Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for the Week of November 9, 2025

My favorite from the fall photo contest
Vote on the Parks and Rec FB Page

 Greetings District 6 Neighbors,

I bet I’m not alone in feeling like we skipped fall entirely and landed in the middle of winter. I walked out of the Heart of the Valley YMCA yesterday into a blast of wind that felt like mid-January. With the cold snap and the wind, it seems that all the trees dropped their leaves this week. We have one more pass of regularly scheduled leaf pickup (next week for most of us in Zone 2, with almost all of District 6 located in the vacuum zone). It does look like the weather will allow for the final “bonus round” the week of November 24. After that, we are responsible for getting rid of leaves and yard waste. Both yard waste sites take leaves and other yard waste free of charge. Hours are shown here – the Whitman site closes for the season November 27.

Before I get into the business of the week, I need to make a correction to last week’s update. My husband, who I have suspected of never reading these emails, pointed out my typo with reference to the wheel tax. The tax was initially implemented in 2015 and increased in 2025. Apologies for the mistake.

Last week’s council meeting was preceded by the public hearing on the 2026 budget. With the exception of the League of Women Voters statement on the budget, the comments seemed only fairly loosely related to the actual budget, with one speaker focusing entirely on downtown automobile noise.

The council meeting itself was fairly uneventful. I separated the request from St. Joseph’s Parish for a special use permit to operating an emergency (when nightly temperatures are below 10 degrees) warming shelter in the church basement in order to thank the congregation for taking on this need and for their willingness to work with neighboring businesses to address their concerns. St. Joseph’s will be looking for a permanent location to continue this work in the future.

We also had separate votes on the consulting contract for the sustainability and resiliency plan and on the park naming policy. I was happy to see the sustainability plan contract pas with only one nay vote – the consultants selected submitted an excellent proposal, and I believe that the projects that the city takes on as a result of this work will save far more taxpayer dollars than the cost of the contract, even aside from the environmental benefits of those projects. The park naming policy passed narrowly, with a number of alders voting to keep the original policy which has been sufficient since the 1990s.

Because of the special meeting on Wednesday for the vote on the 2026 city budget, the Community Development, Safety and Licensing and Human Resources and Information Technology Committee meetings have been canceled. Monday’s meetings of the Finance Committee and Parks and Recreation Committee have been cancelled as well. The Finance Committee had a special meeting last week to address a couple of time sensitive items.

Agendas for the committees which will meet this week:

Library Board Personnel and Policy Committee – Monday, November 10, 3:00 p.m. (Cornerstone Conference Room, Appleton Public Library)

The committee will review and vote on updates to the Sensory Room Policy. The Sensory Room is “… intended for, but not limited to, users who are sensitive to typical sensory input.” The changes are related to reservations for the room. They will also vote on adopting the American Library Association’s Freedom to View policy. The policy, linked here, was first adopted by the ALA in 1990. They will vote on the display policy, linked here, and will go into closed session to discuss the library director’s end of year performance review.

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, November 10, 4:30 p.m.

The committee will vote on approving the Appleton Northside Business Association’s request to install seasonal decorations along Richmond Street and Wisconsin Avenue. The ANBA has purchased new lighted snowflake decorations for light poles for the holiday season, and they would like to install banners on those light poles outside the holiday season.

We will also vote on the paving design for the reconstruction of the one-block Marston Alley between Spruce St. and Summit St., and on an amendment to the material testing contract with Westwood Professional Services for an additional $50,000 to meet railroad requirements for permitting the utility crossings on Badger Avenue and Kenilworth Avenue ahead of 2026 construction.

We’ll review and vote on approving the preliminary plat for the Glenmore Reserve subdivision northwest of County Highway E, which will consist of 126 residential lots, plus outlots for stormwater detention, public trails and public roads. The property will be developed in two phases, each consisting of about half of the lots.

 Finally, we’ll vote on a long-term occupancy permit for a construction dumpster at 111 E. College Avenue through April of 2026. Two parking meters will be bagged for this permit at a cost of $9 per day to the applicant.

