Appleton Common Council District 6 Update, September 20, 2021
I’m a little
late starting the update this week because it was marathon weekend. This is the
first time in three years the Fox Cities Marathon has been held after being
canceled in 2019 for a bad storm with lightning and last year due to COVID, and
the first time I have participated. My distance running days are behind me, but
I do a lot of racewalking, so I had high hopes for a good effort yesterday in
the full marathon. Alas, the weather had other thoughts – I finished, but the
heat ensured that I didn’t have the time I had hoped for.
It was
definitely a busy weekend in Appleton. I stopped in at Rhythms of the World at
the beginning of my trip through the Downtown Farm Market. I got to catch the
Lawrence University Mariachi Ensemble (LUME), but there were so many groups
that looked fun that I wish I could have stayed all morning.
Speaking of downtown, I know that many people are disappointed that Octoberfest and License to Cruise have been canceled for another year. Based on my e-mail, there is some misinformation about the reason for the cancelation. The city had already given the necessary permits and licenses; the organizers just did not have enough volunteers or food vendors they needed to put on the type of event they wanted.
Appleton Downtown
is planning a smaller “Fall Fest” in conjunction with the Farm Market on Friday
and Saturday, with live music by Unity the Band during the farm market, and
bands at several of the bars downtown on Friday and Saturday evening. There is
also a “Mocktoberfest” taking place at some of the downtown bars on Saturday
evening.
On to the
business of the city. At the council meeting on Wednesday, the mayor issued proclamations
designating September 15 through October 15 as Hispanic Heritage Month.
We also
received an in-person update from the teams at Skidmore Owings & Merrill
and The Boldt Company, who will be the construction manager on the project. You
can read the update and see the presentation from the links here:
https://apl.org/planning/content/library-building-project-update-september-2021
Interim
Health Officer Jensen gave the COVID-19 update. Appleton is still at the VERY HIGH
level of burden and trajectory of new cases – the levels are what they were
back in January before the vaccines were widely available. Appleton was at 56.3%
fully vaccinated and 68.6 % of vaccine-eligible residents.
I just got notice
of a new testing site in the old Best Buy building on S. Kensington:
https://covid-19-appleton.hub.arcgis.com/pages/testing-site
Walkins are
available. Outagamie County is still offering vaccine clinics at the Fox River Mall
from 11:00 to 7:00 except for Wednesday and Sunday. Walk-ins allowed. Vaccines
are available at the Outagamie County Public Health Division at 320 S. Walnut weekday
from 9:00 to 3:00. Appointment at (920) 832-5100. No charge or ID
required at either clinic.
As expected,
the two items on the council agenda separated for individual consideration were
the resolution in support of the resettlement of Afghan parolees in Appleton
and the item concerning alderperson salaries.
There was
lively discussion on the Afghan resettlement resolution, with everyone who
spoke saying that they were in favor of these parolees (this term is used to
indicate the absence of a visa rather than any legal status) being welcomed to
the city. The vetting process is stringent for these and any individuals who
will be settled from camps like Fort McCoy. The stated objections to the resolution
were based on whether is it beyond the scope of the council to enact resolutions
that don’t call for specific actions. My view is that the resolution can be the
council’s way of expressing our official position on a subject, just as the
mayor can issue a proclamation. Alderperson Meltzer introduced an amendment
that makes the resolution clearer that we support city departments in their
efforts. In the end, the resolution passed 11-2 (two alders were excused from
the meeting). I happened to run into World Relief Fox Valley Director Tami
McLaughlin downtown on Saturday. She expressed her gratitude to the Common
Council for passing the resolution to make the policy of welcoming these
individuals the official statement of the council.
