identified acceptable land uses for the site. Mr. Schwoerer analyzed the Oshkosh market rents for those land uses and provided a range of actual Oshkosh rents. The economically feasible land uses from the list were: cell phone store, tuxedo shop, dental office, and multiple business property with three or four businesses. As an example, a retail strip with multiple tenants, including a cell phone store, a sub sandwich shop, a dental office, and another tenant, could be economically viable, as long as the total rents collected exceeded $18.49/sf. Attachment 3 is a table that the neighborhood representatives helped create. The table lists the potential, economically feasible land uses for them to consider, and the neighbors' opinion of the potential negative impacts of the land uses on their neighborhood. The middle column lists 15 potential negative impacts, starting with traffic. The neighbors also identified potential ways to mitigate the negative impacts on the neighborhood and they are listed in the last column. Weekly Newsletter October 28, 2011 Page 2 The Working Group plans to share this information with their neighbors in the near future to ensure the th information is complete. We have scheduled our final meeting with the neighbors for November 14 when we will apply this analysis to the CVS Pharmacy proposal. City staff will then provide a report to nd the City Council for the November 22 City Council Meeting, and we will explain any revisions to staff's recommendations for the CVS proposal. Action by the City Council on the CVS Pharmacy proposal could then be planned for December 13, 2011. If you have any questions on any of this information, or on the CVS Working Group, please contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. WHEEL TAX 2.: At their meeting this month, the Transit Advisory Board recommended, by a 4-2 vote, that the Common Council consider adopting a municipal vehicle registration fee ("wheel tax") of $10 per vehicle, with the net proceeds directed toward the Transit System. Board Members indicated that this was intended to offset the cuts in state operating assistance for transit in 2012. In the past, the Transit System has typically recovered about 58%-60% of its operating expenses through a combination of federal and state operating assistance. With the reduction in state operating assistance, the Transit Division was told to expect this cost recovery percentage to drop to 53% in 2012. This reduction in operating assistance represents over $200,000 of our $4.5 million budget. The draft 2012 budget for the city as a whole, and the Transit System in particular, was balanced without including revenue from a wheel tax. Further, the draft transit budget does not include any reductions to transit service in the number of routes, or in the days or hours of service. The transit budget does include recommended rate increases for ADA-related transportation, and for the senior Dial-A-Ride program. These fare increases, which will be considered by the Common Council at a future meeting, would bring in an additional $27,000 to $30,000 in revenue to the system. By comparison, staff analysis of the wheel tax indicated that it could generate over $400,000 in revenue to the city. By statute, the revenues from a wheel tax must be directed to transportation-related purposes. Of the handful of communities that have adopted this fee, or are considering it, none currently plan to designate revenues toward transit system operations. Communities typically designate the funding toward street maintenance. Complicating the current discussion on the wheel tax is an Assembly bill under consideration (AB 295), which, if adopted, would essentially require current and future wheel taxes to be approved by voter referenda. At the next Council Meeting, I would like to receive direction from the Council as to whether you would be interested in discussing implementation of a wheel tax and if so, the level of the tax and to what ends the revenue should be directed. It may be appropriate for Council Member Poeschl, who serves as the Council liaison to the Transit Advisory Board, to explain the Board's rationale behind its recommendation. If you have any questions on the staff analysis of the wheel tax, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM INFORMATIONAL MEETING 3.: Please find enclosed a letter sent to Oshkosh residents possibly affected by this year's Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for the reconstruction of their street with concrete pavement, curb/gutter and utility replacement for the 2012 construction season. As the letter states, one step in the review of the proposed CIP is to receive citizen input for the Community Development Block Grant portion of the program, as well as the proposed list of street reconstruction projects. The Neighborhood Public Hearing will be held on nd Wednesday, November 2, at 6:00 p.m., at the Oshkosh Seniors Center. The Plan Commission will st review the program at their meeting on November 1, and the CIP will come before the Council at your nd November 22 Council Meeting. If you have any questions concerning the Neighborhood Public Hearing or the program specifically, please contact Assistant Public