Appleton District 6 Update for September 12, 2022
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| Photo by the Appleton Post-Crescent |
Since I don’t want to talk about sports or the weather this morning, I’ll just head right into the recap of last Wednesday’s Common Council meeting.
The mayor issued proclamations for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Rail Safety Week and Senior Center Month. Side note – I hope some of you got a chance to attend Rhythms of the World and/or Latino Fest downtown this weekend. Unfortunately, I had a schedule conflict and couldn’t make either event, but I saw a lot of great photos from both.
A couple of people spoke about the proposed terrace garden policy. One speaker was definitely against anything but grass on the terrace and the other might have been misinformed about the proposal, as she already gardens in the terrace.
When we moved to establishing the order of the day, Alder Doran moved to refer the item back to the Municipal Services Committee, citing safety concerns. There was an objection to the referral, but it failed to get the 2/3 majority required, so the item will appear again at the Municipal Services Committee this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Note that I seconded the objection and voted against the referral because the alder who requested it had not spoken at all at the committee meeting and had voted to recommend it for approval.
Another item separated for individual consideration and voting was the proposal to award a contract for administration of the ARPA grants to Booth Management Consulting, LLC. ($150,00). Every time we have an item that relates to ARPA funds, a couple of alders object on the grounds that none of the funding should go to outside agencies. There were multiple listening sessions, an online portal, and other opportunities for citizens to express their views on the allocation of these funds, and grants for mental health services, children’s services and housing were noted by many people. The funds were allocated based on that input, and the consulting services were part of that process. I asked Finance Director Ohman to speak to the amount of time that city staff would have to devote to the grant allocation process and both she and Community and Economic Development Director Harkness spoke to the high level of effort and expertise needed to evaluate these grant applications. I do not believe that spending $150,000 of the $8 million that we allocated for the second phase of the ARPA funds to get expert help is wasteful. I also believe that there are other agencies who are better equipped than the city to meet these needs and have no problem with the city awarding grants to those agencies. The item eventually passed 11-3.
Two other items were separated, but mostly to allow a couple of alders to comment – one to allow Appleton Downtown, Inc., to explore putting Edison-type lights year-round where the holiday trumpeters are displayed at College Ave. and Morrison, Oneida, Appleton and Superior Streets, and one to approve the special use permit to REPLACE a car wash at E. Longview and Ballard.
In this week’s committee meetings:
Municipal Services Committee – Monday, September 12, 4:30 p.m.
The committee will once again be discussing the request for a variance to allow for a driveway that extends more than four feet into the front yard. This has been going on since July and has been referred back for various reasons. The driveway was already built without a permit and negotiations to resolve the issue have been going on for quite a while. They will also be reviewing a new variance request to widen a driveway on W. Glendale (west of District 6), and changes to employee parking policy – basically prohibiting city vehicles from parking on the street on the block around City Hall and in the library lot.
As noted, the street terrace garden proposal is back before the committee. I expect some questions to be asked about visibility at intersections and possibly about issues with leaf collection. It is already allowable to plant flowers, etc., in the terrace as long as they are less than three feet high and not woody plants (bushes or hedges). Private trees, mulch, stone, sand, fences, and weeds are not allowed under current policy. Residents are allowed to request a variance to these policies which has to be approved by the Common Council. The proposed changes would allow mulch if confined to the terrace without edging, etc., and vegetable plants without structural supports or fencing (still under 3 feet high, so no cornstalks, trees, or tall tomato plants with cages). All private plantings would have to be removed by October 5 to allow for leaf collection and the city’s responsibility to repair terrace areas in the event of construction would be limited to normal terrace grass. Residents could still ask for a variance to the new policy but would be required to pay an annual fee of $40 and provide a certificate of insurance. The noxious weed policy would still apply, so this would not be a license to just let the terrace go. My email has been almost evenly split on this. I plan to vote for approval as the policy really just codifies existing policy and allows for some vegetable gardening.
Finance Committee – Monday, September 12, 5:30 p.m.
The only action item is awarding Request to award a contract to repair Aeration Tank #1 at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. to Staab Construction Corporation in the amount of $237,000 with a 5% contingency of $11,850 for a project total not to exceed $248,850.
Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, September 12, 6:30 p.m.
After the vote to allow discussions to proceed regarding the Trout Museum relocating to Ellen Kort Peace Park, city staff is presenting a process map for further action on the project. Each green circle would require council approval (at a public meeting) before proceeding to the next step.
