The Finance Committee met 03/25/2024. One of the items they voted on was the request to approve the 2023-2024 budget carryover appropriations. There were two long lists of carryover appropriations which can be downloaded below along with a transcript of the discussion:
The only items on those lists which were discussed were items 15030 and 15040 in the “Legal Services” category related to the Housing Taskforce implementation. One item was $7,500 for “development services process improvement” and the other was $17,00 for “Consulting re: Process Improvement, Communication & Marketing, etc.”
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked for more detail on those.
Community and Economic Director Kara Homan said that listing those items under “Legal Services” was a scrivener’s error and they should have been listed under “Community and Economic Development.” The purpose of those two items was to provide training and strategic consulting to staff around how to do process mapping. Director Homan spoke highly of a process mapping method known as “Lean” or “Six Sigma”. She wanted staff in her department and in other departments involved with the development approval process “to learn how process flow and process improvement works.”
Additionally, she believed they needed assistance on how they provide communication and marketing for the development approval process, not only for complex projects like a subdivision development but also for simpler things like an Accessory Dwelling Unit project. She wanted to provide better communication so that people understood how to get a project through the approval process, scope the project appropriately, and get it to the point where they physically started construction.
This related to the Housing Task Force because it was hoped that by providing clearer communication, developers could save time and, thereby, money and that it would make developers interested in working on projects in Appleton. As Director Homan told the committee, “If I’m going to make an investment, if I can get through the entitlement process quickly, smoothly, and I know what to expect from beginning to end, they’re going to choose Appleton as a less risky and quicker place to invest their capital versus a community that might have a onerous and difficult process.”
Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) asked if Director Homan foresaw needing to continue to utilize outside consultants once staff received this training. Director Homan answered, “Typically, once you have a team that’s trained in process improvement, understands how to think about it and how to do it, I would anticipate that that’s just built into our day-to-day work, and it’s something that we live and breathe moving forward. And once the investment of training […] we’ll be able to carry that knowledge through for years and years.”
Director Homan spoke highly of her own Lean training she had received 14 years ago and how she still utilized those skills to this day. Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) said she also had taken Lean training 20 years ago and still found it beneficial.
The committee voted 5-0 to approve the budget carryover appropriations.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1181053&GUID=FD7238A4-490E-408D-B86B-55475CFBDB74
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