The Notes: Week of May 22 - May 26, 2023

Hello, Neighbors.  Welcome to the last Committee Meetings Week in May 2023!  This week will be a bit of a full meeting schedule; but the Parks and Recreation Committee and the Utilities Committee will have no meetings this week due to a lack of agenda items.

We kick off the week right away tomorrow evening... so here are highlights of what you can expect this week:

Monday, 05/22/2023

Municipal Services Committee - 4:30pm  There are a few of street occupancy permit requests on the agenda for this committee.  One is for overhead Edison lights above the amenity strip at 311 E College Avenue, two are for sidewalk sales in the downtown area (managed by Appleton Downtown, Inc. (ADI)), and one -- a permanent one -- is for a loading/unloading area at the west end of W Reeve Street.  There is also an informational item for review which deals with some "available funds" in the Department of Public Works (DPW) budget for a maintenance/resurfacing project on Glendale Avenue between Ballard Road and Meade Street.  I will be asking why this road in particular was chosen in light of additional funds coming available in the DPW budget as there are many other streets in District 13 in need of maintenance/resurfacing as well. 

Finance Committee - 5:30pm  There is a request by the Finance Department for a short-term "advance" from the Stormwater Utility Fund to the Wastewater Utility Fund.  Apparently, there is little funding needed by the Wastewater Utility Fund in 2023 to bridge the time gap between now and when the city will issue revenue bonds in 2024 and this amount is available from the Stormwater Fund.  This "advance" is a solution offered by the city's debt advisors as a good way to short-term fund the Wastewater Utility Fund without issuing any debt at this time.  I support this option... unless and until I hear of any reason not to exercise it.  The agenda also includes various other contracts up for review and approval. 

Tuesday, 05/23/2023

Fox Cities Transit Commission - 3pm  The commission has not met since March so this meeting will include some introductions of new commission members and the election of commission chairman and vice chairman for this council year. Commission members will also look to approve March and April 2023 payments and to approve the use of Lamers Bus Lines, Inc. for the downtown Appleton trolley service again this trolley season.

Wednesday, 05/24/2023

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm  Two special use permits and one request for rezoning are up for review and potential approval by this commission.  The first special use permit request is for axe throwing business with alcohol sales/consumption at 2701 N Oneida Street.  The second is a special use permit for a bar and grill with alcohol sales/consumption at 2811 E Newberry Street.  And the rezoning request is for the future Baldeagle Drive and Providence Avenue street rights-of-way (to, in the future, adjoin them to Lightning Drive) here in District 13.

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - 4:30pm  Committee members will look to discuss and potentially approve a small change to the overtime pay policy for Appleton Police Department (APD) lieutenants and captains who do specialty jobs (such as criminal guard duty, off-duty police services, etc) outside of their regular work assignments.  I have spoken at length with the city's HR Director about this proposed change and have no doubt that, for very little budget impact, this small change will go a long way as far as goodwill towards APD's lieutenants and captains.  

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm  There are many renewals of liquor licenses, pet store licenses, and cigarette/tobacco sales licenses up for approval by this committee.  This board will also look to approve some temporary liquor licenses for Octoberfest, Mile of Music, and some Jones Park events coming up in June and July.  An agenda item with no additional information attached entitled "Special Event Application Denial Appeals" is also up for discussion; so I'm interested to hear more about that and will share in next week's post any information I learn in this regard. 

Community and Economic Development Committee - 6:30pm  Two big items are on this committee's agenda.  First, the approval of the development agreement between the city and a developer for "Fox Commons" -- the current downtown (City Center) mall location.  This agreement includes, of course, TIF assistance to the developer of over $2M.  If you have thoughts on this potential plan for the City Center mall area, please share them with me.  I'll be happy to ask your questions of this committee and city staff... or you can plan to join me at this meeting to hear for yourself more about this proposal!  Another agenda item of note is not an action item up for a vote but rather an informational item regarding the potential plan for the city to create another Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district.  The proposal notes that this new TIF district would be in the city's Southpoint Commerce Park.  You can review the Powerpoint presentation on this topic here.  Let me know if you have questions or concerns on this as well.  More interesting conversations are likely to be had on this item.  I am no fan of TIF districts and TIF financing... but I know that there is a place for them in some municipalities.  The question is... should Appleton continue to be one of them?

And those fun TIF discussions will conclude this Committee Meetings Week here in city government.  As mentioned above and in nearly every one of these alderman blog posts, I always want to hear from you if you have any questions, concerns, thoughts, or ideas about city government happenings!  

I hope that your week is filled with all things good -- including some more of this summer-like weather.  I look forward to sharing more with you in another blog post next week!