Hi again, Neighbors! It’s another Committee Meetings Week ahead…. but many meetings are cancelled with a lack of agenda items. So be prepared for a relatively short blog post today. (*pause for cheers*)
The following committees will not be meeting this week:
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- Parks and Recreation Committee
- Fox Cities Transit Commission
- Utilities Committee
- City Plan Commission
- Community Development Committee
- Human Resources and Information Technology Committee
That leaves only the following meetings:
Monday, 01/20/2024
Municipal Services Committee – 4:30pm There are four action items on this committee’s agenda:
- Formal acceptance of a Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) grant for the addition of a signaled intersection at Ridgeway Drive and Richmond Street. The project is eligible for 90% grant reimbursement ($576,000) and will require a 10% ($64,000) local investment which the city expects to split with the Town of Grand Chute.
- Permanent approval of some parking changes around Appleton East High School.
- Conditional approval of signage near the Paper Valley Hotel downtown. This item was brought forward the last time this committee met (more info here) but was held due to discussion surrounding the city’s planned “wayfinding signage” expenses upcoming for the parking utility (mentioned here and here). If approved by this committee and the full council, the hotel will be able to move forward with this signage (parking and hotel arrow signs, directing folks around the parking ramp across the street from the hotel) on the condition that their signage may be revoked/removed by the city should the $100,000 parking utility study (which your alderman voted against way back when) find that the hotel signage does not work with the city’s eventual over-priced “wayfinding signage” plan.
- Permanent approval of parking restrictions around the fire station on Lightning Drive (see below) which have been in place on a trial basis for the last six months:
Finance Committee – 5:30pm This committee, too, will be asked to approve the acceptance of the WisDOT grant (mentioned above) for a signaled intersection at Ridgeway Drive and Richmond Street. In addition, this committee will look to approve:
- Acceptance of a federal grant of $134,180 to “encourage sustainable actions, create strategies, renewable energy, etc. to government facilities.” (Wow. Will the federal government ever stop printing money to give away?)
- A library project “non-state” grant (mentioned here) of $274,000 to help offset costs of the Appleton Public Library remodel project. (I wonder if this amount will be spent on the library in addition to the amount already in the budget for this project or if the grant money will be used to lower the taxpayer cost of this project. Likely, it’s the former… but I will ask so that taxpayers are aware of the impact of this grant.)
- A sole source contract for the continued use (in 2025) of a particular contractor (who performed this work for the city in 2023 and 2024) for hydro-blasting of limescale buildup in equipment at the Appleton Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWWTP). The city has used this contractor before so the reasoning behind a sole-source contract here is that this contractor is familiar with the AWWTP facilities and their pricing for 2025 remains unchanged from previous years. Is that enough of a reason for the city to go without competitive bidding for this project…? What are your thoughts?
- A sole source contract for the purchase and installation of a large diesel generator for the Appleton Water Treatment Facility (AWTF). This generator would be the replacement for one currently on hand but which is “vintage” and would be risky for the city to rely upon in an emergency. The bid, from the original equipment manufacturer (which is the reasoning behind a sole source on this item), came in exactly on budget ($700,000) when a contingency amount of ~$46,000 is added to the quote.
- An under-budget contract for repairs to the Lawe Street bridge over the Fox River. This project did have competitive bidding and the lowest bid came in at ~$224,000 (including contingency) while the city had budgeted $330,000 for the project.
Wednesday, 01/22/2024
Safety and Licensing Committee – 5:30pmMembers of this committee are expecting to hear from ownership/leadership of two liquor license holding establishments with recent demerit points assessments. Whether representatives of Broken Tree Pizza (assessed demerit points for no licensed server on premises and dispensing alcohol to a minor) and Mr Frog’s on the Avenue (assessed demerit points for dispensing alcohol to a minor and underage persons on premises) appear before the committee on this Wednesday night is yet to be seen… but they have been requested by order of municipal code to do so.
Then this committee will once again — the third time it’s been on the agenda — take up the potential denial of the renewal of a bartender’s license for a woman with one conviction for possession of cocaine (in late 2024 and for which she is serving 12 months probation) and one pending case of possession with intent to sell cocaine (in 2023). Both charges were levied on this applicant while she was already a licensed bartender in the city! While the 2023 charges remain unresolved in the court system, the 2024 conviction, I believe, should be enough for this committee to deny her application for a bartender’s license. State statute, however, allows this committee discretion as to whether she can present “sufficient evidence of rehabilitation” to be allowed the renewal of a license. We shall see what she eventually presents as such evidence… but how much can it mean if a pattern of bad decision-making is already displayed in her criminal record? What are your thoughts on this?
Another applicant who appeared before this committee the last time they met but whose license application denial was put on hold by this committee is also expected to appear. She, too, is ineligible for a bartender’s license unless she shows “evidence of rehabilitation.” On her record are three Operating While Intoxicated charges (2011, 2012, and 2022). Though some time has passed between the first and the latest, this indicates a pattern as a habitual law offender and the Appleton Police Department (APD) requests the denial of this license. It remains to be seen what this committee takes in as “rehabilitation evidence” in how they decide on this one. It just seems to me that the City of Appleton is less safe when there are regular habitual law offenders receiving bartender’s licenses from the city. Do you agree?
And then — once again after six holds and refer-backs — this committee will take up the liquor license for an applicant with plans for a downtown board-game establishment (Delaires, mentioned most recently here and here). I believe that some members of this committee intend to apply certain restrictions (hours of operation, etc) on this liquor license without any clear evidence of any present improprieties or illegal activity by the license applicant. I am very uncomfortable with doing so as no evidence of wrong-doing at this establishment currently exists. (Even an APD investigation into the allegations found no actionable evidence.) There is question that there might eventually be some illegal gambling that might take place in this establishment. But unless and until such things do occur, I feel it unfair and not objective of this committee (or this city as licensor) to place restrictions on this applicant and not others. I would be in favor of allowing the full license to be approved without restrictions and then making sure that APD is fully aware of the activities that take place there. Should any illegal activity take place, the license should the be revoked through the same processes to which all other liquor license holders in the city are subject. What are your thoughts on a situation like this? Equal and fair application of the law for each liquor license applicant based on factual evidence or past or present activities? Or preemptive restriction of only some license holders based on allegations of potential future activities?
There are also a couple of other licenses (second-hand dealer, cigarette/tobacco, and one new liquor license) on the agenda for approval after which committee members are expected to hear from the City Clerk regarding the upcoming Spring Primary Election (February 18, 2025). There will be one primary election for aldermen in the city’s District 11 where there are currently three candidates to be winnowed down to two before the spring election. This city webpage is your reference for all things local (City of Appleton) elections!
That will do it for the committee meetings for the week. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding anything mentioned above.
Last week, I heard from many of you regarding the potential imposition of some rather large fees for the usage of the new library’s community room(s). (It was mentioned here, in case you missed it.) I wanted to let you know that last week at the Library Board meeting, the board unanimously approved the fees to be assessed for the meeting rooms without any questions or further discussion. No one appeared to question the fee imposition or the dollar figures requested for holding meetings what was initially billed to the general public during discussions of the remodel of the library as a great future community meeting place. If you disagree with this, please make your thoughts known to those on the Library Board (members listed here). The Common Council’s current president, Katie VanZeeland (contact information found here), is the council representative on this board.
Thank you again for stopping in for a quick read of all that’s expected to go on in city government this week. I appreciate all of your feedback and am pleased that so many of you tune in to this alderman blog. Have a wonderful week ahead and stay warm!
