Monday, January 7, 2019

What you may not know: Week of January 7

The Appleton Common Council is back from our holiday break and we have a full slate of committee meetings this week. Here are some of the highlights from our agendas:

Municipal Services Committee, Monday, 4:30 pm

The first step in a long overdue process to improve safety along the French Road corridor will likely take place today as the Municipal Services committee will be asked to make a recommendation on a intermunicipal agreement calling for a study of the corridor from State Highway 96 (Wisconsin Avenue) to County Highway JJ (Edgewood Drive). The portion of the road being studied passes through Appleton, Little Chute and Grand Chute, and the three municipalities along with the county are expected to participate in the study.

The primary focus of the study is the intersection of French Road and County Highway OO (Northland Avenue), which has been experiencing traffic delays and safety issues for some time now. The issue is complicated by the close proximity of State Highway 441, which limits the options for this intersection somewhat.

The county and the three municipalities are expected to contribute a combined $40,000 to this study, with Appleton's share valued at $6,666.66. I expect this item to pass committee without issue today and applaud all that's being done to improve the viability and safety of an intersection so many drivers use daily.

Finance Committee, Monday, 5:30 pm
Fox Cities Transit Commission, Tuesday, 2 pm


This week the Finance Committee and Transit Commission will both be asked to make a recommendation on another long-overdue project: Replacing seven buses on Valley Transit's operating fleet.

Valley Transit has long struggled with the challenges related to an aging fleet: The Federal Transit Administration considers a bus to be eligible for replacement when it has been operated for a minimum of 12 years or 500,000 miles. Until recently, every bus in Valley Transit's fleet exceeded that threshold and many were over 1 million miles.

The process of purchasing new buses is complicated by Valley Transit's funding structure: Capital purchases for Valley Transit are funded via an 80/20 match, where 80% of the funds come directly from the Federal Transit Administration and 20% are paid locally. VT has had money in its depreciation account for a long time to pay the local share but the federal portion of the funds have not always been available when needed, hence the aforementioned backlog in buses due for replacement.

The funds available at this time will allow Valley Transit to purchase seven new 35-foot New Flyer buses using just $700,000 in local funds, which will be paid entirely out of Valley Transit's depreciation fund. As such, there will be no local tax impact from this transaction.

Utilities Committee, Tuesday, 5 pm

Finally, we're back to the topic of French Road. Increase of development along that corridor north of County Highway JJ has sparked a conversation about the need to modernize that portion of the road. This week the Utilities Committee will be asked to make a recommendation on a proposed stormwater analysis for that area in anticipation of further upcoming work.

In this case the project will be completed by raSmith, an organization with extensive expertise in the area. They previously consulted on other stormwater ponds and projects within the local area, including the existing Emerald Valley Pond.

As is the case with the other French Road item mentioned above, this is just an early step in the process to modernize, urbanize and improve French Road to make it safer and more usable for residents in this area. Both, however, are important steps in that effort.

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.