Common Council Meeting 05/07/2025 – Will Vote On Request To Spend $107,000 To Hire Climate Action Consultant, Go Into Closed Session To Discuss Matters Associated With July 2024 Flooding

The Common Council is meeting 05/07/2025 at 7PM.

There are a few things that might be separated out for individual votes.

The most likely item is the request to take $107,000 left over from a roof replacement project and use it to hire a climate action consultant. The Finance Committee voted 3-1 to recommend denial of this item, but the three alderpersons who voted for this denial were also the only three alderpersons to vote against the recent resolution changing the City of Appleton’s emissions goals which the rest of the Council ended up approving. So, it is possible that when this item comes before the Common Council on 05/07/2025 that the end result could be different than the committee’s recommendation.

The use of $20,000 for signage in the Fox Commons/City Center building has been talked about at a couple of committee meetings given how high of a price it appeared to be. During the most recent Finance Committee meeting, it was clarified that the final price tag for the signage was not known at this time and could end up being less than $20,000. The committee ended up recommending the item be approved with the caveat that the purchase of signage would be brought before the committee and Council for final approval once the actual cost was known.

Additionally, the Safety and Licensing Committee voted unanimously to deny a bartender license to an applicant with a battery conviction on her record. The committee’s hands were essentially tied because state law did not seem to give room to grant a license under those circumstances. I would only expect this item to be separated out if the applicant is in attendance.

The most interesting item on the agenda may be one that the public will not have access to. The Common Council will go into Closed Session “for the purpose of conferring with legal counsel regarding matters associated with flooding that occurred in July, 2024.”

View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1289900&GUID=5B997DA0-ECFB-47ED-BB08-207E2398FBF2