Appleton Common Council Meeting – September 2, 2026
Appleton Common Council Meeting – September 2, 2026
The Common Council met on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting covered a range of items including a heavily debated resolution on excessive vehicular noise data collection, approval of a special event, adoption of the Downtown Business Improvement District 2027 operating plan, a subdivision development agreement, and numerous consent agenda items. Key outcomes included the denial of the noise data collection resolution (1‑10‑2) and approval of the other separated items.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of the August 19, 2026 Common Council meeting were approved (12‑0‑1, Mayor abstained).
- The balance of the agenda, which included routine items from the Safety & Licensing, Finance, Human Resources & IT, and other committees, was approved on a single motion (12‑0‑1, Mayor abstained).
- Specific consent items included:
- License applications for Appleton Concessionaires LLC (beer/wine), Ole's Tavern LLC, Player 2 Arcade Bar, and Missfits Tavern temporary premises amendment.
- Denial of operator’s license for Delane Henley.
- APD table of organization change.
- Fox Cities Exhibition Center sound mitigation project.
- Fire Station No. 1 window replacement contract ($52,640 + $15,000 contingency).
- Fire Station No. 4 renovation contract amendment ($35,400 increase).
- Acceptance of a $300,000 CVB tourism development grant and budget amendment.
- Unit W‑26 sewer/water reconstruction change order #3.
- Unit O‑26 storm sewer CIPP lining contract ($277,314.83 + $15,000 contingency).
- Allocation of salary savings for finance/compensation consulting.
- Overhire approvals for Fire Admin/Financial Services Manager, Police Communications Specialist, and Public Works Deputy Director/City Engineer.
- Police Department table of organization changes.
- Decline of bids for Whitman Ave. Phase 2 (Transit).
- Award of contract for Temporary Transit Center site work.
- Wisconsin Lights of Hope special event (separately voted – see below).
Public Comments & Testimony
- John Gates (721 E Harris St) – Described personal experience with excessive noise in Appleton compared to other cities, expressed strong support for the noise data collection resolution.
- Caleb Essick (901 Carol Lynn Dr, Little Chute; pastor of Life Church) – Expressed concern about the proposed temporary transit center in the parking lot adjacent to his church at 222 W Franklin St; noted the lot is used for a monthly food pantry and disaster relief; asked for dialogue with the city.
- Christopher Nelis (523 W College Ave) – Owns a downtown business; acknowledged noise issues but argued enforcement has improved; urged balance and continued current enforcement rather than new data collection.
- Teresa Tuschl (518 N Douglas St) – Spoke about quality‑of‑life impacts; described dangerous motorcycle behavior (wheelies, standing on bikes) and called for collaboration between Appleton and Grand Chute police; stated the problem is citywide, not just downtown.
- Ron Kahler (825 N Kensington St) – Long‑time resident; argued noise is an enforcement problem, not an ordinance problem; criticized lane configuration changes; said the city needs to identify what it wants downtown to be; urged stricter enforcement of existing laws.
- Larry Rueff (12 Lawrence Ct) – Supported the noise data collection resolution; argued data is needed to determine cost‑effective solutions; criticized a council member’s public position against reallocating patrol for noise enforcement.
- Bev Kelley‑Miller (Kimberly resident; President, Megan Kelley Foundation) – Requested approval of a special event application for Wisconsin Lights of Hope, a recovery celebration and memorial walk; explained the application was late due to an oversight; noted conditional approval from all departments had been secured.
Discussion Items
Resolution #8‑R‑26 – Excessive Vehicular Noise Data Collection (26‑0759/26‑0903/26‑1140)
The council debated the resolution, which sought to evaluate methods for collecting and analyzing vehicular noise data. Both the Safety & Licensing Committee (5‑0) and the Board of Health (7‑0) had recommended denial.
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Supporters (Alder Smith, resolution author) – Argued data collection (estimated $20,000–$30,000) would allow targeted enforcement, goal‑setting, experimentation, and objective tracking of noise reduction; clarified it is not about surveillance or ticketing via devices; noted current reliance on anecdote.
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Opponents – Alder Fenton: resolution violates separation of powers; staff response already fulfills the request; passive data devices cannot identify specific vehicles and raise privacy concerns; resources would be better directed at person/property crimes. Alder Wolff: police already know problem areas; data may not improve enforcement; considered a building/sound‑barrier issue. Alder Firkus: more data does not change enforcement capacity; the city is already taking action (lane changes, increased citations, towing ordinance); characterized the debate as finger‑pointing; cost of officers ($100,000 each) vs. data devices. Alder Schultz: behavioral issue requiring state‑level demerit points for exhaust modifications; data collection has not yielded results in other projects. Alder Hartzheim: $20,000–$30,000 is significant; data collection is not simple; does not solve the enforcement capacity problem; separation of powers. Alder Meltzer: data will not deliver results; enforcement capacity is the real barrier; gathering data would be poor stewardship and could give false hope; encouraged using the 2027 budget process to increase APD resources. Alder Van Zeeland: her southern district has the lowest noise action rate; cannot support more downtown‑centric enforcement to the detriment of her constituents; suggested partnering with university experts or students for low‑cost data collection.
