Appleton Common Council Update for Week of March 8

 Before I start with this week's update, a quick note on the spring elections. This year Election Day is on April 6 and I'm seeking re-election for a fifth term on the Appleton Common Council. I have a contested race again this time, and you can hear from both my opponent and I on Tuesday night when the League of Women Voters hosts a candidate forum. 

You can visit the League's Facebook page for more information or visit LWVAppleton.org to register for the event and submit questions. The event will be streamed live and archived via Facebook Live. As always, I'm grateful to the League for this opportunity to speak to voters about my qualifications and the spring election's ramifications for the future of our community.

In addition to that, it's also a pretty busy committee week for the Appleton Common Council. The top headline will be a discussion 12 years in the making:

Finance Committee, Monday, 5:30 pm

As I noted in my last two updates, this week the Finance Committee will be asked to make a recommendation on a review committee selection for an architect for a new or renovated Appleton Public Library. 

Funding to start a new library process was included in the city's 2021 budget and is projected to continue over the next two years. A Request for Proposals (RFP) was sent out in December and drew eleven responses, which were in turn reviewed by an eleven-member committee comprised of city department directors and deputy directors and representatives from Friends of the Appleton Public Library, the Library Board, Common Council and the Mayor. That group voted unanimously to recommend Skidmore, Owings and Merrill receive the contract.

In a memo to the Finance Committee, Facilities Management Director Dean Gazza wrote, "Specifically, SOM demonstrated an understanding and approach to the project that illustrated their depth of experience, knowledge in library design and construction, listening skills and importance of garnering meaningful public input and building trust throughout the process. In addition, they have significant experience in building re-use, equity and inclusion, sustainability, technology, operational efficiency, and many important key factors necessary for a successful library."

The value of this contract is just over $2.7 million, with five percent in design contingency for a total not to exceed $2,857,459. This is more than the $2.4 million the city had budgeted for library work in 2021, but this expenditure includes construction administration services that aren't expected to be completed until the city enters its construction phase in 2022. As such, this project is not "over budget," but simply reflects a decision to incorporate some of next year's anticipated work into this contract. This is not unusual: Back in February the Common Council also voted to reconfigure a utilities project to move an item from a later phase into the current phase for the purpose of efficiency.

This item is also expected to appear on the Library Board's agenda next week, and assuming the Finance Committee makes a recommendation today it will also appear on next week's council agenda.

City Plan Commission, Tuesday, 4 pm

The process of adding a new addition to the Broadway Hills Estates subdivision continues this week as the Plan Commission will be asked to make a recommendation on rezoning a parcel of about 16 acres near the intersection of Broadway Drive and French Road. This parcel was annexed into the city last week.

The request on the table is for the parcel to be zoned "R1B," which is single family residential and matches the zoning of the subdivision it's attached to. I don't anticipate this being controversial. Assuming the item passes at the Plan Commission, it will come before the Common Council at a later date.

Community and Economic Development, Wednesday, 4:30 pm

This week the CED Committee will be asked to make a recommendation on a proposed development agreement for a major vacant property downtown. Developers are proposing a major project on the site at 318 W. College Avenue long referred to as "the Park Central property." Their proposal calls for the development of a "state-of-the-art, 75,000 square foot building with over 16,500 square feet of Class A commercial space," in addition to 39 apartments.

This property is included in Tax Increment Financing District #11, and the development agreement calls for a financial commitment from that TIF. The city's contribution would be the lesser of either $1,309,140 or 18% of the tax increment value, which is the amount of new tax revenue generated by this project. Incentives will not be paid until after the project is completed and will be paid out of the new tax revenues generated by this project, so the project will have no impact on the general fund or property taxes.

I've long been a proponent of "pay as you go" TIF projects, which allow the city to properly incentivize desirable development without taking on unnecessary risk or impacting our property taxes. This agreement is similar, for example, to our existing agreement with the organization redeveloping the Zuelke Building. I'm looking forward to seeing Park Central transformed from a long vacant space to a vibrant new addition to our downtown. If approved by the committee, this item will go to council next week.

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.