The City Plan Commission met 07/10/2024. It was a short meeting lasting not quite 8 minutes. The one action item which was the final plat for the Lumbini Estates subdivision was approved unanimously after minimal discussion.
As an information item, they received an update regarding the award of a contract to SmithGroup to update Appleton’s Comprehensive Plan and Sub-Area Plans.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
The sole action item on the agenda was a request to approve the Lumbini Estates Final Plat. The Lumbini Estates subdivision is located near the intersection of Plake Road and Midway Road. The preliminary plat had been approved back in April; although the vote was unanimous, Plan Commissioner Andrew Dane had expressed the view that the large size of the lots was “an inefficient use of precious land that we have.”
No such concerns were raised at this meeting. Principal Planner Don Harp told the commission that there had been no changes from the preliminary plat that had been approved in April. The developers had received approval from Calumet County to connect to Midway Road, and they just had a few technical items to clean up.
The item was approved unanimously.
As an information item, the commission also received an update on the awarding of a contract to SmithGroup to update Appleton’s Comprehensive Plan and Sub-Area Plans. This item would go to the Community Development Committee as an action item.
Principal Planner Lindsey Smith told the commission that the contract amount was $359,000 with a $16,000 contingency. This money came from the $400,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds that the Common Council had allocated for an update of the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
The city had put out a Request For Proposals and had received 8 submissions from prospective consultants in response. Staff created a short list of 4 of those consultants which was interviewed by a team that included Mayor Woodford and Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) which settled on SmithGroup as the final candidate.
Alderperson Fenton stated, “I am very comfortable that SmithGroup will do an excellent job. Their presentation showed that they really knew what the city was looking for.”
Mayor Woodford also spoke highly of them saying, “I’m excited to work with SmithGroup. I think the proposal was excellent, presentation even better. And one of the things that we looked for in potential consultants was strategies for public engagement as really a central component of this, and this this consultant has a demonstrated track record of quality public engagement, and that’ll be critical for us as we update our comprehensive plan and really set the direction, chart a course for this community from a development perspective but even more broadly, just thinking about the kind of community that Appleton sees itself as today and aspires to be in the future. So really looking forward to working with them.”
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1201875&GUID=99041704-5DEB-4DFF-9508-BBE60176EAB1
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