While not every committee was back to work last week, there is a slate of agenda items for the Common Council to consider Wednesday.
Health Officer Appointment
First among the items before council Wednesday is the approval of a new Health Officer. The vacancy for this position dates back almost a year, and lasted through some of the worst of the pandemic. Still, the current staff of the health department deserves credit for picking up additional duties and giving 110% effort since COVID first appeared in Appleton in March of 2020.
Over that span a number of rounds of interviews were conducted and a couple of desired candidates were identified. However, for different reasons, those processes did not work out. But this time around the mayor is recommending the council approve the appointment of Charles Sepers Jr. who holds a PhD and masters degree in behavioral psychology and a masters degree in public health. He comes to Appleton from Columbus, Nebraska where he was the health director and public health officer for the East Central District Health Department, where he has served since 2019.
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| Charles Sepers Jr. |
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Memo recommending Charles Sepers Jr. for the post of Health Officer for Appleton
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Pickleball Complex
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| A pickleball complex |
The council will also likely approve the $484,862 contract to construct the pickleball complex at Telulah Park. This was made possible by the generous philanthropy of Mary Beth Nienhaus who gave the city a $500,000 donation to cover the cost of the project. This will be a great addition to the city as this is a fast-growing sport and as staff has noted, courts specifically for pickleball are in demand here.
Merge LLC Development
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| The 2nd phase of the Merge LLC development is the building on the right. The building on the left was part of the first phase of approval. |
The other item of note on the agenda is a request for the council to approve the 2nd phase of a development agreement with Merge LLC for a project directly behind the City Center, the site of the former Blue Parking Ramp.
This is good news for a site that has been vacant since 2019 and will be an exciting project for the north side of downtown. The first floor of the development will be retail space and city staff has indicated there is already a large interest in those spaces. The city will agree to commit up to $2.16 million in TIF assistance if the project is approved.
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Floor plans for the proposed 2nd phase of the Merge LLC development
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The other four floors of the five-story development will be market rate housing. As also noted by staff, Merge LLC has plans for a majority of the units to be studio style and one-bedroom units. The studio style apartments are are welcome addition to the downtown to provide additional housing choices for a variety of renters and at lower price points as well.
Branding Project On Hold
One item that will not appear on the agenda Wednesday is a contract for branding for the city. There were concerns raised at the Finance Committee meeting about the qualifications of the firm recommended by the staff. The item was held pending further discussions and will be back on the Finance Committee agenda at its next meeting January 24th. I made a recommendation to the committee that the city go back out for bids on this project and I suspect there will be discussion surrounding that possibility at the meeting.
Temporary Library Location
The city announced this week that the temporary library location for the renovation and expansion of the current facility, will be at the former Best Buy site off Kensington Dr. The city will lease 25,000 sq. ft. of space for a cost of $12,500/month. The lease will start in March of this year and run through August of 2023. Noteworthy, is that this site is approximately 50% less than comparable other sites. It provides plenty of parking and easy access for most people, though there will be reduced services at the temporary location.
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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