Happy Holidays

First of all, I want to wish everyone a very joyous Christmas. We will be traveling to Illinois to get together with our family. I’m very excited!! Our oldest son recently moved to Illinois from Colorado and this is the first Christmas in a very long time that we will all be together. We can begin some new family traditions that include the whole gang. I hope that you are able to connect with your family and spend some quality time together.

The After Action Report is completed for the flooding this spring and was presented at the Council Meeting this week. We learned many lessons about handling an emergency. The key learning is that we need to make sure that everyone is trained and we need to take time to practice handling a large scale disaster. Command and communication are the key factors to saving lives and property during a disaster. We need to practice establishing command, activating the Emergency Operations Center and filling the roles that perform important duties during a disaster. FEMA provides free training and practice exercises. I will bring proposals back to the Council to implement a much expanded training and practice program for our city. It is important that we are better prepared in the future to face any emergency.

Enjoy the holidays. Be safe when you travel as the weather doesn’t seem to want to cooperate with our travel plans.

Good People, Good Work ... Thank You

I hope some of you caught the Channel 27 news feature on Columbus. They were doing a story on communities that are “walking the talk” and taking green initiatives seriously. Columbus was featured for our initiatives with LED street lights, electric vehicles and renewable power purchases by the City. This kind of positive publicity is very good for the community. We are noticed for our good people and our good work.

I’ve been working the After Action Report from the flood this spring, and talking to lots of folks who participated in the flood. What interesting stories they have to tell…things that happen when a small town is faced with adversity. People step forward and help their neighbors. I heard that Columbus Family Restaurant provided meals to the more than 20 residents from the Larson Home who were evacuated. They made special meals, met the nutritional needs of these folks and helped these residents feel at home while they were evacuated to the Motel for more than a week. Thank you. And True Value Hardware lent supplies to clean up crews. Sharrow Drugs made sure that the medication needs were met, and Walgreens and the Columbus Community Hospital donated many medical supplies. Equipment came from Midstate to get through flooded areas. There are many, many more. Almost every business in Columbus came forward to help. Columbus is a place where people want to help each other when we were in need without expectations of being paid back. With just the wish that we can help make someone else’s life better. I would like to thank all of you. You make Columbus a wonderful place to live.

Many of you will be getting together with friends and family this week to celebrate Thanksgiving. As you follow the time honored tradition of beginning your holiday shopping, remember to stop by local businesses who were there to help us when we needed them. These businesses are owned by your friends and neighbors, and they provide the character that makes Columbus such a wonderful place to live. They were there when we needed their support, let’s help them have a good holiday season in these tough economic times.

Enjoy your turkey, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and be safe.

Nancy Osterhaus – Mayor
NOsterhaus@columbuswi.us
920 623.4925

Flood After Action Report

We continue to meet to gather information that will make Columbus better prepared for another emergency. Our goal is to have a completed After Action Report on the June flood by early December. We learned a lot about our capacity to handle disasters, and what can be improved to keep citizens and property safer in the future.

Flood Question - Authority of the Mayor in a Disaster

I received a several questions that folks have about the flood. I will start to address them here. Give me a call, or let me know if you have any questions that aren't answered.

Several inquiries referred to the mayor's authority and role in a disaster.

First, the City of Columbus Emergency Operation organization chart indicates that all Emergency Operations Center personnel report to the Mayor. The Mayor is responsible for the safety of the citizens of the city in which they serve.

In addition FEMA's Incident Command System defines authority of the chief elected official (Mayor) and responsibilities as:

“In most jurisdictions, the responsibility for the protection of the citizens rests with the chief elected official. Elected officials have the authority to make decisions, commit resources, obligate funds and command the resources necessary to protect the population, stop the spread of damage and protect the environment….. Delegation of authority is issued by the chief elected official, chief executive officer, or agency administrator in writing or verbally. It does NOT relieve the granting authority of the ultimate responsibility for the incident.” ICS200

FEMA makes it very clear that the Chief Elected Official has a very key role in a disaster, and for folks who watched the Mayor of New Orleans call for National Guard troops and evacuate his city as Hurricane Gustov approached, you can appreciate that elected officials take this very seriously. I too took my responsibilities for the safety of the citizens of Columbus very seriously during the floods in June 2008.

Nancy Osterhaus - Mayor

Fire / EMS - What are those firefighters asking for?

