Appleton District 6 Update for September 26, 2022
Good afternoon District 6 neighbors,
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As expected, last week’s Common Council meeting had a large audience, with quite a few people speaking during the public participation portion of the meeting. The majority of the speakers wanted to express their opinion about the Trout Museum’s proposal to build a new facility within the Ellen Kort Peace Park.
The mayor opened the meeting with a proclamation for Appleton City Planning Centennial Month – the first comprehensive plan for the city was created in 1922. We also voted to confirm
appointments to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
As expected, the item containing the process map for the proposal by the Trout Museum was separated out for individual consideration and voting. There was a lively discussion during which I spoke against spending any more of the Council’s time, city staff’s time or the Trout Museum board and staff’s time on a proposal that our citizens seem united against. After an attempt to amend the process map to allow an immediate vote to end consideration (the City Attorney informed us that even had we made this amendment, we could not vote immediately on an item that was not in the public agenda beforehand), the council voted 10-4 to adopt the process map. The next step (and opportunity for the Council to vote on whether or not to continue the process) will be a presentation to the council by Trout leadership which will include:
- Explanation of Strategic Alignments
- Business Case Demonstrating Likelihood of Success and City Benefit
I will keep you posted on the timing of this presentation.
The other items separated included the request for a variance to allow a driveway extension for a home on W. Glendale Ave. (not in this district). This item was referred back to the Municipal Services Committee to allow the homeowners to speak again. Based on everything I heard, it seems that this variance wouldn’t really cause an issue as the driveway is on the side (it’s a corner lot) and the plans include extending the driveway apron so that it won’t cross the terrace. Although some on the committee seemed to equate this situation with the last variance request, I believe it is different as the previous case involved a homeowner who constructed the non-conforming driveway without even attempting to get a permit.
Finally, the items involving the grant and memorandum of understand between the city and Pillars to provide funding through a Community Development Block Grant funded by CARES dollars were approved 14-0.
Committee agendas for this week include:
Municipal Services Committee – Monday, September 26, 4:30 p.m.
The committee will be conducting the design hearing for paving projects for 2024 -
Rankin Street, from approximately 200’ south of Alton Street to College Avenue and Summit Street, from Packard Street to Elsie Street. Total cost for both projects is estimated at $380,000.
The committee will also be hearing the request for a variance for a driveway discussed above and voting to approve the snow removal contract for designated locations along College Avenue and eight stairway locations throughout the city. The contract is based on an hourly rate as opposed to a fixed amount and is renewable through 2027 based on satisfactory service. They will also hear the Bird Scooter Report – there were 4 reported complaints and 3 accidents – and the Parking Utility Revenue Update for August of 2022. Parking revenue remains down from the budget.
Finance Committee – Monday, September 26, 5:30 p.m.
The big item for this committee is the proposal to reject ALL bids for the library project. I posted the mayor’s letter last week. This is a very unfortunate outcome to the bid process. We had expected some bids to be high but were hopeful that most would be within the budget. Even with all the work the architects and general contractor did with value engineering, the total of the bids is far over budget. As the mayor noted, we are not requesting more funds from taxpayers, so the hope is that we can re-bid the project in 2023. The timeline called for beginning construction this fall after bids were accepted, so the library was moved to the temporary location planning for that schedule. I remain hopeful that we will see a general easing of inflation in construction and that there could be some additional changes made to reduce costs.
We will also be voting on awarding a contract for improving the front entrance gate at the Lake Station (Milbach Construction Services Co., $72,000, with a contingency of $7200) and budget amendments to record grants received for the Fire Department ($51,270 from the State of Wisconsin for EMS and $1,807,912 from FEMA for a regional radio project.
Fox Cities Transit Commission – Tuesday, September 27, 3:00 p.m.
The Transit Commission will be voting to approve the August payments and to award and scheduling and planning software contract to Optibus, Inc. ($42,406, with federal grants funding 80% of the cost). This software will allow automation of functions that are currently being done manually, adding efficiency to Valley Transit’s operations.
City Plan Commission, Wednesday, September 28, 3:30 p.m.
The commission will be voting to approve a survey map change in the Southpoint Commerce Park to reconfigure/combine some parcels. The information item is a presentation on 100 years of city planning in Appleton.
Community and Economic Development Committee – Wednesday, September 28, 4:30 p.m.
The committee will be hearing a proposal by staff to submit a Community Development Investment (CDI) grant application to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC)on behalf of the developer of the Merge projects (apartments behind City Center). These grants support private investment in community development projects. This would be a maximum $250,000 grant and the developer’s investment would satisfy the 1:1 match requirement. They will also be voting to approve an amendment to the development agreement signed in November of 2021 for the property at North Oneida, East Harris and North Appleton in Tax Increment Financing District 11. The amendment is based on changes in projected costs and interest rates in addition to an increase in incremental value and adding 5 more housing units to the project. The TIF pay-as-you-go investment would be $649,000 under the new agreement.
Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, September 28, 5:30 p.m.
The committee will be dealing with the usual alcohol and other licenses and voting on the two firefighter grants discussed above in the Finance Committee notes.
In addition, they will be taking up the resolution I submitted, along with Alders Meltzer and Schultz, in support of our City Clerk and staff and our local election workers. I know that several District 6 residents regularly work as election inspectors, and the increasing number of stories about harassment and threats to citizen election inspectors around the country made it important to me that the Common Council publicly make a stand.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/us/politics/midterms-elections-threats-security.html
I’m attaching a copy of the resolution. I have already heard that some of my colleagues feel that this is a waste of time as there is no action as a result of this resolution, but I do not agree. It will take little time if we just approve it to go on record in support of our City Clerk, her dedicated staff and our neighbors who take the time to make sure that our elections are free and fair.
As always, you can review committee and council agendas, ready minutes and watch meeting videos here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
Have a great week and Shanah Tovah to all who celebrate!
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