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HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: February 15, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: TH 9 AVENUE UTILITY UNDERGROUNDING 1.: One of the recommendations that came from the 2009 Visioning Study was that the city should look at undergrounding utilities, particularly along major gateway corridors. As these discussions ensued, staff identified the need to th reconstruct 9 Avenue, from Knapp Street east to Michigan, within the next 5 years. As a result, staff has been looking at this corridor as a “pilot” project to determine how utilities may be undergrounded in this area. Based upon how well this project works from an expense standpoint, we could determine how well we could apply lessons from this project on other gateway corridors. th Early on in the process, residents along 9 Avenue became aware of this possibility and expressed concern about personal costs to individual property owners for undergrounding private utility services from the street into their homes. In response, staff has been considering options that do not involve mandatory undergrounding of private services, while looking at ordinances that would require undergrounding in the event of any service upgrade in the future. Staff recently met with representatives of Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) to look at various options for undergrounding. This discussion also addressed an equally pressing need to remove clutter from the right-of-way as much as it involves eliminating overhead power lines. WPS has identified three general options for undergrounding utilities and/or removing clutter from the right-of-way. One option is to remove as much of the overhead lines as possible. This option results in the addition of as many as 35 utility poles along the right-of-way in order to eliminate the overhead lines. Although the lines are eliminated, the clutter of additional power poles is necessary in order to continue to provide the overhead services into private properties. Therefore, this option does not necessarily eliminate clutter. A second option buries some, but not all, of the power lines and still involves additional power lines. In both cases, the costs for the undergrounding could cost the city as much as $150,000, not including any costs associated with relocating telephone and cable television utilities. A third option is to eliminate the services that cross the street from power poles on one side of the street into the homes of another. This would eliminate service lines crossing the street, but would place power lines parallel to one another on each side of the street, with drops into properties more directly than currently exist. While overhead lines are not eliminated, the clutter crossing the street is significantly reduced, and does not require as many additional power poles. Finally, this option has a lower estimated cost of $50,000, not including telephone and cable television. After discussing these alternatives with WPS representatives, I asked staff to meet with telephone and cable television providers to determine what costs may be involved in relocating utilities with these basic options. Weekly Newsletter February 15, 2013 Page 2 Additionally, I have asked staff to compile as many photographic and/or video footage images as possible so that we have a visual idea of what each of these options may look like. Knowing that the undergrounding of utilities remains an important issue, I want to make sure that we consider all of our viable options to remove overhead lines and/or eliminate clutter from our right-of-way. I hope that this gives Council an idea of this project’s scope and I welcome your input as we develop information on the various options available. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact Public Works Director David Patek or me. VISIONING UPDATE 2.: Recently, I met with representatives of the community organizations that were part of the initial Visioning Study back in 2009. The group wanted to discuss progress that had been made on various initiatives recommended in the Visioning Study, particularly the initial actions that were recommended. Most of the initial recommendations involved the city’s involvement in various initiatives, including tree planting, riverfront/River Walk development, and removal of overhead power lines. The group agreed that an update on our initiatives and accomplishments would be in order. I will be working with the Community Foundation to identify these accomplishments and report back to the community. We want to instill confidence that studies of this nature do not sit on the shelf, and actually have positive outcomes. We also believe that this is important given the current educational visioning initiative, and reinforce the fact that previous initiatives have resulted in concrete accomplishments. Fortunately, much of what was done on the Visioning Study was eventually incorporated into the Council’s strategic plans, so we do have some concrete accomplishments that the city can lay claim to. I think you can look forward to updates on the accomplishments of the Visioning Study coming within the next couple of months. If you have any thoughts on this matter, please let me know. CVS UPDATE 3.: I had an opportunity to speak with some representatives of the proposed CVS th Pharmacy on 9 Avenue within the past week. I know that some Council Members and members of the public have inquired about the status of this project. The report I have is that the project continues to proceed and that CVS plans to begin construction sometime this spring. They are diligently working through the requirements of the project’s approval. Staff is monitoring these requirements and will ensure that all of the Council conditions in the permit have been met. It is my understanding that the Schwab Group will be acquiring the Red Robin property and leasing it th back to Red Robin for operations. As owners of the property, Schwab can relocate 7 Avenue as required by the permit. Once all of the requirements have been met, they expect to begin construction this spring, with an opening scheduled for November, 2013. While circumstances may change with respect to beginning and ending of construction, nothing will happen unless it follows the requirements outlined by Council in your final approval. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact Community Development Director Allen Davis or Planning Services Manager Darryn Burich. rd OSHKOSH4EDUCATION VISIONING EXERCISE 4.: February 23 is the last opportunity for the community to participate in the O4E exercise before the themes go on the Northwestern website for ranking. Please spread the word to your colleagues, friends, and organizations to register for a 10:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. community conversation at the Convention Center on rd February 23. It is important to hear from as many voices as possible. People can register to participate for the 10:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. session by e-mail at mary_olson@oshkoshareacf.org, or by calling Mary Olson at 426-3993. The community sincerely wants to be engaged with their School District and feedback has been extremely positive regarding the Oshkosh4Education movement. Weekly Newsletter February 15, 2013 Page 3 DEPARTMENT REPORTS & UPDATES 5.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include two press releases sent out last week. The first explains the major construction project planned for the City Hall parking lot; and the second invites the community to the major th neighborhood blight removal event on March 4 for 118 West Parkway Avenue. I am also enclosing a letter from the Oshkosh Community Foundation regarding the successful campaign of installing Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the community. Insofar as th minutes are concerned, I’m enclosing the minutes of the January 15 Downtown BID Board th meeting; the minutes of the February 5 Plan Commission meeting; the meeting notice, agenda st and background material for the February 21 Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting; th and the meeting notice, agenda and background material for the February 20 Transit Advisory Board meeting. I am also enclosing a newsletter from the Winnebago County Department of Health. Now that they are no longer under city jurisdiction, it is nice to know what’s going on with this former city department. The next item I’m enclosing is Museum Director Brad Larson’s weekly letter to the Public Museum Board, updating them on the Museum’s activities over the last week. The last item I’m enclosing is this year’s Residential Guide to Single Stream Recycling and Solid Waste Disposal. This brochure will be delivered to every residence in the city over the next couple of weeks. More copies are available in City Hall. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 6.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of February 18 include the th following: At 7:30 a.m. on Monday, February 18, I will be attending a Chamber Coalition Conference in Appleton with Mayor Tower and Deputy Mayor Cummings. This conference will include presentations by legislators at both the state and federal levels. On Tuesday, February th 19, city staff will be attending the “InDevelopment” Conference on economic development at the Convention Center. The city is one of the co-hosts for this conference. At 1:00 p.m. that day, I will sit on a panel to discuss the city’s involvement in the collaboration of the redevelopment of the City Center Hotel, as well as our involvement in the Opportunity Oshkosh initiative. At 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, I will be meeting with Scott Hanson of Wisconsin Public Service to discuss the increased used of Compressed National Gas (CNG) vehicles and possible grant opportunities that th may be available. At 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 20, I will be attending an awards ceremony at the YMCA. On Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Business Success Center. At 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, I will be attending an alumni gathering for st Leadership Oshkosh. On Thursday, February 21, at 9:00 a.m., I will be meeting with Jessica Opoien from the Northwestern regarding the Economic Development Study. At 5:30 p.m. on rd Thursday, I’ll be attending the Boys & Girls Club annual meeting. On Saturday, February 23, I will be at the YMCA for two events. At 11:00 a.m., I will be a judge at a fundraising event, followed by the Guns & Hoses hockey game at 4:00 p.m. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings or events, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures