The Notes: Week of April 11 - April 15, 2022

Hey, neighbors!  Thanks for joining me here for a Committee Week rundown.  This week's schedule is about half as full of meetings as it would normally be due to some meeting cancellations.  I'll run through highlights of the week's meeting agendas chronologically below.  

Monday, 04/11/2022

CEA Review Committee - 3:30pm: This committee meets very rarely.  They last met in August of 2021.  The committee's main purpose is to review and approve city fleet equipment purchases and changes.  CEA stands for Central Equipment Agency and you can find out more about this agency here.  The biggest ticket item on the agenda for this meeting is a request for the early purchase of a fire truck from Pierce Manufacturing (hopefully keeping it local!).  A savings of approximately $55,200 is anticipated if the city purchases the truck before the expected 7% price increase from the supplier takes effect on 05/01/2022.  The committee will also review a 2022 Equipment Purchase log and a 2023 Equipment Replacement schedule for those of you interested in the physical fleet vehicles needed in the next two years to keep this city running.

Municipal Services Committee - 4:30pm: Of interest to District 13 neighbors on this committee's agenda are the review and approvals of two inter-governmental agreements between Outagamie County and the City of Appleton.  

The first is for the reconstruction of CTH JJ between Lightning Drive and Cherryvale Lane.  Per the agreement, "...the highway is anticipated to be reconstructed to a 2-lane urban cross section with on-street bicycle accommodations provided on both sides of the road.  A 5-ft sidewalk and multimodal trail are anticipated to be provided along the north and south sides of the roadway, respectively.  The existing intersection at French Road is expected to be reconstructed to add capacity and improve safety and operations."  I do not know exactly what will be engineered for the intersection of French Road and CTH JJ; but anyone who has attempted to use this intersection at busier times during the day knows that it can definitely use improvement!  There is no timeline for the engineering and subsequent construction of these improvements mentioned in this inter-governmental agreement.  I will do some investigation with our county representatives and find out more for you soon!  

The second is for the improvement of Ballard Road (CTH E) between CTH JJ and CTH EE.  This agreements states that "...the highway is anticipated to be expanded to a 3-lane or 4-lane urban cross section with on-street bicycle accommodations.  Off-street accommodations are anticipated in the form of a 5-ft sidewalk and 10-ft multimodal trail."  Again, no timeline is noted on the agreement.  I'll let you know more when I find out more!

This committee will also review and potentially approve, among other items, some parking changes near Pillars Adult and Family Shelter and on College Avenue in front of the Performing Art Center and a parklet on State Street (to be used between 05/01/2022 and 10/31/2022).  And two informational items will again make this committee's agenda which have not yet been thoroughly discussed -- the crosswalk installation evaluation guidelines for the city (read: Enhanced Crosswalks) and some additional discussion on Soldiers Square in downtown Appleton.  The first has been on this committee's agenda for months and has not yet been discussed; but since the common council agreed to allow the city to contract a consultant to review and suggest "pedestrian safety" initiatives in the city, perhaps the point of reviewing this existing policy is moot.  The second comes with three alternatives to the current layout of Soldiers Square which would be able to accommodate some restored monuments and some memorial bricks which have been for sale for many years in anticipation of some structural changes to Soldiers Square. 

Last (but not least), the committee will review a notice from the Arbor Day Foundation that Appleton has been named a Tree City USA for 2021.  As it has consistently done in past years, Appleton has again proven and been recognized for its commitment to trees in the city.

Finance Committee - 5:30pm: This committee will review and potentially approve the typical slate of purchases and awards of contracts and budget amendments.  

Parks and Recreation Committee - 6:30pm: This committee's meeting is cancelled. 

Tuesday, 04/12/2022

Fox Cities Transit Commission - 3pm: This commission's meeting is cancelled. 

Utilities Committee - 5pm: The sole agenda item for this committee is the potential approval of a single source contractor for the city for stormwater consulting services related to the Interstate 41 reconstruction project.  This consultant would work for the city on stormwater management plans in collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) during the multi-year duration of the project.  

Wednesday, 04/13/2022

Board of Health - 7am: This board's meeting is cancelled (much to the relief of the late-risers who might be interested in Board of Health meeting agenda items, I'm sure).

Appleton Redevelopment Authority - 9am: This committee's meeting is cancelled.

 

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm: This commission will review, discuss, and vote on whether to approve a special use permit for a restaurant with alcohol sales and service at the former Appleton Elks Lodge property at 1103 W College Avenue.  Staff recommends approval of the special use permit subject to some conditions (one of which includes that the business obtain and maintain a liquor license which, as I understand it, might be a bit more challenging in Appleton these days). 

Community and Economic Development Committee - 4:30pm: This committee's meeting is cancelled.

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm: The first item on this agenda might help another proposed restaurant in the city as it may make a "Class B" liquor license available to another applicant.  The committee will conduct a public hearing for the revocation of a liquor license for Core's Lounge at 1350 W College Avenue.  The licensee, owner of Core's, has been issued a total of 225 demerit points for three separate incidences there since July 2021 (Permitting an Underage Person to Loiter on Premises, Open After Hours, and Excessive Noise).  Municipal code in Appleton requires that a liquor license be revoked if 200 or more demerit points are accumulated within an 18-month period.  The city's police department is asking for a formal revocation of the license by this committee at this meeting to which the applicant has been summoned.  

After the revocation hearing, the committee will entertain the usual slate of liquor license requests (mostly non-"Class B," which are at quota in the city at this time -- see link above) and some change-of-agent requests for existing liquor licenses.  Of note are some requests for temporary liquor licenses for Art in the Park in City Park in July and the Heid Summer Music Series in Jones Park all summer long.  These are the harbingers of warmer weather to come, folks!  

The committee will also discuss the potential early purchase of a fire truck (as mentioned above in the CEA Review Committee discussion) and, in an informational item, the city's police department Traffic Safety Unit pilot program which includes an additional police officer position -- a Traffic Safety Unit Officer.  The hope is that this new officer position will help the city address many of the top four concerns of community members surveyed by the police department -- 1) drug abuse, 2) speeding and reckless driving, 3) inattentive and distracted driving, and 4) operating while under the influence.  The good news is that this is a pilot program which is slated to begin 06/01/2022 and be evaluated for permanency at the end of the year.  During the trial period (06/01/2022 - 12/31/2022), the police department will shift some funds from other positions and the financial impact should be net-zero in the police department salaries budget.  I look forward to hearing the successes (and what can be improved) as the city moves forward in this initiative.  I hope you agree.  

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - 6:30pm: This committee's meeting is cancelled.

And that will wrap up the week for us, folks!  This is the final week of meetings for the 2021-22 committee members on these committees.  New council members have just been elected in many of the even-numbered districts in the city so these committees will be made up of new members for the balance of 2022 and into April 2023.  Next week, there will be a swearing-in ceremony for the new term of all of the even-numbered district aldermen and a couple special organizational meetings of the "new" common council.  

I look forward to this second year of service to you in the current two-year term.  As always, I ask for your input on anything of concern to you in local government.  Please contact me any time!  

Have a great week!!