Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for September 7, 2026

Greetings, District 6 Neighbors,

I hope everyone is enjoying the Labor Day holiday. With the holiday falling late this year, and with school having started, last week (or the week before), it’s hard to see this as the last official weekend of summer but I guess we can still call it that. I hope that you were not affected by the intense rain we had last week – I heard from Alderperson Croatt in our neighboring District 14 that some of his constituents experienced some flooding, and of course, there was a large tree limb down on Meade Street in the early morning hours.

Because of the holiday today, we have an abbreviated committee week schedule this week.

The week starts with a meeting of the Library Board Finance Committee, where I am a member by virtue of being the alderperson on the Library Board this year. The committee will review the proposed library budget before it is submitted to become part of the proposed 2027 city budget. We will also review the budget timeline and library financial policy as information items.

Utilities Committee – Tuesday, September 8, 4:30 p.m.

The sole action item for the committee is a request to approve a resolution supporting the Forestry Division of the Department of Public Works applying for a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Urban Forestry Catastrophic Storm Grant.

Board of Health – Wednesday, September 9, 7:00 a.m.

In what promises to be a shorter and less well-attended meeting of the board, they will consider a resolution submitted by Alder Jones which would allow dogs in taverns not serving food. A memo from the Health Department stated that “Sanitation Rules and Regulations for Health Licensing of Taverns Serving No Food will allow for dog friendly taverns without compromising food safety.”

The Board will review the 2nd quarter quarterly report, the August Health Department newsletter, and the new noise variances as information items.

Community Development Committee – Wednesday, September 9, 4:30 p.m.

The committee will vote on the city’s counteroffer to an offer to purchase a 14.23-acre lot in the Southeast Business Park. The original offer was for $38,000 per acre; the city countered with the price of $43,000 per acre which is the price set by the Council for this property. The counter offer also includes a provision that a data center cannot be the primary use of the property, and the buyer agrees to accept a deed restriction to this effect. The committee may go into closed session to discuss the sale of the property.

The inspections division permit summary report and the Community Development mid-year budget report will be presented as information items.

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, September 9, 5:30 p.m.

The meeting will start, as has now become the custom, with an appearance regarding alcohol license demerits, this time by Home Burger Bar, for selling alcohol to a minor. As I’ve noted before, these hearings give the establishment an opportunity to explain how the violation happened and steps they are taking to make sure that it does not happen again. We also remind them that there is free training offered by APD to make sure that an establishment’s staff is familiar with the law and proper procedures.

Resolution #9-R-26 Establishing Public Oversight and Accountability Standards for Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) and Mass Surveillance Technologies is next o the agenda, but as I noted last week, I plan to refer this item to staff to create a request for proposals for an expert in this type of technology to evaluate the conditions in Alder Meltzer’s proposed amendment to the resolution and report back to the city on the feasibility of those conditions and those in the original resolution.

Other action items include the city’s annual renewal of the Appleton Fire Department’s shared services agreement with Gold Cross Ambulance Service and some amendments to the city fire code. Fire code inspections would move from twice a year to once a year, following state statute. The department seeks to align the city ordinance with the state rules. Another change would allow permits for outdoor fire pits to be valid for 365 days from the purchase date, rather than having them all expire at the end of the calendar year. Finally, AFD is seeking to adopt the 2024 International Fire Code, which includes changes related to lithium battery storage, inflatable amusement devices (bounce houses and the like) and bulk storage of alcoholic spirits (not affecting any Appleton business at this time).

We have a few change of agent requests for licenses and a temporary license request for a special event at the Performing Arts Center.

Information items include the results of the Appleton Police Department Community Survey https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=f6393543-2119-4df6-8ad2-09edfa55e801.pdf

I’ll conclude with a final reminder about the Meet and Greet with local elected officials at the Appleton Public Library at 10:00 this Saturday morning. Stop by for a donut, a cup of coffee and a chat with me or some of my counterparts from city and county government. Check out Rhythms of the World in Houdini Plaza before or after (it goes from 9:00 until 1:00).

Have a great week!

Denise