It's a committee week for the Appleton Common Council, and it might be the busiest one in my year and a half as a member of this body. Normally I try to write about two or three topics here, but this week I can't narrow it down to less than five.
City Plan Commission, Monday, 4 pm
As you might have seen in the Post Crescent, the city's policy for painted signs and/or murals on the side of buildings has come under fire recently. The issue came to light when a mural at Wilmar Chocolates was found to be in violation.
In response, at our council meeting three weeks ago five alderpersons co-sponsored a resolution calling for immediate suspension of enforcement of the ordinance and a review of the policy. That resolution comes before the City Plan Commission on Monday.
I suspect the resolution will pass at committee, as it only calls for a temporary halt to enforcement to give us time to review the policy. The next step, the actual policy review, is likely to present a more interesting challenge. Allowing murals like the one at Wilmar is a no-brainer, but if we allow painted signs in this instance because they're art, then we put ourselves in the position of having to determine what is or is not art.
This is likely only the first step in a long conversation on this issue.
Central Equipment Agency Review Committee, Tuesday, 4 pm
Two weeks ago at the Safety & Licensing Committee we learned for the first time about an issue with one of Appleton's largest and most expensive fire trucks, our 100-foot aerial platform truck. The torque box which holds up the platform had cracked, and could take several months to repair. This is the only truck of its kind in the city, although a couple of our neighboring communities also have one.
The discovery of this issue has led to a re-evaluation of our options with this truck. The truck is 14 years old and was scheduled to be replaced in 2020. It's become increasingly expensive to repair, and the need for frequent maintenance will take it out of commission more and more often as it continues to age.
As such, it's time to start looking at the possibility of replacing this truck early instead of continuing to pour money into an asset that's near the end of its life cycle. There is the possibility in place to buy a stock unit from Pierce Manufacturing for $920,000, which is about $300-$500,000 less than it would cost to buy a custom unit but about $200,000 more than the combined balance of the money saved for the purchase of a new truck and the trade-in value of the existing truck. That overrun would have to be borrowed or come out of the city's fund balances for us to be able to make this move.
Borrowing and/or digging into fund balances to replace a piece of equipment early isn't something we want to do if we can avoid it, but in this case it appears to be a fiscally prudent move. Furthermore, there is a safety factor to consider: Buying the stock unit from Pierce, as recommended by staff, is the quickest way to have an operational truck in place and helping protect our community.
Assuming this item passes the CEA Review Committee, it will also appear as an action item before the Finance and Safety & Licensing Committees on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
I've written previously about the five latest streets being discussed as part of Appleton's on-street bike plan. A month ago three alderpersons called for portions of Capitol Drive, Prospect Avenue, Roemer Road, N. Oneida Street and Telulah Avenue to have bike lanes installed in the coming years to help add connectivity of lanes when other portions of those streets or nearby streets are reconstructed. That resolution was held at the June 24 meeting and will be heard again on Tuesday night.
Bike lanes have been one of the more challenging topics we've heard during my time on the council, as we've frequently heard from people who have a wide variety of opinions on the city's responsibility to create bicycle-friendly infrastructure and what it means to do so.
Four months ago I made a list of frequently-asked questions regarding bike lanes, and odds are we'll answer many of those questions again on Tuesday.
Finance Committee, Wednesday, 4:30 pm
A pair of longstanding council topics will take center stage at this meeting. First, we have a request to approve what's called a "Resolution of Necessity" for the city to purchase two properties that could combine to become the future home of the Appleton Public Library.
There has been a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding making the rounds on this topic, and this Post Crescent Community Column clears up a fair amount of it. The city is not planning on and has no interest in "forcing out" either Michiels or Trinity. The eminent domain process being used is a legal necessity to help those two properties determine the value of their space and make an informed decision about how to proceed. If they turn out to be unwilling to sell, the city will likely proceed with other options.
At any rate, the next step in that process is for the Finance Committee and council to approve the "necessity" of purchasing the sites, allowing the city and the library to continue efforts to acquire them. I expect the committee to approve on Wednesday, and the council will take the matter up next week.
Second, we have the next portion of our long-standing review of Appleton's policies regarding special assessments. Last week council wrapped up the new subdivision portion of the policy, and this week we'll start our review of the utilities.
The utilities portion of special assessments don't draw as much attention as the street reconstruction section, but repairs and related work can still be pretty expensive. I'm eager to see what possibilities we may discuss to make adjustments here.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
What you may not know: Week of July 14
The Appleton Common Council will meet on Wednesday at 7 pm to take up items that mostly appeared before committees last week, so it's time for updates on items I've covered recently:
Parking for Mile of Music 2:
Last Tuesday the Municipal Services Committee voted 3-2 to recommend denial of a resolution calling for parking meter enforcement to cease for four days during Mile of Music in August. Concerns expressed included the challenges of getting parking spaces to turn over and be available without meter enforcement, the relative unfairness of waiving parking meters for this event but not others, challenges involved in making people aware of the lack of need to plug meters and more. That resolution will come before council Wednesday night.
Special Assessments, New Subdivision Portion:
Last Wednesday the Finance Committee again voted 3-1 to recommend approval of a modified version of the New Subdivision portion of the city's Special Assessment policy. The changes would move the responsibility for paying for the installation of permanent streets in a new subdivision from the developers (who had been either tacking it onto the price of new lots or charging property owners later) to the property owners themselves. The proposed new policy mirrors one the city had up until 2004.
This is the only part of the special assessment policy we'll be addressing at council on Wednesday. Assuming we reach a final resolution on this, we'll be taking up the utilities portion of the policy at Finance next Wednesday.
Wheel Tax:
Last week the Finance Committee voted to hold a proposal calling for Appleton to institute a "Wheel Tax" as a potential funding source for street repairs. That item will be revisited when the committee discusses the street reconstruction portion of the special assessment policy, likely in a month or so.
Finally, we do have one piece of new business on our agenda this week:
Minimum Wage Referendum:
The City Clerk's office recently received a petition with well over 4700 signatures calling for yet another advisory referendum in this fall's election. This one asks whether voters would be in favor of raising Wisconsin's minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. This would be the second advisory referendum added to Appleton's ballot, and a third has been added by Outagamie County.
Advisory referendums do not change policy in any way, but they are one way to measure and document voter support (or lack of support) for an issue or proposed policy change. Out of respect to the work that went into collecting all of these petition signatures, I plan on supporting their desire to have this question appear on the ballot.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Parking for Mile of Music 2:
Last Tuesday the Municipal Services Committee voted 3-2 to recommend denial of a resolution calling for parking meter enforcement to cease for four days during Mile of Music in August. Concerns expressed included the challenges of getting parking spaces to turn over and be available without meter enforcement, the relative unfairness of waiving parking meters for this event but not others, challenges involved in making people aware of the lack of need to plug meters and more. That resolution will come before council Wednesday night.
Special Assessments, New Subdivision Portion:
Last Wednesday the Finance Committee again voted 3-1 to recommend approval of a modified version of the New Subdivision portion of the city's Special Assessment policy. The changes would move the responsibility for paying for the installation of permanent streets in a new subdivision from the developers (who had been either tacking it onto the price of new lots or charging property owners later) to the property owners themselves. The proposed new policy mirrors one the city had up until 2004.
This is the only part of the special assessment policy we'll be addressing at council on Wednesday. Assuming we reach a final resolution on this, we'll be taking up the utilities portion of the policy at Finance next Wednesday.
Wheel Tax:
Last week the Finance Committee voted to hold a proposal calling for Appleton to institute a "Wheel Tax" as a potential funding source for street repairs. That item will be revisited when the committee discusses the street reconstruction portion of the special assessment policy, likely in a month or so.
Finally, we do have one piece of new business on our agenda this week:
Minimum Wage Referendum:
The City Clerk's office recently received a petition with well over 4700 signatures calling for yet another advisory referendum in this fall's election. This one asks whether voters would be in favor of raising Wisconsin's minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. This would be the second advisory referendum added to Appleton's ballot, and a third has been added by Outagamie County.
Advisory referendums do not change policy in any way, but they are one way to measure and document voter support (or lack of support) for an issue or proposed policy change. Out of respect to the work that went into collecting all of these petition signatures, I plan on supporting their desire to have this question appear on the ballot.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
What you may not know: Week of July 7
Please accept my apologies for this week's belated post (and no post last week). I'm just getting back from a few days away over the holiday and working on catching up today.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
With that said, the Appleton Common Council's first committee week of July is underway, and here are some of the items on my radar:
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
The much-maligned downtown parking meters will step back into the spotlight at tonight's Municipal Services meeting, where an action item and an informational item will discuss a temporary and permanent change to their enforcement.
First, the committee will take up a resolution submitted by four alderpersons at last week's council meeting calling for meter enforcement to cease during the active hours of Mile of Music 2, scheduled for August 7-10. The rationale is that the event will bring many first-time visitors to our downtown, and we'd rather not have a parking ticket be part of their introduction to the city.
The resolution also likely creates some additional challenges, though. For example, if we remove parking enforcement downtown during the event, what will keep someone from claiming a prime parking space on the first hour of the event and staying there all day (or all weekend?). Part of the attraction of the meters is their ability to keep spaces turning over, so people coming downtown have a better chance of finding a spot.
I'm intrigued to hear the debate on this proposal. Allowing free parking during this event could be a good thing, if it can be done without creating major challenges.
The information item is one we've discussed before: Alderperson Kathy Plank's resolution calling for staff to study the possibility of removing meters downtown. This item was previously held until a full downtown parking study could be completed, but is back on the agenda this week. I'll be curious to see if there are any updates on the possibility.
Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm
Beyond the parking debate, virtually all of this week's major news is likely to come from Wednesday afternoon's Finance Committee meeting. Items on the agenda include:
- The "New Subdivision" portion of the special assessment policy. Two weeks ago the committee voted unanimously to amend the plan to call for property owners in new subdivisions to be assessed for the installation of their permanent streets, as we did for subdivisions platted before 2004. From 2004 until now developers have been asked to place money in an escrow account to pay for that eventual construction. The portion of the policy we will debate on Wednesday deals only with new subdivisions. Portions dealing with reconstruction of streets and utilities will be discussed at later meetings.
- Alderman Joe Martin's resolution calling for the city to institute a "Wheel Tax" of not more than $20 per vehicle to cover the loss of revenue if the city elected to eliminate special assessments. We're still in the very early stages of considering this proposal and it's not my favorite alternative to the existing assessment policy, but it is an option to consider and I'm glad we're getting the opportunity to discuss it.
- A staff recommendation calling for the contract to construct the new Telulah Park Skate Park to be awarded to Miron Construction Company. This project has been sent out for bids once before but all of the bids were rejected as they greatly exceeded our budget for this item. On our second try we were able to get bids that more accurately reflect what we're prepared to spend. Assuming this request passes the committee and council, construction is expected to begin in early August and be completed in the fall.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, June 23, 2014
What you may not know: Week of June 23
We've come to another committee week for the Appleton Common Council, and here are some of the items of interest on this week's agendas:
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 p.m.
A few weeks ago I mentioned a proposed resolution calling for bike lanes to be added to portions of five streets in the coming years to help enhance the connectivity of our bike infrastructure as reconstructions appear on nearby segments of street. The resolution was held at the May 27 committee meeting, but will come up again on Tuesday night. Again, a reminder of the streets that will be discussed:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 p.m.
A few weeks ago I mentioned a proposed resolution calling for bike lanes to be added to portions of five streets in the coming years to help enhance the connectivity of our bike infrastructure as reconstructions appear on nearby segments of street. The resolution was held at the May 27 committee meeting, but will come up again on Tuesday night. Again, a reminder of the streets that will be discussed:
- Portions of Capitol Drive in 2014, the remainder in 2015.
- Portions of Prospect Avenue in 2015.
- Roemer Road in 2015.
- N. Oneida Street in 2015.
- Telulah Avenue in 2018.
All of these projects would require the removal of some or all on-street parking, so they're likely to stir up some debate. Tuesday night's meeting is likely the first step in a long conversation on this matter.
Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.
Our ongoing review of the city's special assessment policy continues on Wednesday when a portion of the policy dealing with new subdivisions will appear as an action item for the first time.
