The Notes: Week of October 25 - October 29, 2021

Holy cats this October has flown by quickly!  We are here in the last week of the month and staring down a Committee Week with lots of interesting items on agendas and a special day-long budget meeting to wrap up the week.  

First, here's a quick summary of where the City of Appleton is in the redistricting process right now (considering we've talked about this for weeks and weeks!): Option E was chosen for the "final final" option for the city.  These are the districts into which Appleton will be sectioned until our next redistricting joy ride a decade from now.  

As you can see, District 13 is very little changed.  There is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the district which will no longer be represented by me but there are some new neighborhoods on the north (near Fox Valley Lutheran) which will join our District 13 party!  I'm excited to meet new District 13 neighbors in that area and am sad to see that southern neighborhood go into another alderman's hands.  But most of all, I'm excited to continue to serve *all* who are interested in these blog updates and to listen to any City of Appleton neighbor in need of an alderman's ear.

And now to move on to the week's business at hand (presented in timeline order as we'll see it this coming week):

Monday, 10/25/2021:

• Municipal Services Committee (4:30pm) - The committee will decide whether to allow some monitoring wells (DNR-requested) near the Crescent Loft Apartments (306 W Washington Avenue), whether to extend an already-granted street occupancy permit for a construction project (318 W College Avenue), and... whether to grant an extension to the placement of The Collective sculpture until April, 2022.  You know the sculpture (see photo below); email me your thoughts on whether it should remain in that spot at the end of the College Avenue bridge until April.  Near the end of this meeting, they will also take up a 2022 budget discussion as it applies to municipal services in the city.
  
  
  
  
  
• Finance Committee (5:30pm) - There are a few items on the agenda which should be "easy pass" items such as awarding a stormwater pond sediment removal contract, reallocating ~$750k of budgeted dollars from the David & Rita Nelson River Crossing project to the Ellen Kort Peace Park project (due to Neenah Papers notifying the city of the sale of their property where a significant portion of the Nelson project was to be installed), and a reallocation of excess budget funds for a small office renovation project for the Municipal Services building. 
  
  But of greatest importance at this meeting is the furthered discussion of how the city should allocate the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act funds.  This item was discussed by this committee a couple weeks ago and then referred back to the committee by the full council last week.  You will recall when I first brought this to you attention, that I was concerned about the unanswered questions surrounding the allocation of $2M for "broadband access and information infrastructure" for the library project and the $250k "special interest projects" and the accompanying $150k needed for "consulting and administration support" to administer the $250k in grants.  I also expressed at that time that I was interested in having the city consider using the ARPA funds for the 2023 proposed second raw water line project for the city instead.  Well... the latest news on that front is that the second raw water line project might not be required by the city due to some very recent upgrades to the current raw water line intake.  (This is potentially great news as this means no need for a $10M investment in that project any time in the future!)  That does not, however, assuage my concerns about the unanswered questions I mentioned above.   
  
  When the mayor was questioned about whether the $2M proposed ARPA investment in the library project would reduce future borrowing for the project or whether this was simply his way of allocating an additional $2M to the already $24M project, he answered with the following: "These funds are intended to, at a minimum, enhance the Library project to meet the stated objective. Being that we are relatively early in the detailed design process and cost estimation, the final answer to the question is not yet known. If possible, our intention would be to apply the $2M in ARPA funding in a way that reduces the borrowing on the project."  In order to feel confident that this is not just an willy-nilly allocation to unnecessarily bolster the already budgeted library project but rather a well-thought-out investment for the good of all of the citizens of Appleton (which debt reduction would be), I would like to press the Finance Committee to consider allowing this allocation but only with the assurances that these dollars will not increase the total budget of the library project without reducing the city's need to incur debt to do so.  This would likely require an amendment to the plan to state that only through at least some debt reduction could these funds be used in this allocation.  We shall see how a proposal in this regard at the committee meeting will be met.
  
