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HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: March 22, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: 1.EPA LEANS ON CITIES FOR STRINGENT PHOSPHORUS STANDARDS : Council may recall that several years ago, the Wisconsin Department of N atural Resources (DNR) proposed making phosphorus effluent standards more stringent for wastewater treatment facilities. At that time, city staff estimated that the cost of complying with these new standards would cost the city approximately $30,000,000. Through successful education efforts, cities throughout the state were able to convince the DNR that these standards were overly stringent and unnecessary for wastewater treatment plants. Specifically, cities successfully argued that the cost benefit of placing these standards on wastewater treatment plants was misguided, as most of the phosphorus pollution in the state is actually caused by agricultural runoff. Unfortunately, federal and state regulation guidelines virtually place no real phosphorus standards on agriculture. As a result, cities were being unnecessarily singled out in this process. Due to lobbying at the federal level, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that they still want these standards in place for wa stewater treatment facilities. As a result, the DNR has capitulated to the EPA’s mandate and is now requiring cities to follow these standards. Even though our wastewater treatment plant discharges into the Fox River, the EPA has determined that because we indirectly discharge into Lake Winnebago, our standards should be even higher than originally proposed. Currently, our standard for discharge of phosphorus is 1.0 mg per liter. If we are required to follow the EPA’s new standard, our new standard would be 0.04 mg/l, or 25 times greater than the current standard. If we had to make changes to our treatment plant to reach this new standard, we would likely be investing the same $30,000,000 that was acknowledged as excessive several years ago. Staff is currently reviewing various options to argue that we should not be held to the standard for discharge into Lake Winnebago. This will involve some legal research in addition to staff and consultant time. In an ironic twist, because agriculture can more c ost effectively reduce phosphorus, the EPA is suggesting that we can alternatively reduce our phosphorus output by assisting outlying agricultural areas to reduce their phosphorus, thereby achieving the same objective at a lesser cost. Unfortunately, the EPA and DNR continue to ignore the fact that most phosphorus runoff actually comes from agricultural areas. This may be an issue we may need to address with our state and federal legislators due to the obvious unfairness in this issue. If you have any qu estions regarding this new EPA enforcement process, please contact Utilities Superintendent Steve Brand. We will likely place this on a future Council Agenda once we have identified the consultant cost to conduct some of this research. Weekly Newsletter March 22, 2013 Page 2 2.CITY RECEIVES APPROVAL TO CONDUCT COMMERCIAL BUILDING REVIEW : Please find enclosed a letter to Community Development Director Allen Davis from the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, informing us that the City of Oshkosh is now a licensed agent of the State of Wisconsin to conduct building plan reviews for buildings in excess of 50,000 cubic feet. Previously, the city had acquired approval to perform plan reviews for buildings under a 50,000 cubic foot threshold. Last year, city staff had contracted out this service to McMahon Associates of Neenah. With that change, we were able to reduce plan review time from approximately 30 days to 5 days. Based upon the success of this program, city staff applied for consideration to perform plan reviews above the 50,000 cubic foot threshold. What this means for larger commercial developments is that we can now provide the same 5 day turn- around time for commercial plan reviews for all commercial projects in the city. This will save commercial projects approximately three to four weeks on their building schedule, providing additional added value to our efforts to attract businesses to our community. The City of Oshkosh is now one of only 15 cities in the state that are able to provide this service. Congratulations to Chief Building Official John Zarate and his staff for successfully receiving this designation, and for successfully working with our outside contractor to provide this valuable service to our city’s businesses. If you have any additional questions regarding the city’s participation in this program, please contact Community Development Director Davis. 3.WEIGH IN ON WINNEBAGO WATERWAYS : Please find enclosed an invitation to attend a public input session on preserving and maintaining the Winnebago Waterways System. Last year, Calumet County successfully applied for a grant from the DNR to conduct a survey of residents, business owners, and other users of the Lake Winnebago System to plan for the future. As t he enclosed materials point out, the Lake Winnebago System provides water to 250,000 area residents, and is the backbone of a $234 million recreational fishing industry in this area. In order to preserve the natural and recreational benefits of the Lake W innebago System, this group is seeking to develop a long range plan for the system. The first phase of this project involves public input sessions throughout the Lake Winnebago System. Public input sessions scheduled for the th Oshkosh area will be on Thursday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m., at the Oshkosh Public Library. Critics of this public input process argue that this initiative is geared toward developing a taxing entity known as a Lake Management District. Lake Management Districts are allowable under st ate statute. I do not agree with this assessment. The purpose of this process is to gain public consensus on how we want to manage the system in general in the future. There are currently many partners that work to preserve the recreational and natural assets of the Lake Winnebago System. It is hoped that through collaborative public input, we can develop a long range plan that all beneficiaries of the Lake Winnebago System can rally around. It would be my intent to support this group’s efforts and encourage all interested public, private, and non-profit entities in the Lake Winnebago System to work on developing this plan. If you have any questions regarding this Lake Winnebago System initiative, please contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. 