Community Development Committee - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Wednesday, March 11 meeting of the Community Development Committee. We are calling this meeting to order. Now time for the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call of membership. We will start from my left.

Denise Fenton, District 6.

Patty Heffernan, District 8. Gaia Jones, District 10. Josh Lambert, District 1.

Verad Meltzer, District 2.

Wonderful. We will move on. Approval of the minutes from previous meeting, item 260,302, CDC minutes from twotwenty fivetwenty six.

Move to approve. Oops, sorry. Second.

Wonderful. Are there any corrections or questions or discussions on that? Wonderful. Let's all go ahead and vote. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That passes five-zero. We have no public hearings or appearances for today, though a very full crowd we're excited to hear from. Next up for action items, number 260,304, resolution twenty twenty six-one, support and authorize the submittal of a community development investment grant to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation by Long Chang Marketplace. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve. Second. Wonderful.

Number four. Okay. Go ahead. Yes.

So I'll just do a quick introduction. I'm Steph Lina. I'm the new economic development specialist. I'm from Appleton originally and I'm very, very happy to be back. I'm just going to get into the item, if that's all right.

So the request tonight is to approve the Resolution twenty twenty six-one. This is ultimately just supporting the project at Longcheng Marketplace. They've been working with WEDC, or the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, to receive a community development investment grant of $250,000 or up to $250,000 This grant or this resolution is basically just showing that the city is supportive of them submitting this application. There's no financial risk to the city. But this would help accomplish some of the goals comprehensive plan.

We've got the neighborhood nodes of commercial uses and just neighborhood businesses included in the comp plan. So it would definitely support some of the vision that we have already established. Established. Any questions?

You had said financially not responsible. So this is essentially an endorsement. We don't have any tie if anything goes wrong,

Correct. Issues, Alder Fenton. Thank you, Chair. I was so happy to see this on the agenda and I would urge my colleagues on the committee to share my enthusiastic support for the resolution. Long Chang is more than a retail space. It's a community center. And so many events have taken place there including city events. And I really, really support this grant. I hope they get it. Looking forward to see what it come to fruition.

Other questions or comments? Alder Mautzer?

Thank you. I also am very excited and proud to be able to support this through this committee. It's been just amazing to see how Longcheng marketplace has changed that neighborhood. And to watch it continue to grow and evolve is really exciting and such a wonderful thing for our community. Really, really grateful for the hard work that Mayua and Chongyue are doing to improve our communities and support our residents.

Did Mayua want to speak on that?

You. Hello. I'm very happy to be here and to see everyone here. It's always great to be here at the council chamber. I would like your support on this project. We have been working really hard on getting this project moved, and it's been about two years now. And so we had own long chain for eleven years now. And from the beginning, when we bought this place, it was not developed. It was an old building. Until now, it's very developed.

It has it's full capacity now. The other two sides were the lounge therapy and also daycare. They moved in like a couple of years after we bought the building. And it has been like, a cultural hub in here in Appleton where we bring a lot of people from visitors from not just Wisconsin, but from outer states that visit us during our events. We host a lot of activities like children's program, seniors program.

We also have the primary is the small business ownership there, helping people to start up the business, small business and bringing entrepreneurship into long chain. I'm very excited about this project that we're looking forward to be able or working it to make sure that this is going to happen in our community. And we just wanted like a better environment and also to enhance the area. And we're very looking forward to it. So with your help, I would really appreciate it, and I'd like to see this project move so it can better our neighborhood and the area. So thank you.

To say that you are an asset to this community is a wild understatement. We see the things that you do, not just volunteering, but developing community and supporting those you care about. Just one question with everything you do, when do you sleep at night? Because it just seems like you're twenty four hours that was a joke, obviously. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Thank you. Any other questions,

concerns? All right, I think it is time for a vote. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That passes five zero. Congratulations. All right. Time to move on to information items. We have 260305, Inspection Division Permit Summary Report ending twotwenty eighttwenty six. Who is excited to share? Nope. Two? Yep.

All right. So I typically go to the second page just to take a look at the summary. In terms of where we're at February '25, the total number of permits are down. However, the total estimated cost of the projects are up compared to last year, which

is a good

thing. Receipt amount is a little bit ahead of last year too. So in terms of both where we're headed in terms of project size and net new construction, as well as the revenues we need to run the department, things are looking pretty good.

Alder Hartzem, did you have a question? Yes.

Thank you, Chair. May I direct to Director Ahmad? Yes. Director Ahmad, are you concerned about that number of permits? I mean, obviously, the estimated costs are up, but that could just mean that there are a small number of very large projects involved. But are you concerned about we talked months ago about whether we were kind of behind as far as growth in the city. Is that number of permits being lower at this point of concern at this point yet because it's early?

Yeah. At this point, it's not a concern. In this total permit number, it's more than just the building talked permit. There's tiny plumbing permits, electrical permits. So some of them that add up into that total might be really tiny.

Thank you. Further questions, concerns? I'll get there. Just one moment, please. I know. I'm just going to make everyone wait a little bit longer. Oh, you're right. It is adjournment. I get a motion to adjourn?

Move to adjourn.

Second.

All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Thank you. We are adjourned. Thanks, everyone.