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

 

Greetings District 6 Neighbors,

Waking up to rain and now watching the trees blow outside my “office” window reminds me that fall leaf collection for us in Zone 2 will start this week. The majority of us are in the vacuum zone (all but those folks in the area east of Oneida and east of Meade and north of Northland and south of Capitol) so will need to rake the leaves onto the terrace. Notes from the Public Works Guide:

 I need to clarify a statement about the budget from last week’s newsletter. The proposed city property tax increase of 1.6% would bring the TOTAL tax amount to $6.95 per $1000 of assessed value. Thank you to the sharp-eyed reader who pointed this out to me.

Correcting another bit of misinformation floating around to those of you who live near or travel through the Richmond/Ridgeview intersection – the temporary signal at that intersection WILL be converted to a permanent traffic signal in 2026. The city has been awarded a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that will cover 80% of the cost, and the City of Appleton and the Town of Grand Chute have signed an agreement that will split the remaining cost ($65,000 per municipality). I understand that there was someone asking for signatures on a petition to keep the light – spread the word that it’s not necessary.

At last week’s council meeting we got a presentation from Mayor Woodford about steps the city is taking to address vehicle noise – particularly in the downtown area, but throughout the city.  While the police department has added an additional traffic enforcement officer, we are limited by state law in some of the measures we can take. For example, we cannot use traffic cameras to issue noise violation tickets, and we cannot create our own standards for exhaust noise. APD has to take into account overall traffic safety when deciding whether to pursue a vehicle which evades an attempted stop for noise. Alder Smith and other concerned community members are holding a listening session on Wednesday, October 22 at 6:00 p.m. in the Mary Beth Neinhaus room of the Appleton Public Library if you want more information or to provide input.

The recommendation from the utilities committee about actions from the Providence Trails Drainage Study (after the July 2024 flooding on the north side of town) was referred back to the committee to review some additional information. Note that the Northland-Bellaire Flood Study which affects our area is still ongoing.

On committee agendas this week:

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

The committee will hold a design hearing for the reconstruction of Marston Alley between Spruce and Summit St. (between Lawrence and Eighth Street) This is a pretty straightforward reconstruction of this block-long alley. Estimated cost is $85,000.

We will also consider a revision of the State/Municipal agreement for the reconstruction of Lawe Street between College Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue. The revision is for additional railroad crossing surface improvements. Because of the maximum federal/state contribution to the project is set at $ 3,350,655, the city will be responsible for the additional $25,250 for these improvements, making the total city share of the project $883,414 of the $4,234,069 total project cost.

Other action items include an extension of the long-term occupancy permit for construction at 318 W. College Avenue (meter bags), a relocation order for 325 square feet of property at Richmond and Ridgeview for the signal discussed earlier, and an increase in the contract amount for Alta Planning + Design for the Complete Streets planning work for the Thrivent property development. Thrivent has established an escrow account that will cover the costs of this work.

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

The committee will be voting to award the contract for creating a Sustainability and Resiliency Master Plan for the city to paleBLUEdot, LLC. Originally, the council voted to use carryover funding from another Facilities project in 2024 for this work, but the Finance Director was able to use interest earned on ARPA funds rather than borrowed funding. I participated in evaluating the proposals for the contract and I believe that this firm will do an excellent job. All projects proposed will still go through the normal budgeting process and be subject to committee and council approval. When we review sustainability and resilience projects, we always look at both the $1,158,951and cost implications. For example, the investment in geothermal heating for the library allows us to look at a 0 amount for natural gas in the library’s operating budget.

We will also be voting on a contract for renovations to the Parks and Recreation Department offices on East Witzke Boulevard in Veterans Memorial Park. (Blue Sky Contractors, LLC--$1,158,951 with contingency). A budget amendment transferring $186,000 from the 2025 Park Hardscapes budget for the construction and furnishings is included in this item. Some of the required updates to the space are the result of Customer Service for Parks and Recreation moving to this location.

The final action item is a request to create a Park and Open Space Special Revenue Fund. This fund would track developer payments in lieu of the dedication of land to parks and open spaces.

Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, October 20, 6:00 p.m.  

The committee will once again take up the park naming policy and the process for renaming Veterans Park – the small park off of Memorial Drive that needs to be renamed after renaming Appleton Memorial Park to Veterans Memorial Park.

