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Home My WebLink Aboutweekly newsletter Date: February 22, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: BID WORKSHOP 1.: In anticipation of Tuesday’s Workshop with the Business Improvement District (BID) Board, please find enclosed a brief slide presentation that Council will receive at Tuesday’s Workshop. The presentation provides a brief history of the BID, some of its priorities in recent years, and some of its goals for the upcoming year. I’m sure that the slide show and discussion with the BID Board will generate a good deal of positive discussion on things we can do to help improve the BID. This may also be an opportunity for Council Members to discuss with BID Board members requests that Council Members have received in recent years about either expanding and/or creating a separate BID district for businesses that are currently not in the city’s only existing BID. I know that this has been an issue raised by Council Members in the past, and it may help to gain perspective from the BID Board about how a BID can be formed and/or expanded, and get their thoughts on that topic. COMMERCIAL OCCUPANCY PERMITS 2.: This past week, I met with staff to discuss what can be done to address commercial properties that have not received a final occupancy permit from the city. Currently, residential properties that have not met all of the conditions necessary to receive a final occupancy permit for residential use/occupancy can have the building shut down. This authority is very effective at gaining compliance. There is currently no similar type of regulation specifically stated in the city’s code that would shut down a business for operating a business in a building without an occupancy permit. For the most part, we have received good cooperation from the business community in addressing items that need correction before an occupancy permit is issued. In previous years, there were instances in which we gave a temporary occupancy permit in order to allow a business to operate and address some “punch list” items that had not been corrected as of the final inspection. While these temporary occupancy permits are often done to facilitate a business moving in, we had no formal mechanism in place to follow up and confirm that all of the “punch list” items had been resolved. As a result, there may be commercial buildings in the city that do not have final occupancy, and we do not know for sure if conditions have been met. Staff is currently reviewing these open files on a periodic basis to catch up on these projects that may have fallen through the cracks. In the last few years, we have been able to develop a follow up procedure so that conditions of approval have been met and final occupancy permits have been issued. However, there are a few instances in which the conditions have not been met, and we are concerned that we do not have adequate leverage to order these businesses to comply with their final occupancy requirements. Without this “teeth” in our ordinance, we could find ourselves ignoring a use that is not following our health and safety regulations. Weekly Newsletter February 22, 2013 Page 2 Staff believes that we may need to consider an amendment to the city code that would require all conditions of approval be met before the final occupancy permit is issued, as well as give the city the authority to shut down a business should these conditions not be met. Unfortunately, we do have at least one instance in town in which the business has refused to comply with final inspection requirements, and we may need this type of authority in order to protect public health and safety. Before we add a new ordinance to the books, staff is reviewing what other options remain available to get compliance from commercial buildings. We wanted Council to be aware of our pursuit of these enforcement tools in the event that you get feedback from members of the business community. If you have any questions regarding this issue, please contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. WISCONSIN SOUTHERN RAILROAD 3.: Within the last few weeks, staff has had an opportunity to meet with new ownership representatives of Wisconsin Southern Railroad regarding issues of concern to the city. As a result, we were catching up on issues that had not yet been resolved. Specifically, staff was bringing to Wisconsin Southern’s attention the concerns expressed by residents on Allerton Drive regarding the loading of vehicles from Oshkosh Corporation, particularly late night loading. We also discussed possible options with them for the loading of these trucks, including the possibility of a permanent site to load cars away from a residential zone. We also discussed crossing issues related to the development of the Southwest Industrial Park, as well as other growth issues in the industrial park that may impact rail service. Although we did not get any information from the railroad that they would cease operations on Allerton Drive, they appeared willing to look at the options presented to them, and would work with us to try to address these before the spring and summer season when residents’ windows will be open and the sounds from the loading of rail cars will be much more disruptive to the residents. If you have any questions regarding our discussions with Wisconsin Southern, please contact me. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 4.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include a copy of information regarding the Aviation Business Park TIF, which is part of the Agenda for next Tuesday’s Council Meeting. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m th enclosing the minutes of the February 12 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting; the minutes thth of the February 13 Parking Utility Commission meeting; the minutes of the February 18 Grand th Opera House Advisory Board meeting; and the minutes of the February 20 Transit Advisory Board meeting. The last item I’m enclosing is the final version of the 2013 City Budget. If you have not already done so, please return your old budget binders to the Finance Department. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 5.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of February 25 include the th following: On Monday, February 25, at 7:30 a.m., I will be meeting with Mayor Tower to go over Tuesday’s Council Agenda. On Monday, at 3:30 p.m., I will be meeting with representatives th of Sadoff Rudoy to discuss the city’s plans for the reconstruction of 10 Avenue and its impact on th Sadoff Rudoy’s operations. On Tuesday, February 26, at 9:00 a.m., I will be meeting with Scott Hanson and representatives from Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) to discuss our current and future use of CNG vehicles, and the possibility of grants that may be available. This is a meeting that was rescheduled from this past week due to weather. On Tuesday, at 3:00 p.m., I am meeting with Museum Director Brad Larson and the consultant that the Museum has hired to work on th strategic planning issues for the Museum. On Wednesday, February 27, at 7:30 a.m., I’ll be attending a meeting of the Fox Valley Technical College Oshkosh Advisory Committee. Weekly Newsletter February 22, 2013 Page 3 For the remainder of the week, I will be attending the Wisconsin City/County Management Association (WCMA) conference in Green Bay. As a result of my attendance at this conference, I will not be in the office for the remainder of the week. Furthermore, due to my absence, there will st be no Weekly Newsletter on Friday, March 1. If you have any questions regarding my schedule for the upcoming week, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures