District 6 Update, March 22, 2021
Good afternoon District 6,
It’s definitely nice to have the NCAA basketball tournament
back after last year’s cancellation, although the schedule change is a bit odd
with back-to-back games on a Monday. While we were sorry to see the Badgers
come up short yesterday, it was great to see the Wisconsin women’s hockey team
capture the national championship after having their season cancelled last year
as well.
It’s nice to feel the warm weather and to know that baseball starts on time in just a couple of weeks, too. Once we get some more shots in arms, including mine, I’m looking forward to catching some Timber Rattler and Brewer games, but I am definitely going to have a tough time calling the ballpark “American Family Field.”
Now that the sportscast is over, back to the business from
City Hall.
The COVID-19 update showed that cases continued to be about where
they were before the spike last September. We are still listed in the HIGH
category based on the total number of cases and the rate of change in number of
cases. As of today, 12,592 doses of
vaccine have been administered at the Fox Cities COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the
Expo Center. 25.3% of eligible Wisconsinites have received at least one dose of
vaccine. In Outagamie County, 23.3% of eligible residents have received at
least one dose and 14% are fully vaccinated. One issue we discussed, and I heard
about from constituents, is the fact that the site will show no appointments
available for the next month. This is not accurate and is being worked on by
site administrators. The site does not open for appointments until it is known
how many doses we will be getting for the coming week – the appointments have
generally been opening on Sunday, so that is the best time to check. As of
today, category 1C is eligible, including people 16 and over with certain
medical conditions (you can see the full list at DHS Vaccine
Information)
A number of people spoke during the public participation period – all about the contract for design and engineering for a new library. Eight people strongly supported awarding the contract to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and one person had a number of questions about the plan going forward.
After all the discussion by the public and in the media, the
actual item passed unanimously with no discussion from council members. Much
has been written and said about the library project, but the bottom line is that
this contract begins the design phase for the project. There will be opportunities
for public input as the project goes forward – you can keep track up updates at
http://www.apl.org/planning. I have seen
and heard some comments about a local firm not being selected for the design
and engineering. The Request for Proposal was open to all firms who wished to
submit a bid, though there were very specific requirements in terms of
experience with library construction that limited the field quite a bit. Clearly,
there will be bids for the actual construction work, and I imagine local firms
would get the major portion of those contracts.
After the item in the prior Common Council related to a curb
cut for a second driveway, we voted to remove the requirement that neighbors
approve an additional curb cut from the Driveway Opening Policy. I voted with
the majority on this because I felt that the existing requirements were
sufficient. In the case before us previously, the neighbors’ objection was more
about the second garage, whose approval was not in question, than the second
driveway.
We also voted to approve a development agreement for the
property at 318 W. College Ave. as described in update from March 7. Before I decided
to run for Common Council, I gave myself a crash course on how Tax Increment
Financing works. Directors Harkness and Saucerman put together a wonderful presentation
for the council last August on Tax Increment Finance and Tax Increment Districts.
I’m working on distilling that 31-page PowerPoint into something a bit shorter to
distribute with a future update.
As expected, the item on alderperson salaries was referred
back to committee and was not discussed in the council meeting. The headline on
the Post-Crescent article, and especially the graphic that was used online stirred
up a bit more controversy than is probably merited by the facts. We will take
the measure up again Wednesday in the Human Resources and IT Committee, along
with a discussion of the appointment of an Interim Human Resources Director, as
Director Matz has announced her retirement after 24 years of service to the
city.
In this week’s committee meetings:
Municipal Services (March 22, 4:30 p.m.)
Agreements related to work on the CE and 441 interchange
(city share $150,400) and design and Olde Oneida St. bridge over the South Mill
Race (city share $52,960).
A pilot program with Bird Rides for a trial program for dockless
standup electric scooters in the downtown area. I am honestly not sure how I
feel about this one. They look like fun, but I have seen stories of cities which
have had problems with them being left in places they shouldn’t be. I also want
to review how this will work downtown. The agreement prohibits them on the sidewalks
on College Avenue between Drew and Badger Streets, but I wonder how the
enforcement will work. I am going to have to watch the meeting and do some
research before I decide how to vote on this.
Finance Committee (March 22, 5:30 p.m.)
The major item is addressing carryover of 2020 funds that
were budgeted but unspent. Our policy requires that the majority of unspent
funds go to debt reduction. The items being considered are in addition to that reserve.
The carryover is due to projects that could not be complete due to the
pandemic, or projects that were completed for less than the budgeted amount.
The first group, for about $9 million, is for projects that are budgeted but
not yet under contract – where the work will be done in 2021. The second group
of “special consideration” projects are for new or expanded projected using funds
from other projects than came in under budget. These include:
$267,102 for the David and Rita Nelson River Crossing Construction
– the new pedestrian bridge to the future Ellen Kort Peace Park.
$223,519 for Water Utility projects funded by positive variances
in the budgets of other projects.
$9850 for Police Department projects.
Safety and Licensing (March 24, 5:30 p.m.)
The resolution prohibiting large scale commercial dog and cat
breeding will be considered again, after having been referred to staff to confirm
that no pet store in the city sells dogs or cats.
Good evening!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update. It is very informative. I am wondering if there has been any discussion or information shared on upgrading the summer landscaping on College Avenue. I spoke with you about this when you were out campaigning for your position. As I mentioned at that time, College Avenue summer landscaping (floral plantings) are badly in need of updating. We used to have large planters full of flowers on College Avenue. They have been relocated to the library, Valley Transit area, and two side streets that run parallel to College Avenue. The street by Soldiers Square had over a dozen on it. Sadly, there have been no replacements placed on College Avenue. Why is that? In fact, the fenced tree/flower areas on College Avenue are very underwhelming at best. They are planted with the same undersized flowers every year with not even any color variations. In addition they are not maintained properly. One can frequently see plastic bottles, candy and food wrappers, and cigarette butts tossed into the planting areas. College Avenue is the first impression that visitors have of Appleton. Look around at our surrounding communities~~their main streets have numerous beautiful floral planters and hanging baskets, etc. We can and should do better to beautify College Avenue.