Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: March 16, 2012 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: HEALTHY NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE 1.: Council may recall that during our discussions at the Workshop with NeighborWorks, staff discussed the need to identify a permanent funding source for neighborhood programs, as well as the need to leverage the resources of all the non- profit housing groups that exist in the city. With the formation of two neighborhood organizations (Stevens Park and Middle Village), and the goal to add two neighborhood groups per year, we will need to find some permanent funding source to move these neighborhood initiatives. During Monday’s State of the City address, I will discuss efforts begun by our Community Development Department to create a “Healthy Neighborhood Initiative”. The purpose of the program is to concentrate public and private resources into neighborhoods to achieve revitalization. The goal is to attract homeowners and private investments back into the neighborhoods. This will, in turn, spur investment in homeownership in these participating neighborhoods. The Community Development Department will have information at their booth at Monday’s city exhibit expo to provide some initial thoughts on how this program will be used. With the continuing cuts to the Federal CDBG Program anticipated, it will be necessary for us to identify resources to fund housing programs. Some recent legislation at the state level may enable us to use expiring TIF dollars for this purpose. Please stop by the Community Development booth at Monday’s meeting to get any questions answered that you may have about this initiative. CITY CENTER HOTEL UPDATE: 2.Staff and I had an opportunity to meet with representatives of the City Center Hotel to discuss their current plans for renovation. They are continuing to pursue their different financing options, which may include any of the mechanisms previously identified, including private investment, as well as Midwest Disaster Recovery Bonds, among others. We have asked the hotel representatives to put together all of the financial assumptions they have so that we may analyze their need for possible TIF financing. We expect that they should have some preliminary numbers to us by the end of the month, after which we will analyze them with the city’s financial advisor and determine how the TIF plan will be put together. I expect that the TIF plan could come to Council as early as the second meeting in April, depending upon the completeness of the information that they provide us. Meanwhile, the Convention & Visitors Bureau has indicated that they are prepared to turn over management of the Convention Center to the hotel group by mid-May. This will necessitate a variety of approvals by the Council, particularly the management agreement for the Convention Center, as well as the transfer of all applicable licenses. Hotel representatives will be working with the City Clerk’s and City Attorney’s Offices to have this completed by mid-May. Weekly Newsletter March 16, 2012 Page 2 With respect to the parking ramp, the owners would like the city to continue to maintain the parking structure for the foreseeable future. As you may recall, the ramp structure is technically owned by the hotel, but the city has agreed to maintain it through a long term agreement. We will be updating this agreement and providing this to Council at a later time. Finally, we are working close with the owners on the details for the construction of the River Walk this summer. The agreement will be similar to the arrangement we have with the City Center office complex in which the owners will donate a portion of the area to the city, as well as provide easements for construction. We are coordinating our respective schedules so that the hotel construction and River Walk construction do not conflict with one another. If you have any questions regarding the progress of this project, please contact Community Development Director Davis or me. CITIZENS SURVEY ON-LINE 3.: As I mentioned at Tuesday’s Council Meeting, the citizens survey that is being conducted by the Policy Analysis Class at the University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh is now available on-line for any member of the public to complete. You may access the on-line survey through the city’s website. The survey will be open for the general public for at least the next week. I encourage you to direct people to the survey so that they can provide their input on city services. SPECIAL ASSESSMENT POLICY 4.: As was discussed at Tuesday’s Council Meeting, I wanted to begin preparations for a future Council Workshop on special assessments. For starters, I am providing the Council with a copy of the city’s current special assessment policy. Staff is also surveying other communities about their special assessment policies. We will provide that information to Council in advance of the Workshop that is planned for either late April or early May. I encourage you to read our current special assessment policy as it does shed light on the logic for the policy as it exists today. If you have any questions after reading the policy, please contact Public Works Director David Patek or me. PROCUREMENT CARD (“P-CARD”) SOLICITATION 5. : At this week’s Council Meeting, Council Member Deb Allison-Aasby questioned whether any local banking institutions were ever approached to see if they could provide the same procurement card rebates and services provided by JPMC Bank as part of our state consortium purchasing program. The short answer is this service was coordinated as a RFP by our state purchasing consortium (V.A.L.U.E.) and as such, all banking institutions were given the opportunity to solicit proposals to provide procurement card services, provided they could meet the service requirements. The RFP utilized the benefits of volume participation (an estimated minimum of 75 government entities) to leverage banking institutions for reduced program fees and increased rebate amounts, which, in turn, benefit all participating agencies. If there are any additional questions about the RFP process for these services, please feel free to contact General Services Bureau Manager Jon Urben. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 6.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include the Bicycle & Pedestrian Circulation Plan, as adopted by the Council on September 27, 2011. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m enclosing the following: The minutes thth of the March 12 Advisory Park Board meeting; the minutes of the March 6 Plan Commission st meeting; and the minutes of the February 21 Downtown BID Board meeting. The last item I’m enclosing is Museum Driector Brad Larson’s letter to the Museum Board, updating them on the activities at the Museum. Weekly Newsletter March 16, 2012 Page 3 th UPCOMING MEETINGS 7.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of March 19 include the following: On Monday, I will be meeting with Public Works staff to review the bids for our refuse trucks. Council may recall that we have discussed the possibility of using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles. We will be discussing this option with staff. For the balance of Monday afternoon, I will be preparing for my State of the City Address with OCMS staff. On Tuesday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a United Way meeting at the Hooper building. On Tuesday, at 1:00 p.m., I will be working with staff to get an update on the fishing structures in the Boat Works/South Shore area. On Thursday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a Chamco Board rd meeting at UW-Oshkosh. I will be out of the office on Friday, March 23, for a vacation day. Because of my absence, I am not sure if I will be producing a Newsletter next week. If I do not do a Newsletter, I will have Jackie provide the Council with any information that may require your attention. If you have any questions about my meeting schedule, please contact me at your convenience. MAR/jdc Enclosures