Common Council

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I want to wish you and your family a happy holiday season. I hope that you can rest and spend time with loved ones.  This year was a challenging year for all of us, but we came together as a community to support each other and our most vulnerable neighbors through a pandemic crisis.  We remained resilient and compassionate.  I am proud to be a resident of this city and look forward to working with you in 2022.

As we move into 2022 I wish you health and happiness in the new year! I want to give a special thanks to city staff for all their service to our city and helping me as a new Alder.

Happy Holidays

Announcements

• The Streets Division is happy to announce that as of December 10, you will now have more opportunities every month to set out large items for collection when you submit a large item work order. Learn more here.
• The Engineering Division reminds you to pay attention to what you put down your drain to avoid a sanitary sewer backup while hosting this holiday season. During the holidays, more people bake and cook more. Improper disposal of grease and food scraps can increase the likelihood of a backup occurring. Click here to learn about best practices to help avoid clogs. If you want to know what actually goes down the pipes, watch the Everyday Engineering podcast "Down the drain: bowling balls, bacon grease, Legos."
• The City of Madison Streets Division's Urban Forestry Department is asking residents to help control the gypsy moth population. This winter, please look for and then destroy the egg masses for this species that are on your property. Learn more here.
• Curbside yardwaste collection by the Streets Division has ended for 2021. The last chance collection that began on December 6 has been completed. Do not place yard waste out to the curb for pickup at this time. And if you already have a yard waste pile on your terrace at this time, it is not likely to be collected this year as collections have ended. Yard waste material should be taken to a drop-off site. The drop-off sites are located at 4602 Sycamore Avenue and 1501 W. Badger Road. These two sites are currently on winter hours. This means they are open from 7:30am to 2:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Curbside collection will resume in the spring of 2022. The exact start date of the spring collections will be announced at a later date. Additional information about yard waste, the drop-off sites, and other Streets Division services can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/Streets.
• The Omicron variant has been detected in Dane County. Public Health Madison & Dane County is encouraging everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, or get a booster if they're eligible. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), the state of Wisconsin is seeing some of the highest case counts in the country, with more than half of the state's hospitals currently operating at overall peak capacity. Learn more here, and make a vaccination appointment here.
• The Streets Division is performing brush collection in response to the wind storm that hit Madison on the evening of December 15, 2021. You may place woody material that meets the brush collection specifications on the terrace for collection. If you need curbside brush collection, set the brush out for pickup as collection is already underway. Crews collecting brush from the storm will not be collecting yard waste. Read more here.