The EMS contract with Heartline Medix runs out next June 30th, and we have been looking at options when that contract ends. Columbus could put out a bid and hire an independent contractor to provide ambulance service. We could ask a neighboring municipality to provide EMS services, we could provide ambulance service ourselves. The firefighters are asking the Council to give them the opportunity to explore the option of providing ambulance service through their department.

Years ago we used to have fire / EMS services. Many of our neighboring communities have the combined service, some of them much smaller than Columbus.

The fire fighters are asking the Council to give them help to put together a proposal that would combine these services. They want to use an expert who is experienced in current rules and operations. They need some consulting money to create the cost benefit analysis to keep them in the game for EMS services.

Will the Emergency Operations Center evaluate their perfomance during the flood?

Yes. The Emergency Operations Center has a process that includes a post incident review. The flood of 2008 was the LARGEST emergency that has ever occurred in Columbus. Over 30 agencies were involved in providing services to our community. The post incident review will begin once the work of the EOC is completed, and will cover many topics. It will provide information on what went well, where changes need to be made, where things can be improved, and perhaps equipment and personnel that should be in place to protect us in the future.

The EOC is made up of almost every department in the city... Dan Jansen - Public Works, Dennis Weiner - Police, Mark Kenevan and Linda Damm - Fire, Anne Donahue - City Administration, Peggy - Library & Public Information Officer, Patti - Heartline Medix, John - Water & Light and myself. In addition to the Columbus EOC, we will be seeking and giving feedback to Columbia County, Dodge County and perhaps Beaver Dam. We worked closely with all of these agencies during the flood, and they will have valuable information for us.

If you have any specific questions that you would like addressed in the report, please send them to me or to any of the EOC members by the end of July.

Thanks!

How big are the storm sewers in the city? Why didn't they keep the streets from flooding?

I asked our Public Works Director, Dan Jensen what size storm can our storm sewers handle, and he told me that the construction standard is to size for a 10 year flood. Sizing for a 100 year flood would require at least 10 times larger stormwater pipes, and this is cost prohibitive. Remember that the recent flooding was 3 feet over the 100 year flood stage, and 2 feet over the previous record for Columbus. This was an extraordinary event.

You can take some precautions to help prevent or reduce flooding in your home.

• Make sure that you have a check valve in your basement to allow water to exit the drain but not come back in.
• All sump pumps must be set up so that water goes into the storm water system or onto your yard. Sump pumps that are attached to the sanitary sewer are illegal and overtax the sanitary sewer system during heavy rains resulting in sewage back up.
• Landscape your yard to move water away from your basement to reduce the amount of seepage that you get.

How can I help people affected by the flood?

There will be a volunteer day on Saturday, June 28th. Those who need help and volunteers to provide help should register at the library. This will be a day of cleaning and hauling away damaged items. Please come wearing tennis shoes that can be washed when you are finished. We will provide a cleaning bucket with rubber gloves, cleaning supplies and eye protection.

We are a community that helps each other. Let's all pitch in and help our neighbors.

Where was the Emergency Operations Set up

The EOC was set up in the fire station. We were in the process of moving all of the equipment to the fire station because it is a central location with plenty of room for sand bag operations, meetings, has a kitchen to prepare food, and tables and chairs to feed volunteers. An EOC can be set up anywhere. The physical location is immaterial to the job that needs to be accomplished.

What type of aid is available to the citizens affected by the flood?

FEMA, the Small Business Administration and the American Red Cross are all set up at the High School to provide aid to citizens affected by the flood. They will be there for about 3 weeks, opened every day including Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am - 7:00 pm. Stop by and file an application if you have been affected.

Was Columbus Prepared for the recent flooding

No. There is no way to prepare for a flood that is as extensive and so far above our previous records. We have a disaster plan, but it addresses all kinds of disasters. A flood of this magnitude was not predicted. We did however do a fabulous job of responding to the flood and ensuring that the citizens of Columbus were safe. There was no loss of life, the key measure of success in a disaster of this size.

Roof on City Hall

The capital improvement plan includes a new roof on City Hall... why?

There have been several engineering studies done indicating that the roof on City Hall is in dire need of repair. City Hall is over 100 years old and the structure that holds up the roof is no longer strong. The timbers have been stressed for many years, and need to be replaced with a steel structure. This is a historic building that has been the landmark of our community since it was built in 1892. We need to take care of our history and preserve this building.

It is used as the home of city government, the police station, the city clerk and treasurer. This grand old building has served our city for over 100 years and will continue to serve us for many more. The investment in a new roof structure is much less than the cost of building a new facility to house all of these city departments. We also have the responsibility for caring for our heritage.

