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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: March 2, 2012 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: MEETING SET UP FOR PUB CRAWL 1.: Please find enclosed an outline that I have prepared for meeting with tavern owners along Main Street regarding the Pub Crawl event. I have invited all of the affected parties to attend a meeting, at which we will go over the issues as outlined on the enclosed attachment. As you can see, we are looking for ways to make the event safer, yet use fewer resources to do so. Of course, the primary issue that is of most immediate concern is addressing the outstanding bill. Following this meeting, I will be able to report back to the th Council at the March 13 meeting. CONVENTION CENTER MANAGEMENT 2.: This week, I had an opportunity to meet with Wendy Hielsberg and some Board Members of the Convention & Visitors Bureau regarding the status of the Convention Center management now that there is a new owner for the City Center Hotel. The new hotel ownership group is interested in assuming management responsibilities for the Convention Center sooner rather than later. The purpose of doing so is so that they are comfortable with the management of the Convention Center prior to the opening of the hotel. I understand their desire to make coordination between the hotel and the Convention Center work as smoothly as possible, as well as meet the needs of future users of the Convention Center. The city has a contract with the Convention & Visitors Bureau’s subsidiary that was created to manage the Convention Center. The CVB, in turn, has an agreement with the Supple Restaurant Group for the food and beverage portion of the Convention Center. Each of those arrangements has a provision for cancellation of the agreement. The CVB is working with city staff through our agreement so that we can plan for the transition over to the hotel owners sometime this spring or early summer. This will require a new agreement with the hotel group that we will be working on in the coming months. While I don’t have any details for you at this time, I wanted to make the Council aware that this is something that you will be seeing sometime this spring. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the existing agreement (which is enclosed for your review), please contact City Attorney Lorenson or me. DEPARTMENT HEADS TOUR BOYS & GIRLS CLUB 3.: On Wednesday, Department Heads and I held our weekly staff meeting at the Boys & Girls Club on Parkway Avenue. This meeting was coordinated by Council Member Steve Cummings, who currently serves on that board in an adjunct capacity as part of his participation in Leadership Oshkosh. Following our regular staff meeting, we were given an orientation about the Boys & Girls Club, as well as a tour of the facilities. The staff was quite impressed with the numbers of young people that the Boys & Girls Club reaches, and we discussed ways in which we could potentially partner with the Boys & Girls Club. Weekly Newsletter March 2, 2012 Page 2 The Police Department has already made great inroads in working with the Boys & Girls Club by placing officers at the facility for various activities. All departments walked away with a better understanding of what the Boys & Girls Club provides in the way of services, and we will be brainstorming on ideas of potentially collaborating with them in the future. I would expect that you will see some ideas coming to fruition in the coming months. I appreciate Council Member Cummings bringing this idea forward so that we may work with the Boys & Girls Club on projects that will benefit both agencies. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 4.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include the Annual Report of Trust Funds from Finance Director Peggy Steeno. Please contact Ms. Steeno if you have questions on this report. I am also enclosing two publications from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. The first is The Wisconsin Taxpayer, which features an article on Wisconsin’s sales tax. The second publication is the FOCUS newsletter, which again talks about the state budget. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m st enclosing the minutes of the February 21 Plan Commission meeting, and the minutes of the nd February 2 Museum Board meeting. I am also enclosing the latest report on the 2012 hotel/motel room tax. The last item I’m enclosing is the February, 2012, highlights from the Oshkosh Public Library. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 5.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of March 5 include the th following: On Monday, March 5, at 9:30 a.m., I am meeting with supervisors throughout the city to discuss the implementation of the Classification & Compensation Study, including the appeal process. On Monday, at 1:00 p.m., I will be meeting with Public Works staff and DOT representatives regarding long range planning for the Jackson Street/Oregon Street bridge. On th Tuesday, March 6, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the Community Sounding Board meeting at UW-Oshkosh. At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, I will be holding a virtual meeting with all employees regarding the implementation of the Classification & Compensation Study. At 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, I will be meeting with Health Department staff to discuss implementation issues associated with the recently approved consolidation with Winnebago County. For the balance of the week, I will be attending the winter Wisconsin City/County Management Association Conference in Eau Claire. As a result of my absence, there will be no Newsletter next week. Jackie will forward any relevant information to you that may come up during the week. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures