Monday, December 19, 2016

What you may not know: Week of December 19

With the Christmas holiday rapidly approaching and a likely light schedule for the Appleton Common Council for the committee week between Christmas and New Year's Day, this is likely my last update of 2016. Let's start off with a couple of updates on items from last week:

Police Union Contract

Last week the Human Resources and Information Technology Department voted unanimously to approve a new three-year labor contract with the Police Professional Association calling for 2.5% in total raises in 2017 and 2018 (with each year's increase broken into two parts) and 2% in 2019. Assuming council approves this measure, the city should be done negotiating labor contracts for a couple of years.

Updated Towing Ordinance

Last week the Safety & Licensing Committee voted 5-0 to recommend approval of changes to the city's ordinances regarding the "next wrecker up" list used to select towing companies called when a vehicle needs to be towed and the owner either expresses no company preference or is unable to express a preference.

The updated ordinance contains language setting maximum fees that can be charged for towing services, with the goal of creating some level of uniformity in fees among city-generated towing calls. It also establishes a consistent set of office hours for owners of towed vehicles to retrieve their vehicles and/or belongings, and provides a better set of procedures for the city in the event a towing company has to be suspended and/or removed from the list.

Parks and Recreation Reciprocity Agreements

This item is unlikely to be controversial, but I wanted to highlight another extension to a longstanding cooperation agreement with our neighboring communities that helps us all serve our constituents better.

For over 15 years now the City of Appleton has had reciprocity agreements with the cities of Menasha and Neenah regarding our Parks and Recreation programming. This allows residents of all three cities to use each other's pools, recreation programming and boat launches and reserve park pavilions for events at the resident fee. Last week Appleton's Parks and Recreation Committee voted unanimously to extend both of these agreements for five more years, ensuring cooperation through 2021.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

What you may not know: Week of December 12

First of all, thanks to everyone that has reached out over the last week to offer to sign my nomination petition to help me get back on the ballot to continue to represent the 13th district in the spring elections. I'm happy to report that I've received all of the signatures I needed and turned in my nomination petition on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, due to scheduling issues around the budget season and Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, this week is the only completely uninterrupted committee week on the Appleton Common Council calendar in the months of November and December. As such, we've got a great deal to cover on several busy agendas. Here are some of this week's highlights:

City Plan Commission, Monday, 4 pm

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the City Plan Commission (which includes one representative from the Common Council, the Mayor, a representative of the Department of Public Works and four citizen members) has been given the opportunity to be the first body to review the updates to the city's strategic plan. This week we have our second review session scheduled and we'll be discussing the following chapters:

  • Transportation
  • Utilities and Community Facilities
  • Agriculture and Natural, Historic and Cultural Resources
  • Economic Development
I didn't live-tweet my pre-reading of the chapters this time, but I did scribble down a couple of interesting notes from my homework:
  • A theory that a reduction in on-street parking and our city requirements for business parking may be depressing the value and development opportunities for properties along portions of Wisconsin Avenue and Richmond Street.
  • A note that Appleton International Airport has grown from 28 acres in 1965 to 1,697 acres today.
The discussions surrounding the strategic plan have been a tremendous opportunity to gather a full overview of the state of the city, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of them.

Human Resources & Information Technology Committee, Monday, 5 pm

Among the items on this committee's agenda on Monday is a request to recommend approval of the city's new three-year union contract with the Police Professional Association.. The tentative agreement includes 2.5% in total raises in 2017, 2.5% in 2018 and 2% in 2019, with each year's increases broken down into two separate bumps during the calendar year. 

While Act 10 has greatly decreased the number of union positions in municipal government, the city still has three active unions: Police, Fire and Valley Transit. If this deal is approved by the committee and council, all three will have reached agreements on new contracts this year.

Finance Committee, Tuesday, 4:30 pm

I strongly suspect that a proposed ordinance to allow members of the council to attend meetings electronically is the council's longest-standing active item at this point: The resolution was originally proposed in June of 2015 and has been held ever since as staff and alderpersons have worked together to test and improve technology in the council chambers to ensure that alderpersons attending meetings electronically will be able to effectively follow and participate in discussion and remotely attending alderpersons' participation in the meeting will be able to be accurately recorded as part of meeting video.

The item is back on the Finance Committee's agenda on Tuesday and I look forward to hearing what, if anything, has changed to bring this item back to our attention.

Board of Health, Wednesday, 7 am

For the second consecutive month the Board of Health will again discuss the possibilities of allowing a limited number of chickens on residential properties within the city. I mentioned this item when it came before the board last month. This month it is again only being discussed as an informational item, but the discussion will include drafted regulations for how chicken keeping in the city could work and a draft of the proposed application.

Again, this week's discussion is information only, and the Board will not take official action on this item until, at the earliest, their meeting in January.

Safety & Licensing Committee, Wednesday, 6 pm

On Wednesday night the Safety & Licensing Committee will be asked to make a recommendation on proposed changes to the city's towing ordinance. I mentioned some of the work being done behind the scenes on this issue in my previous update.

The city currently maintains a rotating list of towing companies which they call when the Police Department needs to move a citizen vehicle, frequently following an accident or arrest. The vehicle is towed by the next towing company up on the rotating list, and billed by that company.

Issues with our existing towing ordinance, however, have led to inconsistencies in what customers may be charged for similar towing operations and/or differences in the hours a towing company may be open to allow them to retrieve their vehicle or items locked inside. Additionally, the current ordinance isn't always clear regarding what types of infractions can lead to removal or suspension from the list and how a revocation can be appealed.

Over the last several months our city attorneys and the Police Department have done a great deal of work to overhaul this ordinance and create a more consistent practice. The ordinance changes are being presented to the towing companies at their mandatory meeting with the Police Department this week, will come before the committee on Wednesday and could be approved by the Common Council as soon as next week.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, December 5, 2016

What you may not know: Week of December 5

Before I get to this week's council update, I have a bit of housekeeping to take care of:

Nominations for council positions in the city's odd numbered districts (including mine, the 13th) are open and I'm planning on seeking re-election this April. This week I'll be looking for signatures on my nomination petition to get back on the ballot to seek my third term. If you live in the 13th aldermanic district and would be willing to sign, please contact me via my Facebook page, call me at (920)574-2092 or leave a comment on one of our neighborhood social media pages to let me know. Thank you in advance.

The Appleton Common Council has a regularly scheduled full council meeting on Wednesday night, but it will likely be brief as we have very few committee recommendations from the Thanksgiving committee week to take care of. However, I was still busy during our scheduled council off week last week, and here are a couple of issues I'm currently working on behind the scenes:

  • Over the last year I've heard an increasing number of concerns regarding parking issues around USA Youth Soccer Complex on the days of tournaments and other large events. I'm currently working to set up a meeting between stakeholders on this issue (three city departments, myself, USA Youth Inc. and the Appleton Soccer Club) to discuss any changes that can be made to improve this situation before the season kicks off again in the spring. It's my understanding that this item will be on the USA Youth board meeting agenda on 12/21, so I'm hopeful we can get to work on this after the first of the new year.
  • Additionally, as part of my role as chair of the city's Safety & Licensing Committee, I've been asked to help with revisions and suggestions for an upcoming (and long-needed) update to the city's Towing Ordinances. Last week I met with two of our city attorneys and a representative from the Appleton Police Department to review and suggest potential changes to this proposal, which is scheduled to go before the committee next week.
No official action will be taken on either of these items this week. However, both items are likely to come up in future updates in the weeks and months to come.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, November 21, 2016

What you may not know: Week of November 21

As you might expect, the City of Appleton has a relatively quiet committee week built around the Thanksgiving holiday. All of our normal Tuesday and Wednesday committee meetings are either cancelled or postponed this week due to the holiday and Tuesday night's Christmas parade. In addition, November is a five Wednesday month, so there are very few scheduled meetings next week on the week of the fifth Wednesday. As such, this is likely to be my final update until Monday, December 5.

