What you may not know: Week of April 22

It's the first committee week for the new Appleton Common Council and with it come lots of changes: Six of our seven committee chairmanships have turned over since last week and council has four new members since the spring elections.

I'm honored to report that I was selected by the Mayor or elected by my colleagues to the following positions last week:

• Common Council President (first time)
• Chairman, Safety & Licensing Committee (My fifth year as chairman and sixth year as a member)
• Member, Finance Committee (My sixth year in this role)
• Member, Community and Economic Development (first time)
• Member, Board of Review (first time)

Now, back to the items of interest from this week's agendas:

Municipal Services Committee, Monday, 4:30 pm

Last month the Municipal Services Committee was asked to consider some pretty significant changes to the way the city maintains sidewalks. The changes were recommended for denial at the committee level but referred back by council, and a new committee will get another chance to discuss them this week.

The City's current policy calls for sidewalk to be repaired or replaced at the city's expense if any of the following conditions occur:

1. There is a gap of more than 3/4" between sidewalk sections.
2. A sidewalk has settled out of vertical alignment more than 1" from normal grade.
3. There is a crack greater than half an inch in or between sidewalk sections
4. Sidewalk sections are out of conformance with design to a degree where water ponds on them.
5. Broken corners greater than 3".

Our staff recommendation was to eliminate items 2 and 4 from the list above. In the case of item #4, sidewalk sections where water ponds would be replaced during street reconstructions but would otherwise only be replaced if the homeowner replaces them at their own expense.

I have concerns about this proposal as it relates to snow and ice removal: Sidewalks where water is ponding are also likely to be sidewalks that are irreparably icy during the winter months.

City Plan Commission, Tuesday, 4 pm

A few weeks ago the City Plan Commission and Municipal Services Committee were asked to approve the vacation of Kimball Street south of downtown as part of development in that area. You may not have known (I didn't) that Kimball Street was named for Eliza Kimball Smith, husband of Reeder Smith, a founder of Lawrence University.

In an effort to keep names like this from being lost to history, the Department of Public Works, Alderperson Christine Williams and Gwen Sargeant of the Appleton Historical Society have worked together to propose 22 new names for alleys around the city with the stated goal of "promoting safety, consistency, and could activate these alleys by giving them a sense of place."

A full list of the 22 proposed new names and their locations can be seen in the attachment at this link. 

Safety & Licensing Committee, Wednesday, 5:30 pm

Finally, this week the Safety & Licensing Committee will get a long-awaited opportunity to have a discussion on the city's ambulance service. 

The committee agenda includes a presentation from Nick Romenesko of Gold Cross Ambulance on their service throughout the Fox Valley and their response times in emergencies in the city. As I mentioned above, I've been on the Safety & Licensing Committee for six years now and this is the first time I recall seeing a presentation like this or having the opportunity to discuss our public/private partnership for emergency medical services.

PLEASE NOTE: The original version of the agenda for this meeting included Alderman William Siebers' resolution regarding the city's truancy ordinance, but that item has been moved back to our May 8 meeting to allow appropriate time for discussion and questions on this presentation.

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.