The Notes: Week of May 31 - June 4, 2021

Hello, District 13 Neighbors,

Thanks for checking in!

We begin the week with the solemn occasion of Memorial Day, 2021.  God bless those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.   

In lieu of a Memorial Day parade this year, the Appleton Parade Committee is presenting an online remembrance.  Please see this post for further information.

The city's governmental meetings week begins on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, with a meeting of the Appleton Public Arts Committee (APAC).  In this early morning meeting, the committee will elect a vice chair and then have a general discussion of APAC's role in the community and their short- and long-term goals.  If you have opinions on the public arts policy of the city, there is time on the agenda for public participation in this meeting as well.  

On Wednesday, June 2, 2021, the full Common Council meets.  I will be absent and excused from this meeting as the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to see my daughter (my only child) in her eighth grade graduation ceremony occurs at the same time as the scheduled meeting of the council.  I will be making and submitting written comment to the president of the council, Matt Reed, for his reading of it into the record in my absence so the voice of District 13 will still be heard at this meeting. 

The meeting will begin with proclamations by the mayor and a certificate of appreciation for retiring Public Health Officer, Kurt Eggebrecht.  (The latter was scheduled to occur at the last council meeting but was put off until this meeting as this week's will truly be the last meeting that Mr Eggebrecht will be present for as his retirement is official this week.)  

There will be official public hearing time set aside for the topic of the rezoning of some downtown properties and the vacation of parts of W Prospect Avenue and S Douglas Street.  These are US Venture properties and these changes will help advance the development of this downtown area.

Of particular note -- and the agenda item that will likely warrant most discussion -- is the resolution that was presented at the last Council meeting and was taken up by the Parks and Recreation Committee this past week -- a resolution expressing the City of Appleton's support of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.  I mentioned my take on this in my previous blog post and you can view the committee discussion of this resolution here.  I fervently believe that this resolution can express support of this program which can greatly benefit Appleton *without* calling out any specific partisan political state budget proposals.  At the committee meeting, the lead author of the resolution, Alderman Alex Schultz, said it best himself: "...this conversation shouldn't be centering around us trying to establish this number.  It's beyond our purview.  I think we're here simply to say that we support the program..."  If that's the case, this resolution can be amended as I and/or Alderman Joe Prohaska suggested at the committee meeting and be easily passed by the full council.  If not, then this resolution is a part of a partisan ploy to say that the City of Appleton only supports Governor Evers's budget for this program.  I believe that that has no place in City of Appleton government.  Let me know your thoughts.

The week concludes with a Thursday, June 3, 2021, meeting of the city's Board of Review of which I am a member.  The Board of Review takes up taxpayer objections to city property assessment values.  There are currently three properties with values being contested on the Board's preliminary agenda for Wednesday morning.  We will review one property in District 13 which is assessed at $1.75M but which the property owner contests should only be assessed at $740K.  What a difference!  This one should be an interesting discussion!  The other two properties in question have assessments and property-owner-requested assessment values much nearer each other.  I'm interested to see how this process unfolds as I have not taken part in these sorts of discussions before.  I did hold a real estate license years back, though, and know a thing or two about assessments and property market values.  I hope to have some interesting insights to share with you about this next week. 

As always, you can contact me through social media or via email or call/text me at 920.570.2873 with any comments, questions, or concerns you might have.  I look forward to hearing from you!  Enjoy a holiday filled with gratitude and a beautiful beginning to June 2021!