Thoughts & Updates - Week of May 30, 2022

Greetings friends and neighbors, Happy Memorial Day weekend! I'd like to take some time to acknowledge that our nation and community has witnessed several violently dark and devastating days recently, particularly the mass shooting in Buffalo, NY which claimed the lives of 10 and a school shooting in Uvalde, TX which claimed the lives of 21, including 19 children. As Public Citizen painfully acknowledged, "Today (5/24/22) is the 144th day of 2022. The Uvalde shooting is the 212th mass shooting of 2022. Gun violence is a public health crisis." Similarly, Dr. Alex Gee of Nehemiah stated, "When hatred becomes more resolute in pushing its agenda than love, something is wrong. If we are not consistent with addressing racial issues of white supremacy, fear and nationalism, then this is the new wave of the future. This is our new reality."

This shouldn't and doesn't have to be our future. We cannot accept mass shootings and racial hatred as normal or inevitable but we have made no significant legislative changes in response. Sign the petition to call on our legislative leaders to take the first steps toward a safer WI and county by passing bills that are overwhelmingly supported by the public (ie: Universal Background Checks and Extreme Risk Protection Orders.

There are many other ways to take a stance occurring throughout our community and nation. In Dane County, Public Health Madison & Dane County is recognizing National Gun Violence Awareness Day by hosting a Wear Orange Day Walk & Rally on Friday June 3rd. Register here to participate in the event and/or learn more event details here.

Upcoming Community Events

• Universal Recycling Technologies (URT) is hosting a one-day electronics recycling event at Warner Park parking lot (2930 N. Sherman Ave.) on Saturday, June 4, 2022 from 8:00am to 1:00pm. Only certain electronics will be accepted. There will be no cost to drop off these select electronics during the event. The event is open to Madison residents as well as to members of the surrounding communities. Businesses may not bring their electronics to this event. Learn more here.
• Friends of Madison Library BIG BOOK SALE takes place Saturday, June 4, 9am-4pm, rain or shine, at the Madison Public Library Service & Support Center at 1301 W. Badger Road in Madison.  All proceeds benefit Madison Public Libraries. Learn more here.
• Kids Fishing Day Saturday June 4th, 9-11:30am, at Vilas Park. Pre-register at https://fishmadison.eventbrite.com 

Meetings

Metro Transit/Transportation Policy and Planning Board Public Hearing; Tuesday May 31st, 6pm (virtual)

Metro Transit and the City of Madison Transportation Policy and Planning Board will hold a public hearing to discuss the proposed network redesign expected to go into effect in June of 2023. People interested in providing feedback are encouraged to attend the hearing or submit comments ahead of time by filling out an online form at mymetrobus.com/feedback, emailing mymetrobus@cityofmadison.com or calling (608) 266-4466.

Added amendments that Impact/Support D16: Amendment #9

This amendment introduces new Route L on the east and north sides of Madison serving Wheeler Road, Dryden Drive, the Aberg Avenue Pick 'N Save, Kinsman, Woodman's, Walter Street, LaFollette High School, and Owl Creek. On the north side it replaces Route X (See Amendments 2, 5, and 8 for other possible changes to Route X). It also replaces two branches of Route C: Routes C2 and C3. Route C2 is then used to provide service east of I-39/90 on Buckeye Road to Kings Mill Way. Route C2 would replace the portion of (current route) 32 along Buckeye Rd, but not the North/South sections. This amendment mitigates some of the concern expressed regarding the original proposal to eliminate (current) route 32.

Route L would run every 60 to 75 minutes throughout the day. This change is intended to address several concerns expressed in these neighborhood, including all-day service north of Northport, service to Dryden Terrace Apartments, direct service to the Aberg Avenue Pick 'N Save, service to the Eastmorland neighborhood, direct service between LaFollette High School and Owl Creek, and service to Kings Mill Way. Service lost with Amendment 9 is direct service between downtown and several neighborhoods as well as the Dutch Mill Park and Ride. This change is supported by the Owl Creek Neighborhood Resource Team.

