District 6 Update, February 9, 2021

Good afternoon District 6,

I hope everyone is bearing up reasonably well in the deep freeze that is the Fox Valley this week. I’m seeing a lot of discussion on social media about the road conditions on social media, along with many, many reports of accidents from the Appleton Police Department. It seemed to be worse on the south side of town, so my colleague in District 5 reached out to the Department of Public Works for some input. Basically, when the temperatures are below zero, especially with the strong winds, some of the normal methods for keeping the streets clear just don’t work as well. Salt will lower the freezing point of water, but not below the extreme temperatures we have been experiencing. Sand helps a bit but will eventually just freeze into the ice. We’re advised to stay off the roads if we can and be ultra-cautious if we have to drive.

Remember that we should have the sidewalks cleared 36 hours after the snowfall ends. Now that school is back in session, we have students walking to school or a bus stop, plus we have people who need to get to bus stops, walk their dogs, etc. If you’re on a corner lot like I am, you have responsibility for the curb ramp, too. The Inspections Department is responsible for shoveling complaints, but hopefully those of us who are able can lend a hand to a neighbor who needs help on occasion.

During the Council meeting on February 3, we approved the appointment of former alderperson Christ Croatt of our neighboring District 14 to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Chris will be an alternate on this board.

The mayor issued proclamations for Black History Month, Career and Technical Education Month, Burn Awareness Week, and Gun Violence Awareness Week. Note that the last proclamation was issued before the incident at the Fox River Mall.  A representative of Moms Demand Action was with us virtually to accept the last proclamation.

During the COVID-19 update, Health Office Eggebrecht gave us encouraging news about the case trend in Appleton, although the large decrease in the number of tests is concerning to me. The number of deaths also seems high in relation to the number of new cases.

As I reported earlier, the vaccine site at the Expo Center is prioritizing those people who were given appointments for last week due to the system error. I have heard of people getting called for appointments, so I hope that we will be caught up in the next week. We also expect vaccine supplies to increase. In the meantime, do check out all possible sources for an appointment if you are in the 1B group.

We received notification yesterday that the testing site at Reid Golf Course will now administer COVID-19 tests to children as young as 1.

No items were separated out for separate consideration in the meeting, but I some of the highlights were:

From Municipal Services – we approved the resolution to make City Attorney Behrens the negotiator in dealings with Outagamie County with regard to the landfill. This action was needed in the wake of former Attorney Walsh’s retirement. We also approved the permit for the “Avenue of Ice” starting February 19. The ice sculptures will stay up as weather permits.

From the Safety and Licensing Committee – we voted to approve another carryover of unused 2020 event fees to 2022. They had previously been carried over to 2021.

From the Finance Committee – we approved modifications to the budget to record grant agreement modifications from the state Department of Health Services.                                                                                                                                                     

From the Community and Economic Development Committee – we approved an amendment to the Community Development Block Grant 2020 Annual Action plan to accept an additional $343,268 of CDBG Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act) funding to community partner organizations and entered into agreements with ADVOCAP and the Boys and Girls Club for “conducting street outreach, providing information and referrals, completing assessments, intakes, performing short-term case management, and providing services including but not limited to motel vouchers, transportation, food, employment, mental health, and physical health.” As these agreements are based on grant funding, we would have to obtain other sources of funding to continue them beyond the period discussed.

The Housing Affordability Report for 2019 was also presented as an information item in the Community and Economic Development Committee meeting of January 27. We are required by state law to submit this report annually in order to “shed light on and foster potential change on affordable housing issues across the state.” I have not completed a full analysis of the report, but it does highlight some concerns in that a pretty large proportion of our population is paying more than 30% of their income each month for housing. Also, most of our new housing development is taking place as higher priced homes in new subdivisions on the north side of the city.

In committee meetings this week, highlights include the Finance Committee considering a number of contract awards for large capital projects, including HVAC upgrades for Fire Stations 2 and 3 and the 2021 concrete paving contract.

The Board of Health will review the contracts with the Fox Cities Exhibition Center for the COVID vaccine clinic.

The Safety and Licensing Committee meeting will include as information items the Fire Department and Police Department responses to the Fox River mall shooting.

As always, you can review full Council and committee meetings and watch meeting videos on the city’s Legistar page:

https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Stay warm!