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HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: February 8, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: 1.UPDATE ON AVIATION INDUSTRIAL PARK : In addition to the items on Tuesday’s Council Agenda regarding the purchase of land and attachment to the city of property for the Aviation Industrial Park, we had our initial TIF Joint Review Board meeting this past week. Staff presented the project plan to the Joint Review Board. We also appointed former Mayor Bill Castle as the citizen representative to the Joint Review Board. There were questions about the how the industrial park will work with the county owning a portion of the land, and controls that are in place to make sure that the property is used for aviation-related purposes. These are legitimate questions as previous industrial park land identified for aviation was sold before it could be used for aviation purposes. This is something that Council had previously asked about, and remains a concern for all parties involved. We will have to be patient and exercise discipline to keep the park aviation-based. The TIF plan for the Aviation Industrial Park went to the Plan Commission this past Tuesday afternoon. There were residents from Red Oak Court at the meeting, a residential area immediately north of the subject area. This area is not within the city limits, and is surrounded by properties that have been planned industrial for over 40 years. This property is adjacent to Wittman Regional Airport and was initially developed by Steve Wittman himself to provide a convenient place for residential properties to access the airport with small, personal aircraft. As time went by, industrial properties have surrounded this area to the north and east. Some of the residents of Red Oak Court were at the Plan Commission meeting to express their opposition to this project because it will surround them with industrial land. Unfortunately, when this area was developed, the property owners were well aware that this area was destined for industrial development. It is unfortunate that these residents, who now own the properties, did not recognize the long range plans for this area as they purchased these properties. I expect that these residents may come to future Council Meetings to either discuss the purchase of the property, and/or the formation of the TIF District. Our goal is to have the TIF District before the Council at the th February 26 meeting. Once all of the conditions have been met for the TIF creation and attachment of the property to the city, the city and county may proceed with the actual purchase of the property. If you have any questions regarding this land use or the formation of the TIF District, please contact Community Development Director Davis or Planning Services Manager Darryn Burich. Weekly Newsletter February 8, 2013 Page 2 2.STRATEGIC PLAN ROADMAPS & GPS CARDS : After several discussions with Mayor Tower, we have decided to provide each Council member with visual aides to assist with telling the story of our Strategic Plan. Brian Chapman, our Organizational Development Specialist, did a great job in putting together the Roadmap and Guiding Principles, as well as our newly designed Strategic Plan business card. A copy of both is included in your packet today. The business cards will act as a “GPS”, ensuring everyone remembers where we are going and how we plan to get there. The “GPS” is also consistent with our State of the City theme for this year. Please feel free to hand out these cards as you see fit. If you need more cards, please let Jackie know and we’ll be glad to provide them to you. If you have any questions concerning these items, please feel free to contact me. 3.GOVERNMENT LOBBYING GOVERNMENT : Please find enclosed an article from the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel, on-line version, criticizing local government for its lobbying efforts at the state level. I bring this article to your attention because I want to point out that in recent months, both the League of Wisconsin Municipalities and its subsidiary, the Wisconsin Urban Alliance, approved the hiring of contract lobbyists to represent the League and the Urban Alliance at the state level. As a member of the Board of Directors for each of these organizations, I have helped develop a legislative priority list so that legislators are aware of cities’ needs throughout Wisconsin. Legislators have cited the League’s lack of presence and input as one possible reason that the League’s priority issues have not been recognized in the past. While I think that there may be a bit of validity to the concern about taxpayers’ money being used for lobbying, the reality is that Wisconsin is unique among states in that the state collects most of its tax dollars and redistributes it to local governments. The only major revenue source that the city collects at the local level is the property tax, and even that is regulated by the state. Meanwhile, other states permit cities to independently levy and collect sales taxes, utility users’ taxes, and impact fees, and that authority is not available to Wisconsin cities. As a result, cities throughout the state have little recourse except to make sure that their local needs are communicated to state legislators. While some state legislators have local government experience, others do not, and it is important for us to make our local state representatives aware of our collective needs, as