The Notes: Week of June 20 - June 24, 2022

Happy Father's Day to all!  It's a day of remembrance for me as I lost my father earlier this year.  He was always a fierce supporter of mine, especially since he knew what it was to be a public servant.  His service (as a volunteer for countless non-profit organizations and as an elected official on the school board and village board and even as the president of the Village of Hilbert where I grew up) is how I learned the importance of being involved in local government and of service to a community.  I miss him terribly.

My dad and I (in our younger days)

My dad and his youngest grandchild, 

my daughter Nora  

(Christmas 2021)

But enough of the mushy stuff.  On to the reason for your reading today's blog post -- a synopsis of this week's Committee Meetings Week in City of Appleton government.

The following committees will not be meeting this week.  (Happy Summer to the members of these committees!)

• Finance Committee
• Parks and Recreation Committee 
• Utilities Committee 
• City Plan Commission
• Human Resources and Information Technologies Committee

We start the week with a Monday, 06/20/2022, meeting of the Municipal Services Committee (at 4:30pm).  This committee will have a few very interesting items for discussion.  First, they will revisit the request from Appleton Downtown, Inc (ADI) regarding dumpster placements in Jones Park without the proper placement and enclosures.  This was mentioned in an earlier blog post and when it came up for discussion by the committee last, some folks on city staff with better insight on the issue were unfortunately not present.  So... this time we assume all the relevant participants will be present and this issue can be hammered out. 

From what I've heard from staff in this regard, I much prefer that this request (even though it is temporary) be denied.  One issue is that allowing this would unfairly and inequitably favor Jones Park and ADI over other parks and organizations.  There are ways to make a permanent enclosure which will satisfy the municipal code requirements and that is my preference for resolving this issue.  There is municipal code for a reason... and if it can't be adhered to (even temporarily), then the code needs to be reviewed and perhaps changed.  

This committee will also again discuss the potential for implementation of a Transportation Utility in the city.  It's my feeling right now that the city should not yet proceed with this as there are too many legal battles currently being fought in the state over other municipalities' transportation utilities.  Appleton should not open itself to legal challenges unnecessarily.  We need to keep our eyes on the ongoing legal challenges elsewhere in this regard while at the same time doing everything this city can to cut unnecessary spending to help to boost the budgets for our ongoing road upkeep and other infrastructure needs in the city.  This fall's budget period will be a contentious one in that regard, I would bet.

There are a couple of other requests to wrap up this committee's agenda -- for a sign overhanging city sidewalk at Park Central (318 W College Ave), for a street occupancy permit for the College Avenue amenity strip for the Sidewalk Sale during Mile of Music, and to approve the conversion of a metered stall to a handicap-accessible stall on Morrison Street.

Later that day (Monday, 06/20/2022), a favorite of mine, the Board of Zoning Appeals, will meet (at 8pm).  They plan to elect a new chairman and vice chairman for this "new council year" and they have one variance request on the agenda -- for a property on Linwood Avenue (near the corner of Linwood and Badger).  The information provided for this variance request in the agenda packet are a bit sketchy... but the owner of the property (who happens to own a F250 Super Diesel) would like to construct a detached garage in his "front yard."  The agenda attachments do not include the size of the garage proposed or the proposed location of the garage on the lot.  But since this is a "two front yard" lot, there may well be grounds for a variance.  As you know, a variance stays with the lot (not with any owners of the lot and regardless the size of vehicle they own), is a permanent exception to the municipal code rules, and requires that there is a hardship caused should the variance not be granted.  It will be interesting to see whether this owner is able to convey a hardship and convince the board members that a variance is needed in this case.  

The Fox Cities Transit Commission will meet at 3pm on Tuesday, 06/21/2022.  There is only one action item on their agenda -- approve the payments for May 2022 -- and then some information items to follow.  Interestingly (perhaps), two information items are 1) a discussion of Route 10 (and the Winnebago County Budget Public Hearing on June 29th is mentioned in this regard) and 2) a relocation study for the Neenah Transit Center.  Wouldn't it be interesting if there were major changes occurring in both the downtown Appleton transit center and the Neenah transit center at the same time...?

The Community and Economic Development Committee will meet at 4:30pm on Wednesday, 06/22/2022, for the first of the last two meetings of the week.  This committee's agenda shows no action items but an information item -- a presentation by the Fox Cities Regional Partnership "regarding projects, plans, initiatives and direction."  If you are interested in this, please see the presentation slides provided here or tune in to (or attend live!) the committee meeting on Wednesday. 

To put a bow on the week's meetings, the Safety and Licensing Committee will meeting just after (at 5:30pm).  There will be discussions on the approvals of a taxicab/limousine driver license, some temporary liquor licenses for some Mile of Music vendors and a Jones Park event on July 9, and a renewal of the cab company license for Fox Valley Cab.  

Some of you may have tuned in today to read what came of the full council vote last week on the rezoning of the Glory Lane/Providence Avenue/Ashbury Drive/French Road Apostolic Truth Church property (as mentioned here).  Rezoning was approved by the council.  However, five of the fourteen council members present chose to abstain from voting rather than vote in favor of or in opposition to the rezoning.  (One member also chose to speak on the issue before voting in abstention, which is a procedural no-no.)  

If you would like more information in this regard, please reach out to me at any time.  I'm always happy to chat with you about *any* issue in city government that's of concern to you!  

I wish you all a great finish to your Father's Day and a beautiful week ahead.  See you again soon!