October Office Hours, Final Round of Brush Collection, Fall Prescribed Burns and Woodland Hills Park

Information on October's Open Office Hours, final round of brush collection, upcoming fall prescribed burns and a playground workshop for Woodland Hills Park.

Office Hours

In October, I will be holding open office hours twice:

If you have a question, concern or topic of interest that you would like to discuss, but the times above don't work for you, you can e-mail me.

Final Round of Brush Collection Begins Monday, October 14

The Streets Division will begin the final guaranteed round of brush collection of the year on Monday, October 14, 2019.

Residents who wish to utilize the curbside brush collection service this year should have their brush to the curb prior to October 14. 

Placing brush to the curb after October 14 risks it not being collected until regular brush collection operations begin again in the spring of 2020.

Upon conclusion of the final collection round, brush collection personnel will be reassigned to assist with leaf/yard waste collection and other duties

Brush Collection Guidelines

When placing brush out for collection, be sure to have the cut ends all facing the same direction and piles should be four feet away from obstructions like fire hydrants and street signs.

Brush piles should be kept separate from yard waste piles. Brush collection and yard waste collection are different operations. Piles of brush and yard waste mixed together will not be picked up.

Pickup Schedule Map

Residents who wish to minimize the length of time it sits at the curb should use the Pickup Schedule map on the Streets Division's brush website, https://www.cityofmadison.com/brushcollection. 

Once on the Pickup Schedule map, Madison residents can enter their address in the upper left corner of the page. This will zoom the map into their immediate neighborhood.

If the map for the neighborhood is shaded green for Pickup Pending, then crews will be around very soon, so residents must get brush to the curb at that time to take advantage of the collection opportunity. The map is updated at the end of each workday, so residents using the map should check it regularly.

Drop-off Sites

Madison residents and taxpayers can also bring one load of a brush a day to either Streets Division drop-off site.  Brush loads brought to a drop-off site may not exceed 5' x 8', which means the brush load would fit into the bed of a standard pick-up truck or small trailer.  Loads that are too large will be denied use of the drop-off site and directed to use the brush processing center. 

The sites are located at 1501 W. Badger Rd. on the southwest side and 4602 Sycamore Ave on the east side.  Contractors may not use these drop-off sites.

The Sycamore and Badger sites are open seven days a week from 8:30am to 4:30pm and until 8:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  These hours of operation will remain in effect until December 8, 2019.

Brush Processing Center

Contractors, as well as residents, can bring brush they have cut to the brush processing center at 121 E. Olin Ave to be chipped for a per-ton fee. Additional information about the brush processing center, including hours of operation and fees, can be found on  the Streets Division website, or by contacting the center at 608-266-4911.

Additional Information

Additional information about brush collection, including a short video that explains brush collection operations, can be found on the Streets Division's brush website, www.cityofmadison.com/brushcollection.

Residents can also call the brush collection hotline at 608-267-2088 for curbside collection time estimates that are updated weekly, or call the Streets Division office that services their neighborhood.  Residents that live east of South Park Street, and that includes the isthmus, should call the east side Streets Division at 608-246-4532.  Residents that live west of South Park Street should call the west side Streets Division at 608-266-4681.

For more information about all other Streets Division solid waste collection operations, please visit our website, www.cityofmadison.com/streets.

Fall Prescribed Burns

In the coming weeks, the City of Madison, Parks Division and Engineering Division will be conducting prescribed burns in natural areas and native plantings in greenways, conservation parks, and certain portions of other City of Madison parks.  Prescribed burns are an important management tool for Wisconsin's native plant communities, which depend on fire to sustain them.  While most prescribed burns are conducted in the spring, fall burns also provide the benefits of reducing leaf litter and controlling excess woody growth.

Prescribed burn sites planned for this fall in District 19:

• Owen Conservation Park
• Stricker's Pond Conservation Park

Postcards have been mailed to residents who live near these sites and who may see smoke or flames when the burn is conducted. As in the past, the Dane County Emergency Management automated phone call system will be used to notify neighbors before a burn begins on mornings when we will be burning.

These burns will be conducted by trained staff and volunteers, under a permit from the Madison Fire Department. The burns will only take place under specific weather conditions in order to manage smoke and minimize impacts to neighbors. In addition, we will install appropriate road signage on the day of the burn.

More information about prescribed burns conducted by the Parks and Engineering departments is on our website at: https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/projects/2019-prescribed-burns

YOU'RE INVITED TO A PLAYGROUND WORKSHOP FOR WOODLAND HILLS PARK!

The City of Madison Parks Division is improving the playground at Woodland Hills Park and we want your input.

This process includes a regional playground workshop specific to playground replacements anticipated for 2020 on the west side including Hillington Green Park, Wingra Park and Woodland Hills Park.

The workshop will include a larger group discussion, providing opportunity for neighborhoods to learn and share ideas, then will break out into smaller individually staffed sessions to address design considerations specific to each park. Following the workshop, staff will use input gathered at this meeting to develop two playground concepts, which will be presented at a second playground meeting held this winter. The new playground equipment will be installed in 2020.

Please feel free to bring children to help provide input on the playground!

All questions and comments regarding this workshop should be directed to Sarah Lerner, Landscape Architect at slerner@cityofmadison.com or (608) 261-4281.

Information on fundraising opportunities will be available at the meeting and also on-line at https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/about/documents/ParksFundraising.pdf

For additional updates on park projects please visit: https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/projects

As always, if there is anything I can do to help, feel free to reach out: district19@cityofmadison.com

-Keith F