Common Council

Meeting and Event Highlights for the Week of September 5, 2022

Today, I find myself reflecting on a couple of historical essays on the origins of Labor Day published by the Wisconsin Historical Society.  Labor Day in Wisconsin: Beyond Beer and Brats opens with, "To most of us, Labor Day is simply the final weekend of summer. But we have this long weekend only because of working men and women who insisted on public recognition of their contributions to American life more than a century ago." The distinctly Wisconsin contributions to the eight-hour work day and five-day work week are addressed in The Birth of the Labor Movement, which begins, "Wisconsin's first unions were formed in Milwaukee. The bricklayers union was founded in 1847, and the carpenters union in 1848."

I wish all of District 11 a happy and safe Labor Day. Here are some important updates for today and the rest of the week.

City offices are closed on Monday, September 5

Administrative offices are closed on Monday, September 5, for Labor Day. Emergency services will be open; please call 911. You may use Report a Problem for non-emergencies.

• Emergency water issue: Call Madison Water Utility, 608-266-4665, 24/7.
• Sanitary sewer backup: Call 608-266-4430. An emergency crew will respond to your call.
• Report a Problem: Report non-emergencies that can wait until the next City working day.

Bus service reduced on Labor Day: Metro buses will follow holiday schedules on Monday, September 5, due to Labor Day. Find out which routes are affected here. In addition, all standing paratransit rides will be canceled on Monday, September 5. Paratransit passengers must schedule casual rides to travel on this date. Rides are eligible according to Holiday schedules. Metro's customer service center will be open from 8am until 4:30p. Metro's administration office will be closed for the holiday. For more information, contact the Metro customer service center at (608) 266-4466 or mymetrobus@cityofmadison.com.

Trash, recycling and large item collection: If your trash and recycling is collected on Mondays, you should place your scheduled cart(s) to the curb for collection by 6:30am on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Only residents that have a Monday collection day will experience a delay in refuse and recycling pickup services. If you have a Tuesday collection of trash and recycling by the Streets Division, you should also place your scheduled cart(s) out for emptying by 6:30am on September 6.

Due to the holiday, large item collection will begin on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 for residents who submitted work orders to set out items on Sunday, September 4, 2022. As a reminder, all large item collections must be scheduled in advance by submitted a work order. And you should set the items out on the date you selected in the work order – not earlier. Crews do not provide early pickup. Create your large item work order.

Meetings

• The Common Council will meet in hybrid format at 6:30pm on Tuesday, September 6.
  • Meeting details
  • Meeting agenda 
  • Watch online
• Many other committees meet the week of September 5, including the Finance Committee, Urban Design Commission, Board of Public Works, Board of Health for Madison and Dane County, Madison Arts Commission and Board of Park Commissioners. To see the full list of City meetings scheduled for the week, please consult the City meeting schedule.

• District 11 Town Hall meeting at the Sequoya Library on Thursday, September 8th at 7:00 pm You're invited to participate in another District 11 Town Hall meeting at the Sequoya Library on Thursday, September 8th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. At our last meeting we were joined by Traffic Engineering and Madison Police. This month we will break into working groups to discussion making our streets safer and identify traffic calming strategies we would like to see installed in our neighborhoods.

• Well 15 PFAS Treatment Project – Public Information Meeting #2: Please join the Madison Water Utility for a second public information meeting on Thursday, September 8, 6pm-7:30pm, at the East Madison Community Center, 8 Straubel Court. Water Utility staff will present preliminary concepts on PFAS treatment solutions being considered for municipal drinking water Well #15. The presentation will provide an overview of the five treatment options considered along with an explanation of the pros, cons, and cost benefit analysis associated with each approach. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. To learn more about the project, please visit www.cityofmadison.com/water/projects. Visit cityofmadison.com/water to subscribe to the Water Utility email list to receive news and other updates.

