The Notes: Week of February 26 - March 1, 2024

Hello again, Neighbors!  We're back in a Committee Meetings Week... but this time with a bit of a lull in city business.  The following committees will not be meeting this week due to lack of agenda items:

• Parks and Recreation Committee
• Utilities Committee
• City Plan Commission
• Human Resources and Information Technology Committee
• Community and Economic Development Committee

Those committees meeting this week do have some interesting items on their agendas.  Here's a rundown of what to expect:

Monday, 02/26/2024

Municipal Services Committee - 4:30pm  Members of this committee and those in attendance at this meeting will hear a report regarding the lane reconfiguration of College Avenue.  There is also a request of this committee to approve some changes to the hours of operation for both of the city's yard waste sites.  (These proposed changes came from a recent resolution requesting a closure of one of these sites (to eliminate duplication of services) which recently failed.  So some good came from the resolution and review of these operations.) 

Two other items on the agenda for this committee come from a review of the city's downtown corridors in the evenings/tavern-closing hours: 1) nighttime lighting improvements at a cost of approximately $15,000 along the Walnut Street corridor to be funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and 2) a changing of the allowed hours for street vendors in the Central Business District (downtown) from "between 8am and 4am" to "between 8am and midnight."  Both are results of a review of the latest violent crimes committed in the downtown area in recent months.  It is unfortunate that the city must move in this direction due to the bad acts of some people... but these changes seem reasonable.  What do you think?    

Finance Committee - 5:30pm  There are a number of contracts for asphalt reconstruction, a trail project, and the pavilion renovation in Telulah Park up for approval.  It looks as though all of them have come in at or below the budget for these projects... so that's a positive sign! 

The committee will also revisit the potential approval of a kayak launch project at Telulah Park.  There is still a question as to whether the city will actually purchase and own kayaks.  (A memo from staff says that there is money needed for "purchase of kayaks and racks" but another staff note says that the city will not own kayaks.)  Some follow up from the Parks and Recreation Director states that the city will not be responsible for maintenance, repairs, or replacement of the equipment (the rental company will do that) and that the city's legal department has reviewed the service agreement between the city and the rental company and finds that there will be no issue for the city as far as any liability for damages or accidents with the use of these kayaks.  After receiving this follow-up information, I see no issue with approval of this item. 

Tuesday, 02/27/2024

Fox Cities Transit Commission - 2:50pm  The commission will be asked to approve payments for Valley Transit for January 2024, a contract for ADA and ancillary paratransit services, and a two-year contract with Lamers Bus Lines to provide the downtown trolley service. 

Library Board - 5:30pm  This board will look to approve bill registries, a small budget amendment, and the 2023 annual report for the library.  There are also a few more sundry items for approval as well before a discussion of the library building project update, a capital campaign update from the Friends of the Appleton Public Library group, some trustee development training, and staff updates.  I will be most interested in how far along the Friends are in their library building project fundraising as no materials are included in the published agenda in this regard.  I hope they are now much further along than their website indicates at this time.  It shows that there is still a $1.3M deficit.  

Wednesday, 02/28/2024

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm  In what looks to be a short and sweet meeting agenda, this committee will be asked to review and potentially approve a couple of new liquor license applications and one temporary liquor license. 

In the Informational Items portion of the agenda, there is another item regarding safety in the downtown Appleton corridor -- a memo from the Appleton Police Department (APD) Chief Olson regarding recommendations for changes to the city ordinances for the requirement of privately owned and operated security cameras at licensed establishments (bars/taverns) and that the footage be produced for law enforcement promptly upon request.  There are also proposed penalties for non-compliance with these camera ownership, placement, and footage production requirements.  The memo states that most downtown Appleton establishments already have these cameras so there is little expected additional burden on these businesses.  While I understand and agree with that and know the value of video surveillance in helping to curb crime, the libertarian in me has a bit of an issue with more city laws requiring more of businesses operating in the city.  What are your thoughts in this regard?  Do you have any issues with this camera requirement by the city of licensed establishments?  Again, this feels to me  like a few bad apples have spoiled things for society and made things messier and more difficult not only in downtown Appleton business owners but for all business owners throughout the city (as the proposed ordinance changes will affect all license holders, not just the downtown Appleton ones). 

Let me know your thoughts.  This is a difficult situation as we all want to make Appleton a better and safer place.  But more laws and more red tape for businesses doesn't always do that and sometimes causes other unforeseen issues.  

That will do it for this week's installment of your alderman's blog.  I hope you found some of these items interesting and that you will share with me any ideas or thoughts you might have on any of them.  I'm always happy to hear from you on anything city-government-related.  It's my pleasure to serve and represent our fabulous District 13!  

Have a wonderful week ahead.  I hope you'll join me again for next week's post... in March 2024!