Before I get to this week's council notes, I wanted to send out my heartfelt thanks to the city's Department of Public Works and Police and Fire Departments for their efforts to keep the city safe and to all of my constituents for their patience and understanding while we all work to dig out from this weekend's massive snow event. It's been a very challenging weekend and Monday for a lot of us and I appreciate the efforts of everyone who has worked to help others get through it.
Now, with that said, this is an important week for the Appleton Common Council. A new council year begins on Tuesday night with the swearing in and re-swearing in of members of the council that were elected and re-elected two weeks ago and the council's committee, board and commission assignments will be re-set on Wednesday. In addition to that, there are a couple other items of interest on agendas:
Mixed Use Library
The Appleton Common Council has already voted to continue negotiations with Commercial Horizons regarding including the library in a proposed mixed use development on the site of the Soldier's Square parking ramp. On Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 the Library Board will meet and their agenda includes the same action item.
It's worth noting once again that this is not a decision on a final design, funding model or budgetary commitment. An affirmative vote by the Library Board would simply be a continuation of the process in partnership with Commercial Horizons in an effort to meet the library's needs as part of development of this space. A development agreement and several other important votes on this project are yet to come.
Re-development on West College Avenue
Elsewhere in long-awaited projects, last week the City Plan Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of a Special Use Permit necessary for a proposed redevelopment of the long vacant former K-Mart site on West College Avenue. The Common Council is expected to vote on that recommendation on Wednesday night. Last week the city released renderings of a proposed plan for the site that calls for retail facing College Avenue and personal storage behind the building.
The former K-Mart site has been vacant for a variety of reasons for the entirety of my tenure on council and many years before that. I'm excited for this opportunity to see something new take shape on this long-blighted property.
You can see all of this week's meeting agendas and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.
Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.
No comments:
Post a Comment