Fox Cities Transit Commission – Tuesday, November 11, 2:50 p.m.

The Commission will vote on a contract with Affirm agency for Public Relations and Marketing ($50,000). The aim of the contract is to increase ridership and to aid in driver recruitment.

They will also vote on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CS Appleton LLC for the joint development of the new transit center and multi-family residential building. This is another step forward – while the city has been awarded a $25 million grant for the transit center, the funds have not yet been received.

The September financial report will be reviewed as an information item.

Utilities Committee – Tuesday, November 11, 4:30 p.m.

The committee will review and vote on recommendations from the Providence Trail Drainage Study. Committee members voted to recommend an option back in September, but additional input was received from elected officials and other stakeholders after the meeting, so the item was referred back to the committee by the Common Council on October 15. Model refinements resulted in one home being added to the list of properties impacted by the July 2024 flooding, but the recommendations from staff did not change:

Alternative 1: Lot Improvements

• Public infrastructure: Replace up to 14 Yard Drain Inlet Castings
• Private improvements at the discretion of homeowners
• Estimated Cost to Stormwater Utility: $25,000

Alternative 2: ROW (Right of Way) Improvements

• 1,800 Lineal Feet of Storm Sewer Main Upsize (up to 54”) – Fallcreek Lane from Apple Creek to Sableridge Drive
• 480 Lineal Feet of Yard Drain Lead Upsize – 3 Easements South of Fallcreek Lane
• 460 Lineal Feet of New 24” Storm Sewer – Providence Ave to Apple Creek · Add Dry Pond Flood Storage South of Apple Creek Trail
• Replace up to 14 Yard Drain Inlet Castings
• Private improvements at the discretion of homeowners
• Estimated Cost to Stormwater Utility: $1,600,000

Alternative 3: ROW/Easement & Lot Improvements

• 164 Lineal Feet of Yard Drain Lead Upsize – 1 Easement South of Fallcreek Lane
• 460 Lineal Feet of New 24” Storm Sewer – Providence Ave to Apple Creek
• Add Dry Pond Flood Storage South of Apple Creek Trail
• Replace up to 14 Yard Drain Inlet Castings
• Private improvements at discretion of homeowners
• Estimated Cost to Stormwater Utility: $330,000

The Department of Public Works is recommending Alternative 3, noting that this does not preclude future implementation of additional mitigation improvements identified in Alternative 2, or the ability of property owners to implement mitigation measures on their respective properties.

The Utilities Committee will also be voting on an increase in the stormwater management contract with Brown and Caldwell ($40,000 for a total of $120,000). This increase is due to significant new developments on the north side of the city.

Information items include the 2026 Utilities Department Budget and the September Water Main Break report. Unfortunately, water main breaks are running quite a bit higher YTD than last year.

Board of Health – Wednesday, November 12, 7:00 a.m.

The Board’s sole action item is to approve the Delegation of Authority in order to clarify the authority of Department of Health staff as part of the Department’s overall Continuity of Operations Plan.

Information items include the Quarterly Report for Q3, the Respiratory Virus and Wastewater Report, two Dangerous Animal declarations and noise variances granted for October.  

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, November 12, 3:30 p.m.

The only item on the commission’s agenda is to approve the preliminary plat for the Glenmore Reserve subdivision as discussed under Municipal Services above.

Budget Approval – Common Council – Wednesday, November 12, 6:00 p.m.

The council will operate as a “Committee of the Whole” (as the Finance Committee) to vote on all the departmental budgets and then reconvene as the Common Council to approve the budget resolution. The only amendments I have seen thus far are small administrative changes discussed during our “Budget Saturday” workshop, one of which was from my observation that the mayor’s office budget did not seem to reflect the merit pay adjustment for his staff. Council members are able to submit amendments up to and even during the budget approval meeting.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Appleton Christmas Parade, which kicks off on Tuesday, November 25 at 7:00 p.m. This year’s theme is “Christmas in Toyland.”

Have a great week and stay warm!

Denise