I voted to allow staff to engage in further discussions when this was first introduced as I had limited information and less than a week to consider it. However, we have since had a public listening session where the vast majority of speakers were against the proposal. I honestly see no reason to keep putting resources into the project if the community is not behind it and I plan to vote against the item if it comes to the Council next week. Note that as of now, funding is not allocated for the completion of the park. The work that is being done on right now is because funds were diverted from the trestle trail due to delays brought on by the ownership change of the Neenah Paper facility.
The other item being considered tonight is, unfortunately, the cancellation of the WE Energies trail project. Based on studies of the soil conditions and groundwater levels, the estimated cost of the project has grown from $958,672.70 to $3,197,226.30. The city had received a Transportation Alternatives Program grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for $516,292.00. Staff is recommending suspending the project and cancelling acceptance of the grant.
As an information item, the committee will be reviewing the Reid Golf Course Revenue and Expense Report for August. Revenue is up a bit from 2021 and expenses seem to be within the projected budget.
Utilities Committee – Tuesday, September 13, 4:30 p.m.
The committee will be voting on two action items. First – recommending amending the contract by $30,038for the sludge storage addition project. The original project scope included the expansion of the sludge storage building (SSB) and construction of a 600 cubic yard per year compost facility at the AWWTP. The regulatory requirements and other identified needs caused the scope change, which will reduce the contingency amount in the original contract. Second, they will be voting to recommend awarding a contract for tank coating services at the wastewater treatment plant to Badger Specialties Coatings ($64,900).
City Plan Commission – Wednesday, September 14, 2022, 3:30 p.m.
No car wash request on the agenda this week!
The commission will be reviewing a special use permit for a craft distillery with a tasting room and outdoor alcohol sales at 516 W. Lawrence St. (by the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot).
Other items include modification of the city’s Comprehensive Plan to remove references to a potential future mixed-use development at Soldier’s Square and approval of the Stone Ridge Estates West final plat (off N. Haymeadow south of E. Edgewood).
There is an information item on the role of a city plan commissioner on the agenda as well. There have been some controversial items out of the plan commission recently, so staff has put together a presentation on how the commission works and the roles and responsibilities of a commissioner. It is my hope that other alders are able to attend.
Community and Economic Development Committee, Wednesday, September 14, 5:30 p.m.
The committee will be voting to recommend approval of the 2023 Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The estimate is $589,453, of which $128,829 will be allocated to city programs. Other funds will be granted to community partners through the CBDG Advisory Board and funding recommendations will go to the CEDC on November 9. They will also be voting to recommend approval of the grant to Pillars for Winter Shelter Overflow ($287,607).
Human Resource and Information Technology Committee, Wednesday, September 14, 6:30 p.m.
We’ll be looking at a request to over hire the administrative coordinator position in the Parks, Recreation and Facilities Department. This is to allow overlap before the retirement of the current Administrative Coordinator. The cost will be offset from a current vacancy within the department. We’ll also be looking at a request to reclassify a Facilities Support Specialist to Assistant Facilities Manager and an Administrative Assistant (half time) to Marketing and Community Engagement Coordinator. The reclassification of the support specialist to assistant facilities manager is based on additional responsibilities that the role has taken on to back up the Facilities manager. This would be an additional $7500 to be funded through department vacant salary budget. With the additional social media and community engagement responsibilities that have been taken on in the Parks and Recreation Department (they do have a VERY active and informative social media presence), there is a need to upgrade this position. The budget would be an additional $7405 per year, also funded by department vacant salary budget.
Finally, it’s the time of year to discuss alderperson salaries. As of April of 2023, the salary will increase to $6750 per year from the current $6221.44. We are not allowed to vote on any change that would affect any alder currently in office, and the other option is to have salaries be different for sitting and incoming alders, so any change that would be voted on would likely be for 2024 and would have to be voted on before taking out papers for the 2024 election – December 1, 2023. I’ve stated before that I don’t believe anyone should be looking at making a living by being an alder; it’s a part time position, but I also believe that the position needs to pay enough to ensure that not only people who can afford to take time away from their main source of income or who have access to childcare for the required meetings and constituent work are able to serve. Each alder is responsible for attending two full council meetings per month and serves on at least two committees which meet twice a month. We have to read and prepare for each meeting, in addition to responding to constituent inquiries and any communications to our districts. I would estimate that I spend about 20 hours per week on average at these duties. During budget time it’s higher than that. . I won’t be going into the meeting with a proposal for an increase, but I’ll be keeping an open mind.
Wow, a lot to digest this week. As always, you can review meeting minutes and agendas or watch meeting videos here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
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