Works Director Steve Gohde. Weekly Newsletter October 28, 2011 Page 3 UPDATE ON CONSTRUCTION ON CHURCH AVENUE 4.: The contractor has continued to pour concrete on the north side of Church Avenue this week. The schedule is to complete concrete work on the north side of Church Avenue this week and early next week, traffic will be shifted from the gravel base to the new concrete pavement on the north side. Traffic will continue to be one-way eastbound. After traffic is on the new pavement, the contractor will prepare the south side for concrete pavement. The concrete pavement is scheduled to be placed late next week, dependent on the weather. One driveway to each of the City Hall parking lots will be maintained on gravel by leaving a gap in the concrete pavement. The driveway from the Safety Building to Church Avenue, and all other driveways on the south side, will be closed for one week following the placement of the concrete pavement. It is anticipated that Church Avenue will have two-way traffic restored approximately two weeks after the concrete pavement is placed. Church Avenue will remain closed to thru-traffic as the contractor completes the remaining work. The contractor is scheduled to complete the Church Avenue th construction on November 18. This date may change if the weather causes some delays. If you have any questions concerning the Church Avenue reconstruction, please contact Assistant Public Works Director Steve Gohde. SENIORS CENTER WOODSHOP COMES TO THE RESCUE 5.: The Oshkosh Seniors Center Woodshop volunteers and Seniors Center staff have assisted Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services in the replacement of their purple silhouettes. As you may know, the purple silhouettes placed on the fence of the Christine Anne Center during Domestic Abuse Awareness Week were damaged or destroyed during the recent Pub Crawl in the city. Upon report of the damage, and knowledge of the Seniors Center Woodshop, Police Chief Scott Greuel contacted the Seniors Center to explore the possibilities of their Woodshop lending a hand. Within one week, the Oshkosh Seniors Center Woodshop managed to replace ten of the damaged silhouettes with painted wooden cutouts. These wooden cut outs are sturdier and more durable than what was previously displayed. The new cutouts now adorn the fence at the Christine Ann Center. There is a promise of additional groups of volunteers from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the Department of Corrections helping in replacing more of these silhouettes. The Seniors Center staff will be coordinating all groups to assist the Christine Ann Center in the creation of several dozen more silhouettes for their October Awareness Month activities through the two counties that they serve. I would like to commend all involved in this community-coordinated response to the damaged property at the Christine Ann Center. th ZOOLOWEEN BOO A SUCCESS 6.: The 9 Annual Zooloween Boo, held last weekend at the Menominee Park Zoo, was a huge success. There were a total of 3,084 visitors (1,906 on Saturday, and 1,178 on Sunday), compared to 1,095 for the two-day event in 2010. This year, the weather cooperated and we had many great sponsorships and businesses participating in the event. The great turnout resulted in double the revenue being generated than anticipated. Thanks to all of our staff and the volunteers who made this year's event one for the record books. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 7.: Other items I'm enclosing with today's Newsletter include Museum Director Brad Larson's letter to the Museum Board, updating them on the activities at the Museum over the last week. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I'm enclosing the minutes of the th September 26 Housing Authority meeting; the meeting notice, agenda and background material for the thth November 8 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; and the minutes of the October 18 Plan Commission meeting. Weekly Newsletter October 28, 2011 Page 4 st UPCOMING MEETINGS 8.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of October 31 include the st following: On Monday morning, October 31, at 9:30 a.m., we will be meeting to discuss the progress on our Classification and Compensation Study. At 12:30 p.m. on Monday, I will be meeting with the st Public Works Department to discuss the central garage. On Tuesday, November 1, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Community Sounding Board. At 1:30 p.m. that day, I will be meeting with the Engineering Division to discuss storm water issues. At 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, the annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce will be held at the Oshkosh Convention Center. On Wednesday, nd November 2, at 6:00 p.m., the Neighborhood Public Hearing will be held on the city's Budget, Capital Improvements Program and Community Development Block Grant Program at the Oshkosh Seniors th Center. On Friday, November 4, at 9:00 a.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Community Relations Board. If you have any questions concerning my attendance at any of these meetings, please contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures