Greetings, District 6 Neighbors,
I’ll skip right over the Packer game and go back to the two thrilling Brewer victories. Those guys just don’t quit. I’m certainly glad that my last meeting tonight is at 5:30 so I will surely be parked in front of the television by game time.
Before I get into the details of the council meeting, I just want to take a second to congratulate the winners of the City Star awards who we honored last week. This program was developed by city employees to recognize their coworkers (and a community member Friend of the City) for their accomplishments. There was a great turnout of colleagues to honor the winners.
As expected, we had a big turnout for last week’s Common Council meeting. Almost everyone who was there for public participation spoke in favor of Resolution #16-R-26 Limiting the Use of ALPR Cameras in the City of Appleton. I proposed an amended version at committee that would restrict it to city owned devices on city property, and this version passed at council with 11-1 with only Alder Firkus voting against it. He expressed concern that the council did not spend time working out how a broader ban (including private applications) might be enforced. The passage of this resolution does have an effect on the pending resolution 9-R-26 submitted by Alder Van Zeeland and me. I don’t think we need expert consultation any longer since that would have been used to evaluate some of the proposals in the “citizen drafted ordinance” that would apply technical requirements to any ALPR devices. The resolution is broader and applies to any AI-assisted surveillance technology and would set a procurement policy, so I believe it is still needed and will work on amendments before Wednesday’s Safety and Licensing Committee meeting when it will be back on the agenda.
The other item that garnered some public comment was the resolution that would increase the fines for certain types of vehicle noise violations. After a fair amount of discussion at the meeting, we agreed that the resolution needed more work to establish the right fine amount and referred the item back to the Safety and Licensing Committee.
The police department request to accept a COPS technology grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for the purchase of a Boston Dynamics robot dog was also referred back to committee. Several of us on the Finance Committee had questions for APD about the initial cost and the ongoing cost. The Safety and Licensing Committee approved the request to apply for this grant back in June, but the item only mentioned robotics, not the specific product.
Moving to this week’s committee agendas:
CEA Review Committee – Monday, October 26, 4:00 p.m.
The Central Equipment Agency is the “owner” of all the city’s vehicles and other large equipment, with each department being assessed for maintenance and depreciation. The CEA review committee is made up of the Public Works Director, the Finance Director, and a member of the Municipal Services Committee and the Finance Committee. Alder Van Zeeland and I are those representatives this year. We are being asked to approve change orders for three fire trucks that have been ordered from Pierce Manufacturing for 2027 and 2029 delivery. The total cost of the changes is a bit under $40,000 and includes configuration changes for safety and efficiency. The change for the 2027 delivery pumper truck will likely be offset somewhat by changing the motor to an older model (the newer engine is still in the development phase and will not be ready for this vehicle.
Municipal Services Committee – Monday, October 26, 4:30 p.m.
The only action items for the committee are parking changes on Glendale and Bellaire Ct., resulting from completed construction projects. Staff determined that the changes on Glendale between Richmond and Mason were never codified, so this action will make them “official” after the 2022 street reconstruction – the no parking zones on the south side of the street. The Bellaire Ct. reconstruction was completed in 2026, and new no-parking zones as shown in red are being implemented.
Information items include a tornado response update, and update to the traffic calming retrofit project, and the 2027 DPW budget.
Finance Committee – Monday, October 26, 5:30 p.m.
As noted above, we have APD’s request to accept the COPS technology grant and the budget amendment for the purchase of the Boston Dynamics SPOT robot dog on the agenda again. APD will have representatives at the meeting this time so that we will be able to ask questions about this product, including the expected life, the ongoing costs of operation, etc.
We will also take up a request to transfer $100,000 in excess funds from the completed Wastewater M-K Tunnel Roofing Project to the Wastewater Treatment Plant Building R Renovation Project. The bids that were received were all over the remaining budget, so it was good that the additional funds were available. There is a second action item to actually award the contract (RJM Construction LLC - $198,490 with contingency).
