The Notes: Week of January 24 - January 28, 2022

Welcome to another Committee Meetings Week in City of Appleton government, folks!  Thanks for joining me here to stay up-to-date!

Only the Community and Economic Development Committee has an empty agenda this week so the remainder of the committees' meetings are summarized below:

Monday, 01/24/2022

4:30pm: Municipal Services Committee - These committee members will be asked to approve an intergovernmental agreement between Outagamie County, the Town of Grand Chute, and the city for a sanitary sewer line to be constructed between the controversial new/fourth cell of the Holland Road Landfill (right in our backyards on the corner of French Road and CTH OO) and the city's sanitary sewer system on Zuehlke Drive.  The county proposes to construct the sanitary sewer line but the city proposes to pay the county $114,000 for the line once it's constructed and make it a part of the city's sanitary sewer system.  My primary issue with this whole agreement is that the leachate that comes from the landfill property is very corrosive and will likely lessen the life of this newly constructed and acquired portion of the sanitary sewer system in the City of Appleton.  I will be attending this meeting to ask questions regarding this and how the city can be assured that this is a good investment for the City of Appleton.  

This committee will also discuss a new "parklet" policy (for small temporary parks that are constructed in parking spaces in city streets), the awarding of a couple of contracts for city bridge inspections, and the request for a temporary street occupancy permit for ice sculptures on downtown sidewalks for the 02/18/2022 "Avenue of Ice" event. 

5:30pm: Finance Committee - Of great interest at this meeting are the first two items on the agenda, both regarding city branding.  As I mentioned in an earlier post from the last Committee Meetings Week, there was a recommended marketing firm (the third-ranked one!) for consulting services for new branding for the city.  The committee held that item the last time they met so this week is a revisit of it.  Well... in the time since that committee meeting, there have been some other developments and... to make a long story short, the recommended firm withdrew their proposal and a memo submitted to the Finance Committee by the mayor requests that the committee send this whole process back through as a new/revised Request for Proposal (RFP) process.  And that's not all....!

In last week's meeting of the full council, a resolution was submitted by Aldermen VanZeeland, Firkus, Fenton, Wolff, and Prohaska, which asks that the monies previously voted on and approved for the city's branding study, new branding development, and implementation of the new brand be otherwise redistributed to the following: $100,000 to a website redesign for Appleton.org, $225,000 to the city's enhanced crosswalks program, and $150,000 to "much needed technology upgrades."  I have a couple of issues with this resolution and plan to speak against it (and eventually vote against it) as it stands in its current form.  First, the branding study and the application of the funds to the study and subsequent implementation were all approved by the full common council.  Therefore, I believe that, despite the early hiccup in the RFP process mentioned above, this project should proceed uninterrupted as was originally approved by the council.  The website upgrades, I believe, are already a part of the brand study and implementation process and budget.  As such, there is no need to separately divert funds for said initiative.  The "much needed technology upgrades" line item is far too vague and, while there are always needs (in any business!) for technology upgrades, those things are already budgeted for and will be implemented as scheduled.  The same goes for the enhanced crosswalks program within the city: There are already budgeted funds and a timeline established (in our five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)) for the construction of said crosswalks, so diversion of these branding study funds to the enhanced crosswalks program is, in my opinion, more of a "special interest project" for some aldermen than overall beneficial to the city. 

After no-doubt robust conversation regarding the above line items, the committee will move on to the approval of projects such as a ~$700,000 Pierce Parks hardscapes upgrade (to make the park more ADA compliant), a $1.69M project to update and remodel the common spaces of City Hall, and a potential budget move to approve an approximately $35,000 fee for a consulting service to help the city find a new Department of Public Works (DPW) director before the current director retires later this year.

6:30pm: Parks and Recreation Committee - The approval of a resolution that will allow the city to submit applications for grant funds for the development of the WE Energies Trail Phase 2 and the approval of a reciprocity agreement for parks and recreation services between citizens of the City of Appleton, the City of Menasha, and the City of Neenah are the only two action items of the day for this committee.  I expect both to be approved without much fanfare.  

Tuesday, 01/25/2022

3pm: Fox Cities Transit Commission - Commission members will meet (likely quickly) to discuss and approve November 2021 payments, ridership, and financial statements.  They will also review an agreement between Valley Transit and Lawrence University which allows university students to ride Valley Transit for free (payments made by Lawrence University) with the presentation of their student IDs. 

5pm: Utilities Committee - The single action item on this committee's agenda is the request to grant a water utilities customer a $65.98 credit for water use during the middle of last year.  This customer apparently had an unknown water leak in the property's service line and has had many back-and-forths with the city regarding the excess fees for exorbitant quantities of water use for a residential property.  It looks as though $65.98 is the least that the city can grant this customer for a credit but it might be an interesting discussion! 

Wednesday, 01/26/2022 

3:30pm: City Plan Commission - A business on East College Avenue (where the defunct Applebee's is currently located) is requesting a special use permit to build and operate a car wash.  It looks as though all of this owner's proverbial ducks are in a row so I expect little issue with this request for approval from commission members.

5:30pm: Safety and Licensing Committee - There is a new ordinance proposal first on the agenda for this committee's review.  It's called the Intoxicated Bartender Ordinance and it calls for the city's police force to "breathalizer test" bartenders in the city just as they would potentially intoxicated drivers.  While I understand and appreciate that there may be some instances in the city where intoxicated bartenders might be an issue, I truly do not see the need for this ordinance and feel as though this creates an additional and unnecessary burden on the city's police force.  I look forward to further discussion on this topic at the meeting and can let you know more if this proceeds to the full council next week.  

There are also a few liquor licenses up for approval and a small change in the city's farm market license process requested by the City Clerk.  

6:30pm: Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - The city's Human Resources (HR) Department is requesting the approval of a $62,500 compensation study to ensure that City of Appleton workers are being fairly compensated (market rates).  While this is, I feel, a steep price to pay, we do need to be certain that the city attracts and retains the best employees and is able to compete fairly in this tight employment market so we will not have to compromise on the services offered to Appletonians.  The previous compensation survey completed for the city was done in 2012 and much has changed in the last decade.  

This committee will also discuss a line item mentioned above in the Finance Committee section: the request to approve the use of $35,000 to contract a consulting service to help the city fill the soon-to-be-vacated (through retirement) director position for the Department of Public Works (DPW).  This, too, seems a steep price to pay.  And the city did not make these kinds of requests during the past year to help to fill the position of Department of Health Director.  I will be asking the HR director for further clarification on this (why is this needed now?) and hope to have a better feel for why this spending should be approved.  

So, as you can see, it's truly "back to business" here in the city as we roll into the last week of January (how is that possible?!) and see February on the horizon.

Join me back here in a week for more happenings.  And as always, please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns on any of the above issues or anything else City of Appleton-related.  I always look forward to hearing from you!