Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for the Week of August 11, 2024

 

Greetings District 6 Neighbors,

I hope everyone got to get out and enjoy some of the glorious weather we had over the weekend – I had to go upstairs and grab a jacket (!!!) before heading out for a walk on Saturday morning. I will quibble that I would have liked some of that fall weather for Mile of Music, but still…

As I noted last week, the city issued its General Obligation and Sewerage System Revenue bonds last week, and we got some very good news in the special Finance Committee meeting where we recommended approval of those bond issuances. Because of the fluctuations in the market last week, the rate on the GO bonds was 3.29% rather than the 3.84% in the estimate, saving the city $531,000 in interest on those bonds. The sewerage revenue bonds came in at 3.87% versus the 4.44% estimate, which will result in savings of $1.1 million. Because of the change in the bond premium, the amount of the bonds was reduced from $12,910,000 to $12,630,000. Mr. Viegut from Baird, who handled the bond issues for the city noted that only a few cities in Wisconsin have a higher bond rating than Appleton, and those are small, very affluent communities.

In the same special meeting, we also approved emergency repairs to the Green Ramp, which was severely damaged when a car hit the barrier panels back in May. This was an alcohol-related reckless driving incident for which the city expects to recover the costs from the driver’s insurance.

In the full council meeting, the only item that I expected to result in much discussion, the non-renewal of the alcohol license for The Corner Pub, was referred back to the Safety and Licensing Committee yet again. This time, it was for technical reasons. I understand that the business is ready for inspection prior to opening again, so I hope the matter will be closed by the time of our meeting on Wednesday.

On committee agendas this week:

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, August 12, 4:30 p.m.

As construction on Fox Commons continues, we have some street occupancy permits related to the work there. The Boldt Company is requesting permits for awnings at the entrances to the project (we have to approve any construction that comes into the right-of-way, and there are restrictions on height, etc., in order to prevent obstruction of the sidewalk) and Findorff is requesting temporary closing of the area on the Washington St. side of the project for continuing construction there. Finally, RODAC Development and Construction is asking for a dumpster on the N. Morrison St. parking lane through November for the buildout they are working on for Prevea Health’s space in the Fox Commons.

We’re being asked to approve a contract (Moss & Associates- $217,000) for land acquisition services for the Lawe St. reconstruction project scheduled for 2026. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation requires that the city obtain all right-of-way for the project before design work starts. The contract includes appraisals for all 66 parcels along the project limits. Some of those might not have to be appraised, so the scope and cost could be reduced.

There is a street vacation request for a 50 by 70 feet area of what is called Sampson St., although that street actually ends south of Atlantic as shown below. The area to the south was vacated in 2017, and there is already a driveway on the plot. The two homeowners would each acquire half of the property and have already agreed on the sale of the portion containing the driveway.

There is a request for an amendment to a contract for traffic signal control and management software approved a few weeks ago. (Traffic Control Corporation - $29,110). After the original contract was approved, the city IT department recommended that it be switched from an on-premises application to a cloud-based system (SaaS). This would result in lower ongoing maintenance costs to the city.

We have a “request for a driveway extension” at a home on N. Ballard Rd. which is a bit of a misnomer as the homeowner has already had the slab installed and then was advised that it is in violation of city code by extending more than four feet into the yard and by being built without a permit. The homeowner is requesting a variance because they don’t use the slab for parking but as a turnaround spot to avoid backing into Ballard Rd. Staff is recommending denial.

There are also quite a few ordinance changes for stop sign installations at intersections around the city.

Finance Committee – Monday, August 12, 5:30 p.m.

The committee will be voting on the resolution submitted by Alder Croatt that would require a 2/3 majority vote on any item related to the wheel tax. This was as a result of the $10 increase in the wheel tax that passed by a vote of 8-7. I have no objections to this resolution – we already require a 2/3 majority for budget amendments and other financial transactions and a ¾ majority for anything related to alderperson salaries.

We’re also being asked to approve the transfer of some ARPA funds that were allocated to projects where the cost will be less than the budgeted amount to another internal project. We would take $25,000 from the allocation for the Comprehensive Plan Update and $20,000 from the allocation for the Neighborhood Leadership Academy project and budget $45,000 for the Human Resources Strategic Plan project. From the recommendation:  “The Strategic Planning project will serve as a context for City strategic decisions and actions for years to come. The project will include an organizational assessment, creation of a core mission and guiding principles, core values, and identification of top priorities based on customer data and feedback. The development of this internal strategic plan will be coordinated with the update of the City’s external comprehensive plan update to ensure alignment of the internal and external plans. This project is vital for ensuring that the vision, mission, guiding beliefs and core values are clearly identified and conveyed to employees and the community, and that City strategies and projects align to ultimately meet community needs of our citizens and visitors.”

