All but one of the city's committees will meet this week, so there's a lot of activity and a couple of big items to discuss.
Now, Mayor Woodford has included a memo to this agenda item, making that recommendation to the committee to restart the process. I will encourage the committee to support giving the staff the opportunity to take another crack at this important project.
While I generally agree with the premise of this resolution, I think it has several flaws that make it ill-advised at this time. A new website is already being talked about as part of the branding project. Mayor Woodford has mentioned this on numerous occasions. It is also not wise to redesign our website prior to do a branding project for the city that would subsequently require a second update of the website. The website project needs to be done, but should follow the branding for uniformity. A style-guide that is also requested in this resolution is also part of the proposed branding project, making this request unnecessary. Even without a branding project, a new style-guide for staff on how, when and where to use city logos is not worthwhile, because there are too many current variations, which is exactly why it should be done as part of a branding project which will provide a new city logo and any approved variations.
There are certainly differences between these two jobs and there could very well be reasons to go this route, but based on the memo, I don't think I'll be the only council member wondering if we should continue this search for a bit longer before hiring a consultant. The Public Works Department already has two very competent and professional deputy directors who could help lead the department in the interim in my opinion.
The committee will also make a recommendation on a reciprocity agreement with Neenah and Menasha for residents in all three communities to participate in any program offered in those communities at the rates that communities' residents pay. This is a good program that benefits many people and expands program offerings that not all communities offer.
Based on the resolution, it appears our current ordinances don't adequately address this issue. If that is the case, this would be a common sense solution that I would be in favor of.
Municipal Services Committee
Monday 4:30 p.m. - The Municipal Services Committee is meeting for the first time since mid-December. Among the agenda items is a contract with Outagamie County and Grand Chute to install a new sewer line to service the needs of the landfill expansion project.
- We'll also be asked to recommend approval of a new parklet policy. The use of parklets in the downtown area is growing and a policy to outline and streamline the process for applicants and staff makes sense.
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| An example of a parklet which is placed inside one or more on-street parking stalls |
- A request to recommend a street occupancy permit is also on the committee agenda. This is for ice carvings to be featured downtown the weekend of February 18th, so mark your calendars for that "Avenue of Ice" event.
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| An "Avenue of Ice" sculpture - photo from Appleton Downtown Inc. |
- We'll also hear about the application period for sidewalk poetry which is open now through February 18th.
- Lastly, a couple notes of good news for revenue and development that permit applications for the city were up in 2021 almost across the board. The costs of the projects were about $100 million more than in 2020, bringing in an extra $100,000 in revenue for the city.
Finance Committee
Monday 5:30 p.m. - There are several items of interest on the Finance Committee agenda for this week. It starts off with a review of the branding proposal that was held over from this committee's last meeting earlier this month. After I and others raised concerns about the proposal the staff recommended, I recommended the committee reject the proposal and ask the staff to put out a new request for proposals (RFPs) from other firms. There are issues I raised with the first RFP process, the review of the initial proposals and some other concerns that prompted me to make that recommendation. The committee ended up holding the discussion until this week.
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| Memo from Mayor Woodford to the Finance Committee |
Now, Mayor Woodford has included a memo to this agenda item, making that recommendation to the committee to restart the process. I will encourage the committee to support giving the staff the opportunity to take another crack at this important project.
Resolution on communication, technology, pedestrian safety
After the branding proposal item is resolved, the committee will take up a resolution submitted at the City Council meeting last week by Alders Firkus, Prohaska, Wolff, Van Zeeland and Fenton. This group of alders want to reallocate the funding from the branding study to several other projects, including a new website, enhanced cross walks and computer upgrades for city staff.
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| Resolution submitted by alders Firkus, Prohaska, Wolff, Fenton and Van Zeeland |
While I generally agree with the premise of this resolution, I think it has several flaws that make it ill-advised at this time. A new website is already being talked about as part of the branding project. Mayor Woodford has mentioned this on numerous occasions. It is also not wise to redesign our website prior to do a branding project for the city that would subsequently require a second update of the website. The website project needs to be done, but should follow the branding for uniformity. A style-guide that is also requested in this resolution is also part of the proposed branding project, making this request unnecessary. Even without a branding project, a new style-guide for staff on how, when and where to use city logos is not worthwhile, because there are too many current variations, which is exactly why it should be done as part of a branding project which will provide a new city logo and any approved variations.
The enhanced crosswalk request is the bulk of this resolution. These alders are requesting $225,000 in funding for this purpose. In speaking with city staff regarding this part of the proposal, there are still three projects scheduled under the initial enhanced crosswalk program approved in 2017. These projects will be finished in 2025 as part of the capital improvement plan. At that point staff planned to review the criteria for the program to see if the criteria needed to be lowered to allow for more enhanced crosswalks in the city. There is a risk/reward and cost/benefit analysis that is part of this program and lowering the standards need to be discussed in light of this.
