OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Appleton Common Council Meeting – April 1, 2026

Common Council — Wednesday, April 1, 2026
BodyAppleton, Wisconsin
SessionCommon Council
DateWednesday, April 1, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 31:42

Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

Good evening.

0:04

I now call to order the Wednesday, April 1st, 2026 meeting of the Appleton Common Council.

0:10

Please rise for the invocation, which will be delivered by Alder Hartzheim.

0:15

Thank you, Chair.

0:17

As we gather here this evening, let us take a moment to recognize the changing of the seasons.

0:22

Last week, through all of our digging out from our fun little record breaking winter storm, Elsa, we actually passed the vernal equinox.

0:30

Yes, spring officially began, at least according to the calendar.

0:35

Now the days are beginning to grow longer, the air softening, and signs of life are returning in ways both quiet and certain.

0:43

Mark Twain must have been in Wisconsin when he wrote, in the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.

0:53

But there is a practical truth in that observation.

0:56

Change is constant and conditions shift quickly in Midwest marches and Aprils and in life.

1:03

And steady leadership requires adaptability and patience.

1:07

Let this new season guide us in the work before us.

1:10

May we approach our responsibilities with focus, fairness, and clear purpose, despite any quickly shifting conditions.

1:18

May we listen carefully, speak thoughtfully, and act with integrity in every decision we make so that we can lead well through all of the changes we are bound to continually face.

1:29

We ask God or whoever might be your higher power for steady judgment, patience, and respect for one another as we carry out our duties entrusted to us.

1:38

Amen.

1:41

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:44

Pledge allegiance to the flag.

1:48

And to the God.

2:14

Okay.

2:14

Roll call of officers and department heads.

2:17

All are represented.

2:18

Right.

2:19

In a motion to approve the minutes to the previous meeting.

2:24

We have a motion and a second to approve.

2:26

Is there any discussion of the minutes?

2:30

Hearing none, please cast your votes.

2:39

Motion passes 12 to 0.

2:41

The minutes have been approved.

2:44

All right, business presented by the mayor.

2:47

We'll start with a fun one.

2:49

This is 26 0315 presentation of the selected 2026 Sidewalk Poetry Poems.

2:56

And to tell us about that is Peter Katar.

3:01

Hello, everyone.

3:02

My name is Peter Katarba.

3:04

I'm the community partnership supervisor at the Appleton Public Library.

3:08

I'm here to report that we've had another successful submission and selection process for Appleton Sidewalk Poetry Program.

3:16

This year we received 114 poems, which our selection committee very carefully narrowed down to a list of 15 poems that were then presented to the community for community inputs.

3:30

And from those 15 poems, our community spoke, and we've selected five to be stamped into our sidewalks.

3:37

Our poets are here tonight, or most of the poets.

3:40

If you want, you're welcome to come up now and we can line up to read the poems in a moment.

3:45

But before we do, I want to say a few thank yous.

3:48

Um, first, of course, a thank you to the community of Appleton for reading the words that are beneath their feet and for inviting those words to prompt thoughts and discussions.

3:59

A thank you to our selection committee this year for their sincere stewardship of this program.

4:05

Um, their thoughtful discussion around those 114 poems narrowed to 15 was really beautiful.

4:13

Um then also thank you to all those who submitted poems this year.

4:17

And with that, we'll present our selections.

4:23

Hi, my name is Lana Thiel.

4:25

I'm a school counselor at Appleton East and an Appleton resident for my whole life.

4:29

Um, this is my poem.

4:31

Time does not bow to anyone.

4:33

She's an escaped convict, a runaway who swims toward the ever rising sun.

4:39

She rebels against her unraveling, bathing in the shadows of the fading moonlight, bound to a cemetery of stars.

4:56

Hi, my name is Amanda Gade.

5:00

I'm a luthier at the string instrument workshop in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but I reside here in Appleton.

5:04

My poem that I submitted is titled The Nature Walk Haiku Pear.

5:11

Nature carves through rock.

5:13

Thousands of years on this earth, my black skipping stone.

5:18

Felled trees dance in us.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████69%
Historic Preservation████████13%
Election Policy███████11%
Arts And Culture█████7%
Summary of Proceedings

Appleton Common Council Meeting – April 1, 2026

The Appleton Common Council met on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jake Woodford at 7:01 PM and adjourned at 7:33 PM. The council approved a routine consent calendar, discussed and amended the text for a new Harry Houdini historic marker, and debated moving the second April council meeting date. Two resolutions were referred to committees.

Consent Calendar

The following items were approved unanimously (12-0, with 3 excused and the mayor abstaining) under a single motion for the balance of the agenda after the Houdini marker discussion:

