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HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: May 24, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: STATE BUDGET PROPOSALS IMPACTING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 1.: On Wednesday, Council Members Cummings and Clark accompanied me to Madison for a League of Wisconsin Municipalities Legislative Luncheon. Governor Walker addressed the group and discussed the need to partner with local governments on economic development. Afterwards, the Urban Alliance group met to discuss the impact of issues in the state budget on local finances. Specifically, some of the last minute proposals that have been attempted to be inserted into the state budget include a proposal to expand levy limits to require that the creation of certain fees would result in an accompanying reduction in local taxes. The five services identified were storm water fees, fire protection (hydrant rental), snow removal, street sweeping, and garbage collection. To the degree that we already have these fees in place, this legislation would not impact us. However, if the city were to institute a new fee, e.g. a snow removal fee, we would have to reduce our property taxes for each dollar of fee increase. There were a series of other changes that the League briefed us on, including a mandate to provide information to the state on purchases greater than $100, limiting zoning regulations of cell towers, and new property tax exemptions. While none of these necessarily have anything to do with the budget, these are examples of items in the state budget that are slipped in at the last minute to avoid having a discussion on these as separate items. As I have stated in previous reports, it is unfortunate that these items are brought before the Legislature at the eleventh hour, particularly when they do not relate to the budget. I suspect that we will see more of these as we get closer to final adoption of the state budget, but wanted to give the Council a taste of the types of things that are going on down in Madison. If you have any questions regarding these matters, please contact me. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STUDY UPDATE 2.: The small working group that was tasked with preparing goals, objectives, and performance measures for economic development, ha s completed their preliminary work and are prepared to report back to the larger stakeholder group. This group, which consisted of representatives from the City of Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Fox Valley Technical College, UW-Oshkosh, the Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, Chamco, and the Community Foundation, generally agreed to a series of goals, objectives and measures specifically related to economic development. The group was not specifically tasked with a specific recommendation on an organization for economic development. However, the group did identify as a primary goal that a unified collaborative strategy for economic development is necessary. The performance measures themselves suggest that there needs to be a level of accountability for economic development goals that currently does not exist. Eventually, some discussion of structure will have to take place if we are to be successful in achieving these economic development goals. Weekly Newsletter May 24, 2013 Page 2 Meanwhile, the marketing group that was established b y the Chamber has completed its cluster analysis, which recommends a series of strategies for targeted industries within the context of an economic development strategy. The goals of this study are consistent with the recommendations of the Prager Study, as well as the recent work of this smaller working group. There still needs to be a central clearing house for information, and a group accountable for accomplishing the goals and objectives identified by the working group, as well as the marketing group. We have a th meeting scheduled with the large stakeholder group on June 4, at which time we will seek this group’s input on where we go next to accomplish these goals and objectives. If you have any questions regarding this update, please contact Community Development Director Davis or me. BUTTE DES MORTS CAUSEWAY DEDICATION 3.: Please find enclosed an invitation from the West Side Association, inviting the city to attend the ribbon cutting dedication for the Butte th des Morts Causeway on June 11, at 1:00 p.m. Please refer to the map to gain access to the on- ramp and parking area on the Causeway, as the ribbon cutting will take place in the middle of the Causeway. If you would like, I’d be happy to arrange some carpooling from City Hall to minimize the tr affic on the Causeway. If you are interested in attending, please let Jackie know and I will have her RSVP for all Council Members who are planning to attend. CENTRAL GARAGE BIDS 4.: The bids for the Central Garage were opened several weeks ago, and the bi ds were approximately $1.2 million under the maximum budget estimate of $19.7 million. Staff has been analyzing the bids, including the alternate bids that were requested in the bid documents so that we can decide if these bid items are more appropriately within the main general contr act award or would be more advantageous to be bid out separately. The main challenge that we face with awarding the bid at this time is the timing of the work and the accompanying expenditures. Council may recall that staff recommended that this project be divided over a three fiscal year period so as to stretch out the borrowing as much as possible. The idea was to begin construction in the second half of 2013, and have construction stretch into 2015, thereby allowing us to borrow over three separate fiscal years. The bids, as proposed, call for the project to be completed within an 18 month period. While that may be advantageous from a project completion standpoint, it does represent cash flow issues for us. We have ask ed our architects to work with the apparent low bidder in an attempt to identify ways to stretch the project out over a longer period of time, without increasing the bottom line cost. We will continue to work with the architect and contractor on these iss ues, with the goal of bringing this item to th Council for approval at the June 11 Council Meeting. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact Public Works Director David Patek. MAIN STREET MATTERS CAMPAIGN 5.: Please find enclosed a press release from Benjamin Moore Paints regarding their “Main Street Matters” campaign. The City of Oshkosh is one of 100 cities selected across the United States and Canada to participate in an online voting campaign. The top 20 cities will have an oppo rtunity for a Main Street makeover. Benjamin Moore will provide all the paint, supplies and labor, as well as consultants to enhance the historic architecture of the downtown. The best part of this campaign is that there is no cost to the property owners. th Voting is going on now through June 30, and you are allowed to vote once a day. I hope that we are able to spread the word and collect enough votes to win a Main Street “facelift”. This would be great with our newly paved street and the improvements made on Main Street thus far. If you have any questions concerning this campaign, please contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. Weekly Newsletter May 24, 2013 Page 3 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 6.: Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m enclosing th the following: The minutes of the May 13 Advisory Park Board meeting; and the minutes of the th May 20 meeting of the Grand Opera House Advisory Board. th UPCOMING MEETINGS 7.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of May 28 include the th following: At 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28, I will be attending an employee recognition event at the Sanitation D ivision. At 8:00 a.m., I will be meeting with Mayor Tower to go over next week’s Council Agenda. At 11:00 a.m., I will be attending the Business S uccess Center Board meeting. On Wednesday, at 12:45 p.m., I will be attending a DARE graduation ceremony at St. th Elizabeth Ann Seton Elementary School. At 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, I will be holding a virtual meeting with employees regarding the P erformance Evaluation/Pay-For-Performance Program. At 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, I will be attending the Police Department employee st recognition program. Finally, on Friday, May 31, at 10:00 a.m., I will be meeting with Robin Gruner of AT&T. If you have an y questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures