Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for February 20, 2023

Photo by Appleton Downtown, Inc

Greetings District 6 Neighbors, 

I hope you got to enjoy some of the sunshine over the weekend. It’s nice to get out and see the sun even if you have to bundle up a bit to do it. It looks like we might be getting some more winter this week, but you can do what I do and tell yourself that it’s officially spring because Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers reported to training camp last week. 

As expected, most of the interest in the Common Council meeting last Wednesday was in the “Business Presented by the Mayor”, particularly the update on the Ellen Kort Peace Park/Trout Museum proposal. A large number of people came to the meeting expecting to be able to comment. I checked with the City Attorney right before the meeting started because my understanding of council rules is that there is public comment only on action items – where the council is taking a vote. He confirmed that this is the case, so there was no public comment. Mayor Woodford gave a statement confirming the process map. The Trout Museum and its consultants are still working on Step 4 – the site analysis. The plan would then require approval from WE Energies and another Common Council vote before proceeding to the next step. 

There were some people who were concerned that Trout officials are communicating directly with Mayor Woodford about the process. I just want to note that only the Common Council has the ability to vote on each process step. Appleton’s government model does not give the mayor a veto; he would only vote in the case of a tie vote in council. This is unlikely given a 15-member council. The vote to continue to the site analysis (entirely funded by the Trout) was 8 to 7, so there does not seem great enthusiasm on the council. 

We also got an update on the Christmas week incident at the Appleton Wastewater Treatment Plant where a dewatering polymer was put into the wastewater intake rather than the post-digestor part of the system. The treatment plant was back to normal operations by January 23 and there were no environment or water safety impacts. Unfortunately, because the anaerobic digester had to be shut down for a few weeks, the plant lost the ability to generate fuel from the byproducts of the treatment process, thereby increasing the natural gas use for that time period. Repairs are ongoing, and there were some equipment replacements that, while planned, had to be made earlier than originally scheduled. The investigation is ongoing, and we expect to hear more at the next Utilities Committee meeting, which will be in March rather than this Tuesday because of the primary election. 

None of the action items generated any major discussion and were passed unanimously. 

I signed on to a resolution submitted by my colleague Alder Del Toro that seeks to establish some guidelines about herbicide and pesticide use by private individuals. Commercial entities (and city staff) are required to follow the label directions on any chemicals, including restrictions on usage under certain weather conditions and requirements to place signage indicating that an area has been sprayed, but usage by private citizens is much less clear. The hope is that we can educate people about the dangers of some of these chemicals so that people don’t have to worry about children or pets encountering the substances on sidewalks, etc., in addition to lessening the danger to pollinator species. The mayor referred the resolution to city staff for 60 days, and we expect that it will be referred to the Municipal Services Committee after that time. 

The committee schedule for this week is modified a bit by the primary election (have you voted yet? Make sure to vote at the Scheig Center tomorrow if you have not.) because we do not hold city meetings on Election Day. 

Fox Cities Transit Commission – Monday, February 20, 3:00 p.m. (rather than the normal Tuesday) 

The Transit Commission has a big and important agenda. They’ll be voting on accepting Federal Transit Administration ARPA and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act grants of $3,370,750 and $32,146 respectively. Valley Transit will be using these funds for capital projects for 2023 and 2024, including the Whitman facility and the downtown transit center. 

They will also be voting to award the contract for the Whitman facility remodeling project to SMA Construction Services, LLC. ($7,040,250). This project is being funded 100% with federal grants. 

The commission will also be voting on the applications for federal funding for $12 million for the Whitman facility remodeling project and $25,254,700 for the Downtown Appleton Joint Development project. These grants assume a 20% local match, which will be shared among the municipalities that utilize Valley Transit. 

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, February 20, 4:30 p.m. 

The committee will be voting to approve assessments for concrete paving on Amethyst Dr.  and Bluetopaz Dr. The city does the initial asphalt paving for new subdivisions; concrete paving is assessed to property owners. 

Similarly, they will be voting on assessments for sanitary laterals, storm sewers and the storm main for street reconstruction on Alice St., Linwood Ave, Rankin St. and Summit St.  

Back in March of 2022, the council approved the allocation of $75,000 from the excess fund balance in the 2021 budget to evaluate the city’s enhanced crosswalk program. These are the pedestrian crosswalks with lights such as on College Avenue on the Lawrence University campus and at E. Florida and N. Meade St. City staff is recommending that the scope of this study be expanded to create a new complete streets policy. 

The project will include: 

 

The full proposal is linked here: 

http://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=f8afc591-e373-4419-8fe8-c9f186e78a25.pdf 

The expanded study cost is still estimated at $75,000. 

Another item in the very full committee agenda is a request to permanently remove on-street parking on John St. across from the Eagle Point Senior Living community. There is a new condominium complex under construction on that area of John St. The street is narrow and has a large amount of truck traffic. There is already no parking on the other side of John St. in that block. 

The last action item is the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bird Scooters. The last two years have been a trial, but we are being asked to approve a two year agreement. Restrictions enacted during the trial periods that will remain are: 

• Reducing the maximum speed in the College Avenue corridor (Drew to Richmond) from 15 MPH to 12 MPH.  
• Geo-fencing of downtown bridges to prevent customers from ending their ride on a bridge.  
• Creating preferred parking zones where customers receive a discounted price if their ride is ended at those locations.  
• Receiving $0.10 per ride to recoup the City’s administrative, educational and enforcement expenses incurred.  
• Limiting the number of total scooters to 350 with an initial deployment of no more than 100 scooters in the downtown area (between Wisconsin and Calumet) and 50 north of Wisconsin Avenue and 50 south of Calumet Street.  
• Deploying scooters in groups of no more than 10 in any given location. 

The big item for this committee is actually the information item on the agenda – an update on the College Avenue reconfiguration proposal. The biggest change in the proposal is to make this an 18-month pilot project. Assuming construction completion and signal timing modifications are completed by late fall of 2023, the pilot project would be evaluated in spring of 2025. The following metrics may be used to determine the success of the project:  

• Quantitative Data:  

• Traffic Counts  
• Bike/Pedestrian/Scooter Counts  
• Crashes  
• Vehicle Speeds  
• Total Roadway Closures due to Aggressive Driving  
• Parking Meter Revenue along College Avenue  

• Qualitative Data:  

• Business/Community Member Feedback  
• APD/AFD Feedback 

Finance Committee – Monday, February 20, 5:30 p.m. 

The committee will be voting on the grants and contracts that also appear on the agenda of the Fox Cities Transit Commission. They will also be voting on the assessments from the Municipal Services Committee agenda for concrete paving, sanitary laterals, storm laterals, and storm main.  

Contract awards on the agenda include the contract for lead/galvanized water service replacement to Scott Lamers Construction, LLC. ($500,000) and the Vosters Park redevelopment project. The Vosters Park project has been redesigned after two meetings with neighborhood residents. The plan is to try to keep a wooded park even though the ash trees will have to be removed due to emerald ash borer infestation. 

 

Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, February 20, 6:30 p.m. 

The committee has no action items, but information items include the Recreation Division 2022 Annual Report, the Grounds Division 2022 Annual Report, and the Reid Golf Course 2022 Annual Report. Participation in recreation programs is continuing to increase, and the golf course set a new record for rounds played. 

Board of Zoning Review – Monday, February 20, 7:30 p.m. 

The Board is taking up variance requests for three different Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) proposals. ADUs are smaller, independent residential units built on the same lot as the primary home. These units are generally used to create independent living space for a family member but can also be rented out or even used as a caregiver’s home. Two of them do not comply with the building code for setback from the property lines and the third is requesting a two-story ADU when the building code only allows a single story. The council only recently modified the building code to allow ADUs in hopes of providing additional housing options. It seems that we might need to address some of the building code to determine if some of the regulations could be changed to allow more of these housing units.  

 

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, February 22, 5:30 p.m. 

The committee will hold a public hearing on demerit point violations at Chadwick’s Bar in addition to the standard license applications and renewals. The information item is a review of the Emergency Operations Plan updates. 

The Utilities Committee, City Plan Commission, Community and Economic Development Committee and Human Resources and Information Technology Committee are not meeting this week. 

Have a great week and stay safe from the snowstorm that could either be a dusting or two feet depending on whose forecast you watch.