Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for July 6, 2026

 Greetings, District 6 Neighbors,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day weekend.  I was happy for a little break in the heat after what we experienced earlier in the week, especially for the Firecracker 5k in Kaukauna. That race has been my July 4th tradition for a number of years, and it seems like it’s always brutally hot. After the race I headed downtown to the farm market for some sweet corn and fresh salad greens to go with our holiday burgers, then helped my League of Women Voters friends pack up Constitution Square at the History Museum at the Castle for another week. Seeing people sign the giant preamble to the Constitution and take selfies with a live Lady Liberty was a perfect way to celebrate 250 years of our nation.

As I noted in last week’s newsletter, there was not a full council meeting on July 1, so we have another committee week before the July 15th council meeting. Some committees don’t have any new action items and won’t be meeting this week – Municipal Services, Parks and Recreation, Fox Cities Transit Commission, Human Resources and Information Technology.

The rest of the committees have pretty full agendas, including an unusual joint meeting of the Board of Health and Safety and Licensing Committee at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday, July 8.

Finance Committee – Monday, July 6, 5:30 p.m.

The Finance Committee has only one action item on the agenda, but it’s the first of several items concerning the development of the Thrivent property that will be addressed by various committees this week. This item is a budget amendment that adds $395,000 to the Community Development Department budget from the account set up by Thrivent to offset the city’s cost related to the development. This funding will fund the acquisition costs of land needed for the  Ballard/Evergreen intersection improvements related to the Wilden Development. (Wilden Portfolio Park is the name of the overall Thrivent development.) This item will also be on the agenda for the Community Development Committee. The timing of the meetings is a bit awkward as the Finance Committee will have to vote on a part of the Thrivent development before the potential creation of the Tax Increment District is considered by the Community Development Committee. I expect that some Finance Committee members will question whether this funding is contingent on approval of the TID and the development agreement that will be considered by Community Development. I feel comfortable voting for this budget amendment and the city accepting the funds since it is part of the reimbursement agreement between Thrivent and the city for costs related to the development of the property. The development plan includes the extension of Evergreen Drive through the Thrivent property – another important east-west corridor on faster developing north side of the city, particularly if the proposed 2200 housing units and additional commercial property are built. The escrow account has previously funded consulting work on the infrastructure required for the development and creation of the TID/TIF proposal.

Utilities Committee – Tuesday, July 7, 4:30 p.m.

The committee’s sole action item is a vote on adoption of an ordinance relating to private lead service line financing and special charges. This ordinance would establish the “framework necessary to administer financing for private lead service line replacements utilizing funding available through the Wisconsin Safe Drinking Water Loan Program (SDWLP), including Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding, and authorizes the recovery of eligible private-side replacement costs through special charges pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 66.0627. Adoption of the ordinance is required to satisfy SDWLP program requirements and to provide the City with the authority necessary to implement the Lead Service Line Replacement Program.” The Finance Committee voted in the last meeting to accept a grant for funding private lead service line replacements. An information item details the $ 93,571 grant from the DNR for outreach related to the service line replacements.

Board of Health/Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, July 8, 7:00 a.m.

 Those of us on the Safety and Licensing Committee get our day started early Wednesday when we join the Board of Health for a joint meeting to consider resolution #8-R-26 Excessive Vehicular Noise Data Collection submitted by District 4 Alder Smith, whose district includes a large portion of the downtown area.

This resolution was submitted on June 3 and referred to the Mayor’s Office for initial review. The resolution states that “Common Council directs the City of Appleton, in consultation with the Appleton Police Department and Health Department, to evaluate methods for collecting and analyzing vehicular noise data within the city, with an emphasis on identifying the number and frequency of extreme incidents that most disrupt the ordinary life of residents. The city should return to Common Council within 90 days a report outlining available options and estimated costs” and “the city shall investigate various methods for monitoring vehicular noise, including but not limited to fixed decibel monitoring stations, temporary mobile monitoring equipment, citizen reporting agreements, and automated noise-detection technologies.”