Events

• Trucks & Treasure: See, climb, and explore the big rigs! Sell or shop the gently used toys, games, books, and more at the kids-to-kids garage sale. Join Madison Parks at Trucks & Treasures on Saturday, September 17, 9am-12pm, at Reindahl Park.
• 11th Annual 9/11 "Never Forget" Blood Drive: The American Red Cross and the Madison Fire and Police Departments are hosting the 11th annual Never Forget Blood Drive Saturday, September 10 from 7am to 1pm at Madison Fire Station 14, 3201 Dairy Drive. Read the press release and register to give blood.
• Homebuyer education classes: The City of Madison, in partnership with the Home Buyers Round Table of Dane County and Consumer Credit Counseling Service, want to share with you these HUD Approved Homebuyer Education classes occurring monthly through the rest of 2022. Find all the events here. The next class is September 24, 8am-3pm, at the Villager Mall, Atrium entrance (2300 S. Park Street). You will learn more about what it takes to buy your first home, securing a mortgage, and down payment assistance programs. Hear from content experts like realtors, lenders, insurance agents, home inspectors, and housing counselors. Register for the free class here. If you have questions, please contact Maria Davila-Martinez at mdavila-martinez@cityofmadison.com or 608-266-6557.

Announcements

• Stormwater ordinance: Since the 2018 flood, the Engineering Division has done much to improve flooding issues, including updating the Stormwater Ordinance – important for anyone planning to build or redevelop in the Madison community. The latest blog in Engineering's "Since 2018" series focuses on the Stormwater Ordinance.
• Brush collection: The Streets Division would like to remind residents that the final curbside brush collection opportunity for 2022 is fast approaching. Most residents will receive their fifth and final opportunity for curbside brush collection during the month of September. You can learn the dates when you should set out brush for pickup by going to the Streets Division website, www.cityofmadison.com/BrushCollection. Enter your address into the form, and you will see the dates when you can set out brush for pickup.
• $9M investment in men's homeless shelter: On August 30, County Executive Joe Parisi and Mayor Rhodes-Conway announced major developments today in the ongoing partnership between the City and the County to support the construction of the state's first shelter for men experiencing homelessness. With construction planned for 2024, this 40,000 square foot facility will have space for 200 people. It will be located on 1902 Bartillon Drive on the City's Eastside. Real the press release.
• Dane CORE 2.0 portal closing: In September of 2021, Dane County and the City of Madison launched Dane CORE 2.0, a federally funded emergency rental assistance program designed to help renter households struggling to meet their housing costs. The program has distributed nearly $40 million of rent and utility assistance to more than 6,300 households.

During the early days of the pandemic, Dane County and the City of Madison sought these federal funds to assist those in our community struggling to pay rent. While Dane CORE partners have distributed a tremendous amount of federal assistance, many in our community continue to struggle to meet their basic needs.

At this time, the federal funds available to Dane CORE 2.0 are nearly depleted. The County and City have already requested additional funding from the federal government through the U.S. Department of Treasury and are working with our federal Congressional delegation to advocate for additional funds. We are hopeful that more funding will be provided, but we don't yet know when that decision will be made or how much funding might be offered.

Many households already have requests for assistance pending. To better ensure funds are available to pay existing eligible claims, we have decided to close the Dane CORE 2.0 application portal as of 12:00 AM on September 15, 2022. The Dane CORE 2.0 program partners will continue to process applications received prior to the portal closure at 12:00 AM on September 15.

Applications will be processed under existing program criteria, in the order in which they are received, until remaining funds are gone. To learn about program eligibility and apply for Dane CORE 2.0, please visit www.danecore.org.

If new federal funding is provided, important changes will be made regarding its use if applications are re-opened after September 15.

First, program benefits will be reserved only for those households facing the harshest of economic hardships. This was the approach adopted when the federal emergency rental assistance program was first introduced in 2021.

Additional guidelines after September 15 include:

• Program benefits would be available to those with household incomes at or below 50% of the County Median Income. (Currently the income threshold is 80% of County Median Income).
• The program will provide assistance only for past-due (unpaid) rents.
• Only arrears accrued since July 1, 2021, will be eligible.
• Assistance will not be available for forward/future rent payments unless paired with security deposit assistance.

In addition to providing direct rent support for high needs households, the City and County also funds services through the Eviction Diversion and Defense Partnership. The Program provides legal representation to renters who face eviction actions, mediates disputes between tenants and landlords, and helps address other potential threats to housing stability. Services through the Eviction Diversion and Defense Partnership are currently available at no cost to eligible households, and they will continue after the Dane CORE application portal closes on September 15.