The Notes: Week of December 8 - December 12, 2025

Hello, Neighbors!  How about this never-ending snowy weather these days?  Oof... winter is coming in like a bit of a lion this year.  Well, at least we have sunshine on a Packers Sunday today!

In city government this week, we will see many more meetings than we have in recent weeks.  It's Committee Meetings Week and very nearly everyone is getting in the act.  Here's your rundown of what to expect:

Monday, 12/08/2025

Appleton Redevelopment Authority Exhibition Center Advisory Committee - 1pm  This committee doesn't meet often; their last meeting was in March of this year.  But they are gathering this week to hear updates on the spending of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars that the exhibition center received from the city for some upgrades to the facility to help make it more attractive to event planners/organizers.  They will also hear an update on the status of a renewed or new agreement for the hired management of the exhibition center.

Municipal Services - 4:30pm  First on the agenda for this committee is a request for approval of a proposed updated fee schedule for the Department of Public Works (DPW).  Of note is a slight rate increase for homeowners in the city for our garbage containers (see below).  This increase had been included and noted in the proposed (now adopted) 2026 city budget.  So this committee vote and the subsequent full council vote on this item will be a bit of a formality.  Let me know if you have any questions on this.  

Also up for approval by this committee are numerous state/municipal financial agreements between the city and the state for funding of some of the city's construction projects that are needed to accommodate the state's Highway 41 expansion and a renewed contract for maintenance and management of the city's closed Mackville landfill.   

Finance Committee - 5:30pm  There are a lot of items up for discussion and potential approval by this committee.  They include approval of:

• The Appleton Police Department (APD) using state asset forfeiture funds to procure new SWAT equipment ($32,975),
• A budget amendment to record the receipt of some donations received by APD for the purchase and training of a new dog for the K9 unit and for the annual bike safety program
• A request to allow the write off of $62,590 in unpaid invoices (issued by the city for unpaid fines, damage to city property, etc) and $16,005 in unpaid personal property taxes.  It's important to note that even if these are approved for write-off, the city will still work with collection agencies to collect these funds from those owing.
• A proposed change to the municipal code to allow the city's Board of Review to meet earlier than had once been required by state law.  (State law has since been amended to allow for a wider window of opportunity for local boards to meet.)  This request will allow the city more flexibility to schedule the meeting a bit earlier in the year, not just on the one day currently allowed in the city code.
• Receipt of a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for $65,000 to help the city facilitate replacement of privately owned lead water service lines.  The city's DPW intends to use these funds for outreach (mailings, etc) to homeowners in the city to encourage their cooperation in this endeavor. 
• Awarding of a number of construction contracts for the coming construction year (though that seems so far off when you look outside these days)

Parks and Recreation Committee - 6:30pm  The city's Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (CORP) is now up for final approval by this committee (before it goes to the full council for final-final approval).  It was discussed the last time this committee met (and was mentioned here).  You can review the plan here (with an appendix here) and let me know if you have any questions. 

Tuesday, 12/09/2025

Fox Cities Transit Commission - 2:50pm  Commissioners will review and look to approve renewed contracts between the City of Appleton (for Valley Transit) and the counties (Winnebago, Outagamie, and Calumet) for Specialized Transportation Services and neighboring municipalities (City of Neenah and Village of Fox Crossing) for the Dial-a-Ride Program.  And as per usual, there will also be a review of financial and ridership reports.

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

Wednesday, 12/10/2025

Board of Health - 7am  This meeting has been cancelled.  (Board members can sleep in!)

City Plan Commission - 3:30pm  This commission will review and look to approve the final plat for the first phase of the Comet Ridge subdivision (south of CTH JJ, just west of and including Haymeadow Ave, north of Crossing Meadows Ln, and east of Richmond St).  There is also a request by a developer for the city to release a drainage easement on one of the development's lots after the drainage plan for that area was redrawn for the purposes of saving some existing trees within that easement. 

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

Safety & Licensing Committee - 5:30pm  First on this committee's agenda is the confirming of the city's denial of a bartender's license for an applicant with a record which makes her statutorily ineligible for a bartender's license.  She is appealing this so there must be an official hearing at this meeting.  But the denial legally must be upheld due to state law. 

Then there are two denials of mechanical amusement device license applications on the table for discussion.  In both cases, the bar owners have completed applications for the use of electronic gaming machines in their bars.  And in both cases, the games that are requested are being named as "illegal gambling machines" in the city.  If these are indeed illegal gambling machines (per state law), these applications to have them on site in bars in the city must be denied.  But the applicants are appealing, stating that these should not be considered illegal.  This will surely be interesting to plow through: debating on whether gaming machines are illegal.

The balance of the agenda includes the potential approval of updates to the city's Special Events Policy, renewals of pawn broker and secondhand jewelry licenses, and a couple of new license applications.  There will also be an informational update on the shared services between Appleton Fire Department (AFD) and Gold Cross.  And listed in the agenda but without any linked documents is an "AASD Truancy Ordinance Update."  

  

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee - 6:30pm  In the final meeting of the week, this committee will be asked to approve a re-organization request from the Appleton Police Department (APD).  APD would like to add one Patrol Officer position (as was recommended in the city's recent staffing study for APD).  Since there are two current officers on the APD payroll who will be on extended military deployments in 2026, there will be salary dollars available in 2026 to support this added position.  That does not, however, address the cost of this proposed addition in future years.  While I'm supportive of this change at this time (because of the staffing study recommendations and because the just-approved budget can support it), I have reservations about the long-term budgetary support of this request.  (We are talking about an added annual estimated cost of $117,000.)  What are your thoughts in this regard?

Does anything above concern you?  Would you like more information on any items?  If so, please reach out to me and let me know!  I'd be happy to hear any feedback from you.

I hope that your second week of December is a good one.  Thanks for stopping in for a longer read today.  I hope you join me back here next week for more!