Appleton Common Council Update for the Week of December 7

Today the Appleton Common Council starts what will likely be our last full committee week of the year: I anticipate we'll likely cancel or postpone most of our scheduled meetings the week of Christmas before resuming a normal schedule with our January 6 full council meeting.

While I do not expect any of the items below to be controversial, there are a few discussions of interest happening this week:

Parks & Recreation, Monday, 6:30 pm

Tonight the Parks and Recreation Committee will be asked to recommend approval of some amendments to the city's Trails Master Plan in neighborhoods north of Highway JJ and between Ballard and French Roads.

The additions to the plan include new trail infrastructure to be constructed as development continues in this area in the years ahead. At present there is no specific timeframe for trail construction, as much of the work depends on the pace of development and the build-out of related infrastructure. You can see a map of the existing plan and proposed additions on the second attachment at this link. 

Planning trails in advance of future development helps everyone involved avoid potential headaches later. Additionally, I'm pleased to see plans in this area include pedestrian and bicyling alternatives to using French Road, which is going to get increasingly busy as development continues in this area.

City Plan Commission, Tuesday, 4 pm

Speaking of continued development north of Highway JJ, this week the City Plan Commission will be asked to approve the final plats for two additions to the Emerald Valley subdivision northwest of the intersection of Highway JJ and French Road. This is the continuation of a process we've discussed previously: The commission approved rezoning and preliminary plats for these parcel at two separate meetings in October. Once complete, these new additions will add 50 single-family lots to that subdivision.

Community and Economic Development, Wednesday, 4:30 pm

Earlier this year the city received a special allocation of $348,255 in Community Development Block Grant funding as part of the federal "CARES Act" to respond to growing effects of the ongoing pandemic. This week the CED Committee will be asked to recommend approval of a change in the way those dollars are being reallocated.

The committee and council originally rewarded $78,386 from the total listed above to Habitat for Humanity but have since been informed that this was not an eligible use of CARES Act funding. As such, staff is proposing those dollars be reallocated to the city's Motel Voucher Program.

Homelessness has been a growing issue in our community for years but has reached a critical point during the pandemic as shelters have been forced to limit capacity for safety reasons. A shortage in shelter space is especially dangerous as it gets cold during the winter. Per a memo attached to this item, the Motel Voucher Program "is designed to ensure that individuals and families experiencing homelessness have a safe, temporary place to stay until a more permanent housing solution is identified," and "also includes a case management component, food, transportation, and connection to housing solutions."

These funds won't solve the underlying issues leading to growth of homelessness in our community, of course, but they will help us continue to keep people safe and warm through the winter months while we continue to work on long-term solutions.

The ongoing pandemic makes it increasingly difficult for us to safely allow large groups to participate in our governmental meetings, making it all the more valuable to have the tools for residents to contact alderpersons online and view our meetings remotely. If you have thoughts on these or any other action items on our agendas this week I would encourage you to use those links to remain engaged and active in the safest way possible.

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.

Appleton Common Council Update for the Week of 11/2

 Before I get to the council update, a quick plea: It's city budget season and an election week simultaneously this week, with both processes complicated by the ongoing pandemic and northeast Wisconsin's elevated risks. Please be patient if you need to contact city staff this week. Whether it's about the election, the budget or something else entirely, please be aware that our folks downtown and throughout the city have a lot of irons in the fire right now. We have an incredible team doing their best to keep everything moving in the right direction, but despite their long hours and dedication it's still going to be a challenge to keep up for a little while. Please take that into account if you try to contact us.

With that said, work on the 2021 budget continues this week with a public hearing on Wednesday night. This year the public hearing will look a little different from past years: We're strongly encouraging anyone who wants to speak on the budget to participate remotely as we only have room for 14 attendees (including media) to safely social distance within the council chambers. If you would like to speak remotely, please follow the directions on this page to sign up to participate.

The Finance Committee completed our all-day review session for the 2021 Budget on Saturday with most of council participating. As part of that discussion I proposed three amendments:

• The committee voted 3-1 to amend the budget to remove a proposed $100,000 interest-free general fund advance to the Reid Golf Course enterprise fund. This money would have helped finance the repaving of the golf course's parking lot and would be in addition to $140,000 the course still owes on a general fund advance from 2002.
• Additionally, the committee voted 3-1 to amend the budget to use that $100,000 in savings to reduce our 2021 borrowing for street reconstruction. While the impact is relatively small, this will preserve a little of our borrowing capacity and slightly lower the tax levy for debt service.
• Finally, an amendment failed calling for the city to expand the money available to our Community and Economic Development Department for the repurchase of undeveloped industrial park lots. The budget allocates $200,000 for this purpose but I asked for that to be expanded to $556,700 to allow for the potential repurchase of six properties that have been purchased but left vacant in violation of the covenants within the Northeast Business Park. The amendment failed on a 2-2 vote. 