  There is no need for the city to rush to apply these ARPA funds to any project at all since we have until the end of 2024 for this spending.  So, I much prefer that the city slow the process of allocating these funds until we have good and proper ways of making sure we are not wastefully spending them.  The mayor himself said the following (in an email to all aldermen): "I offer you a caution to consider as you think through the philosophical aspects of the ARPA recommendations: We have until December 31, 2024 to spend these dollars, so quickly allocating all of the funds isn’t necessary. There are many unknowns as far as how the ongoing pandemic and all of the connected issues will affect City budgets and operations.  It is entirely possible, if not likely, that the City will face operating budget challenges in future years as a result of all that has happened over the last year+."  With that said, I see no need to rush into this first allocation of funds and will advocate for a conservative approach.  Let me know your thoughts in this regard as soon as possible so that I can bring them to Monday night's meeting!   
  
  
• Parks and Recreation Committee (6:30pm) - Of utmost importance to District 13 neighbors is the public hearings/appearances portion of this meeting: the Lundgaard Park Master Plan Presentation!  Please see below the two artist renderings of the plan that will be presented and see here for the full presentation document.  I can't wait to hear more about it and will be happy to share what I hear with you afterwards if you're interested! 
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

Tuesday, 10/26/2021:

• Fox Cities Transit Commission (3pm) - This meeting is cancelled due to lack of agenda items at this time.   
  
  
• Utilities Committee (5pm) - The agenda for this meeting shows no action items for the committee but rather some time set aside for 2022 budget discussion and the July/August/September monthly reports for wastewater treatment, water treatment facilities, and water distribution/meter team.
  

Wednesday, 10/27/2021: 

• City Plan Commission (3:30pm) - The commission will take up the rezoning of two properties to be annexed into the city -- the Lightning Drive right-of-way (to extend Lightning Drive north from the roundabout north of CTH JJ) and a private property on the southwest corner of Mackville Road and Ballard Road.  They will also look to approve the annexation of the Spartan Drive right-of-way just west of Meade Street from the Town of Grand Chute. 
  
  
• Community and Economic Development Committee (4:30pm) -  There is a potential development agreement on the table between the city and MF Housing Partners for the development of 43-unit apartment project (with 36 units being available to low-income renters) in TIF District #11 (North Oneida Street, East Harris Street, North Appleton Street).  The developer is requesting TIF support of $611,920 for the proposed $10.5M development. 
  
  
• Safety and Licensing Committee (5:30pm) - The usual slate of temporary liquor licenses for events, some new liquor licenses, and a revisit of a referred-back permit are on the agenda.  Most interesting is the request by the Community and Economic Development Department for the committee to deny a permanent premise amendment for River Tyme Bistro due to their wanting to use too many parking spaces (10 off-street) which will put them in violation of the zoning ordinances for that property.  The Bistro is making the request due to the "instability of the ground" under their patio dining area.  But the Community and Economic Development Department requests that the owner contact the department to work out a solution that satisfies municipal codes.
  
  
• Human Resources and Information Technology Committee (6:30pm) - This meeting is cancelled due to lack of agenda items at this time.   
  

Friday, 10/29/2021:

• Library Board (Personnel and Policy Committee) (12pm) - In a rare Friday city meeting, this committee will discuss the director's 2021 performance evaluation, some proposed library policy revisions, and review some library trustee training materials. 
  

Saturday, 10/30/2021: 

Here it is, folks!  "BUDGET SATURDAY" for the aldermen of the city of Appleton.  The festivities begin at 8am and each and every section of the 2022 budget will be reviewed, amended if needed and agreed upon, and approved.  This will be a looooong day... but it is, I feel, one of the most important functions of the city council.  Please review the proposed budget (*spoken in scary Halloween voice*: if you dare....) and let me know what questions or concerns you have before we hammer out everything on this Budget Saturday. 

There are also some public listening sessions scheduled for the 2022 budget process.  See below for more information.  

So there you have it.  Thanks for reading today!  I hope you have a great closing week to our October 2021.  As always, I'm here to listen whenever you have any questions, concerns, complaints, ideas, or thoughts on how we can improve how our city serves its citizens.  Contact me whenever you feel the need!