Hi, Neighbors! Thanks for tuning in again this week for another alderman blog post.
I want to begin this post by thanking those who voted for your alderman’s re-election last week. I am grateful for all of the votes of confidence. District 13 topped all other districts in the City of Appleton for total number of votes for the alderman position! So thank you, sincerely.
Now… let’s get back to business with this Committee Meetings Week rundown of meetings. A fair number of committees have cancelled meetings for this week due to lack of agenda items. Those are as follows:
- Parks and Recreation Committee
- Fox Cities Transit Commission
- Utilities Committee
- Board of Health (no early morning meeting for these folks this week!)
- Appleton Redevelopment Authority
- Community Development Committee
- Human Resources and Information Technology Committee
That leaves very few meetings about which to write this week. But there are a couple of key items to be discussed during those meetings which remain:
Monday, 04/07/2025
Municipal Services Committee – 4:30pm More consulting services are being requested for design and construction engineering for the upcoming traffic signaling at the corner of Richmond Street and Ridgeview Drive. I wonder if you’re as surprised as I am that this kind of consulting work amounts to a contract of over $68,000. The only redeeming factor of this request is that the state will reimburse the city 90% of the cost of this project. But that’s really no consultation as our state tax dollars will be paying for it instead of our local tax dollars. **sigh**
Other items up for approval by this committee include 1) a request to approve a 12-month contract for security services in the city’s parking ramps (at $30/hour for a total estimated annual contract amount of $62,800) and 2) a revisit of the loading zone request from the Trout Museum (at its new location in the 300 block of East College Avenue). The latter item was held the last time that it came up for approval by this committee as there were owners and frequenters of numerous downtown businesses near there who were concerned (and rightfully so) about the loss of paid parking spaces to make way for the requested 2-stall loading zone. I am concerned about this as well since this request came up long after the initial plans and construction of the building were approved. There is such a limit to the amount of downtown street parking available. And putting this in front of the committee (and eventually council) at this late date, just as construction is almost complete, as a “we have no other choice!” situation is, I think, unfair and inappropriate. The lack of foresight should not be rewarded with approval of this request. What do you think?
Finance Committee – 5:30pm This committee will take up two new items and a revisit of an item previously denied by a majority of the committee. The new items are
- A sole-sourcing request to use a single staffing agency (Truity Partners LLC) to help fill some temporary vacancies in the city’s Finance Department. My concern here is not that we need to contract for additional staffing but that this sole-sourcing request limits the city’s ability to get competitive pricing for the payment of temporary staff hires. I do not see how this situation warrants not looking for competitive bidding. But I will ask at this meeting why the Finance Director and HR Director find this sole-sourcing necessary.
- An under-budget contract approval request for site improvements to the city’s Glendale Avenue site. This project received four competitive bids and the lowest bidder is being requested as the contract award winner. This — unlike the numerous sole-sourcing awards this city seems to request — is how government contracting should work.
The last action item on this committee’s agenda is a referred-back item that was recently denied by this committee — the “special consideration” items requested as a +$100,000 consulting contract to create a “sustainability and climate action master plan” for the city and a requested $20,000 for “wayfinding signage” for City Hall. Y’all know my feelings on these items (which can be found here and here). Both of these items were denied by the committee in the first discussions.
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. Do you agree? What are your thoughts on this?
Wednesday, 04/09/2025
City Plan Commission – 3:30pm Commissioners will review a couple of requests requiring public hearings followed by a couple of other non-hearing-required requests:
- A special use permit request for a landscaping business at the corner of Locust Street and Weiland Avenue. The request will require that two adjoining parcels be combined and will require the proposed outdoors storage of equipment/vehicles/materials related to the landscape business be properly screened as per municipal code. The staff report recommends approval of the proposed permit.
- A request for rezoning of some West College Avenue parcels from General Industrial to General Commercial for the purposes of redeveloping a combined site for a microbrewery. The area in question is at the corner of the North College Frontage Road and North Woods Edge Drive (between Linwood Avenue and Lynndale Drive). The staff report for this item also recommends approval.
- An annexation request of almost 96 acres of Town of Grand Chute farmland between CTH JJ and Evergreen Drive on the east side of Richmond Street for a new residential development.
- A request to approve the location and design of a park pavilion in Lundgaard Park. Check out the proposed plan here and let me know your thoughts!
Safety and Licensing Committee – 5:30pm And in the final meeting of this week before the new council year begins, this committee will look to approve a change of agent request for a liquor license, a request from the Appleton Fire Department to be able to apply for a grant to purchase a digital/laser fire extinguisher training device, a number of temporary liquor licenses for local events, and a wine license for Memorial Florists for their class/event space. The only other item that might garner interesting discussion is an item held from the last meeting — a liquor license application for a business which has, in the past, been found guilty of fraud (“benefit application” fraud) and commercial gambling. I have deep reservations about granting a license to an establishment with this kind of record. Of course, the sins of the past might be best left in the past. But I feel that it’s most important that the city’s legislators take great care in granting licenses which allow for the license holder to easily re-engage in past activities such as those for which the business has already been found guilty. What are your thoughts on this? I expect that this committee will hear more from the city attorney’s office regarding their legal opinion on granting/not granting this license and will share that with you in next week’s post before this item comes before the full council.
This committee will also review the 2024 Annual Report from the Appleton Fire Department before concluding this week’s meeting.
And that will do it for the week! Next week, there will be a swearing in ceremony for the aldermen just elected/re-elected in odd numbered districts in the city. Then the work of a new council year will begin.
Please let me know if any of the above items are of concern to you, if you have any questions, or if you just want to provide general feedback on city government concerns. I’m happy to listen and help in any way that I can. Have a great early-April week!
