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:

• 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.

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:

• 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.

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.

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:

• 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.

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.

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:

• 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.

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.

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!

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.