The Notes: Week of August 25 - August 29, 2025

Hi Neighbors!  Thanks for joining me again for a Committee Meetings Week alderman blog post.  There are lots of meetings to be had this week and only a couple of cancellations.  Here’s a rundown of what you can expect this week:

Monday, 08/25/2025

Municipal Services Committee - 4:30pm  Three street occupancy permits are on the agenda for this committee.  The first is a temporary one for a dumpster for a construction project on Superior Street.  The second is also a temporary one for tables and chairs on the amenity strip on College Avenue in front of the brewery and taphouse next to the Chase Bank building.  And the final is a permanent street occupancy for basement of the College Avenue Chase Bank building which is under what is to be (assuming approval) a public alleyway.  The latter seems to be a formality as that property owner just recently asked to have the above-ground portion of this property dedicated as a public alley.  I would guess that somehow it was discovered that a portion of the basement is below this alley so this “permanent street occupancy” is needed.  None of these items will likely be denied by this committee.   

Finance Committee - 5:30pm After a presentation of the 2024 Audit and Executive Summary from the city’s auditor (Clifton Larsen Allen), there are two action items to be discussed and potentially approved. First is a request to approve a contract for hardscapes at Telulah Park (shoreline trail reconstruction) and Reid Golf Course (golf cart paths paving).  This request requires a ~$42,000 transfer from the Reid Golf Course reserve fund to cover the difference between the budgeted dollars for these projects (bid together) and the lowest bid.  The bids came in higher than expected due to the need for the contractor to use smaller trucks and equipment on the golf course to avoid damaging the course itself. 

The second is a request for a rather significant change order for the Mackville Quarry Grading/Capping project.  For $13,600 more, a culvert will be added to address some ponding on the access road.  The additional costs will lower the contingency for the contract and not require a budget amendment.

Parks and Recreation Committee - 6pm  This committee will be asked to approve a process for the renaming of the existing Veterans Park (not the newly renamed Veterans Memorial Park).  See the proposed process here which is slated to include a public input portion.  If you have any questions, comments, or feedback regarding this proposal, please let me know.

Tuesday, 08/26/2025

Fox Cities Transit Commission - 2:50pm  This meeting has been cancelled. 

Utilities Committee - 4:30pm  The only action item for this committee is the potential approval of a one-year contract extension for a compost screening company.  The company’s quote for the year is 4% over last year’s contract amount and there is no mention of whether the increase can be managed within budget.  So I hope that question comes up at this meeting and is answered with “there is budget room for this increased cost.” 

Wednesday, 08/27/2025

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm  The alley right-of-way behind the downtown Chase Bank building (mentioned above in the Municipal Services Committee note) is up for approval by this commission.  There is also an action item that will require the review and potential approval of the 2026 Downtown Appleton Business Improvement District operating plan.  In informational items, this commission will review two changes to municipal code (one for the removal of a duplication of services/permitting for temporary uses for structures and one for adding shoreland/wetland zoning) and the current draft for the update of the city’s Comprehensive Plan.  The public is also invited to an open house to view a release of this draft plan on August 28 at 4 and 5pm at the Appleton Public Library.  See here for more information!

Community Development Committee - 4:30pm  This meeting has been cancelled. 

Safety and Licensing Committee - 5:30pm  Three more alcohol license holders in the city have been convicted of dispensing alcohol to a minor and assessed 80 demerit points: MyMy, Maritime Bar, and Richmond Mobil.  Representatives of all three are scheduled to appear before this committee to explain how they are making changes to make sure that this does not happen again.  

And there is yet another special event for which the organizers did not submit their special event application to the city within the 45-days-prior-to-the-event window. This one, though, missed the submittal deadline by 20 days!  It looks as though this event is not as well thought out as the last event for which this committee allowed a waiver for the late submittal.  I will be interested to see whether World Peace Festival at Pierce Park (scheduled for 09/13/2025) will be allowed to go as scheduled or if the late application will be denied since it appears there may not be enough time for all of the city staffing departments required to review and suggest changes/improvements or accept the plans as shown on this event application.  What are your thoughts about how late a special event permit application should be accepted to still allow for a safe and well planned event?

Then the committee will look to anpprove a new alcohol license and a temporary premises amendment.  

But the big item of the evening will likely be the formal liquor license revocation hearing for Mr Frogs downtown.  The establishment has only had a liquor license since August, 2024, yet has thus far racked up 265 demerit points.  (200 points in 36 months is the maximum allowed by municipal code before some sort of revocation or suspension action is taken by the Council.)  The complaint by the Appleton Police Department (APD) details all of the violence and demerit-point incidences which have occurred in and around this establishment since the granting of this liquor license.  It seems as though this very much warrants the revocation of the liquor license.  So I expect we’ll see this committee recommend such revocation to the council.  (But… nothing is guaranteed with this council as we all well know…!)

And finally, in informational items, the committee is expected to hear from the Chief of the Appleton Police Department (APD) regarding the results of a recent staffing study done for the department.  There are several recommendations that came from the study, including suggested changes to the table of organization for the department.  You can review the summary of the recommendations here.  Please let me know your thoughts on them (if and when you review this memo). My primary concern at this time is that there appears — according to the study — to be some need to increase staffing in the department.  I am concerned that future city budgets will not be managed appropriately to allow for this increased staffing in future budget years.  In other words… there will need to be cuts to the budget elsewhere to better fund APD.  But the mayor and the majority of this council have not at all shown willingness to make cuts to the “budget fat” in order to better fund one of the most important core goals of a city — public safety.  As such, I fear that a next step in this may be to in part referendum-fund APD.  Do not be surprised if in the near future, you hear talk of a public safety referendum in which taxpayers will be asked to vote to increase their tax burden in order to afford proper police protection in the city.  My aim will be to ask instead for cuts to other things in future year budgets to accommodate increased APD funding.  But that will likely be a very tough hill to climb (probably alone).  I am interested to hear your thoughts on this.

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - 6:30pm  This committee will be asked to approve one table of organization change for APD (as a result of one of the recommendations mentioned directly above).  The table shows that there is a need to move one lieutenant from one area to another and to add another lieutenant.  Nothing is mentioned about how the addition will be funded; so I will be sure to ask how the current budget can support this change.

And in what may be another highly charged discussion, there is an agenda item regarding proposed changes to aldermanic salaries.  It is my opinion that no increase is needed.  Yes, it has been a few years since an increase was granted.  But also yes, this city has larger budget priorities (see the discussion above regarding APD staffing for example) than paying their council members more per year.  In my opinion, an increase in salary will not garner more or better or “more diverse” candidates for aldermen.  But perhaps term limits would…?  (Just a thought!)  What are your thoughts on this?  Should Appleton aldermen get a raise?  Or is a very part-time job which some aldermen do not take very seriously paid well enough at $6,750 annually?

Expect to hear more on a few of these items as they move through committee discussions this week!  Join me for another alderman blog post next week for more information on these items during the next Full Council Meeting Week.  Until then… please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  And don’t forget to have a great week!