Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for November 6, 2022

Good morning District 6 neighbors, 

Other than the wind, Sunday was a nice change from Saturday’s weather. I walked the Houdini 10K Saturday and was really afraid of what we might get, but the really windy conditions didn’t start until after the race and the rain was mostly just a steady drizzle.  

Before the regularly scheduled Common Council meeting, there was the public hearing on the proposed 2023 budget. Thirteen members of the public spoke, with ten of them urging support for the proposed funding of the library project. Two members of the Appleton Concerned Taxpayers spoke to express their concerns about the proposed property tax increase, and budget priorities in general, but also recognized the problem with the decrease in revenue sharing from the state. Council members were to submit any proposed amendments to the budget by noon last Thursday in preparation for the budget adoption meeting on November 9. I did not submit any amendments. As I noted in the first update about the budget, I think the proposed budget does a good job addressing the trajectory of city borrowing – after 2023, we will begin to see a decrease. 

 

As the graphic notes, a large part of the property tax increase will pay off outstanding debt from prior years (including $10.5 million for the Erb Park pool). The 6.6% increase will be about $116 for a $200,000 home. 

Moving to the regular council meeting, the mayor noted proclamations that were issued. 

• Appleton High Schools DECA Week  
• Runaway & Homeless Youth Prevention Month 
• Small Business Saturday 
• Native American Heritage Month Proclamation  

 

We then received an update on the library project. At this time, city staff, the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) team and the Boldt Company team are reviewing the current design to reduce and/or modify the scope of the project. Some of the items that are being considered are:  

• Reduced excavation
• Potential use of steel versus wood structure
• Lighting upgrades
• HVAC system including Geo-Thermal
• Reallocation of spaces for shared usage
• Landscape adjustments
• Redesign of staircases 

 

You can find information about the project, including, updates, here: https://apl.org/building/ 

 

The items separated for individual votes in the council meeting included the modifications to the street terrace policy. I’ve heard and seen a fair amount of discussion, both from people who spoke before Council and in my email and on social media about this change and I wanted to clarify that the basic policy has existed since 2011. Residents were required to pay for a permit if they wanted to have plants over three feet high or any type of landscaping material in the terrace, and vegetable gardens were prohibited. The new policy would allow mulch and vegetable gardens, but still requires a permit for plantings over three feet high. The new policy also clarifies the allowable height along streets that allow street parking and adds guidance for corners to keep sightlines clear at intersections. The updated policy was approved with two votes against. 

 

The item concerning alder pay was also separated. Note that this would take effect for 2024, since we cannot take a vote that would affect the pay of any alder in their current term. There was an amendment proposed to add the cost of the annual parking pass ($480) to the base salary and to stop providing parking passes. Alders who wish to purchase a parking pass would have to do so on their own. This seems to have been in response to several attempts to move the budget for parking passes ($6300 in prior years, $7200 for 2023 as the price of a monthly parking pass will increase) for various other uses. The item was referred back to the Human Resources and Information Technology Committee. Because the normal meeting will be cancelled for the budget adoption meeting and because we need to act on this before people can take out election papers on December 1, as chair, I have called a special meeting of the committee for November 16 directly before the full council meeting. I honestly don’t know how I feel about this proposal – I will be interested to hear my colleagues’ thoughts. 

 

The council approved without a separate discussion the recommendations from the compensation study for non-represented (police and fire are union represented and have a separate pay structure), which reduces the number of pay grades for city employees to fifteen. If the 5% merit pay increase is approved, there would be nine employees who would need a one-time increase to get them to the bottom of the pay range for their position. This would cost about $17,500. If the 5% merit pay is not adopted, more employees would potentially be below the minimum for their position.  

 

Moving on to this week’s committee meetings:  

 

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, November 7, 4:30 p.m. 

The committee will be voting on a proposal for a ten-year lease on city property where the adjacent property owner built the fence two feet over the property line. In order to save the property owner the expense of moving the fence, the city is proposing to lease the property to the owner for fair market value. They will also be voting on the reconstruction plan for Linwood Avenue from College Avenue to Summer Street.  The committee will discuss in closed session the Landfill Siting contract negotiations. Information items include the Bird E-Scooter report (2 complaints, both for improper parking, and no accidents reported in October) and the Inspections Division Permit Report for October. 

 

Finance Committee – Monday, November 7, 5:30 p.m. 

We will be voting to recommend approval of the contract for Phase 1 of remodeling the wastewater treatment plant Building 1 to RJM Construction, LLC. ($312,616). This includes a budget amendment transferring $60,000 in excess funds from the electrical distribution upgrades project. We will also be voting on awarding a contract for HVAC upgrades for Building 1 at the wastewater treatment plant to Rohde Brothers, Inc. ($250,768). 

 

Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, November 7, 6:30 p.m. 

The committee will be voting to approve the contract with Commercial Recreation Specialists for shade structures in Jones Park ($55,527). These funds were approved as part of the carryover of the 2021 General Fund Balance. As someone who has attended summer events in the park, I can vouch for the fact that more shade will be welcome. The committee will also be voting to approve a change in the fee-in-lieu of land dedication policy. In order to ensure parkland and greenspace as the city grows, developers pay a fee or dedicate land at the beginning of the development process. The rates have not changed since 2009. The proposal is for $1100 per single family dwelling and $925 per multi-family unit. Alternatively, the developer could dedicate 789 square feet of land per single family dwelling and 66 square feet per multi-family unit. They will be voting on the fee structure for Jones Park (other parks were voted on at the last meeting). The rental fees will increase to cover added costs of operation. Local non-profit organizations and other non-profits pay substantially less than for-profit organizations or private events. 

http://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=60db5ef8-f79f-4b4d-b96b-47d45b506797.pdf 

Finally, they will be voting to approve the revised park land acquisition map.  

The information item is the revenue and expense report for Reid Golf Course. Total revenue is up from 2021 and expenses seem to be within budget for the remainder of the year.  

 

Library Board – Tuesday, November 8, 10:30 a.m. 

The board will be discussing the Library Director’s 2022 End of Year Performance Review, along with the employee compensation study for which the recommendations were adopted at the last Common Council meeting. They will also be reviewing the proposal for changes to the naming rights policy and the financial policy. 

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, November 9, 3:30 p.m. 

The Plan Commission will be reviewing a special use permit for a gas station, convenience store and (you guessed it) car wash to be located at 1935 E. Calumet St. From what I can tell about the plans, this would be more like a Kwik Trip type car wash attached to the gas station than the stand-alone car washes we have been discussing in recent meetings. This would be located at the site of a former bank building. Staff is recommending approval. I believe there has been some opposition from neighboring property owners, so I expect there to be some discussion at the meeting. As I have noted in the past, there are limits on what the Plan Commission or Common Council can prohibit – if a proposal complies with the city code and the goals of the comprehensive plan, we cannot deny because we think another private entity could use the space for a business we would like more. We are also not given the role of determining if the business will be successful. 

 

Community and Economic Development Committee – Wednesday, November 9, 4:30 p.m.  

The committee will vote to approve the recommendations for the allocation of the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The City of Appleton acts as the administrator and receives a small portion of the funds to cover processing expenses. 

 

 

Other committee meetings have been cancelled (Utilities for Election Day, Safety and Licensing and Human Resources and Information Technology for the Budget Adoption special session of Common Council). 

Have a great week and don’t forget to vote tomorrow if you haven’t already. District 6 votes at the Scheig Center in Memorial Park – 1313 E. Witzke Blvd.