Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for November 9, 2026

Greetings, District 6 Neighbors,

Yesterday’s Packer game was more like it, right? We did have a bit of tension in my house because we also had tickets to “The Sound of Music” at the PAC and had to leave home during the third quarter.

As we head into the short days and long nights of fall and winter (is anyone else still ready for bed at 6:00 p.m. since the time change?) note that we have two more official weeks of fall leaf pickup left in Zone 2. However, it’s been so warm that some of the trees have just started to lose leave, so I’m sure that there will be a bonus round or two. Remember that in the vacuum zone that most of the district is in, we need to put the leaves on the terrace, not in the street, and that other yard waste needs to be bagged and set out separately from the leaves. No pumpkins or whole plants in with the leaves, please.

The public hearing on the proposed 2027 budget was held ahead of the Common Council meeting. We heard speakers from the Appleton Concerned Taxpayers, who mostly expressed concerns about the Tax Increment Financing District for the Thrivent property development, and from the League of Women Voters – Appleton Fox Cities, who expressed support for the transparency of the budget process and upcoming revaluation. They also expressed support for the Plan Appleton dashboard, which shows the progress of the initiatives stated in the comprehensive plan.

The council meeting itself was fairly routine, with only a couple of items being separated for individual discussion and votes. The item that generated the most discussion was the resolution increasing the penalties for excessive vehicle noise caused by deliberate engine revving, tire squealing, etc. We had an extensive discussion at the Safety and Licensing Committee meeting the week before and had amended the resolution (which originally called for fines of $1,000 for a first offense and $2,500 for second and succeeding offenses to $250 for a first offense, $400 for a second offense, and $800 for third and succeeding offenses. A number of proposals were introduced during the council meeting, but we eventually approved what had come out of committee. As I stated during the committee meetings, I agreed that it was a good idea to increase the fines for this behavior, but at some point, some of our colleagues seemed to have lost all perspective, proposing fines much higher than what I believe are more serious offenses.

The renaming of Veterans Park to Memorial Bridge Park (which was its former name) also generated some discussion, with some alders seeming to think that having two parks with the word “Memorial” in them would cause confusion. Honestly, that seems a bit overblown. The council left the vote of the committee in place, and the park will be renamed Memorial Bridge Park.

The final separated item was alderperson salaries for the 2028 term. We are required to consider this each year, but it is one of the actions that requires a ¾ vote of the council. We only had 12 members present last week, and Alder Firkus pointed out that we would never get 12 votes for an increase, since several alders present had already made their views known during the committee meeting. Nonetheless, a there were a couple of attempts to amend, first to a 1% increase, which failed. There was also an attempt to get a motion for no increase, apparently so that alders could go on record against a raise. That motion failed because the failure of the other votes ensured that there would be no increase.

This week is a committee week, but all of the Wednesday committees except the City Plan Commission have cancelled their meetings. There will be a special full council meeting on Wednesday at 7:00 for the formal adoption of the 2027 budget. At this writing, I have not seen any amendments to the budget submitted by council members. I also have not seen some of the updates we were expecting. We voted for the Health Department budget contingent on some of those updates. I have reached out to department heads to find out when we might get a final updated budget.

Municipal Services Committee – Monday, November 9, 4:30 p.m.

The committee has a single action item – parking changes to prohibit parking on the south side of Pondview Court and in the Pondview Court cul-de-sac. Apparently, the parking prohibition was not implemented when the roadway was paved in 2011, and the road is too narrow for emergency vehicles with parking on both sides of the street.

Finance Committee – Monday, November 9, 5:30 p.m.

The Finance Committee also has a light agenda this week, with only one item to consider – a change order of $19,050 for the asphalt paving contract with Peters Concrete Company to cover “additional inlets and inlet leads.” This change order reduces the contingency amount on the contract to $36,000. It’s pretty common on these large paving contracts ($1,244,583.86) to find a bit of additional work, which is why they build a contingency into the contract.

Parks and Recreation Committee – Monday, November 9, 6:00 p.m.

Keeping up the trend, Parks and Recreation has only one action item this week. Reid Golf course is proposing an increase in the price of annual passes (not regular greens fees, which increased last year).

The committee will review the Reid Golf Course revenue and expense report for October as an information item. These warm fall days have been good for the golf course.

Utilities Committee – Tuesday, November 10, 4:30 p.m.

Once again, only one action item to consider for this committee.  They will consider Award N-26 Spot Repairs, Protruding Taps & Mineral Deposit Removal (New Restoration and Recovery Services, LLC dba Aqualis, $304,943.05)

Library Board Planning Committee – Wednesday, November 11, 9:30 a.m.

The planning committee (I’m a member of this committee and the Finance Committee of the Library Board) will review and discuss the draft strategic plan for the library. The goal is that the plan will guide the library through 2031. The draft plan is here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=595c2bb3-c0be-4e3e-a1fa-0869dd0e9364.pdf

City Plan Commission – Wednesday, November 11, 3:30 p.m.

The commission will hold three public hearings on action items to be considered later in the meeting:

• Rezoning of a parcel at 109 and 109 ½ S. Mason Street from PD/P-I Planned Development/Public Institutional District #02-09 to R-2 Two-Family District.
• Repeal and replacement of Chapter 17 of the municipal code related to subdivisions. This was discussed as an information item at a past meeting.
• Resolution #2026-10 and Development Moratorium Ordinance for a temporary 12- month development moratorium on data centers.

The parcel on S. Mason St. is owned by St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church, which wishes to sell and continue residential use of the property.

The changes to the municipal code chapter on subdivisions is in keeping with the new comprehensive plan – Plan Appleton. From the memo on the changes:

“The proposed amendments 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.”

The full memo can be found here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=1a73e561-f8fd-4661-a6c4-d3b72a1a89d2.pdf

The ordinance associated with the data center moratorium and the final plat for the Canyon Ridge subdivision (located north of Broadway and west of Ballard) are the additional action items for the commission.

The final meeting of the week is the special meeting to adopt the 2027 budget. It’s an unusual process where we act as a “Committee of the Whole” acting as the Finance Committee to take up each department budget (like we did during the budget workshop on Budget Saturday), so I’ll chair that part of the meeting in my role as chair of the Finance Committee, then we’ll reconvene as the Common Council to take the final vote on the budget resolution.

Have a great week!

Denise