The Notes: Week of July 12 - July 16, 2021

Appleton's local government kicks back into Committee Week with a vengeance this week with eight -- count 'em EIGHT -- meetings starting today (Monday, July 12, 2021).  Let's roll with meetings by date and time in this week's blog post.  

Monday, July 12, 2021:

• 4:30pm Municipal Services Committee: This is a packed agenda! 

1. In last week's meeting of the full council, we were asked to approve a reconstruction of Alvin Street from Wisconsin Avenue to Marquette Street.  Alderman Nate Wolff attempted to amend the item to include a removal of street parking in a one-block area at the intersection of Alvin Street and Wisconsin Avenue.  Since this area is in Alderman Bill Siebers's district, he referred this item back to the Municipal Services Committee for further review.
   
   One assumes that the amendment was floated because Planned Parenthood is located at this corner and there are people who wish to prohibit parking (and presumably the protesting activity that comes with it) in front of that particular business.  Whether I agree or not with the mission of this business or the mission of the protestors, I do not believe that we, as a city, should make this parking change for this street intersection 1) without proper factual data as to whether this is a traffic safety issue and 2) without understanding that this business may not remain in this location forever so at best, parking restrictions at this particular intersection would not eliminate protestors and could perhaps cause an even bigger problem elsewhere.  It is my understanding that there is not an indication from the city's traffic engineers that this intersection is in need of parking restrictions due to traffic safety issues (factual data).  I will be asking for that information from them at this meeting to be clear on that.  I am also be concerned that, should parking in this block be prohibited, those who wish to park there would simply move a block further in either direction to park, perhaps causing a greater disturbance in this neighborhood.  And, as mentioned, the "problem" is not solved if Planned Parenthood decides at some time in the future to move to another place in Appleton.  Are we going to then try to preclude parking in that new location and leave no-parking restrictions in front of some new business at the corner of Alvin Street and Wisconsin Avenue?  It's non-sensical.  We cannot offer special treatment to an intersection simply due to the type of business currently located at said intersection.  Unless compelling information is presented to sway me from these understandings, I will ask this committee to defeat any attempt to preclude parking in this one-block area. 
   
   
2. Another item that was referred back to committee from the full council regards the prohibition of certain building structures as accessory buildings/garages in the city.  I mentioned this in last week's blog post.  My feelings remain the same on this so I hope that the committee and staff can hammer out some better language to more clearly define what specific structures will and will not be prohibited. 
   
   
3. Yet another item that was referred back last week is an item which prohibits certain electrical work from being done on personal property by property owners.  The refer back was because the original language precludes home-owners from installing solar photovoltaic structures and Alderman Alex Schultz was not certain that that item was so specialized that home-owners should not be able to install those themselves.  We shall see what clarification of verbiage can be hammered out in the revisit of this item in committee. 
   
   
4. And this week, this committee will be voting on the approval of the proposed (modified plan) changes to DPW services.  I've also written about this issue here and here.  Some of you have gotten in touch regarding your thoughts on these plans.  If you have thoughts you haven't yet shared, please contact me so that I can take neighborhood opinions to this meeting and to any future meetings in this regard!
   
   
5. This committee will also be asked to approve the removal of two downtown parking spaces adjacent to the Mile of Music mural on State Street for an installation of a "parklet" in a Parklet Pilot Program.  This, to me, looks to be a fun and exciting little addition to our city!  I am a bit concerned about eliminating any downtown parking spaces... but it could be a very nice little seasonal public seating area in our downtown.  The proposal is that this is owned and operated/maintained/insured by Creative Appleton Downtown, Inc. (CDA) and will be dismantled before Octoberfest and stored for the winter months.  CDA proposes to also cover the expenses of the city's lost parking revenue for those two spaces.  No open intoxicants will be allowed and there will be a bike rack and a pet waste station/leash hookup installed as well.  What do you think??
   
   
   
   
   

• 5:30pm Finance Committee: Another busy schedule!

1. The committee will hear a presentation on 2021 general obligation notes and bond sales.  The action items associated are requests from the Finance Director to sell multiple millions of dollars in general obligation promissory notes and revenue refunding bonds.  I am interested in the revenue refunding bonds as we can expect to see some debt service savings... but I am anxious to hear all of this presentation and the Finance Director's rationale for these bonds sales before giving you all further information in this regard. 
   
   
2. The city's rebranding study will again come up for the Finance Committee.  I see this as a growth point for the city.  However, I get concerned about the amount of money to be spent on the whole project -- from study to branding development to implementation throughout the city.  What does interest me, though, is how this project fits in with the next item of business on this committee's agenda...
   
   
3. The city apparently has a large excess ($5.115M) in the general fund balance from 2020!  Seventy-five percent of the excess ($3.84M) must be used for reduction of long-term liabilities of the city and the remainder ($1.275M) is subject to the recommendation of the Finance Committee.  Here is what the Finance Department proposes:

I'm very interested to hear the rationale for these choices and to see whether there are other committee members or council members who have other ideas for how this excess should be allocated.  My favorite part about this is the debt reduction that we will be able to achieve with this excess fund balance.  The inclusion of a brand study/implementation AND the AV upgrades to council chambers seem to check off some of the major expenditures the city has laid on the table recently as well.  So it would be quite nice to see all three of these birds killed with one stone.  I'll have more information on this after this committee meeting but before these things come up for vote at an upcoming full council meeting.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021:

• 5:00pm Utilities Committee: The one big item on the agenda for this meeting is this committee's approval of the proposed DPW changes as mentioned above in the Municipal Services Committee meeting notes. 

Wednesday, July 14, 2021:

• 1:00pm Library Board: The board will go over the operating budget updates since their last meeting and look to approve some finance policy updates.
  
  
• 3:30pm City Plan Commission:  The commission will entertain the annexation of some property into District 13 on the corner of Ridge Haven Lane and Ballard Road, the permitting of Jimmy's Chicken and Fish (205 N Richmond St) to sell alcohol from this middle unit of a multi-tenant building, and the certified survey map of a combination of two parcels into one near the corner of Apple Hill Boulevard and Ballard Road (the main entrance to Apple Hill Farms subdivision).
  
  
• 4:30pm Community & Economic Development Committee: The one action item on the agenda for this committee is the discussion and potential approval of an amendment to the Zuehlke Project Development Agreement between the city and the developers of the Zuehlke building at 103 W College Avenue.  See this memo from Director of Community & Economic Development Karen Harkness for more information on the proposed amendment. 
  
  
• 5:30pm Safety and Licensing Committee: The typical slate of beer/liquor licenses, temporary premises amendments (to allow outdoors temporary alcohol sales), and temporary wine/beer licenses (for picnics and festivals) are on the docket for this committee.  The two line items that were held over in last week's special meeting of this committee are back on the agenda as well. 
  
  
• 6:30pm Human Resources & Information Technology Committee: We will discuss paying elections inspectors (poll workers) a fixed rate of pay rather than a rate based on years of service.  The suggested rates are $12.74/hour for chief and co-chief elections inspectors and $9.80/hour for elections inspectors.  As an election inspector myself, I think this is fair... but I may need to abstain from voting because of that.  I recommend anyone who has the availability to do so, to join the City of Appleton as an elections inspector and perform this simple civic duty on election days.  Look at the great pay you could receive! 
  
  We will also discuss a small change in the organizational table of the city's Health Department, a change to the workers compensation third party administrator for the city, some policy changes, and the mid-year Human Resources Department budget and performance report.     

Lastly this week, I'd like to share some information on the design/planning for Lundgaard Park.  This sign was posted at the park in the last week or so... but in case you haven't yet seen it:

(photo credit: Mike Schinke)

It's interesting that they chose a Wednesday night (when the city has committee meetings!) to hold this meeting.  That will make it difficult for me to attend unless the committee meetings are canceled or have no pressing items on the agendas.  So, please make it a point to attend if you are interested and able!  I will certainly make every attempt to be there so that I can share more with you on this blog and on my Facebook page. 

Also be sure to save August 3 on your calendar for our Vosters Park National Night Out event.  It's scheduled for 5:00 - 7:30pm.  I plan to be there and will be happy to chat or answer any questions you might have.  I really look forward to seeing you in person there!  

As always, my door is always open for feedback or discussion on any item of city business.  Call/text me (920 570-2873) or email me any time.