Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for March 6, 2023

Greetings District 6 Neighbors, 

Here we are in Northeast Wisconsin where we can enjoy three seasons in a single week. I hope you got to enjoy some of the sunshine over the weekend and are ready to face a bit more winter. 

As expected, the Common Council meeting last week was very short, with no items being separated for individual discussion and votes.  

The big news of the week happened last Wednesday before the council meeting when the Trout Museum announced that they were no longer interested in pursuing a new location in Ellen Kort Peace Park. They announced  that "there may be a greater than expected financial and regulatory burden related to the site's clean up, beyond the known history of the site." 

I am glad that the museum and backed off of this plan – when I asked for reactions back when the idea was first proposed, the majority of those of you who got back to me were not in favor, and that drove my vote against proceeding. I do feel like the discussion got really heated, sometimes based on inaccurate information, and at times got really personal on both sides. I hope that we will continue to support the Trout Museum as they move forward with their plans for a new location, which I dearly hope will be in downtown Appleton or close by. 

Moving right into this week’s committee agendas: 

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, March 6, 4:30 p.m. 

The committee has no action items, but in information items they will be hearing about updates to the negotiations with Bird Rides, Inc., to develop a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the scooters in Appleton. We have been under a pilot program the last two summers; this agreement would formalize the relationship. At the last committee meeting, several alders expressed the desire for changes in the agreement around underage use, making sure the 10 cents per ride fee remitted to the city covers our costs, limiting the term of the agreement to one year, and getting more detailed reports from Bird. A updated MOU and a sample of the new reporting will be provided to the committee at their March 20 meeting. 

They will also receive a status update on the College Avenue Reconfiguration Project. The project will come to the Municipal Services Committee for a vote on March 20 and would be voted on by the full council on April 5. Note that this is now an 18-month pilot project and will include a robust education and marketing effort. 

Finance Committee – Monday, March 6, 5:30 p.m. 

We will be voting on a few contract awards, some of which unfortunately involved deferring some other work due to bids being higher than budgeted. First, there is the hardscape renovation at the water treatment plant. The budget was $450,000 of which $36,000 was spent for design, leaving $414,000 for the project. The lowest bid was $499,980.65 from Vinton Construction. The recommendation is to transfer $$150,000 from the water treatment plant roofing project and defer that project to 2024.  

Similar results were seen in the 2023 concrete paving project. The budget was exceeded for several areas of the project. These paving projects are funded through a combination of general fund dollars, borrowing and TIF dollars. As we have seen on other projects, there was only one bidder and the bid was above the budgeted amount, so city staff had to reassess and move some projects to the 2024 capital improvement plan. This includes the concrete paving of Amethyst Drive from Bluetopaz to Aquamarine and part of the Lightning Dr. stream crossing/pond construction project. Asphalt paving also came in over budget with only one bidder, so the repaving of Helen Street from Pauline St. to Glendale Ave. was moved to 2024. Inflation continues to affect the bids for these projects, along with the supply of cement for concrete projects. The number of firms doing this work is decreasing, and many have more than enough work closer to them than Appleton, so they are choosing not to bid. I am hoping that the state revenue sharing formula will help us over the next couple of years, and that we might be able to get more projects done with some infrastructure grants (such as the Lawe St. project discussed a couple  of weeks ago. The concrete paving contract was recommended to be awarded to Vinton Construction Co., Inc. ($5,437,940.33) and the asphalt paving contract to Vinton as well ($712,231.28). 

Utilities Committee – Tuesday, March 7, 4:30 p.m. 

The committee will be voting to approve the 2022 Annual Stormwater Report to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: http://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=254bc477-0117-40dc-8a16-cb5fba85cb02.pdf 

They will also be voting to award the Unit K-23 Native Landscaping contract to NES Ecological Services - A Division of Robert. Lee & Associates, in an amount not to exceed $215,000. This contract is for maintaining vegetation around the city’s 77 stormwater ponds and biofilters. 

Information items include the Appleton Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 Report. With most testing now being home rapid tests, the wastewater measurement is really the most accurate way to determine the infection rate. Appleton is currently at a low level, with a small uptick in the last couple of weeks. 

The committee is also going to get a report on the polymer incident over the Christmas holiday at the wastewater treatment plant.  

http://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=4f8ae89b-a970-4377-8e7a-68b8cc726979.pdf 

As of January 10, the anaerobic digesters were back online at full functionality. Hauled waste intake resumed full function on January 23. This is an important revenue stream for the utility. The estimated revenue loss is $133,861. Response expenses due to staff time, natural gas purchases due to lost methane production, polymer loss, etc. totaled $240,655, while expenses not incurred due to hauled waste not being processed were estimated at $46,264. A claim for property damage has been filed with the city’s insurance carrier, and an investigation of the root cause is underway. 

Finally, the committee will hear the Q4 synopses for the Water and Wastewater plants and get the water main break reports for December, 2022 and January 2023. Breaks are actually down over the same months in the prior year. 

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, March 8, 3:30 p.m. 

The first item on the agenda is a public hearing and the associated action item involving the Villas at Meade Pond on Pondview Court. The homeowners want to dissolve the condominium association and form a homeowner’s association. From the memo: The key difference between a condominium association and a homeowners’ association is what the individual members actually own. With a condo, each member owns their individual dwelling unit, and they have a shared ownership interest in the common areas. With a HOA, each member will own their individual dwelling unit and lot. The Preliminary Plat associated with this request subdivides the common area into 28 individual lots and 3 outlots. The outlots will be owned and maintained by the HOA. These are all detached units. A preliminary plat is also being presented at the meeting. 

Community and Economic Development Committee – Wednesday, March 8, 4:30 p.m. 

The commission is  being asked to approve another extension, until November 2023, with the option to administratively approve an extension until May of 2024 on the completion of the apartment project being developed by Urbane 115 LLC on the lots behind City Center. The developers cite the continued economic conditions, including material supply chain delays. They have stated that they do not expect to need the full extension, and I do see progress on the building every time I go to City Hall. 

We are also asked to approve an increase in the price of land in the selling price for industrial park land from $40,000 per acre to $43,000 per acre. This is more in line with the selling prices in neighboring communities. 

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, March 8, 5:30 p.m. 

In addition to the normal license applications, the committee will hold a public hearing on demerit point violations by The Durty Leprechaun. Information items include the Appleton Fire Department annual report and updates to the emergency operations plan. 

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee – Wednesday, March 8, 6:30 p.m. 

We only have one action item on the agenda – the request to over hire a residential building inspector. The current employee is retiring and the Department of Public Works would like to ensure a smooth transition by hiring the new person one week before the retirement to allow knowledge transfer. The cost will be offset by a vacant position in the Inspections Division. 

Apologies for getting this out late – life kept interrupting me over the last couple of days. 

Have a great week!