The response from city staff includes a memo from Mayor Woodford and a 391-page document from Health Officer Sepers, the majority of which consists of scientific articles supporting the position of the Health Department in response to the resolution. If you love the details, the full document is available here. While the mayor (correctly, to my non-lawyer’s mind) emphasizes the separation of powers between the legislative (council) and executive (mayor). The council makes policy and the city departments administer it. While council members can request information from city staff (as I very often do), we do not direct their day-to-day activities. Alder Smith’s resolution directs city staff to take specific actions. The mayor nonetheless directed city personnel to review the resolution and provide “context and information.”

Dr. Sepers’ portion of the response is very detailed and data-driven, but one of the central points is that even the best technology cannot tell the difference between a loud vehicle that is unmodified (either due to a mechanical issue or just the fact that it’s a big diesel truck, for example) and an illegally modified vehicle. Municipalities do not have the authority under state statute to cite unmodified vehicles for the exhaust alone.

No one is denying that noise downtown is a problem. I find myself muttering (swearing?) whenever I’m downtown and a car or motorcycle roars down College Avenue at approximately the volume of a fighter jet. I often close my bedroom windows on nice weekend evenings because the noise on Richmond Avenue three blocks away is so loud. However, I disagree that the city lacks data on the “frequency and intensity of extreme noise events.” The reconfiguration of College Avenue was done in large part to prevent drag racing and the city has increased law enforcement emphasis on this time of offense. The Safety and Licensing Committee receives a monthly report on warnings and citations issued that details the types of offenses. We recently enacted an ordinance change that would allow impoundment of vehicles when the driver is cited for reckless driving.

I also find it perplexing that my colleague who posted a thoughtful and relatively nuanced analysis of the discussion of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology is proposing an analysis of automated noise detection technology as a method of monitoring vehicle noise. I will not be voting for this resolution.

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, July 8, 3:30 p.m.

The plan commission will vote on the final plat for the Foxport subdivision in the Town of Grand Chute. The city has extraterritorial approval over development in its extraterritorial plat jurisdiction, which is the unincorporated area within three miles of the city limits. Foxport would be located between N. Lynndale and N. Gillet north of I-41 and would consist of 22 residential lots and one outlot.

The commission will also take up the preliminary plat for the Canyon Ridge subdivision to be located between N. Meade and Kurey Dr. north of E. Broadway Dr. The 5.28 acre parcel would be divided into eight residential lots and five outlots that would combine with an existing parcel to form a cul-de-sac at the end of E. Canyon Lane. These lots would average 12,820 square feet.

Finally, the commission will review the final plat for Stone Ridge Estates West located between N. Richmond and N. Haymeadow south of W. Edgewood Dr. The 3.88 acre plat consists of 10 residential lots averaging 13,600 square feet.

The information item before the commission (which will be an action item for the Community Development Committee) is an option to purchase for $1 up to 3.5 acres of land at the corner of N. Meade and the future Evergreen Dr. from North Meadows Investment, LTD (which the internet tells me IS Thrivent) for a new Fire Station.

Community Development Committee – Wednesday, July 8, 4:30 p.m.

The full meeting will be devoted to items related to the Thrivent Development. For clarification:

Wilden Portfolio Park is the name attached to the proposed development.

North Meadows Investment, Ltd. is the Thrivent entity developing the property.

 

First up is the development agreement with North Meadows Investment, Ltd. Note that the creation of the TID itself was Special Resolution Item #26-0731 and Action Item #26-0586 City Plan Commission which is Consolidated Action Item #26-0737 that was held at the June 3, 2026, Council meeting. We’ll see that again on July 15, along with this item and its recommendation from this committee.

The development agreement is 48 pages of legal language, linked here if you want to read all the details. I’ll quote extensively from the memo which characterizes the development agreement as a “fiscally responsible public private partnership that will facilitate construction of critical public infrastructure while supporting one of the City's most significant mixed-use development opportunities.” Under the agreement, the city will bond (borrow) $11 million to fund core infrastructure improvements, including the Evergreen Dr. extension between N. Meade and N. Ballard, intersection improvements, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. Bond funded developer reimbursements are limited to publicly owned infrastructure. The developer is providing $11 million irrevocable letter of credit and will be required to make shortfall payments if the tax increment is not sufficient to pay the debt service on the bonds. Special assessments are available if necessary, and the city’s debt is given “first position” on tax increment revenue.