Links for 5/31 Meeting

Legistar Link

Agenda

Register to Speak

Watch Meeting

Metro Redesign Background

For the past year, Metro Transit staff have been working on a complete redesign of Metro's service to make it more equitable, more efficient, and more effective at getting people where they need to go. It also prepares Metro service for the implementation of a bus rapid transit system (BRT) in 2024.

In addition, the redesign aims to address a number of concerns and complaints of Metro's current service that have been relayed through the years including:

1. Travel times and time spent waiting for a bus are too long
2. People of color transfer more than 2.5 times more than others, with trips twice as likely to take more than forty-five minutes
3. Need for improved access to jobs

Metro has put forward a draft plan and has been collecting community input since February on what works and what might need to be changed.

Complete Details

Draft Plan

Proposed Amendments

Watch Previous Community Meetings

Complete information on the redesign can be found here.

Town of Madison Attachment Public Information Meeting; Thursday June 9th, 6pm @Penn Park

The next in-person public information meeting involving the Town of Madison Attachment is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., June 9, 2022, at the Penn Park shelter. The meeting will have interpreters in Spanish. There will be free food and childcare will be provided. This is the fourth public information meeting to help Town of Madison residents understand all of the changes they will see when they become part of the City of Madison later this year. More details can be found here.

For information about additional City meetings scheduled for this week, please consult the City Meeting schedule.

Week of May 30, 2022

Announcements

• City and administrative offices are closed on Monday, May 30 for Memorial Day. Emergency services will be open; please call 911 in the event of an emergency. You may use Report a Problem for non-emergencies.
• There will be no recycling, trash, brush, or large item collections performed by the City of Madison Streets Division on Monday, May 30 in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. The Streets Division drop-off sites will also be closed. Madison residents who normally have their trash and recycling collected on Mondays by the Streets Division should instead place their scheduled cart(s) to the curb for pickup by 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31. More information here.
• In observance of Memorial Day, Metro will run HOLIDAY schedules on certain routes on Monday, May 30. See which routes are affected here.
• The Streets Division's last chance yard waste collection round is complete. All neighborhoods have received their third and final curbside pickup this spring. Please do not place yard waste at the road edge or terrace for pickup at this time. Curbside collection is now over for the spring and summer months. Crews will return to performing road repair and other duties. What should you do with your yard waste now? Find out here.
• The Annual Water Quality Report (also known as the Consumer Confidence Report) is now available. The report, which summarizes our water quality testing results from 2021, confirms the safe and high-quality water we deliver to customers each day. You can expect to receive a postcard in the mail in the coming days that will announce the availability of both digital and hard copy versions of the report in both English and Spanish. In addition to the formal summary report, 22 individual Well Reports for each Madison well have been updated. These reports detail:
  • The neighborhoods served by each well
  • How much water the well delivered in 2021
  • The average amount delivered by the well over five years
  • Current year information on hardness, iron/manganese, lead, sodium/chloride, radium, chromium, and unregulated contaminants
  • Multi-year test results for
    • More than 30 inorganic parameters (metals, minerals, nutrients, and salts
    • More than 50 manufactured chemicals (chlorinated solvents, volatile organics, pesticides, and hydrocarbons)
    • Other potential contaminants including PFAS and 1,4-dioxane
    • Where customers can find more information on water quality testing or the meaning of the test results            
  • Feel free to contact Joseph Grande (JGrande@madisonwater.org) if you would like a paper copy of the Annual Report, want to learn more about what is done to ensure the safety of our water, or you have suggestions to improve these documents for next year. 

• The Madison Arts Commission (MAC) has selected four (4) finalists to provide proposals for a public art project for the Metro Transit Maintenance Facility near the corner of E. Washington Avenue and S. Ingersoll Street. The finalists are Actual Size Artworks (Gail Simpson and Aristotle Georgiades), Deborah Aschheim, Vito DiBari, and Jenie Gao. Each finalist has provided a 15-minute artist talk with information about past projects and their approach to public art. These brief artist talks give you the chance to learn more about the artists and how they might approach the Metro Transit location on E. Washington. Find links to the artist talks and information on how to provide feedback here.