They’ll also review the lease renewal for a part of Vulcan Heritage Park used a patio by Fratello’s Restaurant and updates to the Miracle League Park Rental and Fee Schedule Policy that would limit the reservations to non-profit groups only eliminate hourly rental fees as the field is only used for day rentals.

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, October 22, 3:30 p.m.

The commission will hold a public hearing and vote on a proposal by St. Joseph Congregation on West Lawrence Street to operate an emergency warming shelter on their premises that would house up to forty people overnight between November and April.

Community Development Committee – Wednesday, October 22, 4:30 p.m.

The committee will hold a public hearing on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds availability. This funding, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “provides annual grants on a formula basis to states, cities, and counties to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment, and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons” per the HUD website. Appleton’s estimated grant amount for 2026 is $576,096 based on previous allocation amounts. The block grants are divided between core city programs, one-time city department allocations and external applications by local non-profit agencies. The recommendations for internal allocations are:

The remaining balance of CDBG funds, $95,379, will be made available to external non-profit organizations through a competitive application process. The CDBG Advisory Board members will review the submitted applications and will meet during early 2026 to make preliminary external funding recommendations. These preliminary recommendations will be brought to Community Development Committee and Common Council for approval. Once the official allocation is received from HUD, final allocation amounts, with recommended adjustments as needed, for all project types will be brought to Community Development Committee and Common Council for final approval.

The committee will review a third amendment to the development agreement with Merge, LLC for the second phase of the Urbane Apartments, on the site of the old Blue Ramp. The developer was unable to close on the property by the amended deadline of June 21, 2025. The issues have been resolved, and the new closing date would be set as April 30, 2026. Additional stipulations, including a credit for a “no build” easement to Fox Commons, restrictions on any units being used as short term rentals, and some restrictions on balconies protruding into the right-of-way (the balconies in the first phase drip directly onto the sidewalk below, a problem I am personally aware of every time I go to a meeting at City Hall after a rain), and some stipulations about a historic Houdini marker connected to this site being included in the project. The revised agreement also allows TID incentive payments to start the year that the project reaches the required assessed value, not the year following. The city made a similar alteration to the development agreement for the RISE Apartments recently.

Finally, the committee will consider an offer to purchase a 4.627-acre parcel in the Southpoint Commerce Park at a price of $43,000 per acre.

The committee could go into closed session to discuss either or both of the last two items.

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

The meeting will begin with SEVEN appearances by alcohol license holders to address demerit point violations, all for dispensing alcohol to minors. Two of the establishments have recent violations for the same offense.

Action items include the usual license applications and renewals, and the return of the appeal of an amusement license denial for The Mad Elephant for machines that APD has deemed to be illegal gambling devices. The applicant is represented by counsel who has questioned the judgement of APD about these devices. I’m not sure what the outcome here would be, as the committee voted unanimously to deny the application before it was referred back by the Common Council.

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee

The committee has no action items, but they will review the 2026 proposed budgets of the HR and IT departments, some amended budget corrections for the IT budget for 2025, and the recruitment status report as information items.

The Utilities Committee and Fox Cities Transit Commission will not meet this week.

Speaking of budgets, I have completed my review of the proposed 2026 city budget and have submitted a number of questions to department heads for clarification. As I noted last week, the only increase in general fund expenditure is on employee compensation, reflecting the 3% merit raise for non-represented employees and the increased insurance costs. Capital improvement expenditures will total $40.5 million, allocated as in the chart below:

      

 

A reminder that the budget listening session takes place on Monday, October 20 at 6:00 p.m. in the Cornerstone Conference Room on the first floor of the Appleton Public Library.

While I was confirming the location, I was reminded what a great tool the library’s schedule of events is. Program & Event Calendar – Appleton Public Library A full schedule – color coded by audience. I also remembered that I plan to attend the Poetry Walk led by the city’s Poet Laureate, Cathryn Cofell, where we will hear a number of local poets read their works that are displayed in the windows of local businesses. It happens Saturday, October 25 from 1-3 p.m.

Have a great week!

Denise

Denise Fenton

Alderperson, District 6
City of Appleton, Common Council
100 N. Appleton Street, Appleton, WI 54911
O:920-475-1603 | C:920-475-1603 | District6@appletonwi.gov
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Pronouns: she/her/hers