4.FEDERAL BUDGET SEQUESTER IMPACTS CITY’S DEBT : Over the past several weeks, city staff and the city’s financial advisor, E hl ers & Associates, have been reviewing possible impacts to the city based upon the federal budget sequester. Through this resea rch, we have determined that the reimbursement funding for the Build America Bonds (BABs) is part of the federal sequester. You may recall that as part of the Stimulus Package, we were eligible to issue taxable BABs in exchange for federal reimbursement o f the incremented interest paid on these bonds. The city was one of the first in the country to take advantage of the Build America Bonds. As part of this process, the city is required to apply for reimbursement of the Build America Bonds. Weekly Newsletter March 22, 2013 Page 3 Because of the federal sequester, we are currently being denied approximately $14,000 in reimbursement. It is not known at this time whether these funds will be reimbursed to the city once/if the federal sequester issue is resolved. While we seek the answer to that question, we are also taking the added precaution of reviewing our options to refinance these bonds. The Build America Bonds’ law prohibited cities from refunding these bonds unless certain conditions were met. It appears as though the federal sequester, while not anticipated at that time, may qualify as one of those events that allow us to refinance these bonds. I wanted to make Council aware that the city has been impacted by the federal sequester, and we are doing everything to minimize the impact of the federal stalemate so that we are not adversely impacted by it. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Finance Director Peggy Steeno. 5.UPDATE ON CENTRAL GARAGE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT : Staff has been diligently working with Kueny Architects to design elements for the Central Garage Project. We are currently finalizing building design concepts with Wisconsin Focus on Energy to maximize any rebates or incentives that they may be able to offer us. It will be our intent to begin advertising for bids on this project in late March, with the bid opening planned for late April. Prior to the bid award, staff will report to the Sustainability Advisory Board and the Plan Commission on energy saving features and aesthetic features of the new facility, as requested by each of those bodies. th We anticipate that the City Council will award the construction bid at your May 14 meeting, with construction to commence in June. As we develop final design fea tures, I will be happy to forward this to you for your information. Staff has taken the input from all of the various boards and commissions and incorporated them into the design concept. We are anxious to show you the results of that work. As you know, this project will be done in stages, as we need to build a new area, tear down the area posed for the next phase, and continue in that fashion until the project is complete. If you have any questions regarding the design, please contact Public Works Dire ctor David Patek. 6.DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES : Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include the latest issue of The Wisconsin Taxpayer, which features an article on Wisconsin’s spring elections. Also from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alli ance, I’m enclosing the latest edition of their FOCUS newsletter, which talks about the state budget’s sticking points. I am also enclosed an invitation to the Easter celebration at the Menominee Park Zoo, which takes th place on Saturday, March 30, from 1 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The only minutes I have to send th along today are the minutes of the February 12 Housing Authority meeting. The last item I’m enclosing is the Oshkosh Area Economic Development Progress Report for 2012. th 7.UPCOMING MEETINGS : Meetings I have scheduled for the week of March 25 include the th following: On Monday, March 25, at 8:30 a.m., I will be attending the DARE graduation ceremony at Read Elementary School. On Monday, at 11:30 a.m., I will be meeting with Mayor th Tower to go over the Agenda for Tuesday’s Council Meeting. On Tuesday, March 26, at 9:00 a.m., I will be meeting with a local contractor to discuss concerns he has regarding a recent city project. At 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, I will be meeting with staff to discuss a proposal from AT&T to place additional “VRAD” boxes in various areas throughout the city, particularly in public right- of-way. Staff wants to make sure that these boxes do not put a nuisance in the public right-of-way th or impact the aesthetics of local neighborhoods. On Wednesday, March 27, at 2:00 p.m., I will be meeting with a representative of the ICMA/RC, the city’s 457 Deferred Comp Advisor, to discuss the city’s account with them. At 4:00 p.m., I will be attending the United Way Board meeting. Weekly Newsletter March 22, 2013 Page 4 th th Beginning the afternoon of Thursday, March 28, I will be on vacation through April 6. As a th result of my absence, there will be no formal Newsletter on either Friday, March 29, or Friday, th April 5. Jackie will forward Council any information that may be worthy of your review. If you have any questions regarding my schedule, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures