Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for July 24, 2023
Greetings District 6 Neighbors,
I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy some of the great events around Appleton over the last week or so – Chalk Walk Downtown, Art at the Park, the Thursday night concerts at Jones Park, midday music – so many fun things to do. Of course, we’re gearing up for Mile of Music on August 3-6.
Children’s Week kicked off yesterday at Memorial Park, but there are fun (and free!) activities all week, including the Building For Kids Children’s Parade Wednesday at 6:00, and the Playground Fair at Pierce Park on Thursday and Friday from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Playground Fair will be open for families of children with special needs only from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. on Friday.
The full schedule of activities is here:
https://appletonchildrensweek.com/events/
So, grab your kids, grandkids, or borrow some kids and enjoy some of these fun activities.
On the flip side, it’s construction season in Wisconsin. We have a pretty short window for road construction, so it does seem like EVERY road has a detour. Allow yourself a little extra time and be careful so that the workers who are making our roadways safer can be safer themselves.
There were a few items separated from the agenda for individual votes, but most of those were because interested members of the public were present for those items. The agreement with Gold Cross to provide ambulance service was referred back to the Safety and Licensing Committee by Alder Siebers, who had some concerns with staffing levels. More on that in this week’s committee meeting schedule. A few alders abstained from votes – Alder Jones on the Heritage Woods rezoning and special use permit for expansion because her “day job” is with Thedacare, and Alders Van Zeeland and Del Toro on the rezoning of the College Avenue properties owned by Lawrence University because of their employment at LU. Other items passed unanimously.
The follow up to the big news last week that the city proposes to dedicate 32.5 acres in the Southpoint Commerce Park to a conservancy, or natural area with a trailhead and (in the future) non-lighted trails was the resolution submitted by Alder Van Zeeland, who represents District 5 where the conservancy would be located, creating the conservancy. We have long known that there are wetlands within the land owned by the city within Southpoint Commerce Park that would be unsuitable for development. I believe this proposal is a wonderful way to preserve green space that is different from our developed city parks.
The other resolution presented was from Alders Meltzer and Croatt expressing gratitude to the state legislature for the increase in shared revenue or “aid to municipalities”. When I heard it read in the meeting, I had some concerns because, while I am happy that the shared revenue that Appleton will receive from tax dollars our citizens pay to the State of Wisconsin are increasing, Act 12 comes with more restrictions on local control, particularly around public safety and public health, and prevents us from holding referenda on any issue other than the expenditure of property tax dollars. Recent referenda on the ballot in Appleton included questions on non-partisan redistricting and on marijuana legalization. This type of ballot question (non-binding, but allowing citizens to express their views) will no longer be allowed. The resolution also mentioned specific legislators by name but did not name all of the legislators who represent Appleton.
I reached out to my assembly representative, Lee Snodgrass of the 57th Assembly district (Appleton’s District 6 lies in both AD57 and AD56), who I knew had similar concerns. She was reluctant to be named in this type of resolution. I then contacted Alder Meltzer, who was receptive to my concerns and is amenable to amending the resolution. I plan to make a motion to amend it to omit specific legislator’s names, and to include recognition of the work that mayors and other local officials around the state made to make sure that our state elected officials were aware of the seriousness of the financial issues facing communities of all sizes. Mayor Woodford personally attended every listening session held by the Joint Finance Committee leading up to the adoption of the state budget.
The resolution will be discussed in the Finance Committee meeting tonight. In other committee business for the week ahead:
Finance Committee – Monday, July 24, 5:30 p.m.
We’ll be receiving a presentation on the 2022 Audit from CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP. Once again, the city had a “clean” audit, with deficiencies or compliance findings noted. This is a testament to the professionalism of our Finance Director and her team.
We’ll also be voting on awarding the bid for the HVAC replacement in the Municipal Services Building CEA (Central Equipment Agency) Shop - Southport Engineered Systems ($664,550 with an 8% contingency of $53,164 for a project total not to exceed $717,714).
There are two items for maintenance of veteran’s graves at Riverside and St. Joseph’s cemeteries.
Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, July 24, 6:15 p.m.
The only action item is the resolution creating the conversancy. Because of the location of the land within Southpoint Commerce Park, the resolution will also be discussed and voted on by the City Plan Commission and the Community and Economic Development Committee.
The committee will also receive the 2023 Parks, Recreation & Facilities Management Mid-Year Report as an information item. The number of different programs, from dance to swimming, to youth sports leagues and golf, that our Parks and Recreation Department puts on is amazing.
Fox Cities Transit Commission – Tuesday, July 25, 2:50 p.m.
Approval of the June payments is the only action item, but the commission will hear the Audit Presentation, Financial Report, Ridership Report and Second Quarter KPI (Key Performance Indicators).
Utilities Committee – Tuesday, July 25, 4:30 p.m.
The committee will be voting to approve a $20,000 increase in the 2023A Stormwater Management Plan Review contract with Brown and Caldwell, making the total contract $55,000. Work under this contract is charged on an hourly basis as needed. There is still $811,000 remaining in the stormwater consulting budget.
The committee will also be voting on the proposed revised Reid Golf Course and Appleton Memorial Park utility agreements for stormwater ponds and on the contract for relining a fiberglass storage tank at the water treatment plant (Fiberglass Solutions, Inc. - $24,262 plus
a 15% contingency of $3,639 for a total not to exceed of $27,901).
Information items include monthly reports for April, May and June, the Wastewater Treatment Plant Synopsis and Receiving Station Revenue Report the Water Treatment Plant Synopsis and the Water Distribution and Meter Team Monthly Report. Note that water main breaks are at about half of 2022 levels YTD.
City Plan Commission – Wednesday, July 26, 3:30 p.m.
The commission will be voting on the resolution creating the Appleton Conservancy as noted above along with an additional item to approve the preliminary plat dedicating the land.
Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, July 26, 5:30 p.m.
The committee will hold public hearings on alcohol license demerit points for sales to underage persons for:
- TJ's Japanese Steakhouse
- Memorial Liquor
- Lindo Michoacan Supermarket
- Motomart - Kensington
- Motomart – Calumet
The action item other than the normal license applications and renewals is the agreement with Gold Cross Ambulance discussed earlier.
Community and Economic Development Committee – Wednesday, July 26, 6:30 p.m.
The committee will be voting on approving a variance request to allow the construction of a 3120 sq. ft. truck shop for maintenance of delivery vehicles for a future tenant in Southpoint Commerce Park. The current deed restrictions do not include a truck shop and specify that buildings must be at least 7500 sq. ft. Staff is recommending approval because the use is complementary to the primary allowed use on-site and the total gross square footage well exceeds the requirements.
We will also be voting on the approval of an amendment to the development agreement with 318 W. College Avenue, LLC extending the completion date of the project six months due to (you guessed it) labor and supply chain issues. Staff is recommending approval.
CEDC will be the third committee taking up the Appleton Conservancy resolution.
Don’t forget the library groundbreaking tomorrow at 2:00. This is going to be more than the standard “city official with a shovel” event. There are going to be photo opportunities, music and fun activities for library lovers of all ages.
Have a great week!
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