The Department of Public Works is requesting authorization for the City to enter into a State/Municipal Financial Agreement (SMFA) for the I-41/Ballard Interchange project.

Details:

Per SMFA page 2, total project cost estimate is $23.87 million, including:

o $23.02 Million State/Federal funds

o $411,015 Outagamie County funds

o $435,200 City of Appleton funds

• Project bid letting is scheduled for October 2024.

• Start of construction is scheduled for spring of 2025.

• WisDOT intends to issue an SMFA update as needed based on actual bids received.

• WisDOT requests local partners enter into the SMFA at this time to allow for an orderly and efficient bidding and award process this fall.

• City Cost Share is included in DPW’s 2025 CIP budget request.

There is a bit of good news for District 6 in this project. Because of the closure of the I 41/Ballard interchange, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is going to place a temporary signal at Richmond and Ridgeview (at 100% DOT cost). The city is negotiating with DOT to leave the signal in place an addition year (through 2026) to give Appleton and Grand Chute time to potentially approve/budget/design a permanent signal while the Richmond Interchange is closed during the 2026 construction season. The city plans to apply for a state grant to cover 90% of the cost of the signal.

We’ll also be formally accepting the two grants that were awarded to the city and Valley Transit for the Whitman Avenue Facility Remodel ($12 million) and the RAISE grant for the Downtown Appleton Regional Transit Multimodal Hub ($25 million) and approving the budget amendments to transfer those funds to the projects.

The mid-year report for Risk Management is an information item on the agenda.

Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, August 12, 6:15 p.m.

The committee will vote on a request from Reid Golf Course to update the irrigation system (Reinders -  $27,459.47). This is an unbudgeted request that would be funded out of current revenue, which is exceeding the budgeted amount. Reid wishes to act on this immediately due to a promotional discount on the materials that would save them 50%.

They’ll also vote to approve holding Irish Fest in Jones Park on September 13-14. The updated Jones Park rental policy requires committee and council approval for private special events in Jones Park.

The Parks Department is requesting approval to obtain a Raffle License in order to sell raffle tickets at the Mom Prom. This event raises money to fund the Fee Waiver Program that allows families which might not otherwise be able to afford programs to participate.

The Reid Golf Course Revenue and Expense Report will be presented as an information item. Total revenues are about $26,000 ahead of this point in 2023.

Board of Health – Wednesday, August 14, 7:00 a.m.

The Board will review the Child Passenger Safety Program. This is the program that provides car seats and car seat safety checks to eligible families.

They will also review a clarification to the animal ordinance to exclude chickens from the maximum number of animals that may be kept in the city. Chickens require a separate permit.

Information items include  presentations by N.E.W. Mental Health Connection and Diverse and Resilient, the Q2 2024 Health Department Report, the August Health Department Newsletter and noise variances granted through August.

There has been another dangerous animal declaration that requires the dog to be removed from the City of Appleton after a biting incident and evidence that the owner violated prior conditions that required muzzling the dog.

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, August 14, 3:30 p.m.

The Commission will be voting on a request to rezone the property at 319 N. Drew St. from R2 Two-Family Residential District to R-1C City Residential District in order to allow the reconstruction of a porch that would not meet the setback requirements for the current zoning. This Queen Anne style home was the first home of Edna Ferber in Appleton and is located in the State and National Appleton City Park Historic District.

The Plan Commission will also be acting on the street vacation on N. Sampson Street discussed above.

We will also be voting to approve the disposition of a parcel of land at the bottom of a ravine between E. Winnebago St. and Bellaire Ct. This parcel will be sold to the highest bidder after the adjoining property owners are informed.

As an information item, we will continue the discussion of the West College Avenue presentation from the last meeting.

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, August 14, 5:30 p.m.

In addition to the normal license applications and renewals, we will consider (hopefully for the last time) the non-renewal of the license for The Corner Pub. As I noted above, the owners felt last week that they would be able to pass inspection this week in order to re-open and retain their license.

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee – Wednesday, August 14, 6:30 p.m.

There are no action items on the agenda, but the committee will review the IT mid-year budget, the HR mid-year budget and the recruitment status report as information items.

Just a reminder that the partisan primary election is tomorrow if you have not already voted absentee or at City Hall. Polls are open 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. If you still have an absentee ballot, you can take it to your polling place (District 6 votes at the Scheig Center in Memorial Park, 1313 E. Witzke) on Election Day. The constitutional amendment questions are on the back of the ballot at the bottom. You can vote on those regardless of which party primary you vote in. I am not speaking for the City of Appleton, but I believe a NO vote is better for the city as it would allow federal aid to reach residents faster in case of an emergency.

Have a great week!