About a decade ago the city changed its policy regarding special assessments in new subdivisions. In subdivisions platted before 2004 the city had assessed homeowners for the installation of their streets, sidewalks and boulevard trees. In 2004 those expenses were shifted to the developer with the understanding that the costs would be built into the price of lots in new subdivisions.
Now, as part of our review of the special assessment policy, we're hearing that building those costs into the price of lots is making it difficult for Appleton's subdivisions to remain price-competitive with neighboring municipalities. We've been asked to consider going back to the old format, and we'll discuss the possibility on Wednesday.
Looking further ahead, we're expecting to discuss the special assessment policy as it pertains to utilities at our first Finance Committee meeting in July and hoping to take up the portion dealing with street reconstruction at our second meeting of the month.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, June 16, 2014
What you may not know: Week of June 16
The Appleton Common Council will meet on Wednesday night at 7 pm, and most of the notable items on our agenda have been discussed in this space before. Before I get to the updates, however, I'd like to take a moment to address an item that's appearing before us for the first time, the "Move to Amend" petition.
On May 29 organizers filed a petition with the City of Appleton showing 4514 valid signatures and calling for the following resolution to be either adopted outright or appear on the ballot as a referendum in an upcoming election:
Whereas, the Supreme Court's decisions in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commision and related case law allowed unlimited spending to influence local, state and federal elections;
BE IT RESOLVED that "We the People" of the City of Appleton, Wisconsin, call for reclaiming democracy from the expansion of corporate personhood rights and the corrupting influence of unregulated political contributions and spending. We stand with the Move to Amend campaign and communities across the country supporting passage of an amendment to the United States Constitution stating:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
On May 29 organizers filed a petition with the City of Appleton showing 4514 valid signatures and calling for the following resolution to be either adopted outright or appear on the ballot as a referendum in an upcoming election:
Whereas, the Supreme Court's decisions in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commision and related case law allowed unlimited spending to influence local, state and federal elections;
BE IT RESOLVED that "We the People" of the City of Appleton, Wisconsin, call for reclaiming democracy from the expansion of corporate personhood rights and the corrupting influence of unregulated political contributions and spending. We stand with the Move to Amend campaign and communities across the country supporting passage of an amendment to the United States Constitution stating:
- Only human beings - not corporations, limited liability companies, unions, nonprofit organizations, or similar associations - are endowed with constitutional rights; and
- Money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we hereby instruct our state and federal representatives to enact resolutions and legislation to advance this effort.
Frequent readers of this space may recall that I have a history with the fight to get big money out of politics. As such, I'm planning on supporting this petition.
Moving on, here are quick updates from the items I discussed last week:
Foremost Dairy site
Last week the Community and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously (3-0 with two members absent) to approve a development agreement with Vetter Denk Ganthet that would allow them to build several buildings combining for 96 residential units on the former Foremost Dairy site just south of the College Avenue bridge on the Fox River.
Despite the unanimous vote, some concerns remain about this development's impact on the existing neighborhood and the existing infrastructure's ability to take on this extra load. I suspect this agreement will eventually pass, either at this meeting or potentially the next one, but I do hope we'll continue to do everything we can to ensure all of our bases are covered here.
Sidewalk cafes
Last week the Safety & Licensing Committee reached a bit of an impasse on proposed changes for the regulation of sidewalk cafes serving alcohol along College Avenue. Appleton Downtown Inc. had previously approached the committee to ask us to remove two restrictions:
- A requirement that a server be outdoors at all times when alcohol is being served outside, and
- A requirement that a decorative barrier be in place around the cafe to clearly display where the cafe begins and ends and, as such, where alcohol is and is not allowed.
At the committee meeting last week I proposed an amendment that would have removed the first requirement but left the second one in place. I do think the barriers are important as a small, relatively non-intrusive step to clearly define boundaries for alcohol and the cafe. That amendment failed by a 2-2 vote*. The original resolution, unamended, then also failed by a 2-2 vote.
As such, council will take up this item on Wednesday with a recommendation for denial from the committee. I'm still hopeful we can reach a compromise on this before casting a final vote, but I'm not inclined to support it if waiving both requirements is the only option.
* - For an amendment or action item to pass it must receive a majority vote. So a tie vote counts as a denial.
Downtown parking
Last week I mentioned a pending conversation regarding the possibility that parking meters could be removed downtown and replaced with two-hour parking and technological upgrades that would allow us to better enforce parking regulations.
In the end, however, that conversation was delayed to allow it to coincide with a parking study that will happen this summer. As such, this issue is on hold for now.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, June 9, 2014
What you may not know: Week of June 9
The Appleton Common Council has a busy committee week planned and I'm a little behind telling you about it, so let's get right to the updates:
Community and Economic Development, Monday, 5 pm
For months now the city and the Appleton Redevelopment Authority have been reviewing plans for a potential development on the site of the city's former Foremost Dairy plant, on the Fox River just south of the College Avenue bridge. Today that effort will take another step as staff is recommending the Community and Economic Development Committee approve a development agreement with Vetter Denk Ganther that would allow a housing development of between 90-100 units to be constructed on this site.
Redevelopment of this site carries some clear benefits for the city, as getting this property back on the tax rolls would help city revenues in the long term and also assist in repaying some of the costs incurred while remediating the site. There are, however, some issues to consider when putting a large development adjacent to an existing neighborhood. The issues largely center around the fact that the entire development (and potentially its emergency needs) will need to be served by one narrow street that currently is frequently parked up on both sides for Lawrence students and visitors. One side of parking on the street is likely to be removed to help ease the challenge.
This narrow street and the proposed changes to it create some potential safety, emergency access and parking issues that need to be addressed. However, if those concerns can be resolved I think this development poses a remarkable opportunity to help a valuable, long-vacant space evolve into its next use.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Parking challenges downtown have been a longstanding impediment for many residents both inside and outside the city who would otherwise utilize many of the area's attractions. It's possible that a new approach to parking downtown could be coming soon, and we'll hear more about it at Tuesday night's Municipal Services meeting.
To this point policing non-metered time limit parking has posed a manpower challenge, as it requires multiple visits to document that a car is present in a space and come back later to potentially issue a citation for the car still occupying that space, if they're still there. However, the technology exists now to make that documentation much simpler with license plate scanners. Applying this system across downtown could allow us to remove parking meters and simply install two-hour parking in its place, while still having the ability to ensure two-hour parking regulations are followed.
Of course, implementing a plan like this will come with a cost and any new technological installation will have its hiccups. Additionally, there will likely be some surveillance concerns as devices will be logging license plates to track parking space usage. I'm looking forward to hearing conversation on the pros and cons of this possibility. For this meeting this is only an information item, so no action will be taken.
Safety & Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
Outdoor dining has been a growing trend in our downtown area, but regulating alcohol served outside has posed a significant challenge over time. Our current ordinance allows bars with a Special Use permit to serve alcohol on the amenity strip in front of their building provided the area is enclosed with some kind of decorative barrier and a server is outside to keep an eye on the area.
Those restrictions serve a purpose, of course, but they also create situations where sometimes the temporary barriers have to go up and a server has to be stationed outside just so one or two people can use the space. A few weeks ago Appleton Downtown Inc. approached us to ask us to consider revisions to the rules listed above.
I'm torn on this issue. I can understand the business' reluctance to station a server outside just to supervise one or two tables, and can support the request to remove that requirement provided the establishments are still able to monitor the outdoor tables in some way. I'm more reluctant to allow the removal of the barrier, however. I think having some kind of enclosure around the outdoor cafe, even if it's just a rope, provides a clear indication of where alcohol is and is not allowed and creates one more impediment, even if it is a small one, to prevent people on the sidewalk from passing through the cafe and within arm's reach of someone's drink or purse.
We've been asked to consider changes to these ordinances at least partly because existing sidewalk cafe owners have done a good job of preventing these outdoor spaces from becoming an issue. I can respect that and thank them for their responsibility, but I think some safeguards need to remain in place to prevent this from developing into a problem going forward.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Community and Economic Development, Monday, 5 pm
For months now the city and the Appleton Redevelopment Authority have been reviewing plans for a potential development on the site of the city's former Foremost Dairy plant, on the Fox River just south of the College Avenue bridge. Today that effort will take another step as staff is recommending the Community and Economic Development Committee approve a development agreement with Vetter Denk Ganther that would allow a housing development of between 90-100 units to be constructed on this site.
Redevelopment of this site carries some clear benefits for the city, as getting this property back on the tax rolls would help city revenues in the long term and also assist in repaying some of the costs incurred while remediating the site. There are, however, some issues to consider when putting a large development adjacent to an existing neighborhood. The issues largely center around the fact that the entire development (and potentially its emergency needs) will need to be served by one narrow street that currently is frequently parked up on both sides for Lawrence students and visitors. One side of parking on the street is likely to be removed to help ease the challenge.
This narrow street and the proposed changes to it create some potential safety, emergency access and parking issues that need to be addressed. However, if those concerns can be resolved I think this development poses a remarkable opportunity to help a valuable, long-vacant space evolve into its next use.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Parking challenges downtown have been a longstanding impediment for many residents both inside and outside the city who would otherwise utilize many of the area's attractions. It's possible that a new approach to parking downtown could be coming soon, and we'll hear more about it at Tuesday night's Municipal Services meeting.
To this point policing non-metered time limit parking has posed a manpower challenge, as it requires multiple visits to document that a car is present in a space and come back later to potentially issue a citation for the car still occupying that space, if they're still there. However, the technology exists now to make that documentation much simpler with license plate scanners. Applying this system across downtown could allow us to remove parking meters and simply install two-hour parking in its place, while still having the ability to ensure two-hour parking regulations are followed.
Of course, implementing a plan like this will come with a cost and any new technological installation will have its hiccups. Additionally, there will likely be some surveillance concerns as devices will be logging license plates to track parking space usage. I'm looking forward to hearing conversation on the pros and cons of this possibility. For this meeting this is only an information item, so no action will be taken.
Safety & Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
Outdoor dining has been a growing trend in our downtown area, but regulating alcohol served outside has posed a significant challenge over time. Our current ordinance allows bars with a Special Use permit to serve alcohol on the amenity strip in front of their building provided the area is enclosed with some kind of decorative barrier and a server is outside to keep an eye on the area.
Those restrictions serve a purpose, of course, but they also create situations where sometimes the temporary barriers have to go up and a server has to be stationed outside just so one or two people can use the space. A few weeks ago Appleton Downtown Inc. approached us to ask us to consider revisions to the rules listed above.
I'm torn on this issue. I can understand the business' reluctance to station a server outside just to supervise one or two tables, and can support the request to remove that requirement provided the establishments are still able to monitor the outdoor tables in some way. I'm more reluctant to allow the removal of the barrier, however. I think having some kind of enclosure around the outdoor cafe, even if it's just a rope, provides a clear indication of where alcohol is and is not allowed and creates one more impediment, even if it is a small one, to prevent people on the sidewalk from passing through the cafe and within arm's reach of someone's drink or purse.
We've been asked to consider changes to these ordinances at least partly because existing sidewalk cafe owners have done a good job of preventing these outdoor spaces from becoming an issue. I can respect that and thank them for their responsibility, but I think some safeguards need to remain in place to prevent this from developing into a problem going forward.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, June 2, 2014
What you may not know: Week of June 2
The Appleton Common Council will hold its first regularly scheduled meeting of June on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Most of the notable items on this week's agenda have been discussed before, but here's a quick update:
City Plan Commission
Over a month ago the City Plan Commission heard a staff recommendation regarding a rezoning and special use permit request for a property along Glenhurst Road, just off Ballard. The request called for an amendment to allow a "Community Living Arrangement" serving 50 persons on the site.
At the Plan Commission back in April we expressed some concerns over the relatively broad definition of what could be allowed in this space in relatively close proximity to North High School. We approved an amendment to narrow the allowed uses a bit, then recommended approval of the amended item. It will come before the full council for approval this week.
Valley Transit
Also about a month ago, we discussed a proposal to raise the fee by a dollar for one of Valley Transit's most popular specialized services, The Connector. The service is largely used to get people to or from work in the early and late hours while Transit isn't operating its full service.
The service had been partially funded by specialized federal grant money until this year, when that grant was rolled into the federal transportation fund. Losing that funding made it difficult for Valley Transit to continue to provide this service, hence the need for a fare increase.
This issue has been discussed at each of the last three Transit Commission meetings, and at last week's meeting it was approved unanimously. Barring a major change, it will likely also pass council without incident this week and the increase will go into effect.
Skate Park
In last week's update we discussed a setback in the efforts to build a skate park in Telulah Park, as bids were opened for the construction and all of them came in significantly over the project's proposed budget. As such, last week the Finance Committee voted unanimously to reject all bids, with the hope to bid the project again later this summer and still get it constructed this year.
The delay on this project is unfortunate, given the volume of work that has gone into getting it to this point. At the end of the day, however, rejecting the bids is the right decision and there's a strong chance it will only lead to a minor delay.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
City Plan Commission
Over a month ago the City Plan Commission heard a staff recommendation regarding a rezoning and special use permit request for a property along Glenhurst Road, just off Ballard. The request called for an amendment to allow a "Community Living Arrangement" serving 50 persons on the site.
At the Plan Commission back in April we expressed some concerns over the relatively broad definition of what could be allowed in this space in relatively close proximity to North High School. We approved an amendment to narrow the allowed uses a bit, then recommended approval of the amended item. It will come before the full council for approval this week.
Valley Transit
Also about a month ago, we discussed a proposal to raise the fee by a dollar for one of Valley Transit's most popular specialized services, The Connector. The service is largely used to get people to or from work in the early and late hours while Transit isn't operating its full service.
The service had been partially funded by specialized federal grant money until this year, when that grant was rolled into the federal transportation fund. Losing that funding made it difficult for Valley Transit to continue to provide this service, hence the need for a fare increase.
This issue has been discussed at each of the last three Transit Commission meetings, and at last week's meeting it was approved unanimously. Barring a major change, it will likely also pass council without incident this week and the increase will go into effect.
Skate Park
In last week's update we discussed a setback in the efforts to build a skate park in Telulah Park, as bids were opened for the construction and all of them came in significantly over the project's proposed budget. As such, last week the Finance Committee voted unanimously to reject all bids, with the hope to bid the project again later this summer and still get it constructed this year.
The delay on this project is unfortunate, given the volume of work that has gone into getting it to this point. At the end of the day, however, rejecting the bids is the right decision and there's a strong chance it will only lead to a minor delay.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
What you may not know: Week of May 27
Despite the off day on Monday, the Appleton Common Council has one of the busiest committee weeks I've experienced on tap this week. Here are some of the agenda items I'm watching:
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Bike lanes have been one of the most often and at-length discussed items during my tenure on the council, and that conversation is likely to heat up again following a resolution from three alderpersons calling for portions of five more streets to receive bike lanes in coming years. You can see all the details of specific street locations and timeframes on the Municipal Services agenda, but here's a quick synopsis:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Bike lanes have been one of the most often and at-length discussed items during my tenure on the council, and that conversation is likely to heat up again following a resolution from three alderpersons calling for portions of five more streets to receive bike lanes in coming years. You can see all the details of specific street locations and timeframes on the Municipal Services agenda, but here's a quick synopsis:
- Portions of Capitol Drive in 2014, the remainder in 2015.
- Portions of Prospect Avenue in 2015.
- Roemer Road in 2015.
- N. Oneida Street in 2015.
- Telulah Avenue in 2018.
All of these projects will require on-street parking to be removed from one or both sides of the street, and coincide with construction projects featuring bike lanes on other portions of the street or a nearby street. Adding bikes lanes here concurrent to other projects will help create a more cohesive bike network around the city and eliminate some of the patchwork nature of our existing routes.
Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm
Our ongoing review of special assessment policies in the city will continue on Wednesday afternoon at the Finance Committee. Last week we spent an hour as a council hearing a presentation on the existing policy (you can see the video from that meeting on the city's Legistar page), and this week we'll receive another presentation on possible alternatives and new practices we could consider if we do decide to make a change.
This is another key step in the process to ensure we're making an informed decision when we finally get to debate this issue. We're talking about pretty significant budgetary decisions here, so it's critical that we all understand the facts and practices in play before making any major changes.
Also at this meeting, the committee will discuss a staff recommendation that would be a setback for the efforts to build a skate park in Telulah Park. Bids for the project were opened last week and came in well more than $100,000 over budget, putting us in a position where it would be tough to find a way to accept the bid and still remain fiscally responsible.
Our action item on Wednesday is a staff recommendation to reject the bids, with the intention that the plans will be reviewed and sent out for bids again within the next couple of months. It's tough to accept that recommendation given all the work that's gone into getting us to this point, but if all goes well this setback may only cost us a month or two.
Safety and Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
Sticking with the skateboard theme, last week at our full council meeting I was one of three alderpersons to co-submit a resolution calling for a review of city ordinances regarding skateboarding. Our policies regarding banned locations for skateboarding and the penalties for being caught have not changed since 1992.
Over the past 20 years I think attitudes toward skateboarding have changed a bit. A hobby that used to be primarily associated with undesirable attitudes and habits has now become an activity that we're actively encouraging as a city by doing things like the planned skate park. I don't know what, if anything, we'll change as a result of this review but I think it's time to take another look at this issue and see if there are updates worth making.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, May 19, 2014
What you may not know: Week of May 19
As the weather gets warmer, it's only natural for all of us to want to get outside a little more often. The Appleton Common Council will meet at 7 pm on Wednesday night, and one potential new outdoor activity is on our agenda.
Pedal pubs
I wrote pretty extensively about pedal pubs in last week's update, but here's an update on where the issue stands: Three alderpersons from the Safety & Licensing Committee recently proposed a resolution that would ban alcohol on quadricycles in Appleton, and the committee recommended the resolution for approval by a 3-1 vote (I was the lone nay vote).
That recommendation comes before the full council this week, and I'm hopeful we can overturn it. As I mentioned last week, there are dozens of examples across the Midwest and the US of pedal pubs operating harmlessly, being regulated but not banned. Relatively local examples exist in Milwaukee and Madison, the Twin Cities and more.
I think this could be a fun addition and draw to our downtown, and other communities have pretty clearly demonstrated that it can be done safely. I see no reason why Appleton should be different from the other places where this is allowed.
Special assessments
One of Wednesday's most newsworthy events may actually happen before the scheduled council meeting, as we have a 6 pm informational presentation scheduled on the city's special assessment policy. The policy has drawn a lot of attention in recent months as an increasing number of our constituents have asked us to look at eliminating the process which is currently used to pay for street and sewer construction, improvement and reconstruction.
I'm very interested to see if we can find another way to finance our ongoing work without having to lean so heavily on abutting property owners. This is a complex issue with a lot of moving parts, though, so we're going to need multiple conversations like this one to really get a grasp of the situation.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Pedal pubs
I wrote pretty extensively about pedal pubs in last week's update, but here's an update on where the issue stands: Three alderpersons from the Safety & Licensing Committee recently proposed a resolution that would ban alcohol on quadricycles in Appleton, and the committee recommended the resolution for approval by a 3-1 vote (I was the lone nay vote).
That recommendation comes before the full council this week, and I'm hopeful we can overturn it. As I mentioned last week, there are dozens of examples across the Midwest and the US of pedal pubs operating harmlessly, being regulated but not banned. Relatively local examples exist in Milwaukee and Madison, the Twin Cities and more.
I think this could be a fun addition and draw to our downtown, and other communities have pretty clearly demonstrated that it can be done safely. I see no reason why Appleton should be different from the other places where this is allowed.
Special assessments
One of Wednesday's most newsworthy events may actually happen before the scheduled council meeting, as we have a 6 pm informational presentation scheduled on the city's special assessment policy. The policy has drawn a lot of attention in recent months as an increasing number of our constituents have asked us to look at eliminating the process which is currently used to pay for street and sewer construction, improvement and reconstruction.
I'm very interested to see if we can find another way to finance our ongoing work without having to lean so heavily on abutting property owners. This is a complex issue with a lot of moving parts, though, so we're going to need multiple conversations like this one to really get a grasp of the situation.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, May 12, 2014
What you may not know: Week of May 12
The Appleton Common Council has a busy committee week planned, and here are some of the items I'm watching:
Transit Commission, Wednesday, 3 pm
For several years now Valley Transit has operated a somewhat popular service called "the Connector," which helps potential VT riders get to work and other obligations that require transportation before or after fixed-route bus service is available for the day. The service is used almost entirely for employment purposes, carrying passengers that work early or late shifts at businesses around the community.
A recent change in federal funding models, however, has had a significant impact on the Connector. A federal fund that used to provide money specifically for its operation has gone away, and local partners and agencies that have combined to fill in the financial gap in the past (most notably the United Way) are not in a position to simply replace that income.
As such, the Transit Commission, which currently consists of eight members from communities around the valley, will hold a public hearing on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of raising the far for The Connector by one dollar, from $3+bus fare for passengers coming from outside the "Connector Zone" and $5 for trips within the zone to $4+bus fare and $6, respectively.
Transit fare increases are always a touchy subject because they tend to have a significant impact on people who can least afford it. At present, though, it looks like raising the fare may be the only way to find the resources to continue to operate this important service.
Also at this meeting, the Transit Commission is expected to vote on a proposal to expand their membership from eight to 15 members to allow us to better represent all of the communities served by Valley Transit.
Safety & Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
A day after the Transit Commission meets to discuss the Connector, one of the Safety & Licensing committee's action items Thursday night deals with another vehicle you may soon be seeing around the city.
Recent state legislation has legalized quadricycles, or "pedal pubs" that can be driven on city streets while passengers drink beverages they've brought on board. The state law allows municipalities to decide how they'd like to handle this, and a few weeks ago several members of the committee (everyone but me, basically) expressed interest in passing an ordinance barring alcohol consumption on these vehicles.
Appleton apparently has at least one entrepreneur interested in starting a quadricycle business, which has already experienced some success in Milwaukee and Madison, Minneapolis and Rochester, Minnesota, Des Moines, Iowa, Grand Rapids, Michigan and many more places across the midwest and the nation.
I'm likely fighting a losing battle on this one (with the committee, at least), but I think we'll be making a mistake if we ban a potential tourism draw for our city that has pretty clearly been proven to be workable and safe elsewhere.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Transit Commission, Wednesday, 3 pm
For several years now Valley Transit has operated a somewhat popular service called "the Connector," which helps potential VT riders get to work and other obligations that require transportation before or after fixed-route bus service is available for the day. The service is used almost entirely for employment purposes, carrying passengers that work early or late shifts at businesses around the community.
A recent change in federal funding models, however, has had a significant impact on the Connector. A federal fund that used to provide money specifically for its operation has gone away, and local partners and agencies that have combined to fill in the financial gap in the past (most notably the United Way) are not in a position to simply replace that income.
As such, the Transit Commission, which currently consists of eight members from communities around the valley, will hold a public hearing on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of raising the far for The Connector by one dollar, from $3+bus fare for passengers coming from outside the "Connector Zone" and $5 for trips within the zone to $4+bus fare and $6, respectively.
Transit fare increases are always a touchy subject because they tend to have a significant impact on people who can least afford it. At present, though, it looks like raising the fare may be the only way to find the resources to continue to operate this important service.
Also at this meeting, the Transit Commission is expected to vote on a proposal to expand their membership from eight to 15 members to allow us to better represent all of the communities served by Valley Transit.
Safety & Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
A day after the Transit Commission meets to discuss the Connector, one of the Safety & Licensing committee's action items Thursday night deals with another vehicle you may soon be seeing around the city.
Recent state legislation has legalized quadricycles, or "pedal pubs" that can be driven on city streets while passengers drink beverages they've brought on board. The state law allows municipalities to decide how they'd like to handle this, and a few weeks ago several members of the committee (everyone but me, basically) expressed interest in passing an ordinance barring alcohol consumption on these vehicles.
Appleton apparently has at least one entrepreneur interested in starting a quadricycle business, which has already experienced some success in Milwaukee and Madison, Minneapolis and Rochester, Minnesota, Des Moines, Iowa, Grand Rapids, Michigan and many more places across the midwest and the nation.
