Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for November 4, 2025

Old School with Post-It Notes

Greetings District 6 Neighbors,

Although last week was officially a “fifth week” without scheduled council or committee meetings, it was not an off week for council members, as we were finishing our review of the proposed budget, submitting questions to department heads and reviewing questions submitted by our colleagues ahead of the budget workshop on November 1. “Budget Saturday” is officially a meeting of the Finance Committee, which must approve the budget before the full council votes on November 12. However, almost all alders choose to attend. The process of submitting questions to department heads in the weeks before the Budget Saturday has really streamlined the meeting, which had sometimes run into the evening in prior years. This year’s session ran from 8:00 a.m. until just before 3:00 p.m. We expect to see a few minor amendments to correct clerical errors, but I am not aware of any major amendments that any of my colleagues plan to submit.

Most department heads noted that they had submitted a “status quo” budget, without any significant changes in expenditures. Mayor Woodford has pointed out a couple of times that, allowing for inflation, “status quo” is actually a reduction. If the Parks and Recreation Department budgets the same amount for fertilizer and mulch as this year, they are going to be purchasing less fertilizer and mulch next year. We are constrained by state mandated levy limits (which do not pertain to debt service, or payments on municipal bonds), while looking at increases in the cost of everything the city purchases. Something that jumped out at me during my review of the budget is the fact that budget for street lighting is over 1.7 million dollars, the vast majority of which is electricity. That is an increase of over 6% from 2025. The cost of replacing vehicles and equipment has increased even more dramatically.

 Yesterday, Wisconsin Public Radio reported on Wisconsin Assembly Bill 483, which would require direct referendum approval before a community could enact a wheel tax. Existing wheel taxes would be repealed unless they are upheld by referendum within 18 months of the bill becoming law. If you recall, Appleton enacted the wheel tax in 2025 to eliminate assessments for street reconstruction that could sometimes cost homeowners thousands of dollars. It was never intended to fully fund street infrastructure projects. Honestly, I do not like the wheel tax – it is regressive, disproportionately affecting lower-income households, and it can only be charged for cars, motorcycles and light trucks by state law, leaving out the large heavy vehicles which cause the most damage to our roads. However, other cities who tried to enact more equitable systems of funding street infrastructure through the use of a transportation utility have been sued successfully, so we are left only undesirable alternatives – let our streets deteriorate further, re-implement homeowner assessments for street reconstruction, or take on ever more debt as the cost of these projects increases.

In a bit of less depressing news, the city has had good results from the maintenance mat – where the surface of an asphalt roadway is shaved off and a new layer of asphalt is applied. This was done with what I think are excellent results on W. Glendale. Plans for 2026 in our district include maintenance mats on N. Division between Lindbergh and Michigan and on Michigan between Division and Appleton.

The final opportunity for you to weigh in on the 2026 budget will be Wednesday, November 5 at 6:00 p.m. in council chambers when there will be a public hearing.

After the public hearing, we’ll hold the regular council meeting. The mayor will start the meeting with five proclamations:

• Lung Cancer Awareness Month
• Youth HOPE Month
• Appleton DECA Week
• Native American Heritage Month - Family Caregivers Month

The council will be asked to approve Mayor Woodford’s nominations for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and the Appleton Redevelopment Authority.

It is difficult to predict what items from the committee meetings of October 20-22 might be separated for individual discussion and votes. Representatives from neighboring businesses spoke at the Plan Commission meeting expressing concerns about security and litter related to St. Joseph’s Congregation’s plans to open an emergency warming shelter on their premises on W. Lawrence St., so we might have more discussion on that item – though I understand that the church and neighboring businesses are working together to address any concerns.

I also expect that we might have more discussion about the park naming policy in preparation for renaming Veterans Park (the small park off S. Memorial). I believe that the Parks and Recreation Committee (finally) came up with a workable modification to the policy that has been in place since 1997. The changes would specify that “a combined name that includes a qualifying element from the above criteria together with a universally positive or thematic concept (e.g., values, virtues, or inspirational ideas)” would be allowable. This would retroactively make Ellen Kort Peace Park conform to the naming policy. The amendment also extended the naming policy to apply to a historical group or people rather than a single person. However, I understand that there are some who do not agree with the revision, so there might be some further discussion.

We’re likely to see the contract for the sustainability and resiliency master plan separated – the vote was 4-1 for approval in the Finance Committee and I expect that the nay vote will want to reiterate their concerns.

There are a couple of additional meetings this week. The Appleton Public Arts Committee will meet on Wednesday morning at 8:00 to select tiles from existing inventory to be displayed in the Houdini Plaza Welcome Tower. The Finance Committee will hold a special meeting immediately before the budget public hearing to vote on appointing a redemption agent for water and stormwater revenue bonds, to approve write-off of obsolete Wastewater inventory ($6,912.36) and to approve some Wisconsin Department of Transportation documents stating that the city will not be requesting compensation for some minor work outside of the easement for the relocation of water and sewer lines required for the I-41 project. The DOT did pay for the relocation of those lines.

Remember that leaf collection continues at two-week intervals through November 21, with an additional collection (weather permitting) the week of November 24.

Finally (with appreciation for Alder Meltzer, whose comprehensive list I appropriated here), for anyone affected by the ending of SNAP benefits, federal workers affected by the shutdown or for anyone who wants to lend a hand to their neighbors, here is a list of food banks in Appleton:

• Salvation Army - Fox Cities, 130 E. North St., 920-734-3324; Open 8 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/wi/menasha/appleton-road-corps/ 
• Freedom Center Food Pantry, 1110 S. Oneida St., 920-412-7582; Open 10:45 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays for 65 years old and older and 3:45 to 5:45 p.m. on Wednesdays for everyone else https://www.freedom-from-hunger.org/ 
• Apostolic Truth Church Storehouse, 2720 Kesting Court, 920-378-3763; Open 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays https://apostolictruthchurch.com/my-atc/storehouse 
• Loaves & Fishes of the Fox Valley, 213 E. Wisconsin Ave., Appleton, 920-205-6900; Open from 5 to 6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays https://www.loavesandfishesfv.org/ 
• Christ The Rock Community Church Pantry, W6254 U.S. 10-114, Menasha, 920-730-8383; open from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays https://www.christtherock.org/ 
• Cornerstone Church Fox Valley Food Pantry, 357 Broad St., Menasha, 920-725-7252; open 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. every first Saturday of the month https://cornerstonechurchfv.org/stonecorn/ 
• Double Portion Food Pantry, 226 Washington St., Menasha, 920-725-5601; Open 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays https://www.doubleportionsoupkitchen.com/ 
• St. Joseph's Food Program, Inc., 1465 Opportunity Way, Menasha, 920-734-9461; Open 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday https://www.stjoesfoodprogram.org/ 
• Fox Valley Food Pantry, 1200 W. Kimberly Ave., Kimberly, 920-422-4164; Open 6 to 8 p.m. every first Tuesday of the month and 10 am to noon every third Tuesday https://foxvalley.church/food-pantry 
• Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, 2011 E. Main St., Little Chute, 920-464-0491; Open 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Tuesdays https://www.kaukaunacatholicparishes.org/food-pantry 

I would also add, for those looking to help Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin - Fighting Hunger Feeding Hope. Feeding America provides food to many of the above pantries. They are able to purchase food in bulk and accept bulk donations to make donations go further.

Have a great week.

Denise