• In late 2018, with the support of Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, the City of Madison joined the AARP Age Friendly Community network. This network exists to support cities in creating livable communities with the belief "...that the places where we live are more livable, and better able to support people of all ages, when local leaders commit to improving the quality of life for the very young, the very old, and everyone in between. People of all ages benefit from the adoption of policies and programs that make neighborhoods walkable, feature transportation options, enable access to key services, provide opportunities to participate in community activities, and support housing that's affordable and adaptable. Well designed, age-friendly communities foster economic growth and make for happier, healthier residents of all ages."*

  • The population of the United States is rapidly aging.

  • By 2030, one of every five people in the U.S. will be 65 or older.

  • By 2035, the number of adults older than 65 will be greater than the number of children under 18

• In 2021, Madison Senior Center pulled together a group of community members to initiate the work toward becoming age-friendly. The work was initially delayed by COVID-19, but in 2021 we accomplished the first step in the AFC process, which was to launch AARP's Age Friendly Community Survey. This survey asked the community to rate Madison in terms of how age-friendly we are. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted our ability to reach far and wide, but we were able to reach 961 City of Madison residents aged 45 and over.  View a summary of the data collected here. 

This summer 6/14/22-9/27/22 you will be able to drop off certain food scraps at two neighborhood farmer's markets. In order for this program to be a success, you must bring the correct food scraps. Not everything that could possibly be composted is accepted in this program.

What Food Scraps Are Allowable at the Market Drop-off Locations
You will be allowed to bring food scraps that would be acceptable for backyard composting. The list includes:

• Raw fruits, including peelings, cores, etc.
• Raw vegetables, including peelings, husks, etc.
• Coffee grounds
• Grains and Rice
• Eggshells

Food Scraps and Other Material That Are NOT Accepted at the Market Drop-off Locations
While these items may be compostable in other systems, they are not acceptable in the small-scale farm composting operation that will be will be receiving food scraps from the drop-off.

• All meat & bones (including fish and shellfish)
• Food products cooked with oil
• All dairy products
• Paper products, including bags
• Compostable plastics, including compostable bags & compostable tableware
• Produce stickers, twist ties, etc.
• Pet waste & diapers

*Other material like metal, glass, and plastic are not accepted as they cannot be composted*

Carrying Food Scraps to the Market
You do not need to use a specific container to carry food scraps from your home to the food scraps drop-off at the farmers market. You can repurpose an empty coffee can, or purchase a container specifically for the task.

At the farmer's market sites, you will be emptying your food scraps into a container at the booth accepting scraps.

The best choice will be a small container with a snug fitting lid you can store near the food prep area of your home, perhaps under the sink or on the countertop. This will make compiling and storing your food scraps easy until time to take them to the market for drop-off. Keeping the food scraps covered will also help prevent fruit flies.
More details about neighborhood markets hosting food scraps recycling this year can be found at the Streets Division's website.

Opportunities for Youth

Operation Fresh Start recently announced the following program adjustments to help young people overcome barriers and move forward on a path to self-sufficiency: 

In the OFS Legacy participants now can earn up to an equivalent of $11.25/hour. This wage increase is in addition to earning their high school diploma, a driver's license, professional certifications, and a $2400 AmeriCorps Education Award to use toward pos- secondary tuition upon completion. If you know a young adult between 16 and 24 who is struggling to finish high school or has dropped out, please connect them with Greg Markle, Executive Director (GMarkle@operationfreshstart.org) or direct them to the website to explore the Legacy Program option.    

The new Academies begin with a training wage of $15 an hour. The Build Academy and Conservation Academy are training programs for High School graduates that have an interest in careers in construction and/or conservation/ land management. If you know a young person that is 18 – 24 and has a High School diploma or equivalent and has an interest in these fields, please connect them with Greg Markle, Executive Director (GMarkle@operationfreshstart.org)

If you know an emerging adult that is still trying to figure out a career path or is stuck in a short term job, our CareerScape career counseling program may be right for them.  This new programming helps a young person create a future oriented plan and begin down this path. 

Personal Finance & College Readiness Day Camp

Learn how the financial choices you make today can mean success tomorrow! Held June 13-17, 2022 and June 20-24, 2022 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Mon-Fri both weeks. Visit https://www.assetbuilders.org/calendar/2022-personal-finance-and-college-readiness-day-camp/ for details. 

In Community,

Jael