I'm likely fighting a losing battle on this one (with the committee, at least), but I think we'll be making a mistake if we ban a potential tourism draw for our city that has pretty clearly been proven to be workable and safe elsewhere.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, May 5, 2014
What you may not know: Week of May 5
After a week off (on months with five Wednesdays, there typically aren't council meetings scheduled during the fifth week), the Appleton Common Council returns to action with a full council meeting on Wednesday night. It's likely to be a relatively quiet meeting, but here are a couple of items I'll be watching:
Car shows in parking ramps
Two weeks ago the Municipal Services Committee voted 2-2* to recommend denial of a request from two residents to make an exception to the city's Parking Ramp Usage Policy to allow a car show to be held on the top three levels of the city's Green Parking Ramp. The Green ramp, if you're not familiar, is the one located immediately east of the Performing Arts Center.
The residents requesting this exception have come to us on previous occasions to explain their desire to hold an event in this location. There are some challenges involved in allowing people to gather in the ramp, most notably the somewhat difficult access for emergency vehicles and the lack of restrooms in this space. The applicants attempted to address these concerns at the Municipal Services meeting, noting that other nearby businesses have volunteered to allow their restrooms to be used and the elevator would still be available for emergency services.
There is also some precedent for doing this in other cities. Follow this link for one example, a Volkswagen event in Oshkosh.
I plan to support this request. I recognize that allowing new events and new types of events does present a risk, but I think the city's potential exposure is somewhat limited here. Furthermore, I think this represents another great opportunity to bring more people to our downtown for a fun event.
* - One of the five committee members was excused from the meeting, making an evenly-split vote possible. In cases like this where a majority of members do not vote to approve a request, it's listed as a recommendation to deny.
Scheig Learning Center and Appleton Memorial Park Arboretum and Gardens
Two weeks ago the Parks and Recreation Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of a draft of a rental and fee policy for the area formerly known as the Gardens of the Fox Cities at Memorial Park. The city resumed control of this facility and the surrounding gardens this spring when the group that had been running it elected to cease operations.
Over the last few months we've received a lot of community input and heard a lot of concern about the future of this popular city feature. This rental policy represents a big step forward in our efforts to reopen this space for public use, and may actually allow a great number of people to use it: Our rental fees are significantly lower than what had become the going rate for this space, which should open it up for more segments of the community to have an opportunity to host events here.
Assuming this recommendation passes council on Wednesday night, the Parks and Recreation Department should be able to start taking reservations for the space first thing Thursday morning.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Car shows in parking ramps
Two weeks ago the Municipal Services Committee voted 2-2* to recommend denial of a request from two residents to make an exception to the city's Parking Ramp Usage Policy to allow a car show to be held on the top three levels of the city's Green Parking Ramp. The Green ramp, if you're not familiar, is the one located immediately east of the Performing Arts Center.
The residents requesting this exception have come to us on previous occasions to explain their desire to hold an event in this location. There are some challenges involved in allowing people to gather in the ramp, most notably the somewhat difficult access for emergency vehicles and the lack of restrooms in this space. The applicants attempted to address these concerns at the Municipal Services meeting, noting that other nearby businesses have volunteered to allow their restrooms to be used and the elevator would still be available for emergency services.
There is also some precedent for doing this in other cities. Follow this link for one example, a Volkswagen event in Oshkosh.
I plan to support this request. I recognize that allowing new events and new types of events does present a risk, but I think the city's potential exposure is somewhat limited here. Furthermore, I think this represents another great opportunity to bring more people to our downtown for a fun event.
* - One of the five committee members was excused from the meeting, making an evenly-split vote possible. In cases like this where a majority of members do not vote to approve a request, it's listed as a recommendation to deny.
Scheig Learning Center and Appleton Memorial Park Arboretum and Gardens
Two weeks ago the Parks and Recreation Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of a draft of a rental and fee policy for the area formerly known as the Gardens of the Fox Cities at Memorial Park. The city resumed control of this facility and the surrounding gardens this spring when the group that had been running it elected to cease operations.
Over the last few months we've received a lot of community input and heard a lot of concern about the future of this popular city feature. This rental policy represents a big step forward in our efforts to reopen this space for public use, and may actually allow a great number of people to use it: Our rental fees are significantly lower than what had become the going rate for this space, which should open it up for more segments of the community to have an opportunity to host events here.
Assuming this recommendation passes council on Wednesday night, the Parks and Recreation Department should be able to start taking reservations for the space first thing Thursday morning.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, April 21, 2014
What you may not know: Week of April 21
The second year of my two-year term (hopefully my first of many) on Appleton's city council officially began last week, when we held our organizational meeting, swore in two new members and the new council met for the first time. With a new year comes new committee assignments, and this year I'll be serving on:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
- The Finance Committee
- The Safety and Licensing Committee
- The Transit Commission (my second year here)
In addition, I was fortunate to be elected by my peers to represent the council on the City Plan Commission. I'm sad to be leaving the Utilities and Parks & Rec committees after just one year, but I'm excited for these new opportunities and will likely stay involved with my former assignments.
Now that our new committees have been assigned, we have a full week of meetings ahead of us. Here are some of the highlights:
City Plan Commission, Monday, 4 pm
My first meeting as a member of this commission will be a big one, as we're expected to make a decision on a zoning issue within the 13th district.
All three action items on the agenda (an amendment to the city's Comprehensive Land Use Map, a zoning change and a special use permit) pertain to one property on Ballard Road, just north of the intersection with Milestone Drive. The city has received a proposal to allow a "Community Living Arrangement" serving 50 persons on the site.
Via a document on the City of Milwaukee's site, here's a quick summary of what kind of state-permitted facilities are considered Community Living Arrangements:
- Residential Care Center – a facility where 4 or more children reside and are provided with care and maintenance for no more than 75 days in any consecutive 12 month period by persons other than a relative or guardian
- Group Home or Group Foster Home – a facility where 5 to 8 foster children reside and are provided with care and maintenance by persons other than a relative or guardian
- Community Based Residential Facility - a facility where 5 or more adults not related to the operator reside and are provided with care, treatment or services above the level of room and board but less than nursing care.
In addition to the plan amendment, zoning change and special use permit, a facility built on this space (or anywhere else in the 13th district) will require an exception to a city rule stating that "The total capacity of all CLA’s within any aldermanic district may not exceed 1% of the total population of that aldermanic district.”
As of the 2010 census, the population of District 13 was 4,796 people. 1% of that population is roughly 48 persons, and the district already exceeds that capacity in CLAs with three Grand Horizons facilities on Cherryvale Avenue that could hold a combined 66 residents. If this facility is approved, it will put the district at more than 200% of the proposed limit.
I'm eager to hear more about this proposal on Monday night before making a final decision on it.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
A day later, an information item on the Municipal Services Committee agenda deals with an intersection just up the street. For several months now city staff have been studying traffic patterns at the intersection of Ballard Road and Ashbury Drive (the southwest corner of North High School) following an accident last year where a pedestrian was struck while trying to cross the street.
On Tuesday night our traffic engineers will present their findings and a recommendation to add a stop light at the intersection. The possibility has been looked into before, but this is the first time where we've found a signal to be warranted. In addition, our study found that conditions will continue to worsen without a signal in coming years.
However, we're still pretty early in this process. Since the 2014 budget is already completed, funding for a potential change to the intersection is likely to appear in the 2015 budget.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
Back in March I wrote about an ongoing situation at the Gardens of the Fox Cities, where the independent group that had been operating the facility elected to cease operations earlier this year. Control and maintenance of the Gardens returned to the city at that point, and we've been working for a while to determine what happens next.
On Wednesday night staff is recommending the Parks and Recreation Committee recommend approval of a rental policy for the facility for this year. Renting out the facility for meetings, parties and events will hopefully allow us to recoup some of the money we're investing in keeping the grounds maintained. It's a policy we'll likely revisit in a year, but it's a step forward in the continued operation of this popular attraction.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
What you may not know: Week of April 15
My apologies for the late post: It's been a remarkably busy week or so. Without further delay, here's what I'm watching this week:
Library Board, Tuesday, 4:30 pm
After years of study and careful consideration, on Tuesday afternoon the ten members of the Library Board are expected to make a decision today that will shape the future of the facility. After consideration of over a dozen sites across the city, the board has received a recommendation calling for a new library to be constructed on "site 3C," a pair of parcels of E Lawrence Street currently occupied by Trinity Lutheran Church and Fox Banquets & Rivertyme Catering.
As you might expect, this recommendation is the result of years of work. I've been fortunate to be a small part of that work as part of the library's Community Conversation focus groups and tours of other community libraries, both new and reconstructed. Any space will bring its challenges and this one is no exception, but I'm confident in the process that led us to this potential choice.
I'm looking forward to the conversation today and hopefully a vote that will allow the plans to move forward.
Organizational Meeting, Wednesday, 7 pm
Later tonight the Appleton Common Council will meet informally to swear in our two new members and start a conversation on the council rules going forward. We do this once annually and, while it's probably not a big deal to most observers, the review of our rules is very important to maintaining a functioning council and improving our processes going forward.
Following the informal gathering, council will reconvene at 6 pm Wednesday to vote on potential rule changes and propose amendments to the rules. It's a tedious process at times but it's a great reminder of our expectations from each other and our constituents.
Common Council, Wednesday, 7 pm (or shortly after the Organizational Meeting)
Once we get past all of that, the council does have some city business to take up at our scheduled full council meeting. One of the items on our agenda is one I discussed last week: an amendment to our 2014 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocations.
The city received slightly more money than expected from the federal government to fund this program, leaving slightly more than $25,000 extra available to be allocated to applicants. Because of limits on how this money can be spent, $3,280 was available for groups labeled as "public service," with the remainder available to be split between three applicants whose focus was housing.
After some debate the committee voted 4-1 to allocate an addition $7,306.66 each to the Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities, Greater Fox Cities Habitat for Humanity and Appleton Housing Authority, and to give $3,280 (the maximum available) to NAMI to help fill part of the gap between their original request and previous award. The council will get the opportunity to amend or approve this decision.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Library Board, Tuesday, 4:30 pm
After years of study and careful consideration, on Tuesday afternoon the ten members of the Library Board are expected to make a decision today that will shape the future of the facility. After consideration of over a dozen sites across the city, the board has received a recommendation calling for a new library to be constructed on "site 3C," a pair of parcels of E Lawrence Street currently occupied by Trinity Lutheran Church and Fox Banquets & Rivertyme Catering.
As you might expect, this recommendation is the result of years of work. I've been fortunate to be a small part of that work as part of the library's Community Conversation focus groups and tours of other community libraries, both new and reconstructed. Any space will bring its challenges and this one is no exception, but I'm confident in the process that led us to this potential choice.
I'm looking forward to the conversation today and hopefully a vote that will allow the plans to move forward.
Organizational Meeting, Wednesday, 7 pm
Later tonight the Appleton Common Council will meet informally to swear in our two new members and start a conversation on the council rules going forward. We do this once annually and, while it's probably not a big deal to most observers, the review of our rules is very important to maintaining a functioning council and improving our processes going forward.
Following the informal gathering, council will reconvene at 6 pm Wednesday to vote on potential rule changes and propose amendments to the rules. It's a tedious process at times but it's a great reminder of our expectations from each other and our constituents.
Common Council, Wednesday, 7 pm (or shortly after the Organizational Meeting)
Once we get past all of that, the council does have some city business to take up at our scheduled full council meeting. One of the items on our agenda is one I discussed last week: an amendment to our 2014 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocations.
The city received slightly more money than expected from the federal government to fund this program, leaving slightly more than $25,000 extra available to be allocated to applicants. Because of limits on how this money can be spent, $3,280 was available for groups labeled as "public service," with the remainder available to be split between three applicants whose focus was housing.
After some debate the committee voted 4-1 to allocate an addition $7,306.66 each to the Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities, Greater Fox Cities Habitat for Humanity and Appleton Housing Authority, and to give $3,280 (the maximum available) to NAMI to help fill part of the gap between their original request and previous award. The council will get the opportunity to amend or approve this decision.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
What you may not know: Week of April 6
This is kind of an unusual week for the Appleton Common Council. As you likely know, we had elections last week and two new members were elected to the council (not counting Polly Dalton, who we appointed a few weeks earlier). Those new members won't be sworn in until Tuesday, April 15, though.
In the meantime, though, we still have committee meetings scheduled for this week with our old committee alignment, and we have some remarkably significant items on the agendas. Here are some of the things I'm watching:
Community and Economic Development, Monday, 5 pm
Frequent readers of this space will certainly be aware of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), a federally-funded program to help enhance the quality of life of low-to-moderate income residents. Back in February I wrote about nearly $125,000 in grant awards proposed for this year. That was based on an estimate that the city would receive $500,000 in grants overall.
Back in March the city received notice that our grant award is actually slightly higher, at $525,200. That leaves us an extra $25,200 to allocate, and that's the task that will be given to the Community and Economic Development Committee on Monday.
The committee has the authority to distribute this money to any approved project they wish, but I suspect they'll focus on five organizations who received less than their full funding request in the original allocations: Harbor House, NAMI, Step Industries, Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities and Greater Fox Cities Habitat for Humanity.
Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Parking meters downtown are one of the longstanding issues facing the city, as council members frequently hear from residents who do not approve of having to pay to park near city buildings and other amenities. We might take the first step towards eliminating those meters on Tuesday.
Last week at council Alderperson Kathy Plank proposed a resolution that calls for the city to analyze removing meters downtown and replacing them with license plate reader technology. My understanding is that the technology exists to purchase a vehicle that would scan license plates downtown all day and enforce two hour maximums on downtown spots.
There are a ton of questions to be answered here, including the following:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
In the meantime, though, we still have committee meetings scheduled for this week with our old committee alignment, and we have some remarkably significant items on the agendas. Here are some of the things I'm watching:
Community and Economic Development, Monday, 5 pm
Frequent readers of this space will certainly be aware of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), a federally-funded program to help enhance the quality of life of low-to-moderate income residents. Back in February I wrote about nearly $125,000 in grant awards proposed for this year. That was based on an estimate that the city would receive $500,000 in grants overall.
Back in March the city received notice that our grant award is actually slightly higher, at $525,200. That leaves us an extra $25,200 to allocate, and that's the task that will be given to the Community and Economic Development Committee on Monday.
The committee has the authority to distribute this money to any approved project they wish, but I suspect they'll focus on five organizations who received less than their full funding request in the original allocations: Harbor House, NAMI, Step Industries, Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities and Greater Fox Cities Habitat for Humanity.
Municipal Services Committee, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Parking meters downtown are one of the longstanding issues facing the city, as council members frequently hear from residents who do not approve of having to pay to park near city buildings and other amenities. We might take the first step towards eliminating those meters on Tuesday.
Last week at council Alderperson Kathy Plank proposed a resolution that calls for the city to analyze removing meters downtown and replacing them with license plate reader technology. My understanding is that the technology exists to purchase a vehicle that would scan license plates downtown all day and enforce two hour maximums on downtown spots.
There are a ton of questions to be answered here, including the following:
- Removing the meters will cause a loss of revenue for the city's parking utility. Are we willing to lose that money, and if not, how can we replace it?
- Does having a vehicle that drives around scanning license plates all day create a surveillance issue? How will the data on which vehicles are parked downtown be maintained, and who will have access to it?
In the meantime, though, before that conversation can fully happen council needs to approve this resolution asking staff to analyze the alternatives. I hope we'll do so, because only good things can come from that conversation.
Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm
Along with downtown parking, special assessments for road and sewer construction projects are also one of the most controversial issues the council faces. Last week Alderperson Plank also proposed a resolution calling for a review of that practice and a look into the possibility that special assessments could be replaced with money from the city's general fund.
I'm strongly in favor of a full review of the special assessment policy, because a lot of expensive work is done this way and I'd like to know if there are viable alternatives to the current system, where property owners pay large one-time charges for work done on or near their property. I anticipate that one of the arguments against a change, though, will be that using special assessments allows us to complete more projects. Because of levy limits, we don't have the option of raising property taxes to offset the loss of special assessment dollars.
Again, this resolution isn't a change to the policy, just a request for city staff to analyze it. I'm hopeful we'll pass this resolution and give this practice thorough scrutiny later this year.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
What you may not know: Week of March 31
Before I get started with this week's council update, I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that our 2014 city and school elections will be held on Tuesday, April 1. Here in Appleton we have four candidates vying for three spots on the school board and three contested races for spots on the Common Council. Polls will be open from 7 am-8 pm on Tuesday, and you can find your voting location by typing in your address at my.appleton.org and clicking on the "voting" tab.
After that, the Appleton Common Council will meet on Wednesday and the three items on my radar are things I also discussed last week. Here are the updates on them:
Bike lanes on Fremont Street
After nearly an hour of debate last Tuesday (the third time they've debated this issue) the Municipal Services Committee voted 4-1 to reaffirm their decision to install bike lanes on Fremont Street this summer, which will require the removal of some on-street parking. The issue will come before the council again this week, and will likely receive a final vote.
The real challenge of the bike lane debate is that we're frequently pushed to seek "compromise" when the only available alternatives are really not all that viable. In this case, we've heard arguments in favor of creating a "sharo" on the street, a shared lane for bike and vehicle traffic. I'm not sure how that's significantly safer than doing nothing at all. We've also heard arguments for closing a lane of traffic on each side of Calumet Street to make room for bike lanes there. Calumet Street is one of the city's busiest arterial streets, so removing traffic lanes could create major backup issues.
I anticipate that on Wednesday we as a council will again be accused of "not listening" to concerns of neighbors and others that do not want to see bike lanes on Fremont Street or other parts of the city. That couldn't be further from the truth. By the time this issue is taken up on Wednesday we'll have heard debate on this issue on five separate occasions. Public comment has been taken into account in each and every one of those meetings, concerns have been addressed where possible and further steps have been considered.
At the end of the day, we as a council need to make a decision. No matter what we do hear, not everyone will be happy with it. But please allow me to assure you that the concerns addressed by both sides were not ignored.
Carryover budgets
Last week the Finance Committee voted unanimously to approve dozens of requests to carry unspent dollars from the 2013 budget over to 2014. A significant share of these dollars will be used to complete projects that were budgeted for last year but could not be completed before the end of the year for various reasons. However, 22 of these items are "special considerations," additions to the budget using leftover unspent funds.
A large number of those 22 items are requests for "pay for performance" salary adjustments. These are pay raises specifically granted to employees who received exceptionally high scores in their evaluations for 2013. There are also projects in here like $150,000 for storm sewer relocation and reconstruction under the Banta Bowl, $99,000 for replacement of computers, hardware, software and phones and $36,500 for the installation of indented parking on a couple of blocks of Mason Street. All told, the "special consideration" portion of the carryover requests is $672,548.
As I mentioned above, this passed Finance unanimously last Wednesday. It's probably unlikely to be dramatically altered on the floor at council.
Farm Markets
Two weeks ago the council referred a request to hold a Wednesday Farm Market in the grassy area behind the City Center back to the Safety and Licensing Committee, where it was scheduled to be heard again last Thursday. Unfortunately, that meeting had to be cancelled, so Safety and Licensing will hold a special meeting before council at 6 pm on Wednesday to take up this item and the others on their agenda.
The conversation, best as I can tell, is still about finding the best place to hold this market. Once we settle on that I think the large majority of us will all be happy to have another event to help make local food more available and draw more people downtown in the process.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
After that, the Appleton Common Council will meet on Wednesday and the three items on my radar are things I also discussed last week. Here are the updates on them:
Bike lanes on Fremont Street
After nearly an hour of debate last Tuesday (the third time they've debated this issue) the Municipal Services Committee voted 4-1 to reaffirm their decision to install bike lanes on Fremont Street this summer, which will require the removal of some on-street parking. The issue will come before the council again this week, and will likely receive a final vote.
The real challenge of the bike lane debate is that we're frequently pushed to seek "compromise" when the only available alternatives are really not all that viable. In this case, we've heard arguments in favor of creating a "sharo" on the street, a shared lane for bike and vehicle traffic. I'm not sure how that's significantly safer than doing nothing at all. We've also heard arguments for closing a lane of traffic on each side of Calumet Street to make room for bike lanes there. Calumet Street is one of the city's busiest arterial streets, so removing traffic lanes could create major backup issues.
I anticipate that on Wednesday we as a council will again be accused of "not listening" to concerns of neighbors and others that do not want to see bike lanes on Fremont Street or other parts of the city. That couldn't be further from the truth. By the time this issue is taken up on Wednesday we'll have heard debate on this issue on five separate occasions. Public comment has been taken into account in each and every one of those meetings, concerns have been addressed where possible and further steps have been considered.
At the end of the day, we as a council need to make a decision. No matter what we do hear, not everyone will be happy with it. But please allow me to assure you that the concerns addressed by both sides were not ignored.
Carryover budgets
Last week the Finance Committee voted unanimously to approve dozens of requests to carry unspent dollars from the 2013 budget over to 2014. A significant share of these dollars will be used to complete projects that were budgeted for last year but could not be completed before the end of the year for various reasons. However, 22 of these items are "special considerations," additions to the budget using leftover unspent funds.
A large number of those 22 items are requests for "pay for performance" salary adjustments. These are pay raises specifically granted to employees who received exceptionally high scores in their evaluations for 2013. There are also projects in here like $150,000 for storm sewer relocation and reconstruction under the Banta Bowl, $99,000 for replacement of computers, hardware, software and phones and $36,500 for the installation of indented parking on a couple of blocks of Mason Street. All told, the "special consideration" portion of the carryover requests is $672,548.
As I mentioned above, this passed Finance unanimously last Wednesday. It's probably unlikely to be dramatically altered on the floor at council.
Farm Markets
Two weeks ago the council referred a request to hold a Wednesday Farm Market in the grassy area behind the City Center back to the Safety and Licensing Committee, where it was scheduled to be heard again last Thursday. Unfortunately, that meeting had to be cancelled, so Safety and Licensing will hold a special meeting before council at 6 pm on Wednesday to take up this item and the others on their agenda.
The conversation, best as I can tell, is still about finding the best place to hold this market. Once we settle on that I think the large majority of us will all be happy to have another event to help make local food more available and draw more people downtown in the process.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
What you may not know: Week of March 24
It's a relatively light committee week for the Appleton Common Council, with three cancelled meetings on Monday and another on Wednesday. There are still a few items worth watching, though. Here's what's on my radar:
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Last week at our full council meeting the issue of Fremont Street bike lanes was referred back to committee, and a vote to block that refer-back failed by one vote. So on Tuesday the committee will again hear arguments for and against the installation of bike lanes on this street, which would require the removal of some on-street parking.
Last week I posted a list of frequently-asked questions regarding bike lanes, and I think many of the ongoing concerns on this issue are addressed there. With that said, we'll get another opportunity to hear spirited debate on this issue on Tuesday.
Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm
Part of our annual budgeting process is a review of money budgeted but not spent in the previous year for a variety of reasons. Causes of this issue include projects expected to happen last year that weren't completed, salary dollars budgeted for positions that were vacant for some or all of the year, items that came in under budget and the like. On Wednesday the Finance Committee will consider several "carryover" requests that would allow a portion of 2013's unspent dollars to be used on projects this year.
The proposals the committee will consider are divided into two groups: The first is dollars budgeted for projects that were not completed in 2013 but will be completed in 2014 with the carryover funds. The second group is called "special considerations," and contains extra tasks that could be funded with remaining unspent dollars.
The large ticket items in that second group include:
Safety and Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
UPDATE: This meeting has been postponed, and the action items will be discussed in a special meeting before council on April 2.
Two weeks ago the Safety and Licensing Committee received and voted to unanimously approve an application from Appleton Downtown, Incorporated to host a weekly Wednesday farmers market this summer on the grassy area behind the city center where the apartment building was torn down last year. However, at council last Wednesday the issue was referred back and the committee will discuss it again on Thursday.
Last week I heard a concern that holding a market may tear up the grass in this area, which was just planted last year. At the same time, the market could be more visible if held in the new Houdini Plaza.
