Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for the Week of March 18, 2024

Photo by Matthew W. Gargo for Appleton Downtown, Inc.


Greetings District 6 Neighbors,


Welcome back to winter. I KNEW it wasn’t over, but my body apparently had other thoughts, to the point that I just couldn’t make myself stop at the grocery store on the way home from an appointment this morning.

A quick reminder that early voting starts tomorrow at the City Clerk’s office on the 6th floor of City Hall. Hours are below:

On April 2 we vote at our normal polling location, the Scheig Center at Memorial Park.

For a second Common Council meeting, I might be writing more about what is not on the agenda than what we will be voting on. Both of the big items on the agenda at the Municipal Services Committee meeting were held until future meetings.

The resolution that would allow overnight parking with a permit was held for two meeting cycles to gather more information. Based on the detailed memos prepared by city staff, it would seem that alternate side parking (as is used in larger cities) would make the most sense for snow removal, street sweeping, etc., but would require increases in staff for administration and enforcement. I think that the only way this could work would be a permit system that would generate enough revenue to support the increased staffing needs. I will be interested in seeing if ideas come forth in the next month.

The proposal to limit the hours for food trucks downtown was also held. The public response was unanimously negative toward the proposal, noting that there was little evidence that this change would prevent violence downtown and that it would unfairly affect the small businesses that operate the food trucks. There were several people who suggested that having MORE food trucks downtown would help the situation by spreading out the people who currently patronize just a couple of trucks in a single block. I would like to see a group composed of APD and other city staff, the food truck operators and other businesses downtown organize to propose solutions to the problems caused by intoxicated bar patrons downtown.

Both the Community and Economic Development Committee and the Safety and Licensing Committee will hold special meetings before the Common Council meeting on Wednesday. Community and Economic Development will consider the development agreement between the city and U.S. Venture for 222 Building downtown. As of the time of the last CEDC meeting, the agreement had not been finalized. We had a closed session in the committee meeting last Wednesday where the committee members were advised of the progress of the negotiations and had the opportunity to ask questions of the Mayor, the Director of Community and Economic Development and the City Attorney about specifics of the negotiations. There is the option to meet in closed session once again both during the CEDC meeting and during the full council meeting this Wednesday. The agreement proposed puts the base value of the property at $12.9 million and the estimated value at completion at $29.3 million (per the Appleton City Assessor). This results in an “increment” of $16.4 million. U.S. Venture is requesting “pay-as-you-go” support from Tax Increment District 11 for 90% of the annual increment created starting at the completion of the project. The payments, with 6% interest would be about $241,000 per year, resulting in a net present value of the payments of  $2,108,905, or 12.89% of the total increment.

 

U.S. Venture will also have the right to purchase 650 monthly parking spaces in the Green Ramp, conditioned on terms related to the development of the “small lots” shown in the map below. There are also incentives to develop the “large lots,” including the right to purchase 200 more parking spaces in the city-owned ramps.

 

The agreement also includes the termination of any agreements related to the bluff sites. The city would therefore be relieved of any perceived obligation regarding those parcels.

 

TIF agreements are not perfect – the taxing entities, including the county, school districts, and the technical college do not get the additional taxes on the incremental value of a property developed under a TIF. However, the revenue stream from the increased value in the future is generally considered worth the investment. This agreement in particular stands to benefit the parking utility greatly at a time when downtown is still recovering from the loss of workers downtown due to the pandemic. The “small lots” are part of the College North Neighborhood plan, and the city maintains a right of refusal for those parcels if they are not developed within a certain time period and those parcels cannot be sold to an entity that would be exempt from property taxes.

 

While I am not excited that U.S. Venture owns almost all the land on the bluff sites and seems to have no immediate plans for the development of those sites, I am happy to have the city released from any potential obligation for the prior development agreement. I will note that said agreement was voted on by a common council that did not include at least 75% of the current membership. I intend to vote to approve this development agreement, both at chair of the CEDC and when it (presumably) comes to the full council later in the evening.

 

The Safety and Licensing special meeting agenda is a list of routine items, including a change to the fee structure for police response false security alarms – the second false alarm is now charged, and the charges for subsequent false alarms are increasing.

 

The full council agenda includes a reconsideration of the proposed new hours for the yard waste sites. We had three alders excused from the last meeting and the item failed 6-6. There has been a request by one of those alders for reconsideration so we will vote again.

 

If you haven’t filled out the Community Concerns Survey, please take a few minutes to do so:

 

https://www.appleton.org/residents/health/appletons-community-concerns-survey

 

This survey is related to health and is part of our required Community Health Assessment.

 

Don’t forget the community meeting on the Lawe St. reconstruction if you travel that area or are otherwise affected. It’s at 5:00 this evening in Council Chambers at City Hall.

 

The deadline for the housing rehab loan applications is April 19:

 

https://www.appleton.org/residents/housing-rehab-loan/homeowner-rehabilitation-loan-program

 

Have a great week!

Denise

 

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