Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for October 12, 2026

Greetings, District 6 Neighbors,

It’s pretty strange to look out at my terrace maple tree arrayed in all the fall colors while knowing that we have summer temperatures again. Nonetheless, fall leaf pickup begins next week (our district is in pickup zone 2) and will continue through the week of November 16. Most of the district is in the “vac zone,” so we put our leaves on the terrace. Outside the “vac zone” (those areas north of Northland and east of Richmond in our district), leaves and yard waste go in the street gutter. More information is here: Fall Leaf Collection. With leaf collection beginning and moving to snow removal, large item collection is done until spring as the same crews do this work.

As I noted last week, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities annual conference was held in Appleton last week. Elected officials, administrators and city staff from all over the state attended. Kudos to Appleton Downtown, Inc. for putting on a smaller version of the “Light the Night Market” for the social hour on Wednesday evening. I heard a number of comments about how much fun it was to network while enjoying entertainment from the Brewster Street Brass Band and several roving performers. There were also snakes, although I kept my distance from them.

All of the sessions were interesting, particularly a session where the State and Local Finance Administrator from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Her presentation was entitled “The Decades of Data Behind Your Municipal Budget.”  The talk focused on how the revenue mix and spending for cities and villages has changed over the decades. One slide that stuck out to me showed that even after Act 12 which increased state aid to municipalities, both the tax levy plus state aid to cities and villages and spending per citizen have decreased after inflation since 2001.

As a reminder that most other cities are facing the same issues as we do in Appleton, a roundtable discussion with leaders from larger cities was limited to only two topics – what to do about e-bikes that essentially function as motorcycles and how do deal with automatic license plate reader technology.

You may have heard that the Common Council did not receive the planned budget presentation and the proposed 2027 budget at Wednesday council meeting. I met with Mayor Woodford on Wednesday afternoon when he explained that there was an issue when the Finance Department prepared to “roll up” all the departmental budgets into the overall city budget. Director Messerschmidt found that there were discrepancies and she and the mayor determined that it was better to delay the presentation of the budget until the issue was resolved.

You may have also read that the city missed the deadline to submit the annual audit, and we could be faced with a reduction of 10% in our “general transportation aids” as a result. The audit and the budget have relied on a complex system of spreadsheets and workbooks (the close to 700-page budget that I go through every year is made up of printouts of spreadsheets), and the process of converting that into the Tyler Munis computer system has been a huge undertaking. In addition, until this year, Appleton has only had two finance directors in 25 years, so, while our new Finance Director is extremely qualified, there has been a huge loss in institutional knowledge. This is the main reason that we voted to use some ARPA interest and unused salary dollars to fund a study of the processes in the Finance Department. We will get an update on the status during Monday’s Finance Committee meeting.

The rest of the council meeting went as expected. The resolution in support of adding a line to indicate the amount of the AASD tax levy that goes to voucher payments for private schools passed 13-1. The resolution to ask the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to modify the statutes related to vehicle noise and the penalties for deliberately causing such noise passed 11-3. Note that the companion resolution that would increase local penalties for engine revving and tire squealing was referred to the Legal Department for further analysis and recommendations. After finding that the requesters had provided their certificate of insurance and that all departments had approved the application, the late special events permit for the No Kings event on October 17 was approved unanimously. Note that this event is less of a protest and more a “get out the vote” rally than prior events. The organizers don’t plan to march and did not request any street closures.

Alder Stancil-Martin submitted Resolution #16-R-26 Limiting the Use of ALPR Cameras in the City of Appleton. While this resolution is similar to an earlier resolution submitted by Alder Wolff, it does have an exception for certain uses of ALPR (automatic license plate reader) cameras, including parking enforcement, access control and weigh stations, with the requirement that data from those uses be retained for only 30 days.

