Sunday, July 28, 2013

What you may not know: Week of July 29

The Appleton Common Council has a busy slate of committee meetings scheduled for this week. Here are a few of the things that have captured my attention:

Community and Economic Development, Monday, 5 pm

There are three action items on the CEDC agenda this week, and I think all of them are interesting.

First, the committee will discuss plans to handle an extra $93,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds recently received from HUD. Earlier this year the committee made recommendations for an anticipated $430,000 in grants, but they've since received more money than they budgeted for. The current proposal for this overflow money calls for it to be spent in the following way:

  • $37,133 to the Parks and Rec Department for a project at Einstein Park/Middle School.
  • $33,000 for Habitat for Humanity, in addition to $15,000 they've already been approved for. This money is projected to be used to purchase a lot to use for new construction.
  • $13,000 for the Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities (in addition to $13,000 already approved) to maintain eleven affordable housing units.
  • $5000 for Emergency Shelter of the Fox Valley (plus $10,000 already approved) to use to renovate restroom facilities and add energy-saving lighting features.
  • $5000 to the city for administrative purposes.
Second, the committee will take up a resolution from Alderman Jirschele dealing with the proposed exhibition center downtown. The project has been under discussion for quite some time now but progress seems to have halted. Jirschele's plan calls for the city to appoint someone to either spur the project forward or end the discussion by January 1.

Finally, the committee will discuss proposed changes to Appleton's Fair Housing Ordinance, which protects residents of the city from being discriminated against in their efforts to find and retain housing. The changes are based on recommendations suggested by Milwaukee Fair Housing, and largely deal with issues surrounding gender identity and expression.

These changes may come with some controversy because they extend beyond the bare minimum requirements set forward by the state, but I think it's important Appleton be a leader on this issue. Allowing law-abiding, rent-paying citizens to be discriminated against for any reason is not something I'm willing to accept.

Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm

If you read Sunday's edition of the Post Crescent's "City Notes," then you may already know that on Wednesday I referred the city's proposed 2014 special assessment plan back to the Finance Committee for further discussion. The proposal includes a plan to raise the rate by $1/foot for installation of new storm and sanitary sewers and laterals, which would increase the special assessment charge for a property receiving these repairs by roughly $80-120.

That's not a lot of money in the grand scheme, of course, but I still feel like I need to hear more before I'll feel convinced a rate increase is necessary. I've asked the Department of Public Works and Finance Department to provide more evidence that these increases fill an actual need and are not out of line with the rates neighboring communities are charging.

Parks and Recreation: Wednesday, 6 pm

Following Finance, the Parks and Rec committee will meet to get their first look at a concept plan for a proposed skate park in Telulah Park. This is the latest step in a project that's been developing since 2009, and it's an exciting move forward in a project I know a lot of people are eager to see completed.

You can see all of this week's committee agendas and attachments at the city's Legistar page

Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

What you may not know: Week of July 22

The City of Appleton's Common Council will meet on Wednesday night, but before we get to that the residents of District 1 have another matter to tend to:

Special Election

The alderman position representing District 1 has been vacant for some time now with the departure of Teege Mettille, but we'll take a key step towards filling that position when three candidates face off in a primary election on Tuesday. Three candidates filed to run for the job, and you can learn a little more about them in this Post Crescent story.

If you live in District 1 (and you can use this map to determine if you do), then do yourself a favor: Take the time to learn a little more about all three candidates and get out and vote. The polls will be open at St. Matthew's church on Mason Street from 7 am to 8 pm.

Finance

Once we get to Wednesday's council meeting, the primary issue catching my attention is the 2014 policy for special assessments. The topic of debate here is likely to be a proposed $1/foot increase for installation of storm and sanitary sewers.

The argument for raising these rates is that the cost of installing sewers has gone up and, as currently planned, overages for construction costs are billed to the storm and wastewater utilities. However, before we can make an informed decision on this I think we need more context, including a possible comparison to rates charged by neighboring communities.

Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

What you may not know: Week of July 15

It's a busy committee week for the Appleton Common Council, and here are some highlights:

Community and Economic Development, Monday, 5 pm

The CEDC Committee does not have any action items on their agenda this week, but they still have a hot topic to discuss. If you've been reading the Post Crescent you may already know about proposed plans to build an 180-unit apartment complex on the former Foremost Dairy site, which is along the Fox River south and west of the College Avenue Bridge.

A developer's proposal calls for a $15-25 million project that could start work yet this year if approved, but neighbors of the proposed facility are not pleased with the plans. The council recently received a petition signed by nearly all property owners in the surrounding neighborhood calling for this concept to be rejected, citing concerns about traffic and parking. Trying to fit hundreds more people into a relatively quiet pocket of the city would certainly cause some headaches.

While an apartment complex of this magnitude may not be the right fit for this location, the city does need to do something to get this space back on the tax rolls. We've already spent over a million dollars to rehabilitate and remediate the site, so finding a resolution that allows the city to recoup those costs is a top priority. Some of the petition signers and critics of the project want the space preserved as green space, but that's unlikely to be a feasible option.

A traffic impact study and the aforementioned petition are on the CEDC agenda for this week, and are likely to spark a fair amount of discussion.

Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm

An item of interest to residents of District 13 will appear before the Municipal Services Committee on Tuesday night. As part of this summer's reconstruction of Ballard Road, there is a proposal to remove some parking for a short distance on neighboring streets. Assuming the proposal passes, parking will be eliminated:

  • On the south side of Glendale Avenue for the first 390 feet east of Ballard, 
  • On both sides of Glendale for the first 215 feet west of Ballard, and
  • On both sides of Pershing Street for the first 215 feet west of Ballard.
This isn't a major change, but by my count it will eliminate on-street parking in front of roughly five residences on Glendale and an apartment building facing Pershing. I hope we'll have a conversation about why that's necessary before we inconvenience those residents in this way.

Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm

The lone action item on the Parks and Rec agenda this week is a resolution proposed by two members of the committee at last week's council meeting. It calls for recycling bins to be installed in all city parks near garbage receptacles, in an effort to encourage more recycling in the space.

This plan will come with some cost and will require plans to be made for recycling pickup, but I think it's a no-brainer. The city has done so much to encourage our residents to recycle and had great success in doing so, but parks are one place where recyclable items are going into the trash because of a lack of alternatives. We have the means to fix that and I hope we'll do so.

Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

What you may not know: Week of July 8

Good afternoon everyone, and I hope you're enjoying this beautiful day. It's a quiet week for Appleton's Common Council. The full council will meet tonight but the agenda is short and the only item of significant interest to District 13 is approval of a consolidated action item to add concrete, curb and gutter to the previously unfinished portions of Ashbury Dr, Glory Lane and Intertech Drive. I discussed that work in this space three weeks ago.

Road Construction update

While it should be a relatively quiet week in the council chambers, it won't be quite as quiet on several neighborhoods in District 13. Road construction projects have recently wrapped up on Benvalley, Applecart and Sourapple Drives and are getting ready to ramp up on Ashbury and Appleview. Work on the latter streets was actually scheduled to begin on Monday but was pushed back a couple of days due to rainy conditions.

Here are three things I've recently learned about the construction projects that you may not have heard:

  • The crew working on Ashbury is expected to start with the NORTH side of the road. The south side will remain open to one-way traffic until the north side is completed.
  • Both Ashbury and Appleview Drive are still on scheduled to be completed by the end of August.
  • Assuming the council approves the other work to be done on Ashbury, Glory and Intertech tonight, those projects will start on Monday, July 15.

Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.