Common Council New Business Summaries – May 6, 2025

What are the Common Council New Business Summaries?

The Common Council New Business Summaries help readers identify items they are interested in as they make their way through City Boards, Commissions, and Committees (BCCs) and back to the Common Council for a decision. This document provides a short description of each item that was introduced at the most recent Common Council meeting in the “Introduction of New Business for Referral Without Debate” section of the agenda, as well as any items introduced from the floor at the most recent Common Council meeting.

If any of these items are of particular interest to you and you wish to register either in support or opposition to the item, you can do so at the registration page. Further instructions for registering on an item can be found at the bottom of the page.

Items of Particular Interest to District 19

88148 – This proposed resolution would authorize the Mayor and Clerk to enter into an Amended View Preservation Easement for Merrill Springs Park in District 19. The amendment was developed to clarify the view to be preserved in an easement granted to 5050 Lake Mendota Drive as a condition of the then owner selling a portion of the parcel to the City for the enlargement of Merrill Springs Park. It is item 14 on the agenda of the Board of Park Commissions for its meeting on Wednesday, May 14.

Items Introduced at the May 6, 2025, Common Council Meeting

If you click on the hyperlink on the file number of the item you are interested in, you can find more information about each item, including sponsors, action details, and the full item description.

Ordinances:

87978 – This proposed ordinance would update the fee for a first Certificate of Occupancy from $10 to $25. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Building Code, Fire Code, Conveyance Code and Licensing Appeals Board (5/20/25)
• Common Council (6/3/25)

87992 – This proposed ordinance would update the application fee for a tourist rooming house permit to $300. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Common Council (5/20/25)

88001 – This proposed ordinance would amend dimensional requirements in the Suburban Residential – Consistent District 3 within Madison General Ordinances to align the minimum lot areas required for one- and two-family dwellings, as well as to fix a code mistake that increased the front yard setback for single-family detached dwellings. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Plan Commission (Public Hearing - 6/9/25)
• Common Council (6/17/25)

88003 – This proposed ordinance change would clarify that conditional uses approved for alterations under Madison General Ordinance Sec. 28.183(9)(b) are also eligible for extensions. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Plan Commission (Public Hearing - 6/9/25)
• Common Council (6/17/25)

88004 – This proposed ordinance would amend Madison General Ordinances related to Lakefront Development to add a 75’ minimum lakefront setback in cases where there is no other principal structure within 300’. Additionally, it would remove using lot depth to determine the minimum required lakefront setback. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Plan Commission (Public Hearing - 6/9/25)
• Common Council (6/17/25)

88005 – This proposed ordinance would allow Lodge, Private Club, Reception Hall as a conditional use in Suburban Employment Districts. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Plan Commission (Public Hearing - 6/9/25)
• Common Council (6/17/25)

88006 – This proposed ordinance would amend Madison General Ordinances to include a minimum seating capacity size for the sanctuary or main activity area of a new facility for it to be required to have vehicular access to a collector or higher classification street. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Plan Commission (Public Hearing - 6/9/25)
• Common Council (6/17/25)

88129 – This proposed ordinance would modify the start time of Common Council meetings from 6:30 p.m. to no earlier than 5:30 p.m. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Common Council Executive Committee (6/3/25)
• Common Council (6/3/25)

88143 – This proposed ordinance would establish a new $25 application fee for all sign permits which was included in the 2025 adopted operating budget. It would additionally establish a 60-day deadline for zoning staff to approve, deny, or request additional information to process a sign permit application, clarify the existing procedure to appeal a sign permit denial, and make wording adjustments for readability. This proposed ordinance will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Urban Design Commission (5/28/25)
• Common Council (6/3/25)

Resolutions:

87627 – This proposed resolution would approve agreements with the City of Fitchburg, Dane County, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to implement North-South Bus Rapid Transit on State and County Highways. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Transportation Commission (5/14/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

87934 – This proposed resolution would authorize the acceptance of and appropriates a Wisconsin Department of Health Service donation of Narcan naloxone and fentanyl test strips for overdose prevention to the Police Department’s Madison Area Recovery Initiative and Patrol. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Finance Committee (5/12/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

87959 – This proposed resolution would authorize the submission of an application for a $150,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to fund a portion of the City's cost of site assessment and demolition at 1810 S Park St, 1901 S Park St, 814 North Ave, and 826 North Ave in District 4. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Finance Committee (5/12/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

87963 – This proposed resolution would urge Congress to maintain the tax exemption for interest received by investors in the City's debt. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Finance Committee (5/27/25)
• Common Council (6/3/25)

88123 – This proposed resolution would authorize the Mayor and Chief of Police to accept a Juvenile Justice Title II grant award from the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice for pass-through funding to The Rainbow Project and Focused Interruption, as well as police overtime and benefits for the Madison Community Healing Through Support & Education initiative to provide violence prevention support to juvenile system involved and at-risk youth. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Finance Committee (5/12/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

88124 – This proposed resolution would amend the Planning Division’s 2025 Adopted Operating Budget to accept and appropriate an additional $50,000 from the Madison Community Foundation for the Teejop Community History Public Art Project. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Finance Committee (5/12/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

88128 – This proposed resolution would authorize a second amendment to Sasaki Associates, Inc. Purchase of Services contract for the Madison LakeWay - Phase 1 project to include additional engineering design services for bike path lighting in Olin Park. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Finance Committee (5/12/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

88140 – This proposed resolution would approve an Interagency Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Madison Water Utility and the City of Madison Parks Division for the installation and maintenance of public water main facilities within a portion of Elver Park located at 7250 Mid Town Road in District 20. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Board of Park Commissioners (5/14/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

88146 – This proposed resolution would delete the position of Administrative Supervisor within the DPCED Office of the Director and recreate the position as a Program Assistant 2 within CDA Housing Operations. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Finance Committee (5/12/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

88148 – This proposed resolution would authorize the Mayor and Clerk to enter into an Amended View Preservation Easement for Merrill Springs Park in District 19. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Board of Park Commissioners (5/14/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

88163 – This proposed resolution would approve an Interagency Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Madison Water Utility and the City of Madison Parks Division for the installation and maintenance of public water main facilities within a portion of Yahara Hills Park located at 3901 Savannah Road in District 16. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Board of Park Commissioners (5/14/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

88182 – This proposed resolution would create a Monona Terrace Technical Services Specialist within Monona Terrace’s operating budget. This proposed resolution will go to the following Boards, Committees, and Commissions on the following dates:

• Finance Committee (5/12/25)
• Common Council (5/20/25)

Providing Public Comment on Items:

If any of these items are of particular interest to you and you wish to register either in support or opposition to the item, you can do so on the meeting registration page. When you click on that link, you will see that there is a drop down for “Meeting,” where you select the BCC that you are wishing to register for. It is important to note that registration is only available once the BCC has published its agenda, which is typically done a few days ahead of the meeting. Once the agenda is published, you can select the meeting and choose the agenda number that aligns with the file number of the item you are interested in. From here, you can choose to register support or oppose the agenda item, if you would like to speak, if you are representing an organization or person other than yourself, and provide your contact information. If you would like to provide written public comment on an item to your alder, find your alder here. If you would like to send your feedback on the item to all alders, write to allalders@cityofmadison.com.