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.