Hello Neighbors! A lot happened last week and much of it took place outside council chambers. Here's a quick recap of some city news you'll want to be aware of.
- Tax bills were sent out last week. You can find details about payment options on the city's website.
- Styrofoam can now be recycled. But do not put it in your recycling can, it must be kept separate and, at least for now, you must take it to the Outagamie County Recycling Center. Details on this new process can be found in the Post-Crescent.
- If you or someone you know is interested in running for a Common Council seat, information can be found on the City Clerk's page of the city website. I'm also happy to answer questions for anyone interested.
- Now that snow is falling, it's a good time to take a quick read through the city's Winter Page on the city website. It contains information about snow and ice removal operations by the public works department and reminders about the city's policy for sidewalk snow removal.
- The police department welcomed a new therapy dog named Edison. The two-year-old lab will provide emotional support for crime victims, and will spend time working with kids in schools.
On to council business for the week ahead, there will be a couple of special meetings leading up to Wednesday night's council meeting. The Finance and Parks and Recreation Committees will hold short meetings prior to council at 7 p.m., after those committees cancelled meetings last week.
Library Board
Tuesday 4:30 p.m. - Before we get to the slate of Wednesday night meetings, the Library Board will meet on Tuesday. The board will discuss the 2021 budget for the library and be asked to approve a table of organization change, for the Safety Supervisor to report to the library's Business Manager instead of the Assistant Director.
Finance Committee
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. - This special meeting will request the committee recommend approval of writing-off some unpaid personal property tax bills and other debt the city has been unable to collect. The committee will also be asked to recommend approval for a few service contracts.
Parks and Recreation Committee
Wednesday 6:45 p.m. - Just before the council meeting that follows, the Parks & Rec committee will vote on a recommendation from the public arts committee for new photos that will be installed in the tower in Houdini Plaza.
Common Council
Wednesday 7 p.m. - Aside from the items noted above from the special meetings proceeding council, here are a few things we'll be discussing from the previous week's committee meetings.
The design approval for several downtown streets was unanimously recommended from the municipal services committee. These are significant projects that will include many new and different streetscape elements that will make the downtown more pedestrian and bike-friendly in the future.
We'll also vote on rescinding a rule that requires food trucks in the downtown area to be at least 50-feet from a similar establishment. City staff brought this item before the committee asking it to be removed because the language was ambiguous and the attorney's office felt it would be difficult to enforce. The committee also recommended approving four new licenses for food trucks downtown, raising the number from four to eight.
Though we spent significant time discussing this proposal and a separate amendment that removed the ambiguous language, to clarify the rule would be a food truck needed to be 50 feet from any business downtown that had a food license, ultimately the committee recommended approving the rule be removed completely as staff had originally requested. I supported removing that restriction and increasing the number of licenses. We don't have this requirement for food trucks anywhere else in the city and I don't believe it's fair to have it downtown either.
Though we spent significant time discussing this proposal and a separate amendment that removed the ambiguous language, to clarify the rule would be a food truck needed to be 50 feet from any business downtown that had a food license, ultimately the committee recommended approving the rule be removed completely as staff had originally requested. I supported removing that restriction and increasing the number of licenses. We don't have this requirement for food trucks anywhere else in the city and I don't believe it's fair to have it downtown either.
Another item of interest will be a couple of license approvals for a new paint and sip business downtown on Morrison St. This has been before the Safety and Licensing Committee a few times for clarification of the business owner's plan because of concerns about serving alcohol next to a residential neighborhood. The S&L committee recommended approval of the licenses this week.
Lastly, we'll be asked to approve a request for an across the board 2.5% pay increase for city staff, instead of the usual pay-for-performance pay increase. This was approved by the HR/IT Committee last week. This does not include union-represented workers or the Common Council.
Get In Touch
I am always available to answer questions at district15@appleton.org or (920) 419-1360. As always, agendas can be found on the agenda and meetings page of the city website. Meetings can be viewed live on the website or watched at a later date. Meetings are also open for anyone to attend in person and all meetings take place in the Common Council chambers on the 6th floor of City Hall, unless otherwise noted.
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