The Common Council met 04/05/2023. The biggest portion of the meeting was spent on the College Avenue Lane Reconfiguration Pilot Project, but they also spent a little over 10 minutes discussing the Memorandum of Understanding with Bird Rides, Inc for a 2023 electric scooter program in Appleton. This item ended up passing by a vote of 12-3 with Alderpersons Vered Meltzer (District 2), Israel Del Toro (District 4), and Maiyoua Thao (District 7) voting against it.
I’ve prepared a complete transcript of the discussion for download.
Alderperson Meltzer thought that, while the scooters had a lot of inherent value, they were not the right fit for Appleton given the amount of drinking that takes place in Appleton and Wisconsin. “I think that the combination of the drinking culture in Appleton and the safety issues that I hear increasing at the hospitals would only continue increasing if we continue to have Bird scooters.”
Alderperson Nate Wolff (District 10) agreed with some of those concerns and also thought the city should enforce mandatory helmets for riders. He supported the program for 2023, but said he may not vote for it in future years if those issues weren’t turned around.
Alderperson Del Toro personally utilized and enjoyed the scooters as did Lawrence students; however, his constituents, particularly those at Eagle Point Senior Living, were very opposed to the scooters, particularly because some seniors had experienced dangerous situations with Birds on the trail in that area. For that reason, Alderperson Del Toro was going to vote against continuing the program.
Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) was comfortable with the safety changes discussed at the Municipal Services Committee which Bird would be implementing, so she was going to vote in favor of it.
Alderperson Kristin Alfheim (District 11) also voted in favor of it but recognized that there were issues with drunk people riding the scooters. She thought the Birds were used more for entertainment as opposed to a necessity, but she believed some people did use them as a necessity. She hoped the College Avenue lane changes would reduce issues with Bird scooters and suggested that the maximum speed of the scooters be reduced at some point in the evening, so people could not do as much harm to themselves or others.
Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) said that his biggest concern had been to make sure the city was property reimbursed for the cost it put into the program, and that there was potentially some revenue generated so that the community members who didn’t want anything to do with the scooters still received some benefit. He was happy with the per-ride reimbursement amount to the city being increased from $0.10 to $0.20. He also appreciated that they were voting on a renewable contract and not making this situation permanent. He thought that helped improve the city’s ability to respond to issues that arise and even cancel the program should they feel it was necessary. [I took that as subtle reference to No Mow May having been permanently embedded into city code.]
He recognized the concerns about the program but in light of the lane changes coming to College Avenue he was in favor of renewing the program for another year so that they could see how those changes would affect things.
Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) had been a strong proponent of the scooters because he and his family had used them in many different urban areas. In those other city’s the scooters had allowed them to cover more ground and see more of the city up close and personal than they would have been able to otherwise. He thought the scooters made Appleton appear more attractive, livable, and vibrant.
He appreciated the safety concerns but thought that, in light of the new safety measures Bird was implementing, they could simply continue to monitor those issues rather than end the program. He also thought the planned College Avenue bike lanes would improve the Bird experience.
The Council voted 12-3 to approve the Bird scooters for the 2023 year.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1084959&GUID=3AE75ACA-E120-4802-AB29-59B5D602FBF7
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