It’s a Committee Meetings Week this week in City of Appleton government. But it will be a bit of a different one with many cancellations and an Election Day in the middle. See below for this week’s rundown of what to expect:
Monday, 04/06/2026
Municipal Services Committee – 4:30pm This meeting will begin with a public hearing on the design for paving reconstruction on portions of Bartell Drive, Pine Street, Driscoll Street, Commercial Street, and Roosevelt Street. The most common issues expressed in these public hearings for reconstruction of streets are
- The loss of terrace trees due to the reconstruction. This only occurs if it’s unavoidable as the city does not wish to remove terrace trees any more than the homeowners along these routes want them removed. It’s just a fact that heavy equipment and the digging involved with reconstructing a roadbed affect the wide-reaching root systems of larger mature trees. If this can be avoided — usually through the narrowing of the roadway — the city staff (engineers) recommend alternatives designed to save as many terrace trees as possible; and
- Narrowing of the existing roadways and street parking limitations that come with said narrowing. It’s really a Catch 22 in these street reconstruction projects. To protect and save as many trees as possible, a constriction on the width of reconstructed roadways most often must occur. But homeowners generally do not like that option either as it usually means that parking on one side of a street is restricted to accommodate through traffic.
Each project if different based on the existing conditions of the streets. For these particular projects, there is a mix of both — loss of some terrace trees and a narrowing of the roadways. We shall see what any neighbors in attendance at this public hearing will say is the “least worst” option.
After the hearing, the committee will be asked to approve the placement of banners on downtown light poles by Appleton Downtown, Inc., a long-term temporary occupancy permit for Farm Market dumpsters in Allen Street (through October 2026), and a contract for after-hours responses to electrical emergencies in city infrastructure (traffic signals mostly).
Last on the agenda for this committee is an informational item entitled “Park Appleton – Branding Update for City of Appleton Parking.” There is, though, no agenda information to supplement this title. So we will have to tune in to or attend this meeting to get more information on the proposed new “branding” for parking in the city.
Finance Committee – 5:30pm There are a number of contract for this committee to recommend for approval:
- A wastewater tunnel painting project to be awarded to the lowest bidder. Their bid was ~$139,000 lower than the next higher bidder!
- A wastewater treatment plant tunnel roofing project to the one contractor who bid for the project. The staff memo in this regard says that the contractor’s bid is “competitive and reflects current market conditions for this type of work.”
- A contract change order that involves the city paying $60,000 more to the contractor doing sewer/water construction on an Oklahoma Street project. The additional funds are needed to “add 200′ more storm sewer and laterals… to alleviate drainage issue related to very active sump pump discharges.”
Then come some more complex issues up for discussion. First, the mayor is looking to this committee to approve the use of $1.275M of the interest the city has earned from investment of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for some Meridian Rapid Defense Group Barriers. The proposal is for the city to purchase enough of these street barriers to block off the entirety of the Downtown Appleton Farmers Market route. This quantity of barriers would then also be utilized for other events and event routes in the city, including Mile of Music, city parades, and Appleton’s Octoberfest.
I wish that this sort of purchase would not be required and that these ARPA interest funds could be better put to use in projects such as the major flood mitigation projects that are coming for the city. (This purchase would leave a balance of approximately $395,000 in the ARPA interest fund.) And my concern is that the mayor proposes that the city spend these funds now… despite the fact that the methods the city has previously used for road blocking (snow plow trucks and other large DPW equipment) has not been shown to fail. It’s concerning to me that this nice pot of money won’t be able to be used for major infrastructure projects throughout the city to offset taxpayers’ burden. But on the other hand, what price can be put on the safety of residents during major Appleton heavy-crowd events? What are your thoughts on this? Should the city move in this direction right now with this pot of ARPA interest funds?
And last on the agenda is the potential approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) defining the parameters of a new five-year agreement to be made between the city and the operators of the Paper Valley Hotel for the operations of the Fox Cities Exhibition Center (FCEC). The previous agreement between these parties was set to expire at the end of 2025 but was extended during the negotiations on this newly proposed MOU. See this memo for more information on the proposed changes that seem to be beneficial to both parties. It is expected to alleviate operational losses for the city/taxpayers but to allow the operator to sell sponsorships/naming rights (which would still require city approval) and otherwise set market-based pricing. It looks as though this will be a good step forward for the city’s stake in the FCEC which has seen its share of “non-success” since its construction and opening. (The agenda for this meeting notes that the committee may go into closed session to discuss this item more in depth.) Let me know your thoughts on the proposal for moving forward with this agreement.
Parks and Recreation Committee – 6pm This committee is coming together only to review and discuss a newly submitted resolution regarding “vegetation analysis and advancing data-informed mowing reduction strategy” in the city. While I understand the importance of both vegetation analysis and mowing reduction throughout the city, I’m not certain, based on my reading of this resolution, that the resolution is at all necessary.