The other
item that was discussed was the salary for Common Council members. As you may
recall, we are supposed to discuss this every year so that a salary can be determined
for the next incoming council. Sitting council members may not vote on a salary
that will be effective during their current term. The prior Human Resources
Director did not put the item on the agenda in 2020, so when we considered it
in February, we had the option to put a staggered salary schedule in place or
to wait and adopt a salary effective in April of 2023. We chose to avoid the
staggered salary schedule and make any change effective in 2023. At the Human
Resources and Information Technology meeting, Alderperson Joe Martin proposed a
salary of $10,125. That was passed 3-2 (I voted against) in the committee. When
that proposal went to the full council, it was referred back to the HR/IT
committee to be reconsidered in September. Much of the committee wanted to
implement some kind of automatic cost of living increase, but we were advised
that state law did not allow this, and we must consider it for every new term.
I initially proposed a 5% increase, but others believed that it should be somewhat
larger, so I proposed a salary of $7000 per year as a starting point for the
discussion. I had also proposed larger salaries for the council president and
vice-president since they have additional responsibilities such as presiding
over council meetings in the mayor’s absence and responding to emails and other
correspondence from people outside the city. The attorney advised that our
rules did not allow for a salary differential for these positions. I was a bit
confused by that as the Outagamie County Board and most of our neighboring communities
pay the council or board president more. We eventually agreed on a salary of
$6750 per year, an increase of $528.59 per year. I discussed my thoughts about
the salary in the last newsletter, so I won’t rehash that here. I think we had
a thoughtful discussion and arrived at a fair amount – about a $10 per week
raise starting in April of 2023.
The full council
passed the resolution 10-3, interestingly enough with Alderperson Martin, who
had proposed the $10,125 salary in February, being one of the votes against.
The
committee schedule this week is abbreviated, with a number of meetings being
canceled due to a lack of action items.
·
The Redistricting Committee had its first meeting this afternoon. The meeting was a
general discussion of the principles of drawing the ward and district boundaries
and a look at the Outagamie County proposed supervisory districts. There seemed
to be an agreement that Appleton would want to keep the same number of districts,
although the ward boundaries will need to change to accommodate the new county
supervisory boundaries. I’m attaching a preliminary map showing the population
changes in each aldermanic district with the proposed Outagamie County
supervisory district lines. District 6 lost 170 people between 2010 and 2020,
and we were the smallest district in population to begin with. Based on this
and the gains in the districts to the north, I would expect that we would get
geographically larger to even out the population. The next meeting is next
Monday, and I will attend that one as well and keep you posted. These are
noticed meetings like any committee meeting and can be live streamed or viewed
later.
·
Finance Committee – Monday, September 20, 5:30 p.m.
o Approve development agreement for
Apple Fields subdivision north of E. Glenhurst and east of N. Lightning Drive.
o
Award
contract for transportation utility study to Ehlers/RA Smith consulting team in
an amount not to exceed $72,187.
o
Award
three year contract to CliftonLarsonAllen LLP to provide audit services for the
2021, 2022 and 2023 annual audits.
·
Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, September 20, 6:30 p.m.
o Award Design, Engineering, and
Permitting Services for the WE Energies Trail to KL Engineering for a contract
amount of $134,912.58. This is a 1.6 mile off-road trail between Oneida St. and
Woodland Park/Horizons Elementary School.
·
Board of Zoning Appeals – Monday, September 20, 7:00 p.m. – considering a variance to allow a fence
higher than three feet in a front yard on Haymeadow St. The lot is not square,
so much of the yard area is considered the front yard.
·
Joint Review Board – Wednesday, September 22, 10:00 a.m. – discussing the boundary changes in
Tax Increment Districts 3 and 12.
·
Community and Economic Development Committee – Wednesday, September 22,
4:30 p.m. – reviewing
a request to waive the city’s repurchase rights to a property in the Northeast
Business Park so that the owner may sell the property. The waiver is not transferrable
and the city would retain the repurchase rights after the sale.
·
Muncipal Services Committee, City Plan Commission, Utilities Committee,
Safety and Licensing Committee and Human Resources and Information Technology
Committee meetings
were all canceled for this week.
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