I am strongly in favor of providing more opportunities for people to get local food here in the city, so I'll support this farm market both as an alderman and a customer regardless of where it ends up being located. However, I do think there's an interesting conversation to be had about ideal locations for it.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Last week at our full council meeting the issue of Fremont Street bike lanes was referred back to committee, and a vote to block that refer-back failed by one vote. So on Tuesday the committee will again hear arguments for and against the installation of bike lanes on this street, which would require the removal of some on-street parking.
Last week I posted a list of frequently-asked questions regarding bike lanes, and I think many of the ongoing concerns on this issue are addressed there. With that said, we'll get another opportunity to hear spirited debate on this issue on Tuesday.
Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm
Part of our annual budgeting process is a review of money budgeted but not spent in the previous year for a variety of reasons. Causes of this issue include projects expected to happen last year that weren't completed, salary dollars budgeted for positions that were vacant for some or all of the year, items that came in under budget and the like. On Wednesday the Finance Committee will consider several "carryover" requests that would allow a portion of 2013's unspent dollars to be used on projects this year.
The proposals the committee will consider are divided into two groups: The first is dollars budgeted for projects that were not completed in 2013 but will be completed in 2014 with the carryover funds. The second group is called "special considerations," and contains extra tasks that could be funded with remaining unspent dollars.
The large ticket items in that second group include:
- $150,000 for storm sewer relocation and reconstruction as part of Lawrence's planned upgrades to the Banta Bowl.
- Three items worth a combined $99,000 for replacement of computers, computer hardware, software and phones.
- $36,500 for the installation of indented parking on the 900 and 1000 blocks of Mason Street to replace some parking removed when bike lanes were installed last year.
Safety and Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
UPDATE: This meeting has been postponed, and the action items will be discussed in a special meeting before council on April 2.
Two weeks ago the Safety and Licensing Committee received and voted to unanimously approve an application from Appleton Downtown, Incorporated to host a weekly Wednesday farmers market this summer on the grassy area behind the city center where the apartment building was torn down last year. However, at council last Wednesday the issue was referred back and the committee will discuss it again on Thursday.
Last week I heard a concern that holding a market may tear up the grass in this area, which was just planted last year. At the same time, the market could be more visible if held in the new Houdini Plaza.
I am strongly in favor of providing more opportunities for people to get local food here in the city, so I'll support this farm market both as an alderman and a customer regardless of where it ends up being located. However, I do think there's an interesting conversation to be had about ideal locations for it.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, March 17, 2014
What you may not know: Week of March 17
The Appleton Common Council will hold its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night at 7 pm, and it could be an interesting night with the following items on the agenda:
Bike lanes
Last Tuesday the Municipal Services committee voted 4-1 to approve a plan calling for bike lanes to be installed on Fremont Street from Oneida Street to Telulah Avenue, which combined with a "bike route" east of Telulah would form a pretty significant east-west passage in the city's developing bike lane network.
As has typically been the case, installation of bike lanes has been a hot topic because it requires the removal of some on-street parking in front of homes on this route. The committee heard from residents of this street and others for multiple hours last Tuesday, and may of the concerns expressed will sound familiar to anyone who followed last spring's debate on bike lanes on Mason Street.
If you haven't been following the debate, here are some frequently asked questions about bike lanes:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Bike lanes
Last Tuesday the Municipal Services committee voted 4-1 to approve a plan calling for bike lanes to be installed on Fremont Street from Oneida Street to Telulah Avenue, which combined with a "bike route" east of Telulah would form a pretty significant east-west passage in the city's developing bike lane network.
As has typically been the case, installation of bike lanes has been a hot topic because it requires the removal of some on-street parking in front of homes on this route. The committee heard from residents of this street and others for multiple hours last Tuesday, and may of the concerns expressed will sound familiar to anyone who followed last spring's debate on bike lanes on Mason Street.
If you haven't been following the debate, here are some frequently asked questions about bike lanes:
- Do they really make a difference? Adding a stripe of paint to concrete may not seem to add a lot of safety for bicyclists, but statistics show it does. Raising driver awareness of the possibility that a bicycle may be nearby has a significant impact on driver behavior.
- Why do bike lanes have to be installed on busy streets/my street? Major streets are often the best place for bicycles to operate because they have controlled intersections when they cross other busy streets. Take the intersection of Fremont and Lawe Streets, for example. It's a four-way stop. It's much safer for a bicycle to cross Lawe Street there than it would be if the bike route was a block north on Harrison Street or a block south on Maple Street.
- I don't see anyone riding a bicycle on this street now, so why do we need bike lanes? The bike lane plan isn't just an accommodation for current bicyclists, it's also an effort to make potential bicyclists feel more confident using our streets. Bicyclists may not feel safe using busy streets now, but by adding infrastructure the hope is that we can open the door for more people who may be interested to start taking opportunities to bike.
- What's the difference between a "bike lane" and a "bike route?" Bike lanes are an actual stripe on the pavement marking an established space for bicycles to use. A bike route is a street that has been identified as a street for bicyclists to use, but has not been striped. Bike routes are ideal for streets with lower traffic, but don't add much for safety on a higher-traffic street. In this case the Fremont bike lane will become an unstriped bike route east of Telulah Avenue, where traffic on Fremont becomes much less.
Fox River House
On Wednesday morning the city's Board of Health will meet in special session to consider a noise variance request for the Fox River House, a bar located near downtown on S. Walnut Street. At least one neighbor has complained about the volume of noise produced when FRH has live bands outside on their patio.
As a result of the complaints, Fox River House has requested a variance from the city's noise ordinance allowing them to have outdoor music on the following dates:
- Friday and Saturday nights from 7-11 pm from May 23-September 6.
- Wednesday nights from 7-10 pm during the same timeframe.
- Saturday, May 17, Thursday, August 7, Friday, September 26 and Saturday, September 27.
Since this issue came to light members of the council have received well over 100 emails from neighbors and customers in support of this noise variance. It's clear that FRH is offering a service that brings people to our downtown. Over the same period I've seen two emails from neighbors with concerns. I'm sure we'll hear more about this topic at Wednesday morning's meeting and again Wednesday night.
Compensation adjustments in the Utilities Department
Last week I wrote about an effort to respond to a salary issue in the utilities department which has led to the departure of several long time city employees. The matter appeared before both the Human Resources and Finance committees last week and both agreed to an adjustment that brings around 20 employees at the Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants back into a competitive pay scale. This comes at a cost, of course, but I think most involved are in agreement that the cost of losing these employees, their experience and expertise would be much greater.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, March 10, 2014
What you may not know: Week of March 10
It's an active committee week for the Appleton Common Council. Here are some highlights:
Human Resources, Monday, 6 pm
The city recently wrapped up an extended review of salaries throughout city government, establishing pay grades and raise opportunities for hundreds of employees. The process was long and challenging, and unfortunately a pay freeze during the process created some short and long-term issues.
One of those issues came in the Utilities Department, where we're experiencing issues as several longtime employees have departed. The extremely complex nature of the water and wastewater treatment facilities mean it's very difficult to replace those employees and a lot of experience and expertise is lost with them.
At 6 tonight the HR committee will consider a one-time pay adjustment for some employees in this department that will hopefully stem the tide of departures. We're always cognizant of the cost of doing things like this, but I anticipate we'll decide that the cost of continuing to lose employees is greater.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Frequent readers of this space will know that bike lanes have been one of the most often-debated topics we've faced in my year on the council. Another debate is coming as the Municipal Services Committee is expected to consider a plan this week to add lanes to Fremont Street (from St. Elizabeth Hospital to near East High School) and remove parking on portions of the street.
As a council we're not that far removed from the debate on Mason Street, and this one is similar in several ways. Fremont Street passes through a residential area, so removing or restricting on-street parking will cause some hardship for residents. We're also hearing a lot of the same questions we heard during that debate.
I anticipate we'll hear spirited debate again on the merits of creating bicycle infrastructure vs the value of on-street parking. Odds are this is merely the first chapter in an extended conversation.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
One of the more surprising developments of this year has been the sudden decision to close the Gardens of the Fox Cities at Memorial Park. While the facility is in a city park, operation of the grounds was done by an independent group that elected to cease operations.
That decision has left the city in a couple of difficult predicaments: First, there are some short-term adjustments that will need to be made to pay for ongoing maintenance of the facility. The grounds will still need some ongoing work to remain viable, and we're going to have to find some room in the budget to pay for that.
Beyond that, we have the bigger question of our long-term plan for the facility. Multiple groups have reached out to us about partnering to manage the Gardens going forward, so we should have plenty of opportunities to ensure this popular attraction continues to operate.
No decisions will be made on this matter on Wednesday, but we do have an information item on the agenda so we can all get on the same page regarding the situation and get informed about what happens next.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Human Resources, Monday, 6 pm
The city recently wrapped up an extended review of salaries throughout city government, establishing pay grades and raise opportunities for hundreds of employees. The process was long and challenging, and unfortunately a pay freeze during the process created some short and long-term issues.
One of those issues came in the Utilities Department, where we're experiencing issues as several longtime employees have departed. The extremely complex nature of the water and wastewater treatment facilities mean it's very difficult to replace those employees and a lot of experience and expertise is lost with them.
At 6 tonight the HR committee will consider a one-time pay adjustment for some employees in this department that will hopefully stem the tide of departures. We're always cognizant of the cost of doing things like this, but I anticipate we'll decide that the cost of continuing to lose employees is greater.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Frequent readers of this space will know that bike lanes have been one of the most often-debated topics we've faced in my year on the council. Another debate is coming as the Municipal Services Committee is expected to consider a plan this week to add lanes to Fremont Street (from St. Elizabeth Hospital to near East High School) and remove parking on portions of the street.
As a council we're not that far removed from the debate on Mason Street, and this one is similar in several ways. Fremont Street passes through a residential area, so removing or restricting on-street parking will cause some hardship for residents. We're also hearing a lot of the same questions we heard during that debate.
I anticipate we'll hear spirited debate again on the merits of creating bicycle infrastructure vs the value of on-street parking. Odds are this is merely the first chapter in an extended conversation.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
One of the more surprising developments of this year has been the sudden decision to close the Gardens of the Fox Cities at Memorial Park. While the facility is in a city park, operation of the grounds was done by an independent group that elected to cease operations.
That decision has left the city in a couple of difficult predicaments: First, there are some short-term adjustments that will need to be made to pay for ongoing maintenance of the facility. The grounds will still need some ongoing work to remain viable, and we're going to have to find some room in the budget to pay for that.
Beyond that, we have the bigger question of our long-term plan for the facility. Multiple groups have reached out to us about partnering to manage the Gardens going forward, so we should have plenty of opportunities to ensure this popular attraction continues to operate.
No decisions will be made on this matter on Wednesday, but we do have an information item on the agenda so we can all get on the same page regarding the situation and get informed about what happens next.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, March 3, 2014
What you may not know: Week of March 3
I apologize for the somewhat brief nature of this update: I'm writing from Arizona, where I'm currently on vacation and will be until Tuesday evening.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
With that said, I'll be back for this week's meeting of the Appleton Common Council on Wednesday, and there's one issue in particular I'm keeping an eye on this week:
Appointing an alderperson for District 8
Many of you may have heard that Alderman Kole Oswald, who had previously announced he was not planning on seeking re-election, recently accepted a job in China and moved overseas, vacating his position on the council. As of this writing he would have had about a month and a half left on his term before his replacement was sworn in at our second meeting in April.
At our last council meeting we briefly discussed what we as a council can do regarding the remainder of his term. We have the ability to hold a special election, but in this case it's not feasible to do so. By the time we held a special election it'd already be Election Day. We also have the ability to appoint someone to fill the seat in the interim, and that's what we'll debate on Wednesday.
For what it's worth, only one candidate filed to run for this seat in the spring elections: Polly Dalton. As such, the obvious option is to appoint Ms. Dalton to fill the seat early. It's really up to her, though, if she'd like to start on the council immediately or would prefer to wait until after she's likely to be elected in April.
We also have the option of appointing someone else, but anyone else we appoint would hold the position for just six weeks before, since they have not filed as a candidate for the April elections, they're likely to have to give up the seat (barring a write-in campaign).
