City of Waupaca, Wisconsin
City Administrator/Clerk’s Office
Ph: 715-258-4411
Fax: 715-258-4426
MEMORANDUM
TO:Common Council
FROM:Henry Veleker, City Administrator/Clerk
DATE:May 13, 2016
RE:Monthly Report
Employee Handbook Update. This project is underway. Employees have been asked to provide input on the handbook as my office works to pull together a draft for initial review. Ms. Sarah Platt, Von Briesen law firm, who helped with the development of an updated handbook back in 2011 has done an initial review and comment for this update as well. My intent is to provide a process for our employees to review the proposed changes prior to the Common Council receiving the document. At this point it is my goal to have the proposed handbook changes to you for your review and approval in July.
Taxi Service. There have been some challenges in getting timely remittances from the WDOT and Veterans Home for the provided services. As for the WDOT their reimbursements to the City are dependent on the state of Wisconsin receiving federal transit dollars. This funding was delayed until recently which put us a couple of quarters behind in receiving those reimbursements. Also, the Veterans Home has been slow in making their required payments. I suspect this may be tied to the different fiscal years that the state and City recognize. The situation is improving however.
I met with Karl Schulte and Dave Lowe, representatives from our taxi provider to get an update on the status of the system for this year. The good news is we’re tracking the same ridership as in 2015 (58,000 rides) however we haven’t recovered from our high in 2014 of about 63,000 rides. Coupled with this is that the state has again reduced our funding for 2016 so we’re down 1.0% or about $5,000 in grant revenue. Karl and Dave are suggesting the City consider a small fare increase to help meet the shortfall.
To increase fares requires Council approval of course but it does also require review and approval by the WDOT as well as the need for a public hearing. In the near future this item will be on a Council agenda for you to review and to determine if you would like to begin the process to increase fares.
Emergency Management Training. Our organization needs to work on getting our staff and elected officials up to date on emergency management training. We’re being told that this is a requirement for the City to be considered for future state and federal funding. I will be working with our department heads to bring this training up to date. Our police and fire departments are in good shape. Please stay tuned as I am planning to coordinate a Council wide training in the near future. The training is internet based and I am planning for the Council to do the training together. There is just one required class for Council and it will take about 90 minutes to complete.
Meetings/Other Dates
Thursday, April 21 – attended WDOT meeting at County Highway Office with Justin Berrens. RE: Safety improvements along Hwy 10 from Waupaca east to Fremont
April 27 – 29, 2016 – vacation
May 10, 2016 – Along with Mayor Smith met with our youth appointed committee members to discuss their responsibilities, review Code of Ethics and swearing in.
111 South Main Street, Waupaca, Wisconsin 54981