OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Appleton Common Council Meeting – October 2, 2024

Common Council — Wednesday, October 2, 2024
BodyAppleton, Wisconsin
SessionCommon Council
DateWednesday, October 2, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:24:36

Transcript — Verbatim
1:38

Good evening.

1:39

I now call to order the Wednesday, October 2nd meeting of the twenty twenty-four meeting of the Appland Common Council.

1:46

Tonight's invocation will be delivered by Alder Sebers.

1:49

Thank you, Your Honor.

1:51

Um, for forty plus years, I have journaled, and lately I've been going through some of my journals, and tonight I like to read one of my journal entries that I think is appropriate for an invitation.

2:07

It's titled During Challenging Times, What Assures Me I'll Be Okay.

2:13

The world seems to be drowning in peril, and I find myself at times believing the worst about people.

2:21

Today we are so polarized with our belief, and with everything that is going on in this world, I have to wonder if we're going to survive.

2:30

However, sometimes it is the little things that remind me that we are going to make it.

2:35

Like remembering that there was a time when people smoked in hospitals, and one wore seat seat belts.

2:45

Um did not wear seat belts, and sunscreen was optional.

2:51

Remembering there was a time when we rode our bikes and sometimes we wore our baseball hats, but never our helmets.

2:59

Remembering how special it was on a warm summer day to ride in the back of a pickup truck, going sixty-five miles per hour.

3:09

Remembering when the only bread we ate was white, butter was the only was real, and our lunch bag was truly blessed when it had twinkies in it.

3:21

As kids, we even tried to eat worms, and I don't recall us getting sick.

3:33

Through it all, we survive.

5:12

And all are represented with the exception of Alder Person Heffernan who is excused.

5:16

Right.

5:17

Roll call of officers and department heads.

5:19

All are represented.

5:21

All right.

5:23

Motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

5:27

We have a motion and a second to approve.

5:30

Any discussion of the minutes.

5:35

Hearing none, please cast your votes.

5:45

All right, that motion passes 14 to 0.

5:48

The minutes have been approved.

5:51

And now, welcome to Mayor's Business.

5:55

I have some business for you this evening.

5:58

You might be wondering why there's so many people here.

6:00

And that'll start to become clear in just a moment here.

6:05

So first we're we're going to have a presentation of a new award program to recognize employees and friends of the city.

6:14

So we'll be presenting those awards.

6:16

I'll have two proclamations that I'll be presenting for you this evening, one for fire prevention week and the other for Disautonomia Awareness Month.

6:25

And then I'll be giving you a presentation on the executive budget and service plan for 2025.

6:32

So settle in and we'll all get started here.

6:41

Is that coming through?

6:43

Okay.

6:44

Great.

6:44

Now we've never done this before, so we're gonna make it up as we go in terms of process and flow here.

6:51

But we have uh we have the City Star Awards, and uh we're recognizing a couple of different categories of of awards.

7:00

These are peer-nominated awards, uh so they come from within the organization, and then a recommendations are made and reviewed by an internal uh committee, and then recommendations are made to me uh for final awards.

7:15

And uh this is the first year we've run this program.

7:17

There have been award programs at the city in the past.

7:20

Uh this is this is the first time we're we're doing the City Star Awards.

7:24

Um I'm really excited to share with you the accomplishments of the employees who are being recognized uh here tonight.

7:31

And uh so we'll get started.

7:33

And first uh I want to welcome up Andy Kuhn from Parks and Recreation.

7:37

Andy, come on up.

7:45

So what I what I'll do is I just want to share an excerpt from the nomination uh that that we received for Andy, just so you get a sense of uh why why he's being recognized.

7:56

Andy Kuhn goes to this is this is a quote from the uh from the nomination.

8:00

Andy Kuhn goes above and beyond and has done so every year he's been an employee.

8:05

Putting his own needs aside, he'll come in early, stay late, come in on the weekend, all with a smile on his face.

8:12

Andy understands the mission and importance of what we do to serve our community.

