Good morning District 6,

It has been nice to speak with some of you in person recently – balancing the ongoing work of the council with a re-election campaign has made for some very busy days. I am grateful that we are going to have warm weather for a while.

I wanted to send a quick update before the Common Council meeting Wednesday to highlight a couple of agenda items that have raised some questions.

The first is Resolution #3-R-22 regarding Municipal Code Chapter 12, Article III, Weeds and Wild Growth – otherwise known as “No Mow May”. What this resolution seeks is to make No Mow May city policy each year, NOT to eliminate the ordinance that requires that lawn vegetation be lower than a specific height. After June 1, the ordinance will apply as usual. The “Noxious Weed” ordinance adopted from the state statute applies regardless of No Mow May. I believe that this addresses some of the concerns that have been expressed about the city not being able to act on abandoned or neglected property that is clearly not participating in No Mow May. Properties such as these are likely to be infested with noxious weeds as well as tall grass. In the Municipal Services Committee, the resolution was amended by replacement with language that would require No Mow May to be adopted each year. In my opinion, this requires that we spend a lot the time of council members and city staff discussing it each year when we could make the policy effective every year by modifying the ordinance. I am NOT in favor of changing the maximum height to 12 inches on residential property to match the rule for undeveloped property and would move to amend or vote for this amendment. When the item came to committee, I asked city staff for the weed complaint numbers for the last few years. We had No Mow May in 2020 and 2021:

Number of customer service cases for high grass and weeds:

 

2021- 287

2020- 232

2019- 275

2018- 261

 

The complaints were actually quite a bit lower in 2020 and not significantly higher last year.

As I have written before, there was a scientific peer-reviewed study showing the positive effects of No Mow May on both the variety and number of bee species. Last year, the rusty patched bumblebee, which has been listed as an endangered species, was spotted in Appleton – the first sighting in Northeast Wisconsin. Some have questioned the study done by Professor Del Toro of Lawrence University, but I will note that he was recently awarded a substantial grant by the National Science Foundation to enhance his work on bee conservation.

The Pollenablers group has supported No Mow May is the  past by providing signage with links to educational material about saving pollinators and has worked with participants to arrange pick up of grass clippings for composting. They plan to continue support, including ideas for a raffle to raise money for more signage, with prizes including lawn mowing service at the end of May.

The other resolution that is getting a lot of attention is Resolution #4-R-22, titled Clean Water & Treaty Rights. This resolution is quite lengthy – linked below. Essentially the resolution calls for the Common Council to ask the Department of Natural Resources to reject the Enbridge Line 5 permit.

http://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=8251d487-caf3-4ac7-938f-f24102784328.pdf

I believe everyone knows my stance on environmental issues – I was a member of the Taskforce on Sustainability, Climate Mitigation and Adaptation for its full term, and I am an enthusiastic supporter of Appleton’s ongoing sustainability efforts. The key for me here is APPLETON. These projects are many miles from Appleton, and I do not see them as being under the purview of the Appleton Common Council. I have supported “advocacy resolutions” in the past, such as the resolution condemning the harassment of members of the Asian American community during the COVID-19 pandemic, but in those cases, citizens of Appleton were directly affected. I will not be supporting this resolution and have approached the authors about withdrawing it.

On a more positive note about sustainability, the Finance Committee recommended approval of a plan for the City of Appleton to participate in the “Solar Now” project with WE Energies. The program pays for the entire cost of engineering and installation of a solar array. In addition, the city would receive monthly payments and have no responsibility for maintenance of the system, essentially removing risk if the system does not perform to design. The typical lease is 20 years. The facilities included would be the Municipal Services Building, Valley Transit’s building project and the new library. Because the panels are already installed on the Municipal Services Building, WE Energies will be reimbursing the city for the full cost of that project. We will be receiving a lease payment that is approximately 50% of the renewable energy cost.

Full details are here: http://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=84cac835-9281-481f-b1d6-5998fc66308b.pdf

As always, you can view meeting videos and see full meeting agendas and minutes here:

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

 

 

 

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