Appleton District 6

Greetings District 6 Neighbors, Apologies for the delay in getting the update out this week. We got back late last night from a visit to our daughters (and granddaughters!) in Arkansas, celebrating a first birthday for one little girl and a second birthday for her cousin. It was an eventful trip, with a big storm taking out the power for a couple of hours where we were staying (and the internet was still out when we left yesterday). Sadly, a lot of the damage was in the same areas that were devastated by the tornados there in March. We returned home to find Wisconsin still enveloped in smoke – we could actually smell it as we hit the jetway in Milwaukee. I assume everyone is taking the appropriate precautions – we aren’t even letting the cats go out on the deck this morning. Obviously, the big news last week was the vote to award the contracts for the library renovation/expansion.  There was a small change in the bid package after the finance committee meeting after city staff discover

Greetings District 6 Neighbors, The big news going into this council week is the opening of the second round of bids for the new library. Bids were opened last Thursday, June 15, and reviewed by the project team (made up of Mayor Woodford, Facilities Director Gazza and members of his staff, Library Director Rortvedt and members of her staff, Finance Director Ohman and members of her staff, City Attorney Behrens and legal staff, plus team members from Friends of the Appleton Library, SOM and Boldt). Once it was determined that the bids came in under budget, we had a special Finance Committee meeting last night where we voted to recommend accepting the bids. We needed a special meeting in order to get the item approved and on the agenda for the full Common Council meeting tomorrow (6/21) as we had already voted to cancel the July 5 meeting. The team would like to begin construction as soon as possible to take advantage of as much good weather as possible before winter. As we all remember

Greetings District 6 Neighbors,  I hope everyone is enjoying this bit of cooler weather and the much-needed RAIN! I really wished for gloves when I went out for an early morning walk yesterday, but I won’t complain.  At the Common Council meeting last Wednesday, we approved the development agreement for the Fox Commons project. During the week we found out that, in addition to Mosaic Family Health buying approximately 35,000 square feet in the development, Prevea Health and Lawrence University would be major tenants. There will be approximately 60 apartment style units that will house about 190 junior and senior level students who want to live off-campus. The developer is working with the existing tenants, particularly retail tenants on the first floor, about remaining. I spoke to a member of the team, who is enthusiastic about the kind of space they will create on the first floor. I am hopeful that, with the many people working, visiting and living in the space, we can look forward to