8:17

His multiple multiple talents allow him to provide a myriad of services, which is not only a huge savings, but allows Andy to meet his customers' needs in short order.

8:28

Andy's smile and good humor are always appreciated.

8:32

His coworkers, customers, and the public enjoy interacting with him.

8:36

They know they can always count on him to deliver.

8:38

And I can personally attest to that.

8:41

So, uh Andy Kuhn, you're being recognized with the Excellence in Service Delivery Award.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████25%
Finance and Budget██████████████████18%
Personnel Matters█████████████13%
Parking Management███████████11%
Community Engagement██████6%
Public Safety██████6%
Workforce Development██████6%
Public Engagement██████6%
Public Health████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Appleton Common Council Meeting – October 2, 2024

The Appleton Common Council met on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at 7:02 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jake Woodford, with 15 alderpersons present and one excused. The agenda included City Star Awards, multiple proclamations, the 2025 Executive Budget and Service Plan presentation, a public hearing on a street vacation, and several committee reports and votes. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM.

Mayor's Report and Presentations

  • City Star Awards: Mayor Woodford presented the inaugural City Star Awards to recognize employees and friends of the city. Recipients included Andy Kuhn (Excellence in Service Delivery), Dylan Zordo (Excellence in Community Engagement and Outreach), Aaron Wills (Excellence in Customer Service), Amy Bedard (Excellence in Project Management), Jamie Greebach (City Champion Award), and Don Hippus (Friend of the City Award). Special Mayor's Greater Good Award was given to Adam Pazer, Todd Peters, and Darren Glad for their work on statewide legislation allowing tactical EMS professionals to carry firearms in restricted areas. The "Mare Brained Idea Award" was also given to Jamie Greebach and Mel Lewis for creating the City Star Awards program.
  • Proclamations: Mayor Woodford proclaimed October 2024 as Dysautonomia Awareness Month and October 6–12, 2024, as Fire Prevention Week. Additional proclamations (Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Indigenous Peoples Day, Mental Health Day, Coming Out Day, White Cane Safety Day) were noted.
  • 2025 Executive Budget and Service Plan: The mayor presented the budget, highlighting key themes: services maintained/enhanced, fire department upgrade to paramedic engine companies, 3% merit-based increase for non-represented employees, health insurance cost increase of only 3% (well below double-digit trends), $147 million in net new construction (1.7% levy limit increase), stable debt strategy with the smallest new debt issue since 2015 ($11.3 million), and full obligation of ARPA funds. Capital improvements include 60.5% for infrastructure. Upcoming dates: budget listening session October 16, budget Saturday November 2, public hearing November 6, adoption November 13.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved routine items from committee reports as a block (motion carried 14-0). These included:
    • Approve Utility Easement Release of Rights for Richmond St/I-41.
    • Request by Prevea Health to purchase two on-street parking stalls on Washington Street.
    • Class "B" Beer and "Class B" Liquor License for CaPo Gooble LLC d/b/a Ambassador.
    • Amendment to Municipal Code Sec. 6-56 (fire codes).
    • Sole source purchase of Variable Frequency Drive equipment from Werner Electric ($37,573).
    • Statement of Non-Reimbursement for Utility DOT forms.
    • Contract Amendment #2 for Stormwater Management Plan Review with Brown and Caldwell (increase $38,000 to $113,000).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Jennifer Stephany (Executive Director, Appleton Downtown Inc.) and Nate Weyenberg (owner, Angels Forever Windows of Light) spoke in support of a request for free parking on Small Business Saturday (November 30, 2024). They emphasized the importance of the day for downtown small businesses and asked the city to partner through free meter or ramp parking.

Public Hearings

  • Street Vacation of N. Sampson Street: Public hearing held; no one spoke. The hearing was closed.