The resolution itself states that the city is already having a citywide vegetation analysis conducted by the Appleton Sustainability Advisory Panel (ASAP) and that ASAP and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department have already begun incorporating low-mow and naturalized area pilot projects, “demonstrating capacity and interest in evolving traditional mowing practices.”
So… you can see why I question the need for this resolution. The “therefore be it resolved” (action) clauses in the resolution call for “actions” such as “support” and “acknowledge” and “encourage.” These, folks, are not actions on the part of the council; they are sentiments. In my opinion, this makes the resolution completely unnecessary. All of the information contained within the resolution can be presented and used by the city without the need for council approval of the resolution. It is important information, to be sure. But this resolution is just not needed to further this work throughout the city.
Tuesday, 04/07/2026
Election Day! <Polls are open from 7am to 8pm> Please check here for information on where to vote (in case you don’t already know) and what’s on the ballot for this Spring Election. Make your voice heard in this important — mostly local — election!
Fox Cities Transit Commission – 2:50pm This meeting has been cancelled.
Utilities Committee – 4:30pmThis meeting has been cancelled.
Wednesday, 04/08/2026
Board of Health – 7amThis meeting has been cancelled. (Lucky board members get to sleep in!)
City Plan Commission – 3:30pmA public hearing starts this commission’s meeting this week. The scheduled hearing is regarding a request to grant a new Special Use Permit for the use of the former Mission Church at 314 N Appleton Street as an emergency shelter facility. The current emergency shelter facility at St Joseph’s downtown will be relocated to this site should the permit be granted (by 2/3 of the common council if recommended for approval by this commission). Should the applicant put in extra external lighting and security cameras and the facility pass all city inspections, the permit is likely to be granted.
The only other items on the agenda for these commissioners is the potential approval of the Final Plat for the Glenmore Park subdivision (near Apple Hill Farms here in District 13). You can view the plat map here.
Community Development Committee – 4:30pm This meeting has been cancelled.
Safety and Licensing Committee – 5:30pmTwo liquor license demerit point violation hearings start this committee meeting. The first is for Newberry Mobil for dispensing alcohol to a minor. This establishment now has 280 demerit points in a 24-month period. And municipal code says that if an establishment has between 150 and 199 demerit points in 24 months, they are subject to license suspension. (Over 200 points in a 36-month period leads to license revocation.) I will be interested to know why this establishment is allowed to keep flaunting the system as a liquor license holder! The second hearing is for Northland Amoco, also for dispensing alcohol to a minor. This establishment has accumulated a total of 160 demerit points in the last 24 months. This, too, is an instance where I wonder how liquor license law has been so abused and why this establishment still holds a license.
Then there are three temporary liquor license applications up for approval and one new resolution to be discussed. This resolution, too, is a “non-action” resolution (meaning that the resolution does a lot of “support” and “urging” and calls for no acting whatsoever). And this one I cannot at all support. Its purpose is to express the City of Appleton’s support of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) which is currently not legally allowed under State of Wisconsin election law. And it’s not legal in Wisconsin for good reason: This type of voting leads directly to disenfranchising voters. Here is a brief definition of RCV and how it works.
While some proponents may claim that there are benefits to RCV, there are also countless issues with RCV — see here. The worst of these is truly that some votes that are cast are not used in the final vote. That’s the definition of disenfranchisement and, as the linked article above states, “offends the bedrock principle of ‘one person, one vote’ in American democracy since some ballots count while others inevitably do not.” Another complication that is antithetical to successful elections is that “RCV forces voters to vote for and rank candidates they do not support if they want to ensure that their ballots are not discarded in multiple rounds of vote tabulation.” (See here for the source of that quote.)
The bottom line for me is that far too many folks in the City of Appleton do not know a thing about RCV, much less actually support it. So to have the City of Appleton “express support” for it through City of Appleton Common Council approving this resolution and to have the City of Appleton “urge the State of Wisconsin Senate and Assembly to amend state law to authorize municipalities to enact RCV for local offices at their discretion” is problematic (at best) and disingenuous. I will be voting to deny/not pass this resolution.
If you agree, please let your alderman — and perhaps all aldermen on the council — know. Here is a link to an “email all aldermen” online form. You must select “all districts” in the first form field. You can always also send me a direct email with your thoughts on this.
Human Resources and Information Technology Committee – 6:30pm This meeting has been cancelled.
So there you have it: Some important items, lots of important but not especially controversial items, and an extremely important Tuesday Election Day…. all in one Committee Meetings Week in the City of Appleton. If you have feedback on the above items or really anything else city-government-related, please do not hesitate to reach out and let me know.
I wish you a wonderful week ahead and hope our Tuesday is at least a nice weather day so that you all have no reason not to visit the poll and cast your votes. Thanks for tuning in today!
