The Notes: Week of January 30 - February 3, 2023

Hello, Neighbors!  Welcome to another Full Council Week.  We have two other meetings on the schedule this week as well, so... let's jump right in!

Wednesday, 02/01/2023

Appleton Public Arts Committee - 8:30am  This is an exciting time for members of this committee.  They get to review and choose a new set of photos for the welcome tower in Houdini Plaza!  The photo contest participants sent in lovely photos depicting "Images That Define Appleton" which you can view here.  There are so many great shots from both age categories that I don't envy them having to choose only a few! 

Safety and Licensing Committee (Special Meeting) - 6:30pm  This committee did not meet last week and there are a few items for their consideration that will need to be added to the full common council's 7pm meeting agenda.  As such, this special session will convene a little while before the full council meeting.  Included on this agenda is a request by the fire department to purchase a spectrometer to test for and classify/identify chemicals and chemical residues.  It's not a cheap venture (quotes in the $70k range!) but is a useful piece of equipment and is needed to replace a similar item which is fifteen years old and no longer manufacturer supported.  Other items up for consideration are the usual slate of liquor and temporary liquor licenses approvals. 

Common Council - 7pm  The mayor gets the ball rolling this full council meeting with five proclamations.  A couple of public hearings are on the docket next -- one regarding the code changes proposed for new subdivision development in the city (talked about here and mentioned again below) and one regarding the vacation of some public street portions along Appleton Street, Pacific Street, and Oneida Street (where the three streets connect and Pacific Street was rerouted a bit).  Highlights of other discussions from last week's committee meetings which are up for approval by the full council include:

• Changes to the municipal code regarding parking in front and side yards in residential areas.  This was mentioned last week and a few neighbors had questions on whether or not gravel driveways are now permitted in Appleton (as opposed to common knowledge many of us have to the contrary).  The way it was explained to me is that there was a State of Wisconsin law enacted in 2015 which prohibited municipalities from having municipal code requirements tied to the time of sale of a property.  So state law (since 2015) disallows Appleton from having laws that state that a driveway must be paved "within 6 months of the sale of the property" (which is how this code verbiage is currently written).  According to what I heard in response to my questions in this regard, older homes with "preexisting" gravel driveways in the City of Appleton are no longer forced, through municipal code in the city, to pave them.  However, there are some other portions of the city code which require paving of driveways on new construction homes in the city (not tied to the time of the sale of a property as that's prohibited by state law).  It's a bit confusing but I was left with the impression that Appleton will not suddenly become a city filled with gravel driveways everywhere as a result of the approval of the amended language in this portion of the municipal code. 
  
  
• Changes to the subdivision ordinance in the city.  As I mentioned earlier in the month, there are some changes coming to Appleton that will affect developers of new subdivisions.  These changes call for more land dedication (giving of a portion of land in a proposed subdivision to the city) for park and trail land as a part of the negotiation for building and developing a new subdivision in the city.  There is also a new fee schedule for "fee in lieu of land dedication" which negates the need for land dedication for parks and instead calls for a fee from each of the lots in a new subdivision which the city will collect, bank, and use for the purchase of new park and trail land in the future.  The key change proposed on the "fee in lieu of land dedication" option is that the fees will (if this proposal passes in full council) be assessed on the property owner at the time of an initial building permit for a home on a lot.  The lot owner who will be building a home will now pay that fee... not the developer.  This was, at first, a bit disconcerting to me as a non-developer and someone looking out for future District 13 property owners.  However, I came to understand that the fee would need to be paid either way.  As it stands now, the developer no doubt collects this fee from lot purchasers anyway in the form of a higher lot purchase price so he/she can recoup that cost.  This change, in the grand scheme of things, is very likely net neutral for property owners in new subdivisions in the city.  I don't see any other issues with this proposal; but I am concerned and want to look out for any developer who might be in the midst of negotiations with the city regarding park lands as this change could affect them greatly.  Let me know your thoughts on this.
  
  
• A request to award a $1M American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds grant to a developer for an already planned downtown low-income-housing development.  I mentioned this item in this blog last week as well.  The developer attended last week's Finance Committee meeting and tried to clarify that this grant is only needed due to increasing inflation.  I asked if the development could be down-sized to fit the existing budget (without the grant) just as the city has attempted to do with the library.  The answer from him was a complex one that basically came down to the word "no."  I am still on the fence as to how to vote on this one as I would like to see development such as this continue in the city... but I'm not sure that $1M additional ARPA funds is the most efficient and appropriate way forward in these times of high inflation caused, in part, by the federal government's printing of money for ARPA.  Let me know what you think!  

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the above items or anything else city government related, please do not hesitate to reach out to me!  I am happy to talk through and listen to any feedback or questions.  

Some of you have already provided feedback to me regarding the proposed upcoming lane and signal changes in the downtown Appleton portion of College Avenue.  If you've not yet heard about this potential project and need a run down, please see this and this.  I saw and heard the initial presentation regarding the project and was impressed with the amount of study and trial/simulation testing the city's traffic engineers have undertaken in this regard.  I have the same concerns many of you have -- backups and worse parking and safety issues with increased bike and scooter travel on this stretch of road.  I look forward to more discussion in this regard and would look to you for more of your thoughts on this.  As a generally "non-downtowner" myself -- I only go downtown if I have to and for city meetings, much more often than I used to before becoming your representative! -- I look to those who regularly travel there for their thoughts on this.  When you share with me your thoughts on the potential changes, please include how regular you frequent or drive through this heart of the downtown area.  Thanks!

For those of who are interested in the Vosters Park changes to come and the initial neighborhood feedback on this project, please see this separate blog post.   

Thanks for joining me here today.  I look forward to continuing to represent you and hear your thoughts and concerns about the City of Appleton.  Have a GREAT week!