Finally, we will take up the change orders for the three fire trucks that the CEA Review Committee considered earlier.
Information items include the Finance Director’s update and a discussion of the 2027 Executive Budget and Service Plan.
Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, October 26, 6:00 p.m.
The big (and only action) item on this agenda is the vote for the new name of Veterans Park (the small park along the river just south of the Memorial Drive bridge.) Link to the top nominated names if you have forgotten: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=9a123275-1ee4-467e-a1af-77b283283446.pdf I don’t get a vote at committee, and I believe the recommended name will go to the full council as a yea or nay vote, but I’m leaning toward one of the river or bridge related names.
Information items include the minutes of the Appleton Sustainability Advisory Panel (ASAP). The panel is focusing on a couple of things, including the proposed migratory bird light-reduction and bird-safe building glass resolution. They agreed to develop a coordinated set of recommendations for the city. The work is intended to provide the technical basis for the resolution, identify practical actions the city can implement, and provide information that can also be incorporated into the Sustainability and Resilience Master Plan. This is not anything that the city will act on immediately; like all of the work of ASAP, they will make recommendations and any action would need to go through the appropriate committee and be approved by the Common Council.
The panel also got a report on the review of the city parkland. There The inventory identified approximately 177 acres of turf grass, along with additional recreational turf areas. The next step will be to work with Parks and Recreation grounds staff to identify locations where mowing could be reduced and native plantings could be established without interfering with recreational use or maintenance needs. The panel also discussed opportunities at other city properties, including the golf course, and the connection between native vegetation and habitat for birds and pollinators. A potential Bird City grant opportunity of up to $500 for native planting or restoration work was also discussed.
The remaining information items are the budgets for Reid Golf Course, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Special Revenue Funds Budget.
Fox Cities Transit Commission – Tuesday, October 27, 2:50 p.m.
The commission’s single action item is approval of the August and September payments.
Information items include the Valley Transit 2027 budget, the August and September financial reports, the August and September ridership reports, and the August and September Key Performance Indicators.
Utilities Committee – Tuesday, October 27, 4:30 p.m.
The committee does not have action items to consider, but will review several information items, including the 2027 utilities department budget and the water main break reports for July, August, and September of 2026.
City Plan Commission – Wednesday, October 28, 3:30 p.m.
The commission with consider a proposal to replace (repeal and recreate) the chapter of the municipal code that relates to subdivisions. Without getting way into the weeds, per the staff memo accompanying the text of the changes, the updates “…are intended to create an updated, clearer, and more user-friendly subdivision ordinance. The revisions are intended to improve regulatory consistency, provide applicants with earlier initial comments, clarify administrative procedures and submission requirements, and provide staff with greater flexibility to manage changing technical requirements.”
Specific changes include:
- Implementing adopted land use and transportation policies from the Comprehensive Plan, Plan Appleton, Complete Street Design Guide, and Housing Development Policy Guide. The policy documents reflect input from City staff, community members, and stakeholders.
- Application, Review, and Approval Processes Updates for Plats, CSMs (Certified Survey Maps) and Lot Line Adjustments.
- Improving readability/useability, remove outdated terms and align with Wisconsin State Statutes.
The commission will also address proposed changes to the street naming policy, which has not been updated since 1998. and the building addressing policy. The policy that street names be one word remains, so we’ll continue to have names like “Bluetopaz.” I know it makes sense but it’s still odd to me. North Street, West Street, and my own West Parkway Boulevard would not have been acceptable under either version, since the naming policy specifies that directions can’t be street names and that a boulevard needs to have a median. The building addressing policy dates to 1995. The policy updates mostly address multi-family, condo, and commercial addressing, but I did note that no new “1/2” addresses would be issued and that no new addresses that didn’t use a block number system of numbering would be used, i.e. no more “1”, “3” street numbers. All of this is clearly wonky, but really important for police, fire, and EMS to be able to find places easily.
