What you may not know: Week of July 30

The Appleton Common Council will hold its regularly scheduled full council meeting on Wednesday, August 1. Items on the agenda include the following:

Snow Emergency Parking

Several months ago Alderman Bill Siebers submitted a resolution in response to an issue he has witnessed in the city's first district, where cars parked on the street during snow emergencies have to be plowed around and create issues for both the usability of the street and available on-street parking in front of businesses. The current fine for parking on the street while on-street parking is banned is $25, the same as a ticket for being parked on the street without authorization overnight on any other night.

Last week the Municipal Services Committee amended Alderman Siebers' resolution and recommended the city establish a fine of $100 for leaving a vehicle on the street during a snow emergency. This would put us at the high end of a list of comparable municipalities reviewed at the meeting.

While I appreciate the issue Alderman Siebers is trying to address, I would be more inclined to support a lesser increase that puts us in line with our neighbors instead of above most of them.

Refuse Cart Fees

As I noted in my last update, the Municipal Services committee was recently asked to consider a staff recommendation that would make a slight increase to the city's refuse cart fees to address a growing shortfall in the Sanitation Fund's revenues. The Sanitation Fund has been operating at a slight deficit in recent years and in 2019 it's fund balance is expected to fall below 25% of its operating budget, a benchmark that typically triggers some kind of adjustment. Under the current fee structure the fund balance would be completely depleted by 2022.

The staff proposal called for an across the board increase of fees as follows:

• Users with 30 gallon refuse carts would pay $.50 per week, up from $0.
• Users with 60 gallon refuse carts would pay $1 per week, up from $.50.
• Users with 90 gallon refuse carts would pay $1.50 per week, up from $1.30.
• Users with multiple carts would see their rates increase along a range from $1.20 to $1.70 per week.

The Municipal Services Committee opted to amend that recommendation to leave the smallest cart free, but recommended adopting all of the remaining changes. If approved, this change is projected to keep the Sanitation Fund on solid financial footing through 2022.

Parking Rate Increases

Last week the Municipal Services Committee also voted to recommend approval of the following rate increases for the city's parking utility:

• Parking meters north of Washington Street would be increased from $.20/hour to $.25/hour.
• All other parking meters would be increased from $.75/hour to $1/hour.
• Parking ramp fees of $1 for less than two hours would be eliminated and replaced by a $2 fee for parking less than three hours.

These three changes are projected to raise about $150,000 in annual revenue to be used to help pay for updated ramp lighting, elevator and parking meter replacements as well as credit card fees and software support.

U.S. Venture Agreement

The city and U.S. Venture continue to work together on the development of a new headquarters for U.S. Venture downtown, but plans hit a snag recently when private developers were unable to secure financing for the parking element of the project. 

This week the Common Council will be asked to approve an amended agreement to keep the project moving forward. The amended agreement calls for the city to take responsibility for the construction of the parking structure in exchange for guarantees from US Venture to purchase more spaces within the new structure and an increase in their guaranteed minimum value of the property upon completion of the project.

It's worth noting once again that while this project does require a significant investment, it has been and continues to be the city's priority to keep the expenses contained within the appropriate Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district to prevent the taxpayers from bearing any of the burden. The costs are being borrowed by the TIF district and are expected to be repaid by increased revenue due to the related increase in property values.

In an effort to keep this project moving council will be asked to take this item up on Wednesday despite the fact that it has not been to any committees. As such, I expect extended discussion and questions before we take action, if we choose to take action this week at all.

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.