Trash Collection, 2023 Budget, TOD Overlay

Greetings friends and neighbors,

Trash and Recycling Collection Impacted by Thanksgiving

The Streets Division will be closed on Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. Consequently, there will be no curbside collection of trash, recycling, leaves, or other items during these two days. If Thursday is your normal pickup day, you should have your carts to the curb by 6:30am on Wednesday. If Friday is your normal day, set out your carts on Monday for pickup.

More information regarding all services provided by the Streets Division can be found on the Streets Division website, www.cityofmadison.com/streets.

Downtown Madison Holiday Open House

The Madison Holiday Open House runs November 25 – 27 and will include 40 vendors showcasing handmade products, local art, artisan gifts, and prepackaged foods. Retailers and restaurants in the area will feature warm drinks and delicious food. For more info, click here.

Free HUD-Approved Homebuyer Education Class Saturday, December 10th

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 the last HUD Approved Homebuyer Education classes of 2022.  Find all the events by following this link: https://homebuyersroundtable.org/events/.

BYFY (By Youth For Youth) Grant Application

Youth applicants, schools, and youth-serving organizations in Dane County can apply for up to $3,000 for youth-led initiatives and the application is due December 23, 2022. BYFY is a unique program where Dane County high school students allocate City and County grants for youth serving programs and projects. Qualification details and application link here.

Passenger Rail Station Study

The City of Madison is hosting a kick-off meeting for the Passenger Rail Station Study on December 7. The meeting offers in-person and virtual alternatives for attending.

The purpose of the study is to identify a recommended location for a potential future Amtrak Station. With the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law, historical levels of funding are available for new intercity passenger rail service. At the same time, Amtrak has identified Madison as a connection on a future Hiawatha Service extension. The study will leverage these opportunities and work towards bringing passenger rail service to Madison!

The meeting will include a presentation explaining the project, with opportunities to provide input and ask questions about the presentation and the opportunity to correspond with the elected officials, City Staff, Amtrak Staff, and the project consultant team.

In-person: The meeting will begin at 4:30 pm in room 215 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.

Virtual via Zoom: The presentation will occur via Zoom at 6:30 pm.
Please register for the virtual meeting by visiting the City of Madison Transportation - Passenger Rail Station page.

2023 Budget

November is not only the start of the holiday season, but it's also the time the City determines its budget for the next year. Common Council met on November 15 and 16 for two marathon budget deliberation sessions to vote on amendments to Mayor Satya's 2023 budget.

Prior to these deliberations, I successfully moved an amendment to the Mayor's operating budget at the October 31st meeting of the Finance Committee to address the 6% wage gap imposed on the city's general municipal employees. Raises in previous years were provided to those employee groups who retained bargaining rights under Act 10, namely Fire and Police, while these same raises were denied to those who had lost their bargaining rights. My amendment will cover half of the gap in 2023 and provide a path to full wage parity in the 2024 budget year.

I sponsored several amendments at our November budget hearings. On the capital budget side, I sponsored an amendment to borrow an additional $3.5 million to pay for the build-out of the grocery store at the Truman Olson site on South Park St., which will be paid back with interest by the grocer, Maurer Urban Markets.

On the operating side, I sponsored amendments to expand CARES services and to add a Sustainability Program Coordinator to augment the city's climate preparedness efforts. After much deliberation, I voted to provide $4.5 million in tax-incremental financing (TIF) revenue to the Madison Public Market. I am pleased my colleagues agreed as I am convinced the Public Market will be a wonderful addition to our community and will provide generational wealth to minority entrepreneurs.

I also voted to hire six additional police officers funded in part through a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant from the federal government. Chief Barnes has stipulated these officers will be assigned to each of the six police districts to work directly with youth. Several leaders in the Black community supported this grant, including Judge Everett Mitchell, calling for a collaborative approach across agencies, departments, and community organizations to address juvenile empowerment.

Transit Oriented Development and Housing

The TOD Overlay ordinance change will be referred for introduction at tonight's meeting of Common Council. It will be taken up at the December 5 meeting of the Transportation Policy & Planning Board, to be followed by Plan Commission on December 12, and then back to Common Council for a final vote on January 3rd.

I'm aware there are concerns regarding the proposed changes. Change is difficult, yet we have little choice but to address the inevitability of change as our city continues to grow. I strongly believe TOD to be a common-sense policy approach, the purpose being to incentivize the development of housing along our city's high-frequency corridors.

That's all for now.

Stay safe and be well during the Thanksgiving holiday.

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