I still think it is important for the city to pursue opportunities to reacquire these properties, many of which have been purchased but undeveloped in violation of covenants for a decade or more, to help encourage development in this area.

The public hearing will start at 6 pm and is the only budget-related item on this week's agenda. The council's next action on the budget will be on Wednesday, November 11 when we make final amendments and adopt the final budget.

The ongoing pandemic makes it increasingly difficult for us to safely allow large groups to participate in our governmental meetings, making it all the more valuable to have the tools for residents to contact alderpersons online and view our meetings remotely. If you have thoughts on these or any other action items on our agendas this week I would encourage you to use those links to remain engaged and active in the safest way possible.

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 October 26

It's city budget season and election season simultaneously for the Appleton Common Council, which has made for an extremely busy month. This week we have another round of committee meetings scheduled, and here are some of the highlights:

Finance Committee, Monday, 5:30 pm

This week's Finance items are not likely to be controversial but there are a pair I wanted to note: This week the committee will be asked to recommend accepting a pair of grants for our City Clerk's office to help mitigate the unbudgeted costs of the upcoming election.

The first grant comes from the Wisconsin Elections Commission and is for nearly $45,000 to cover some of the extra postage costs incurred by this year's massive shift to voting by mail. The city has always borne the cost of mailing ballots to those who request them but this year due to the ongoing pandemic (and justifiably so) we're seeing a massive uptick in demand for mailed ballots.

The second grant comes from the Center for Tech and Civic Life. It's for more than $18,000 to cover costs related to "provide safe and secure elections." The combination of a high profile election and the aforementioned significant uptick in voting by mail have created some needs for election safety and security measures. This grant will pay for two additional ballot processing units, supplies for mailed ballots and additional poll workers to assist with early voting.

I wanted to take a moment today to thank the Elections Commission and the Center for Tech and Civic Life for these grants to help cover expenses that we could not foresee when we approved the 2020 budget last November, and thank our Clerk's Office staff for finding these opportunities to cover some of the expenses we're facing this year without negatively impacting their priorities elsewhere.

City Plan Commission, Tuesday, 4 pm

We're continuing to experience additional demand for new housing on the city's north side, as shown by a pair of action items before the Plan Commission this week.

First, the commission will be asked to approve preliminary plats for a pair of additions to the Emerald Valley subdivision, located northwest of the corner of French Road and Highway JJ. This is related to the rezoning proposal I mentioned two weeks ago and will add 50 single family lots to that neighborhood, expanding the subdivision to a total of 180 lots.

Additionally, this week the commission will have an opportunity to approve the final plat for the Trail View Estates South subdivision. This project will add 25 new single-family lots west of Cherryvale Avenue and south of the Apple Creek corridor. Ten of the lots will face Cherryvale, with the rest connecting off of a pair of new streets off Cherryvale.

Finance Committee (again), Saturday, 8 am

Finally, the budget process continues this week with our annual "Budget Saturday," a full-day meeting of the Finance Committee to conduct a department-by-department review of the 2021 budget. This is my eighth Budget Saturday as an alderperson and my seventh as a member of the committee, but my first as chairman.

I completed my read-through of the budget on Friday and pre-submitted my list of 70 questions to give staff an opportunity to review and prepare answers for them in advance of Saturday's meeting. Per usual, the phrase "status quo" is used a lot to describe this budget in relation to prior years: There are no staffing changes proposed and levy limits imposed by the state largely preclude us from making wholesale changes in operations. 

This year Budget Saturday will look a little different: In past years most of council and many members of city staff have gathered in the council chambers all day. This year, to reduce the risk of virus spread, we're asking everyone to participate remotely with the exception of myself as committee chair, the mayor and the city attorney. The entire meeting will be broadcast online, as our meetings always are. As has been the case in the past, the committee will not take comment from the public during Budget Saturday, and we encourage people who wish to speak on budget-related topics to plan to participate in the budget public hearing on November 4 or budget adoption on November 11.

The ongoing pandemic makes it increasingly difficult for us to safely allow large groups to participate in our governmental meetings, making it all the more valuable to have the tools for residents to contact alderpersons online and view our meetings remotely. If you have thoughts on these or any other action items on our agendas this week I would encourage you to use those links to remain engaged and active in the safest way possible.

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.

Appleton Common Council Update for Week of October 19

 Following last week's busy committee week, the Appleton Common Council will meet on Wednesday with an opportunity to make final decisions on many of those items.

The biggest change from last week's update was an amendment altering the language of a resolution calling for a reduction in the city's fine structure for marijuana and drug paraphernalia citations. The resolution called for the fine for a first offense arrest for possession of marijuana and/or drug paraphernalia to be reduced to $5 (plus court costs).

Last week the Safety & Licensing Committee voted to recommend approval of a compromise proposed by the Appleton Police Department, which would instead lower the fines to $50 for a first offense and $100 for a second and all subsequent offenses. With court costs, the citations would carry a values of around $200 and $260, respectively. I supported this amendment to the resolution.

