The Notes: Week of June 14 - June 18, 2021

Well, it's full council meeting week here at the midway point of June 2021 (already!).  Thanks for tuning back in, neighbors!

The Library Board kicks off the week with a meeting on Monday, June 14, 2021 (4:30pm).  They will do their usual review of the bills and budget report and then review some modest changes to a few city policies which affect library personnel.  Library Director Colleen Rortvedt has also presented an interesting proposal that the board will then discuss: eliminating library overdue fines.  If you want to learn more about the proposal, you can view her memo in this regard here.  I'm not opposed to the idea and am interested in the discussion this item will generate.  I think the most important note from Director Rortvedt's memo is as follows: "... the library is not going to stop billing patrons for long overdue, damaged, or never returned items... There will still be due dates and timelines for initiating the billing and collection process."  So this policy assumes that library patrons will still be responsible for caring for checked out items but won't be penalized by missing a due date by a few days.  It sounds reasonable noting that the library's 2021 budgeted revenue for overdue fines is 0.64% of the library's total 2021 operating budget.

At this meeting, there will also be an update on the library building project.  I have good news that some District 13 neighbors have been approved as members of the library's building advisory committee!  More on that when the meetings of this committee begin... stay tuned!

On Tuesday, June 15, 2021 (6pm), the council will have an organizational meeting to discuss council procedures much like we did when the new council was sworn in in mid-April.  At this meeting, we will discuss a rules amendment which will get our council more in line with Robert's Rules of Order in terms of amendments to amendments.  This sort of technical rules discussion is not very exciting (to the average person) but it integral to the process of conducting council meetings.  I enjoy this type of discussion... but I don't think that's a common opinion!  We will also discuss the potential creation of a rule/rules related to virtual participation of council members for committee and full council meetings.  I asked for -- and received -- a lot of great feedback in this regard on Facebook.  If you did not yet weigh in on that, please let me know your thoughts before Tuesday's meeting.  PLEASE NOTE that, in these organizational meetings, the discussion is about remote participation of council members ONLY.  Public remote participation in meetings has always been and will remain at the discretion of the meeting chairman (i.e. the mayor, for full council meetings).

Then before the full council meeting on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, the council will again meet to conclude the organizational council rules discussion begun the evening before.  This second organizational meeting will begin at 6pm and the full council meeting will follow (scheduled for 7pm).  

This week's full council meeting looks to be quite a straightforward one.  But, as can be expected in local government, we might be surprised by some contentious item.  Of note are the following items:

• From the Safety and Licensing Committee: There is an alcohol license permit that was recommended for approval by the committee but only after a long discussion and the potential for its non-approval.  Core's Lounge (1359 W College Ave, Suite D) applied for a renewed license and some neighbors of this business came forward during the committee meeting -- apparently for a second year -- to complain that this establishment has been abusing the city's noise ordinance and causing the neighbors to lose sleep and be disturbed by loud music, loud patrons outside the establishment, and other noises during the very late and very early hours of the day.  The committee was unable to deny the renewal of the alcohol license for this establishment due to the potential legal ramifications to the city for non-renewal of a license without established cause (as the committee received only the feedback from these neighbors and not any formal complaints or police reports of the activities in question).  As such, the committee voted to permit renewal of this license and the full common council will be asked to do the same.  We can expect that the concerned neighbors (along with their concerned alderman, Mike Smith) will file a complaint with the city if this license is renewed and this whole issue will be fully investigated.  I really feel for these neighbors... it must be awful to be in this predicament!   But as a city, we must also follow the rules/laws/procedures to properly investigate and determine the facts of the situation to avoid lawsuits by businesses wanting to lawfully conduct business within the city.  

• Also from the Safety and Licensing Committee: The city will now permit gas stations/convenience stores to obtain "Class A" alcohol licenses to sell beer, wine, cider, and now also hard liquor.  Police Chief Thomas, City Clerk Lynch, and City Attorney Glad investigated whether neighboring communities had any prohibition of hard liquor sales for gas stations/convenience stores and found that only Neenah does... and they are soon to pursue the removal of that prohibition.  As such, those three staff members recommended to the committee that we remove the prohibition in Appleton.  The libertarian/free market believer in me sees the removal of this prohibition as the right thing to do... but as I and others on the committee affirmed, we recognize the harms that alcohol (of all types) can cause.  The obvious fact in Appleton, though, is that just because a Kwik Trip within the city limits isn't able to stock and sell Jack Daniels doesn't mean that the Pick N Save down the street from that Kwik Trip doesn't.  In this regard, it is advantageous for our city practices align with neighboring communities' practices so the committee recommended that this prohibition be removed and the full council will vote on it on Wednesday.  

• It's important to note that the full council will not be taking up any discussion of the proposed Department of Public Works changes regarding leaf/yard waste/bulky item collection and snow removal of city-owned sidewalks during this week's meeting.  The DPW received a lot of quality feedback in this regard and, as such, have decided to revisit this proposal and perhaps amend it and bring it back to the Utilities and Municipal Services Committees in the form of another informational item in the near future.  So... nothing is set in stone as far as how the city will proceed with this.  If you want to see what was discussed last week in committee meetings, please see here and here.  I will provide more information on this as we hear more from city staff about it.    

And... what a great Appleton Flag Day Parade we had yesterday!  It was a beautiful day and was such a celebration of summer, of our community moving forward from COVID19, and of what this city can do.  Many thanks go to the city's Parade Committee and to all of the public safety officers who helped police and manage the parade route and traffic.  And so much thanks goes to all of you who turned out for Old Glory and helped the city kick off what is sure to be a wonderful summer for our community!

As always, I look forward to your feedback on any of these issues or any other neighborhood issue.  Like and follow my Facebook page for regular updates and sharing of other city department postings.  

Have a great week!