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Home My WebLink Aboutweekly newsletter Date: June 1, 2012 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: NO WAKE ZONE BY SPELLMAN’S MARINA 1.: The Parks Department was contacted prior Slow No Wake to Memorial Day by an individual concerned that the buoy near Spellman’s Marina was possibly moved south of where the buoy was originally placed. The buoys are placed in the river by Parks staff, so we scheduled staff to check the buoy location and relocate it per Section 17-29(A)(1) of the Municipal Code, which states “…a point 1,200 feet south/downstream…” of the Oshkosh/Congress Avenue bridge. Mr. Tim Doberstein, owner of Spellman’s Marina, met staff on-site after the buoy was placed and he was concerned that the Slow placement per the code caused him and his dock renters concern. With the buoy noting the No Wake placed at the 1,200 foot mark, Mr. Doberstein stated that boat operators would not slow down until that point, and their wake would rock boats that would be at his gas dock. This would potentially cause gas spills and/or injury to his staff and boat owners. In addition, the boats stored in his docks could be damaged due to the wakes. Parks Director Ray Maurer made the decision to temporarily relocate the buoy further south to approximately 1,550 feet south of the Oshkosh/Congress Avenue Bridge to alleviate Mr. Doberstein’s concerns. Mr. Maurer explained to him that if the buoy was to remain further south than stated in the ordinance, he would need to request an ordinance change. Mr. Doberstein contacted Mr. Jeff Hager, Mercury Marine Field Test and Plant 33 Site Leader, to advise him of this proposal. Mr. Hager contacted Mr. Maurer and was supportive of moving the buoy further south. Parks Director Maurer has placed the request to th Slow No Wake change the ordinance on the June 11 Advisory Park Board meeting agenda. Since the ordinance change would require two readings, and Mr. Doberstein is requesting this be considered expeditiously, we are seeking input from Common Council Members on when to th schedule this item for Common Council consideration. We could place it on the June 12 Agenda, and staff could provide a report on the discussion that occurred at the Advisory Park th Board meeting on the prior evening, or we could plan for it to be on the June 26 Agenda. The Common Council may also want to consider amending their rules and only require one reading of the ordinance no matter which date the item is on the Council Agenda. This would give staff th direction on the buoy placement prior to July 4. Please contact Parks Director Ray Maurer with your thoughts on this issue and your preference on how to proceed with this item. STATISTICS ON THE UPCOMING ELECTION 2.: City Clerk Pam Ubrig has supplied me with some interesting statistics concerning absentee voting for the upcoming election next Tuesday. As you can see from the enclosed data, the amount of absentee voting for the November, 2011 Gubernatorial race is far less than what we are experiencing for the upcoming recall election. Weekly Newsletter June 1, 2012 Page 2 CENTRAL GARAGE UPDATE 3.: Public Works Director Patek and I met with UW-Oshkosh rd representatives regarding the exchange of properties on either side of 3 Avenue, which will enable the city to square off properties and maximize the footprint for the central garage project. Our goal is to work with the University to have information for them to present to the Board of Regents for approval sometime this summer. Meanwhile, we continue to meet with John Wallenkamp of Kueny Architects to discuss design issues. Mr. Wallenkamp will be meeting with the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) on Monday afternoon to discuss design elements that may be of interest to the SAB in terms of sustainability issues. Council may note that the SAB recently passed a motion to recommend that the Council seek LEED certification for the central garage, rather than simply build to LEED standards. Staff had been working with Kueny to have the building built to LEED standards. The discussion of certification can come before the Council when the final design and project budget are discussed. Finally, staff continues to have discussions with providers of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). We are working on short term solutions to have our new CNG vehicles supplied with a reliable source of fuel upon their delivery in September. We are working with these companies to discuss a short term solution for fuel, as well as the potential for building a CNG fueling station for the central garage facility, and/or the possibility of a public fueling station, which may or may not be on the central garage site. If you have any questions regarding the central garage project, please contact Public Works Director Dave Patek. UPDATED STORM WATER MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS 4.: Council may recall that at nd the May 22 Workshop on storm water management, Public Works staff indicated that they would be providing a formal revision to the city’s storm water management ordinance in advance th of Council considering these changes at your June 12 meeting. Storm Water Management Engineer James Rabe has provided the enclosed changes to the city’s ordinances, which are now being codified in an entirely new section. These changes insure that the city is in compliance with current state law, as well as recommended changes by the DNR and EPA regarding storm water management. These changes are also consistent with storm water management practices in effect for other Phase II communities in the immediate area. Staff wanted to provide Council with this information with sufficient lead time so that you may review it and provide any questions to staff th prior to the June 12 meeting. If you have any questions after reviewing this information, please contact Public Works Director Patek or Mr. Rabe at your convenience. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 5.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include a resolution passed by the Chamco Board of Directors, supporting the study of economic development proposed by the city. I am also enclosing the latest report on the hotel/motel room tax. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m enclosing the following: The thth minutes of the May 7 Sustainability Advisory Board meeting; the minutes of the March 29 Storm Water Utility Committee meeting; the meeting notice, agenda and background material for th the June 12 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; and the meeting notice, agenda and th background material for the June 13 Parking Utility Commission meeting. The last item I’m enclosing is the latest issue of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, which features an article on tourism’s impact on the state economy. Weekly Newsletter June 1, 2012 Page 3 th UPCOMING MEETINGS 6.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of June 4 include the following: On Monday, at 12:00 noon, I will be meeting with Council Member Poeschl and Mayor Tower regarding the Sustainability Advisory Board. On Monday, at 2:00 p.m., I will be th attending a meeting at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation regarding their 85 anniversary project. At 3:00 p.m., I will be participating in a conference call with the Legislative Audit Bureau. I have been asked to serve on a committee of local government officials throughout the state to research and highlight best practices being utilized by cities and counties so that this th information may be shared with other local governments. On Tuesday, June 5, at 6:15 a.m., I will be attending an employee recognition meeting at the Police Department. I will be hosting a similar employee recognition at the Fire Department at 11:30 a.m., the Police Department for second shift at 2:15 p.m., and at the Police Department for the third shift at 10:15 p.m. The week of employee recognition will continue on Wednesday and Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the Fire th Department, and at 8:15 a.m. on Thursday at City Hall. At 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, June 6, I will be attending a DARE graduation ceremony at Oaklawn Elementary School. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures