Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for May 22, 2023

Greetings District 6 Neighbors, 

Welcome to this crazy time leading up to the end of the school year and the non-calendar official beginning of summer. All my teacher friends (and I’m sure the students) are able to name the precise numbers of days left in the school year. 

The Erb and Mead pools open June 2. You can get discounted pool passes up until opening day – more information is here: https://appletonparkandrec.org/pools-aquatics/admission-punch-cards-and-annual-passes/

 

It has been a wild couple of weeks at the Fenton household and we are still overscheduled, so I hope you will bear with me as I send a rather abbreviated update today. There are a number of items on committee agendas that I want to discuss in more detail, so look for a follow up post tomorrow. 

The Common Council meeting last week saw just a couple of items being separated for individual votes and discussion. There was some public comment on the rezoning for 39.13 newly annexed (from the Town of Center) acres at Ballard and Werner Rd. The speaker was concerned about the land being zoned for multifamily use since it abuts the small condominium complex (which is already zoned R-3 multifamily, by the way).  

That item was separated but passed unanimously. 

The special use permit for a car wash on East Calumet St. was separated. This permit had been granted in 2020 but the car wash was not built, and the permit expired in 2021. There were two votes against this item, but as we were reminded by staff, city staff and the Common Council really do not have the legal authority to deny a permit that meets all of the legal requirements and conforms to the Comprehensive Plan, even if we believe that there are too many car washes already or that a particular business wouldn’t succeed. 

I separated a request from a District 6 resident to have a snow removal charge from the end of January waived. They were unable to attend the Municipal Services committee where it was discussed, but I expected them at the Common Council meeting – they did not attend. After corresponding with the resident, I agreed that a waiver was justified, but the majority of my colleagues did not, so the assessment will stand. 

Finally, we voted to accept the contract for restriping and signal work to begin the College Avenue reconfiguration. I noticed when I walked downtown yesterday that work has already begun. 

We have a full committee schedule this week. Here are some of the highlights: 

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, May 22, 4:30 p.m.  

The committee will vote to approve the design contract for the Lawe Street reconstruction (from College Avenue to Wisconsin Avenue). This is a joint state DOT/city project, so the city will be responsible for $100,493.38 of the $439,934.38 total contract. 

We can also tell summer is coming because of the requests from Appleton Downtown, Inc. to host sidewalk sales every third Friday and during Mile of Music. 

As an information item, the committee will hear that some pricing for the 2023 asphalt reconstruction came in under budget, allowing some additional repairs. The Department of Public Works has added Glendale Avenue from Meade Street to Ballard Road to the list of 2023 asphalt repair projects. While Meade St. is the eastern border of District 6, I know a lot of us who use Glendale will be happy to see some fixes there. The complete concrete reconstruction is still scheduled for 2029 pending funding availability. 

Finance Committee, Monday, May 22, 5:30 p.m. 

The committee will be voting on a contract for masonry repairs at the wastewater treatment plant (Masonry Restoration, Inc. -  $177,675 including a 15% contingency) and a couple of budget amendments to record the purchase of a vehicle by Hazardous Materials from the Central Equipment Agency. 

 

The major item for this meeting will be the request to transfer $3 million as a cash advance from the Stormwater Utility Fund to the Wastewater Utility Fund. The 2023 budget for the Wastewater Utility includes issuing bonds for $9.5 million, but only $3 million will be needed in 2023. Stormwater Utility has the funds available and could save the costs associated with a short term “note anticipation note” ($24,000). The funds would be repaid to the stormwater utility when wastewater bonds are issued in 2024. I plan to ask about the potential lost interest, etc. by the Stormwater Utility as a result of this advance, but if it does not exceed the cost then I have no problem with this financing solution. 

 

Fox Cities Transit Commission, Tuesday, May 23, 3:00 p.m. 

 

The item on this agenda that I intend to explore further is the contract to lease a trolley from Lamers Bus Lines. If you recall, Lamers came to the city with a large increase request last year after the period for changes had passed.  

 

City Plan Commission, Wednesday, May 24, 3:30 p.m. 

 

The commission will be voting on a special use permit for an axe throwing facility with alcohol sales at 2701 N. Oneida St. This is in District 6 in the strip center with Jersey Bagel next to the Escape Room Wisconsin. I confess I don’t understand the concept of axe throwing as entertainment and the combination of sharp objects and alcohol seems a bit off, but there are a couple of other businesses doing this in the city now and they seem successful and able to obtain liability insurance, so best of luck to them and welcome a new business to the district! 

 

They’ll also be voting on a special use permit for a bar and grill on Newberry Street and on a rezoning of land for the right of way for Providence Avenue and Baldeagle Drive, along with the final plat for the Villas at Meade Pond. 

 

The information item is likely of the most interest in this meeting. There is a presentation about a possible new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in the Southpoint Commerce Park. A previous TIF in that area just closed, so it will be interesting to hear the proposal here. 

 

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee – Wednesday, May 24, 4:30 p.m. 

 

The only action item is to change the way that overtime is calculated for Police Lieutenants and Captains and to add compensation for transports, time in court and criminal guard duty. Currently the overtime rate is based on the hourly rate for a top senior sergeant. This would be changed to the officer’s actual hourly rate. 

 

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, May 24, 5:30 p.m. 

 

The committee will be reviewing the usual license applications and renewals and voting on the denial of permits for something called “Smoshfest” for lack of several required documentation steps. 

 

Community and Economic Development Committee – Wednesday, May 24, 6:30 p.m. 

 

Agenda to be covered in a separate communication. This will mostly center on the Fox Crossing development in the current City Center. 

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