Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for the Week of January 19, 2025

 

Greetings District 6 Neighbors,

Brrrrr!!!! Winter is here with vengeance! While the extreme cold is something we’re used to dealing with in the Midwest, my thoughts go out to the folks in regions that are unaccustomed to extreme winter weather and where they might not have the infrastructure to deal with it. I hope a lot of people have the day off for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday and can just stay home and keep warm. I’ll be bundling up and heading to my committee meetings this afternoon and evening but likely grumbling about it.

In observance of the holiday, the 34th annual Fox Cities Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration will be held this evening from 6:00 until 7:30 at Lawrence University’s Memorial Chapel. From the Lawrence University event announcement:

The community event, set for 6 to 7:30 p.m., will be a celebration of MLK’s legacy and will include speakers, the announcement of award recipients, and musical performances by NOIR, featuring Lawrence students, and Preston Parker with The Omọladé Academy. In addition, the first-ever Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir will perform.

The event will include the awarding of two annual awards—the Jane LaChapelle McCarty MLK Community Leader Award, presented to an individual or organization in the community that has supported oppressed voices and made a community impact, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Educator Award, presented to a current educator or organization that educates students in the spirit of MLK.

The keynote speaker is Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly, a Black studies scholar and author focused on political theory, political economy, intellectual history, and political and historical sociology. She has given multiple talks regarding the life and legacy of MLK, including at Penn State University, Georgetown, and Western Carolina University.

Jan. 20 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January.

The annual Fox Cities celebration, hosted by Lawrence, is supported by People of Progression, Appleton Area School District, United Way Fox Cities, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley, City of Appleton, Boldt, and ThedaCare. The event is organized by the MLK Planning Committee, led by co-chairs Jesus Smith, associate professor of ethnic studies at Lawrence, and Laura Jones, director of Lawrence’s Diversity and Intercultural Center.

As expected, the Common Council meeting last week was pretty short, especially since the liquor license for Delaire’s, LLC. was referred back once again to the Safety and Licensing Committee. Alder Siebers noted in his request for the referral that he had been under the impression that the item would be before the full council with some restrictions. There was also an apparent issue with the new city website where requested emails to all alderpersons were not being sent correctly. Two members of the community who own/work in the salon located in the building where the proposed gaming lounge would operate spoke to share their concerns about the business. The license application will be on the agenda for the Safety and Licensing Committee again this Wednesday. As I noted last week, I have concerns about the business, first because of the complete change in the business plan and second, because the example we were given of a business owned by a relative of the applicant in West Bend does appear to house gaming machines. I would vote to grant the license with restrictions on operating hours (it is located in a residential building that has not previously housed a business with “bar hours” and the application states that they will be closing at 10:00 p.m.) and with the statement that no gaming machines will be operating in the business. Without those restrictions, I’ll be voting to deny the license.

We did hold a closed session to discuss city owned property in the downtown area – more on that as the situation develops.

We have a light committee schedule this week, with only the Municipal Services, Finance and Safety and Licensing committees meeting.

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, January 20, 4:30 p.m.

In an item that will be welcome to a lot of us in District 6, we’ll be voting to accept a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Signals and ITS Standalone Program (SISP) in the amount of $576,000. This grant will fund 90% of a permanent signal at the corner of Ridgeview Drive and Richmond Street (STH 47). The city would also be responsible for any real estate acquisition (estimated at $25,000). However, the Town of Grand Chute and the City of Appleton have agreed to split the net balance and real estate acquisition costs. Construction is set to begin in the summer of 2026, concurrent with the I-41 and Richmond interchange construction.

We’ll also be voting to make some parking restrictions permanent after six-month trials on Emmers Drive near East High School and on Lightning Drive near Fire Station 6.

Finally, we’ll return to the request from the Hilton Paper Valley hotel to put signs on the skywalk between the hotel and the Red parking ramp. Because of the upcoming Parking Utility Wayfinding, Marketing and Strategic Planning study, the committee has asked city staff to add a condition to the permit stating that it will be reconsidered after the study and might be revoked if deemed unnecessary.

Finance Committee – Monday, January 20, 5:30 p.m.

We have a couple of budget amendments on the agenda:  1) accepting a $134,180 federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation block grant via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. This grant will be moved to the Vehicles budget to fund energy efficient vehicles. 2) accepting a $274,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Administration through the State Building Commission and the Non-State Grant Award ”to support the transformative renovation of the library building and enhance its role as a community and cultural hub, providing modernized facilities to meet the evolving needs of the Appleton community.”

We’ll also be voting on a contract for hydroblasting to remove lime scale from dewatering equipment and the filtrate/piping tank at the wastewater treatment plant. (Groome Industrial Services - $30,000). This is requested as a sole source contract because of the company’s past experience with the work in question.

The water treatment plant is also requesting approval of a sole source purchase contract for a replacement for one of two diesel-powered generators used for emergency backup power. The current generator is “vintage” and repair parts are difficult to obtain. The sole source is the local dealer for this equipment. (Fabick Power Systems - $700,000 with contingency – budgeted for 2025)

The contract for budgeted repairs to the Lawe St. bridge over the Fox River is on the agenda – Norcon Corporation - $224,340.60 with contingency. In what we hope will be a trend for 2025, this bid was under the budget of $300,000 and estimate of $275,000.

We will also vote on the grant for the Ridgeview Drive/Richmond Avenue signal that appears on the agenda for the Municipal Services Committee.

Information items include a number of final contract payments and a budget adjustment to record a small grant for Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness training.

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, January 22, 5:30 p.m.

In addition to the normal license applications and renewals, there are scheduled appearances for alcohol license demerit points for Broken Tree Pizza (serving to a minor, no licensed operator) and Mr. Frog’s (serving to a minor, underaged person on premises). The business will be given the opportunity to explain how they will address the circumstances that led to the violations.

We will then address the items that were held from the last meeting – two recommendations for denial of bartender licenses and the ongoing saga of Delaire’s, LLC. that was discussed above. The two bartender license applications were held from the last meeting to allow the applicants to present evidence of rehabilitation that would make them eligible for those licenses. In both of these cases, one with a drug conviction late last year and the other with a third OWI conviction in 2022, I cannot foresee that they will bring evidence that would convince me to vote to grant the licenses, but I will keep an open mind until the meeting. The Delaire’s situation was addressed above – I would vote for a license with restrictions but not otherwise.

The director’s reports include a report from the City Clerk on the Spring Elections. There will be a primary for Common Council District 11, where three people have filed for election. All of the other odd numbered seats will be unopposed, including the open seats in District 1 and District 15. I’m always a little discouraged by the lack of interest in running for local office. Local elections affect us more directly than those at the state and national level, as these representatives make decisions that affect the services we rely on daily, the schools that educate our children and the property taxes we pay. (Soapbox speech finished).

You can always access meeting agendas, minutes and live or recorded meeting videos here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Don’t forget that you can still fill out the survey for the Appleton Comprehensive Plan update project here: https://www.planappleton.org/feedback/surveys/e09c873108474cbfaa2b5434ac69568c/explore

 

Stay warm!

Denise