In the end I'm grateful to folks on both sides for a reasonable discussion on this topic that led to what I feel is a fair compromise. 

At the same meeting the committee held extended discussion regarding Trick-or-Treating in Appleton this year. In the end the committee voted 3-2 to deny a resolution calling for it to be canceled, but the full council will have the final say on the matter this week.

While I acknowledge that we cannot cancel Halloween and we have neither the ability nor interest in patrolling the streets to break up trick-or-treating, I supported an amendment calling for the practice to be "strongly discouraged" for two reasons:

1. I was hoping to send a clear message that the city recognizes that traditional trick-or-treating creates a safety risk during a pandemic and should be done with extreme caution, if at all.
2. I was and continue to be concerned that Appleton's decision to condone trick-or-treating will lead to families from communities where it was canceled to come to Appleton to participate, raising the risk of virus spread.

This week's council agenda also includes the following items we discussed in last week's update, all with recommendations to approve:

• The Finance Committee voted to approve staff recommendation to continue to hold a resolution calling for a City of Appleton Branding Study to allow for more time to further identify the goals of the process.
• The Finance Committee also voted to approve a request to use $147,000 in excess fund balance to help fund a comprehensive planning study for the neighborhood around the Appleton Public Library and to supplement the Appleton Redevelopment Authority's Business Enhancement Grant program.
• The Plan Commission voted to recommend approval of an annexation of about 3 1/2 acres in Grand Chute and Vandenbroek to provide for a future street northeast of the corner of Highway JJ and French Road.
• The Utilities Committee voted to recommend approval of the city's recent Wastewater rate study and subsequent rate increase, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2021.

Last week's update also included a note on two north side rezonings: Those items were approved by the Plan Commission but will come to council at a later date. Rezonings require a different public notification process than many of our other actions, which puts a longer delay between Commission and council action.

The ongoing pandemic makes it increasingly difficult for us to safely allow large groups to participate in our governmental meetings, making it all the more valuable to have the tools for residents to contact alderpersons online and view our meetings remotely. If you have thoughts on these or any other action items on our agendas this week I would encourage you to use those links to remain engaged and active in the safest way possible.

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.

Appleton Common Council Update for the Week of October 12

It's an extremely busy committee week for the Appleton Common Council. Here are some of the highlights:

Finance Committee, Monday, 5:30 pm

This week the Finance Committee will again be asked to approve a recommendation related to a resolution submitted this spring. The resolution calls for the city to take on a comprehensive brand study to consider updating the city logo and messaging.

When this resolution was submitted six months ago I asked for it to be referred to staff and brought back for consideration alongside the city's 2021 budget. The study itself is likely to require a significant expenditure and potential implementation (replacing every city logo on a vehicle, building, stationary, etc) could be even more expensive, so I felt it was appropriate for this item to come up for discussion at a time when we were best prepared to discuss how it would be paid for and its budgetary impact.

Of course, a lot has changed since the spring. Late last week the mayor issued a memo asking for the committee to give his office more time to "further research and prepare for a brand study, including gathering input from internal (employee) stakeholders, alderpersons, community partners, and members of the public to appropriately establish the scope and objectives of the project."

If this item is approved, council is expected to see a Request for Proposals no later than February 1, 2021 and at that time will have the opportunity to evaluate financing options to proceed.

This week the committee will also be asked to consider possible options for funds available in excess of our maximum general fund balance. The city has a policy related to the general fund calling for the end-of-year balance in the general fund not to exceed three months of operating expenditures.

The policy calls for any excess to be divided two ways, with 75% used to reduce long-term liabilities and 25% subject to the recommendation of the Finance Committee. With nearly $600,000 available, that means the city's Finance Director and financial advisor will have about $442,000 to use to either pay off existing borrowing or reduce next year's budgeted borrowing.

That leaves slightly more than $147,000 for the recommendation of the Finance Committee. Staff is requesting permission to allocate those funds as follows:

• $100,000 to help fund a comprehensive planning study for the neighborhood surrounding the Appleton Public Library to "provide recommendations for the most effective and orderly development of the properties north of E College Avenue." There are currently several vacant parcels in this neighborhood, including Washington Square (the former Conway Hotel), the former site of the Blue Parking Ramp and the former site of Author's Kitchen.
• $50,000 to supplement the Appleton Redevelopment Authority's Business Enhancement Grant program, which provides matching funds to commercial property owners and tenants to fund facade and exterior improvements to their establishments.

Anticipating a possible question: While we don't have an exact estimate for the price of the brand study listed above, I expect it to be in excess of the money available here and that's why these projects are recommended while the brand study remains on hold.

Fox Cities Transit Commission, Tuesday, 3 pm

Valley Transit has long been one of many stakeholders involved in a conversation regarding the possibility of providing commuter bus service along the I-41 corridor from Green Bay to Fond du Lac to help alleviate some of the congestion on that busy segment of highway. Continuing to expand that stretch is an extremely expensive project, so any efforts that could be made to reduce the need would provide an immediate financial benefit.

This week the Transit Commission has an information item listed on their agenda labeled "Potential Pilot I-41 Commuter Service." There are no more details attached to the agenda, but this could be step one in an exciting and newsworthy development.

City Plan Commission, Tuesday, 4 pm

This week the City Plan Commission will take up three items of specific interest to Appleton's north side and residents of the 13th district.

First, they have a pair of adjacent rezonings in the Emerald Valley neighborhood, north of Highway JJ and west of French Road. The rezonings call for a pair of parcels near the current north end of Providence Avenue to be rezoned from Agricultural to R-1B, single family as part of the continued development of that subdivision. Combined, the two actions cover more than 19 acres of property and around 50 new single-family lots.

Like many residents of the 13th district I am grateful for continued demand for homes in this neighborhood and continued expansion of the city's tax base. As always, however, I will note that continued development on the north side continues to stretch and challenge city services, including fire protection, and will presumably add to the enrollment numbers at Huntley Elementary. The city has already included preliminary spending in the 2021 budget for a projected move bringing Fire Station #4 further north to help address our portion of this issue.

Additionally, on Tuesday the Commission will be asked to approve the annexation of about three and a half acres currently in the towns of Grand Chute and Vandenbroek to provide the footprint for a future street northeast of the intersection of JJ and French Road. The road, currently mapped as Sequoia Drive, will connect an anticipated subdivision east of French Road (further in from French than current construction) to Broadway Drive to the north and provide a second point of access to the neighborhood.

Utilities Committee, Tuesday, 5 pm

The City of Appleton's 2021 budget includes something we haven't discussed in a long time: A wastewater rate increase. The city hasn't adjusted wastewater rates in any way since 2011 but will need to consider one for 2021 to cover increased expenses and the loss of revenue from a major industrial client.

Managing utility rates is a complicated and heavily regulated process and requires a "rate study" to determine the appropriate course of action. This week the Utilities Committee will hear from Trilogy Consulting, LLC, the consulting firm conducting our study, and will be asked to approve a 25% increase effective January 1, 2021 (about $15 quarterly for most residential customers). Even with the increase, the budget and rate study will note that our wastewater rates remain lower than our neighbors'.

Safety & Licensing, Wednesday, 5:30 pm

Finally, on Wednesday the Safety and Licensing Committee will be asked to consider a pair of resolutions likely to generate a significant amount of interest.

First, this week will be the second time the committee has discussed a resolution calling for the city to decrease the fine amounts for offenses related to marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The city's current ordinances call for a fine of $200 on the first offense, $250 for a second offense and $300 for third and subsequent offenses of possession of marijuana or drug paraphernalia. The resolution, submitted by Alderpersons Wolff and Prohaska, calls for the city's portion of the fine to be $5 for the first offense and $15 for subsequent offenses for marijuana and $5 and $10 for first and subsequent offenses for paraphernalia. In both cases, those fines do not include court costs.

While I do not have a strong opinion either way about marijuana, I do have a strong opinion about the nature of fines and the way way they serve as a steep penalty for those without financial resources but a minor inconvenience for those with plenty. In this particular situation the divide is even clearer: A defendant can have this charge dismissed by agreeing to attend an AODA assessment at a cost of $168-$459. Again, someone without financial resources is more likely to end up with this charge remaining on their record, while someone with more can write a check and walk away from it.

As such, in the interest of justice I support this resolution and plan to vote in favor of it on Wednesday and beyond.

Additionally, this week the committee is expected to take up a resolution submitted by Alderman Smith calling for the city to reverse its previously stated position and cancel trick-or-treating this Halloween. The city has previously issued guidelines for safely proceeding but has opted to allow it to continue.

I'm looking forward to hearing from our Police and Health Departments on the rationale for their existing decision and want to do that before I make a decision on this resolution. While my wife and I do not plan to hand out candy this year in an effort to maintain social distancing, I understand this is something a lot of folks are looking forward to and I have questions about our ability to prevent it from happening, even if we as a city do opt to cancel it.

In addition to all of the above, this week will be our first round of committee meetings since council received the 2021 City Budget. Many of my colleagues and I have started to review the 600+ page document in anticipation of Budget Saturday on October 31. The budgets for various departments will be on their respective committee agendas this week to allow directors to outline their respective portions and answer any preliminary questions.

The ongoing pandemic makes it increasingly difficult for us to safely allow large groups to participate in our governmental meetings, making it all the more valuable to have the tools for residents to contact alderpersons online and view our meetings remotely. If you have thoughts on these or any other action items on our agendas this week I would encourage you to use those links to remain engaged and active in the safest way possible.

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.

Appleton Common Council Update for Week of October 5

It's been a relatively quiet few months for the Appleton Common Council: While our regular meetings have continued our agendas have been relatively light and non-controversial. Beginning this week, however, business will begin to pick up as we take on our busiest month of the year, budget season.

This week members of council will receive our copies of Mayor Woodford's 2021 budget. From there we have roughly three weeks to review them before "Budget Saturday," the annual full-day meeting of the Finance Committee to discuss the budget section-by-section. That meeting is scheduled for October 31. 

From there we move to a public hearing on the budget at our council meeting on November 4, with final amendments and adoption of the budget scheduled for November 11, five weeks from Wednesday. It's going to be a busy few weeks.

The mayor will introduce the budget and give a brief overview at Wednesday's council meeting, which I've asked him to consider broadcasting via Facebook Live to help it reach a wide audience. From there, our budget process will look a little different from usual due to COVID-19: Things we've always done, like an all-day in-person Budget Saturday, are now significantly more challenging than they used to be. I'll have more details about how those processes will adapt to the times in future weeks.

In the meantime, this week council will hold a mid-year organizational meeting to clarify some of our council rules before embarking on this process, and we'll hold our regularly scheduled council meeting. The biggest topic of conversation this week is likely to be a request to approve a new boundary agreement between the City of Appleton and Town of Buchanan to bring 14 parcels of "town islands" into the city. The parcels in question are circled and in orange on this map:

Bringing these parcels into the city will improve the efficiency of services offered in this area and create clear boundaries between the city and our neighbors in this area. Since this proposal came forward council has been contacted by one property owner in opposition to this change.

The ongoing pandemic makes it increasingly difficult for us to safely allow large groups to participate in our governmental meetings, making it all the more valuable to have the tools for residents to contact alderpersons online and view our meetings remotely. If you have thoughts on these or any other action items on our agendas this week I would encourage you to use those links to remain engaged and active in the safest way possible.

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.

Appleton Common Council Update for Week of July 6

I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing holiday weekend. It was a brief break for the Appleton Common Council, as we're back to work to kick off a busy committee week today. Here are the highlights:

Finance Committee, Monday, 5:30 pm

Tonight the Finance Committee will receive our annual report on the city's audited financial statements and, as usual, good news is anticipated.

Dave Maccoux of CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP, the firm that audited the city's financial statements, will give a presentation at tonight's Finance Committee meeting on the recently completed 2019 audit. Their documents indicate the city received an unqualified or "clean" opinion on the audit. This is the highest opinion that can be offered.

This continues a longstanding trend in the city's annual audits: This is my seventh year on the Finance Committee and during that time (and in the years prior) the city has received nothing but clean reports as part of our annual audits, a yearly reassuring indication that the people who manage our financial intake and expenditures are doing the best possible job effectively and efficiently. 

This is a longstanding point of pride for the City, but it's also more than that: It's a big part of the reason the city has routinely been able to secure excellent bond ratings, which save the taxpayers money when we borrow for capital projects. We recently learned, for example, that the anticipated interest rate for our 2020 General Fund borrowing is expected to be less than 2%. That low interest rate will have a direct impact on the property tax levy in the years ahead, and it's in part due to our Finance Department's responsible management of the City's finances.

Also at the meeting tonight (and later at the Parks and Recreation Committee) we'll likely make a recommendation to approve accepting a $500,000 grant from the Community Foundation for the construction of the Edison Trestle, an anticipated addition to the city's trail network. We're extremely grateful to the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Fund for their contribution to this project, which allows us to proceed on a longstanding priority while, again, reducing the project's impact on the taxpayers.

City Plan Commission, Tuesday, 4 pm

On Tuesday the City Plan Commission is expected to make a recommendation on two proposed annexations into the City of Appleton, both of which will be new additions to the 13th District.

The Broadway Hills Annexation is just less than 40 acres located at the northwest corner of the intersection of East Broadway Drive and North French Road, currently in the Town of Freedom. Any drivers (or bicyclists) who have recently passed through this area have likely noticed a sign outlining a new projected layout for this subdivision, which is currently uninhabited. This annexation is in compliance with a 2003 boundary agreement between the City and the Town, and any development here would be able to tie into existing sanitary sewer and water infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Trail View Estates South Annexation is just less than six acres located south of the Apple Creek corridor between French Road and Cherryvale Avenue. It's adjacent to two other properties that were annexed into the city in 1997 and 2011 that are currently vacant. At this time this property will be zoned Temporary Agricultural, and a future action will need to be taken to rezone it before any development can take place.

Safety & Licensing, Wednesday, 5:30 pm

On Wednesday the Safety & Licensing Committee will continue to receive an overview on the procedures and policies of the Appleton Police Department. Two weeks ago the committee received a presentation on the APD's Use of Force data from the previous decade. This week we'll hear from Sgt. Ignacio Enriquez on the department's Behavioral Health Office and Mental Health Intervention and Services.

Appleton is, of course, a part of a larger national conversation on police tactics and the role of police departments in our community. As part of that larger conversation we're receiving and will likely continue to receive pressure to make changes locally. As I told Sierra Trojan of Fox 11 following our previous meeting, I think the first step in that discussion is a thorough look at where we stand right now and an evaluation of where, if anywhere, we may be able to improve. As such, I'm grateful to committee chair William Siebers and the APD for facilitating this ongoing conversation.

The ongoing pandemic makes it increasingly difficult for us to safely allow large groups to participate in our governmental meetings, making it all the more valuable to have the tools for residents to contact alderpersons online and view our meetings remotely. If you have thoughts on these or any other action items on our agendas this week I would encourage you to use those links to remain engaged and active in the safest way possible.

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.

Appleton Common Council Update for the Week of June 22

The Appleton Common Council is slowly but surely working our way back to normal operations with new precautions in place to keep everyone safe due to the ongoing pandemic. For several months now we've been limiting committee meetings in an effort to exercise social distancing, but this will be the first full week of committee meetings since March.

Over the past few months staff has taken on a tremendous number of challenges, including the effort to make the council chambers a safe place for meetings. Here are some of the steps we've taken in that regard:

• Seating is limited, both for elected officials and staff as well as the public, and the available seating is appropriately distanced.
• In the cases where it's not possible to maintain appropriate distancing (at the front of the chambers and between rows of council desks), Plexiglas has been installed between seats.
• Cleaning practices have been modified and expanded to ensure the chambers are properly sanitized between meetings and at the end of the day.
• Several of our council members and members of citizen boards and commissions are participating in meetings remotely.

In addition to those steps, staff is also continuing to work on a scheduled effort to improve audio and video equipment, which will lead to better audio within the council chambers and an enhanced experience for viewers who watch our meetings online. Unfortunately, this process has led to some gaps in coverage during the transition, which should be resolved soon.

In the meantime, here are some highlights from this week's agendas:

Municipal Services, Monday, 4:30 pm

While it's unlikely to be controversial, today the Municipal Services Committee will be asked to recommend action on a change at an intersection that many residents of District 13 likely regularly use. 

The intersection of Marquette and McDonald Streets is just down the street from Huntley Elementary, and until recently the intersection was controlled by yield signs. As noted in a staff memo (the attachment here), this intersection receives relatively low traffic but crash data suggests it's one of the more challenging yield sign-controlled intersections in the city.

We recently completed a six-month trial where the yield signs were swapped out for stop signs, and staff is recommending that change be made permanent. While the intersection's traffic count is relatively low, it's likely busier around the beginning and end of the school day and I welcome the effort to make it safer.

Utilities Committee, Tuesday, 5:00 pm

Council recently received a lot of feedback to a mailing sent out to property owners by Service Line Warranties of America ("SLWA") advertising insurance plans for the water and sewer lines extending between homes and the street right of way. These lines are the responsibility of the property owner and can be very expensive to repair/replace when needed.  

In an effort to better inform residents about this issue, I wrote a Facebook post about it a couple of weeks ago:

There's also much more about it in this Post Crescent story. This week the Utilities Committee will have an information item about this letter, where I'm hopeful they'll hear about plans to handle situations like this differently going forward.

Safety & Licensing, Wednesday, 5:30 pm

Finally, like many cities, Appleton has been given cause to reflect and re-evaluate the role and priorities of our Police Department following the recent death of George Floyd and the ensuing national conversation on police tactics. Last week we announced one step in that process, the formation of Chief Thomas' Community Advisory Board (applications to be a part of that board are open here). 

This week we'll attempt to continue that conversation at the Safety & Licensing Committee, where we'll receive a ten-year analysis of the city's Use of Force as the first step in a multi-meeting conversation about where the PD stands today. While members of our council and similar bodies across the nation face calls for police reform, I'm grateful we're getting this opportunity to review where we stand now before a likely future discussion on changes going forward.

The ongoing pandemic makes it increasingly difficult for us to safely allow large groups to participate in our governmental meetings, making it all the more valuable to have the tools for residents to contact alderpersons online and view our meetings remotely. If you have thoughts on these or any other action items on our agendas this week I would encourage you to use those links to remain engaged and active in the safest way possible.

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.

Appleton Common Council Update for the Week of May 18

Before I get started today, a quick note on the relative quiet in this space: While we've all been navigating through the last couple of months council agendas have been pared down to essential business, emergency operations and the processes related to a new council year, which in this case includes three new alderpersons in addition to a new mayor and city attorney.

This new council year has brought a few changes:

• I'm proud to announce I've been re-elected by my peers to serve for a second year as Council President. I think the role is increasingly important as we navigate the transition to new city leadership, and I'm grateful to my colleagues for their continued trust. This year we're also welcoming a new council vice president, Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland. Alderperson Van Zeeland is still relatively new to council (this is her second year) but has brought excellent energy and attention to detail to her role as an alderperson and I'm excited to work with her going forward.
• In addition, this year for the first time I'll be serving as the chair of the Finance Committee. I'm excited for this new role and expanded presence in the city's 2021 budget process.
• Chairing the Finance Committee does, however, mean leaving my seat as chair of the Safety & Licensing Committee after five years in that role. I remain on the committee this year, but Alderman Bill Siebers will take my place at the helm.
• Finally, I'm pleased to be back for a second year on the city's Board of Review. This board plays a critical role in helping ensure properties are appropriately assessed.

Now that we're somewhat situated as a new council, we're moving on to questions about how we'll function during the ongoing pandemic. During the original emergency declaration the city cancelled ongoing committee meetings, conducting business instead as a "committee of the whole" during our regular full council meetings. We're currently working on the process of resuming regular committee meetings, although when we resume they're likely to continue as semi-virtual meetings with some members participating remotely via Zoom.

Through all of this I've been extremely proud of our city staff, who have demonstrated ingenuity, resilience and determination to get through these challenging times. This is clearly apparent in our meetings, which are very different than they were two months ago but continue to serve their purpose smoothly.

While we work on the transition back to normalcy, however, this week's regularly scheduled council meeting will include the business that would have appeared on last week's committee agendas, including one item that's likely to be of interest for residents on the city's north side:

Highway OO Intergovernmental Agreement

This week council will be asked to approve an agreement between the three parties with a stake in expected 2021 intersection improvements along County Highway OO: The city, Outagamie County and the Town of Grand Chute. The agreement covers anticipated projects at OO's intersections with Oneida Street, Ballard Road and Roemer Road to "provide traffic signal and associated geometric improvements to improve safety and accommodate future traffic volumes."

Recent studies have shown that many of the city's most problematic intersections (by crash volume) are along OO, so I'm happy to see steps toward working together on solutions. The specific plans are not covered in this action item, but the terms include a note that "the municipalities will be kept informed on the project status and will have input regarding the project."

The total cost of improvements at these three intersections is estimated at just over $1 million, and the city's share is estimated to be $383,344, which is 37% of the cost.

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.

Appleton Common Council Update for Week of March 16

As you might imagine, it's not exactly a routine week for the Appleton Common Council.

If you haven't seen it already, follow this link for a comprehensive statement from Mayor Hanna on the steps the city is taking to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus, including:

• Asking people to call City Hall or visit the city's website for information instead of visiting in person, when possible.
• Paying city invoices online, via mail or in the city's drop boxes instead of visiting in person.
• Encouraging residents to vote via absentee ballot for the upcoming spring elections (more information here). 

Since that message went out the Appleton Public Library has also announced they will be closed until further notice. 

The Appleton Common Council and its committees will still meet when necessary to conduct city business and those meetings are required to be open to the public, but in-person public participation in city meetings has been suspended until further notice. Residents can still watch meetings online and contact one or all council members at this link, but we're asking you to please exercise social distancing and avoid attending meetings in person.

With that said, the full council will meet on Wednesday to take up items including the following:

• Last week the Municipal Services Committee voted 3-1 to recommend the city rescind approval of the placement of "The Collective" sculpture near the west end of the College Avenue bridge. My thoughts on the matter were pretty thoroughly captured in this Post Crescent story.
• The committee also voted 3-1 to recommend denial of a resolution designating the month of May as "No Mow May" and temporarily suspending a city ordinance related to required lawn length to allow residents to support pollenator-friendly environments.
• Last week the Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend the council approve a resolution stating our opposition to the State Department's efforts to deport Hmong and Lao US residents to the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The resolution is similar to many passed or in process in other cities and counties across the state, including Oshkosh and Outagamie County.

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 February 24

The Appleton Common Council has a busy committee week ahead, with much of the action happening later today:

Municipal Services Committee, Monday, 4:30 pm

It probably won't be the item that attracts the most headlines this week, but at today's meeting the Municipal Services Committee will be asked to recommend postponing four utility projects under city streets due to bid prices exceeding our budget. Postponing these projects also means delaying the related street reconstructions from 2021 to 2022.

The projects proposed for delay are:

• Jackson Street
• Madison Street
• Minor Street
• Riverview Lane

While none of these are major projects, they continue a trend of concerns regarding bidding for construction contracts. Last week council learned that our major concrete street reconstruction project for 2020, valued at over $4 million, received just one bidder, and the same thing happened in 2019. As a result, staff has reached out to the Wisconsin Concrete Pavement Association to discuss what can be done to prevent this from happening in the future.

Bids coming in over budget and in excess of our available resources create major challenges for both staff and council as they force us to decide between overspending or delaying necessary work. In this case, high bids will cause at least four needed projects to be delayed for a full year.

Also at this meeting the committee will get their first chance to discuss a resolution designating the month of May as "No Mow May."The resolution is designed to offer residents the opportunity to wait to mow their lawns this spring in an effort to provide additional pollinator-friendly habitat during a critical time of year for many species.

The resolution calls for the city to suspend enforcement of its ordinances related to lawn care through the month of May and early June to allow residents to support bee-friendly environments. I've received a fair amount of feedback on this proposal, nearly all positive.

While I don't expect to participate in "No Mow May" (I hear enough from folks in my neighborhood about my lawn care as it is), I will note that participation in this program is optional and largely harmless. I intend to support the resolution.

Finance Committee, Monday, 5:30 pm

Last week I submitted a resolution along with 12 other alderpersons calling for the Wisconsin State Legislature to change course and adopt a plan for non-partisan redistricting for the State of Wisconsin following the 2020 Census. 

As noted in the resolution, an Outagamie County advisory referendum in 2017 and a Marquette University Law School poll in 2018 both showed better than 70% of participants supported non-partisan redistricting. Redistricting is supposed to be used to ensure fair representation in Madison and Washington, not as a tool to consolidate power.

This resolution is non-binding, as the decision on redistricting needs to come at the state level. However, I'm hopeful that more local governments will take this step to make a clear statement that non-partisan redistricting is important to our constituents.

Also at this meeting the Committee will be asked to recommend approval of a pre-annexation agreement between the city and Outagamie County regarding Plamann Park.

The two sides have been in negotiations for some time now to work out an arrangement for the city to run utilities under Plamann Park in the interest of serving our residents to the north of the facility. The document, however, notes that "the COUNTY and CITY mutually desire the PROPERTY continue to function as a County Park for the foreseeable future and believe it is in the public’s interest that the PROPERTY’S operations continue under the exclusive management and control of the COUNTY."

As such, I'm planning to support this agreement and hope the work can be done with minimal disruption to the activities and programming at the park.

Community and Economic Development Committee, Wednesday, 4:30 pm

Finally, on Wednesday the CED Committee will be asked to review the city's asking price for land available in Southpoint Commerce Park and the Northeast Business Park. The current asking price is $40,000/acre and staff has recommended it remain at that level.

The city still has property available in both parks despite several recent sales and a few more properties that could be repurchased by the city due to developer inactivity. Trying to set an appropriate asking price for these parcels is always a bit of a challenge due to varied demands from other municipalities in the valley, including some that will give property to developers free of charge.

In the end, I think our staff has done a good job evaluating our options and I intend to support their recommendation to keep the asking price as-is.

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 January 12

Before I get started with this week's update a quick note on our council schedule, which has been shuffled a bit due to the holidays:

Council normally meets on the first and third Wednesdays of the month but did not meet on January 1, instead opting to push our January committee and council meetings back a week. Our boards and commissions are largely meeting on their regular schedule, however, which will leave us out of sync a bit for forwarding recommendations to council. This will only last a few weeks, as our schedule is back to normal in February.

As such, this week would normally be a council week but is instead a partial committee week. Here are some of the highlights:

Municipal Services Committee, Monday, 4:30 pm

This committee meeting has a loaded agenda, including some items we've discussed before:

• The committee will again be asked to make a recommendation regarding "The Collective" sculpture along College Avenue. I continue to be opposed to removing the statue: I recognize that not everyone enjoys this specific piece of art but I don't feel that's a good enough reason to force its removal. Furthermore, it's a temporary installation and will be gone in a year and a half anyway.
• The committee will also get another opportunity to discuss a resolution calling for some or all of the vacant space behind the City Center mall to be turned into surface parking. While I recognize the goal the resolution's author was trying to achieve, I don't think surface parking is the best use of these parcels and even a temporary lot will add another challenge to efforts to redevelop these spaces and get them back on the tax rolls.
• For the first time the committee will be asked to consider a policy allowing the city to demolish nuisance properties provided they meet criteria related to their state of disrepair and inaction by their owner. This furthers a discussion that came up during 2020 budget deliberations last November and would allow staff to proceed with the removal of a small number of properties that have become a safety risk.

Finance Committee, Monday, 5:30 pm

In among a relatively large collection of collection of relatively routine items are a pair of items I wanted to highlight: Staff recommendations to reject bids for a pair of related projects at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

As the memo attached to the item notes, the city recently received and opened bids for about $4.4 million in budgeted work (between two projects) at the treatment plant but found in both cases that the low bid was above the budgeted amount. This happens sometimes and usually leads staff to discuss and make one of two recommendations:

1. Find available money elsewhere in the budget to cover the shortfall, often from another project that came in under estimates, or
2. Reject the bids and work to either restructure the project or resubmit it for bids at a more favorable time.

In this case staff and our consulting engineers arrived at the conclusion that it would be best to pursue the latter option and rebid the project later.

Human Resources, Wednesday, 6:30 pm

At our council meeting last week alderpersons Patti Coenen and Cathy Spears co-submitted a resolution to open a discussion about city government structure and possibilities for change in the future. Specifically, their resolution calls for the city to consider creating a city administrator position "in lieu of or in addition to a mayor."

This discussion has come up over the years, including briefly four years ago when the position was last up for election. It's too late for this discussion to change much in the short term: Council has already set the next mayor's salary for their four-year term beginning this April, so any major changes to the position at this point could not include a change in salary. 

With that said, more than half of the members of council have changed over since the last time we had this conversation so at bare minimum it's likely time for a review.

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.