well as our individual community’s needs. The League’s legislative agenda is difficult to put together because of the diversity of needs and interests for cities ranging from as few as 1,000 to as large as Milwaukee. Because of these diverse interests, our legislative agenda is, by its nature, limited in scope. It is the priorities that all local governments share (such as shared revenue, collective bargaining laws, and transportation aids), that are the legislative priorities of the League and Urban Alliance. For Council’s reference, I am providing you a copy of the League’s legislative agenda for 2013. If you have any questions after reading any of this information, please let me know. 4.CITIZENSFIRST TO SPONSOR FREE CONCERTS AT LEACH : Through the generous sponsorship of CitizensFirst Credit Union, the showcase event for local bands on Tuesday nights at the Leach Amphitheater will now be open to the public free of charge. This concert series is set thth to run on Tuesday nights from July 9 through August 13, with two sets each evening beginning at 6:00 p.m. This event was held last year, with tickets costing $5 for adults and $3 for students. Because there is free admission this year, larger attendance numbers can be expected thanks to CitizensFirst. In addition to live music, kid and family-friendly activities are planned for each Tuesday night as well. CitizensFirst’s commitment to engaging the community is sincerely appreciated and we look forward to a successful Tuesday night season at the Leach. Weekly Newsletter February 8, 2013 Page 3 5.DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES : Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include an article that appeared in The Business News publication regarding Oshkosh making the Best-Performing Cities list. In a recently released report on 2012 Best Performing rd Cities, Oshkosh ranked first in the state and 43 in the nation! I am also enclosing December and January highlights from the Oshkosh Public Library. I am also enclosing two issues of the FOCUS newsletter, published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, regarding jobs, business firm creation and wages. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m enclosing the following: The minutes thst of the November 29 Library Board meeting; the minutes of the December 31 Special Meeting of th the Library Board; the minutes of the January 7 Sustainability Advisory Board; the minutes of thth the January 8 Police & Fire Commission meeting; the minutes of the January 9 Landmarks Commission meeting; and the meeting notice, agenda and background materials for the February th 12 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting. The last item I’m enclosing is the latest issue of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, which features an article on the new Legislature. th 6.UPCOMING MEETINGS : Meetings I have scheduled for the week of February 11 include the th following: On Monday, February 11, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the Chamber Governmental Affairs Committee meeting. At 9:00 a.m., I will be meeting with Mayor Tower to discuss the upcoming Council Agenda. On Monday, at 2:00 p.m., I will be participating in a phone conference with an ICMA Task Force that I belong to regarding women in local government. At 3:30 p.m., Parks Director Maurer and I will be meeting with a landscape design th company to discuss future park planning. On Tuesday, February 12, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the Economic Outlook Breakfast at the Convention Center. This meeting will be noticed as a public meeting since a quorum of Council Members will be present. On Tuesday, at 1:00 p.m., Community Development Director Davis and I are meeting with representatives of the Wisconsin Southern Railroad. This is a new group of people, as Wisconsin Southern has been bought out by another railroad company, and we want to familiarize the new railroad representatives with issues in and around the community, particularly the rail loading near Allerton Drive. On Tuesday, at 3:30 p.m., I will be attending a meeting regarding the next steps in th the Community Visioning Process. On Wednesday, February 13, at 12:00 noon, I will be meeting with Michael Rust, the new Executive Director of Winnebago County Conflict Resolution Center. At 2:00 p.m., I will be meeting with the Economic Development Study Group that will be working on visioning goals, objectives and metrics for the economic development process in th Oshkosh. On Thursday, February 14, at 8:30 a.m., I will be meeting with representatives of WPS thth regarding underground utilities on 9 Avenue. You may recall that 9 Avenue is scheduled for improvements within the next couple of years, and we are looking at ways to underground the utilities in this area. At 11:00 a.m. Thursday, I will be addressing the Women in Management th Forum. At 4:00 p.m., I’ll be attending the United Way Board meeting. On Friday, February 15, at 8:15 a.m., I will be on WOSH Radio to do my monthly question and answer session with Bob Brunell. At 10:00 a.m., I’m meeting with Deputy Mayor Cummings and Community Development staff regarding Mr. Cummings’ recent visit to LaCrosse in which he discussed issues th related to enforcement of codes for rental housing. On Saturday, February 16, I will be speaking to Professor Nollenberger’s class at UW-Oshkosh on leadership in local government. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures