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Health department Q3 report: inspections rise with new short-term rental program; homelessness count methods explained
Summary
The Q3 2025 report noted inspections increased after a tourist rooming house (TRH) program launched, TRH licenses rose from 76 to 127, two OAK overdose-response kits were installed in municipal buildings, and staff explained why HUD point-in-time homeless counts differ from higher school-district estimates.
The Appleton City Health Department reported a rise in environmental public health inspections in 2025 tied largely to a new tourist rooming house (TRH) compliance program and other operational expansions. Health officer Dr. Seepers told the Board of Health the TRH program accounted for much of the inspection increase and that "when going into this would have been July 2024, we had a total of 76 licenses. We are now up to 127." He added the department encountered about 48 noncompliant short-term rentals that either moved to long-term renting or were sold rather than continuing as short-term operations.
The department also reported the installation of two "OAK" overdose-response kits (naloxone and test strips) — one on the first floor of City Hall and another on the second floor of the library — as part of risk-reduction, evidence-based harm reduction measures. When a board member asked whether an AED was nearby, Dr. Seepers confirmed an AED is on the first floor by the Oakbox in City Hall and noted the library likely has multiple AEDs.
Dr. Seepers described a newly instituted annual chicken-keeping license and inspection that the department has folded into daily operations after staffing was added in 2024. The department noted an uptick in the July point-in-time (PIT) count, reporting 249 people in January and July 2025 versus 183 people in 2024. Dr. Seepers and other speakers clarified that HUD's PIT methodology is a physical count of people sleeping in places not meant for habitation (cars, parks and similar locations) and requires visible observation. That methodology, they said, does not capture people who are "doubled up" or temporarily staying with others.
Alderperson Wolf asked why the school district's figure of roughly 638 students experiencing homelessness differed from the department's PIT figure in the 200s. A participant addressed in the meeting as Mara explained school-district counts include students and families experiencing housing instability (staying with others or moving frequently), which the PIT does not capture even though those students are unstably housed.
Other items in the report: no confirmed rabies infections in the year to date and closer coordination with Appleton police on specimen reporting; respiratory virus surveillance showed low activity statewide for COVID-19, influenza and RSV, and wastewater monitoring currently covers COVID only with some dashboards (including a measles dashboard) not yet live.
