Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for the Week of July 20, 2025

Greetings, District 6 Neighbors,

(Note – I wrote the bulk of this newsletter on Monday but realized that I needed more information about the bond issue, so I waited until after the Finance Committee meeting to finish it.)

I’m getting back into a week of normal life after a visit from our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters (ages 7 and 3). We did ALL the fun things around Appleton, including Bay Beach, The Building for Kids, the indoor playground at Luv 2 Play, but I’m pretty sure we could have just divided our time between the library, the Erb Park playground and Erb Pool and the little girls would have still been incredibly entertained. We went to the library three times! It was the first time I had been down to the children’s area since the grand opening, and I had forgotten how wonderful it is for little ones. There is ALWAYS something going on at the library with programs for all ages. I can personally attest that the Monday night ukelele jam is rocking! I heard it from a meeting room next door – but it kind of made me want to learn to play. Check out the events calendar here: https://new.apl.org/event-calendar/  I’ve bookmarked the calendar since we have our OTHER daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters (ages 4 and 1 ½) visiting next week.

As expected, the Common Council meeting last Wednesday was brief. There were only three items separated from the rest of the agenda – a permit for a placard in memory of Robert Rueckl on the bench at the corner of Durkee and College requested by Heid Music because representatives were present at the meeting, and the creation of a loading zone on W. Johnston (behind Acoca) and Appleton Downtown, Inc.’s request to locate the parklet on the northwest corner of Washington St. and Appleton St. because Alder Schultz wished to abstain from those votes. Note that there was some discussion about the location of the parklet at the same location as last year at the Municipal Services Committee meeting, mostly centering on the lack of shade at that location. Jennifer Stephany of ADI noted that they had investigated some other locations, but there were issues that prevented the use of those spots. It was noted at committee that now that the library is open, there would be more traffic in the area of the parklet and it might get more use this summer.

Moving on to this week’s committee agendas:

Library Board – Monday, July 21, 11:00 a.m.

The nominating committee is meeting to choose nominees for Library Board President and Vice President.

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, July 21, 4:30 p.m.

The committee has a full agenda, starting with a public hearing on the 2027 paving project for Oklahoma St. from Mason St. to Richmond St. I expect that the residents’ concerns will center on the need to remove a number of terrace trees and that parking will only be allowed on one side of the street after the reconstruction. I understand that the City Forester met with residents last week to address some of the questions about the terrace trees.

We will also vote on approving preliminary street design parameters for the plats of two new subdivisions – Glenmore Park northwest of Ballard and French Road – and Mission Ridge North west of French Road and south of Broadway. The preliminary plat approvals for both subdivisions are action items for the City Plan Commission on Wednesday.

As the I-41 expansion proceeds, we have another set of State/Municipal agreements (finance and maintenance) to approve, this time for the Richmond St. and Meade St. overpasses. As with the French Rd. overpass, the state Department of Transportation is paying 80% of the “Community Sensitive Design” (CSD) items, such as the decorative silhouettes and staining, with Appleton, Grand Chute and Outagamie County splitting the 20%. Appleton is paying 100% of the cost of our traffic cameras ($24,000), for a total city expenditure of $44,150. The maintenance agreement outlines the city’s responsibilities for maintaining the overpasses, which is basically maintenance of sidewalks, snow removal on sidewalks, maintenance of the decorative items, maintenance of vegetation in the median areas of the diverging diamond interchanges at Richmond St. and pavement marking for bike lanes.

We will take up a street vacation of Oneida St. between Franklin and Washington St. (between the library and the transit center) and of an unnamed alley between the transit center and the Yellow Ramp. A street vacation turns over the property to the adjacent property owners, but in this case the city owns both sides, so it’s more a matter of cleaning up the property records.

The committee will also vote on approving changes to street markings (the 8-inch light bulbs painted on the sidewalks) for safe routes to Edison Elementary School to accommodate students who previously attended the now-closed Columbus Elementary School.

We have parking changes (parking only on one side of the street) related to the paving of Baldeagle and Providence to approve.

Finally, and of great interest to District 6, we’ll be voting on the Intermunicipal Agreement between the City of Appleton and the Town of Grand Chute for the construction of the permanent signal at Ridgeview and Richmond. 90% of the cost of the project will be funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Signals & ITS Standalone (SISP) Program, with Appleton and Grand Chute splitting the 10% remaining cost ($130,000).

Finance Committee – Monday, July 21, 5:30 p.m.

This is the meeting where the Finance Committee votes on approving the bond issue for 2025. The city plans to issue $10,865,000 in General Obligation bonds (estimated interest rate 3.81%), $4,530,000 in Sewerage System Revenue Bonds (estimated interest rate 4.73%). Both of these bond issues will support capital projects. $8,485,000 in Water System Revenue Bonds (estimated interest rate 4.31%) are planned, with $2,941,000 to cover capital projects and the remainder refunding (refinancing) 2013 and 2014 Revenue Bonds. This would result in a present value savings of $136,130 in interest charges based on the estimated interest rate. $8,295,000 in Stormwater System Revenue Refunding Bonds (Current Refunding of 2013, 2014 & 2015 Revenue Bonds at an estimated interest rate of 3.55%, saving an estimated $142,977 in interest). We will get a presentation from Baird (the financial services firm which handles the city’s business) before the action items. Once the Common Council approves the bond sale at our August 6 meeting, the interest rate can be locked in, and the sale would have a tentative date of September 9. Because of the current market volatility, Baird has recommended a slightly different resolution than we have used in the past. In prior years, we would get the bond rating and the interest rate on the day of the council meeting where the bond issue would be approved, but the resolution we will be voting on this year gives the Mayor, the Finance Director or the City Clerk the authority for final sign-off within the parameters (maximum interest rate, total amount of the bond issue, etc.) that are part of the council-approved resolution. We got lucky the past couple of years with a dip in the bond interest rate occurring on the day of the council meeting, but this “parameters resolution” will allow the city better time the issue to take advantage of market volatility.

The final action item is approval of the contract for the renovation of the offices of the Community Development Department (RJM Construction - $911,350 with contingency). Information items include the Finance Department Mid-Year Report and the Legal Services Department Mid-Year Report.

Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, July 21, 6:00 p.m.

The committee has one action item – approving minor changes to city ordinances clarifying special use areas where another entity contract with the city,

1. Appleton Family Ice Center-Appleton Veterans Memorial Park
2. Rowing Club-Telulah Park
3. USA Youth, Inc.-USA Youth Sports Complex
4. Appleton Yacht Club-Lutz Park
5. Privately leased areas of Houdini Plaza and Vulcan Heritage Park

Codifying the changes to the rules about alcohol consumption in parks that were already voted on by the Common Council (no alcohol consumption within 20 feet of a pavilion or playground. The time limits (10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) can be modified for special events such as golf or baseball/softball tournaments.

Additions to prohibited uses of facilities – specifically using tennis or pickleball courts for anything other than tennis or pickleball. This section will be of interest to neighbors of the Erb Park tennis courts where there have been loud volleyball games. It is now a violation of the city code.

Fox Cities Transit Commission – Tuesday, July 22, 2:50 p.m.

The Commission will vote on approving the June 2025 payments and on a cooperative agreement between Valley Transit, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and the Appleton (Fox Cities) Metropolitan Planning Organization for continuing transportation planning.

Information items include the June 2025 Income Statement, the June 2025 Ridership Report and Second Quarter Key Performance Indicators.

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, June 23, 3:30 p.m.

The commission will hold a public hearing and vote on the associated action item for a special use permit for an automobile, RV, truck, cycle and boat sales and display lot located at 3275 E. Winslow Avenue, Suite 100 (near Northland and 441). Rivian (an electric vehicle manufacturer) intends to use the site as storage for pre-ordered vehicles and for repairs, along with education about their vehicles and a test drive location.

There will also be a public hearing and a vote on a federally required change to the floodplain map based on the installation of a culvert and fill placement between E. Glenhurst Ln. and E. Millstone Dr. I don’t fully understand all the government-ese in the federal document (I will ask questions at the meeting), but I THINK that the area of flood risk has been reduced by the addition of the culvert.

As noted under Municipal Services, we will have a public hearing for the rezoning of land for the Glenmore Park subdivision from AG-Agricultural District (assigned in 2002 when the land was annexed into the city) to R-1B Single family District, R-3 Multifamily District and P-I Public Institutional District (the P-I zoning is assigned for future parkland designation) and will vote on the rezoning as an action item. We will also vote on approving the preliminary plat for this subdivision and for the Mission Ridge North subdivision as noted under the Municipal Services Committee agenda.

The Plan Commission will also take up the street vacation discussed in the Municipal Services Committee agenda.

Community Development Committee – Wednesday, July 23, 4:30 p.m.

The committee will take up a couple of municipal code cleanup items. The first would modify the municipal code to allow licensed electricians to install solar power systems in their own homes without having an electrical contractor license. The second would clarify the long-standing practice of allowing the Inspections Supervisor to issue citations for violations of the nuisance code.

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, July 23, 5:30 p.m.

We’ll start out with a number of demerit point violation appearances – all of these establishments were cited for selling alcohol to minors:

• Stuc’s Pizza
• WalMart – Calumet St.
• Appleton Liquor
• Rascals Bar and Grill
• Scubas Pourhouse

The appearances give the establishments a chance to state what measures they will take to prevent the violations from happening again. None of the businesses had any demerit points before these violations. Several members of the council have been in discussion with the Legal Department about adding some penalties for failing to appear before the council after being assessed demerit points for alcohol license violations.

There are just a few special event alcohol licenses as action items.

Information items include the 2025 Fire Department Shared Services and Operating Agreement with Gold Cross Ambulance, the Fire Department Mid-Year Report and the City Clerk Mid-Year Report.

The Human Resources and Information Technology Committee and Utilities Committee will not be meeting this week due to a lack of agenda items.

I want to take a minute to note that the Common Council approved the appointment of Deputy City Clerk Amy Molitor to be the new City Clerk. Clerk Kami Lynch took a job with the University of Wisconsin Extension where she will be working with city, town and county clerks across the state. The City of Appleton will miss her professionalism and grace under fire – including managing an election during a blizzard where the power went out in at least one polling place. Clerk Molitor is highly qualified and I’m sure she will excel in her new role.

Finally, for everyone with children (and grandchildren) to entertain during this hot summer week, I want to remind you that it’s Children’s Week in Appleton. There are a ton of fun free or discounted events for the whole family, including Rock the Block this evening at the downtown YMCA. You can find the full schedule here.

Have a great week and stay cool.

Denise