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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWeekly Newsletter Date: March 23, 2012 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: RIVER WALK & SHANTIES UPDATE 1.: At Monday’s State of the City event, I misspoke when I mentioned that the first phase of River Walk construction on the south shore would take place in 2013. Community Development Director Davis reminded me that this leg of the project is scheduled for 2012. As Council is aware, there is a great deal of interest in exploring the historical significance of the river shanties. We are aware that the Winnebago County Historical and Archaeological Society, the Fox Wisconsin Heritage Corridor group, as well as our own Landmarks Commission, all have an interest in investigating the historical significance and cultural preservation of this part of the city’s history. Recognizing the diverse historical interest of these groups, staff does not want to take away the opportunity for these groups to conduct whatever historical analysis they feel is necessary. We have identified a way in which we can construct the River Walk in this area in 2012 without impacting the river shanties. This will give all interested groups ample time to review long term plans for the structures and for preserving the historical story of the fishing shanties. I think that this approach accomplishes the balance that we would like to achieve of proceeding with the long term plans to construct a River Walk in the south shore area, yet not rushing the issue of river shanties without giving all interested parties an opportunity to conduct their historical review. Staff will begin preparing final plans and specifications with this approach in mind. We will also notify all of the affected groups that they have time to conduct whatever historical analysis they wish to conduct. Meanwhile, we will also contact all of the parties who have indicated an interest in the river shanties that we will not be pursuing any action at this time. If you have any questions regarding this approach, please contact Community Development Director Davis or me. YARD WASTE DROP-OFF SITE 2.: With the beautiful weather and unseasonable temperatures we’ve been experiencing, many citizens have been out enjoying the warmth, getting an early start on their yard clean-up chores. We’re had a number of inquiries about the city’s drop-off site. The site is now open from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. It has been our intention all stst along to open the site on April 1. Beginning April 1, the drop-off site will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. st Since April 1 lands on a Sunday this year, the site will be open that day from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We did not open the site earlier due to staffing issues. Of course, we had no idea we would be experiencing this kind of weather, so we hope that our citizenry understands our dilemma and st can hold off until April 1 to dispose of their yard waste. If you have any questions concerning this issue, please feel free to contact Street Superintendent Kevin Uhen. Weekly Newsletter March 23, 2012 Page 2 CITY & CHAMCO FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHWEST INDUSTRIAL 3. PARK : The Chamco Industrial Building Committee has been working with city staff to discuss whether it was in our best interest to encourage new industrial building construction by building a true spec building in one of the city’s industrial parks. After a great deal of discussion, and considering the current state of the economy and banking climate, it was decided that a spec building would not be in our collective best interests at this time. During the discussion, we investigated other things that could be done to make an industrial project more “shovel ready”. Our industrial sites currently have utilities available up to the property line, but very little site preparation work is done. Furthermore, we have never put ourselves in the situation to develop preliminary building plans, building code review, as well as preliminary site review and necessary environmental approvals. Chamco and city staff have identified several plots in the industrial park in which we could get much of this preliminary work done. This would speed up the development process by four to five weeks because much of the preliminary work would be done. A prospective industrial client would only need to identify details specific to the business’ needs. Once those specific needs were identified, construction could immediately begin. We believe that the city and Chamco would be able to market this feature as a unique advantage over other possible communities, and could further highlight the city’s continued efforts to improve the view of our business climate. Site preparation costs are a legitimate cost within the city’s TIF Districts, so we could add these costs to our TIF Districts without any difficulty. It would be our hope that we could recoup most, if not all of these costs through the sale of properties, as the value we would add to these properties is much greater than the price we would even charge. We will provide the Council more details on this project as we begin preliminary site work. If you have any questions regarding this initiative, please contact Community Development Director Davis. TUESDAY NIGHTS AT THE LEACH 4.: As you are aware, the Oshkosh Parks Department will be offering a new concert series at the Leach Amphitheater this summer. The series is officially named, “Streaming LIVE” at the Leach, which is a name suggested by the UW-Oshkosh Strategic Campaigns in Advertising journalism class from the spring of 2011. This class worked with the Parks Department in arriving at this title. The Downtown Business Improvement District Board has committed $3,000 to the concert series, which will take place Tuesday evenings, from June thstrd 19 through July 31 (no concert July 3). Music will begin at 6:30 p.m. and end at 8:30 p.m. on each Tuesday evening. Parks Department staff will operate the box office and concessions, etc. Gates will open at approximately 5:30 p.m. We are concentrating on making this an affordable, community event, with a $5.00 admission charge, $3.00 with a student ID, and free for kids 12 years old or under. In addition, we are focusing on “local” bands from the Oshkosh and Fox Valley area. We are currently working on booking bands, and are planning to offer a variety of music such as blues, classic rock, etc. Only one band will be booked per night. If you have any questions concerning our new Tuesday night concert series, please feel free to contact Parks Director Ray Maurer. MENOMINEE PARK MASTER PLAN PUBLIC INPUT MEETING 5.: The Oshkosh Parks Department will be hosting a Public Input meeting for residents to provide thoughts and suggestions for the Menominee Park Master Plan. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 4, 2012, at 6:30 p.m., at the Oshkosh Seniors Center. The city has hired Rettler Corporation of Stevens Point to assist with developing the Master Plan. Rettler staff will be on hand to present the existing inventory and conditions of the park, and received public comments as part of the planning process. If you have any questions concerning the Master Plan or this Public Input meeting, please contact Parks Director Ray Maurer. Weekly Newsletter March 23, 2012 Page 3 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 6.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include the 2011 Progress Report on Oshkosh Area Economic Development. This report describes development activities in our community during 2011, including specific information about business development, tourism, and public improvements. I am also enclosing a “Department-Wide Affiliation List”, which was put together by Finance Director Peggy Steeno. You will find each department of the city listed, and the groups they are affiliated with listed to the right. If you have any questions concerning this listing, please contact Finance Director Steeno. I am also enclosing correspondence from Bird City Wisconsin, informing us that we are a Bird City for 2012 at the High Flyer level. The details of this designation are included in a letter to Principal Planner Robin Leslie and the enclosed press release. If you have any questions about this, please contact Principal Planner Leslie. The only minutes I have to send along today are the minutes of th the February 27 Housing Authority meeting. The last item I’m enclosing is the FOCUS newsletter, published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, which features an article on the mining debate in Wisconsin. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 7.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of March 25 include the th following: On Sunday, at 1:00 p.m., I will be attending the Oaklawn Elementary School 60 Anniversary celebration. I may also be attending the George Washington exhibit at the Library at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. On Monday, at 8:00 a.m., I will be meeting with Mayor Tower to review the Tuesday Council Agenda. At 9:30 a.m. Monday, Finance Director Steeno and I will be meeting with Wisconsin State Treasurer Kurt Schuller. Mr. Schuller is visiting municipalities throughout the state to discuss the services that his office provides, as well as listen to needs from area municipalities. On Wednesday, at 8:00 a.m., I will be attending the FVTC Centennial Celebration at the Riverside Campus. On Wednesday, at 11:00 a.m., I will be meeting with OAEDC Director Rob Kleman. On Thursday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Storm Water Committee. At this meeting, the Committee will be reviewing staff’s analysis for a proposed rate increase that was identified in the 2012 budget. Based upon the outcome of this meeting, staff will be reporting to Council any recommendations the Committee may have regarding a proposed rate increase for our storm water utility. On Thursday afternoon, I will be attending a seminar in Pewaukee at which I will be discussing the city’s Class & Compensation Study, as well as how the city managed this project internally with city employees. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures