The Appleton City Finance Committee voted Monday to award a sustainability and resiliency master planning contract to Pale Blue Dot LLC, approving $98,966 for the contract plus an 8.7% contingency of $8,659, for a project total not to exceed $107,625. The motion passed 4-1.

Committee staff said the city issued a request for proposals and received six responses. A review panel and an internal director-level group both recommended Pale Blue Dot unanimously; staff cited the firm’s comparable work, completeness of the proposal and inclusion of optional services such as benchmarking and solar feasibility for the city’s 30 facilities.

During debate, Alder Hartzheim said he would vote against the award, saying he preferred that the city spend money on tangible projects—he cited an unrelated $330,000 flooding project that was approved but sent back for further discussion and said the master plan contract represented a lower priority. Director Tew and other staff described the plan as a tool to prioritize projects by return on investment, identify funding sources and conduct life-cycle cost analyses for major initiatives. Alder Finn, who participated in proposal evaluations, said Pale Blue Dot provided a robust response to the resilience framework and had experience securing grant funding to support recommended projects.

The committee instructed staff to proceed with the contract award. No public hearings or external appearances took place on the item.