I'm always reluctant to give a seat on the council to someone who wasn't interested in the task of running for election. So, with that said, my preference would be to either appoint Ms. Dalton to the seat early or simply leave it vacant until after the spring elections.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, February 24, 2014
What you may not know: Week of February 23
The Appleton Common Council wraps up February with a full week of committee meetings, and here are some of the highlights I'll be following:
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Two weeks ago the Municipal Services Committee received a request to waive the parking fees at the city's "Yellow" parking ramp once annually during the American Cancer Society's annual "Sole Burner" 5k. The committee rejected the request by a 4-0 vote, noting that waiving the fee would set a precedent that could lead to other groups that hold downtown events reaching out for similar consideration. After hearing from representatives from the Sole Burner at Wednesday's council meeting, I elected to refer this matter back to the committee, where it will be heard again on Tuesday night.
I sent this matter back to committee because I think there's a conversation to be had about compromise. The Cancer Society came to us because they're looking to reduce costs for their event to allow more of their proceeds to go to their mission: supporting cancer research. The committee rejected a request to waive the fee because they don't want to open up the ramp for free. Somewhere in the middle, I think we can reach an agreement.
Currently, the city opens up the ramp from 6-9 am on the day of the event, and the Cancer Society pays $2 (the normal fee) for every car that enters the ramp during that time. In 2013 that was about $1500. It's likely that not all of those cars were there for the race. It's also likely that 750 cars is significantly more than use the ramp most Saturday mornings that time of year (this is before the outdoor farmers market begins).
While I recognize the city's reluctance to give up the parking revenue for free, I also think finding a way to help the Cancer Society achieve their goal of spending less on parking and more on cancer research is the right thing to do. I hope we'll find a way to do that.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
A month ago, as we finished debating a proposal to allow dogs into Appleton's parks (a proposal which failed), Alderperson Cathy Spears submitted a resolution calling for the city to build a "dog friendly" area on Water Street at the location of the city's former Water Treatment Plant.
During the debate on dogs in parks I attempted to make it clear that dogs in parks and dog parks are very separate issues. Dog parks are a place to let your dog run free and exercise off-leash, while allowing dogs in parks would allow for dogs to be in a much more controlled state and setting. The activities involved in the two proposals are very different.
With that said, I would be in favor of the city adding an additional dog park. Before we select this as the right location, however, there are several questions I'll need to have answered:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Two weeks ago the Municipal Services Committee received a request to waive the parking fees at the city's "Yellow" parking ramp once annually during the American Cancer Society's annual "Sole Burner" 5k. The committee rejected the request by a 4-0 vote, noting that waiving the fee would set a precedent that could lead to other groups that hold downtown events reaching out for similar consideration. After hearing from representatives from the Sole Burner at Wednesday's council meeting, I elected to refer this matter back to the committee, where it will be heard again on Tuesday night.
I sent this matter back to committee because I think there's a conversation to be had about compromise. The Cancer Society came to us because they're looking to reduce costs for their event to allow more of their proceeds to go to their mission: supporting cancer research. The committee rejected a request to waive the fee because they don't want to open up the ramp for free. Somewhere in the middle, I think we can reach an agreement.
Currently, the city opens up the ramp from 6-9 am on the day of the event, and the Cancer Society pays $2 (the normal fee) for every car that enters the ramp during that time. In 2013 that was about $1500. It's likely that not all of those cars were there for the race. It's also likely that 750 cars is significantly more than use the ramp most Saturday mornings that time of year (this is before the outdoor farmers market begins).
While I recognize the city's reluctance to give up the parking revenue for free, I also think finding a way to help the Cancer Society achieve their goal of spending less on parking and more on cancer research is the right thing to do. I hope we'll find a way to do that.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
A month ago, as we finished debating a proposal to allow dogs into Appleton's parks (a proposal which failed), Alderperson Cathy Spears submitted a resolution calling for the city to build a "dog friendly" area on Water Street at the location of the city's former Water Treatment Plant.
During the debate on dogs in parks I attempted to make it clear that dogs in parks and dog parks are very separate issues. Dog parks are a place to let your dog run free and exercise off-leash, while allowing dogs in parks would allow for dogs to be in a much more controlled state and setting. The activities involved in the two proposals are very different.
With that said, I would be in favor of the city adding an additional dog park. Before we select this as the right location, however, there are several questions I'll need to have answered:
- First of all, is this parcel of land the right size to accommodate this use?
- Would the proximity to the river create any issues?
- What are the alternatives for this property? Could we be turning away a possible opportunity to put riverfront property back on the tax rolls?
- Is this location our most convenient option for potential users?
I appreciate any effort to make Appleton a more dog-friendly community, but I'm entering this conversation as a bit of a skeptic.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, February 10, 2014
What you may not know: Week of February 10
We have a relatively quiet committee week ahead of us for the Appleton Common Council, but here are two of the items I'm watching:
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
On Tuesday it will have been two full months since the Municipal Services committee first heard Alderman Joe Martin's request to install decorative lighting on the Skyline (Oneida Street) bridge during its repairs in 2015. The issue has been held over twice by the committee, but will come forward again this week.
The state Department of Transportation is working with us on the bridge project, but any lighting upgrades would be done at city expense. The estimated cost of installing lights similar to those on the College Avenue bridge and throughout downtown is around $160,000. That's a pretty significant expenditure, so I expect to hear spirited debate on the value of that investment.
Safety and Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
It passed relatively quietly, but on December 12 of last year Assembly Bill 8 was enacted by the state. It bars local governments from banning bow and crossbow hunting within cities, allowing us only to restrict hunting in the following ways:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
On Tuesday it will have been two full months since the Municipal Services committee first heard Alderman Joe Martin's request to install decorative lighting on the Skyline (Oneida Street) bridge during its repairs in 2015. The issue has been held over twice by the committee, but will come forward again this week.
The state Department of Transportation is working with us on the bridge project, but any lighting upgrades would be done at city expense. The estimated cost of installing lights similar to those on the College Avenue bridge and throughout downtown is around $160,000. That's a pretty significant expenditure, so I expect to hear spirited debate on the value of that investment.
Safety and Licensing, Thursday, 5 pm
It passed relatively quietly, but on December 12 of last year Assembly Bill 8 was enacted by the state. It bars local governments from banning bow and crossbow hunting within cities, allowing us only to restrict hunting in the following ways:
- We can prevent hunters from hunting within 100 yards of a home without permission of the homeowner, and
- We can require that arrows only be fired toward the ground (from a tree stand or another elevated structure).
Our current municipal code bans hunting in the city unless the Chief of Police issues a permit, so we'll have to modify our ordinance language to comply with the new state statute. We've received recommended language from the city attorney's office, and it will be reviewed and discussed on Thursday night.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
What you may not know: Week of February 3
Sorry for the late post this week: It's been an unusually busy couple of days.
This week I'll update you on five topics I discussed two weeks ago, as four of them will come before the full council on Wednesday night:
Community Development Block Grants
Two weeks ago the Community and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously to recommend distributing $124,900 in federal block grant money to the following organizations:
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
This week I'll update you on five topics I discussed two weeks ago, as four of them will come before the full council on Wednesday night:
Community Development Block Grants
Two weeks ago the Community and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously to recommend distributing $124,900 in federal block grant money to the following organizations:
- Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity will receive $33,600 (requested $60,000).
- Harbor House will receive $19,800 (requested $25,000).
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will receive $16,600 (requested $28,000).
- Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities will receive $16,300 (requested $45,800).
- Emergency Shelter of the Fox Valley will receive $15,000 (requested $15,000).
- STEP Industries will receive $13,600 (requested $37,000).
- Fox Valley Warming Shelter will receive $10,000 (requested $10,000).
- Compassionate Home Health Care will receive no money (requested $50,000).
That was also the recommendation of a six-member advisory board which included two members of the committee. Barring a major change in direction, I do not anticipate any changes being made to those award amounts.
Decorative lighting on the Skyline (Oneida St) bridge
The Municipal Services Committee elected to hold this item instead of making a recommendation to the full council. It will come before the committee again when they next meet on February 11.
Recycling bins
After some debate, the Municipal Services Committee recommended that the city solicit quotes for four options for the city's new smaller recycle bins, including one 48-gallon bin and three 64 or 65 gallon options. Assuming the council approves that recommendation, the next step will be for the committee to receive those quotes and recommend a final selection. If you'd like to get on the waiting list to receive a smaller cart, call the department of Public Works at (920) 832-6474 and they can help you.
Bike corrals
One of last week's surprisingly controversial topics was a proposed pilot project that calls for a bike corral to be installed in front of Harmony Cafe on College Avenue from April-October of this year. I've heard concerns raised about the need and location, and the lost revenue from giving up a metered parking spot on College Avenue.
All told, though, doing a pilot project is the right way to evaluate a proposal like this. Right now we have concerns and questions, but being able to install this for six months and see how it works will put us in a better position to evaluate a permanent plan. The loss of parking revenue is not insignificant, but the hope is that people who cannot park immediately in front of Harmony Cafe will simply use another city parking spot.
Dogs in Parks
Finally, two weeks ago the Parks and Rec Committee voted 3-2 to approve an amendment to the amended park rules that would delay allowing dogs in parks until May of 2015. I proposed that amendment to give our Parks Department time to consider and potentially install added infrastructure like bag dispensers and to ensure that we'll be taking every possible step to do this well if we decide to allow dogs in parks.
Wednesday, finally, this issue comes before the council for a final vote. I've written extensively about this matter in the six months it's been in front of the committee but I think we've finally exhausted all the conversations that we need to have on it. We've heard from multiple departments, we've spoken to other cities, we've taken steps internally to prepare and now it's finally time. On Wednesday I hope we'll approve this matter and move on.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, January 20, 2014
What you may not know: Week of January 20
The Appleton Common Council has a busy committee week ahead, with some new issues and some longstanding debates on the agenda. Here are the highlights:
Community and Economic Development, Monday, 5 pm
I've written extensively about Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) in the past, as the city accepts applications annually for shares of money from a federal program designed to provide funds to projects that benefit low-to-moderate income residents. On Monday night the Community and Economic Development Committee will meet to make a recommendation for $124,900 in grant money available to non-government organizations in 2014.
A six-member advisory board has already met to make a preliminary recommendation for these funds, and here's their proposal:
Determining how this money is distributed is an enormous task, of course, and I'm eager to hear how we arrived at this result.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
The Municipal Services Committee will be busy on Tuesday night, as they have three interesting items on their agenda.
First, they'll discuss Alderman Joe Martin's proposal to add decorative street lighting to the Skyline (Oneida Street) bridge when the street is reconstructed in 2015. The lights would look similar to those installed on the College Avenue bridge and throughout downtown. The estimated cost to replace the current lights with decorative fixtures is around $160,000, raising a debate on whether beautifying one of the entrances to our downtown area is worth a pretty significant expenditure in tax dollars.
Second, the effort to procure a second option for the city's recycling bins will take another step forward as the committee is expected to select some possible vendors and sizes to request quotes. Two weeks ago the committee was split on the appropriate size for a smaller alternative bin. Most local communities that offer an alternative use something between 60-65 gallons, but a smaller size (48, 35 or 32 gallons) is available for purchase.
Finally, two weeks ago the committee approved a proposed pilot project to install a "bike corral" in a parking space on College Avenue in front of Harmony Cafe, but the issue was referred back at council and will be discussed again. At the last Municipal Services meeting some concerns were raised about potential safety issues caused by bicyclists needing to ride down College Avenue to reach the corral.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
Finally, we'll have yet another discussion in our long series on dogs in parks at Wednesday night's Parks and Rec meeting. A series of amendments regarding park ordinances was approved by a 3-2 vote two weeks ago, but last week at council I referred the issue back to committee.
I've been supportive all along of efforts to allow dogs into the parks with certain restrictions, but as I've discussed it with constituents and others over the last couple of weeks it's become apparent that we'll need some time to make some infrastructure adjustments to the parks if we're going to allow dogs. I'm most concerned about our park rules signs (which currently all say "no pets"), potential bag dispensers to encourage people to pick up after their dogs and our park garbage cans, which may need to be emptied more frequently.
