Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for August 19, 2026
Although the weather hasn’t indicated it, we are definitely approaching the end of summer. The Mead Pool closed to humans on August 14 before dog day on August 15, and Sunday, August 23, is the last day for Erb Pool.
While we are on Parks and Recreation topics, APRD would love for you to fill out their survey about their programs.
While this is a full council week, we have a few other meetings scheduled.
The Library Board meets today (Tuesday, August 18) at 5:00. The board will introduce two new trustees, including a new non-voting teen member of the board.
Action items include approval of the July bill register and the August budget amendment to record the disbursement from the Friends of Appleton Public Library to the library budget. The board will also vote on approving the updates to the procurement and contract management policy approved by the Finance Committee last week and updates to the lactating employees policy. They will also vote on accepting the nominating committee’s recommendations for Board President and Vice President (Jason Brozek and Bastia Looker).
Information items include the recruitment status report for the library, updates on the Integrated Library System Migration and the second quarter statistics.
The President’s report includes an overview of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Resources for Library Trustees and a discussion of Trustee Training Week webinars.
The Staff report will cover the children’s summer library program.
The Utilities Committee will have a special meeting at 5:30 on Wednesday, August 19 ahead of the council meeting. Although there was an agenda posted for this meeting last week, it is city policy not to hold meetings on Election Day, so that meeting was canceled.
The committee will take up a contract amendment for Donohue and Associates, Inc. which would make Donohue the “engineer of record” for the Utilities Department Network System Upgrades Project. Donohue performed the initial design work and prepared the bid documents for the contract that was awarded to Van Ert Electric. The additional services provided by Donohue increased the contract amount by $169,445.
Information items include a preliminary engineering update on the Bellaire-Northland Flood Study and Northland design https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=ffa167e8-37ce-45a0-b3ac-a43778e0b128.pdf
The committee will also review the water main break reports for April, May and June. The good news is that we are considerably behind 2025 in the number of breaks reported YTD.
The Safety and Licensing Committee will also hold a special meeting on Wednesday after the regular meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum (two members were traveling for business; one was on vacation). The committee will hold alcohol license violation hearings for three establishments – two for selling alcohol to a minor and one for “exceeding capacity.”
There are a couple of temporary alcohol license applications and a change of agent application for an existing license.
We will also be looking at an appeal of the automatic denial of a special event permit for a Women’s Equality Day rally in Houdini Plaza on August 26 submitted by Appleton Area NOW (National Organization for Women). I won’t be voting or participating in the debate for this item because I am a member of the organization. I confess that I contributed to the tardiness of the application because I was not aware that a special events permit was required if the organizers did not want to close streets or use any city services (electricity, etc.). However, I found out from the friendly and efficient teams in the Parks and Recreation Department and in the City Clerk’s office that if a group wants to set up a table or have any kind of amplification, even a bullhorn, a special events permit is required in addition to the facility rental. All city departments have reviewed and approved the application.
Moving to the regular Common Council meeting, we will start with three proclamations:
- Voting Rights Act Day
- Breastfeeding Awareness Month
- Women's Equality Day
We will also recognize the winners of the Flag Day Parade awards and observe the final meeting of city poet laureate Cat Coffell-Mutschler at the end of her tenure.
There are a couple of items from the Municipal Services Committee agenda that will likely be separated for individual discussion and votes. The committee voted to revoke the designated stalls in the Red Ramp from BMO Harris Bank for non-payment. I understand that they did pay on the day of the committee meeting (over eight months late), so the item was amended to revoke the stalls effective 1/1/2027.
The committee also voted to recommend denial of an application for an occupancy permit to allow native plants taller than three feet in the terrace for a homeowner on Superior St. This may be separated for discussion before the full council.
As discussed above, I’ll be separating the special event application for Appleton Area NOW in order to abstain from the vote.
Have a great week!
Denise
Comments
Post a Comment