A couple of the alders who submitted this resolution have asked for enhanced crosswalks at specific locations in their districts in the past. Those crosswalks were not part of the initial list and have not been approved to be added to this point, because they did not meet the standards mentioned above. Since those locations have not met the criteria in the past, I would want to see council discuss them as part of the review of the program in total. That should be a separate discussion at the Municipal Services Committee in the future.
A couple of the alders who submitted this resolution have asked for enhanced crosswalks at specific locations in their districts in the past. Those crosswalks were not part of the initial list and have not been approved to be added to this point, because they did not meet the standards mentioned above. Since those locations have not met the criteria in the past, I would want to see council discuss them as part of the review of the program in total. That should be a separate discussion at the Municipal Services Committee in the future.
The other reason the additional funding for the crosswalks is not necessary at this time, is that there are no additional projects under design or engineering at this time and staff would likely not have the capacity to add them in the next year or two anyway.
The last part of this resolution relates to a need for computer replacement. The city is falling behind it's preferred schedule of computer replacements across the board. In some cases, computers are still being used that are or soon will be out of date for available security updates. This is certainly not something we can allow to happen. This on-going replacement need also goes beyond PCs but to traffic cameras, tablets and other devices that need to be taken into consideration.
However, asking for one-time funding is a band-aid fix. This is an on-going issue staff needs to address through the budget. With a new IT director just coming aboard in the last few months, I believe we need to let him work with his and other departments to assess and present a plan for how to address this in an all-encompassing fashion going forward. That plan should come forward separately to the HR/IT committee for review and further discussion before becoming a part of the executive budget request.
As I stated earlier, I do agree with the ideas in this resolution as needs we should be looking at. But this resolution feels rushed as there are too many departments and different committees involved to wrap this into a single resolution.
City Hall renovations
Another proposal before the committee will be noticeable by visitors in the future if approved. A request for a contract to renovate the 5th/6th floors of City Hall, including workstation and security upgrades for staff. This is a much needed project that has not been done in almost 30 years.
Public Works Director search
A request to approve a contract to hire a consultant to help with the Public Works Director search is also on the Finance Committee agenda for Monday. I have some questions about this request, since the city has only been searching to fill this position for a little over a month. We went almost a year without a health director during the most significant public health crisis of our lifetimes before filling that position without a consultant. That, despite the urging of some council members to hire one to help for that position given the urgency of the pandemic.
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| The HR memo requesting funds to hire a consultant for the Public Works Director search |
There are certainly differences between these two jobs and there could very well be reasons to go this route, but based on the memo, I don't think I'll be the only council member wondering if we should continue this search for a bit longer before hiring a consultant. The Public Works Department already has two very competent and professional deputy directors who could help lead the department in the interim in my opinion.
Parks and Recreation Committee
Monday 6:30 p.m. - The Parks and Recreation Committee will be asked to recommend approval of a grant application for funds to help the city complete the 2nd phase of the We Energies Trail (pictured below)
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| The proposed 2nd phase of the We Energies Trail that the city is seeking grant funding for |
The committee will also make a recommendation on a reciprocity agreement with Neenah and Menasha for residents in all three communities to participate in any program offered in those communities at the rates that communities' residents pay. This is a good program that benefits many people and expands program offerings that not all communities offer.
Fox Cities Transit Commission
Tuesday 3 p.m. - The only action item is to authorize payment of some bills, but the commission will also get an update on plans and progress for the renovation of the Whitman Ave. facility which is the headquarters and service garage for Valley Transit. However, there isn't any information attached to the agenda for this item, so watch for future updates on that project.
Utilities Committee
Tuesday 5 p.m. - The lone action item is a request to make a recommendation on a credit adjustment for a resident with a water leak. This is a good time to remind residents to sign up for the AquaHawk leak detection program that the city offers residents. It can help prevent major bills from an undetected water leak.
City Plan Commission
Wednesday 3:30 p.m. - The Plan Commission will make a recommendation on a plan from a developer to tear down a vacant Applebees restaurant at the corner of College Ave. and Kensington Dr. and replace it with a full-service car wash.
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| A rendering of the proposed car wash |
Safety & Licensing Committee
Wednesday 5:30 p.m. - The Safety & Licensing Committee will take up an intoxicated bartender resolution submitted by alderman Mike Smith last week.
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| The resolution related to intoxicated bartenders |
The committee will also take up a number of other license applications and a proposal to simplify the farm market license process.
HR/IT Committee
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. - There are two important items on the HR/IT Committee agenda for this week. The first is a compensation study for city employees. The competitive nature of the current job market, coupled with the fact the city's last study was conducted in 2012, makes this a worth while expense. This review, if approved by committee and council, will be completed by July and will help the staff with planning as early as next year's budget.
The other item is the request to fund a consultant to help with the Public Works Director search that I wrote about earlier as this item is also before finance as well.
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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