The Notes: Week of June 12 - June 16, 2023

Welcome back, Neighbors!  Thanks for tuning in here again this week for a rundown of what we can expect this Committee Meetings Week in City of Appleton government.  It seems that the recent relative lull in city government activity has come to a close and we're ramping up with more city business this week.  Here's much of what you can expect:

Monday, 06/12/2023

CEA Review Committee - 4pm  This committee has not met since March but will convene again this week to discuss two items: 

1. A request to purchase a fire truck earlier than planned due to delayed delivery timelines (lead time of 15-18 months) and upcoming increased EPA emissions requirements (which will add over $100,000 to the engine cost) -- No payment is due until delivery of the vehicle, but the estimate is a total of $1,062,900 and prepayment for the vehicle will not result in any savings over the expense of the calculated interest on the borrowing the city would need for prepayment.  Things just aren't getting any less expensive, folks...
2. A request for the city to issue a Letter of Intent to purchase a asphalt paving machine which is due for replacement in 2024 -- Delivery is between 14 and 16 months out and the vendor has informed the city that a 5-7% price increase is sure to come between now and November.  So ordering at this time (issuing the Intent to Purchase letter) will save the city some money and allow for the city to take delivery before the 2025 construction season.  My only questions on this are.... is there money due at the time of ordering?  (That is not made clear in the memo regarding this action item.) And if so, are there budget dollars available to accommodate this?

Municipal Services Committee - 4:30pm  There are two contracts up for approval during this meeting for which bids had not yet been opened and reviewed at the time of agenda publishing.  ("Memo (to be) distributed at the meeting.")  One wonders how well these bids will compare to the budgets for these projects (pavement marking - epoxy and paint)!  I'll post more on this when I know more.  After discussion on these contracts, there are five traffic change action items for this committee to potentially approve -- some street parking restrictions and stop sign changes on various local streets.  There is also a new Bird scooter report to review (with no significant changes or upgrades to their reporting so not enough information for aldermen to properly assess if concerns by citizens are being properly addressed) and a May 2023 parking utility income report showing that with 42% of the year completed, the parking utility has only collected 38% of the budgeted income for the year (though this report is extremely confusing and difficult to read and interpret). 

 

Finance Committee - 5:30pm  Committee members will hear a presentation from the city's US Bank asset management and then move on to action items including the following:

1. An increase in the cost of some repairs at Telulah Park which will require a transfer of budget funds from the city's Parks Hardscape Repairs budget (in the amount of $15,000).
2. A contract for new air compressor units at the Appleton Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWWTP) came in at 18% over budget, requiring a transfer of funds from another budget line item (the Lake Station Intake project consulting budget) in the amount of $50,000.
3. A change from asphalt paving to concrete paving in part of another project at AWWTP will result in an additional cost of ~$50,000.  This requires dipping into the project's contingency budget and therefore requires this committee and council's approval.
   

Parks and Recreation Committee - 6:15pm  A new resolution presented during last week's council meeting is up for debate and a vote by this committee.  It involves the city joining the Wisconsin Local Government Climate Coalition.  The city's recently created "Advisory Panel on Sustainability and Climate Resilience" has requested the city join this coalition.  While the small government conservative in me does not agree with many of the efforts that this coalition supports (including but not limited to "increased federal and state funding" for climate change initiatives which have mostly remained unproven to truly combat "man-made climate change" and supporting a state plan to retire coal energy plants by 2045), it is my understanding that there is no cost to the city to join this coalition.  It is also my understanding that there may be grant opportunities and advice for city staff if the city becomes a member of this coalition.  As such, I don't exactly oppose the resolution.  What are your thoughts in this regard?  

Interestingly, the "no mow May" resolution for Ellen Kort Peace Park is back on this committee's agenda this second week of June.  We shall see where this resolution can go in this committee discussion.  I am all for noting that the resolution was "received and filed" by the committee and moving on from it without taking any action.  Do you agree?  If not, what are your thoughts on this? 

Tuesday, 06/13/2023

Fox Cities Transit Commission - 2:50pm  It's a strange meeting time noted for this commission.  Regardless, this meeting has been cancelled.