 

The agreement provides “Pay Go” financing to the developer ($14 million at 6% interest), to help fund, in part, additional developer costs (more infrastructure) related to Wilden Portfolio Park Plat infrastructure & site development. Developer “Pay Go” payments do not commence until such time increment can service the City’s debt and were capped to only an amount justified by Ehlers’ (the city’s TID consultant, whose fees were paid from the escrow account funded by Thrivent) financial underwriting for TIF incentive. The agreement includes a 10-year financial lookback provision that reduces future incentive payments if project returns exceed established thresholds. Conservative Phase 1 projections anticipate the creation of more than $200 million in new incremental value by 2033.

 

When we think of tax increment districts and tax increment financing, it is generally to help a blighted area or to encourage development that would not happen otherwise. The key to these agreements is always the “but for” statement. When we look at this development, we see a very large profitable company and wonder how we get to the “but for.” Thrivent certainly has the resources to develop this property itself, and we are potentially depriving the school district, the technical college and Outagamie County of the tax increment for the life of the TID in anticipation of much greater tax revenue if the full value is achieved. This is why the Joint Review Board made up of representatives from each of those entities, plus a representative from the city and a member of the public must also approve the creation of a TID. The Joint Review Board reviewed the proposed TID and project plan at their last meeting and will hold another meeting July 30 where I assume they will vote on it.

In this case, I believe it is in Appleton’s best interest that this property be developed. We have a housing shortage in the city, and the development plan calls for 2200 new housing units, both single-family homes in a range of sizes and multi-family units. We won’t get to the number of housing units we need through the creation of 10 homes at a time on 13,000 square foot lots that will not be affordable for most of our citizens. (see item on the City Plan Commission agenda above) We are also levy-limited by state law to net new construction which should be positively impacted by this development. While Thrivent makes a payment in lieu of taxes to the city now, it is not liable for property taxes on this land. The new development will almost all be part of the tax base. Finally, the city’s involvement gives us some sway in how the infrastructure is developed. Any development this large is going to have an effect on traffic, stormwater, etc., and it makes sense that the city is involved in making sure that what is built best serves all our citizens.

The $395,000 budget amendment reflecting North Meadows Investment Ltd.’s additional escrow contribution to cover land purchase for land acquisition for infrastructure at Ballard and Evergreen appears on this agenda as an amendment to the reimbursement agreement.

Finally, the option agreement to purchase for $1 up to 3.5 acres of land at N. Meade and the future Evergreen Drive for a future fire station is on the agenda as an action item. The city has long had land within Veterans Memorial Park earmarked for a future fire station to replace the current Fire Station #4 on E. Greenfield here in District 6. The new site would meet current response time needs while anticipating future growth on the north side.

The committee has an option to go into closed session to discuss negotiations.

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, July 8, 5:30 p.m.

This second half of the day/night double header for the Safety and Licensing Committee brings a return to a more traditional agenda. We have several license applications including several temporary licenses for summer events including Mile of Music.

There is a recommendation for denial of a special event permit for a two-day children’s disc golf event from the person who you may remember ran for mayor in 2020 on what was essentially the “more disc golf” platform. I love the idea of such an event, but the police department recommended denial because of a string of behavioral concerns found in a background check of the organizer, including battery and drug arrests.

We also have the ever-present truancy ordinance on the agenda. Maybe this is the week that someone offers a concrete proposal, even just an amendment changing the dates to implement the ordinance for another school year.

If you have made it this far, congratulations! I have just one reminders about community events this week.

First, if you are free Wednesday morning sometime between 9:00 and 11:00, you can join Lt. Adam Nagel at Acoca Coffee downtown for Community and Conversation. Lt. Nagel is interested in your ideas on how APD can better serve Appleton. If you can’t make it for coffee, please fill out the APD community survey if you haven’t already.

APD Community Survey

Have a great week!

Denise