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Home My WebLink Aboutweekly newsletter Date: January 11, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: PLANNING FOR CITY HALL PARKING LOT PROJECT 1.: Over the past several months, Public Works staff has been working on logistical issues associated with the planned construction of a storm water detention basin beneath the parking lot of City Hall, the reconstruction of the parking lot, as well as the impact that it will have on operations within the City Hall and Public Safety Buildings. Public Works staff has been actively working with departments and surrounding property owners to identify potential locations for parking spaces for employees. While there will be some inconveniences, we believe that we are putting together a plan that will enable us to serve the public with minimal, negative impact during the construction process. The other challenge we are looking at is how to address parking needs for public meetings, particularly our board and commission meetings. Because any public meetings held during work hours would potentially become problematic for members of the public wanting to park for a meeting, I’ve asked departments to identify potential locations for public meetings that may be held during regular work hours. Furthermore, because we have several boards and commissions that meet during the day and also have their meetings televised on CATV 10, I have directed departments to make arrangements to move all televised board and commission meetings over to the Seniors Center for the duration of the project, i.e., March to November, 2013. Even though some of the televised board and commission meetings may be held after work hours, I felt it was important to be consistent with board and commission meetings so that there is minimal confusion. The Seniors Center was selected because it is the only other city facility that can provide a live feed for televising meetings on CATV 10. As for the Council Meetings, because all of those meetings are held after work hours, we will continue to hold Council Meetings at City Hall as usual. Meanwhile, departments are also working to identify locations for other public meetings that are not televised. I have asked department heads to give me their final locations within the next couple of weeks. Staff will advise their respective board/commission and then work to publicize meeting locations so that the impact on the public is minimized when construction begins sometime in March. This will involve a significant amount of time needed for public information. I will place this item on an upcoming Council Agenda as well so that Council Members may ask questions and we may begin the public information phase of this effort. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Weekly Newsletter January 11, 2013 Page 2 STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE 2.: Mayor Tower and I have discussed ways in which we can promote the city’s recently adopted Strategic Plan. OCMS staff and I have put together a segment for our “Your City at Work” program that highlights the 2012-2014 Strategic Plan. We were hoping that this will provide the entire community with a general overview of the Strategic Plan and its major components. Additionally, staff and I have been making presentations to various community groups on the Strategic Plan itself. Furthermore, we are in the process of developing a business card-sized handout that summarizes our Strategic Plan that can be distributed by city employees and Council Members. We have also prepared some laminated, two-sided handouts that show our “road map” for the future, which was included in the Strategic Plan. At our city exhibit booth for the State of the City address, we will have some of these handouts available for the public at large. Once the business cards are printed, I will provide a supply of them to each Council Member so that you may use them at your discretion. Finally, I will provide the Council with a hard copy and electronic copy of the Power Point presentation that was used for the “Your City at Work” segment. Council Members can feel free to use this should you have an opportunity to talk about the Strategic Plan with community groups. If you have any other ideas or suggestions on how we may better communicate the Strategic Plan to the public, please let me know. WORKSHOP WITH PRAGER GROUP ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STUDY 3.: I appreciate the feedback provided by Council Members on questions that you have provided in advance of Adam Prager’s presentation to the Council next Tuesday evening. Staff has summarized the questions we’ve received on the enclosed page. If you have any additional questions in advance of Tuesday’s meeting, please forward them to Kelly Nieforth as soon as possible so that we may give them to Mr. Prager in advance of the meeting. Staff has also been conducting additional research based upon the questions from Council Members, and we will be able to provide these answers either at the meeting or at another time. DOWNTOWN PARKING 4.: Please find enclosed some useful information on downtown parking in the City of Oshkosh. As you may know, after the first of the year, parking in downtown Oshkosh changed to all-permit parking (leased spaces are no longer available). Permit parking spots are indicated by blue-lettered signage. To use one of these spaces, a person will need to have a daily permit, a monthly sticker, or an annual sticker. Stickers are available at City Hall. Daily passes for parking are available at City Hall and the Oshkosh Public Library. These are for people that plan to spend more than 90 minutes downtown, and they are available for $1.50. Free, short term parking spaces are generally available on-street and in many downtown lots, typically for up to 90 minutes. If you have any questions after reviewing this information, please contact Transportation Director Chris Strong. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 5.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s th Newsletter include the meeting notice and agenda for the January 15 City Council Special Meeting. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m enclosing the following: The minutes of the thth December 18 Plan Commission meeting; the minutes of the November 15 Storm Water Utility th Commission meeting; the minutes of the December 18 Downtown BID Board meeting; the th minutes of the December 5 Long Range Finance Committee meeting; the minutes of the January thth 8 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; the minutes of the December 18 Advisory Committee on Inspection Services meeting; and the meeting notices, agendas and background th materials for the January 7 Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting, and the January th 16 Transit Advisory Board meeting. Weekly Newsletter January 11, 2013 Page 3 th UPCOMING MEETINGS 6.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of January 14 include the following: On Monday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the Chamber Governmental Affairs Committee meeting. At 9:00 a.m. on Monday, I am meeting with Mayor Tower to go over the Agenda for Tuesday’s Workshop. On Tuesday, at 12:30 p.m., I will be attending a DARE graduation ceremony at Traeger Elementary School. On Thursday, at 4:00 p.m., Mayor Tower and I will be meeting with John Casper and Vicki Updike of the Chamber of Commerce to discuss nd the Agenda for the January 22 stakeholders meeting on the Economic Development Study. th Finally, on Friday, January 28, at 8:30 a.m., I’ll be meeting with Melissa Hunt and Naletta Burr of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for a semi-annual discussion of items of mutual interest between the city and WEDC. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures