The Municipal Services Committee met 02/20/2023. One of the items they took up was the request to approve a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bird Rides, Inc for an electric scooter program within the city through December 31, 2024.
The committee discussed some of the ongoing concerns regarding the Bird scooters and some alderpersons expressed concerns about entering into a two-year agreement rather than a one year agreement. Because the MOU was an agreement that had been negotiated between Bird and the City of Appleton, City Attorney Christopher Behrens noted that there could be some awkwardness should the committee and Council decide to unilaterally make changes to the agreement. As a result, the committee ended up voting to hold the item until the next Municipal Services Committee meeting to give time to look further into and discuss with Bird, Inc the possibility of:
- Changing the agreement to a one-year term instead of a two-year term
- Reviewing and potentially increasing the current $0.10 per ride fee paid to Appleton
- Receiving reports on crashes and parking issues
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for your downloading pleasure.
Alderperson Shari Hartzheim (District 13), who is not a member of the committee, was not thrilled with a two-year contract. While she recognized that Bird had responded to a lot of concerns and had made changes to their program, she believed there was still a persistent issue with people under the age of 18 using the scooters. She preferred to enter into a one-year agreement so that these issues could continue to be reviewed.
Alderperson Vered Meltzer (District 2), who was also not a member of the committee, did not sound keen on continuing any kind of agreement with Bird, agreed with Alderperson Hartzheim, that a one-year contract would be more prudent than a two-year contract, and also expressed concerns about the true number of Bird scooter crashes not being reported. “[W]hile we track reported crashes, we don’t track unreported crashes, and a lot of people really mess themselves up and give themselves injuries while using birds while intoxicated. They go to the emergency room, they tell the nurse what they were doing, but they don’t report that back to the city.”
Alderperson Brad Firkus (District 3), who is a member of the committee, wanted to see Bird parking issues addressed more because the number one complaint he got was regarding the scooters being parked incorrectly or being left in the middle of bridges. He wondered if it would be possible for Bird to provide the city with a monthly report indicating where their software was detecting parking violations and then explaining how they responded to those parking violations.
Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15), who is also a member of the committee, wondered whether $0.10 per ride was enough of a fee for the city to recoup its administrative costs associated with the program. Director of Public Works Danielle Block answered that, while staff was not tracking all the details of the time and energy they were spending responding to the program, they felt that $0.10 per ride was appropriate, particularly taking into account the decline in complaints and comments from 2021 to 2022.
Alderperson Doran said that he would still like to see some kind of data on what the city was doing to facilitate having the scooters here, and raised the concept of the city actually generating revenue through the scooter program. “I think that not only should the city really be able to recoup its cost, but should be able to generate some revenue from it for the convenience that it provides for the community and for Bird just given the concerns that many people in the community who never have or never will use them have to endure because of having the scooters here.”
Although, as Alderperson Doran, pointed out to the committee, the two-year agreement that was before them did include a clause allowing the agreement to be “terminated at any point and without cause by either party upon 7 days prior written notice to the other party,” the committee still seemed have at least some interest in explicitly changing the agreement to a one-year term instead of a two-year term.
City Attorney Behrens suggested that, in light of the fact that the agreement had been discussed and negotiated with Bird, holding the item might be worthwhile in order to provide opportunity to discuss any potential changes with Bird ahead of time.
Alderperson Hartzheim appreciated the idea of holding it because “I think there’s a sort of malaise in in our constituency, like I think they are like, ‘Well, it’s already here. What can we do about it?’ So, I would like to be able to go back to my constituents and say, we’re really talking about whether this really fits for Appleton. Can you give me more feedback on that? So, I think a hold is very appropriate.”
The committee voted unanimously to hold the item until the 03/06/2023 Municipal Services Committee meeting.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1083498&GUID=07D59BAD-C272-46E2-A606-3C7C0D23F531
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