Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for August 2, 2023

 Good afternoon District 6 neighbors, 

I had planned to lead with the groundbreaking ceremony for the Appleton Public Library, but I think it’s important to address the recent event in Erb Park. 

While the park is not located in District 6 (the west side of N. Morrison along the park is in District 6 and the east side and the park are in District 14), Erb Park is a key part of the lives of many of us in the neighborhood. When my granddaughters were here recently, we visited the park multiple times; the pool is a do not miss for the five-year-old and the playground also high on the list of Appleton attractions for both little girls. 

Many of you likely got this letter from Chief Olson. At this point I do not know any more details than you do – I know that APD has been in contact with some of you during the investigation. I am grateful to all the members of the Appleton Police Department for their quick action to get people to safety. APD has been available to the press several times and has released information on social media – I will share any information I get as the investigation proceeds. APD is also encouraging anyone who might have information about the incident to call the non-emergency number – (920) 832-5500. 

I would encourage all of us not to jump to conclusions or to pay too much attention to unofficial pronouncements on social media. I still believe that we live in a safe neighborhood in a safe city. 

 

 Going back to the library groundbreaking – it was a wonderful event and I hope that some of you had an opportunity to attend. I’m happy that it was more than just a “speeches and ceremonial shovel and hard hat photo” event. There was music, dancing, “touch a truck” and digging in the sand for the young ones, and the opportunity for anyone to don a hard hat, grab a shovel and get a photo taken.  

We learned the identity of the lead donor for the fundraising campaign – Brad Smith, the Vice Chair and President of Microsoft Corporation, a proud Appleton West graduate, has pledge $3 million toward the library project. Even more exciting is the fact that his gift comes with naming rights and he has chosen to honor two teachers who were a great influence in his life – the late Vira Stoner and District 6’s own Tom Fanning. As the daughter and mother of teachers, I cannot imagine a greater honor.  

There were no big surprises out of last week’s committee meetings. I expect that we might hear some more about the resolution commending the passage of Act 12 where the amount of shared revenue going to municipalities was increased. As I wrote last week, I was concerned about issuing a full-throated endorsement of the bill when there were a number of concerning provisions. I submitted an amended version of the resolution that still expresses gratitude that the amount of shared revenue is increasing, but removes the reference to specific legislators, includes acknowledgement of all the mayors and other local officials who worked so hard to get this passed and notes concerns with provisions of Act 12 that reduce local control. The amended version passed narrowly. I expect there will be more concerns expressed tonight. One colleague called the amended version “passive-aggressive” and “bi-polar” while stating that they would not have voted for either version. When I heard the resolution read, I expected that it would pass and simply could not accept the fulsome praise for a problematic bill. 

The proposal to create the Appleton Conservancy passed unanimously in all of the three committees of jurisdiction, and I expect it to pass in Council tonight as well. The wetlands area lies within the boundaries of the newly created Tax Increment Financing District for Southpoint Commerce Park, so there might be some opportunities for funding basic trails and a trailhead there, plus the city plans to apply for grants. As noted, this will not be a park with playgrounds and ball fields, but a passive natural area, so there will be minimal development. 

In addition to the committee work from last week, the council meeting will include items from two special meetings to be held immediately before the council meeting. 

The Human Resources and Information Technology Committee will meet to vote on a contract for the redesign of the city’s web site. We had budgeted $100,000 for this last year and the winning bid was $92,500 by Revize. I am excited for this to happen – I think that at least 20% of the constituent questions I answer are for information that is on the website but just difficult and not intuitive to find. 

The Finance Committee will also have a special meeting to consider the contract for repairs to the Green, Red and Yellow parking ramps. $700,000 was budgeted for these repairs, some of which have been put off for a couple of years due to budget issues. We are being asked to approve awarding the bid to Restoration Systems, Inc. The bid covers thirty-three separate repair items on the three parking ramps. 

The mayor will be giving us an update on the mandatory reassessment of property values tonight – I plan to devote a full newsletter to this topic in the next few days. 

After tonight’s Common Council meeting, I plan to be spending the majority of my waking hours along College Avenue taking in performances during Mile 10 – the tenth iteration of the Mile of Music. Every single year it amazes me that our city pulls off such an event, where every performance is free. I spend far too much time (probably) listening to the playlist, building color coded spreadsheets that maximize the number of performances I get to hear, but it’s so much fun! It’s always interesting to find out what other peoples’ strategies are – do you just hang out at the Lawrence Chapel or Houdini Plaza or Jones Park, or do you make way too much work out of it like I do? 

Regardless of how you do it, have a great time and if you are listening to performances in a bar or restaurant, remember that the businesses are opening their doors for free performances so have a drink or a snack and tip the hard-working staff. 

Have a great weekend.