Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for the Week of November 12, 2023

Greetings District 6 Neighbors, 

First – the good news is that the Department of Public Works has a bonus leaf collection scheduled. We’re in Zone 2, so the last normal collection is happening this week, but if you didn’t get them out over the weekend you have another chance. Leaves should be out for the bonus week by November 26. For those in the “vac zone”, that means on the terrace; otherwise at the curb. This pickup is not guaranteed – if we have a significant snow event, DPW will have to switch to snow removal. Leftover leaves will have to be removed by the resident if the collection has to be canceled (so far, the weather looks like it will be accommodating). Leaves and yard waste can be dropped off at the Glendale yard waste site for free. The hours are Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon from 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 

Bags and bundles of yard waste WILL be collected during the bonus round. 

Getting back to normal council business, we had kind of a hybrid week last week. The Monday and Tuesday committees met as scheduled for the week after a regular Common Council meeting, but the Wednesday committee meetings (City Plan Commission, Human Resources and Information Technology, Safety and Licensing and Community and Economic Development) were cancelled for the special budget adoption council meeting. 

The vast majority of the Municipal Services Committee meeting on Monday was taken up by the design hearings for the reconstruction of Perkins St. between Prospect St. and the Allen Alley railroad tracks and (relevant for some in District 6) Morrison St. between Glendale and Pershing St. All but one of the speakers wanted to talk about the Perkins St. project, generally being concerned about the additions of sidewalks (for which there would be an assessment) and loss of parking on the west side of the street. One person spoke about the Morrison St. reconstruction project, citing concerns about parking and the narrowing of the street. She did not believe that the street needed reconstruction, although it appears from the engineering report that, while the street itself is still in acceptable condition, there is concern about the age of the water and sanitary sewer lines under the street. Those would be replaced in 2024 in preparation for the street reconstruction in 2025. 

• Existing Pavement  

o Asphalt Overlay placed in 1996  

o Asphalt placed in 1974, 1976  

o Concrete curb & gutter placed in 1949, 1953  

• Existing Water Main  

o 6” CIP constructed 1943, 1952  

• Existing Sanitary Sewer  

o 8” CIPP (liner) constructed 2011  

o 8”, 12” CON constructed 1942, 1952  

• Existing Storm Sewer  

o 12”, 15” CON constructed 1948, 1949  

 

The proposal: 

PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS  

• Underground utilities to be improved in 2024  

• New concrete curb & gutter and asphalt pavement – 27’ (back of curb to back of curb)  

• Curb extensions (narrowing the pavement) at Marquette St to serve as a traffic calming measure and provide enhanced pedestrian crossing safety  

• Traffic calming circle at the intersection with Lindbergh St  

• On-street parking would be permitted along the east side only. On-street parking would be prohibited along the west side of Morrison, within the project limits.  

• 11 trees in poor condition would be removed within the project limits  

 

COST ESTIMATES AND ASSESSMENTS  

• Estimated Construction Cost (at 27’) = $465,000  

• Estimated Construction Cost (at 33’) = $550,000  

 

There were 29 questionnaires sent to property owners along the project and none were returned. 

Narrowing the street is part of the overall complete streets program that seeks to make neighborhoods safer by lowering speeds. With Erb Park just to the south and Franklin Elementary just a block to the east, any plans that would lower speeds seems like a good idea. There are multiple studies that show a correlation between narrower streets and lover speeds, and including other features such as the bump outs and traffic calming circles increase safety at fairly minimal cost. I have reached out to the Engineering Division for details about the number of parking spaces that would be lost on the west side of Morrison. Due to an oversight, I did not receive the letter that residents along the project did – the east side Morrison is in District 14 and the west side is in District 6 and only Alder Croatt in District 14 was copied, so I was unaware of the design hearing until I was doing my homework in preparation for the week’s committee meetings, or I would have written about it earlier. 

With the city facing budget restrictions in all departments, street reconstruction projects are prioritized by more than just the surface condition of the street.  DPW looks to maximize the benefit from the funds available in a given year. This project is for a relatively short stretch of street but has water and sanitary lines that are eighty years old in some areas. The budget allowed for addressing this project in 2024/2025 and at this point I would favor getting it done. The Municipal Services Committee will be voting on the projects on November 20 at 4:30 p.m. There will be time for public input at that meeting. 

The other item was approval of a small ($5,500) contract for appraisal services for land acquisitions (likely for street rights-of-way, etc.). 

The Finance Committee also met on Monday and approved the contract for furniture and fixtures for the Health Department as part of the City Hall remodeling project that has been taking place over the past couple of years. The city has been able to obtain grant funding to cover the entire cost of this purchase. 

We also voted to accept a $72,564 WPPI Energy Efficiency Grant for the Appleton Water Treatment Plant Kathabar Replacement project. This is a dehumidification unit – total project cost is estimated at $850,000 in the 2024 capital budget. The total project is estimated to reduce electricity consumption at the plant by 393,323 kilowatt hours per year and CO2 emissions by 200 tons per year. 

 

The Parks and Recreation Committee spent most of their meeting on Monday talking about the proposed new rates for Reid Golf Course. Most green fees are proposed to go up $1 or $2, although no changes are proposed to weekend or junior rates. These rates keep Reid at about the  

 

  

At Tuesday’s Utilities Committee meeting, the committee recommended approval of the contract with raSmith ($80,510) for consulting services for stormwater construction for the Lightning Drive extension. The firm did the work for other parts of the project and is thus uniquely qualified for the job. 

The major item considered was the proposal to opt of out the class action settlement with DuPont and 3M over PFAS contamination. These “forever” chemicals have been found to be contaminating water sources all over the state, but thus far we have not seen contamination in our main water source – Lake Winnebago. The City Attorney and Risk Manager recommend opting out because of the uncertainty about future requirements and because accepting the settlement would preclude the city from taking any action to recover damages in the future. The amount of the proposed settlement for Appleton amounts to a miniscule portion of Appleton’s water treatment expenses for the next 20 years. 

On Wednesday we turned to the adoption of the 2024 budget. I wrote in detail about the budget and the proposed amendments last week. The actual meeting took a while because we had a lively discussion about the amendments, particularly over the ones for the very small amount of the budget allocated to the council training budget and to the mayor’s office training budget and the poet laureate program ($3,000 which would remove the work of administering the sidewalk poetry program from the library staff). I noted during the meeting that the proposed budget for the mayor’s office had actually DECREASED for 2024. The budget was passed without amendment as all of the proposed amendments failed. The total 2024 budget is 3% lower than the 2023 budget. Many of us will see some increases in property taxes due to the citywide revaluation – while the tax RATE has decreased, the assessed value of our homes has increased. Property tax bills will be mailed the first or second week in December. 

Moving to this week’s council schedule: 

Library Board – Tuesday, November 14, 4:30 p.m. 

The Board will review the bill register for October, along with the cash flow report for October YTD. They will review some proposed budget amendments (from contributions) and vote on the proposed library closing dates for 2024 (generally state holidays and Sundays during the summer). They will hear the report of the Personnel and Policy Committee and the Director’s annual performance review.  

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee (special meeting) – Wednesday, November 15, 6:30 p.m. 

The committee is having a special meeting to approve the Appleton Professional Police Association new contract for 2024-2026. Along with some changes to overtime, vacation and other leave policies, the contract calls for these wage increases:  

04/01/2024 = 1.5% 

10/01/2024 = 1.5.% 

04/01/2025 = 1.5% 

10/01/2025 = 1.5.% 

04/01/2026 = 1.25% 

10/01/2026 = 1.25.% 

We will also be voting on the request to over hire the Executive Assistant to the Police Chief. The current assistant has been in the job for over 30 years and will be crucial in training the new person. The expenses will be offset by a vacant front desk job. The total budget impact would be $3332.50. 

Common Council – Wednesday, November 15, 7:00 p.m. 

I fully expect most of this meeting to again be taken up by the discussion on alderperson salaries – more specifically granting the same parking pass benefit to alders as is enjoyed by every city employee who works downtown. As I noted last week, due to a state law requiring that salary issues be decided by a ¾ vote, the action taken on November 1 was invalid. I will support either not raising the salary starting in 2025 or a small increase (we cannot vote on our own salaries so it must be set two years in the future), but will not support taking the parking passes or substituting a stipend in lieu of the passes. I gave back my parking pass last year after we voted to allocate the funds to the police department for use in helping unhoused people with immediate needs. We found out during budget time that these funds were never used. Trust me, these conversations have gotten as old to me as my writing about them has gotten to you. 

I heard that there might be an amendment to the Reid Golf Course rates to give a veteran’s discount – I would support that change. 

This will take us to Thanksgiving week (wow!), so it appears that we will not have Wednesday committee meetings next week. Monday and Tuesday are scheduled, but I expect that some of those might end up being canceled as well. 

I plan to stay in town for the holiday – Turkey Trot downtown on Thanksgiving morning, then some retail therapy with our local businesses during Small Business Saturday. I hope that your holiday is a joyful time with family and friends. 

Have a great week!