The Notes: Week of December 9 - December 13, 2024

Hello, again, Neighbors!  It is once again a Committee Meetings Week here in mid-December.  We are looking at a few meetings with interesting items up for discussion before what is likely to be a drought of meetings during the holiday week to come.     

Below is your regular rundown of what to expect during the meetings this week.  Please take a look and let me know if you have any questions.

Monday, 12/09/2024

Municipal Services Committee - 4:30pm  Engineering staff are proposing a change to the reconstruction of Morrison Street near Erb Park.  The changes include an additional traffic calming circle at the intersection of Morrison and Brewster Streets and a raised crosswalk at the Parkway Drive/Erb Pool driveway entrance to enhance pedestrian safety in the area.  Also on the agenda are the potential approval of the maintenance contract for the closed City of Appleton landfill on the west side of town (for an annual amount of ~$76,000) and a sole-sourcing request for a multitude of traffic control items (signal controls and street lighting, etc).  

Finance Committee - 5:30pm  A major reconstruction project for a downtown portion of Lawe Street will require this committee’s approval of a “relocation order” for the street.  This order includes the city acquiring small portions of the privately owned properties bordering the existing street (for street widening) from College Avenue to Spring Street.  Other items on this committee meeting agenda include:

• The extension of the contract for consulting for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds administration for the city.  The extension is not for more money as the original $150,000 allocated for this consulting is not yet “used up,” but the consultancy contract is set to expire on 12/31/2024.  The extension is, therefore, mostly a formality without costing the city more ARPA money than was originally set aside for this purpose. 
• Approval of the developer agreement for the Lumbini Estates subdivision (on the south side of the city off of Plank Road).
• Requests by the city’s accounting group to write off ~$49,600 in accounts receivable (outstanding bills that the city has issued to property owners, etc from 2021, 2022, and early 2023) and ~$23,400 in 2022 personal property taxes billed but not paid by taxpayers.  I will confirm with the finance director that payment of these items will still be pursued by the city even though the write offs will likely be approved. 

Parks and Recreation Committee - 6:15pm  This meeting has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items. 

Tuesday, 12/10/2024

Fox Cities Transit Commission - 2:50pm  In their last meeting scheduled for 2024, commissioners will be asked to approve the October 2024 payments by Valley Transit and a number of renewals of inter-municipal agreements for specialized transit  services and dial-a-ride services in 2025. 

Utilities Committee - 4:30pm  In a rather busy meeting (for this committee at least!), there will be a number of items discussed and potentially approved:

• The contract extension (into 2025) for biosolids composting services.
• Two contract renewals for two different consulting groups (for 2025-2028) for contracted stormwater management plan reviews.  The city is expecting to see more stormwater management plans submitted for review in 2025 due to the upcoming Thrivent property development.  These consultancies are required since city staff does not have the capacity to review all of the incoming stormwater plans that come in to them. 
• Approval of a contract to the lowest bidder for water system spot repairs, protruding taps, and mineral deposit removals throughout the city.
• A proposed $15,000 contract increase for native vegetation management due to the proposed Thrivent development and the related proposed changes to the city’s Ballard Pond.
• A contract amendment increase in the amount of $18,900 for additional engineering services for a project at the Appleton Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWWTP).  Some of this increase will eat up the contract contingency for the project and the remainder will come from under budget Capital Improvement Project funds.  
• And in a delightfully nondescript action item, this committee will be asked to approve an engineering services contract that is not yet spelled out for one of three bidders, the winner not yet decided.  Here is the place marker memo for this item at this time.  We shall see what is presented at this meeting and which bidder will win this committee’s approval then.   

Wednesday, 12/11/2024

Board of Health - 7am  This meeting has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items. 

Appleton Redevelopment Authority (ARA) - 9am  This group does not meet regularly and has not met since October.  But this week’s agenda includes an interesting item (which may require a closed session for further discussion of the specifics).  The sale (from the ARA to Valley Transit/City of Appleton) of the property near the city’s transit center — the one for which the city won a federal grant for a mixed-use development earlier this year — was scheduled to close on 12/31/2024.  However, a federal requirement of a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process has not yet been completed for the property and is expected to take six months.  Members of this authority will be asked to approve a new closing date of 06/30/2025.  

