City of Mequon Weekly Bulletin - April 27, 2018

Upcoming Meetings

Festivals Committee: April 30 – 6:00 P.M. (Agenda)
Public Safety Committee: May 8 – 6:15 P.M.
Finance – Personnel Committee: May 8 – 6:30 P.M.
Public Welfare Committee: May 8 – 6:30 P.M.
Public Works Committee: May 8 – 7:00 P.M.
Common Council: May 8 – 7:30 P.M.

Drug Take Back Day Event Scheduled for this Saturday, April 28
As mentioned in last week’s bulletin, the Mequon Police Department is hosting a Drug Take Back Day Event on this Saturday, April 28 from 10:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. at Concordia University Wisconsin at 12800 N. Lake Shore Drive, Mequon. Please click here to for more information.

Arbor Day Festival Scheduled for this Sunday, April 29
Last week’s bulletin stated that Arbor Day festivities would be held at Mequon Community Park. However, the correct location for this year’s event is River Barn Park from 1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, April 29. To learn more about this event, please click here.

Capital Asset Management Planning Continues
In advance of preparing the City’s FY2019 budget, staff is working to complete separate analyses of the City’s major capital asset classes (facilities, fleet, roads), so as to provide the Common Council with the information necessary to make strategic decisions regarding future funding and replacement. Such information will also assist the City in determining the appropriate ratio for debt-issued financing versus pay-as-you go financing.

To date, work has been largely completed on the facilities analysis, which examined the condition and replacement costs for seven City facilities. It is anticipated the report will be received in the next few weeks.   Also, earlier this year, a Request-for-Proposals (RFP) for an analysis of the City’s fleet was distributed to interested parties and five (5) submissions were received in early March. Due to the retirement of the City’s Chief Mechanic in mid-March, the proposed contract award was delayed, pending the recruitment and hire of a new Fleet Division supervisor. As interviews get underway next week, staff is now planning to bring forward a recommended contract award at the next Common Council meeting on May 8.

Given the City’s aggressive approach to improving City road ratings in recent years, as well as the limited number of sidewalks, streetlights and bridges that the City is responsible for maintaining, staff determined it was not necessary to hire an additional consultant to review and determine the capital replacement cost of City-owned infrastructure within the public right-of-way. Alternatively, the Engineering Division is currently in the process of conducting this analysis in-house, based upon data that has been collected and utilized since the City accelerated efforts to upgrade local roads nearly ten years ago. It is expected that all three of the analyses will be complete by the end of the second quarter, in advance of discussion with the Common Council during a budget planning workshop meeting in July.

New City Inspector Now On The Job
On Wednesday, April 25, Ken Staehler joined City staff as the new Inspector in the Inspections Division of Community Development Department. In his position, Mr. Staehler performs skilled inspection work in ensuring compliance with the City Building Code, State Building Code, City Plumbing Code, State Plumbing Code, Zoning Code and other related city ordinances. Mr. Staehler also works with the Inspections Division to review plans for compliance with regulations and issues permits, as well as makes recommendations to various boards and commissions related to development applications. Mr. Staehler comes to the City of Mequon with over 23 years of experience. Most recently, Mr. Staehler worked for SafeBuilt as an Electrical and Building Inspector. Mr. Staehler is a Certified Inspector in the State of Wisconsin and holds certifications in Building, HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical (Residential & Commercial).