Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for the Week of February 16, 2025

Greetings District 6 Neighbors,

I’ll be honest, it’s Monday afternoon and I’m still on a bit of a high from the grand re-opening of the Appleton Public Library on Saturday. I was happy to see several District 6 folks there and also happy to see such a big turnout despite the weather not being great.

If you didn’t make it to the opening event, try to get by the library and take a look. Although the reworked design increased the square footage less than we had hoped, I think you will agree that the effective use of space and all the light (even during a snowstorm!) makes the building look so much larger than the old space. The children’s area is just amazing – I cannot wait for summer so that I can take my granddaughters. There are wonderful reading spaces, and I especially love the workstations with the attached playpens that let moms work on the computer while their little ones are safely beside them.

We got the great news last week that the Friends of Appleton Public Library met their fundraising goal of $12 million for the project.

Pro tip – you can transfer your library card and get a cool new one without losing any of your checked out e-books or your holds. You DO have to add the new card to Libby or your other e-book apps. They got me fixed up in about two minutes…AND I found two books that have been on my e-book holds for weeks!

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Don’t forget that tomorrow is Primary Election Day. In our district, we just have the primary for the state superintendent of public instruction. Common Council District 11 has a primary as well. Our polling place for Election Day is the Scheig Center in Memorial Park. Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.

You can still sign up (through February 20) for the Appleton Engaged Resident Leadership Academy. https://appletonwi.gov/community/citizen_academy/citizen_academy_application_2025.php

This is the new version of the Appycademy. It’s a 10-week program meeting on Mondays from March to June that educates citizens about the workings of local government.

We had a busy committee week last week leading to a pretty full council agenda for this Wednesday. We will start out by voting on a reappointment to the Appleton Public Arts Commission and we’ll be getting a briefing on the I-41 project. Construction for 2025 in the Appleton area will include:

• I-41 Mainline: WIS 96 to Lynndale Drive (2025-2026)

• WIS 96 Interchange (2025-2026)

• WIS 15 Interchange (2024-2025)

• Ballard Road Interchange

 An agenda item that has gotten some publicity in the past week has been the request to approve the purchase of new decorative street light poles for the College Avenue Bridge. The current poles were purchase in 2009 as part of the bridge construction project and have experienced considerable rusting, resulting in reduced structural integrity and staining of the concrete bridge walls. At the Municipal Services Committee, we questioned staff about the use of the decorative poles (as specified in the downtown streetscape design guide) versus the standard aluminum poles used elsewhere in the city and about the relatively short useful life of the current poles. Apparently, the current poles did not undergo a galvanization process prior to powder coating and painting, and their location on the bridge subjected them to a much greater than average exposure to road salt. The committee approved the request (Visual Impact Lighting - $88,592) subject to staff’s answers to the cost difference between the decorative poles and standard aluminum ($5,540 per assembly versus $4,750 for aluminum) and the expected life of the new decorative poles (25 years minimum) due to new requirements:

1) they are galvanized prior to powder coating,

2) they have a super polyester salt-resistant coating, and

3) the coating system must pass a 3000-hr salt spray test

The price quote for the new poles expires February 22. There is a concern that the price of either type may increase due to proposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

Given the answers to the questions, the fact that the cost difference is around $12,000 and that the total cost is available in the maintenance budget and the fact that the College Avenue Bridge is one of the focal points entering the downtown area, I am now inclined to follow staff recommendation to go with the decorative poles.

The Safety and Licensing Committee recommended denial of the alcohol license for the establishment to be known as Delaire’s after a process going back to October. The applicant had requested that we hold the item yet again since he and his attorney were unable to attend the meeting due to the weather. However, the majority of the committee members felt that he had been given plenty of opportunity to present his case, and after we watched the video where a building owner/contractor stated that Mr. Boulanger planned to install gambling machines, there was enough evidence to support the recommendation for denial.

We could have more discussion on the proposed use of a federal grant to be used for the purchase of an electric vehicle and an EV charging station in the yellow ramp. Alder Doran had referred the item back to the Finance Committee at the last Common Council meeting. He was unable to attend the committee meeting, but he sent a list of questions that were addressed at that meeting.

I suspect that we will also have more discussion on the proposal to award a contract (Ehlers - $14,000) for consulting on potential Tax Increment District creation in the Thrivent property development area. (Funding is provided by Thrivent for up to $100,000 in consulting services for the city.) There is concern by some alders that Thrivent will be asking for TID assistance for the project and that even consulting on a potential TID would make it inevitable.  I am keeping an open mind with the understanding that development in that area is going to require a lot of new city infrastructure.

While the Common Council meeting on Wednesday and the Library Board meeting on Thursday are the only official city meetings this week, I will also be attending the Trails Summit sponsored by the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and other community organizations tomorrow. The purpose of the summit is to collaborate on the future of active transportation in the Fox Cities. I’ll also be attending the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Policy Board for Appleton (Fox Cities) meeting on Thursday as one of the City of Appleton representatives on the Policy Board. MPOs share responsibility for transportation planning in 17 metropolitan areas of Wisconsin. The policy board is made up primarily of local elected officials who represent different parts of the region served by the MPO. Lots of focus on transportation of all types for me this week.

However you get around the city, have a great week!


Denise


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