The Common Council is meeting 03/16/2022 at 7PM.
As was announced at the last Common Council meeting there will be no Covid-19 Update. There will also be no Mayoral Proclamations; however, Mayor Woodford will be making two commission/committee appointments. He’ll be recommending for appointment Jeri Ohman to the Fox Cities Area Room Tax Commission and Callista Buchen to the Appleton Public Art Committee.
The two items that garnered the most amount of discussion last week at committee were the “No Mow May” resolution and the resolution to reallocate funds that are currently set aside for the city’s now defunct branding study.
The “No Mow May” resolution as originally crafted would have permanently enshrined No Mow May into the city’s municipal code. The Municipal Services Committee, however, declined to permanently place it into the municipal code and instead voted 3-2 to simply renew the program for this year in accordance with the practices in place the last two years.
The resolution reallocating the rebranding dollars originally designated
- $100,000 for an Appleton.org website re-design
- $225,000 for the city’s enhanced crosswalk program
- $150,000 for technology upgrades
The Finance Committee amended it to bring it in line with recommendations from staff which was:
- Allocate $75,000 to hire a consultant to provide recommendations regarding the enhanced crosswalk program and city-wide pedestrian safety enhancements
- Allocate $60,000 to hire a contractor to provide a comprehensive analysis of the city’s IT systems
- Hold $100,000 for website re-design
- Hold remaining $100,000 for Enhanced Crosswalk program
- Hold remaining *$90,000 for technology upgrades
It’s also likely that the ARPA Grant Allocations will be discussed during the Common Council meeting. This garnered some discussion during the Community and Economic Development Committee meeting when Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked for a summary of what the grants specifically would be used for. Additionally, Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) has indicated on his aldermanic website that he will vote against the allocations, saying, “In my view, these funds should be used to pay for projects that impact all city residents, either through debt reduction or offsetting future borrowing. These non-profits do amazing work, but their scope is limited and their impact, while important, is narrowly tailored to a very small segment of our community.”
View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=917290&GUID=0B782C69-BC42-4B96-8C02-C9B0DF17B8BB
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