The Notes: Week of March 7 - March 11, 2022

Welcome back, neighbors!  Thanks for being here to read more about the local government happenings in the City of Appleton.

The week will begin with a bang and likely go out with a bit of a whimper as the most pressing and controversial items are on the agendas of meetings early on this week.  Here's a rundown of what you can expect:

Monday, 03/07/2022

Municipal Services Committee - 4:30pm: The first item on the agenda for this meeting is the continued consideration of a resolution presented to this committee two weeks ago regarding No Mow May.  The resolution seeks to change the maximum lawn height allowed in May from eight inches to twelve inches and to make No Mow May a permanent part of the city's municipal code (meaning it would not be discussed and decided on based on the most up-to-date information available on its relative success each year).  The committee will likely again hear the same arguments as were made in favor of the resolution the last time this was presented; but I believe that there is some controverting evidence that makes the decision to make No Mow May a permanent part of Appleton's municipal code a poor choice at this time.  I believe that we simply do not have enough incontrovertible evidence that No Mow May really does help enhance the bee population in the city.  One paper (with a small sample size used to "prove" the policy's effectiveness) from a previous year's No Mow May is, to me, just not enough evidence to say that this program is indeed successful in aiding the bees.  And the controversy and disharmony that the program leads to in some neighborhoods just seems to outweigh the still questionable potential benefits this program offers for bees.  I think that it can be enough for the council to allow a one-year renewal of No Mow May for 2022 (without any changes in the maximum lawn height allowed) and see whether more evidence can be gathered this year to help better prove its effectiveness.  But I am not in favor of the two items that this resolution brings forth -- the raising of the maximum lawn height and the making permanent this policy.  The staff of the Department of Public Works (DPW) agrees in their memo to the committee.  I will be attending this committee meeting to hear more in this regard.  And I would love to hear from you your thoughts on whether to make this a permanent policy in Appleton.  Please email me right away with your opinions!

This committee will also consider a few other items including some street occupancy permits, street parking and traffic control on a couple streets in the city, the 2021 annual report of the Appleton Parking Utility, a review of the pedestrian crosswalk evaluation process in the city (which will be useful in the discussions in the Finance Committee meeting which just follows this meeting), and discussion of the possible redesign of Soldier Square.  

Finance Committee - 5:30pm: Some standard finance committee items will be discussed such as the awarding of some contracts for pavement construction, sidewalk saw cutting, electrical work at the wastewater treatment plant, tennis and basketball court repaving, and a request that the city participate in the WE Energies SolarNow program for the solar arrays at the library (when it's remodeled), the municipal services building, and Valley Transit.  Of other interest on this committee's agenda are the requests for budget carryovers for numerous projects from 2021 and the reconsideration (after it was held by this committee on 02/07/2022) of the "funds diversion resolution" mentioned here and here.  

In February, the committee held the "funds diversion resolution" pending an update from city staff and the mayor on the necessity of the funds redistribution for the projects of 1) a style guide for the city, 2) city website redesign, 3) additional funding for an already fully funded (through the 5-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)) enhanced pedestrian crosswalk program, and 4) "technology upgrades."  And the update is in!  Via a memo to the committee, the mayor has made some further recommendations as noted here:

1. The city's style guide costs can be absorbed through current operating budgets and no further funds are needed for this portion of the resolution.  I see this as a positive step.  The work can be done to help standardize the as-is branding of the city without need for any additional funds being diverted to this portion of the resolution.  
   
   
2. The city's IT Director is still in the process of evaluating the city's website for reconstruction and/or updating and the mayor recommends the committee continue to hold the funds for this portion of the resolution until more information can be gathered on this.  This is as we could expect.  Rome wasn't built in a day and so, it seems, neither can a city's website be built or rebuilt.  It will take time and more deep-diving on the part of the city's relatively new IT Director to make any substantial change for which the writers of this resolution might wish.  While the city's website is a bit cumbersome and not ideal, it is the best that we can hope for at this time and we will need patience in getting to where we need to be as far as a more user-friendly interface with the city.  As such, I would like these funds to remain "in limbo" and perhaps reassigned to a more pared-down branding study for the city.  If you'll remember, though, branding was inappropriately (I feel) put on an "indefinite hold" by this committee. 
   
   
3. The mayor recommends a reevaluation of the city's enhanced crosswalk program.  He recommends allocating $75,000 for a consultant to do this reevaluation before any additional enhanced crosswalk projects (beyond those already on the 5-year CIP) could be undertaken.  I believe this recommendation of an allocation to be a waste of taxpayer money as the city already has a plan of evaluation for these crosswalks and no new plan is required (especially to the tune of $75K!).  I will advocate for all of the funds mentioned in the "funds diversion resolution" for this portion of that resolution to remain "in limbo" as well (just as above in item #2).
   
