The Notes: Week of August 5 - August 9, 2024

Hello, Neighbors!  Welcome to another Full Council Meeting Week in City of Appleton government.  Thanks to all of you for tuning in for this week's post!

There is only one special meeting to be held just before the full council meeting this week.  So here is what you can expect for the week:

Wednesday, 08/07/2024

Finance Committee - Special Meeting - 6:30pm  This special meeting was scheduled because a final vote is needed from this committee -- and the full council to follow -- for the sale of the city's 2024 general obligation notes and sewerage system revenue bonds.  The sales were prefaced when this committee last met but no final sales/interest rates were mentioned then due to the timing of the sales (right after the full council presumably approves them).  There is a resolution for the sale of $13.5M in general obligation notes and a resolution for $12.91M in sewerage system revenue bonds on the table for this committee to approve just before the full council sees these same resolutions for approval. 

There are also two other items up for approval by this committee in this special meeting, both of which reference some damage to the city's Green parking ramp caused by a vehicle.  The first is a resolution to approve immediate action to fix the issue at the Green ramp caused by a vehicle damaging the 6th floor concrete barrier panel which apparently is causing "threatened damage to a public facility in which public health or welfare is endangered."  I find it interesting that I have not heard anything about the event that led to this damage and the Green ramp has apparently been open for business during this weekend's Mile of Music celebration in the downtown area.  So... how could this damage be so significant and be such a danger to the public while the ramp remains open? 

The second action item in this regard requests immediate shoring up of the damaged barrier -- to the tune of $47,230 as a "Phase 1" correction of the issue.  I would like to know what the cause of the accident was, specifically how the damage was incurred, and who, if not the city, will be held financially responsible for the repairs.  And if the damage was cause by a city vehicle, is there insurance to cover the repairs?  This is a large (and unplanned, un-budgeted) chunk of change from taxpayers that will be needed to correct the apparently substantial issues.  So who really should be paying to correct the issues?  I don't believe that taxpayers should be left holding the bag in the end (assuming the damage was not caused by a city vehicle driven by a city staff member).  Of course, the issue must be repaired to ensure safety of ramp users.  But in the end, if it's not "the city's fault," then taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for the repairs and the proper responsible individual/company must be required to reimburse the city (the taxpayers).  I hope to get more answers regarding the cause of the damage and what recourse the city might have for reimbursement of the repair costs during this special meeting.  

City of Appleton Common Council - 7pm  The mayor will kick things off with two proclamations and then a request for the council to approve the hiring of a new director for the city's Department of Public Works (DPW).  The new director up for hire has been the DPW Director for the City of Menasha since 2021 and has previous experience as a civil engineer with the City of Oshkosh and the Village of Harrison.  Laura Jungwirth's resume can be viewed here.  If you are familiar with her work or qualifications and/or have any questions/comments/concerns regarding this hire, please let me know.  This is a pivotal city staff position and the right person must be hired for the job!

The items most likely to be separated from the balance of the agenda are as follows:

• From the Safety and Licensing Committee:  As has been the subject of many, many meetings of this committee (since 06/26/2024!), the full council will be asked to approve an extension to August 15, 2024, for the non-renewal (for failure to use for one year) of the liquor license for Corner Pub on North Mason Street.  According to the paperwork on this license and potential non-renewal, the establishment could not be open to the public due to too many structural issues (as a result of a flood in an upper unit of the building) in May of 2023.  An entire year lapsed in which no repairs were undertaken and the liquor license went unused since May 2023.  At liquor license renewal time (June 2024), the non-renewal hearing in this committee began... and has gone on now until a potential extension date of August 15, 2024.  That is an additional three months past a full year of non-use of the liquor license.  And, at the last committee meeting two weeks ago, there were still items in need of repair on the premises before city inspectors would allow the reopening of the establishment.  This has been the subject of earlier alderman blog posts as well (here and here) so you know that my position is one of empathy for the business owners but also of concern for a dangerous precedent being set here in which certain license holders get treated differently than others, dependent upon the story presented to committee and council members.  Council members need to show empathy, of course.  But equally holding all license holders in the city to the same standards must rank above "feelings" when decisions such as this are to be made.  What are your thoughts on this issue and the delays that have taken the city way past the point of one year of non-use of a valuable liquor license? 
  
  
• From the Finance Committee:  As mentioned above, the Green ramp "emergency" repairs are up for full council approval.  I need to know more about the circumstances that led to the need for these emergency repairs before I'm prepared to vote for proceeding on this.  If public safety truly is at risk there, of course the ramp should be closed for public use.  But are immediate repairs with a high price tag required of taxpayers before it's made clear who really should be paying for these repairs?  
  
  
• From the last council meeting:  The full council will look to formally approve ordinance changes to return to an 8" maximum grass height on developed lots in the city... so we can finally put the questionably useful No Mow May behind us and move forward with a better plan of encouraging Slow Mow Summer in the city. 
  

All else on the full council agenda will likely be easy approvals.  And then next week will again be a Committee Meetings Week where there are sure to be other contentious items to discuss!

I hope that you have a great week this week.  I look forward to hearing from you should you have any questions or comments or concerns about anything in this week's blog post or otherwise city government-related.  I also look forward to you tuning in again next week for another alderman blog post.  Thank you for being a loyal reader!