Discussion Items

  • Free Parking for Small Business Saturday (24-1268): The Municipal Services Committee recommended denial (3-2 vote). Alderperson Meltzer moved to amend the request to remove ramp parking, leaving only free on-street meter parking. The amendment passed 9-5. The amended motion (to approve free meter parking only) then passed as a notwithstanding vote, 10-4. The council approved free on-street meter parking for Small Business Saturday, but not ramp parking.
  • Variance Request for Driveway Extension – 3039 N. Ballard Rd (24-1051): The committee recommended denial. Alderperson Croatt noted the property owner had invested about $2,500 in a concrete pad intended as a turnaround, but it was being used for parking. The variance was denied 12-2, requiring the owner to remove the extension.
  • Approval of Alderperson Salaries (24-1101): The Human Resources & IT Committee recommended a 0% increase. The motion to approve 0% passed 10-3-1 (with one abstention). However, state statute requires a three-quarters vote for an increase; since the vote did not meet that threshold, the result was effectively no increase.
  • Operator License for Cindy Reed (24-1105): This item was referred back to the Safety and Licensing Committee for further discussion (motion by Alderperson Fenton).

Key Outcomes

  • Approved: Common Council meeting minutes of September 18, 2024 (14-0).
  • Approved: Final resolution for N. Sampson St. street vacation (14-0).
  • Approved: Balance of the agenda (consent calendar) (14-0).
  • Approved: Ordinances #125-24 to #137-24 (14-0).
  • Referral: Operator License for Cindy Reed sent back to committee, due back October 9, 2024.
  • Adjourned: Meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening. I now call to order the Wednesday, October 2nd meeting of the twenty twenty-four meeting of the Appland Common Council. Tonight's invocation will be delivered by Alder Sebers. Thank you, Your Honor. Um, for forty plus years, I have journaled, and lately I've been going through some of my journals, and tonight I like to read one of my journal entries that I think is appropriate for an invitation. It's titled During Challenging Times, What Assures Me I'll Be Okay. The world seems to be drowning in peril, and I find myself at times believing the worst about people. Today we are so polarized with our belief, and with everything that is going on in this world, I have to wonder if we're going to survive. However, sometimes it is the little things that remind me that we are going to make it. Like remembering that there was a time when people smoked in hospitals, and one wore seat seat belts. Um did not wear seat belts, and sunscreen was optional. Remembering there was a time when we rode our bikes and sometimes we wore our baseball hats, but never our helmets. Remembering how special it was on a warm summer day to ride in the back of a pickup truck, going sixty-five miles per hour. Remembering when the only bread we ate was white, butter was the only was real, and our lunch bag was truly blessed when it had twinkies in it. As kids, we even tried to eat worms, and I don't recall us getting sick. Through it all, we survive. And all are represented with the exception of Alder Person Heffernan who is excused. Right. Roll call of officers and department heads. All are represented. All right. Motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting. We have a motion and a second to approve. Any discussion of the minutes. Hearing none, please cast your votes. All right, that motion passes 14 to 0. The minutes have been approved. And now, welcome to Mayor's Business. I have some business for you this evening. You might be wondering why there's so many people here. And that'll start to become clear in just a moment here. So first we're we're going to have a presentation of a new award program to recognize employees and friends of the city. So we'll be presenting those awards. I'll have two proclamations that I'll be presenting for you this evening, one for fire prevention week and the other for Disautonomia Awareness Month. And then I'll be giving you a presentation on the executive budget and service plan for 2025. So settle in and we'll all get started here. Is that coming through? Okay. Great. Now we've never done this before, so we're gonna make it up as we go in terms of process and flow here. But we have uh we have the City Star Awards, and uh we're recognizing a couple of different categories of of awards. These are peer-nominated awards, uh so they come from within the organization, and then a recommendations are made and reviewed by an internal uh committee, and then recommendations are made to me uh for final awards. And uh this is the first year we've run this program. There have been award programs at the city in the past. Uh this is this is the first time we're we're doing the City Star Awards. Um I'm really excited to share with you the accomplishments of the employees who are being recognized uh here tonight. And uh so we'll get started. And first uh I want to welcome up Andy Kuhn from Parks and Recreation. Andy, come on up. So what I what I'll do is I just want to share an excerpt from the nomination uh that that we received for Andy, just so you get a sense of uh why why he's being recognized.

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