Dog Park, Traffic Calming, Golf - D15 Update 5/18/20

Last Week

• ECA Votes to Oppose Potential Eastmorland Dog Park Locations: On Tuesday, the Eastmorland Community Association held its first monthly virtual meeting and those in attendance voted to oppose the selection of OB Sherry Park as a location for an off-leash dog exercise area. This followed a similar action taken at the March ECA meeting that resulted in a letter in opposition of Eastmorland Park as a potential location.

OB Sherry and Eastmorland Parks were identified as two possible locations for an off-leash dog exercise area by Parks staff and a public information meeting was scheduled for March 19th. This meeting was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions and has yet to be rescheduled. 

Parks staff is working on preparing an informational presentation that will be available online as well as a survey to collect feedback on the proposals from neighborhood residents. You can find more information about the dog park proposals here and I will share details once the informational presentation and survey are available.

• Traffic Calming & Safety Improvements: On Wednesday, the Transportation Commission approved the first round of traffic calming projects for the year and got a preview of a number of citywide projects aimed at improving traffic safety as part of the Vision Zero budget amendment I authored last year. The Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) was also approved, laying out the planned street reconstruction projects for the next 5 years. D15 projects include:

  • Speed humps on Lexington Avenue

  • Refuge island and crosswalk on Wright Avenue

  • New stop signs on Conlin Street

  • Milwaukee/Fair Oaks intersection improvement

Many other D15 traffic calming/safety projects are still under review by staff and I hope to have updates on these to share soon.

This Week

• Jade Monkey Patio & Lake Edge UCC School: Conditional use applications for an outdoor seating area for the new Jade Monkey bar as well as for the use of Lake Edge UCC for a new private school are in front of the Plan Commission on Monday. I have registered my support for both of these requests with the Plan Commission.

• Lake Edge Neighborhood Association Virtual Meeting: LENA will hold its first virtual meeting on Monday as well, beginning at 6pm. You can find the agenda and Zoom link here.

• Municipal Golf Task Force Reconvenes: After several months of cancelled meetings, the Golf Task Force will reconvene via a virtual meeting beginning at 6pm on Monday. Agenda with a link is here.

• COVID Testing Hours Extended: The free community testing site at the Alliant Center is extending its hours to 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting this week. More info here. 

• Common Council Meeting: You can find Tuesday's CC agenda here, which includes several items of potential interest to D15 residents including:

  • 12. Providing a COVID-19 response for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness by allowing temporary use of specified City Lands, Terminable at any time by the City in order to support safe outdoor space practices. - I am a cosponsor of this resolution that allows encampments on certain public properties during the pandemic.

  • 17. Condemning white supremacy and honoring those who have lost their lives to institutionalized racism and white supremacist violence. I am a cosponsor of this resolution drafted by Alder Prestigiacomo in response to the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

  • 25. Authorizing the execution of a two-year Lease Agreement of the property located at 4502 Milwaukee Street for temporary shelter purpose. - I am a cosponsor of this resolution that will give the city control of the property that formerly housed Karmenta. While there are no immediate plans for its use as a temporary shelter, city staff and the Emergency Operations team have identified securing this property as high value for our continued response to the ongoing pandemic. Future control of the development of this site is in the best interest of the city and the surrounding neighborhoods.

  • 47. Amending Section 33.01(10)(c) of the Madison General Ordinances to limit when City subunit meetings are not to be held and to allow the Common Council to permit exceptions. (Introduction Only) I am a cosponsor of this resolution that will amend the ordinance that the council passed in March, prohibiting any board, commission, and committee meetings not expressly allowed by the mayor. It will be essential for our various boards, committees, and commissions to regain their ability to meet (even if virtually) as we continue to respond to and recover from COVID.

• Allis, Spaanem, and Shaffer Water Main project: The Board of Public Works will consider a water main replacement project planned for September-October of this year. The Water Utility will be providing additional details on the timing and extent of the project as we get closer to the project. You can find more details here.

Save the Date

• Joseph Krupp is proposing to redevelop the properties at 3900 Monona Drive, 109 and 209 Cottage Grove Road (Exhaust Pros, Former Jade Monkey, and Lakeside Shopping Center). There will be an initial virtual public informational meeting scheduled for June 4th to hear more details about the proposal and to provide feedback. I will share more details as we get closer to the date.

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