The Notes: Week of April 4 - April 8, 2022

Happy Sunday once again, neighbors!  It's the first week of the "showers" month of the year.  Let's hope that far fewer of said showers include white flakes this month!

This week is a Full Council Week in City of Appleton government and we have just the one full council meeting on the calendar for the week.  But before we get to the meat of that agenda, please indulge me in my request of you to please get out and vote on Tuesday, April 5th!  

Our District 13 polling place is as follows:

Celebration Ministry Center (Faith Lutheran Church), Voting Room: Gymnasium

3100 E Evergreen Dr, Appleton, WI 54913 Get Directions

Polling Place Hours: Tuesday, April 5, 2022 7.00 AM - 8.00 PM

Local elections on Tuesday's ballot include Appleton Area School District (AASD) school board seats, a couple of local circuit court judgeships, and Outagamie County Board of Supervisors seats.  I ask for your vote in the county board supervisor race (District 22 in Outagamie County) as it is my goal to serve our neighborhoods on the county board as well as I have served y'all this past year as your alderman -- with great communication as far as the goings on in local government and with a listening ear to your issues and concerns!  Please contact me at my campaign email should you have any questions in this regard.     

And now onto the city business of the week... 

Appleton Common Council - Wednesday, 04/06/2022, 7pm

The mayor's business portion of the agenda will begin the meeting with a recognition of the poems selected for this year's Sidewalk Poetry Program. It's my feeling that this program should run through the Appleton Public Arts Committee (or some other open meeting forum in city government) to allow for public input and review of the selections prior to the winners being announced to the council.  What are your thoughts?  Are you ok with city staff choosing the poems to be stamped into our city's replacement sidewalks without public oversight or review?  Let me know your feelings and, if you agree with me, I will work to change this process.

Following the sidewalk poetry presentation, the mayor will present six (count 'em, SIX) proclamations (which can be viewed here). 

There are two public hearings scheduled for public comment on 1) the sanitary/storm laterals and mains installation on some downtown streets (Alvin, Durkee, Lawrence, Morrison, Oneida) and 2) the potential rezoning of 217 S Badger Avenue.  

Then we move on the potential approval of the items presented two weeks ago in committee meetings.  Highlights include:

• From the Municipal Service Committee: There was a six-month trial period for some street parking restrictions on the 1300 block of Harris Street and city staff recommended to this committee that the trial period end and the parking restrictions be made permanent.  During the committee meeting, however, many of the neighbors in this area showed up to complain that the parking restrictions were not working for them and argued strongly that they not be made permanent.  The committee voted to recommend denial of the parking restrictions based on the evidence presented by these neighbors.  (See?!  Council members really do listen to and take into account the legitimate and pressing concerns of Appletonians!)  I listened in to this committee meeting and intend to vote to affirm the denial of the parking restrictions as a result of the discussions there. 
  
  
• From the City Plan Commission: This commission recommends that all three businesses requesting special use permits in their meeting two weeks ago be granted them.  Special use permits, though, are not liquor licenses and, as we found out two weeks ago, the City of Appleton has reached its issuing quota for "Class B" liquor licenses.  As such, it will be more difficult for new tavern and restaurant owners in the city to obtain these licenses unless and until other license holders relinquish or do not renew their "Class B" licenses.  
  
  
• From the Finance Committee: The city will likely deed a portion of two parcels it owns on Gardenia Drive to the adjacent property owners are the city "over-purchased" too much land for a street right-of-way there.  I mentioned this in the Committee Meetings Week blog post and there are more details to be found here.  The committee recommends that we proceed with this and I will affirm that recommendation with an "aye" unless any new information comes to light in this regard. 
  
  
• From the Finance Committee (and also mentioned at the Parks and Recreation Committee and Human Resources and Information Technology Committee meetings): Staff (and this committee by vote two weeks ago) recommend approval of the city's plan to incentivize the city's seasonal (summer) parks and recreation employees.  The city is so in need of good summer help that the incentives mentioned below are on the table for full council approval:
  
  
  
  
  

  If you have an eligible high school- or college-aged student at home for the summer and he/she would like a rewarding and fun summer job with the city, please see this employment page where he/she can apply online for one of these incentivized seasonal jobs!
  
  
• The agenda concludes with an alderman "send off."  Since this meeting will be held the day after Election Day, we should know who has won the elections in the city's even-numbered districts.  So, we will be able to thank and say goodbye to any aldermen who did not win and any who chose not to run for reelection in 2022.  

And that's it for this week's rundown.  Thanks for tuning in!  Special thanks to those who sent me messages or otherwise contacted me regarding last week's Fifth Week post.  I always appreciate hearing your perspectives of city government actions and proposals.  I look forward to hearing more from you and continuing to work hard for you in my second year of this aldermanic term.

Have a great week!!