Hello again on this sunny Sunday, Neighbors! Thanks for tuning in for a short-ish alderman blog post. This week is Committee Meetings Week in City of Appleton government. But there are some cancellations that will shorten the week’s schedule of meetings. The following will not be meeting due to lack of agenda items this week:
- Finance Committee
- Fox Cities Transit Commission
- Human Resources and Information Technology Committee
To follow are the highlights of what will be discussed by those who are meeting this week… exactly as you’ve come to expect!
Monday, 03/10/2025
CEA Review Committee – 3:30pm This committee meets only once or twice a year and the last time they met was October 2024. Their role is to make recommendations for management and replacement of city-owned vehicles. They will review seasonal vehicle requests from various departments for the summer/construction season, requests for vehicle replacements for several departments, a special vehicle request for Reid Golf Course with the remainder of funds in that area’s budget, a request to modify the orders of two fire apparatus vehicles (adding ~$45,000 to the order), and the request to sole-source a fire ladder truck from Pierce Manufacturing (for a total of ~$2.1M). The lead time on the latter (with a ladder!) is 46-49 months so we’re looking far ahead in a budget that has not yet been developed to pay for this item. In information items, there is a 2024 vehicle purchase summary and a 2025 proposed vehicle purchase summary. Both, fortunately, show an overall under-budget final numbers: 2024 under budget by $~133,000 and 2025 predicted under budget by ~$332,000.
Municipal Services Committee – 4:30pmWith only one action item on this committee’s agenda, this one should be a short meeting. The request is for a sanitary sewer flow monitoring service for the north side of Appleton (in the amount of $36,000). The purpose is to compare actual pipe flows against the engineer-predicted flows as the north side of Appleton continues to grow.
Parks and Recreation Committee – 6:15pm First on the agenda for this committee is the discussion of a new resolution regarding emissions reduction for the city. The resolution claims to move Appleton towards “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or earlier as recommended by the Appleton Sustainability Advisory Panel.” The resolution calls for the city to “update its emissions target, shifting from the goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner to a new objective of reducing net emissions by 50%—from 27,198 metric tons CO2e to approximately 13,600 metric tons CO2e—by 2034.” While I believe that the city should always be looking to best practices for energy conservation, I feel that approval of this resolution is not necessary for the city to move forward. As such, I will be voting to deny it when it comes up for a full council vote. What are your thoughts in this regard?
This committee will then move on to their potential approval of the “sculpture” that was requested and passed through the city’s Public Arts Commission last week. (Read more about it and see a drawing of the proposed here.) How do you feel about this piece proposed to sit near the fountain corner in Houdini Plaza?
The last item on the plates for this committee is a resolution that will direct city staff to renew the city’s Bird City designation (as it has each year for many). This, as opposed to the one mentioned just above, will be an easy one to get behind.
Tuesday, 03/11/2025
Utilities Committee – 4:30pm This committee, too, has a relatively short agenda with two action items: 1) award a contract for an upgrade of the water utility’s water meter test bench and 2) review and potentially approve the city’s 2024 stormwater report to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WisDNR).
Wednesday, 03/12/2025
Board of Health – 7am These early-riser board members will take a vote on only one item this week: potential approval of a noise variance fee schedule. I believe that to this point, the city has not charged any applicant for a noise variance. But since issuance of the variance, management of who has a variance and when, and the time required to handle noise complaints takes city staff time and resources, this proposal has come before this board (and will eventually come up for full council approval should this board pass it). The proposal calls for a $75/month fee for a noise variance covering a calendar month, a $50/week fee for a noise variance covering a single calendar week, and a $25/day fee for a noise variance of a single day. Exemptions to the fee include non-profit entities, holders of a city Special Event License, anyone renting park land or a park pavilion, and any conditional variances as approved by this board. While I don’t see a real issue with this fee schedule, I always do have concern over more fees for residents and businesses operating in the city. Do you have any thoughts or concerns in this regard? Let me know what you think.
Also of interest at this meeting will be a presentation entitled “Program Report: Short Term Rentals and Health Licensing.” This is a popular topic as we get closer to the National Football League (NFL) Draft coming up in April in Green Bay. The relatively new program in the city was adopted mid-last year to help local short-term-rental (Tourist Rooming Houses – TRH) owners come into compliance with the city’s laws regarding short-term rentals. The program was designed to help even the playing field for all home owners who rent TRH’s (as, currently, some are licensed and some are not) and to make sure that the TRH’s in the city are safe and follow standards which keep the neighborhoods in which they operate safe and quiet. Here are the statistics regarding compliance in the city since the program began:
While I’m never in favor of more governance or more fees for homeowners, I see some value in this program since it makes all owners of TRH’s play fairly under the rules and laws of the city and makes for a fairer free market system for TRH rentals. Those who are in compliance are having to pay more rooming taxes and licensing expenses and are therefore making less money on their TRH’s than those who are skirting the system to offer non-licensed TRH’s. How do you feel about this program?
Appleton Redevelopment Authority – 9am Members of this group will be updated on the status of the city’s latest current Comprehensive Plan (“Plan Appleton”) review. You are also invited to take part in the next Plan Appleton Workshop – March 18th (click the link for more info)!
City Plan Commission – 3:30pm Commissioners will be asked to approve a special use permit for used car lot on a property on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Oneida Street. Conditions for this permit include outdoor lighting complying with city ordinances and perimeter landscape buffering. (A variance request to allow the property to not have this landscape buffering was denied by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals in 2023.) After discussion and voting on that item, this commission will also be asked to approve the proposed “sculpture” in Houdini Plaza (as mentioned above). My biggest concern with this “sculpture” is the potential for damage/graffiti and what plans are in place to mitigate and/or restore it should damage/graffiti occur. What do you think?
Community Development Committee – 4:30pmThere are a number of municipal code text amendments and fee increases up for review and approval by this committee:
- Upping the re-inspection fee for city inspectors from $35 to $75. This is to encourage folks to have everything done and ready the first time an inspector arrives for a scheduled inspection so that there will be no need for a return re-inspection.
- Upping the erosion control fee in the city from $40 to $50
- Correction of a fee error for electrical permit fees ($85 approved earlier by council but still showing as $75 in municipal code)
- Removal of code references to a Board of Heating Examiners which no longer exists in the city
The committee will also decide whether or not to increase the current $43,000/acre selling price for city-owned lots in the Southpoint Commerce Park. City staff are recommending that this pricing remain the same based on recent market analysis.
Safety and Licensing Committee – 5:30pmIn this last scheduled meeting of the week, this committee will review (and potentially deny) a couple of Commercial Solicitation Company licenses. Now… I suspect you’re like me and want to know what the heck a company would be doing to require such a license! Well, the two applicants in question applied for licenses to be able to door-to-door solicit for “carpet cleaning, Kirby vacuums, and promotional grocery drawings.” A denial is recommended for one of the applicants (owner of the applying company) since there have been reported uses of high pressure sales tactics and of soliciting without a license by this applicant. Denial for the other (apparently an employee of this same company) is requested based on the numerous criminal offenses on his record (possession of drug paraphernalia, three counts of sexual assault, and disorderly conduct/obstructing an officer). I think it will be wise to uphold these denial requests by city staff as these two guys do not sound like the kind of folks you’d want to find at your front door someday.
And that’s a wrap on the week! What questions or concerns do you have regarding anything mentioned above? What other concerns related to city government are on your mind? Let me know with a quick email. As you already know, I’m always happy to hear from you!
Until next time: Have a great week!
