Common Council Meeting 02/07/2024 At 7PM – Will Vote On Parking Facilities Study Resolution, Resolution To Use Efficiency And Conservation Block Grant Funds For Library Project

The Common Council is meeting 02/07/2024 at 7PM.

There are a number of items on the agenda that may be separated out for an individual vote. Those include:

• The Parking Facility and Management Study. This item was held at the previous Common Council meeting to allow the author Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) the opportunity to participate in the discussion. This resolution calls for staff to seek the services of a consultant to help them assess the value the conditions of the city’s publicly-owned parking assets, look at best management practices, and develop a downtown marketing and promotional campaign. It originally included language specifying that the study would include assessing options to lease or sell the city-owned parking ramps, but that was removed from the resolution by the Municipal Services Committee.

• The Resolution designating Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funds toward the library. This resolution was passed by a vote on 3-2 by the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee declined to clarify if the use of these funds would reduce the taxpayer burden as it relates to the library project or potentially increase the overall budget for the library project.

• The updated Rental and Fee Schedule Policy for Houdini Plaza. The Parks and Recreation Committee voted 4-1 to approve the staff recommendation that the rental fees for Houdini Plaza be raised by $25 across the board for all types of organizations that rent it. This change was opposed by Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) who preferred to see a 20% increase in different rental categories which would have resulted in only a $5 increase to local non-profits seeking to rent the plaza on up to a $100 increase for individuals or groups seeking to hold a private event.
• A single source contract with Star Protection and patrol to provide increased security services in 2024 for the city’s downtown parking ramps. If approved, this would increase patrol hours from 2 hours a day to 8 hours a day 5 days a week. This comes on the heels of an increase in vandalism and unauthorized behavior in the ramps.
• The 2024 sole source purchase requests for various traffic equipment and technologies. These requests were approved unanimously by the Municipal Services Committee, but it did result in a fair amount of discussion, so I could see it being separated out for an individual vote at the Council level.
• The awarding of 2024-2025 Community Development Block Grant dollars and the reallocation of 2023-2024 CDBG dollars. There were some changes at the committee level to the initial staff recommendation regarding how to allocate the 2024-2025 funds. There had also been some discussion regarding why B.A.B.E.s had not received any funds from the remaining 2023-2024 dollars that needed to be reallocated, so I could see those details being highlighted at the Common Council meeting.

View full meeting details here:  https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1143129&GUID=956D9EB8-0937-4FEB-BBFE-1F267D82ACB9