Happy post-Snow-pocalypse, Neighbors. So this is how February is going to treat us, huh? Well, I hope you all got through yesterday’s snow “event” without incident.
This week is a Committee Meetings Week in city government and it looks to be a doozy with lots of meetings with long agendas. Buckle up as we go through the “highlights” of what will be discussed this week:
Monday, 02/10/2025
Municipal Services Committee – 4:30pmThere are a number of parking/traffic signage changes and additions coming before this committee for approval this week. The most significant ones for District 13 include the following:
- For the Cherryvale Avenue reconstruction this year (final concrete including curb and gutter): parking to be prohibited on the east side of Cherryvale from the intersection with Ashbury Drive south 530 feet and parking to be prohibited on the west side of Cherryvale from the intersection with Ashbury Drive south to the Appleton city limits. These restrictions were voted in by the council long ago (prior to my service as your alderman) and conform with the subdivision plat/plan as it was accepted by the city way back then; this committee/council approval will make the restrictions a part of the city’s municipal code.
- In conjunction with the state’s I41 reconstruction project: removal of the stop signs and installation of traffic signals at the intersection of CTH JJ and French Road. I’m sure you’ve seen the traffic lights up already. They will remain as flashing red on French and flashing yellow on CTH JJ until nearer the start of the closure of the Ballard Road interchange with I41 in March when they will begin green/yellow/red signaling at that intersection.
- For construction of phase three of Trailview Estates South: no parking on the north side of Gladiolus Place from Golden Gate Drive to Tulip Trail and no parking on the north side of Gladiolus Court for its entirety.
The committee will also be asked to approve a sole-source for the replacement of decorative streetlight poles along the College Avenue bridge in the amount of $88,592 (not including installation). This is just for the poles of the streetlights; the lights themselves will be reused on the new poles. This replacement is “needed” (my quotes added) because the existing poles are rusting and the rust is staining the concrete walls of the bridge. I’m not sure how I feel about this expense but it was built into the 2025 budget. I’m concerned that there is no competitive pricing on this (sole-sourcing is being recommended). From whom else could the city procure replacement streetlight poles and at what other pricing might these be available? What are your thoughts on this?
Another request on the table for this committee is an $8,500 increase in a consulting contract for the repair/maintenance program for the city’s parking ramps. This increase is supposedly needed to provide design services to help the city figure out the installation of an electric vehicle charging station in the lower level of the Yellow ramp. Design consulting only. For $8,500. Due to the city receiving an “energy efficiency grant” that could not be used for the library project so is proposed to go instead towards an electric vehicle and charging station for the city. (See here for a previous mention of this. Note that the grant move has not yet been approved as it was referred back to the Finance Committee for further discussion.) I wonder if this added consulting figure will come from those grant funds or be a burden on the taxpayers in the city’s parking ramp budget? I also wonder why this is really needed and whether there are better ways for the city to use the grant funding? What do you think of this potential project and its added costs to the city?
And perhaps the most controversial item on the agenda is a request for the approval of new rates for Department of Public Works fees for 2025. There is a proposed rate fee increase for our residential garbage cans (see below). Do you think that, without significant justification, this increase is necessary? What are your feelings in this regard?
Finance Committee – 5:30pm As mentioned above, there will be further discussion by this committee on a different use than originally requested for “energy efficiency” grant funds to the city. An excellent recap of the initial discussion on this reallocation of grant funding can be found here. I did initially vote to approve the electric vehicle reallocation of these grant funds but am finding it harder and harder to justify this as further information and discussion have been generated since that initial discussion and committee vote.
This committee will also be asked to approve:
- A contract for $79,500 for consulting services to help the city figure out how to best move forward with new management of the city’s exhibition center. I believe that this revamping at the exhibition center will use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding… but… this seems like quite a significant investment in consulting. Interestingly, the proposed dollar figure for the one other consulting firm that answered the city’s request for proposals was exactly this same amount – $79,500. Perhaps these consultants knew exactly how many ARPA dollars were available.
- A request by the Appleton Police Department (APD) to open a cryptocurrency account to hold seizures of cryptocurrency and use it to return these funds to those from whom they were stolen. This account will be completely separately maintained from taxpayer funding and will only be used for legal seizures of these types of funds.
- A request to approve a budget amendment to create a special fund to be established in the city with funds from Thrivent. These funds ($100,000) will be used by the city for consulting to help the city negotiate/manage the substantial infrastructure construction that is proposed in the future buildout of the Thrivent campus on the north side of the city. (More information on this can be found below under “Community Development Committee.”)
Parks and Recreation Committee – 6:15pm This committee will vote on approval of some small changes to the city’s park pavilions and special areas rental policy. But then they will discuss a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city and Wisconsin Entertainment Group LLC for the latter to manage the city’s 2025 Independence Day Celebration. No dollar figures (costs) are mentioned in the memo accompanying this action item and the memo also does not make it clear whether this is a multi-year contract/MOU or just for 2025. I will be interested in getting more clarification on this item.
Tuesday, 02/11/2025
Fox Cities Transit Commission – 2:50pm This meeting has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items.
Utilities Committee – 4:30pm I hope that members of this committee ask one big question on the one action item showing on the agenda for this meeting. The item asks for approval of a $425,000 contract for the removal of ~900 ash trees in the city. However, a bid document from the contractor that is up for approval for this contract shows that their proposed pricing for the removal is ~$277,000. So… how is this gap explained? Should the committee approve a contract for $148,000 more than was proposed by the contractor? I hope to get some clear answers in this regard.
The water main breaks reports for the last quarter of 2025 are also included in the agenda materials for this meeting. There were some substantial water main breaks during this period of time resulting in a December 2024 report showing a loss of almost one million dollars! It is vital that we need to find out if these breaks could have been found or mitigated earlier and if so, how.
Wednesday, 02/12/2025
Board of Health – 7am Earlier-riser board members get to hear, first-thing, about proposed changes to the city’s noise ordinance. The majority of the proposed changes are to bring the city’s code into alignment with the state law regarding noise. You can view the proposed changes here. There is also appeal to a dangerous animal declaration that will be heard by this board (which may include them going into a closed session for part of the discussion). There is a disagreement between the city’s officer who oversees all animal bite cases in the city (Matt Fillebrown) and the owner of a dog that is being ordered a “dangerous animal.” For more info, see copies of the appeal and the case narrative.
Appleton Redevelopment Authority – 9am This board will meet to approve some re-appointments of members and also be briefed by accountants/auditors from Baird regarding the bonds for the city’s exhibition center.
City Plan Commission – 3:30pm This meeting has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items.
Community Development Committee – 4:30pm A public hearing regarding the proposed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grants for 2025 will start off this committee’s meeting. The following recommendations from the CDBG Advisory Board are up for discussion and potential approval by the committee thereafter:
You can learn more about how these decisions were arrived at by the CDBG Advisory Committee here. If you have any questions or concerns about these allocations, please reach out to me.
Other items on this committee’s agenda include:
- Requested approval of an extension to the development agreement for the downtown “Chase building” development for an additional year (from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026). The extension is requested by the developer due to the delays in supplies for construction and some other delays due to accessing the Chase Bank facility on the lower level for repairs/additions for the entire building structure. Another requested change on this development agreement is the addition of the dedication of a portion of this property to the city to be continually used as a public alleyway.
- Requested approval of proposed deed restrictions for the fourth plat of the city’s Southpoint Commerce Park. These include the recording of approved building setbacks, approving only light industrial use of the lots in the plat, signage allowed, and restriction of leasing or sale of these lots which might make any lots tax exempt (which is especially important since the infrastructure of the park is funded by Tax Incremental Financing).
- A request to allow the city to enter into a cost-reimbursement agreement with Thrivent. This agreement is to include a contribution of $100,000 into a city fund to be used by the city to procure consultancy regarding how to best manage the construction of the infrastructure needed to redevelop the Thrivent campus north of Highway 41 between Ballard Road and Meade Street. It is important to note that a part of this agreement means that Thrivent is officially asking the city for Tax Incremental Financing (TIF money from the city) in order to move forward with this redevelopment. “The Thrivent development team approached the City about funding needed to support infrastructure and other aspects of the project, in particular via Tax Incremental District (TID) creation/financing. In response to their request, the City determined it was prudent to take a cautious and thorough approach in considering new TID creation and evaluating whether, and to what extent, development incentive may be needed; and how any future TID district creation may be mutually beneficial to the needs of the City and its long term needs.” This feels to me like we are at a precipice and once we OK the approval of “investigating” a TID, a TID will more than likely be created. I am of the opinion that Thrivent can make this development happen without the city’s contribution through TIF dollars… so why should the city move forward with this (what some might call “corporate welfare”)? A quick search on the Thrivent website shows that their total consolidated enterprise revenue in 2023 was $10B (that’s BILLION). And the creation of a TID deprives the school district and the county (as well as the city, of course) of the tax benefit of the increment for 20-30 years (depending on the timeline at creation of the TID). I understand and appreciate that there is much city work to be done to develop this property into a new neighborhood for the city. And with that, I can agree with the creation of this fund for consultancy to that effect. I am greatly concerned, however, with the use of these funds to go down the path of a new TID creation in the city without any “but for” clause (a requirement for the creation of a TID and TIF funding) and without this being a “blighted area.” What are your thoughts on this slippery slope the city seems to be on…?
- Along with the above item related to the Thrivent property, there is a second item requesting that the city enter into a consulting agreement for “$14,000 for TID creation services” and an additional $325/hour for “further fiscal analysis” in this regard. This is contingent upon approval of the previous item and these services would, in theory, all be paid for by Thrivent’s contribution to the fund to be created if the above item passes. But… I hate that the immediate need for consultancy is for TID creation. If it were just for analysis of what is needed for city support of the infrastructure creation on the Thrivent grounds, I could accept that. How do you feel about this? Should the city go down this path (which seems to be a one-way path as it’s laid out here)?
- As an informational item, it is noted that there will be a Comprehensive/Sub Area Plan community workshop meeting on March 18th (4-7pm) in the community room at the remodeled Appleton Public Library. (I wonder how much rent the city will be paying the library for that?)
Safety and Licensing Committee – 5:30pm For yet another go-’round, the liquor license for the establishment to be named Delaire’s is once again before this committee. The latest was that some members of this committee wish to put some restrictions — specifically that “no gambling machines be on the premises” — in order to grant the liquor license. Subsequently, it has been found that there is more than one piece of solid evidence that would indicate that gambling machines are to be a primary focus of this establishment’s business. As such, I am doubtful that this license will at all be granted. And if it is, it will very likely include a specific gambling machine restriction.
The committee will then move on to other business:
- Discussion and possible approval of a resolution calling for the city council’s endorsement of the Appleton Fire Department’s (AFD’s) application to the state to increase services to the community as a paramedic non-transport service. I see no reason for this resolution of support to be rejected.
- Potential approval of a pet store/kennel license, a secondhand jewelry license, and a temporary beer license for fish fry events this year at a local church.
- Review of two local liquor licensed establishments’ demerit points violations (Home Burger Bar and Skyline Comedy Club — each accumulating 40 points for no licensed operator on the premises), the mention of the Avenue of Ice event in downtown Appleton February 21 -23, and a hiring update from the fire chief.
Human Resources and Information Technology Committee – 6:30pm This meeting has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items.
If you’ve hung in there and read this far, thanks for staying with this long post! If you have any questions or concerns on any of the above issues or topics, please reach out and let me know. It is much easier to dispute an item if your opinions as taxpayers and neighbors can be cited.
I hope that you have an easy time shoveling out (if you have not already). Have a great week ahead. I’ll “see” you back here for another alderman blog post next week!
