The Notes: Week of March 6 - March 10, 2023

Here we are in the first full week of March 2023 and back in a Committee Meetings Week in Appleton city government.  Thanks for joining me back here again this week, Neighbors!

As per usual, I'll provide a by-day rundown of what you can expect.  We can start with the meetings which have been cancelled for the week due to lack of agenda items:

• Parks and Recreation Committee 
  
• Appleton Redevelopment Authority Exhibition Center Advisory Committee
• Fox Cities Transit Commission
• Board of Health (no early morning meeting for these folks this week!)
• Appleton Redevelopment Authority (full body)

Then let's get rolling with...

Monday, 03/06/2023

Municipal Service Committee - 4:30pm  There are no action items on the agenda for this committee this week.  Instead, they will spend their time getting updates on two items which were discuss in earlier meetings:

1. Bird Scooters renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the city:  The original renewal was presented for discussion by this committee at their last meeting and was written as a two-year MOU.  After some feedback from aldermen regarding this and some other concerns about the scooters in the city, the MOU has been revised to another one-year term.  Other items of concerns were also addressed with Bird ownership and are mentioned here.  The final MOU will be presented for consideration and a vote by this committee during their 03/20/2023 meeting.  So... if you have any questions or concerns about this program in the city, please let me know as soon as possible so that questions can be asked and addressed before we vote to move forward with scooters in the city for another year term.  
   
   
2. The downtown College Avenue restriping/lane reconfiguration plan:  Read and hear more about the basics of this proposed project here.  The timeline for the potential project, a reminder that this proposal would be a pilot project to be reexamined in 2025 (with evaluation of actual traffic data/comparisons of the before- and after-project traffic and accident counts, etc), and an update on the city staff plans for community education regarding the changes proposed are all included in this memo.  Please share with me your feedback and questions and concerns about this proposed project.  As I've mentioned when earlier soliciting opinions on this, please share with me how and how often you use this stretch of College Avenue when you share your feedback with me.  This helps me to evaluate the types of concerns folks have based upon the different types of downtown College Avenue usage we see in the city.  
   

Finance Committee - 5:30pm  This committee will see some budget adjustments/amendments come forth due to projects for the city coming in far above budget this year.  One in particular is of concern to me and will affect District 13 in two ways.  Here are the proposed adjustments in agenda order:

1. The roof repairs scheduled for 2023 for the Appleton Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWWTP) would be put off until 2024 and the $150,000 budgeted for those repairs would be transferred to the AWWTP budget for hardscapes (pavement, access roads, etc) in 2023.  This amount represents the amount above-budget the bids for the hardscapes project came in this year.  The low bid for the 2023 hardscapes project came in at just about a half-million dollars.  Here we are, Appletonians, again taking a budget hit due to "current market conditions" and putting off a scheduled and needed project another year.  This is deeply concerning to me... especially since the city leadership and the majority of the common council have made decisions on ways to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds other than on city infrastructure. 
   
   
2. Bids for the 2023 concrete/asphalt paving and other roadway-related capital projects for the city came in over budget and are causing "funding deficiencies" of over $1.5M!  The largest of these issues is in TIF District 11 and the additional  $1.025M needed to cover the TIF district deficiency is proposed to come from an additional $1.025M in general obligation debt in 2023.  A smaller funds deficiency of $40,000 is proposed to be address by postponing asphalt paving on Helen Street (planned for 2023, to be put off until 2024).  But the two items of gravest concern to me (and perhaps to you!) are as follows:
   

• Subdivision new concrete paving shows a funds deficiency of $259,000.  To address this, city staff proposes to postpone new concrete paving on Amethyst Drive (Bluetopaz Drive to Aquamarine Drive) until 2024!  Residents of this area, how do you feel about a postponing of this paving?  Is this road currently an issue that needs addressing more immediately (in 2023 instead of 2024)?  Please let me know as soon as possible your thoughts on this!
  
  
• Stormwater capital projects shows a funds deficiency of $200,000.  The proposal to address this involves reallocating $200,000 from the Lightning Drive extension (northbound) stream crossing/pond construction and putting this project off (yet another year) to 2024!  I am very concerned that there are several new subdivision developments and annexations to Appleton that will be pushed back even further if this proposed adjustment goes through.  The extension of Lightning Drive has already been pushed off several times, causing stymied growth of the north side of Appleton (which, by the way, is really the only direction the city of Appleton can grow!).  If you have thoughts or concerns of questions for me on this, please share them with me.  I intend to attend this committee meeting to speak loudly about my concerns on this item.
  

All of the highlighted/bold items above are red flags for me.  Should the city not be using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to address these truly COVID-related "funds deficiencies" in infrastructure growth and repair.... rather than on some of the other ways that have been proposed for those ARPA funds?  Does this concern you as well?  What are your thoughts?

Tuesday, 03/07/2023

Utilities Committee - 4:30pm  Members of this committee will look to approve the city's 2022 annual  stormwater report to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).  They will also look to approve a native landscapes management contract of $215,000 (a 5% increase from last year's contract with the same contractor). An update on the remediation and follow-up since the "polymer incident" of late December 2022 will also be discussed.  A spreadsheet included in the agenda shows a total of over $328,000 in additional expenses thus far incurred as a direct result of this incident.  You can read more about the specific issues caused by the incident and how they have thus far been addressed here.

To add to the city's infrastructure woes, the December 2022 and January 2023 water main break reports also to be discussed at this meeting show a total of $340,677 in water loss/repair costs. 

Wednesday, 03/08/2023

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm  Both items on this meeting's agenda the commission concern a "Major Amendment to Planned Development" for The Villas at Meade Pond (at the southeast corner of Meade Street and CTH JJ).   The major change requested is that all condo owners in this development are requesting the dissolution of "shared ownership" of the planned development.

Community and Economic Development Committee - 4:30pm  This committee will hear a request for an extension on a development agreement for Phase One of the development behind City Center and across from the city's yellow parking ramp/library (due, again, to "supply chain issues).  Also up for approval: The city has been awarded a grant for the redevelopment of the property at 115 E Washington Street and proposes to enter into an agreement with that same developer to award those grant dollars.  

After city staff's annual review of the selling prices of business/industrial park land in the city, a price increase to $43,000/acre of City of Appleton owned business/industrial park land is also up for approval.  This asking price is higher than the per acre prices of land owned by Kaukauna and Menasha but lower than the average privately owned asking prices in the Fox Cities area.  

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm  Before any action items are discussed by this committee, representatives from the Durty Leprechaun will appear to share with committee members their plans to address their liquor license demerit point violations so as to maintain their liquor license.  After discussion and potential approval of one liquor license transfer request, the committee will also discuss the Appleton Fire Department's 2022 Annual Report and the city's updated Emergency Operations Plan (which was held off from the committee's last meeting). 

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - 6:30pm  The one action item on this committee's agenda this week is a request for a one-week "overhire" (more than one person filling a job position at one time so as to train/provide knowledge transfer to a new hire) in the city's Residential Building Inspector position.  This is not costly but the benefit to the city and us as citizens is great.  

This hopefully short HR/IT meeting will close the meetings week for us.  If you have any thoughts or concerns about anything mentioned above, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.  I would really love to hear from you! 

Vosters Park neighbors, you should start to see some activity in the park in the near future as the contract for ash tree felling, etc, was approved by the full council last Wednesday evening.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns on this as we move forward with this project as well.

Thanks again for tuning in this week!  I wish you a safe and happy week and look forward to sharing more with you again next week.