Special edition Common Council notes

Hello neighbors! 

It's an off week for both the council and our committees this week due to March having a fifth week. But it's a good chance to recap a couple of other big items I can use the time to update you on. 

Library Project

Last week the Library Board was presented with the latest renderings for the library and an update on the planned renovation and expansion. The project will bring the total square footage of the library from 86,000but  up to 110,000 sq. ft. There was no update on the price tag at this most recent meeting, meaning the official cost as we know it, still stands at $39 million. However, we will have a final cost estimate in May and I would anticipate that cost going above $40 million just given the costs and availability of materials and the overall volatility of the building market right now. 

You can watch a replay of the presentation to the library board by the architectural firm at this link. 

An updated rendering of the library renovation and expansion. 

Large Item Collection Changes

As I've mentioned in the last couple of blog updates and in several last fall, the council approved several service changes for the public works department. The modified large item collection starts April 4th. Under the new plan, the same DPW crew will be disposing of large items, collecting fall yard waste and removing snow from city owned locations in the winter. 

The list of approved items to put out for the large item collection has changed slightly. You can put out two approved items per collection. Approved items include:

• Household furniture including chairs, couches (not sleeper sofas), tables, dressers, TV stands, etc. 
• Metal such as bed frames, shelving, bicycles, grills (propane tanks removed), lawnmowers (gas/ oil removed), etc. Items must not be longer than 4 ft long. 
• Carpeting- see the required specifications below. 
• Garbage bags and tires always require a prepaid disposal sticker. 

Items not approved for collection include:

• Appliances, mattresses/ box springs, large glass doors, windows, hot tubs, pools, trampolines, pianos, exercise equipment, basketball hoops, tractor tires, hazardous waste, yard waste, concrete, shingles, electronics (see “Electronics” section for details), and boxes/recyclables (recycling is not part of this collection). 
• Home improvement materials are also not included as part of this collection. These materials include toilets, sinks, tubs, cabinets, lumber/ wood, drywall, decking, etc. You may put smaller items in your City supplied garbage cart as long as they fit completely inside, with the lid closed.

Information about the new service changes for the public works department

Infrastructure Issues

The last big item I wanted to touch on this week is infrastructure. This is one of the big issues I wanted to run for council to address. In my first year on council I've been a member of the municipal services committee which oversees the public works department and the services it provides, as well as the utilities committee, which oversees the underground infrastructure of water/sewer/storm sewer mains as well as the water and wastewater utility departments for the city. This has given me time to learn more about the infrastructure issues and what the city is doing to address them.

In short, the city is falling behind on maintaining our roads and underground utility infrastructure. There are a host of reasons for this and it has been happening for a number of years now. The bottom line is that these key functions of local government have not been prioritized as much as they should be in the recent past. 

To give you a sense of the problem, we reconstruct about one mile of city streets per year. We have 340 miles of streets and at that pace, you can do the math and figure out that our streets will never last that long. Generally 30-60 years is the maximum, but that varies based on the type of pavement a host of other circumstances. But you get the idea. 

The picture with our underground infrastructure isn't a lot better. A few years ago a consultant gave the city a report showing we needed to be replacing six miles of water mains a year to get on top of a proper replacement cycle for a city our size. We are again doing about one mile of water mains a year. The results of this strategy were shared in stark detail at our utilities committee meeting last week. 

Water main breaks by year from 2000-2021

In 2021 we had the 2nd highest number of water main breaks in more than 20 years and the annual number of breaks has been on the rise on average. We had 137 breaks in 2021 and over the last 20 years are averaging around 97. If I remember correctly, the consultant report says we should be averaging around 60. Those 137 breaks cost the city $1.2 million to repair. The older our infrastructure gets, the more we will see this issue, as well as the quality of our roads, become even bigger problems. 

One of the core functions of local government is to provide infrastructure. Yet this is not and has not been the priority it should be. We have an incredible opportunity to address some of these concerns, right now. I'll be meeting this coming week with the mayor and some staff members to discuss this further and I'll be sharing more about a potential plan to tackle this in the near future. 

April 5th Spring Election

Just a reminder that the April 5th Spring Election is fast approaching. Absentee ballots have been mailed and in-person absentee voting is available at City Hall. 

I've attached a sample ballot for District 15, where you will also see my name on the ballot to represent portions of our district on the Calumet County Board. We will also be voting for an appeals court race and the AASD school board. 

Sample ballot for the April 5th Election

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.