The Notes: Week of April 26 - April 30, 2021

Last week flew by and here we are in the final week in April 2021.  Let's bring on summer, right?!

This week, all committees will be made up of their new alderman committee members, so each committee will be voting on a vice-chairman and confirming the standing dates and times of each committee's meetings.  Which aldermen make up each committee this year?  Find out here.

Mondays on the second and fourth weeks of the month usually bring three committee meetings; but this week, we'll see only two.  At 4:30pm on Monday  (April 26, 2021), the Municipal Services Committee will meet and discuss, among other things, the Appleton Downtown Streetscape Guide.  If you haven't yet had a chance to review this, check out the presentation here.  This committee will also review applications for street occupancy permits for some downtown outdoor dining -- hurray! Outdoor dining season returns soon! -- and for a permanent street occupancy permit for the YMCA parking ramp to extend partially into the street right-of-way.  

At 5:30pm on Monday, the Finance Committee meets.  They will discuss the minutes from the last Central Equipment Agency (CEA) meeting, several requests to approve contracts for electrical substation construction/remodeling for the Appleton Waste Water Treatment Plant (AWWTP), and the rejection/postponement of some 2021 construction projects until 2022.  

The Parks and Recreation Committee would normally meet at 6:30pm on Monday, but this week's meeting is cancelled (likely due to no agenda items to review).  

On Tuesday (April 27, 2021), the Fox Cities Transit Committee meets at 3pm.  This committee is made up of two citizen members and two aldermen from the City of Appleton as well as additional member representatives of other municipalities which provide funding for Valley Transit.  The board will take action on bills/payments, awarding a contract for the remodeling of the Whitman Avenue Valley Transit facility, the purchase of five new clean-diesel busses (using state funds awarded to the city), and review ridership, income statements, and key performance indicators.  Also of importance: there is a request to allow "service connected" disabled veterans to ride Valley Transit busses for free (showing a Veterans Administration Healthcare ID card noting that their disabilities are connected to their service to our country).  This will allow "service connected" disabled veterans from as far south as Oshkosh to use connected bussing routes (GOTRANSIT to Neenah and Valley Transit routes from there) to get the the Appleton VA Clinic for free.  *Thank you to all veterans for their service!*  

At 5pm on Tuesday, the Utilities Committee meets to discuss the postponement of some 2021 water/sewer projects until 2022 and first quarter 2021 wastewater treatment, water treatment, and water main break reports.   

On Wednesday (April 28, 2021), the Board of Building Inspection meets at 1pm.  This is not a standing meeting; this board meets at the call of the chairman.  (They last met in April 2020!)  The City Plan Commission would normally meet at 3:30pm but this meeting is also cancelled.  

At 4:30pm Wednesday, the Community and Economic Development Committee meets in council chambers.  They will take up discussion on a resolution regarding the application of the 1981 United Nations treaty of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in City of Appleton policy.  I support much of this resolution with the greatest exception being with the final clause stating that the resolution be forwarded to the US Congressional delegation for the state of Wisconsin to express the City of Appleton's support of the US ratification of CEDAW.  Even as a woman, I have strong reservations about CEDAW as ratifying it could have a negative effect on the United States' human rights record in general and on the lives of US women specifically.  Of the many other countries which have ratified it, over fifty have done so with certain objections and reservations including the rejection of some specific articles of the treaty.  With this much international questioning of a great deal of it and the very real potential for the subjecting of the United States to the whims of an international agency, I personally could not vote for this resolution as it stands with that final clause.  

Of utmost importance this week is the 5:30pm Wednesday meeting of the Safety and Licensing Committee.  As many of you are aware, this committee will review the resolution condemning violence against our AAPI (a/k/a APIDA) community.  Last week's full common council meeting saw this resolution referred back to committee to make sure that we have the strongest resolution possible for these valued members of our Appleton community.  The current popular narrative is that members of the common council "don't care enough" about our AAPI community members to pass this resolution on its face.  I beg my neighbors in District 13 to reconsider the facts: 

1. That not one member of this council "doesn't care" about the experiences of the people who spoke so passionately at the meeting last week.  
2. That not one member of this council "doesn't care" about the experiences of those in the AAPI community who chose not to speak for whatever reason at that meeting.
3. That not one member of this council is bigoted or racist.  

Even though we may not be in lockstep on how we got to this point, please let's change the narrative with the belief that all members of this council are inherently good and are not ill-intentioned.  I have every belief that this resolution (perhaps with potential amendments proposed at the Safety and Licensing committee meeting) will pass.  Our city's AAPI community members can be assured that, with or without the resolution, the leaders of this city, the staff of this city, countless fellow concerned Appletonians (myself very much included) care deeply that our city be safe from xenophobic violence, bigotry, hatred.

Other items of note for the Safety and Licensing Committee:

• Discussion of a proposed temporary resolution to allow for a more expeditious processing of applications by downtown businesses to use private parking areas and the amenity strip of College Avenue for sidewalk cafes between now and October 2, 2021 for alcohol service between the hours of 11am and 9:30pm. 
• The request by the Appleton Police Department to deny an operator's (bartender's) license.
• Proposed amendments to city ordinances to include verbiage relating to electric scooters alongside existing bicycle ordinances. 
• Various permit applications for approval of 15-person pedal cycle, liquor licenses, and premises amendments.    

The week's meetings would conclude with the Human Resources and Information Technology (HR/IT) Committee which is usually scheduled to meet at 6:30pm on second and fourth Wednesdays.  But this week's meeting of the HR/IT committee is cancelled.  This committee should have an interesting year as both the HR Director and the IT Director for the city are currently open positions!  I look forward to seeing how the year progresses under (no doubt highly qualified) interim management in these departments.

A couple neighbors have expressed concerns about the ash trees in Vosters Park and about the excess speed at which some drivers are negotiating Cherryvale Avenue.  I'm addressing those concerns with city personnel and will have answers for you as we move forward.  For now, I do know that most of the wooded area in Vosters Park will be changing significantly in the next couple years as the ash trees succumb to the emerald ash borer (boo!).  But there will be community input solicited on the proposed changes and I will let you know when that will occur.  

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns on anything noted above or anything else city-related.  I remain ready to listen!