The Notes: Week of March 30 - April 3, 2026

Happy Sunny Sunday, Neighbors!  Thanks for "meeting me" here again on a Sunday!  It's Full Council Meeting Week in City of Appleton government.  And one other meeting is also scheduled for this week.  Here's what you can expect to hear about:

Wednesday, 04/01/2026

Appleton Public Arts Committee - 8am  It's a bit of a disappointment to me that this committee holds enough sway that members could vote (the last time they met) to force an organization (Appleton Downtown Inc - ADI) to revise some planned marketing sign flags to be mounted on downtown light posts, directly replacing older ones that are already there.  The last time this committee met, the chairman made an intimation that an upward-facing pointed arrow on one of the signs -- indicating upward growth in the downtown area -- "looked a bit phallic."  Due to this and another committee member's statement about what more she would like to see on these signs ("There should be more about children and families."), ADI was forced to head back to the drawing board (presumably spending more money and time on designs) to change their proposed signs and return to this committee for their approval of the sign content. 

This is excess governance, in my opinion.  The reason for the existence of this committee is to make sure that public art that is allowed in the city is not offensive and is not willy-nilly placed without some city oversight.  But art is always subjective.  And as you know, some less than beautiful public art has, in the past, been allowed by this committee.  ADI, a private entity (which is supported in part by City of Appleton taxpayer dollars!) should not be required to cater to the opinion of one committee member's view of an upward pointing arrow and another's opinion of the content of the art in this proposed signage.  It just feels like this committee stepped over the line here.  What do you think?    

The committee will also review the Harry Houdini image options that are available for use on the Welcome Tower at Houdini Plaza.  The last time the committee met, they agreed that "Year of Houdini" should be the next theme for the updated tower images due to this year being the 100th anniversary of his death and the Society of American Magicians hosting their convention in Appleton this July.   

City of Appleton Common Council - 7pm  The mayor will take up a good bit of time with a few items at the beginning of the night's agenda.  First, there will be a presentation of this year's Sidewalk Poetry selections.  None have yet been shared in the agenda materials.  So we'll just have to tune in during this meeting to hear some of these poems.  Then there will be a presentation of six mayoral proclamations.  And to wrap up the mayor's business portion of the agenda, then there are a number of mayoral appointments and reappointments of citizens to various committees up for council approval. 

Then we get to the heart of the agenda where last week's committee business comes forward for full council review and approval.  Here are the highlights:

• From the Safety and Licensing Committee:  Last week, this committee was asked to decide whether Bob's Towing should be removed from the city's rotating tow call listing.  Recordings of numerous decidedly less-than-professional calls between one particular driver for this company and various police dispatchers and an APD officer were played for this committee.  With those calls in mind, the committee affirmed the APD's decision to remove this company from the list.  The company owner can reapply to be on the list again in the future.  But for now, I would have to agree that this company should sit out a while for the way that that employee spoke to public servants in those calls.  You can hear what the committee heard in the link to last week's meeting video.  
  
  
• From the Finance Committee:  All of the budget carryovers (dollars from last year's budget requested to be carried over into this year) were approved by this committee last week.  There seem to be none that are contentious... unlike in previous years where some dollars were moved from one department to another for completely unrelated expenditures.  
  
  
• From the Utilities Committee:  This committee readily recommended for approval a contract for Brown and Caldwell (a consultant with which the city contracted for flood mitigation projects within the city) for a preliminary engineering design for the first stages of flood mitigation in the city's Northland/Bellaire drainage area.  The cost of this contract (for design only) will be $390,000; but the project itself will be much more costly.  And with a Stormwater Utility Rate study for the city on tap for later this year, we can expect to see these rates for all payors increased in the near future. 
  

That is really all that will likely be further discussed as the agenda is otherwise pretty straightforward.  If you see anything above (or have any other questions or concerns), please reach out to me.

Next week is local election time!  Election Day is Tuesday, 04/07/2026.  Please see here for more information on polling places, early in-person voting, and more from the City Clerk.  You can always also use MyVote to see what will be on your ballot.  But don't miss out on voting in local elections and this is the government that's closest to you.  Get prepared now so that you have a plan for next Tuesday!

Thanks for tuning in here today for the latest from your alderman.  I wish you a wonderful week... hopefully with all spring-like weather and none of this reverting to winter-like stuff!