Tuesday, May 27, 2014

What you may not know: Week of May 27

Despite the off day on Monday, the Appleton Common Council has one of the busiest committee weeks I've experienced on tap this week. Here are some of the agenda items I'm watching:

Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm

Bike lanes have been one of the most often and at-length discussed items during my tenure on the council, and that conversation is likely to heat up again following a resolution from three alderpersons calling for portions of five more streets to receive bike lanes in coming years. You can see all the details of specific street locations and timeframes on the Municipal Services agenda, but here's a quick synopsis:

  • Portions of Capitol Drive in 2014, the remainder in 2015.
  • Portions of Prospect Avenue in 2015.
  • Roemer Road in 2015.
  • N. Oneida Street in 2015.
  • Telulah Avenue in 2018.
All of these projects will require on-street parking to be removed from one or both sides of the street, and coincide with construction projects featuring bike lanes on other portions of the street or a nearby street. Adding bikes lanes here concurrent to other projects will help create a more cohesive bike network around the city and eliminate some of the patchwork nature of our existing routes.

Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm

Our ongoing review of special assessment policies in the city will continue on Wednesday afternoon at the Finance Committee. Last week we spent an hour as a council hearing a presentation on the existing policy (you can see the video from that meeting on the city's Legistar page), and this week we'll receive another presentation on possible alternatives and new practices we could consider if we do decide to make a change.

This is another key step in the process to ensure we're making an informed decision when we finally get to debate this issue. We're talking about pretty significant budgetary decisions here, so it's critical that we all understand the facts and practices in play before making any major changes.

Also at this meeting, the committee will discuss a staff recommendation that would be a setback for the efforts to build a skate park in Telulah Park. Bids for the project were opened last week and came in well more than $100,000 over budget, putting us in a position where it would be tough to find a way to accept the bid and still remain fiscally responsible. 

Our action item on Wednesday is a staff recommendation to reject the bids, with the intention that the plans will be reviewed and sent out for bids again within the next couple of months. It's tough to accept that recommendation given all the work that's gone into getting us to this point, but if all goes well this setback may only cost us a month or two.

Safety and Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm

Sticking with the skateboard theme, last week at our full council meeting I was one of three alderpersons to co-submit a resolution calling for a review of city ordinances regarding skateboarding. Our policies regarding banned locations for skateboarding and the penalties for being caught have not changed since 1992.

Over the past 20 years I think attitudes toward skateboarding have changed a bit. A hobby that used to be primarily associated with undesirable attitudes and habits has now become an activity that we're actively encouraging as a city by doing things like the planned skate park. I don't know what, if anything, we'll change as a result of this review but I think it's time to take another look at this issue and see if there are updates worth making.

You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule 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.

Monday, May 19, 2014

What you may not know: Week of May 19

As the weather gets warmer, it's only natural for all of us to want to get outside a little more often. The Appleton Common Council will meet at 7 pm on Wednesday night, and one potential new outdoor activity is on our agenda.

Pedal pubs

I wrote pretty extensively about pedal pubs in last week's update, but here's an update on where the issue stands: Three alderpersons from the Safety & Licensing Committee recently proposed a resolution that would ban alcohol on quadricycles in Appleton, and the committee recommended the resolution for approval by a 3-1 vote (I was the lone nay vote).

That recommendation comes before the full council this week, and I'm hopeful we can overturn it. As I mentioned last week, there are dozens of examples across the Midwest and the US of pedal pubs operating harmlessly, being regulated but not banned. Relatively local examples exist in Milwaukee and Madison, the Twin Cities and more.

I think this could be a fun addition and draw to our downtown, and other communities have pretty clearly demonstrated that it can be done safely. I see no reason why Appleton should be different from the other places where this is allowed.

Special assessments

One of Wednesday's most newsworthy events may actually happen before the scheduled council meeting, as we have a 6 pm informational presentation scheduled on the city's special assessment policy. The policy has drawn a lot of attention in recent months as an increasing number of our constituents have asked us to look at eliminating the process which is currently used to pay for street and sewer construction, improvement and reconstruction.

I'm very interested to see if we can find another way to finance our ongoing work without having to lean so heavily on abutting property owners. This is a complex issue with a lot of moving parts, though, so we're going to need multiple conversations like this one to really get a grasp of the situation.

You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule 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.

Monday, May 12, 2014

What you may not know: Week of May 12

The Appleton Common Council has a busy committee week planned, and here are some of the items I'm watching:

Transit Commission, Wednesday, 3 pm

For several years now Valley Transit has operated a somewhat popular service called "the Connector," which helps potential VT riders get to work and other obligations that require transportation before or after fixed-route bus service is available for the day. The service is used almost entirely for employment purposes, carrying passengers that work early or late shifts at businesses around the community.

A recent change in federal funding models, however, has had a significant impact on the Connector. A federal fund that used to provide money specifically for its operation has gone away, and local partners and agencies that have combined to fill in the financial gap in the past (most notably the United Way) are not in a position to simply replace that income.

As such, the Transit Commission, which currently consists of eight members from communities around the valley, will hold a public hearing on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of raising the far for The Connector by one dollar, from $3+bus fare for passengers coming from outside the "Connector Zone" and $5 for trips within the zone to $4+bus fare and $6, respectively.

Transit fare increases are always a touchy subject because they tend to have a significant impact on people who can least afford it. At present, though, it looks like raising the fare may be the only way to find the resources to continue to operate this important service.

Also at this meeting, the Transit Commission is expected to vote on a proposal to expand their membership from eight to 15 members to allow us to better represent all of the communities served by Valley Transit.

Safety & Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm

A day after the Transit Commission meets to discuss the Connector, one of the Safety & Licensing committee's action items Thursday night deals with another vehicle you may soon be seeing around the city.

Recent state legislation has legalized quadricycles, or "pedal pubs" that can be driven on city streets while passengers drink beverages they've brought on board. The state law allows municipalities to decide how they'd like to handle this, and a few weeks ago several members of the committee (everyone but me, basically) expressed interest in passing an ordinance barring alcohol consumption on these vehicles.

Appleton apparently has at least one entrepreneur interested in starting a quadricycle business, which has already experienced some success in Milwaukee and Madison, Minneapolis and Rochester, Minnesota, Des Moines, Iowa, Grand Rapids, Michigan and many more places across the midwest and the nation.

I'm likely fighting a losing battle on this one (with the committee, at least), but I think we'll be making a mistake if we ban a potential tourism draw for our city that has pretty clearly been proven to be workable and safe elsewhere.

You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule 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.

Monday, May 5, 2014

What you may not know: Week of May 5

After a week off (on months with five Wednesdays, there typically aren't council meetings scheduled during the fifth week), the Appleton Common Council returns to action with a full council meeting on Wednesday night. It's likely to be a relatively quiet meeting, but here are a couple of items I'll be watching:

Car shows in parking ramps

Two weeks ago the Municipal Services Committee voted 2-2* to recommend denial of a request from two residents to make an exception to the city's Parking Ramp Usage Policy to allow a car show to be held on the top three levels of the city's Green Parking Ramp. The Green ramp, if you're not familiar, is the one located immediately east of the Performing Arts Center.

The residents requesting this exception have come to us on previous occasions to explain their desire to hold an event in this location. There are some challenges involved in allowing people to gather in the ramp, most notably the somewhat difficult access for emergency vehicles and the lack of restrooms in this space. The applicants attempted to address these concerns at the Municipal Services meeting, noting that other nearby businesses have volunteered to allow their restrooms to be used and the elevator would still be available for emergency services.

There is also some precedent for doing this in other cities. Follow this link for one example, a Volkswagen event in Oshkosh.

I plan to support this request. I recognize that allowing new events and new types of events does present a risk, but I think the city's potential exposure is somewhat limited here. Furthermore, I think this represents another great opportunity to bring more people to our downtown for a fun event.

* - One of the five committee members was excused from the meeting, making an evenly-split vote possible. In cases like this where a majority of members do not vote to approve a request, it's listed as a recommendation to deny.

Scheig Learning Center and Appleton Memorial Park Arboretum and Gardens

Two weeks ago the Parks and Recreation Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of a draft of a rental and fee policy for the area formerly known as the Gardens of the Fox Cities at Memorial Park. The city resumed control of this facility and the surrounding gardens this spring when the group that had been running it elected to cease operations.

Over the last few months we've received a lot of community input and heard a lot of concern about the future of this popular city feature. This rental policy represents a big step forward in our efforts to reopen this space for public use, and may actually allow a great number of people to use it: Our rental fees are significantly lower than what had become the going rate for this space, which should open it up for more segments of the community to have an opportunity to host events here.

Assuming this recommendation passes council on Wednesday night, the Parks and Recreation Department should be able to start taking reservations for the space first thing Thursday morning.

You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule 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.