  • Approval of the March 18, 2026 council minutes.
  • Appointments and reappointments to the Board of Review, Board of Zoning Appeals, Historic Preservation Commission, Police Chief's Advisory Board, and Police & Fire Commission.
  • Award of the 2026 Bridge Inspection contract to Collins Engineers, Inc., not-to-exceed $50,000.
  • Award of a sole-source consultant contract for 2026 Construction Inspections to raSmith, not-to-exceed $80,000 (contingent on 2025 DPW budget carryover).
  • Hammen Family Orchard & Winery transfer application for the 2026 Appleton Farm Market.
  • Upholding the removal of Mac's Towing d/b/a Bob's Towing from the police towing call list.
  • Temporary premises amendment for Cinco de Mayo block party events for Tipsy Taco and Tequila Bar and Sangria's Mexican Grill on May 3, 2026.
  • Habitat's Gillett Street Extraterritorial Preliminary Plat in the Town of Grand Chute.
  • Award of a five-year Fire Protection Inspection Services contract to Summit Fire Protection, $160,435.
  • Approval of 2025 Budget Amendments for Community Development Block Grants, Room Tax, Wheel Tax, Facilities Capital Projects (including $3,599,253 from Friends of Appleton Library), and General Fund wage reserve allocation.
  • Change Order #1 for Unit W-26 Sewer and Water Reconstruction ($92,515, new total $2,678,100).
  • Award of the C-26 Sidewalk Sawcutting project to ASTI Sawing Inc., not-to-exceed $30,000.
  • Development Agreement for Mission Ridge North (Dewitt Development Partners LLC).
  • Purchase of Klir Compliance Management Software through CDW-Government, $44,250.
  • Approval of 2025-2026 Budget carryover appropriations: $57,800,009 for items not under contract and $7,745,006 for special consideration.
  • Renewal of the farm lease with Erv Van Camp for 21.14 acres at 110 and 210 W. Edgewood Drive ($76.58/acre, 5% annual escalators, no crop loss provision).
  • Award of 2026C Stormwater Consulting Services sole-source contract to Brown and Caldwell for Northland Bellaire Preliminary Design, not-to-exceed $390,000.
  • Ordinances #25-26 through #30-26.

Discussion Items

Harry Houdini State Historic Marker Text Amendment

  • The council considered a proposed state historic marker honoring Harry Houdini to be placed in Houdini Plaza (121 W. College Avenue). The Historic Preservation Commission had previously amended the text, but Alderperson Hartzheim moved to further amend the marker text by removing a comma after the word "wife" in the sentence: "In 1897, he and his wife, Bess performed at the Appleton Opera House." The comma was removed to make the text grammatically correct. The amendment was approved 12-0, and the marker text as amended was then approved 12-0.

Moving the Second Common Council Meeting in April

  • The council discussed moving the regular second Wednesday meeting (scheduled for April 15) to April 22, 2026, to consolidate with the organizational meeting of the new council. City Attorney Barons explained that the swearing-in of newly elected alderpersons must occur on April 21 per state statute, and the informal organizational meeting would follow. Historically, the council has moved that meeting. Alderperson Croatt advocated keeping the April 15 date to maintain schedule consistency and allow outgoing alderpersons to participate in their last council meeting. Alderperson Fenton moved to move the meeting to April 22. The motion failed 3-8-2 (with 2 abstentions and 3 excused). The council will therefore meet on April 15 as scheduled. The organizational meeting will be April 22, and committee meetings will be scheduled for the week of April 27.

Key Outcomes

  • Houdini marker text amended and approved (12-0). The marker will read: "In 1897, he and his wife, Bess performed at the Appleton Opera House" (one comma after "1897").
  • Council meeting on April 15 kept; motion to move to April 22 failed.
  • Two resolutions referred to committees:
    • Resolution #2-R-26 supporting a vegetation analysis and data-informed mowing reduction strategy (referred to committee of jurisdiction).
    • Resolution #3-R-26 expressing support for ranked-choice voting in municipal elections (referred to Safety and Licensing Committee).
  • All consent calendar items and ordinances approved (12-0) as part of the balance of the agenda.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening. I now call to order the Wednesday, April 1st, 2026 meeting of the Appleton Common Council. Please rise for the invocation, which will be delivered by Alder Hartzheim. Thank you, Chair. As we gather here this evening, let us take a moment to recognize the changing of the seasons. Last week, through all of our digging out from our fun little record breaking winter storm, Elsa, we actually passed the vernal equinox. Yes, spring officially began, at least according to the calendar. Now the days are beginning to grow longer, the air softening, and signs of life are returning in ways both quiet and certain. Mark Twain must have been in Wisconsin when he wrote, in the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours. But there is a practical truth in that observation. Change is constant and conditions shift quickly in Midwest marches and Aprils and in life. And steady leadership requires adaptability and patience. Let this new season guide us in the work before us. May we approach our responsibilities with focus, fairness, and clear purpose, despite any quickly shifting conditions. May we listen carefully, speak thoughtfully, and act with integrity in every decision we make so that we can lead well through all of the changes we are bound to continually face. We ask God or whoever might be your higher power for steady judgment, patience, and respect for one another as we carry out our duties entrusted to us. Amen. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag. And to the God. Okay. Roll call of officers and department heads. All are represented. Right. In a motion to approve the minutes to the previous meeting. We have a motion and a second to approve. Is there any discussion of the minutes? Hearing none, please cast your votes. Motion passes 12 to 0. The minutes have been approved. All right, business presented by the mayor. We'll start with a fun one. This is 26 0315 presentation of the selected 2026 Sidewalk Poetry Poems. And to tell us about that is Peter Katar. Hello, everyone. My name is Peter Katarba. I'm the community partnership supervisor at the Appleton Public Library. I'm here to report that we've had another successful submission and selection process for Appleton Sidewalk Poetry Program. This year we received 114 poems, which our selection committee very carefully narrowed down to a list of 15 poems that were then presented to the community for community inputs. And from those 15 poems, our community spoke, and we've selected five to be stamped into our sidewalks. Our poets are here tonight, or most of the poets. If you want, you're welcome to come up now and we can line up to read the poems in a moment. But before we do, I want to say a few thank yous. Um, first, of course, a thank you to the community of Appleton for reading the words that are beneath their feet and for inviting those words to prompt thoughts and discussions. A thank you to our selection committee this year for their sincere stewardship of this program. Um, their thoughtful discussion around those 114 poems narrowed to 15 was really beautiful. Um then also thank you to all those who submitted poems this year. And with that, we'll present our selections. Hi, my name is Lana Thiel. I'm a school counselor at Appleton East and an Appleton resident for my whole life.

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