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Staff Response – Health Officer Siepers explained the memo was prepared with high scientific rigor, addressing four methods using actual DOT contract cost data and legal analysis; noted that without a legal framework to use data for enforcement, collection alone is insufficient.
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Mayor Woodford – Cautioned against binary thinking (nothing is done vs. nothing can be done); urged collaborative and realistic conversation; noted the vote is not the end of the issue.
The motion to approve the resolution (a notwithstanding vote) failed by a vote of 1‑10‑2 (only Alder Smith in favor; Alder Dougherty and Mayor Woodford abstained).
Special Event Application – Wisconsin Lights of Hope (26‑1127)
- Alder Croatt – Encouraged approval; application was late but all departmental approvals now secured.
- Alder Hartzheim – Supported but urged policy review for late applications. Approved 12‑0 (Mayor abstained).
Downtown Appleton Business Improvement District (BID) 2027 Operating Plan (26‑1083)
Approved 12‑0 (Mayor abstained) with no discussion.
Subdivision Development Agreement – Wilden Portfolio Park (26‑1138)
Approved 10‑1‑2 (Alder Hartzheim nay; Mayor Woodford and Alder Hayden abstained).
Key Outcomes
- Resolution #8‑R‑26 (Excessive Vehicular Noise Data Collection) was denied – The council voted 1‑10‑2 (one aye, ten nays, two abstentions) to not adopt the resolution, upholding the committee recommendations for denial.
- Special Event Application for Wisconsin Lights of Hope was approved (12‑0‑1).
- Downtown BID 2027 Operating Plan was approved (12‑0‑1).
- Wilden Portfolio Park Subdivision Development Agreement was approved (10‑1‑2).
- Balance of the consent agenda was approved (12‑0‑1), including numerous licenses, contracts, overhires, and administrative items.
- The meeting adjourned at 8:36 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. I now call to order the Wednesday, September Second, Two Thousand Twenty Six meeting of the Appleton Common Council. For tonight's invocation, please rise and join me in a moment of silence. All are represented. Moving along in our agenda. At each meeting, the common council reserves 30 minutes for members of the public to express their views on items which appear on our agenda. We have five people who signed up to speak, but rest assured if you didn't see the sign-up sheet on your way in. I'll make sure that everybody who'd like to has an opportunity to speak on an item that appears on the agenda. I'd also like to remind everybody that in this chamber we maintain decorum. And so as folks come up and address the council, I ask that members of the public refrain from speaking, clapping, uh audibly reacting to people as as they're speaking, regardless of their position on any matter. And I'd remind you that during public participation, we do not engage in dialogue between the members of the public addressing the body. And if if we have an answer for a question that comes up, staff will address that when the council takes up the action item that you're speaking on. So with that, we'll begin. The first person is John Gates. Welcome, John. Hello, my name is John Gates. Harris Street, just about a block off of Richmond Street. About the first third of my professional life, I was an opera singer in Germany. And I traveled a lot, and I developed many relationships that I still sustain. I also live in a long distance relationship with someone who also has traveled. And by virtue of this, I have many experiences with spending significant time in the center of cities, both large and small, because I've always wanted to be where I could walk. And I have never been brought to despair about noise until I came to Appleton. I lived in the middle of the city in Munich, Germany. I lived in a city about the size of Madison in Germany called München Glattbach. When I moved back to America, I moved to a small town in Texas, Nacadochis. And I lived right off of the main highway. I think it's 59. That's the main North South Highway in East Texas. The main drag going again east-west through the middle of the city. I lived two blocks north of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. A real, I mean, if that's not an entertainment district that's famous for noise, nothing is on Burgundy Street. And when I visit there, he lives on Shepard Avenue, a street that has four times the traffic volume of Richmond Street. My coffee. Not College Avenue. He said, What in the world is this? At one of these mob flash mob events in Appleton. I couldn't reach the police. I could only call a 9-1-1 number, so I just walked down the street to see what the police were doing about it. I ran into an officer who was what of course they're directing the traffic to leave, not giving citations, and in a very friendly way. There was a car that rode by with no hood with no exhaust, only flames coming out of the manifold. And I said, You're not gonna do anything about this. He said, people have a right to ride up and down College Avenue. And I thought that would be like me calling the police about a dog fighting ring next door, and them telling me, well, people have a right to have pets. So shortly after that, my younger brother, who had the highest ranking. Oh, 30 seconds. Thank you. No, keep going. You've got 30 seconds. Yep, go ahead. Had the highest ranking position in the police department in Columbia, South Carolina, an area of about a uh a million, just short of a million.
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