The Notes: Week of August 21 - August 25, 2023

Happy Sunday once again, Neighbors!  Here we are in another Committee Meetings Week in City of Appleton government.  The week will be a bit light as far as meeting materials as the following committees have already cancelled their meetings due to lack of agenda items:

• Fox Cities Transit Commission
• Utilities Committee
• Human Resources and Information Technology Committee
• Community and Economic Development Committee

The week's scheduled meetings will go something like this:

Monday, 08/21/2023

Municipal Services Committee - 4:30pm  Committee members will be asked to approve the city's applying for a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) for improved traffic controls (updated stoplight systems) on the state-owned connecting highways through Appleton.  If awarded, the grant will pay for greater than $200,000 in replacement signals in the city while the city would be responsible for 10% (around $22,000) of the total costs.  The replacements are apparently needed because many of the controllers in the city are a Siemens brand which are no longer being properly maintained and updated by that manufacturer.  This grant would help the city replace the Siemens controllers with equipment from the same manufacturer that the Wisconsin DOT now uses (apparently a better alternative to Siemens).  

Finance Committee - 5:30pm  This committee will review and look to approve a contractor bid and a corresponding budget amendment for the replacement of the grit system and raw sludge pump at the Appleton Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWWTP).  The original budget for this project (set in mid-2021) was ~$250,000 but the lowest bid for the project came in at ~$570,000... thus the need for a budget transfer to cover the extra expense of this needed project.  What the memo regarding these approvals does not address is how the project from which the budget dollars are to come will get completed after that project (AWWTP Sludge Storage Building Addition) hands over these budget dollars.  I will ask at that meeting to ensure that we are not continuing to "rob Peter to pay Paul" and end up without some important projects being completed for the city.  

The committee will also look to finally approve a bid for the resurfacing of the Miracle League field at Appleton Memorial Park.  In a previous committee week, this committee was asked to reject all bids for this project as the bids exceeded the project budget (which was set by and will be paid for by Goodwill Industries).  Goodwill has since decided to up the budget for the project and the bid available for approval is now within what they agree pay. (The city will contract the work and pay for it and then Goodwill will subsequently reimburse the city.)

An interesting project with multiple action items on this committee's agenda is the so-called Appleton Waste Heat to Power Project.  This proposed project will cost the city a gross amount of $875,000 but comes with two grant funding sources totaling ~$558,000.  The city's cost for the project then comes to ~$317,000 which will be funded with budget dollars from another project at the AWWTP.  I'm excited to see that the payback time on this project is short (just over eight years) and that the project will use methane gases which would normally be burned off into the atmosphere and convert them to power.  But I have the same questions as in the project above -- how long can we "rob Peter to pay Paul" and what happens to the projects that are losing budget dollars for other projects?  

Wednesday, 08/23/2023

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm  A requested small District 13 annexation (a small plat of land just south of the Prospera Credit Union on Ballard Road), a requested reconfiguration/combining of some industrial park lots on the city's south side, and the approval of the final plat for the First Addition to Glacier Ridge subdivision are all up for approval by commissioners.  

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm  It seems as though these committee members are not taking on any action items this week.  Rather, they will hear information on an Appleton Fire Department purchase of radio equipment in cooperation with other local fire departments, a justice assistance grant receipt (to be shared with Outagamie County), and some other miscellaneous "directors' report" items from the fire chief and police chief.

All in all, it seems as though this week will be a bit of a "slow work week" with not many items to be discussed and approved and not much at all by way of contentious items to debate.  Do you have any questions or concerns about any of the items mentioned above?  If so, please be sure to let me know!

As far as the Vosters Park information presented last week, I heard from some of you regarding the options on the table for a pathway through the newly updated wooded area.  It seems that the majority of those who responded would like as little formal construction in that area as possible -- a mown path or even no pathway at all.  I will share this information with the city's Parks and Recreation Department and we shall see what comes of it.  Since there is not city budget money available for a truly formal paved pathway, it is highly likely we will not see one now or in the future.  I also did not get the feeling from those who replied that there is any appetite amongst the neighborhood for fundraising for any paved pathways.  I will let you know what the city staff decides in this regard (based on my sharing your feedback with them).  If you haven't yet let me know your thoughts in this regard, please do share them!    

As always, I look forward to any and all feedback or questions from any of you.  Thank you for allowing me to serve you, District 13 Neighbors!  I hope you have a great last week of August ahead and I hope you'll join me here again for next week's alderman blog post.