   
4. Again, the city's new IT Director will need more time (and, again in this case, a consultant is recommended) to evaluate what is needed for "technology upgrades" for the city.  The mayor recommends that this committee commit $60,000 to a consultant for this work.  While this, too, is a disappointment to me, I do see the need for an evaluation of where we stand and what upgrades will help our city's staff better serve its citizens.  I could go along with this consultant funding but I would need further information from said consultant before committing the city to the full $150,000 recommended funds diversion to this portion of the "funds diversion resolution." 

What this all boils down to is that the funds diversion from the city's branding project was, in large part, an unnecessary portion of this resolution in order for the resolution's authors to move the city in the directions they wished for (as noted above).  I'm very interested to see where this goes in Monday night's meeting and will update you when I know more.  In the meantime, please share your thoughts!  

Parks and Recreation Committee - 6:30pm: Cancelled for this week.

Tuesday, 03/08/2022

The regularly scheduled meetings of the Fox Cities Transit Commission and the Utilities Committee are cancelled for this week. 

Wednesday, 03/09/2022

Board of Health - 7am: Par for the course, this board will meet bright and early on Wednesday morning.  They will discuss the city's COVID19 report (which, by the way, will no longer be a part of the full common council's agenda moving forward... unless it becomes necessary in the future which we all hope it will not!), budget reports, the results of a weights and measures 2021 survey, and approved noise variances. 

Appleton Redevelopment Authority - 9am:  Keeping with a morning meeting theme, the Appleton Redevelopment Authority will meet Wednesday morning as well.  They last met in September 2021.  On this week's meeting agenda are a presentation regarding the Valley Transit Whitman Center upgrades and the request for the re-appointment of some appointed committee members of the Appleton Redevelopment Authority Exhibition Center Advisory Committee.  Here is a full list of those appointed to that committee in case you are interested.  This group will also review their Business Grant Enhancement program to date.  

Library Board (Personnel and Policy Committee) - 12:30pm: True to their name, this committee of the Library Board will review the Library Director's job description and the library's art policy and scholarship program policy. 

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm: One public hearing and related action item will be taken up by the city's plan commissioners -- the rezoning request of a property on Badger Avenue.  The owner would like to have the property rezoned from General Commercial to Neighborhood Mixed Use to accommodate his plans for a future multi-family residential development.  

The agenda also includes an informational line regarding a College Avenue North Neighborhood Plan Open House scheduled for Monday, 04/11/2022, between 4pm and 7pm in the City Center Board Room (10 E College Ave, 1st floor, east end).  For those interested in stopping in, a walk-thru will take about 15 minutes.  So you're encouraged to do so any time during those open hours!

Community and Economic Development Committee - 4:30pm:  Of particular interest on this committee's agenda is the request for distribution of some American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to some local non-profit applicants to the city's grant notice.  I will be interested in learning why some of the applicants received funding and others did not and what the organizations receiving ARPA funding are planning to do with those grant funds.  Since these are the citizen's dollars for distribution by the city, it behooves us to ask those questions and determine whether the ARPA funds will be used wisely by those applicants chosen.  Here is a recap of this ARPA funds distribution request.  This committee will also review the city's annual growth report (for 2021).

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm: The usual slate of liquor license applications and temporary premises requests are up for approval by this committee.  They will also discuss formally disposing of the Intoxicated Bartender resolution which was withdrawn by the author, Alderman Mike Smith, during this committee's last meeting. 

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - 6:30pm: The city's IT Director is requesting that the above-mentioned $60,000 (under Finance Committee, item #4) be allocated to a contractor for an IT network assessment.  I'm quite uncomfortable giving feedback on this at this time as the Finance Committee has not yet undertaken the discussion of the resolution and the funding associated with it.  Yet the request from the IT Director says it comes "with some urgency."  We will have to see how Monday's meeting goes before we can make any determination on how I believe we can proceed at this meeting.  

And there you have it, folks -- a thrilling Monday, a nothing scheduled Tuesday, and what I expect will be a relatively quiet Wednesday.  I look forward to hearing from you about any of these items -- thrilling or quiet or anything in between.  So, please always feel free to contact me.

Until next week, I wish you a wonderful week.  I hope that all of our yards dry out quickly as we move through this first full week of March and deeper into Spring in Wisconsin.  Thanks for reading!