With that said, there are still a couple of meetings scheduled for tonight with a couple of notable items on their agendas:

City Plan Commission, Monday, 4 pm

This week the Plan Commission starts what should be an interesting task, reviewing proposed amendments to the first five chapters of the city's 2010-30 Comprehensive Plan. State statute requires the city to have a comprehensive plan that takes 14 goals into consideration:

  • Promotion of the redevelopment of lands with existing infrastructure and public services and the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing residential, commercial and industrial structures;
  • Encouragement of neighborhood designs that support a range of transportation choices; 
  • Protection of natural areas, including wetlands, wildlife habitats, lakes, woodlands, open spaces and groundwater resources; 
  • Protection of economically productive areas, including farmland and forests; 
  • Encouragement of land uses, densities and regulations that promote efficient development patterns and relatively low municipal, state governmental and utility costs; 
  • Preservation of cultural, historic and archaeological sites; 
  • Encouragement of coordination and cooperation among nearby units of government; 
  • Building of community identity by revitalizing main streets and enforcing design standards; 
  • Providing an adequate supply of affordable housing for individuals of all income levels throughout each community; 
  • Providing adequate infrastructure and public services and an adequate supply of developable land to meet existing and future market demand for residential, commercial and industrial uses; 
  • Promoting the expansion or stabilization of the current economic base and the creation of a range of employment opportunities at the state, regional and local levels; 
  • Balancing individual property rights with community interests and goals; 
  • Planning and development of land uses that create or preserve varied and unique urban and rural communities; and 
  • Providing an integrated, efficient and economical transportation system that affords mobility, convenience and safety and that meets the needs of all citizens, including transit dependent and disabled citizens. 
Long term planning can be a bit of a challenge for local governments, as the common council cannot take any action to bind future councils. As such, the decision to stick to any plan approved by a previous council will belong to whoever sits on the council at the time. With that said, the plan update contains a fair amount of information and recommended steps to take in the years ahead. I completed my review of the first five chapters on Friday and shared several notes on Twitter about items that stuck out to me.

Parks & Recreation, Monday, 6 pm

Later tonight, the Parks and Recreation Committee will be asked to make a recommendation on the 2017 rates for Reid Golf Course.

Reid Golf Course is a city-managed enterprise fund, meaning it stands apart from the city's general fund, receives no property tax dollars and is supposed to sustain itself with its own golf revenues. Its financial situation is currently stable but its long-term outlook is uncertain, and it still owes $155,000 on an interest-free general fund advance it borrowed from the city in 2002 and isn't scheduled to finish paying back until 2025.

The vast majority of the golf course's revenues are generated via greens fees, of course, and the golf course's challenging financial situation makes it extra important to find the perfect balance for rates that maximizes revenue without having a negative impact on demand. This year staff's recommendation for the rates includes no actual increase for most rounds, but a shift to publishing and advertising rates that include sales tax.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, November 7, 2016

What you may not know: Week of November 7

Our normal committee week schedule will be derailed a bit this week by our adoption of the 2017 city budget, which is scheduled for Wednesday night at 6 pm. However, there's still a fair amount going on to talk about:

City Plan Commission, Monday, 4 pm

A recent issue involving special assessments will lead to an interesting conversation this week on zoning.

Across the city, when properties are special assessed they're billed based on their zoning, which may or may not reflect their actual use. For example, the 200 block of N. Fair Street, which is near downtown, is zoned as commercial property (the city's intended future use for this space) but currently contains single family homes. The special assessment rates for commercial properties are much higher than single family properties.

Last week Alderman Bill Siebers submitted a resolution calling for that specific group of properties to be rezoned to reflect their current use, and for staff to locate any properties across the city that may be in similar situations for further consideration for rezoning.

There's a lot to unpack as we discuss the specific and general topic of zoning and whether it should reflect the present or future planned use of spaces. I'm looking forward to this discussion.

Board of Health, Wednesday, 7 am

A frequently-discussed issue is back on a committee agenda this week as the Board of Health will meet on Wednesday morning to discuss the possibility of allowing chickens in the city.

This is a very polarizing topic for people, and I've received a fair amount of contact from residents on both sides of it. I also have some firsthand experience with this issue, as I used to live in a city that allowed residents to keep hens. It's been my experience that urban chickens, if properly regulated, do not cause major issues. Proper regulation includes limiting urban chickens to hens (no roosters), placing a limit on the number of chickens on a city lot and requiring bedding be regularly changed out to avoid odor issues. If those requirements are met, you're probably more likely to experience issues with your neighbor's dog or leaf blower than their chickens.

I'm sure we'll see extended debate on this issue on Wednesday morning, and I'd be surprised if that's the last time.

City budget adoption, Wednesday, 6 pm

Finally, the week's (and perhaps the year's) main event.

Wednesday is the final opportunity for alderpersons to make amendments to the 2017 Appleton City Budget before it is officially adopted. City staff asked for proposed amendments to be submitted in writing by Thursday afternoon, which was a pretty tight window given that the budget public hearing was only held on Wednesday night. Last I had heard, no amendments were submitted prior to that deadline. The entire budget is open for discussion on Wednesday night, however, and I do expect amendments to be proposed during that debate.

Personally, this year I have one budget amendment to propose, and I've already sent my apologies to staff for submitting it after the deadline. It covers the following:

  • Eliminating $8900 in rent the city pays to Reid Golf Course for usage of the facility for winter programs. Reid Golf Course still owes the city's general fund $155,000 on an interest-free loan from 2002, so I've asked for the rent to be applied to that debt instead of paid to the Golf Course Fund.
  • Reducing the Common Council's Training and Conferences budget by $554.
  • Funding a request from the Police Department to purchase ten additional body-worn cameras for police officers at a cost of $9454.
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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, October 31, 2016

What you may not know: Week of October 31

Before I get to the update, I'd like to remind you again that early voting continues in the City of Appleton. Voting will be open for Appleton residents at the City Clerk's office on the 6th floor of 100 N Appleton St from 8 am-4:30 pm each weekday this week. I'll be there helping out this afternoon. Tuesday afternoon, Thursday morning and Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, this time of year the budget is the primary focus of the City of Appleton's Common Council. Here's a quick breakdown of what's taken place recently:

  • On Friday, October 21 I finished my review of the budget and pre-submitted 64 questions via emails to department heads. 
  • On Saturday the Finance Committee met for six and a half hours to go department-by-department through the 668-page 2017 budget. This was the committee's first opportunity to make amendments to the budget, but none were made at this time. I did get an opportunity to remove a lot of post-it tabs from my budget book.
That brings us to this week:

Budget Public Hearing, Wednesday, 6 pm

Each year before our first scheduled common council meeting in November we open up the floor for members of the public to comment on the next year's budget. There is no specific agenda for this discussion, just an open opportunity for members of the public to share their views with the full council present. Aside from this public hearing, no official action will be taken on the budget this week.

From here, the next steps are as follows:
  • As a courtesy to staff and fellow alderpersons, any member of the council wishing to make amendments to the 2017 budget is asked to submit them in writing by Thursday.
  • The city will adopt the 2017 budget at a special meeting at 6 pm on Wednesday, November 9. This is the last chance to make amendments before the budget is finalized.
At 7 pm Wednesday or shortly following the conclusion of the public hearing, council will also hold our regularly scheduled meeting. Here are a couple of items of interest on that agenda:

Intergovernmental short term loans

For many years now the City and the Appleton Area School District have had intergovernmental agreements to address working cash challenges throughout the year via short-term loans. The cash flows and needs of the city and schools fluctuate throughout the year, sometimes leaving one short on working capital while the other has the capacity to briefly make a loan.

Last week the Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of another intergovernmental agreement for the next year to continue this practice. The amount of the loans is capped at $14.5 million, must be paid off no later than June 30, 2017 and the interest rate would be set at 2% above the average Federal Funds Rate for the duration of the loan.