The more I think about the ALPR issue, the more convinced I become that the benefits do not outweigh the risks to individual rights. I expect that Flock will not exist as a company very much longer – they are simply losing too many customers, at least in the public sector, as communities find out that they were mislead about data sharing, etc. I honestly wonder what happens to all the data from Appleton’s years using the Flock system, even though their cameras have been removed from our city. I have read stories about communities where Flock tried to sell their own data back to them. While there are a couple of companies who have made statements about data security and privacy, I am not sure that the next biggest competitor, Axon, is not worse. (Axon – formerly Taser – is the vendor for the Appleton Police Department’s body cameras) Axon has CCTV cameras, body cameras, drones, and small uncrewed land vehicles, all with AI capability. Axon’s Fusus system can link data from all those sources. Axon does offer tighter controls and no nationwide network. Data sharing with Axon takes a direct deal between two agencies. The agency owns the data. I believe that much of what is laid out in the resolution that I submitted with Alder Van Zeeland is still relevant – we need procurement guidelines and policy controls over all of the AI enhanced surveillance tools regardless of what happens specifically with ALPR cameras.

On this week’s committee agendas – all are meeting except for the Fox Cities Transit Commission:

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, October 12, 4:30 p.m.

The agenda has a contract amendment for the 2027 repair and maintenance program for the parking ramps (Desman, Inc. - $18,720 for a total contract amount not to exceed $214,670). This amendment would allow Desman to include design and construction service for lobby renovations in the Green and Yellow Ramps and allow the work to be completed with the 2027 construction project and coordinated with lighting upgrades.

The committee will also consider Appleton Downtown Inc.’s request for a permanent occupancy permit to add uplighting to the tree planters on College Avenue.

The other items are related to traffic control – traffic signs for the streets in the Comet Ridge subdivision, changing the yield sign to a stop sign at W. Hawes and N. Summit St., and adding a stop sign at W. Lindbergh and Jarchow St. near Franklin Elementary School.

Finance Committee – Monday, October 12, 5:30 p.m.

The action item portion of this agenda is going to be less interesting than the information item section, with only two action items – one to record the receipt by APD of a COPS Technology and Equipment Grant, which will be used to purchase a Boston Dynamics Spot robot to enhance personnel safety in dangerous situations. I will have questions for APD about the cost and proposed uses of this product.

The other action item consists of proposed changes to the 2027 assessment policy – a $5 per foot increase in the assessment for 4 and 6-inch laterals and changes to the policy for sidewalks and assessments for curved streets (treated like a corner lot).

Information items include an update on the 2027 budget, which Mayor Woodford notes will also include an update on the audit delay, and the 2027 Finance Department budget.

Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, October 12, 6:00 p.m.

The committee has no action items before it, but they will review a number of information items, including the Reid Golf Course revenue and expense report for September (rounds are a bit down YTD, but total revenue is up). I bet October is going to look good with these bonus warm weekends.

They will also get an update on the Veterans Park renaming process. Veterans Park is the small park off Memorial Drive just south of the river. It needs to be renamed after Memorial Park became Veterans Memorial Park. The top vote getters with explanations: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=2e7fce84-c2bc-4980-8f34-45847209f06b.pdf

The committee will also review the proposed 2027 budget for the Parks and Recreation Department.

Utilities Committee – Tuesday, October 13, 4:30 p.m.

The committee’s single action item is approval of a contract for outreach and public education about the private lead service line replacement program (Arcadis U.S., Inc $78,500 with contingency). The city received a grant from the Wisconsin DNR for this work.

The Utilities Department proposed 2027 budget will be discussed as an information item.

Board of Health – Wednesday, October 14, 7:00 a.m.

The early risers on the Board of Health do not have any action items, but they will review a number of information items, including the 2025 Annual Report of the Health Department, the Respiratory Virus Surveillance and Wastewater Report, the Health Department Newsletter, and new noise variances.

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, October 14, 3:30 p.m.

The commission will hold a public hearing and vote on the related action item for a proposed rezoning of the property at 2320 S. Memorial Drive (Memorial Florist property). Based on the memo with the agenda item, the property was originally designated as PD/C-2 Planned Development/General Commercial District #12-01, but the owners never recorded the Implementation Plan Document (IPD), so no development of the property could occur under the zoning designated. The change to C-2 General Commercial District to remove the Planned Development Overlay District will allow the proposed improvements to the property.

Community Development Committee – Wednesday, October 14, 4:30 p.m.

