Monday, April 16, 2018

What you may not know: Week of April 16

Before I get to this week's council notes, I wanted to send out my heartfelt thanks to the city's Department of Public Works and Police and Fire Departments for their efforts to keep the city safe and to all of my constituents for their patience and understanding while we all work to dig out from this weekend's massive snow event. It's been a very challenging weekend and Monday for a lot of us and I appreciate the efforts of everyone who has worked to help others get through it.

Now, with that said, this is an important week for the Appleton Common Council. A new council year begins on Tuesday night with the swearing in and re-swearing in of members of the council that were elected and re-elected two weeks ago and the council's committee, board and commission assignments will be re-set on Wednesday. In addition to that, there are a couple other items of interest on agendas:

Mixed Use Library

The Appleton Common Council has already voted to continue negotiations with Commercial Horizons regarding including the library in a proposed mixed use development on the site of the Soldier's Square parking ramp. On Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 the Library Board will meet and their agenda includes the same action item.

It's worth noting once again that this is not a decision on a final design, funding model or budgetary commitment. An affirmative vote by the Library Board would simply be a continuation of the process in partnership with Commercial Horizons in an effort to meet the library's needs as part of development of this space. A development agreement and several other important votes on this project are yet to come.

Re-development on West College Avenue

Elsewhere in long-awaited projects, last week the City Plan Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of a Special Use Permit necessary for a proposed redevelopment of the long vacant former K-Mart site on West College Avenue. The Common Council is expected to vote on that recommendation on Wednesday night. Last week the city released renderings of a proposed plan for the site that calls for retail facing College Avenue and personal storage behind the building.

The former K-Mart site has been vacant for a variety of reasons for the entirety of my tenure on council and many years before that. I'm excited for this opportunity to see something new take shape on this long-blighted property.

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, April 2, 2018

What you may not know: Week of April 2

Before I get to the council update, please note that Election Day is Tuesday, April 2. Residents of the 13th district will have a State Supreme Court race and two referendums on their ballots, and most will also have a school board race. Residents of the 13th district vote at Celebration Ministry Center (aka Faith Lutheran) at 3100 E Evergreen Drive, and polls will be open from 7 am to 8 pm. Please plan ahead, as the weather for tomorrow looks a bit ominous.

The Appleton Common Council will also hold our regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, and one item on the agenda will likely overshadow most of the others:

Mixed Use Library

Last week in a joint meeting the Appleton Finance Committee and the Library Board's Building and Equipment Committee both voted unanimously to recommend continuing to work with Commercial Horizons on design and a development agreement for a mixed use facility anchored by a new library on the site of the existing Soldier's Square Parking Ramp.

The wording used above is important: Please note that the council action item is simply approval of continuing the process. This is not the approval of a final design, financing model or any of the other final steps that will need to be taken to start construction. If approved, this action item would allow city and library staff to continue to work with Commercial Horizons to develop a plan for the project ahead. This is a big step forward and I'm grateful to both the Finance and Building and Equipment committees for their approval, but much more work has to be done before this project can begin.

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.