Utilities Committee - 4:30pm  In their first meeting since the new council year began in mid-April, this committee will take on some "housekeeping" items such as electing a vice chair.  They will also have a couple of action items to discuss and potentially approve:

1. The as-yet-unopened bids for Spot Repairs, Protruding Tap, and Mineral Deposit Removal throughout the city will be discussed and, presumably, the lowest bid approved.  Bid opening is the day before this meeting... so there's no way to tell whether the budget on this will also be exceeded.  (I'll share more when I know more.)
2. The committee will look to approve a Compliance Maintenance Annual Report for the Appleton Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWWTP) in which it's reported that this utility scored top marks (100%, a GPA of 4.0).  Bravo to the operators and other staff supporting this utility in our city.

There is also an informational item scheduled entitled "AWWTP Polymer Incident Update."  I am interested to hear what further corrective actions have been taken subsequent to "the incident" (mentioned with articles linked here) and how the AWWTP is moving forward towards prevention of another incident like this. 

Wednesday, 06/14/2023

Board of Health - 7am  There are no action items on this board's agenda... so I feel so sorry for them having to gather at this early an hour this Wednesday!  The city's health department will present their Quarter 1 2023 report detailing the actions of the department during that time period, their June 2023 newsletter, a report of the allowed noise variances in the city in May 2023, and a new prohibited animal declaration.  The first two items seem to indicate that the city's health department is going out of their way to show their worth to the taxpayers in Appleton.  While I generally support public health, I do have questions on whether the City of Appleton and Outagamie County both need separate health departments and whether taxpayers could benefit from combining them in the future. Share with me what you think about this idea.

Appleton Redevelopment Authority - 9am  This board will look to approve the two items brought before the full council last week regarding releasing the 1980's development agreement for the old City Center and the corresponding redevelopment plan from that same time period.  The approval of these releases is simply a formality requested by the title company during the real estate transaction involving the current redevelopment of this property by Dark Horse/Boldt.

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm  There are four items on this commission's agenda (two for one set of properties).  Here's what's up for approval:

1. Stone Arch Brewpub "between the locks" is looking for approval of a special use permit for a proposed expansion on their third floor. 
2. Maritime Tavern on West Wisconsin Avenue would like a special use permit to serve alcohol on a proposed outdoor patio addition on their property. 
3. Lawrence University would like some properties owned by them on College Avenue rezoned to Central Business District (CBD) from their current zoning classification (Public Institutional).  This requires two steps -- one to change the city's Comprehensive Future Plan mapping and one to actually proceed with the rezoning.  The properties in question are 313, 315, 319, and 321 E College Avenue and some vacant lots nearby:
   
   
   

All items on their agenda are recommended for approval after thorough city staff evaluation so I doubt that there will be much fanfare as these items are discussed and likely passed.  But if you have any questions or concerns on these items, please let me know.   

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - 4:30pm  Members of this committee get the evening off as this meeting is cancelled. 

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm  Committee members will be asked to approve a very long and thorough equipment sharing agreement between the City of Appleton Fire Department and many other local fire departments.  I love to see this sort of agreement as it can only help local fire fighting efforts and save taxpayers in all of these municipalities from having to "double-duty" purchase some very expensive fire equipment (see CEA Review Committee notes above).  There is also a Hazardous Materials Response agreement between the State of Wisconsin Emergency Management and the city for haz-mat services up for approval.  To follow that will be the review and potential approval of various liquor, tobacco/cigarette, pet store, and salvage dealer license renewals for the year.

Community and Economic Development Committee - 6:30pm  Committee members will be asked to approve the city's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program's 2022 annual report (called CAPER, which stands for Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report) which is due to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development by the end of June 2023.  The report is available for review here. Let me know if you have any feedback or thoughts on this report or the CDBG program in the city. 

And with that, we conclude this week's busy committee meetings schedule (and corresponding hefty alderman blog post!).  Let me know if anything above concerns you or piques your interest.  I'm always happy to hear from you!  

Thanks to those who came out to the Appleton Flag Day Parade yesterday.  It was wonderful to see you all!!   And as always, I wish you all the best in the week to come!