The committee will hold a public hearing to get community input and review the related information item on the availability of Community Development Block Grant (GDBG) funding for the 2027 program year. The city allocates funds to core projects first, then conducts a competitive grant process to allocation remaining funds. Core projects include:

• Appleton’s Housing Rehab Loan Program
• Neighborhood Grant Program
• Administration and Fair Housing
• Appleton Housing Authority
• Community Resource Navigator Position

The other information item is the opening of applications for the fall 2026 Homeowner Rehabilitation Loan Program. This program allows low-to-moderate-income homeowners to receive interest-free loans secured by a lien on the home until it is sold or otherwise transferred, at which time the loan must be repaid. There are income and asset restrictions on these loans. Homeowner Rehabilitation Loan Program.

Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, October 14, 5:30 p.m.

As usual, this meeting will begin with a number of alcohol demerit point hearings. Appleton Axe, Appleton Yacht Club, The Daily Pint, and Apollon were all convicted of selling alcohol to a minor, which carries an 80-demerit point penalty. Rascals was convicted of selling alcohol to an already intoxicated patron. Rascals has a total of 240 demerit points, so there will certainly be a discussion of which of those violations will “count” toward a possible license suspension.

There are several license renewals and temporary alcohol license applications on the agenda, as well as a bartender license application with a recommendation to deny from the police department as the application has a conviction for an “exempt” offense – one for which we are unable to grant the license or accept evidence of rehabilitation from the applicant.

Resolution #14-R-26 Increasing Penalties for Unnecessary Noise is back before the committee after being referred to the Legal Department for an evaluation of the proposed increased fines for ($1000 for a first offense and $2500 for succeeding offense) deliberate loud engine revving or tire squealing. The memo from the Assistant City Attorney points to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration studies indicating that large increases in fines for certain offenses can lead the public to view these increases as unfair and predatory, which could lead to DECREASED compliance with traffic laws. It also notes that large fines could lead to decreased enforcement if law enforcement officers and judicial officials view the fines as unfair. The memo makes no recommendations. I expect that the resolution might be amended to increase the fines from their current level, but not to the extent in the original resolution.

As I noted earlier, we will discuss Resolution #16-R-26 Limiting the Use of ALPR Cameras in the City of Appleton. This resolution is a bit different than the one introduced earlier in the year by Alder Wolff. Wolff’s resolution specifically named Flock and did not have any exceptions for other automated license plate reader camera uses such as parking enforcement. I expect that we will have quite a few citizens present to support this resolution. While the resolution does have some limited exceptions to the ban on ALPR cameras, it would apply to cameras on private property as well as city-owned cameras. I expect an in-depth discussion and possibly holding this item until October 28 when Resolution #9-R-26 Resolution Establishing Public Oversight and Accountability Standards for Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) and Mass Surveillance Technologies comes back before the committee with the Request for Proposal (RFP) for consulting to help us determine standards to apply in procurement and usage policy. If Resolution #16-R-26 is recommended for approval and approved by the council before October 28, I think we would need to change course on Resolution #9-R-26 to focus on procurement standards and usage policy for ALL AI-assisted surveillance technology.

Human Resources and Information Technology Committee – Wednesday, October 14, 6:30 p.m.

Everyone’s favorite item has come back after being held the last time it was on the agenda – alderperson salaries. We are required to consider this each year. I have written many times about how a very low salary can ensure that only a certain segment of the population is able to serve their community on the city council and also that the amount of work required does not justify a full-time salary. We would be setting the salary two years into the future since we cannot vote on our own salaries. There is a 2.5% increase set for April of 2027 already, so I expect that the recommendation out of committee will be for no increase for 2028.

That does is for this week’s committee meetings.

You may have heard that there is disaster relief available from FEMA for those impacted by the July 27 tornado. From the announcement on the city website:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced that federal disaster assistance is available to residents impacted by the severe storms and tornado on July 27, 2026. Individuals and families who sustained losses should first file claims with their insurance providers and then apply for assistance online https://www.disasterassistance.gov/  , by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA App. Find the full FEMA press release here: FEMA Press Release

After a great day for the Packers and the Brewers yesterday, I’m excited for game 2 of the NLCS. I wonder how many people will be sneaking peeks at their phones during this afternoon’s committee meetings.

Have a great week!

Denise