This is another example of the value of having good working relationships with other local governments. We both have the opportunity to help each other and save the other from having to pursue more expensive or difficult means to meet short-term working capital needs.

2017 Community Block Grant allocations

In recent updates I've mentioned ongoing work to plan for and allocate $528,000 in anticipated awards from the federal government's Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of their Community Development Block Grant program. That work continues this week as council will be asked to decide on how to divide $137,586 among 13 community partner organizations that have applied.

Last week the Community and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of the recommendation of a six-member advisory board. Those recommendations were as follows:
  • The Mooring Programs, Inc would receive $36,213 of their requested $62,200 to rehabilitate housing units for residential treatment services for individuals with substance abuse disorders.
  • Salvation Army Fox Cities would receive $22,173 of their requested $38,079 towards a roof replacement project at a building associated with their food pantry.
  • STEP Industries would receive $15,000 of their requested $37,300 to support vocational and support services to individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
  • Harbor House would receive $15,000 of their requested $27,500 to support counseling and advocacy staff work with women and children affected by domestic violence.
  • LEAVEN would receive $15,000 of their requested $25,000 to provide rental assistance to those at risk of homelessness.
  • Homeless Connections would receive $14,200 of their requested $20,000 to support staff positions and assist with utility bills.
  • NAMI would receive $10,000 of their requested $26,190 to support a Peer Specialist Training Program.
  • Fox Valley Warming Shelter would receive $10,000 of their requested $20,000 to support staff positions at their facility.
Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity, Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities, Compassionate Home Health Care, Goodwill Industries of Northeast Wisconsin and St. Vincent de Paul Society of Appleton all also requested grants but would not receive any money under the current recommendation.

As I mentioned above, the $528,000 figure is an estimate for the city's 2017 CDBG award, and any or all of these numbers could be adjusted next year to accommodate any difference between the anticipated award and the actual money received. For now, though, this provides a framework for grant funding for the year ahead.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, October 17, 2016

What you may not know: Week of October 17

I have been traveling for business these last few days (and won't be home until sometime Monday evening at the earliest), so I apologize if anyone has been attempting to reach me and has been unable to.

In the meantime, early voting starts today in the City of Appleton. Voting will be open for Appleton residents at the City Clerk's office on the 6th floor of 100 N Appleton St from 8 am-4:30 pm each weekday between now and November 4. If you come on the right day you may even see me there: I'm spending about 28 hours as an election volunteer over the next three weeks.

This week we also have our regularly-scheduled council meeting on Wednesday night. Here are updates on items that went before committees last week and are on our agenda this week:

  • Last Monday the Human Resources Committee voted 5-0 to recommend approval of a new contract with the union employees at Valley Transit. The new agreement calls for a 2% increase in wages across the board and moves Transit employees closer to the non-represented standard for dental and health insurance coverage.
  • Also at that meeting the committee voted 4-1 to recommend council salaries increase 2.5% in April of 2018. That would raise the annual rate to $6129.50 two years from now. I don't know that a 2.5% increase (or any feasible increase, really) will address the issues I mentioned last week, but I'm encouraged to see the committee taking a step in the right direction.
  • On Tuesday the Utilities Committee voted 4-0 to recommend approval of a wet stormwater pond to address flooding issues near Perkins Street. If approved, that project could happen in 2017.
  • Also on Tuesday, the Municipal Services Committee voted unanimously to support a county recommendation to reduce the speed limit on County Highway JJ between Lightning Drive and French Road to 45 miles per hour.
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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, October 10, 2016

What you may not know: Week of October 10

While the 2017 budget process remains at the forefront of everyone's minds, the Appleton Common Council also has the following notable items scheduled to come before committees this week:

Human Resources/Information Technology Committee, Monday, 5 pm

This week the HR/IT Committee will be asked to make a recommendation on a tentative agreement for a new one-year contract with with the Teamsters-represented employees at Valley Transit. The contract calls for a 2% increase in wages across all represented positions. The city and Valley Transit's other municipal funding partners would recoup some of that expense by moving Transit's employees onto or closer to the insurance plans the city currently provides to non-represented employees.

All of this needs to be considered in light of current economic conditions: Upturns in the local economy have made it increasingly difficult for Valley Transit to fill vacant driver positions. I don't know if a 2% pay increase will help with that issue, but wage competitiveness during times of economic growth is a challenge we have to be cognizant of.

Speaking of wages, the committee will also be asked to make a recommendation regarding aldermanic salaries for the year following the April 2018 elections. These decisions are made well in advance so no member of the council is voting on their own salary: By the time this change goes into effect we'll all have faced re-election and our seats could potentially have turned over at least once.

The current aldermanic salary is $5921 per year, and is scheduled to increase to $5980 in April of 2017. Alderpersons also have the option of receiving a parking pass for the city's Blue Ramp (which I have declined).That 1% increase in 2017 will only be the fourth raise alderpersons have received since 2001.

The low salary of this position creates a very real accessibility issue. While the workload related to being an alderperson varies from week to week and season to season, the simple action of attending assigned meetings occupies somewhere between 3-6 evenings every two weeks. Most alderpersons would make more money if they spent those evenings working somewhere for minimum wage or tending bar. And, of course, attending meetings isn't the only responsibility of this position. That's never more apparent than it is in October, when we're asked to review and make revisions to a 660-page city budget.

The wellbeing of our city, short and long-term, requires qualified candidates to be able to serve their community in this way. Our current low salary creates a barrier to entry for anyone who may wish to serve but cannot afford to donate their time.

Utilities Committee, Tuesday, 5:30 pm

On Tuesday the Utilities Committee will be asked to recommend approval of a significant stormwater project to reduce flooding issues near businesses on the city's southwest side.

In May the city awarded a contract to RA Smith National to evaluate opportunities to eliminate runoff from Cotter and Haskell streets that was flowing under a building along Perkins Street. RA Smith looked at ten possibilities to address the issue and staff is recommending the city pursue "Alternative G," which calls for the construction of a wet stormwater pond at a cost of $426,000. This project also appears in the 2017 city budget .

Some of the area impacted by the current flooding and the potential stormwater pond is currently undeveloped. The evaluation and alternative both take into account that the property is expected to be developed someday, and will likely make it easier to do so. As such, addressing this problem completely and soon will help raise the city's tax base sooner rather than later.

Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

The Municipal Services Committee agenda for Tuesday night includes an action item of specific interest to many of my neighbors in the 13th district: The speed limit along County Highway JJ.

Over my nearly four years as an alderman I've received a great deal of concerned phone calls and emails regarding the speed of traffic along Highway JJ as it passes North High School, a day care and the backs of many houses. The county has recently proposed a speed limit change from 55 to 45 miles per hour along the portion of the highway between Lightning Drive and French Road. This probably isn't as slow as many would like but it does reflect a significant improvement from the current situation.

Of course, County Highway JJ is a county highway, and as such Outagamie County has jurisdiction over the speed limit and will make the final decision. With that said, this week the committee has the opportunity to publicly support a change and I'm hopeful they'll do so.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

What you may not know: Week of October 3

The Common Council will hold our regularly scheduled full council meeting on Wednesday night, but odds are the day's biggest news will be sitting on our desk when we get there. The City of Appleton's 2017 budget is expected to be printed and distributed to members of council this week, at which point it will largely dominate schedules and conversations for the rest of the month.

I haven't seen this budget book yet, but each of the previous years' have been over 600 pages. Our window to review it is relatively brief, as our all day "Budget Saturday" Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for October 29 and I have made it a practice to have the first round of my budget questions (usually dozens of them) to department heads early in the week leading up to that.

This year's budget schedule is as follows:
  • Wednesday: Council receives the mayor's budget proposal.
  • Weeks of October 10 and 24: Individual department budgets appear as action items on committee agendas.
  • Saturday, October 29: The Finance Committee (with most or all of council present) meets all day to go over the budget. This is the first opportunity for amendments.
  • Wednesday, November 2: Council holds a public hearing on the budget.
  • Wednesday, November 9: Final amendments and budget adoption.
Between now and November 9 I anticipate taking the budget with me almost everywhere, including onto half a dozen airplanes. Oversight of the budget is almost certainly the single largest responsibility in this job, and doing it well requires making it a near full-time commitment this time of year.

Of course, in the meantime we also have a council agenda to take care of this week. Here are updates on the items I brought up last week:

  • The Parks & Recreation Committee voted 3-0 to recommend approval of modifications to the city's Recreation Program Fee Waiver Policy, after making an amendment to remove some of the potentially challenging language requiring a parent to have majority custody of a child to be eligible for family benefits. My concerns on this matter are now resolved and I expect it to pass without much issue.
  • The Municipal Services Committee voted 3-0 to recommend approval of a reconstruction design for Mary Street that will narrow the street on the west side to save four trees, but remove parking along the east side of the street.
  • The Community and Economic Development Committee voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the city's portion of the anticipated 2017 Community Development Block Grant funding, including the aforementioned $200,000 that had been proposed for property acquisition towards a possible "small home" community. At that meeting the clarification was made that the money is towards an affordable housing project and while small homes are one option for that project, other options will be considered. I expect there to be more conversation on small homes at a later date.
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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.



Monday, September 26, 2016

What you may not know: Week of September 26

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

Parks and Recreation, Monday, 6 pm

On Monday evening the Parks and Recreation Committee will be asked to make a recommendation on a request to make modifications to the city's Recreation Program Fee Waiver Policy. The goal of the policy is to ensure that all of the city's children have access to recreation programs and activities, including our two pools, regardless of household income.

The updated policy, however, contains some language I find somewhat troubling in the definition of "family." Under the updated policy, a child would be required to live at an address greater than 50% of the time to be eligible for "family" benefits. As someone who grew up with divorced parents, I have experience leading to both philosophical and practical issues regarding this suggested policy.

I'm hopeful that the committee will reconsider these proposed changes.

Municipal Services, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

In my last two updates (last week and two weeks ago) I've mentioned a dozen streets coming up for reconstruction in 2018 that were coming up for design approval. Ten of those 12 streets were approved at council last week but two, Mary Street and Catherine Street, were referred back to committee for further discussion around proposed compromises.

Both of these streets are in an older portion of the city where we come across a frequent issue: The trees planted along the terrace are large enough and have deep and wide enough root structures that it's very difficult to reconstruct the existing street at its current width without having to remove them. This creates a difficult choice, as saving the trees usually means narrowing the streets and creating issues related to parking and access.

Community and Economic Development, Wednesday, 5 pm

In my last two updates I've also mentioned the city's ongoing Community Development Block Grant process, which this year includes a city staff request to allocate $200,000 for land acquisition for a "small house community."

We first heard about this request two weeks ago, and at council last week I referred it back to committee for further discussion related to the following questions:

  • Staff has chosen to call these proposed homes "small" instead of "tiny," but I'd like more clarity on what that means in terms of square footage.
  • Currently, the city's zoning code does not allow new construction houses to be less than 900 square feet. At committee two weeks ago I received conflicting answers regarding what would need to be done to allow for a project involving smaller homes.
  • The city's portion of this project is slated for property acquisition, but I have yet to hear if that means we'll be owning the properties long term, donating them or selling them. If we're selling them, I do not know where the proceeds would go.
  • The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), who oversees these grants, requires that projects meet several criteria to ensure they're helping low-to-moderate income people. I do not know what, if any, steps we can take or plan on taking to ensure these properties end up with those that need help.
I'm looking forward to a robust continued conversation on this topic.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, September 19, 2016

What you may not know: Week of September 19

The Appleton Common Council will meet for our regularly scheduled full council meeting on Wednesday night, but we have a busy week of special meetings between now and then:

Appleton Redevelopment Authority, Tuesday, 10 am

On Tuesday the Appleton Redevelopment Authority has been called to review and consider approval of a development agreement for the former Foremost Dairy site along the Fox River, just south of the College Avenue bridge.

The proposed agreement with Alexander Company & Iconica calls for a senior living facility with approximately 99 units to be constructed on the site in Phase 1, with a projected assessed value of $15.7 million. The second phase could add an additional ~$2 million in assessed value via single-family homes or condominiums.

The agreement also includes financial assistance for the project via Tax Increment Financing, or TIF. The city's TIF contribution would be 25% of the tax increment value of Phases 1 and 2, not to exceed $4,267,500.

Tax Increment Financing is a frequently used tool to spur development in places where it would not happen without some level of assistance. It's a somewhat complicated process, but here's a quick attempt to explain it:

  1. The value of a property or collection of properties (and as such, its existing tax contribution) is determined. The amount of property tax revenue generated by that property is frozen for a period of time. 
  2. At this point the municipality involved (in our case, the city) can borrow against the "increment," the increased revenue they will receive in the future due to the increased value of this area.
  3. As the value of the property rises due to the development, the increased tax revenue generated by its increased value is used to pay off the debt.
It seems like there's a frequent misconception about how this process works: In the case of tax increment financing, no general fund (citywide property tax) dollars are used. The borrowing is contained and repaid by the TIF district, and does not impact the city's overall tax structure.

Community and Economic Development Committee, Wednesday, 6:30 pm

Elsewhere in significant transactions, on Wednesday the Community and Economic Development Committee will meet in special session to make a recommendation on staff's request to purchase 19.41 acres of property along the city's northwest boundary in the Town of Grand Chute. Assuming the purchase goes through, the property would be annexed into Appleton.

The requested selling price for the property, located at 210 W. Edgewood Drive, is $610,000 including due dilligence costs. That figure could go down if initial wetland delineation shows that large portions of the property would not be buildable. The funds needed for this purchase would come from the city's Industrial Park Land Fund and would not impact the general fund or property taxes.

Maintaining an adequate supply of commercial and industrial property for future development is critical to the ongoing growth of the city. Combined with a recently purchased property adjacent to this one, the city would have slightly less than 25 new acres, pending wetland delineation and utility connections, available in future years.

Common Council, Wednesday, 7 pm

Wednesday's Common Council meeting may be delayed due to a pair of special committee meetings scheduled to happen before we get started. With that said, once the meeting gets started our agenda will include the following items we discussed in last week's update:
  • Last week the Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend rejecting all bids on the Water Garden Redevelopment Project at the Scheig Center in Memorial Park due to bids coming in well over budget. In the meantime we've been able to do some of this work in-house and will have a smaller project to bid out next spring.
  • The Municipal Services Committee also voted unanimously to recommend approval of the designs for 12 streets scheduled for reconstruction during the 2018 road construction season.
  • The Community and Economic Development Committee voted to recommend approval of the city's portion of the 2017 Community Development Block Grant funding, including $200,000 towards a "small house development."
Of those three, the third is the only item I expect to be controversial at this week's meeting. Committee discussion on the Block Grant topic raised several important points, including the fact that our existing zoning code does not allow the types of structures that our "small house development" would likely entail. I'm looking forward to more discussion to learn more about this topic.


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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.




Monday, September 12, 2016

What you may not know: Week of September 12

The Appleton Common Council has a nearly full slate of committee meetings scheduled for this week, and here are some of the highlights:

Finance Committee, Tuesday, 4:30 pm:

On Tuesday the Finance Committee will be asked to make recommendations regarding the proposed awarding of several city contracts for work this fall, and one proposed rejection of bids.

The proposed rejection is for a project to redevelop the water garden at the Scheig Center in Memorial Park. The 2016 budget included $65,000 for the removal of the boardwalk and reconstruction of the water feature at that facility as part of an effort to improve accessibility and maintainability in that area. Unfortunately, the project received two bids and the lowest was $164,608.66, nearly $100,000 above budget.

Early indications show that the timing of this project may have been an issue, as contractors who decided to bid are heavily booked through the end of the year and may have built overtime labor rates and other premium costs into the bids.

Assuming the committee and council follow staff's recommendation to reject all bids, this project will likely be postponed to 2017 and re-bid in the spring.

Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

As we near the end of road construction season, it's time to start looking ahead to future projects. This week the Municipal Services Committee will be asked to approve design recommendations for 12 streets scheduled for reconstruction during the summer of 2018:

  • Lynndale Drive, from Leonard Street to Everett Street
  • Lincoln Street, from Olde Oneida Street to 230 feet east of Olde Oneida Street
  • Marquette Street, from Division Street to Oneida Street
  • Summer Street, from Morrison Street to Drew Street
  • Catherine Street, from Washington Street to North Street
  • Mary Street, from North Street to Pacific Street
  • The alley west of Perkins Street, from Charles Street to Perkins Street
  • Kamps Avenue, from Fire Station #5 to to Douglas Street
  • Drew Street, from Glendale Avenue to Pershing Street
  • Sanders Street, from Seymour Street to Verbrick Street
  • Reeve Street, from Linwood Street to Badger Avenue
  • Winnebago Street, from Linwood Street to Badger Avenue
Holding design hearings for these projects as early as possible is important because it gives us time to make any necessary changes or discuss for as long as we need without having to worry about deadlines for the following year's budget or issuing construction contracts. Again, these projects are scheduled for the summer of 2018.

Brief summaries of the recommended designs for each street are available here, in each item's description. If you have any further questions, I'd recommend you contact the Department of Public Works or email me (district13@appleton.org) and I can refer your question to someone who will be able to answer it.

Community and Economic Development, Wednesday, 5 pm

Finally, as budget season approaches, so too begins work on the 2017 Community Development Block Grant process. This week the Community and Economic Development Committee will hold a public hearing for constituent input on priorities for the available dollars and take the first steps to allocate an estimated $528,000 in available federal funds.

A portion of that money is proposed, per usual, to find several city projects that meet the funding guidelines of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development:
  • $80,290 for the city's Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program
  • $60,000 for the Appleton Housing Authority
  • $40,282 for the city's administrative costs for grant disbursement and monitoring.
Additionally, the Community and Economic Development Department is asking for $200,000 to fund property acquisition for a proposed "small home community." The initial goal for this project is to create five affordable housing units.

If this project is approved it will leave $147,428 available for local agencies to apply to receive at a future date. Last year the award process for these remaining funds was very competitive: Even after one applicant rescinded their request and another received no funding, four subrecipients of grant funding still received significantly less than their original request.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, August 22, 2016

What you may not know: Week of August 22

The Appleton Common Council is back in action this week with a partial schedule of committee meetings, and one item that will likely dominate the conversation:

Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

Months ago I mentioned that the city included funds in the 2016 budget for a look into the possibility of becoming a Railroad Quiet Zone and eliminating the loud train horns that can be heard in large portions of the city during the day and night. As you may have heard, our consultant has come back with their recommendations and this week the Municipal Services Committee will be asked for the first time to make a recommendation on their proposal.

This project required a full review of two dozen rail crossings in the city, and a review of the work that would be necessary to meet the minimum safety requirements to allow for trains to pass through without needing to sound their horns. At many crossings, the necessary work involves the installation of raised medians to prevent cars from going around the gates to cross the tracks. In one case, on Locust Street between College Avenue and Lawrence Street, the proposal does call for the closing of a street.

All told, the consultant's recommended series of improvements would cost around $785,000 and would have a pair of noticeable benefits:

  • The risk of train-related accidents at crossings in the city would be reduced around 14%, with a "risk index" decrease from 12,103 to 9777.
  • The entire train corridor through the city, from Prospect Avenue on the west end to Ballard Road on the east, would become a quiet zone.
For several districts in the central city, this is a pretty significant quality of life issue. While the trains are unlikely to ever be fully silent, eliminating train horns (especially during the overnight hours) should have a pretty significant impact on nearby residents and could result in an increase in property values down the road.

With that said, a proposed price tag of around $800,000 is also a significant expenditure and will likely generate a fair amount of discussion. I'm curious to see where this will go. The earliest this item could come before the full common council for a vote is Wednesday, September 7.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

What you may not know: Week of August 2

My apologies for a brief update this week, as (in my opinion) the most notable items coming before the Appleton Common Council at our regularly scheduled meeting this week are unlikely to be controversial. Here's a quick update on the action items I discussed in last week's post:

  • The Finance Committee unanimously recommended the 2017 Special Assessment policy for approval. The policy features at best minimal changes from what is currently in place for this year. The most newsworthy note to come from that discussion was a report that the revenue generated by the Wheel Tax is effectively replacing revenue lost by eliminating special assessments for street reconstruction, as intended.
  • The Community and Economic Development Committee also voted unanimously to approve a redistribution of 2016 Community Development Block Grant funding in response to one sub-recipient rescinding their request. The new proposal spreads an additional $15,460 between STEP Industries, Harbor House, Homeless Connections and LEAVEN.
Last week's most notable discussion, however, likely came at the Municipal Services Committee where we learned for the first time what it might take to make Appleton a 24-hour quiet zone for trains. Madeleine Behr of the Appleton Post Crescent did a great job outlining that presentation, which will likely generate much more discussion going forward. 

The short version of the story is that it is projected to cost somewhere between $600,000-$800,000 to improve safety measures at the city's 23 railroad crossings to qualify for quiet zone status. Some of those improvements could require closing a crossing, while others would include safety measures intended to make it more difficult or impossible to go around safety gates at crossings.

No official action will be taken on this item this week, but I thought it merited mentioning as an item that will likely generate significant discussion in the future.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, July 25, 2016

What you may not know: Week of July 25

The last full week of July is also a committee week for the Appleton Common Council, and here are some of the items of interest on various agendas:

Finance Committee, Tuesday, 4:30 pm

As part of the city's annual budget process, the Finance Committee and Common Council are asked to approve the city's special assessment policies for the following year during the summer. It's important that we take this up as early as possible because any changes could have 2017 budgetary implications.

The number of people impacted and the depth of impact felt due to special assessments has greatly decreased in recent years with the implementation of Appleton's wheel tax, which replaced the revenue lost by the elimination of assessments for street repairs. However, some assessments remain and, if any alderperson would like to propose changes to the system this is the time to do so. Personally, I have no amendments planned.

Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

Efforts to turn the City of Appleton into a "Railroad Quiet Zone" will take a step forward on Tuesday night as the Municipal Services Committee receives a study from SRF Consulting Group on what it would take to make this happen. While the railroad does not run through or significantly impact the 13th district, I still frequently receive complaints about the volume and timing of train horns in the city and can only imagine the number of complaints received by alderpersons in districts with tracks running through. I'm looking forward to seeing what it would take to alleviate this issue.

Community and Economic Development, Wednesday, 5 pm

Back in March the Common Council voted to approve a recommendation to allocate around $500,000 in federal dollars available through the Community Development Block Grant program based on the results of an extended application process and review. Unfortunately, some unforeseen circumstances are going to require us to reopen that discussion this week.

One of the measures the federal government uses to gauge the effective use of grant dollars is timely expenditure: Grant dollars are supposed to be given to projects that can start quickly and expend the money within a program year. In this case, that creates an issue for one subrecipient that is experiencing an unexpected delay in a program due to changing state regulations. On Wednesday the committee will be asked to recommend approval of a reallocation plan that reassigns that subrecipient's funds among four other organizations that did not receive their entire request. Here's a quick breakdown of the new allocations:

  • STEP Industries requested $30,000 and will now receive $24,398.50, up from $12,384.
  • Harbor House requested $27,500 and will now receive $22,383.50, up from $21,085.
  • Homeless Connections requested $20,000 and will now receive $16,758.50, up from $15,460.
  • LEAVEN requested $20,000 and will now receive $16,758.50, up from $15,460.
  • NAMI had previously requested $23,400 and was awarded $15,460, but has since rescinded their request.

This process is challenging because we receive so many worthwhile proposals for what to do with the money we have available, and we very rarely have the resources available to fund any of the Public Service requests in full. However, we remain grateful to the applicant organizations for their work in our community and do our best to distribute the funds available in an equitable fashion.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, July 18, 2016

What you may not know: Week of July 18

The Appleton Common Council will hold its regularly scheduled full council meeting on Wednesday at 7 pm. Both of this week's most notable (in my opinion) action items were discussed in last week's update, so I hope you won't mind that all I have this week is a brief update on their status:

  • On Monday the Parks and Recreation Committee voted 3-0 to recommend denial of a resolution calling for the city to allow leashed dogs in parks. I remain in favor of this change and I'm proud to be joined by over 700 petition signers, the Fox Cities Convention and Visitor's Bureau and Appleton Downtown Incorporated in supporting a change to our dated, fear-driven policies.
  • On Tuesday the Municipal Services Committee voted 4-0 to recommend approval of a request calling for the yield signs at the corner of Alexander and Lindbergh St (the northeast corner of Huntley Elementary School) to be changed to stop signs. This should pass council without debate or incident.
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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, July 11, 2016

What you may not know: Week of July 11

Good morning, folks. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July holiday. I spent mine up north visiting family. Now that I'm back, here's what on the agendas for our regularly-scheduled committee week:

Parks & Recreation, Monday, 6 pm:

One of the most contentious issues we've ever faced during my time on council returns to the spotlight this week, as the Parks & Recreation Committee will again be asked to consider a resolution to allow leashed dogs in Appleton city parks. Some of you will likely remember that this issue came up back in 2013, and was the subject of some pretty heated discussion at that time. To date, that discussion is the only time I've ever had to reply to a constituent email with the following:
Dear (redacted),
Thank you for your email. Please allow me to assure you that I do not have marbles in my brain.
I could go on for days on this issue (and over the coming months I'll likely get that opportunity), but for now I'll attempt to keep things brief by narrowing my argument down to a few bullet points:

  • There is plenty of precedent both within the Fox Valley (Neenah, for example) and beyond for allowing dogs in parks. The communities that have done so do not appear to be experiencing major issues with sanitation or safety as a result.
  • There's strong reason to believe our existing ordinance banning dogs in parks isn't actually keeping irresponsible pet owners out of parks. 
  • Furthermore, that irresponsible group represents a very small percentage of all pet owners and is not an acceptable reason to penalize all dog owners.
  • Encountering a leashed dog in a park, where you can give it a wide berth if you so choose, is actually less likely to cause an issue than encountering the same dog on a city sidewalk.
  • Having safe and controlled spaces to take a dog during training is a critically important part of the effort to have an obedient, well-socialized animal.
  • Having an unleashed, free-for-all dog park is not the same thing and does not offer the same training or socialization opportunities as having your leashed dog in a park.
  • We have anecdotal evidence to suggest that our policies on dogs in parks have caused dog owners to choose to visit or live elsewhere. 
I'm sure this issue is going to be contentious again in the weeks and perhaps months to come. At the end of the day, though, this is the simple reality for me: I'm not convinced that our current fear-driven policy is actually keeping anyone safer, but I do believe it's keeping a significant number of responsible people from enjoying our parks and making our community a less attractive place to visit and live.

Three years ago I asked council to please consider adopting a similar set of policies to what is currently established in state parks. The state rules include the following:
  • Pets must be on a leash (no longer than eight feet) and under control at all times. Pet owners who fail to control a pet or whose pet is creating a public nuisance may be asked to leave the park or issued citations.
  • Loose pets may be seized and treated as stray animals.
  • Pet owners are responsible for removal and disposal of waste products (just like they are on any other property).
  • Pets are not allowed inside buildings, in playgrounds, or places where food is being prepared.
I think this is a realistic framework for a compromise that would still leave our parks as a safe, usable space for all of the current users but also remove unnecessary restriction on our responsible pet owners.


Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

A long project will take an important step forward on Tuesday night when the Municipal Services Committee has their first chance to see the results of our ongoing Downtown Mobility Study presented by AECOM and Toole Design Group. I have not yet seen the presentation but I'm eager to hear their findings and I hope we'll find recommendations within that we can implement to make our downtown safer and more accessible for all users.

Additionally, on Tuesday the committee will be asked to consider a recommendation to replace the current yield signs with stop signs at the corner of Alexander and Lindbergh streets. That's the northeast corner of the Huntley Elementary School grounds. Due to a technical issue I'm currently unable to open the attachment to read the rationale for this change, but I suspect this move will make this intersection a little safer for the pedestrians that cross the road here each school day.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, June 20, 2016

What you may not know: Week of June 20

The first day of summer is also the first day of a busy committee week for the Appleton Common Council. While most of this week's discussions are unlikely to be controversial, I wanted to highlight a few discussions that I thought might shed some light on some of our processes:

Finance Committee, Tuesday, 4:30 pm

The Finance Committee has a relatively brief agenda for our Tuesday meeting, but one of the action items calls for the city to reject bids and postpone scheduled work on a stormwater lift station in Arbutus Park.

The 2016 budget allocated $140,000 for the construction portion of a project to rehabilitate this facility, which raises up stormwater in this otherwise low-lying area to allow it to flow downhill into the storm sewers instead of backing up into the park. Unfortunately, our bidding process for this portion of the project was not as successful as we would have hoped: The city received just one bid on the project, and at $215,000 it's more than 50% above budget.

Decisions like this put us in a tough spot. Certainly, no one wants to go over budget on any project. However, this project was in our budget for this year because this work does need to be done. In this case, the staff recommendation is to reject all bids and put the project out for bids again in the fall. There's no guarantee that we'll receive more or better bids at that point, but that's what we're hoping for.

Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

Later that same night the Municipal Services Committee will meet to discuss three items of significant potential long-term interest:

  • First, the committee will be asked to recommend approval of the city's "Complete Streets Policy," a set of guidelines to use when designing future street projects. This item would set the basic expectations for future road reconstruction around the city and identify what requests for variation would require an appeal.
  • Next, the committee will discuss next steps in the city's effort to become a Railroad Quiet Zone. There aren't a lot of details in with the agenda, but the information items calls for a discussion of "which option to pursue for property owner notification."
  • Finally, the committee also has an information item to provide an update on a previous resolution calling for the Public Works and Parks & Recreation Departments to create and share a new position to coordinate efforts to expand and improve bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the city. There's more to it than this, but the short version of this discussion is that a request to fund this proposed position has been sent to the mayor for his consideration as part of the 2017 budget.
Fox Cities Transit Commission, Wednesday, 3 pm

Of all the things I've had to deal with during my time on council, it's possible the funding mechanism for Valley Transit is the most complicated. The combination of federal and state funding that meets up with a local share split up among more than half a dozen municipalities (with contributions from three counties and various other organizations) creates a dizzying equation to attempt to follow.

This week we'll get another glimpse into that process as the Transit Commission will be asked to approve the acceptance of a pair of federal grants that will be combined with budgeted funds from previous years and a local share from the organization's depreciation fund to provide for the purchase of three new buses for the fleet.

The age, mileage and related reliability issues of the fleet is one of the greatest issues facing Valley Transit in its effort to remain viable for the long term. Three buses won't be enough to solve that, but it is a big step in the right direction and I'm glad to see forward progress on this front.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, June 13, 2016

What you may not know: Week of June 13

First off, my apologies for letting this blog lapse a bit. Here are my three excuses:

  • First of all, I try not to "cry wolf" and attract your attention to this space on weeks when I don't have anything of significant interest to discuss. We've had some quiet weeks as a council lately, and on those weeks I don't waste your time or mine by writing and asking you to read unnecessary updates.
  • Second, on a personal note, things like the Memorial Day holiday and my wedding anniversary led to me being out of town on a couple of weekends/Mondays when I would normally have written.
Anyway, enough excuses. I'm back at my desk now and here are some of the items we'll be discussing at our regularly scheduled Common Council meeting on Wednesday:

Cell phone towers

Several weeks ago I wrote about a Special Use Permit request from Verizon asking the city for permission to construct a new cell phone tower on Kesting Court, near the intersection of Northland Avenue and Meade Street. The proposed tower is very near multiple single-family homes (it could be as close as ten feet from the lot line adjacent to one property), which has raised a great deal of concern.