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm  This meeting has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items. 

Community Development Committee - 4:30pm  This meeting has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items. 

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm  Members of this committee will be busy with some interesting and potentially contentious items up for approval (or in some cases, denial).  Here is what they will be faced with:

• The potential denial of a bartender's license for a woman who has not been convicted but has been arrested and formally charged with possession with intent to sell cocaine (in September 2023) and possession of cocaine and bail jumping (in April 2024).  Neither of these arrests was detailed by her on her application for the renewal of her bartender's license.  There is a lengthy memo from the city attorney's office regarding the facts of the case with a recommendation to approve the license which would then be revoked should the charges on the applicant's record become convictions.  Interestingly, one of the charges (the 2024 one) shows a formal conviction when searched online.  I have grave doubts about this applicant's ability to exercise good and clear judgement as a bartender and, due to the most recent conviction, would vote to deny this licensure.  But this is a tricky one.  What do you think?
• The potential denial of a bartender's license for a woman who has been convicted of multiple battery offenses and is on bail.  Her bail conditions state that she must not ever be "in possession of or consume alcohol."  This one is more of an open and shut case where denial of the application for a bartender's license is perfectly in order.  
• A liquor license revocation hearing for Speakeasy Ultra Lounge in downtown Appleton.  This establishment had its liquor license suspended back in 2023.  The establishment has accumulated 295 demerit points against their liquor license in the past 36 months.  According to Wisconsin statute, establishments are allowed to accumulate no more than 200 demerit points in a 36-month period.  The latest demerits stem from a fight in and in front of the establishment for which the  bar's bouncer was later convicted of battery and where the bar manager (who was present and apparently played a part in the fight) later refused to speak with police regarding the fight.  This establishment appears to be an issue in Appleton's downtown... and now there is cause for the city to revoke the establishment's liquor license.  The committee may go into closed session for discussions on this matter.    
• The return of an application for a liquor license for an establishment which has been identified as a place in which potentially illegal gaming/gambling might take place.  (Mentioned here.)  A letter from the applicant's attorney asks for more time for this matter.  So I expect that this item will again be held until a later meeting of this committee. 
• A sole-sourcing request for some load-bearing vests for Appleton Police Department (APD) personnel.
• Requests by the Appleton Fire Department (AFD) to purchase cardiac monitors and to apply for a large grant (requiring $63,800 in city matching funds should the city be awarded the grant) for self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBAs).  The AFD's current SCBAs are obsolete as they were acquired over ten years ago.
• Approval of three liquor licenses, one temporary liquor license (for an event), and 2025 renewals of all applications for secondhand jewelry/articles and pawnbroker licenses.    

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - 6:30pm  This committee has not met for a while (last meeting: 10/23/2024) but they have a few items to review for approval here before the end of the year.  The Human Resources (HR) department is looking to "over hire" (have more than one person in that position for a period of time to train the new hire) for the position of Deputy Director of the department.  The estimated ~$11,000 additional pay needed for this would come from available "vacant" salary dollars in the department.  There is also a proposal on the table to hire a consultant (to the tune of $44,200 and an additional $5,000 travel allowance) for the city's "strategic planning."  As I mentioned when this was brought up earlier, I am not in favor of spending $45,000 in ARPA funds for a mission and vision for the city (especially when we already have them).  I am still of that mindset... and now have some additional concerns that the numbers in the proposal from the lowest bidder might come in higher than the ARPA funds available.  As such, I expect to vote against this item in committee and in council.  What do you think?    

Whew... that's it for the week.  But it looks to be a busy one!  If you have any questions or concerns regarding any of the above items, please reach out to me.  I am always happy to hear from you.  

Until next week, I wish you the best.  Thanks for reading today!  I hope to see you back for another alderman  blog post next week.