This week I'm hopeful we'll discuss potential adjustments that may need to be made and the possibility that we could allow dogs at a date in the future, giving us some time to make the changes needed to do this correctly.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Community and Economic Development, Monday, 5 pm
I've written extensively about Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) in the past, as the city accepts applications annually for shares of money from a federal program designed to provide funds to projects that benefit low-to-moderate income residents. On Monday night the Community and Economic Development Committee will meet to make a recommendation for $124,900 in grant money available to non-government organizations in 2014.
A six-member advisory board has already met to make a preliminary recommendation for these funds, and here's their proposal:
- Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity will receive $33,600 (requested $60,000).
- Harbor House will receive $19,800 (requested $25,000).
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will receive $16,600 (requested $28,000).
- Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities will receive $16,300 (requested $45,800).
- Emergency Shelter of the Fox Valley will receive $15,000 (requested $15,000).
- STEP Industries will receive $13,600 (requested $37,000).
- Fox Valley Warming Shelter will receive $10,000 (requested $10,000).
- Compassionate Home Health Care will receive no money (requested $50,000).
Determining how this money is distributed is an enormous task, of course, and I'm eager to hear how we arrived at this result.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
The Municipal Services Committee will be busy on Tuesday night, as they have three interesting items on their agenda.
First, they'll discuss Alderman Joe Martin's proposal to add decorative street lighting to the Skyline (Oneida Street) bridge when the street is reconstructed in 2015. The lights would look similar to those installed on the College Avenue bridge and throughout downtown. The estimated cost to replace the current lights with decorative fixtures is around $160,000, raising a debate on whether beautifying one of the entrances to our downtown area is worth a pretty significant expenditure in tax dollars.
Second, the effort to procure a second option for the city's recycling bins will take another step forward as the committee is expected to select some possible vendors and sizes to request quotes. Two weeks ago the committee was split on the appropriate size for a smaller alternative bin. Most local communities that offer an alternative use something between 60-65 gallons, but a smaller size (48, 35 or 32 gallons) is available for purchase.
Finally, two weeks ago the committee approved a proposed pilot project to install a "bike corral" in a parking space on College Avenue in front of Harmony Cafe, but the issue was referred back at council and will be discussed again. At the last Municipal Services meeting some concerns were raised about potential safety issues caused by bicyclists needing to ride down College Avenue to reach the corral.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
Finally, we'll have yet another discussion in our long series on dogs in parks at Wednesday night's Parks and Rec meeting. A series of amendments regarding park ordinances was approved by a 3-2 vote two weeks ago, but last week at council I referred the issue back to committee.
I've been supportive all along of efforts to allow dogs into the parks with certain restrictions, but as I've discussed it with constituents and others over the last couple of weeks it's become apparent that we'll need some time to make some infrastructure adjustments to the parks if we're going to allow dogs. I'm most concerned about our park rules signs (which currently all say "no pets"), potential bag dispensers to encourage people to pick up after their dogs and our park garbage cans, which may need to be emptied more frequently.
This week I'm hopeful we'll discuss potential adjustments that may need to be made and the possibility that we could allow dogs at a date in the future, giving us some time to make the changes needed to do this correctly.
You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Monday, January 13, 2014
What you may not know: Week of January 13
As promised earlier, here is this week's update on city council activity. The biggest issues coming before the council this week are the same ones I discussed in last week's post, but here's an update on where they stand:
Recycling bins:
As expected, the Municipal Services committee made some modifications to a proposed exchange plans for new, smaller recycling bins.
The initial draft of the exchange policy called for a $100 exchange fee, but that fee will now be waived for anyone that hasn't already exchanged recycling bins once in the last 24 months. As such, anyone who wants to move to a smaller bin and qualifies will be able to do so for free once.
The phrase "and qualifies" is important because of the committee's second amendment: An addition to the policy stating residents can only move to a smaller recycling bin if they also have one of the city's small (roughly 35 gallon) or medium (60-65 gallon) sized garbage bins. This was designed to hopefully prevent residents from downsizing their recycling bin and throwing their overflow recycling into their oversized garbage.
Water Plant
After some discussion, the Finance Committee voted unanimously last week to approve the contract for the Regulatory Upgrades and Process Improvement Project at the Water Treatment Facility, and to make a budget adjustment to prepare for the possibility that the project could exceed its original budgeted figure.
Wednesday's vote will, if nothing else, be notable as a milestone in this project. After years of pre-design and design work and more, a two-thirds vote of council will give Staab Construction authorization to officially begin work on replacing microfiltration modules at the facility with ultraviolet light and making many other process improvements to help the facility remain compliant with DNR regulations.
Dogs in Parks
The Parks and Recreation Committee voted 3-2 last Wednesday to recommend approval of an amended set of park ordinances that include, among other things, the ability to bring dogs into city parks. I proposed the original amendment to allow dogs, and on Wednesday we amended that amendment to language the legal department was more comfortable with. Now, after months of debate, this issue is ready to come before the council for the first time.
I remain dedicated to opening up our parks for responsible pet owners, but it appears likely this is going to be a close vote. If you feel strongly about this issue I'd urge you to contact your alderman and let them know what you're thinking.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Recycling bins:
As expected, the Municipal Services committee made some modifications to a proposed exchange plans for new, smaller recycling bins.
The initial draft of the exchange policy called for a $100 exchange fee, but that fee will now be waived for anyone that hasn't already exchanged recycling bins once in the last 24 months. As such, anyone who wants to move to a smaller bin and qualifies will be able to do so for free once.
The phrase "and qualifies" is important because of the committee's second amendment: An addition to the policy stating residents can only move to a smaller recycling bin if they also have one of the city's small (roughly 35 gallon) or medium (60-65 gallon) sized garbage bins. This was designed to hopefully prevent residents from downsizing their recycling bin and throwing their overflow recycling into their oversized garbage.
Water Plant
After some discussion, the Finance Committee voted unanimously last week to approve the contract for the Regulatory Upgrades and Process Improvement Project at the Water Treatment Facility, and to make a budget adjustment to prepare for the possibility that the project could exceed its original budgeted figure.
Wednesday's vote will, if nothing else, be notable as a milestone in this project. After years of pre-design and design work and more, a two-thirds vote of council will give Staab Construction authorization to officially begin work on replacing microfiltration modules at the facility with ultraviolet light and making many other process improvements to help the facility remain compliant with DNR regulations.
Dogs in Parks
The Parks and Recreation Committee voted 3-2 last Wednesday to recommend approval of an amended set of park ordinances that include, among other things, the ability to bring dogs into city parks. I proposed the original amendment to allow dogs, and on Wednesday we amended that amendment to language the legal department was more comfortable with. Now, after months of debate, this issue is ready to come before the council for the first time.
I remain dedicated to opening up our parks for responsible pet owners, but it appears likely this is going to be a close vote. If you feel strongly about this issue I'd urge you to contact your alderman and let them know what you're thinking.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Hear me today on The Philcast on WHBY
I'll be back later this evening with this week's council roundup, but I wanted to take a moment while I have the chance today to invite you to listen to the Philcast on WHBY, where I'll be stopping by around 4:30 today for what's certain to be a lively conversation about allowing dogs in Appleton's city parks.
You can hear WHBY over the air at 1150 AM, or you can listen in online. Take a moment today to join the conversation!
You can hear WHBY over the air at 1150 AM, or you can listen in online. Take a moment today to join the conversation!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
What you may not know: Week of January 6
After a several-week hiatus for the holidays and the coldest Monday in recent memory, the Appleton Common Council will thaw out and return to action this week with an abbreviated committee schedule. Here are some of the highlights:
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Since I've joined the council one of the most oft-discussed topics has been the city's new blue recycling bins, and the Municipal Services committee is likely to take a step towards giving residents more alternatives on Tuesday night.
At the meeting I anticipate the committee will approve a proposed new recycling cart exchange policy that will allow recycling users to swap out their bin for a smaller version at no cost provided they make the request before December 31, 2014. After that time moving down to a smaller bin will carry a $100 fee, but the city will continue to maintain bins, replace broken bins and allow users to move back up to the larger bin for free.
On December 28 the Post Crescent ran a story about an earlier draft of this proposal, which called for the $100 change fee to begin immediately. At the last Muni meeting in December the committee made it clear that they wanted to give constituents time to make a choice before instituting the fee, then held the issue to give staff time to prepare this second draft.
Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm
The Finance Committee has a big ticket item on their agenda on Wednesday, as they're expected to vote to award a contract worth nearly $5 million for construction on a major project at the Water Treatment Plant.
This project has been a long time coming, as it's at least partially in reaction to new state and federal water regulations handed down in early 2012. The construction summary includes seven elements, but the primary task involved is installing and implementing an ultraviolet light disinfection process to inactivate Cryptosporidium and Giardia, two parasites that can cause very significant illness.
Of course, any time we're talking about a multimillion dollar project every possible step is taken to ensure we're doing the right thing, finding all possible efficiencies and adding something that will last. This project will have to clear an additional hurdle, as approving the project will require a $361,000 budget adjustment to cover some additions that have had to be made since the original project budget.
With that said, I think this improvement is going to be a great thing for our community and everyone that uses our water.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
We've been debating the possibility of allowing dogs in Appleton City Parks since August, but this may finally be the week where the Parks and Rec Committee makes a recommendation to the full council.
I wrote about this issue in my last post a month ago, where I outlined a possible rule change and set of criteria for allowing pets into city parks. The committee approved my amendment by a 3-1 vote at our last meeting in December, but then elected to hold the action item so the Legal Department could have an opportunity to re-craft the language.
With their suggestion in hand, I think we're finally ready to proceed here. I expect this amendment to pass Wednesday night, and it should make for interesting debate at council the following week.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
Municipal Services, Tuesday, 5:30 pm
Since I've joined the council one of the most oft-discussed topics has been the city's new blue recycling bins, and the Municipal Services committee is likely to take a step towards giving residents more alternatives on Tuesday night.
At the meeting I anticipate the committee will approve a proposed new recycling cart exchange policy that will allow recycling users to swap out their bin for a smaller version at no cost provided they make the request before December 31, 2014. After that time moving down to a smaller bin will carry a $100 fee, but the city will continue to maintain bins, replace broken bins and allow users to move back up to the larger bin for free.
On December 28 the Post Crescent ran a story about an earlier draft of this proposal, which called for the $100 change fee to begin immediately. At the last Muni meeting in December the committee made it clear that they wanted to give constituents time to make a choice before instituting the fee, then held the issue to give staff time to prepare this second draft.
Finance, Wednesday, 4:30 pm
The Finance Committee has a big ticket item on their agenda on Wednesday, as they're expected to vote to award a contract worth nearly $5 million for construction on a major project at the Water Treatment Plant.
This project has been a long time coming, as it's at least partially in reaction to new state and federal water regulations handed down in early 2012. The construction summary includes seven elements, but the primary task involved is installing and implementing an ultraviolet light disinfection process to inactivate Cryptosporidium and Giardia, two parasites that can cause very significant illness.
Of course, any time we're talking about a multimillion dollar project every possible step is taken to ensure we're doing the right thing, finding all possible efficiencies and adding something that will last. This project will have to clear an additional hurdle, as approving the project will require a $361,000 budget adjustment to cover some additions that have had to be made since the original project budget.
With that said, I think this improvement is going to be a great thing for our community and everyone that uses our water.
Parks and Recreation, Wednesday, 6 pm
We've been debating the possibility of allowing dogs in Appleton City Parks since August, but this may finally be the week where the Parks and Rec Committee makes a recommendation to the full council.
I wrote about this issue in my last post a month ago, where I outlined a possible rule change and set of criteria for allowing pets into city parks. The committee approved my amendment by a 3-1 vote at our last meeting in December, but then elected to hold the action item so the Legal Department could have an opportunity to re-craft the language.
With their suggestion in hand, I think we're finally ready to proceed here. I expect this amendment to pass Wednesday night, and it should make for interesting debate at council the following week.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Making the council's activity as accessible as possible to as many people as are interested is part of my goal to make it easier for more people to get involved with issues that matter to them.
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