Welcome back to the alderman blog, folks. Thanks for tuning in again this week. This week will be our first Committee Meetings Week in the new council year. That means that all committees have a new makeup of aldermen and the same general housekeeping items are on most agendas for this week. Each committee will be 1) electing a vice chairman, 2) setting the meeting date/time, and 3) designating a contact (city staff) person.
There are two committees not meeting this week so their housekeeping items will have to wait until the next Committee Meetings Week: the Parks and Recreation Committee and the City Plan Commission. The balance of the meetings schedule for the week looks like this:
Monday, 04/21/2025
Municipal Services Committee – 4:30pm Committee members will look to discuss and approve two requests for right-of-way access/use for construction dumpsters and to allow an increase (of just over $1,000) in a contract for bridge inspections in the city to meet some new federal and state mandates.
Finance Committee – 5:30pmAfter the housekeeping items for this committee are taken care of, this committee will finally get to further discussion on the referred-back “special consideration” items that were brought forward and denied long ago by this committee. They include over $100,000 of borrowed funds proposed to be spent on a consultant to create a “climate action plan” for the city and around $20,000 in “wayfinding signage” for City Hall. As you all know if you’ve read past blog posts since these items initially came forward (see here, here, and here), I am opposed to these items for their overspending and their use of borrowed funds. Here is an excerpt from my last post in this regard:
“It is, in my opinion, ridiculous for this city to use borrowed funds to support either of these initiatives. If a “climate action plan” is really required for this city, it should be requested at budget time and should be a part of the operating budget of the Facilities/Parks and Recreation group. It should not be pushed forward using borrowed funds from a project that was obviously badly estimated as it came in so far under budget as to allow for +$100,000 over-borrowing. And “wayfinding signage” for City Hall in that large a dollar figure is an unconscionable ask. There is no reason to spend this kind of money on signage additional to that which already graces the front of the building. With all of this talk of high spending on “wayfinding signage” by this city government lately, you would think human beings on this planet are all dolts, unable to find their way anywhere without huge signage in their faces. It’s insulting and should again be denied.”
And again, I ask you to please share your thoughts on this. Do you agree with my thoughts on these two items?
The other requests on this committee’s agenda include:
- A contract for $804,440 (with a contingency of $46,944, total project amount of $851,384) for the construction of the pavilion at Lundgaard Park. This project comes with private funding/donations in the amount of $805,000 (wow! Great job, Appleton!) and is expected to be completed by October 2025.
- A request for the carryover of funds for Valley Transit projects not under contract as yet.
- A contract for $191,860 for the roof replacements on the Yellow and Green parking ramps. Here again we have a significant investment of taxpayer dollars in parking facilities in the city… yet we have no idea whether it is wise for the city to continue to own and operate the parking utility because most council members refuse to allow the asking of the privatization question.
- A request to create a reserve fund using the interest earned on the saving of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. According to the memo for this request, these funds have already earned $1.5M in interest and that interest earned is not subject to ARPA funds usage restrictions. Staff is recommending that these funds be saved in a reserve fund to help defray any additional costs that may be incurred with already approved ARPA-funded projects. But… why could the city not just take these funds for use for other city expenses? These funds could very much help in moving the city forward with infrastructure-related expenses and other capital expenditures, could it not? So I question why the recommended plan is to keep pumping these funds — which are not required to be tied to any ARPA projects — into already approved ARPA-funded projects. What do you think?
Tuesday, 04/22/2025
Fox Cities Transit Commission – 2:50pmThis commission will look to approve the March 2025 payments for Valley Transit and will review the March 2025 financials and ridership reports as well.
Utilities Committee – 4:30pm The sole reason for this committee meeting this week is to take care of the housekeeping items mentioned earlier in this blog post. This seems like a bit of a waste of the committee members’ time as these items can always be taken care later when the committee would next be planning to meet for other action items. But committees meet at the will of the chairman… so I guess this chairman wills it.
Wednesday, 04/23/2025
Community Development Committee – 4:30pmA public hearing regarding the 2025-2029 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Plan is first up for this committee meeting. You can view the plan here and attend the hearing to pose any questions or make any comments you might have on the program… or let me know if you have any concerns. Other items on this committee’s agenda include:
- A proposed update in the municipal code verbiage for erosion control permits.
- A request to renew the farming lease for some of the undeveloped land in Southpoint Commerce Park, the city-owned industrial park on the south side of the city. This is a proposed five-year lease of ~47 acres for $160/acre. The city would receive approximately $7,500/year for this leased land and the active farming on the land limits the need for city weed-cutting and special erosion control there.
Safety and Licensing Committee – 5:30pmThe first non-housekeeping item on this committee’s agenda is the recommended denial of a bartender’s license for an applicant with a class A misdemeanor battery conviction on her record. According to state law, this is one conviction which specifically precludes a violator from being issued a bartender’s license. Next up for approval is a long list of renewed liquor licenses for many businesses operating throughout the city. The current citywide liquor licensure period expires on 06/30/2025 so large numbers of renewals are being processed from now through the next month or so.
Human Resources and Information Technology Committee – 6:30pm The Community Development Department (CDD) (in conjunction with the Department of Public Works (DPW)) is looking to make an organizational change by promoting their current administrative assistant (grade 4) to a new position titled Administrative and Accounting Services Specialist (grade 6). The request for this change states that the departments’ current budgets support the increase in salaries expense for this change. My only concern is that this increase will need to be carried through into future budget years. But the change is otherwise warranted as the current employee has taken on many responsibilities beyond her current job description.
Also up for approval are the following items:
- A Social Media Policy for city social media platforms and the individuals who engage with them
- An amended fringe benefit policy for city employees
- And information items including an update on the staffing study for which the city contracted a consultant, a Valley Transit staffing update, and fire department union negotiations.
Do you have any questions or concerns on any of the above items up for discussion this week? If so, please reach out to me and let me know. I am always glad to hear from you and want your voice to be heard.
I wish you all a very happy and blessed Easter and a lovely last full week of April ahead. My fingers are crossed that it’s not too damp and is a bit sunnier than it has been of late. Have a great week!