Community Development Committee – Wednesday, October 28, 4:30 p.m.
The committee will take up some more municipal code updates, these related to how long a building permit is valid. Permits for smaller HVAC and electrical jobs would be valid for 90 days, and larger HVAC, electrical, and plumbing permits would be valid for a year. Currently ALL permits are valid for two years if the work has not been inspected and approved.
The other two action items are related to Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The team is recommending the allocations for the estimated $580,250 that would be allocated to Appleton by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for distribution. The city acts as the administrator for these funds and is allocated a small portion to compensate for these duties – which, because it is a federal program, involve a ton of reporting. There are also many restrictions on the use of the funds. Once “core projects” such as the resource navigator position, fair housing (which is required) and the Appleton Housing Authority are funded, there is an estimated $186,213 that would be available for local non-profits.
The second CDBG related item is an update to the city’s CDBG policy, updating policies and processes related to CDBG core recipients on a regular basis, providing additional information on external application scoring criteria, and correcting outdated department and committee names.
Information items include the inspection division summary report for September and the Community Development Department 2027 budget, along with the TID budgets and the Fox Cities Exhibition Center capital projects budget.
Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, October 28, 5:30 p.m.
We have four alcohol license demerit point hearings to begin the meeting, (Appleton Liquor, Flanagan’s, Gypsy’s 812 Lounge, and Lombardi’s Steakhouse) all for selling alcohol to minors.
There are two more appeals of denied bartender licenses, neither of which we are able to grant because the convictions are for “exempt” offenses where the applicant is not able to present evidence of rehabilitation. When I started reading the second one, I thought it might be different, because I saw OWI convictions from 2003. We can, and have, granted licenses to folks who have old OWI convictions who have shown that they completed a program and have kept a clean record since. However, as I read further, I saw OWI convictions 5 and 6, followed by a string of convictions and open cases for possession and manufacture of methamphetamine. I often feel bad about not being able to grant licenses for people with convictions for certain offenses, no matter how old they are, but this one not so much.
The committee will also once again consider Resolution #14-R-26 Increasing Penalties for Unnecessary Noise, which, as noted above, was referred back to the committee by the full council. Hopefully, we will be able to determine the appropriate fine amount this time.
There are a couple of normal license applications as well.
Information items include another batch of alcohol license violations and the RPF for the technology consultant for resolution 9-R-26. At this point, as I noted, I don’t think we need to do this and I’ll request that the resolution come back to the next committee meeting where I hope we can recommend an amended version that will establish a procurement policy for any AI-assisted surveillance technology.
Human Resources and Information Technology Committee – Wednesday, October 28, 6:30 p.m.
Alderperson salaries are back on the agenda after the item was held in August and September.
Information items include the Information Technology department budget and the Recruitment Status Report.
The final committee meeting of the week is the special meeting of the Finance Committee on Saturday, October 31 – “Budget Saturday.” Each department will present its budget, and the committee will vote on it ahead of the public hearing on November 4 at 6:00 and the special session of the council on November 11 where the full council will vote on the budget. Budget Saturday is an open meeting and will be live streamed like all of our committee and council meetings.
I have completed my review of the budget (701pages this year) and have submitted my questions to department heads. As I’ve noted, there is really very little change in this year’s budget. The city is a consumer of goods and services just like all our households, and the cost of most of those goods and services continues to increase. The city was able to balance the budget by transferring $2.5 million from the Central Equipment Agency to the general fund. Vehicle and equipment purchases for 2027 will still be from CEA funds, but short-term borrowing will be part of the funding for those purchases in future years.
This update is long already, so I’ll send a budget-specific newsletter later in the week.
Early voting continues at City Hall this week – 8:00 to 6:00 Tuesday, 7:00 to 4:30 Wednesday, 8:00 to 4:30 Thursday, and 8:00 to noon Friday. I voted yesterday and it was quick and easy. They even have stickers for early voting this time!
Have a great week and Go Brewers!
Denise
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