What you may not know: Week of June 17

The Appleton Common Council will hold its regularly scheduled full council meeting on Wednesday night at 7 pm to address items including the following:

2020 Department of Public Works Fees

As part of the leadup to the 2020 budget process, the Municipal Services Committee was recently asked to make recommendations on an array of potential changes in fees and/or practices for the upcoming year:

First, the committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of a change in fees for 30-gallon refuse carts to $.50/week. Council increased fees for the 60 and 90-gallon carts in the 2019 budget but left the 30-gallon carts free as an incentive for users to monitor their waste and recycle more. Even with the fee increase, 30-gallon carts would remain less expensive than their larger counterparts.

Unfortunately, the city recently learned that Outagamie County intends to increase tipping fees for 2020 to make up for revenue decreases in recycling commodities. That increase in fees at the landfill will cost the city's Sanitation Fund around $43,000 annually. The new revenue generated by this fee would cover that cost and eliminate a $52,000 annual payment from the General Fund to the Sanitation Fund.

The committee also voted unanimously to recommend increasing the price of monthly parking permits downtown from $30 to $40 to help the Parking Utility continue to operate without assistance from the General Fund (property taxes). A $40 monthly payment is still much less than the $5 per day a user would have to pay to use the ramp on a daily rate and is equal to or below the monthly rates charged for ramp usage in La Crosse, Eau Claire and Green Bay. This increase in revenue will allow the Parking Utility to continue to operate and maintain the city's parking ramps without assistance from property tax dollars.

Next, the committee voted unanimously to increase the cost of Street Excavation Permits from $40 to $250. About 700 of these permits for contractors to dig in a city roadway are issued annually despite the fact that the practice reduces the quality and longevity of roads. City staff recommended the fee be increased to $100 but the committee recommended an increase to $250 to be more in line with current rates set by Neenah ($200), Grand Chute ($300) and Outagamie County ($1000). This fee increase would generate about $147,000 in new revenue to help cover losses in the viability and longevity in our streets.

Finally, the committee voted 4-0 to recommend the city eliminate its commercial recycling program at the end of this year. The reasons outlined by staff for this recommendation included the following:

• The truck used for this service is due for replacement and the city would need to borrow additional funds to replace it.
• The Commercial Recycling service is redundant to those provided by private contractors and is only used by about 16% of all Appleton businesses.
• The city loses about $15,000 per year providing this service.

I think I can speak for everyone on council when I say that none of us enjoy raising fees or eliminating services. Council has taken steps throughout my time on council to avoid or delay additional costs when possible, but I think the steps outlined above and their unanimous support from the Municipal Services Committee reflect an understanding that these nominal increases are a necessary part of responsible governance.

Aldermanic Vacancies

This week council will be asked to make a decision on how to proceed with a pair of vacant seats: Alderman Keir Dvorachek resigned at the end of April due to a move out of his district and Alderperson Rachel Raasch will be leaving her seat at the end of the month due to a work relocation. Dvorachek's seat (District 15) is next scheduled to come up for election in April of 2021, while Raasch's seat (District 6) was due up next April.

At our last meeting council was briefed on our options to fill these vacancies: Council can seek applications and appoint someone to serve, or order a special election to allow the voters to decide. During my time on council I have always favored the latter and intend to do so again here: I was not elected to represent District 6 or 15 and I do not feel it is appropriate for me to choose a representative for them.

Finally, a quick scheduling note for the weeks ahead: A few weeks ago council voted to shift our meeting schedule for July due to the Independence Day holiday. The month of July has five Wednesdays in 2019 so instead of holding a council meeting on July 3 we've opted to move all of the month's meetings back one week. In the past in a similar situation council has opted to cancel the meeting on the week of the Fourth, but this year we'll proceed with our normal number of meetings as an acknowledgement to the importance of a volume of items on our radar.

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.

What you may not know: Week of June 3

The Appleton Common Council will hold our regularly scheduled full council meeting on Wednesday night at 7 pm or following the conclusion of two committee meetings scheduled for the evening. Our agenda includes a pair of items of interest:

Renaming Alleys

In a previous update I mentioned that the Public Works Department and Appleton Historical Society were working together to rename several alleys in the city for a pair of reasons:

• To assist with wayfinding and provide alleys with clear identities.
• To honor and maintain the memories of prominent Appletonians.

Back in April the City Plan Commission discussed this item and held it for further input and research. On May 21 they took the item up again and voted to recommend approval of 21 alley names. The full list and map of the alleys' locations can be found in the first attachment on this page.

Council Vacancy

Alderman Keir Dvorachek, who had represented the city's 15th District for the last two years and was just re-elected in April, recently informed the city that he is no longer able to serve in his position and has resigned. On Wednesday there is an information item on our council agenda to discuss options for filling his seat.

In the past council has considered three options for dealing with seats vacated during an alderperson's term:

• Seeking applications and appointing someone to fulfill the remaining term.
• Holding a special election to allow the voters to choose a new representative.
• Leaving the seat vacant until it is due for re-election.

Given the amount of time remaining on the term (through spring 2021), the third option seems unreasonable. I suspect we'll discuss the merits of the others this week. In the past council arguments have often revolved around cost (holding a special election carries a not-insignificant expense). 

During my time on council we have appointed someone to fill a vacant seat (selecting then-candidate Polly Dalton to fill Kole Oswald's seat in District 8 for the final weeks of his term in 2014) and held a special election (the voters eventually selected Tim Trauger to replace Teege Metille in District 1 in 2013). In my opinion this specific situation, with 22 months remaining on the term, is more comparable to the latter event.

At any rate, during my time on council I have never supported efforts to appoint an alderperson: While I recognize we are empowered to do so, I don't feel it's appropriate for council to select a representative on behalf of voters we were not elected to represent. I intend to advocate for a special election at this time.

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.