Common Council Update for the Week of December 16

Before I get started today, a quick scheduling update: Next week is a committee week for the Appleton Common Council but most of the committee meetings will likely be canceled due to the holidays. We would normally have a council meeting on the first Wednesday in January but that also has been moved back so as to avoid meeting on New Year's Day. As such, after this Wednesday the next scheduled meeting of the Appleton Common Council will be on Wednesday, January 8.

With that out of the way, all I have this week are updates on items from last week's committee agendas:

• Last week the Municipal Services Committee heard extensive public comment and elected to hold their action item regarding the installation of "The Collective" sculpture near the west end of the College Avenue bridge. That item will return to their agenda when they next meet on January 13.
• The Municipal Services Committee also held a resolution calling for the former Conway Hotel site on Washington Street to be converted into a surface level parking lot. The city and stakeholders continue to work to determine if adding parking is feasible and if adding said parking would impact the city's ability to have those parcels redeveloped. This item will also be on their January 13 agenda.
• Last week the City Plan Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of a Special Use Permit for a new ThedaCare facility near their existing Encircle Health facility. The permit would allow them to build a facility up to 95 feet high (the current limit is 60 feet). This item will be on our council agenda this week.
• Finally, the Board of Health received a great deal of public input regarding a resolution calling for the city to ban "conversion therapy." Because of the volume of public participation received and time constraints, the Board was unable to discuss the issue among themselves on Wednesday morning and held the item. This item will be back on the Board's agenda for their January 8 meeting. It is my understanding that public participation will be closed for this meeting, giving the board time to discuss and arrive at a recommendation.

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.

Common Council update for the week of December 9

After a few quiet weeks, the Appleton Common Council has a busy week of committee meetings planned. Here are some of the highlights:

Municipal Services Committee, Monday, 4:30 pm

This committee agenda features a pair of items that should generate some discussion:

First, the committee is expected to reopen discussion on an art installation near the west end of the College Avenue bridge named "The Collective." This installation was approved by council several weeks ago but neighbors have asked for the approval to be reconsidered. You can see more about the meeting here.

The committee will also discuss a proposal to turn the former Conway Hotel site on Washington Street into surface parking. This process has taken several twists and turns and I'm not sure it will be resolved today: The committee will learn the latest on property negotiations in closed session, but may or may not have all the information necessary to make a recommendation.

City Plan Commission, Tuesday, 4 pm

It's been about a month since ThedaCare announced plans for a $144 million project to build a new specialty hospital near their Encircle Health site along Highway 41 and it will come up for discussion this week at the City Plan Commission, where their application for a Special Use Permit will be up for a recommendation for the first time.

The permit calls for a medical office building not to exceed 95 feet in height, which is 35 feet higher than Appleton's ordinances allow without a variance. I do not expect the approval to be controversial.

Board of Health, Wednesday, 7 am

Wednesday morning will feature the Board of Health's second opportunity to discuss and first opportunity to make a recommendation on a resolution banning what is often referred to as "Conversion Therapy" in the city of Appleton.

Conversion therapy is the practice of trying to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. It's banned in eighteen states (Utah is about to become the 19th), not backed by science and has been proven harmful to the psychological wellbeing of participants.

Debate on this topic is likely to be heated, but to me the decision is simple: Appleton should follow the lead of well more than a dozen states and draw a firm line when it comes to pseudoscience and protecting the wellbeing of young people in our community.

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.