Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutDocument1 Date: June 29, 2012 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: CITY RECEIVES $1.8 MILLION GRANT FOR ARMORY DETENTION POND 1.: Please find attached a letter from the State Division of Emergency Management in which they are informing us that we are to receive a grant of over $1.8 million towards the construction of the storm water retention pond at the Armory site. This grant funds up to 87.5% of the construction costs associated with the flood control portion of the pond. The total cost of the project, including the storm water quality portion of construction, engineering for design for all portions, and site acquisition is approximately $3.75 million, so the grant covers nearly one half of the entire project cost. The grant is certainly good news, and we had anticipated this grant when we presented the estimates associated with the recent storm water rate increase. We will continue pursuing grants such as this to help further offset costs we will incur in the future to address storm water issues throughout the city. Congratulations to Storm Water Engineer James Rabe and all Public Works staff associated with pursuing this grant. This project is scheduled for construction in 2013 after final site acquisition has taken place. CVS DEVELOPMENT ITEMS PLANNED FOR JULY 10 AGENDA 2.: Two Council th Members have spoken with the City Attorney regarding a draft ordinance to make 7 Avenue one way travelling westward from the intersection with Lilac to the proposed th CVS driveway on 7. Because this option was so different and would actually change a different municipal code section than the ordinance on the July 26 agenda, the City Attorney suggested that this option be offered as a new ordinance rather than as an th amendment to the proposed ordinance placing bollards within 7 Avenue to prevent through traffic. We will be placing the one way ordinance on the Council agenda for the th July 10 meeting with a notice that the Council may waive the rules and take action on that ordinance at that meeting. If any other council member wishes to propose an option other than the ordinance to place bollards to prevent through traffic or designate the small th portion of 7 between Lilac and the proposed driveway as one way only, please let the City Attorney know so that she can assist you in determining whether this may be offered as an amendment to one of the proposed ordinances or whether it should be drafted as another ordinance option. This will give the Council the flexibility to take action on whatever range of options they wish to take regarding the CVS development. We have also been asked about placing the CVS Planned Development back on the agenda for reconsideration of the requirement to remove the access at Seventh Avenue. This item will be placed on the agenda after the discussion of Seventh Avenue. If you have any questions regarding this matter, or if you want to propose any other amendments to the PD, please contact me by Tuesday at noon, and I will direct your inquiry to the appropriate staff member(s). Weekly Newsletter June 29, 2012 Page 2 REORGANIZATION IN INSPECTIONS DIVISION YIELDS RESULTS: 3. I am pleased to report that under the leadership of Chief Building Official John Zarate, we have seen some measurable improvements the first three months following reorganization of the Inspections Division. As the attached report to our Inspections Advisory Committee indicates, in the months immediately prior to and after reorganization, Inspections staff were completing 90-93% of their building and electrical inspections within 48 hours. Our goal has been to get this work complete 95% of the time. Since the addition of limited contract inspectors for the busier summer months, we have seen our performance increase to 96-100% of inspections complete within 48 hours. Furthermore, since we have dedicated a building systems inspector to the Inspections counter during the entire day, 85% of our customers are receiving their permit on their first visit to our inspections counter. Although we did not previously have any measure of performance, the lack of an available inspector had been a source of complaints from customers who could only obtain a permit over a two hour period throughout the day, and often had to come back for multiple visits to the counter. We are pleased with these results, and staff will continue to look for ways to improve our service to the public. If you have any questions regarding these improvements, please contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. EMPLOYEE INPUT SOUGHT ON KEY ISSUES 4.: This week, I held a virtual meeting with employees to discuss my need for employee input on issues affecting our entire organization. I am soliciting involvement in employee focus groups, which will advise me on issues by reviewing the current status of an issue, best practices, the environment in which we are operating, and alternatives that may be available to address issues. In addition to providing me with input, I will rely on these groups to help communicate these issues back to fellow employees. The groups will be diverse by design so that they represent a cross section of departments and all levels of the organization. The first two focus groups will be for (1) Performance Management; and (2) Health Insurance. I will be giving the focus groups some initial direction on what I am immediately seeking so that they may provide me with relevant input up through the budget process. I plan for these groups to continue provide me with input on an ongoing basis into the future. As these groups advise me, you will see the value of their influence as I make recommendations to Council on policies from these areas. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATE 5.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include the June 19, 2012 Plan Commission Minutes and the minutes from the June 21, 2012 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. UPCOMING MEETINGS/NO NEWSLETTER NEXT WEEK 6.: Because of Independence Day falling in the middle of the week, I currently have a limited meeting schedule for the week of July 2. On Monday, July 2, at 1:30, Community Development Director Allen Davis and I are meeting with Chamco Director Elizabeth Hartman to discuss issues related to Chamco’s continued interest in the development of an Aviation Industrial Park. I plan to be out of the office beginning Tuesday afternoon for the remainder of the week, so there will be no newsletter on Friday, July 6. If Council members need to contact me for any reason, please contact me via my cell phone. If you would like to add something to the agenda and want to discuss with me, please let me th know prior to noon on Tuesday. Have a great 4 of July Holiday. MAR/jab Enclosures