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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: February 10, 2012 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: th AUTOMATED GARBAGE COLLECTION TIME LINE: 1.At the January 10 council workshop, council asked that staff provide the council with a projected time line of activities and approvals that may be necessary from council in order to implement an automated garbage collection program for the city. Please find attached the draft implementation time line that has been prepared by Public Works Director Dave Patek. The time line identifies several milestones must be reached in order for us to begin automated garbage collection by late September or early October. The first milestone assumes that Council provides authorization th and direction for an automated garbage program at the February 28 meeting. Council would then approve the purchase of refuse vehicles and revise the ordinance relative to solid waste disposal in March. In the meantime, staff will begin to work on an education process to enable residents to make cart selections this spring. The expectation is that the carts would arrive in late summer for distribution prior to beginning of automated collection in early fall. If you have any questions regarding this schedule, please do not hesitate to contact Public Works Director Patek or me. TRANSIT RIDERSHIP CONTINUES TO INCREASE: 2. Recently finalized numbers show that 2011 was a good year for ridership on the Oshkosh Transit System. Bus ridership was up slightly over 4 percent, which included a nearly 15 percent increase in UWO ridership. The bike racks on buses program has continued to be popular, with more than 5,300 uses of the racks during 2011, a nearly 50 percent increase over 2010. Usage of the various paratransit programs, including Cabulance, Senior Dial-a-Ride, Access to Jobs program and others, increased about 3.5 percent. Total system usage in 2011 was approximately 1.03 million rides. If you have any questions, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. TRAFFIC IMPACT ANALYSIS WORKSHOP: 3. A number of agenda items at recent Plan Commission meetings, such as CVS and the proposed Oaklawn Elementary School, have included discussions about potential traffic impacts of new developments or re-developments. However, the current zoning code is unclear as to under what conditions a developer is required to perform a traffic impact analysis (TIA) study, what this study should contain, and staff’s role in the process. Staff’s goal is to update the codes to ensure that the City is consistent in how we require and request a developer to complete a traffic impact analysis. The code revisions will provide specific criteria for when a developer-funded TIA is required, and will maintain staff’s independence and objectivity in reviewing the study’s findings and Weekly Newsletter February 10, 2012 Page 2 recommendations. The Plan Commission will have a workshop at its February 21 meeting to discuss potential ideas for code revisions in this area. The intent is to come to Council with ordinance changes over the next several weeks. If you have any questions, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong or Planning Services Director Darryn Burich. RIVERFRONT/RIVERWALK GRANTS: 4. Community Director Davis and I were recently questioned by a resident about the city’s efforts to pursuing grants for transportation enhancements, particularly for our river walk and trail system. Mr. Davis and his staff have been aggressive in pursuing grants to pursue our strategic goals in developing our trails and our bike and pedestrian system particularly along the river. As the attached sheet indicates, the city has been successful in receiving nearly $2.4 million in grants since 1996, of which nearly $2 million have been since 2010. The inquiry from this resident had to do with a specific program known as TE, or Transportation Enhancements grants. Unfortunately, this was one program that the city applied for and did not receive a grant in the most recent application process. One of the reasons that we were unsuccessful was that we applied for this grant prior to the adoption of the pedestrian/bike plan. As we reviewed our application and the reviewer’s comments it was obvious that the lack of the pedestrian bike plan weighed significantly against us in the final analysis. With the adoption of our pedestrian/bike plan, we expect that we will be much more competitive for these types of grants in the future. I am certainly pleased with the success that we have achieved in pursuing grants in the last couple of years, and hope to continue the success in the future. If you have any questions regarding the city’s pursuit of grants for riverfront purposes, please contact Mr. Davis at your convenience. PLANNING BEGINS FOR COUNTRY USA/ROCK USA: 5. On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting organized by CBV Director Wendy Hielsberg with city staff and representatives of the Country USA/Rock USA (CUSA/RUSA) events that are being planned for this summer. Dan Lieberhauser, President of Star Show Productions, wanted to make sure that there were no surprises in terms of costs associated with planning this event. We reviewed the services that were provided by both city and county agencies in the past year with these events, and gave Mr. Lieberhauser an idea of what to expect in 2012. We also discussed specific problem areas, such as the movement of pedestrians who do not park on site. Safety is a major concern for all of agencies affected by CUSA/RUSA, and we wanted to look at some long term solutions that may be able to save costs yet improve safety. Staff will continue to work with CUSA/RUSA representatives as we get closer to the event, and we will continue to have dialog after the event to address issues for future years. If you have any questions regarding the public safety aspects of the event, please contact Police Chief Scott Greuel. MANAGING IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES: 6. For those of you who were unable to attend the Chambers economic breakfast this week, I wanted to share with you some information that was provided by Brian Beaulieu of ITR Economics. I am attaching a page from Mr. Beaulieu’s regarding recommendations he is making to businesses as they prepare for the next few years. Both staff and council members who were present at the presentation took note of the first four items recommended by Mr. Beaulieu in his presentation, particularly since they relate very closely to initiatives that the city is undertaking at this time. Even though Mr. Beaulieu’s comments were directed to private business, I believe that these recommendations are relevant for city government as well. Specifically, Mr. Beaulieu discusses planning, goal setting, developing a system for measurement and accountability, and Weekly Newsletter February 10, 2012 Page 3 aligning compensation plans with these efforts. These recommendations are very much in line with council’s recent discussion of pay for performance and strategic planning. I share this with you for as food for thought and encourage you to look at the Chambers web site if you are interested in more of Mr. Beaulieu’s presentation. UPCOMING MEETINGS 7.: Among the meetings I have scheduled for the week of February th 13 include the following: on Monday at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the Chamber’s governmental affairs committee meeting. Afterwards, Mayor Tower and I will meet to go over Tuesday’s Council agenda. At 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, I am meeting with Interim Health Director Mark Ziemer and Interim Health Officer Denise Krueger to discuss the status of reconciling health codes in anticipation of a possible consolidation of the city and county health departments. On Wednesday at 5:00 p.m., I will be attending a Leadership Oshkosh gathering at The Waters. On Thursday at 2:00 p.m., I will be meeting with staff to discuss the regulation of digital billboards in the city. At 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, I will be attending the Chamber’s Business After Hours event at the Algoma Club. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me.