The Notes: Week of August 15 - August 19, 2022

It's another Full Council Week here in Appleton, neighbors, and I'm so happy that you've tuned back in for an update on what's on the agenda for your local government. 

There are a couple of other meetings besides the full council meeting scheduled for the week, so here's a little snippet on each of them:

The Library Board meets on Tuesday, 08/16/2022, at 4:30pm.  Since the full library board has not met since July and many of their "subcommittees" have met, this meeting will be much about "receiving reports" from the subcommittees of the full board.  Board members will also look to approve the July 2022 bill register and a renewal of the OWLS (Outagamie Waupaca Library System) agreement as well as review a library project update and the 2022 mid-year statistics for the library. (Note: E (electronic)-Circulation is up 10% over last year-to-date.... and that's comparing to early 2021, remember.  This is just something to think about as we approach the time period in which we will begin to see bids coming in for the library project....)

The Utilities Committee will hold a short special meeting on Wednesday, 08/17/2022, at 6:45pm (just before the meeting of the full common council).  The one item on their agenda is to discuss and potentially approve the awarding of a contract for erosion control at the city's water treatment facility. 

Then, the Full City of Appleton Common Council meets (Wednesday, 08/17/2022, at 7pm).  As you by now know and have come to expect, the majority of items on the agenda for the full council are items that were just discussed last week in committee meetings.  (For a refresher on those items, please see last week's blog post and let me know if you have any questions or concerns on those items and how the committees voted on the agenda items.)  Here are the highlights that will likely be further discussed at the full council meeting:

• In a crazy turn of events, there are no mayoral proclamations on the agenda for this meeting. The mayor is, however, asking council to approve a reappointment of an Appleton Public Arts Committee member. 
  
  
• From Municipal Services:  A few weeks ago, a homeowner made an appeal to this committee to allow him to pave much of his front yard as a parking space.  Municipal code does not permit this as there are standards in the city which appeal to the beautification of neighborhoods, not the paving of residential lots to look like parking lots.  In the committee meeting three weeks ago, this particular request was held until the next committee meeting.  The concrete contractor was at the earlier committee meeting and mentioned that he knew he was in the wrong and would work with the property owner to address the issue. 
  
  Well... last week when the held item was again taken up, the property owner was present and did not, in fact, wish to address the issue but rather wished for the committee to grant him the variance to allow the front yard paving to stand.  After much discussion (a very good synopsis of last week's committee discussion of this item can be found here), the committee recommended to the full council that this variance appeal be denied. 
  
  I lean in that same direction.  A variance should only be granted should there be no other solution or remedy to an issue which skirts municipal code.  This is not the case in this instance.  I understand what the homeowner wants.  But wanting something that's not code conforming, doing it anyway, and then attempting to make it seem as though you are not defying municipal code is improper and should not be allowed.  If enough Appletonians feel that municipal code regarding the paving of front lawns in residential neighborhoods should be changed, then the code should be changed rather than homeowners defying the code and then asking for variances for their improper paving.  
  
  But I'm interested in your opinion.  So... email me!
  
  
• From the Parks and Recreation Committee:  As I mentioned last week, my initial read of a proposed resolution to create a City of Appleton Sustainability Panel led me to have few doubts about it.  But as I took some constituent feedback last week and went into the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting mulling them over, I began to see concerns in this regard. 
  
  My primary concern is that there is already a long list of things the city staff are faced with tackling in terms of sustainability (read: climate change concern) from the city's temporary Climate Task Force which met, created a recommendations report for city staff, and disbanded (which is what was expected).  That report, combined with the already highly skilled and climate-change-aware city staff who regularly attend continuing education on climate concerns and are educated in the newest climate change concerns for a city, seem to me enough to keep our city in excellent standing in terms of being climate-change- and sustainability-aware.  What need is there, then, for another governing body to do what the city is already doing (and doing well, according to the Climate Task Force and many who consider themselves experts in this field)?   
  
  If it's accountability that the writers of this resolution are looking for, we already have it.  High level staff/directors (who are accountable to the city's aldermen) can hire or fire more or less climate-aware staff.  And ultimately, council members are accountable to Appletonians through elections and public comment/pressure.  
  
  This resolution and the creation of this panel seem to be a solution in search of a problem.  And I do not believe that it's responsible governing to create an excess in governing bodies to fulfill promises to our citizens and to future generations when the fulfillment of those promises is already a focus of the government (staff and elected officials) of our city. 
  
  Let me know your thoughts!  I'm happy to hear more feedback on this before voting in full council on Wednesday.   
  
  
• The full council will also vote on the approval of an updated fee schedule for both the city's land use applications (examples: rezoning applications, special use permits, certified survey and plat maps reviews) and for the city's weights and measurements services (examples: certification of scales and petroleum pumps for accuracy). 

And that's about it!  There are, of course, a few other various and sundry items on the agenda.  You can always contact me if there's one of concern to you or if you have strong feelings regarding anything above.

We're nearing the end of August, folks!  How is that possible?!  It feels like we're sliding downhill into autumn and football season.  Next week will be a Committee Meetings Week in City of Appleton government and then the final week of the month will be a Fifth Week as we get ready for Labor Day Weekend and the start of public school again in the Appleton Area School District.  I hope you'll continue to tune in each week for the highlights!