The Common Council is meeting 06/05/2024 at 7PM.
I would not be surprised if this was one of the Council’s longer meetings because there are a few items on the agenda that generated discussion at the committee level.
Resolution 5-R-24 would increase the wheel tax by $20 per year per vehicle. The Finance Committee voted 3-2 to recommend the resolution for denial; however, during that meeting 6 alderpersons expressed support for it.
During that same meeting, the Finance Committee voted 4-1 to approve $2 million in American Recovery Plan Act grants for mental health community wellness, early childhood development, and family support services. Alderperson Hartzheim opposed the grant awards, not because she believed the individual organizations were unworthy, but because she believed the ARPA dollars had been intended by the federal government primarily for infrastructure needs and that the city should be focusing on its core responsibilities. She felt conflicted about approving ARPA funds for individual organizations and then turning around a raising the wheel tax rate on city residents.
Resolution 6-R-24 was recommended unanimously for approval by the Finance Committee. The resolution would establish a Responsible Bidder Policy for the city. The purpose of such a policy would be to provide the city solid legal standing to reject bids from contractors that are unqualified to complete the work in an appropriate manner and to provide more certainty that the contractors who are bidding on projects are qualified to carry out the work.
Also on the agenda are two dangerous animal declarations. I’m a little confused as to why these are on the Common Council’s agenda when they don’t seem to have come before the Board of Health yet. They look like they were placed on the agenda for the 05/08/2024 Board of Health meeting, but that meeting was cancelled and the next meeting isn’t scheduled until 06/12/2024. Be that as it may…
Cedar a Great Dane was declared a dangerous animal after an incident on 05/13/2024 in which, unprovoked, he attacked another dog and two humans. Per the incident summary, “The severity of wounds sustained by the victims needed medical care from a hospital to treat.” [I’m not sure what’s going on here. The PDF filename lists the dog’s name as Chase but the actual summary of the incident lists the dog’s name as Cedar. Additionally, I don’t understand how this could have been placed on the 05/08/2024 Board of Health agenda when the incident didn’t even happen until 05/13/2024.]
The other dangerous animal declaration is for an Australian Shepard known as Ace. Ace engaged in two unprovoked attacks against children. The first was an incident in February when he bit a child’s hand. The second was in April when it “attacked a child multiple times as he was riding his bike on the sidewalk,” causing injuries that required medical attention at a hospital.
View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1195549&GUID=622A4F4C-DDAD-4A7E-B001-F5356C5417F7
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