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HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: May 3, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: ECONOMIC IMPACT OF WITTMAN REGIONAL AIRPORT 1.: Please find enclosed a copy of the 2012 Economic Impact Analysis & Business Climate St udy relative to the Wittman Regional Airport. The report indicates that the total economic impact of Wittman Regional Airport is over 850 jobs and $35.6 million in wages to the greater Oshkosh area. The city’s and country’s partnership with the proposed Aviation Business Park has the potential to make the impact of our airport even greater. Meanwhile, I have been in touch with Senator Johnson’s office about briefing him on the city’s EDA application for the business accelerator. I hope to meet with Senator Johnson within the month to explain our proposed grant. If you have any questions regarding this study or our efforts regarding the Aviation Business Park and business accelerator, please contact Community Development Director Davis or me. MAIN STREET RECONSTRUCTION NORTH OF NEW YORK AVENUE 2.: Please find enclosed a handout that was provided to the public at this week’s informational meeting regarding the proposed construction of North Main Street, from New York Avenue to Murdock Avenue. Because this project is proposed to be funded in part with federal dollars, the city is required to follow various federal regulations, which means that more advanced planning is involved. We are doing this work now so that we can construct these improvements in 2015. Based upon feedback I received from some Council Members regarding this handout, there was a question about the options for the profile of street given the fact that this street will require bike lanes in order for federal funding to be possible. Each of the options shown assumes that a bike lane is necessary in both directions of this street. As you can see, the wider the street, the smaller the terrace area. The dilemma is how to provide more green space in an area when you are increasing the pavement size to accommodate bike lanes. The result is that parking becomes a challenge if we are to increase the width of the road to continue accommodating parking while maximizing our terrace th area. As Mr. Patek has indicated, we will be accepting public comm ents until May 13, after which this project will be brought to the Traffic Review Advisory Board for their consideration of Option #2, which permits parking on one side of the street only. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact Public Works Director David Patek. CHAMCO OFFICES HAVE MOVED 3.: The Chamco organization has moved their offices from th the Chamber of Commerce building to 43 East 7 Street. This building is owned by Advanced Military Packaging, who owns a warehouse on the property with an office building attached. The office building part of the complex was offered to Chamco by Advanced Military Packaging (from whom we bought the Miles Kimball building) at no charge. Chamco is looking forward to operating out of this new office space. Weekly Newsletter May 3, 2013 Page 2 MANHOLE REHABILITATION PROGRAM CONTINUES 4.: The city is continuing its efforts to minimize clear water passage into the sanitary sewer systems. Last fall, the city awarded a contract to PTS Contractors to repair more than 600 manholes. Currently, too much clear water, water which does not need to be treated, is finding its way to our Wastewater Treatment Plant. Repairs include the switching of old castings and/or covers, as well as some sections of manholes being replaced. If you have any questions concerning this project, please contact Public Works Director David Patek. BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE 5.: You may recall that a few weeks ago, Council Member Cummings brought up the issue of a Beautificat ion Committee for the city. He was seeking Council’s input on this concept, as he was approached by a neighborhood association representative about th is possibility. There are several groups involved in some aspect of neighborhood and city beautification, including the Pride of Place group that had installed lights on the Main and Jackson Street Bridges, as well as the city’s partnership with the Community Foundation for the Taking Root Project. Ms. Ruth McGinley, a neighborhood association representative, who has been involved with NeighborWorks initiatives in her neighborhood, met with me this week and asked that I forward the Council a copy of a Beautification Advisory Committee Plan from Marco Island, Florida. This plan is quite detailed, but at the same time, has strategies that we currently use and/or will potentially use. I told Ms. McGinley that I would pass this along to Council Members who may be interested in this topic. If you have any questions after reading this information that you would like to have staff pursue or bring forward for discussion at the Council level, please feel free to contact me. RAILROAD TRAFFIC NEAR ALLERTON DRIVE 6.: This week, Community Development Director Allen Davis and I met with representatives of Oshkosh Corporation regarding the loading of trucks on the Wisconsin & Southern tracks behind Allerton Drive. Oshkosh Corporation also invited a railroad representative. Council may recall that residents in the area have been upset over the loading of trucks at this location, particularly during night hours. As the warm weather approaches, residents are concerned that with the windows being opened in the warmer weather, they will bear t he brunt of the noise nuisance that exists when these trucks are loaded. At this point, the city has been told that we do not have the authority to regulate this interstate commerce traffic on a federally authorized railway. While we question the premise of this determination, we have been trying to get Wisconsin & Southern to consider an alternate location for loading these trucks. We have received minimal response from the railroad to-date, so we enlisted the assistance of Oshkosh Corporation. It should be pointed out that Oshkosh Corporation has not directed how or when the railroad will load their trucks. Oshkosh Corporation merely contracts with the railroad to deliver these trucks by a certain date. However, Oshkosh Corporation is aware that this has become a local problem, so they were willing to listen to us to see if there was any influence they could have over the railroad with this issue. We discussed a permanent relocation of the loading zone. We will be pursuing these options with the railroad next week. TREE CRAWL 2013 7.: As you may know, several newly planted trees (part of our Taking Root Campaign) were destroyed during this year’s Pub Crawl. As a result, Kris Larson, proprietor of Beckets Restaurant and Downtown BID Board member, started a tee-shirt campaign to fund the replanting of the trees destroyed. I am enclo sing his Facebook ad concerning these tee-shirts. Kris has indicated that he has already sold 40 shirts without much publicity. Our Parks Department will be working with Kris on the donation of the money raised from the sale of these tee-shirts when the Tree Crawl Campaign concludes. We are hoping that once the word is spread and people see how great these shirts are, more tee-shirt sales will occur. If you have any questions regarding this Tree Crawl Campaign, please contact Parks Director Ray Maurer. Weekly Newsletter May 3, 2013 Page 3 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 8.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include the 2013 completed Citizen Survey, undertaken by the Dr. Karl Nollenberger’s Public Policy Analysis class at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. I am also enclosing the latest report of the city’s hotel/motel room tax. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m enclosing nd the following: The minutes of the April 2 Plan Commission meeting; the minutes of the March th th 28 Library Board and Library Board Closed S ession meetings; the minutes of the April 18 th Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting; the minutes of the March 4 Sustainability th Advisory Board meeting; the minutes of the April 10 Landmarks Commission meeting; the st th minutes of the March 21 and April 10 Landmarks Commission meeting s; and the meeting th notice, agenda and background material for the May 8 Parking Utility Commission meeting. The last item I’m enclosing is the April, 2013, report from the Oshkosh Publ ic Library, which highlights their activities during the month. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 9.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of May 6 include the th following: On Monday, May 6, at 2:00 p.m., I will be meeting with staff regarding utilizing social media as a communication tool. On Tuesday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending a meeting of the Community Sounding Board. On Tuesday, at 11:00 a.m., I will be meeting with Wisconsin Southern Railroad officials to continue our discussion about relocating their loading area near th th Allerton Drive. On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 7 and 8, at 12:00 noon, I will be attending employee recognition lunches at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and Seniors Center, respectively. th On Friday, May 10, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the annual Tourism Breakfast, at which Parks Director Ray Maurer will be recognized for his efforts to promote events in the city. After that, I will be in Madison for the rest of the day at the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Board meeting. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures