Sunday, February 25, 2018

What you may not know: Week of February 26

It's a full committee week for the Appleton Common Council but most of the attention will likely center on one meeting:

Joint meeting of the Finance Committee and Library Board's Building & Equipment Committee, Monday, 5:30 pm

The process of determining the fate of the Appleton Public Library will take a key step this week as committees of the Common Council and Library Board will meet together to receive details for the first time about a proposal for a mixed-use library project on the current site of the Soldier Square parking ramp.

News about the recommended site and project broke for the first time on Thursday. The proposal includes the library along with $22 million of private elements in the project, including apartments or condos and commercial spaces.

Aside from what's been reported in the media I have not heard anything about the proposal so, like many people, I will be looking forward to seeing the presentation on Monday night and learning more about what's planned. Please note that Monday's presentation is only informational and no official action will be taken. After Monday's meeting I'm hoping we'll have a clear and reasonable timeframe for the next steps in this process.

City Plan Commission, Tuesday, 4 pm

It will likely be overshadowed by Monday's meeting but on Tuesday the City Plan Commission will take up an item of local interest in the 13th district, as they have two items related to the expansion of the subdivision north of County Highway JJ and west of French Road.

The two items are a proposed rezoning and a preliminary plat addition for the fifth addition to the Emerald Valley Estates subdivision. The proposal calls for 23 new single-family lots located west of Providence Avenue. Two things of note with this proposal:

  • The rezoning calls for the lots to be zoned R1B, which as we've discussed recently is still single-family zoning but allows for smaller lots and a greater percentage of lot coverage than R1A zoning.
  • As I've noted previously, every large or small new development in the northeast corner of the city creates increased strain on limited infrastructure serving this area, including police and fire protection and schools.
There will be more of these rezonings and expansions coming in the years ahead: Much of the property north and west of this development is already expected to be added to this subdivision in future years. The challenges created by that development are not going away and will require increased spending to solve.

You can see all of this week's meeting agendas 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, February 5, 2018

What you may not know: Week of February 5

The Appleton Common Council has our first full council meeting of the month on Wednesday and most of the items on the agenda are things we've previously discussed:

Landfill Expansion

As I mentioned two weeks ago, Outagamie County has started the process of getting approvals to expand their landfill between French and Holland Road. The next space used is expected to be at the northeast corner of their existing footprint, nearest to the corner of Highway 41 and French Road.

This expansion is still a long time away but Outagamie County is getting out ahead of the permitting process, which takes some time to complete. As I mentioned in my last update, at this time the only action the city is taking is appointing our negotiating representatives to protect our interests as this project moves along in future years.

Exhibition Center Financing

Last week the Appleton Redevelopment Authority voted 5-2 to approve the concept of a proposed borrowing package calling for bonds to be issued as the final funding mechanism for construction of the Fox Cities Exhibition Center, so that process can finally move along. Barring any further setbacks, that transaction is set to be finalized the first week in April.

In the meantime, the city's short term loan to the ARA to cover the costs of the project is still in place. As of March 1 the city will have lost an estimated $237,500 in interest income on the money loaned to ARA. Two weeks ago the Finance Committee unanimously approved a recommendation calling for the city to attempt to recoup that lost income as part of the facility's final borrowing. That resolution appears on Wednesday's council agenda.

I expect we will approve this resolution, but actually recouping the funds would require the consent of the nine other member municipalities involved in the project. I can't speak to how they will react to this request.

New Subdivision along Cherryvale

Two weeks ago the City Plan Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of a proposed final plat for the new Creekside Estates subdivision, a collection of 13 single-family lots along Cherryvale Avenue south of the creek. The plat remains largely unchanged from what has been previously discussed, and I expect it to pass council this week without issue.

The only change of note in this project relates to the proposed six-foot berm along the creek side of the properties: The Board of Zoning Appeals recently voted to reject a request for a variance that would have allowed this berm, but I've since been informed that a process remains in place for the berm to be approved and installed as planned. This is a positive for all involved, as the berm would protect both the privacy of the owners of these new properties, who will have the Apple Creek Trail running adjacent to their property, and the privacy of property owners on the north side of the creek.

You can see all of this week's meeting agendas 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.