I share the residents' concern regarding this tower's impact value on their property values and quality of life. With that said, as I noted when a similar issue came up last summer, a 2013 amendment to state statute greatly limits our actions here. Full details on the statute are available at that last link, but the short version is that the city is not allowed to treat cell towers any differently than we would any other commercial building and cannot reject towers based on aesthetic concerns.

A vote to deny this permit would be a clear and blatant violation of state statute. I wish that both Verizon and the state had put us in a better position, but as we stand right now we have no choice but to allow this project to move forward.

South Oneida streetscape design

As the South Oneida Street reconstruction approaches, we've reached some of the decision points regarding the aesthetics of one of the most-trafficked entrances to downtown. Last week the Municipal Services Committee was asked to consider the Department of Public Works' recommendations for street lights in this area, and recommended a plan for approval (on a 3-1 vote) with the following amendments:
  • Adding semi-decorative city-owned LED lights from Roeland Avenue to the Skyline Bridge (except for one block) at a cost of $80,000.
  • Adding the same semi-decorative, city-owned LED lights on the bridge and up to Prospect Avenue at a cost of $40,000.
  • Replacing light poles from Wilson Street to the bridge with black fiberglass poles at a cost of $159,000.
All three of those amendments received at least one dissenting vote, so there was some controversy around the decision to add almost $280,000 in expenses to this project. I anticipate this item will receive significant debate again on Wednesday with a wide array of opinions on the value of decorative and/or uniform light fixtures.

Employee Health Clinic

Back in March I mentioned a proposal calling for the city and the Appleton Area School District to come together to work with Thedacare to provide a new health clinic for our employees and their families. Opening our own health clinic is projected to save the city a good deal in health care costs while providing employees more convenient access to acute, primary, occupational health and preventive care. At that time council approved a contract with Thedacare to provide this service at a space to be determined.

Last week the Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of two items: An intergovernmental agreement between the city and the school district regarding cost sharing for this project and a lease for space for the clinic near Thedacare Regional Medical Center Appleton (formerly known as Appleton Medical Center). Neither item generated any major debate, so it looks like this project should move forward without issue.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, May 9, 2016

What you may not know: Week of May 9

This week features a nearly-full slate of committee meetings for the Appleton Common Council, with nine meetings scheduled between now and Wednesday at 6 pm. To the highlights:

City Plan Commission, Monday, 4 pm:

It's been almost a year now since the city debated, initially rejected and eventually reconsidered a special use permit for a proposed new cell phone tower near West Wisconsin Avenue last July. This week the City Plan Commission will be asked to consider another such application off Kesting Court, which is near the intersection of Northland Avenue and Meade Street.

As I wrote last summer, recent changes to state law greatly limit the reasons why we could consider rejecting a permit of this nature. While I share the neighborhood's concerns about property values and safety around this facility, the state has largely tied our hands here.

Further north along Meade Street, the Plan Commission will also be asked to consider three related action items regarding a proposed community living arrangement (CLA) just north of the intersection of Meade and County Highway JJ, near Fox Valley Lutheran High School. The action items are a Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map Amendment, a re-zoning from R-1A (single family housing) to R-3 (multi-family housing) and a Special Use Permit.

Community Living Arrangement facilities serve a very clear need in our community, as our population ages and sees an increasing demand for senior care. However, as I've written previously, concentrating these facilities in one area of the city creates a significant risk of strain on resources. As I wrote at that link, the city currently has six active or under construction CLA facilities near the north end of the 13th district. This proposed facility is outside the district, but it's also served by Fire Station #6, which is tasked with responding to ambulance calls.

As part of the 2016 budget process we were made aware of the fact that ongoing growth on the city's north side was likely going to require the addition of a new fire truck and the hiring of additional firefighters to operate it for Fire Station #6. The costs of both a new truck and the ongoing salaries of its firefighters are very significant. Continuing to concentrate CLAs on the northeast side of the city will only increase the need to take on that expense.

Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

No official action will be taken in reaction to this report, but on Tuesday the Municipal Services Committee has an information item scheduled to present the annual crash overview for 2014, and the raw data shows some alarming numbers along Northland Avenue.

The report is available via the attachment at this link. Page 17 of the report shows the total crash counts at various intersections in the city, and the top five includes three intersections with Northland Avenue: Richmond Street, Ballard Road and Meade Street. Northland's intersections with Oneida Street and Mason Street also make the top 25. There are only six signalized intersections involving Northland Avenue in the city, and five of them are among our most dangerous.

Thankfully, work is underway to replace the Northland/Richmond intersection, which saw 27 crashes in this year of data. However, these numbers would seem to imply that there's more that could be done to make this corridor safe.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, April 25, 2016

What you may not know: Week of April 25

A new council year is underway, and this week the Appleton Common Council has its first full slate of committee meetings scheduled. This year I'm honored to be serving in the following groups:

  • Chairperson of the Safety & Licensing Committee (third year on committee, second year as chair).
  • Member of the Finance Committee (third year).
  • Member of the Fox Cities Transit Commission (fourth year).
  • Member of the City Plan Commission (second year).
I'm honored to be back in all of these roles, and grateful to the mayor and my colleagues for giving me this slate of opportunities for another year. I'm also hopeful to remain as the Finance Committee's representative on the Central Equipment Agency Review Committee. That appointment will be made this week.

This week's committee schedule includes a variety of housekeeping-type items, including electing vice chairs for each committee, setting committee schedules and the like. Beyond that, one item likely to be of some interest is on a pair of agendas:

Parks & Recreation, Monday, 6 pm
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

Appleton's municipal bicycle infrastructure, mainly bike lanes, has been one of the most hotly debated topics during my 3+ years on council as we've faced challenges at every opportunity to find a way for moving cars, parked cars and bikes to share the roads and build a network of bike-friendly routes across the city. 

Some of that debate will likely come up again this week as two committees are asked to consider a resolution submitted by Alderman Joe Martin calling for the city to have a shared employee between the Parks & Recreation and Public Works departments to develop new bicycle programs, seek and apply for grants and continue work to make the city a more bike and pedestrian friendly community.

We're still in the very early stages of this conversation, so a lot would need to be ironed out in terms of how this position would work. I think it's an interesting conversation to have, though, and I'm looking forward to the discussion.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, April 18, 2016

What you may not know: Week of April 18

A new council year begins this week as we swear in our one new council member, re-assign our standing committees and review our council rules before settling in for our regularly scheduled council meeting on Wednesday night.

Organizational Meeting, Wednesday, 6 pm

As I mentioned above, council has some housekeeping work to do this week to establish the framework for our new council year. At least once annually, as council turns over following the spring elections, we come together to review and consider amendments to our council rules. This year I have one proposed change related to holding meetings during winter storm events.

As I look out my office window this morning it's hard to believe that it was snowing about a week ago. Nonetheless, this winter's handful of heavy snow events brought an issue to the forefront regarding the way we schedule and hold meetings during the winter months. All of our committee and council meetings meet at the call of the chair, meaning it's up to our chairpersons to decide whether or not to cancel a meeting in the event of inclement weather or other factors. This creates some possibility for inconsistency: A few weeks ago during a snow emergency, for example, we had two meetings cancelled and one go on as scheduled.

There are a pair of challenges with holding meetings during snow events or times of extreme cold. The first, of course, is safety. One of the first things we hear during times of extreme weather is to avoid unnecessary travel. Holding public meetings during times where we're openly advising people to stay indoors and/or off the roads sends a challenging mixed message. As I said in the resolution, attending a meeting of the Appleton Common Council should not require citizens to expose themselves to potentially dangerous conditions. Additionally, snow events sometimes cause significant parking restrictions downtown, making it increasingly difficult for our constituents to reach our meetings.

This rule change could create some new challenges, of course: Notices for our public meetings announce a specific date and time, and moving those dates or times around does create confusion. Additionally, council occasionally faces items that have a critical timing element and being forced to cancel a meeting could create a time crunch there. However, I think the safety element has to take priority here.

Common Council, Wednesday, 7 pm (or shortly after the conclusion of the organizational meeting)

Once the organizational meeting concludes we'll move on to our regularly-scheduled council meeting. This week's highlights are all items we discussed in last week's post, so here's a brief update:

  • The City Plan Commission voted unanimously last Monday to reaffirm their recommendation for a rezoning on Schaefer Circle that would allow for additional multifamily housing to be developed near the existing facilities. They had previously voted 5-1 to recommend approval, so this is actually a stronger statement than they made before.
  • Last week the Municipal Services Committee voted 4-0 to approve a contract with TAPCO to purchase and install a Parking Access and Revenue Control System for city parking ramps to help with our transition to a "pay on exit" model and the ability to accept credit cards and parking validations.
  • Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday the Finance and Community and Economic Development committees, respectively, voted to recommend approval of staff's request to purchase 7+ acres of land just outside our borders in the Town of Grand Chute, and annex them into the city with the intention of using them someday as business/industrial property. The only major development from that conversation was the committee learning that the property owner immediately to the west of this property, who owns an additional ~20 acres, is also interested in selling.
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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.

Monday, April 11, 2016

What you may not know: Week of April 11

This is a bit of an unusual week for the Appleton Common Council, as our standing committees meet for one final time before (potentially) being rearranged a bit when our new council member is sworn in and a new council year begins next week.

Nonetheless, we have a busy set of agendas to consider this week. Here is what I'll be following:

City Plan Commission, Monday, 4 pm

Last week at council we referred back a proposed rezoning on Schaefer Circle that would allow an existing multifamily development to construct another apartment building on their site. Within the last two years the property has changed hands and new ownership has made significant improvements to the facilities, but the neighbors we've heard from still seem upset over the general lack of upkeep under the previous owners, impact on property values and additional traffic.

Back in March the City Plan Commission voted 5-1 to recommend this item for approval. To the best of my knowledge little has changed since then.

Municipal Services, Tuesday, 6:30 pm

Work continues on implementation of many of the objectives identified in last year's downtown parking study, and we'll take a big step forward over the next couple of weeks as council will be asked to approve a contract with TAPCO to purchase and install a Parking Access and Revenue Control System for three of the city's downtown parking ramps.

The new system will allow the city to transition to a pay-on-exit, time-based model instead of our existing pay-on-entry, flat fee existing model. It also allows for the installation of both "pay on foot" and "pay in exit lane" stations that will accept credit cards and a parking validation system. The cost of the purchase and installation of the new system is $650,000 and will be paid (to my understanding) by the Parking Utility, not general fund dollars.

Community and Economic Development, Wednesday, 5 pm

Finally, on Wednesday we'll be asked for the first time to consider a proposed purchase of a property along Edgewood Drive in the Town of Grand Chute that would then be annexed into the city of Appleton.

The property's address is 110 W. Edgewood Drive, which falls between Meade and Richmond Streets. It's currently a single-family home with an outbuilding on 7.29 acres of property but has been identified on the city's future land use map as Business/Industrial. The city's Comprehensive Plan calls for work to ensure "a continued adequate supply of industrial and commercial land to sustain new business development."

Staff is asking for approval to offer $299,900 to purchase this property, which is about $41,000 per acre. The offer includes several contingencies, including inspections and feasibility studies to ensure no pre-existing issues with or under the site and buildability of the site going forward. The money to purchase this site would come from the city's Industrial Park Land fund, and would not need to be borrowed.

I'm looking forward to a discussion this week on this property's possible future use, the price and the impact on neighboring properties.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.





Tuesday, April 5, 2016

What you may not know: Week of April 4, Election Day edition

Good morning folks,

I'm quite pressed for time today so I hope you'll forgive me for skipping my usual update, but while I have a moment I did want to remind everyone that today is the spring election in Appleton, so please get out and cast your vote. In addition to the presidential primary you've likely heard about, today voters across the city will also have contested races for mayor and the state supreme court.

If you live in the 13th district, your polling location is Faith Lutheran Church, at 3100 E Evergreen Drive. If you don't live in the 13th district or you're not sure, you can find your polling location at my.appleton.org. The polls are open from 7 am-8 pm today, and this time you are required to present a photo ID.

Thanks for reading and voting, and have a great day!

Monday, March 21, 2016

What you may not know: Week of March 21

We're back onto a committee week for the Appleton Common Council, and here are the items I'll be watching:

Parks & Recreation, Monday, 6 pm

The pool at Erb Park has been one of the more contentious issues we've discussed recently as a council, and the project will take another step forward this week as the Parks & Recreation Committee gets its first opportunity the review a pair of proposals for the new facility. No action will be taken on this item at this meeting.

MSA Professional Services, the organization handling design of the new facility, recently held a public input session at Memorial Park where they presented a pair of options. You can see Communications Coordinator Chad Doran's story on that event here, or view the full presentation for yourself if interested.

A vote to approve a final plan will be coming in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, the project remains on schedule. The pool will be open for one last season in its current form in 2016, with construction beginning immediately following the season and a new pool ready for 2017.

Additionally, on Monday the committee will be asked again to make a recommendation regarding a resolution calling for the site of the city's former water plant to be renamed Ellen Kort Peace Park, in honor of Wisconsin's first poet laureate. This process has been delayed a bit, but in the end I do not expect it to be controversial.

Finance, Tuesday, 4:30 pm

The process of closing the book on the 2015 city budget is just about wrapped up, and one of the final steps will happen this week as the Finance Committee is asked to make a recommendation on requests to carry unspent 2015 budget dollars over for 2016 projects.

The budget carryover requests can be divided into three groups:

  1. The items labeled "not under contract" are projects that were budgeted for 2015 but not completed for any of a variety of reasons, including available time or contract bids exceeding our budget allotment for any given project. This group also includes several contingency funds.
  2. 75% of any remaining unspent dollars after that, usually a result of vacant salary dollars and/or projects that came in under budget, are applied to debt service, which is part of the reason the city retains such low municipal debt as compared to any other city our size across the state.
  3. The remaining available dollars, slightly more than $600,000 this year, are available for "special consideration" expenses and projects. This year about half of those dollars are projected to go to "pay for performance adjustments" for city staff as part of the salary structure council approved a few years ago.
That leaves about $300,000 available for new projects. Here are some of the highlights from the requests for those dollars:
  • $115,000 to supplement 2016 budget dollars for our concrete paving program to compensate for contracts coming in over our budget estimates.
  • $37,252 to study a possibile upgrade for the 40-year-old power distribution system at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
  • $35,890 to reconstruct portions of the city's North Island Trail.
Additionally, on Tuesday the Finance Committee will also be asked to recommend approval of a three-year contract with ThedaCare to provide health care services at a new employee health clinic. The contract calls for an hourly Nurse Practitioner, Registered Nurse and Medical Assistant to be available for eligible patients at a to-be-determined site to provide access to acute, primary, occupational health and preventive care.

On Tuesday the committee will hear from Associated Financial Group and ThedaCare about the objectives, savings and investment involved in this project. Some questions remain unanswered, such as where the clinic will be located and what our expenses might be for leasing said space. With that said, this seems like a prudent option to manage our organizational health care costs while also providing another option for our employees.

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. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.