A request for proposals will go out later this year, and the roof construction should happen in 2009.

What about those roads?

It seems like the roads in Columbus are bad... why, when will they be repaired?

We do have a lot of roads in Columbus that need repair, and many of those roads are the ones that everyone travels every day... James Street and Farnham to name tow. Last year we did a major road, stormwater & sewer project in the Main Street area and many of those roads have been repaired.

At the next Commitee of a Whole meeting on June 10th, we will be looking at the history of road repairs in the City. Going back about 10 years it looks like the city has averaged about 1% of the roads repaired each year. This means that the city has counted on streets lasting 100 years... they don't. We need to get to a program that addresses about 5% of the streets each year to keep them in decent shape. This is much closer to the real life of a street... about 20 years.

Question - Public Safety Building Idea

What happened to the idea of building a $4.7 million public safety building? Do we still need the room?

In 2006&7 there was a move by the City Council to build a huge police building next to City Hall. The citizens of Columbus were appalled by the cost and through a grass roots effort put in place a spending limit for the Council. All construction projects over $1,000,000 must now go to referendum.

The police area is small, cramped, messy and certainly needs to be addressed. I have hired a firm to do a space study of the entire City Hall structure to determine if offices and space can be used more efficiently to conduct city business... including police. Before we go ahead and build additional space, we need to make sure that we are using what we have effectively. The study should be completed this summer and then I will bring it forward to the council to review and determine what changes can be made. My guess is that when we have a professional take a look at how we use our space, they will be able to find ways to utilize office it better, and our need for additional space will be less. The original plan was to spend almost $5,000,000 on a police facility... I'm sure that this entire project will be significantly less than that.

Question - Economic Impact of Filming

What was the economic impact of the filming of Public Enemies? What about city expenses?

Universal Studios spent a considerable amount of money on services and supplies in the city of Columbus. They made a conscious effort to buy locally as much as possible and many businesses benefited from their purchases. They spent money on lumber and supplies at the local hardware stores, they bought antiques at many of the antique stores in town, they purchased ambulance services, they ate at our restaurants, bought gas at the local gas stations, got a hair cut in town, used the emergency room, went to the dentist for emergency dental work.

All city employee time will be billed to Universal Studios including time for police protection, crowd control, clean up, light removal and replacement, attorney fees, etc. In addition, Universal paid for any city equipment and supplies used including dump truck time, road grader, replacement of cones and barricades lost or damaged. Each department is to turn in their hours to the City Treasurer who will be billing Universal directly.

Universal was generous with their spending and in addition made a contribution to our Auditorium restoration project. This project will benefit the entire city and Universal's contribution will help make this happen.

In hard dollars, Universal Studios, workers, actors, and crew spent at least $500,000 in expenses in Columbus. In addition there were wages paid to employees who worked in Columbus during the filming and construction. I do not have a number for wages at this time, but it will be substantial. There were over 100 people on set for weeks doing construction, dressing windows, painting, etc. They were here several weeks prior to filming and will remain for several weeks putting things back as they were. And remember that these folks ate in Columbus and many of them stayed at the local motel.

We also experienced a huge tourist boom during the filming and continue to have visitors come to our city specifically to see where the film was made. As time goes on we will be able to better measure the tourist impact.

All together a huge economic boom to our community and to the state of Wisconsin. Universal Studios agreed to spend at least $10 million in the state of Wisconsin for the filming in order to qualify for the film credits. In a time of economic downturn, this has been a substantial economic boom to our local economy and to the state.

Question - Downtown or Industrial Development?

There has been a lot of discussion on downtown economic development. What about the businesses outside of the downtown area? How are they being helped?

It is important to pay attention to all of the businesses in our city. We need a good economic base and a vibrant downtown. For many years the focus has been strictly on the industrial park at the edge of town, ignoring our city center. I spend a lot of time visiting our industrial business leaders, learning about their concerns and how the city can help them. In addition, it is important to pay attention to our downtown district. This is not an either / or decision. Both must be vibrant for us to be a healthy vibrant city.

We have economic incentives including a revolving loan fund available to all businesses in Columbus. It provides low interest lending to businesses that create jobs. There are also simple things that can make a difference to a business' success. Plowing the streets in the downtown area makes it easier for folks to pick up their prescriptions at the local drug store. Putting in a sidewalk in the industrial area will make it safer for pedestrians to get to the bowling alley and McDonalds. The new streetlights at the Dix Street intersection will make that entire area much safer for traffic.

We continue to look for ways to help improve the infrastructure that supports our business partners in the City.