Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for August 21-25
Greetings District 6 Neighbors,
Photo courtesy Marigold Mile - Todd Shackleton-Chairman, Alder Fenton, Mary Beth Neinhaus
All of these activities distracted me a bit from the fact that summer is winding down – the Erb and Mead pools closed over the weekend and we have some schools in the area starting as soon as Wednesday, I believe.
This past week was full council week – the final meeting of August. The Common Council meets on the first and third Wednesday of the month, so when we have a fifth Wednesday in a month, we get a week without meetings.
In addition to the council meeting, the Library Board met on Tuesday, August 15. They received a commendation from Governor Evers to commemorate the groundbreaking on the new library.
Business included approval of the bill register, a budget amendment to record donations, the report of the nominating committee, which proposed Margaret Mann as President and Nancy Scheuerman as Vice President, and approved the report of the Personnel and Policy Committee, which presented the Library Director’s mid-year performance review.
Information items included the Friends Grant Funded Program Summary for the second quarter of 2023 – there were 41 programs funded by the Friend of Appleton Public Library!
Before the Common Council meeting on Wednesday there were two special meetings. The Finance Committee had a special meeting at 6:30 to approve the issuance of the General Obligation Bonds for 2023. We received a presentation from Baird at the last meeting where Baird estimated an interest rate of 3.75% for the bonds. The sale was very successful – the actual rate was 3.46%. This difference will save the city over $400,000 in interest over the life of the bonds.
The other special meeting was for the Safety and Licensing Committee – they needed to vote to recommend approval of a temporary alcohol license for an event for the Republican Party of Outagamie County. The request was not submitted in time for the last committee meeting and the event is August 23.
There were only a couple of items separated for individual votes at the Common Council meeting, mostly because there were interested parties present. The committee actions last week were generally straightforward. The Safety and Licensing Committee did amend the agreement with Gold Cross Ambulance to call for Gold Cross and the Appleton Fire Department to report findings about the agreement to the committee every six months.
Council approved the initial contract to begin work on Lundgaard Park. There is private fundraising that could result in additional features for the park. Note that the Appleton Post Office will be renamed for Mitchell Lundgaard this Wednesday, August 23 in a public ceremony at the post office from 11:00 to 12:30. Congressman Mike Gallagher will be among the speakers.
Most of the excitement from the committee meetings the week of August 7 came at the City Plan Commission and will not be before the full council until September 6, when there will be another public hearing and the full council vote. The commission took up the rezoning and preliminary plat approval for the Fourth Addition to the Clearwater Creek subdivision between Highway 47 and Meade St. north of JJ.
Quite a few people spoke during the public hearing on the rezoning from agricultural to single fam, all of them expressing their concerns that the additional 15 houses would restrict their view, potentially impinge on the wetlands and increase traffic in a subdivision where there is only one street providing access. Another concern was that the new houses might be smaller, reducing the value of their properties. This is likely not the case as the lots in the preliminary plat are actually 1000 square feet larger than those in the previous phase of the development. The land has been in the comprehensive plan as future single family since 1996 and the Plan Commission and the Common Council do not have a great deal of say over the private land use as long as it meets the requirements of the comprehensive plan.
There were two resolutions submitted at the August 16 Common Council meeting. The first, submitted by Alder Wolff (District 12) is in support of mental health awareness and services in Appleton. It was referred to the Board of Health. The second calls on the mayor to allocate the entire additional amount of state aid (shared revenue from Act 12) to offset borrowing for public works and utility infrastructure (water distribution and sewer systems) and/or public safety. It further calls on the mayor to provide a supplement to the 2024 budget “detailing the proposed use of the new state aid funds for the sole purposes of citywide projects for infrastructure and/or public safety.”
I’m honestly not sure I understand the purpose of this resolution. Act 12 specifically outlines the allowed uses of the funds. From the document issued by the Wisconsin Legislative Council:
“The act allows supplemental aid to be used for law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works, courts, and transportation. The act prohibits the use of supplemental aid for administrative services.”
In this week’s committee business:
Municipal Services Committee – Monday, August 21, 4:30 p.m.
The Department of Public Works – Traffic Section is requesting authorization to apply for from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Signals and ITS Standalone Program (WisDOT SISP). This grant would replace 21 existing signal computers/controllers and software along WisDOT highways in Appleton (Richmond/47, Wisconsin/96, College/125). The total estimated cost would be $220,750, of which the city would be responsible for 10%. That amount would be included in the 2025 budget if we are awarded the grant.
The committee is also being asked by the Appleton Police Department to designate a current no parking zone in the 200 block of S. Elm St. as Community Service Van Parking Only.
They will also vote to approve and addition street light in the 1600 block of W. Weiland, which, due to the spacing of the existing lights, appears to have been missed in the original installation.
They will review the Parking Utility Revenue Report for May, June and July as an information item.
Finance Committee – Monday, August 21, 5:30 p.m.
The committee will be asked to approve awarding the contract for the “Grit System & Raw Sludge Pump Replacement Project” at the wastewater treatment plant to August Winter and Sons, Inc. ($573,355 with 10% contingency of $57,336 for a project total not to exceed $630,691). Because the bids were higher than budgeted in 2022, the utility is requesting the transfer of $405,668 from the Sludge Storage Building Addition Project to allow the critical work on the grit system and raw sludge pump replacement project to proceed. I plan to ask how this will affect the storage building addition project – was the project under budget or is this a delay?
In some good news, we’re being asked to approve the contract for the resurfacing of the Miracle League Field in Memorial Park. We had to reject the bids back in June because they came in higher than the budget for Goodwill, which planned to fund 100% of the project. The current bid is a bit lower, and Goodwill has increased their budget, so we’ll vote to award this contract to Kiefer U.S.A. for $279,000 with a 5% contingency of $13,950 for a project not to exceed $292,950. We’re also being asked to approve funding and a contract for some additional trails in Memorial Park that will allow ADA access to a set of bleachers that are not currently ADA accessible. Funding for the project (Northern Asphalt - $66,875 with a 10% contingency) will be transferred from the Telulah Park hardscapes project which came in under budget.
Additional good news – Appleton has been awarded two grants to fund the installation of two waste-heat-to-power generators to utilize methane gas in the existing biogas boilers that would otherwise be flared into the atmosphere.
The first grant is $498,000 from the Public Service Commission Energy Innovation Grant and the second is $57.736.20 from Focus on Energy. The city will transfer the remaining $350,000 for the total project from the AWWTP electrical distribution project. Again, we’ll want to know the effect of this transfer on the electrical distribution project.
Currently, the utility uses 43% of the biogas to offset natural gas purchased for heating the buildings at the wastewater treatment plant. The gas that isn’t used in the warmer months will now be used to generate electricity. The project is estimated to reduce AWWTP’s electricity usage by 504,087 kWh per year. We should be able to reduce charges by a net (of maintenance) $38,516 per year.
There are additional contracts being awarded for consulting work and the generators for this project.
Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, August 21, 6:15 p.m.
The only action item to be considered by the committee is a resolution authorizing the city to apply for grants from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for a pedestrian/bicycle trail in Southpoint Commerce Park.
They will also review the Reid Golf Course Participation and Revenue Report for July.
City Plan Commission – Wednesday, August 23, 3:30 p.m.
Prospera Credit Union is requesting annexation of a parcel of land on North Ballard Rd. currently located within the boundaries of the Town of Grand Chute in order to develop that property and adjacent properties within the City of Appleton. There is currently a vacant home on the property.
We will also vote on a request to approve a Certified Survey Map (CSM) that would reconfigure five existing parcels in Southpoint Commerce Park into two parcels. Plan Commission and Common Council must approve the reconfiguration because the parcels were in two different plats.
We will also hear about some cleanup of the zoning ordinances relating to Mobile Service Support Structures and Facilities (cell phone equipment cabinets, etc.), Dumpster Enclosures, Drive Through Facilities and Off Street Parking and Loading. This was scheduled for the last meeting but was delayed as that meeting ran long.
Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, August 23, 5:30 p.m.
Oddly, the committee has no action items. There is an information item relating to the Fire Department’s purchase of radio equipment. AFD was awarded $1,807,911.80 last August for a regional Assistance to Firefighter Grant, which includes these departments:
Little Chute, Town of Vandenbroek/Kaukauna, City of Kaukauna, Freedom, Kimberly, Ellington, Seymour City, Rural, and Rescue, Buchanan, Dale, Bear Creek, Combined Locks, Greenville, Appleton Airport, Hortonville/Hortonia, and Grand Chute.
The Utilities, Human Resources and Information Technology and Community and Economic Development Committees will not be meeting this week.
A reminder that tax appraisal notices will be sent out this week. I covered the process in detail in the last newsletter, and you can always get more information here:
https://www.appleton.org/government/assessor-s-office/2023-revaluation-city-of-appleton
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