Brush, Leaf and Yard Waste Pickup Info and Other Highlights for the Week of September 13, 2021

Reindahl Park Encampment

The Public Safety Review Committee will be continuing its discussion of Reindahl Park and homeless issues at its meeting on Wednesday.

• Meeting Details
• Meeting Agenda
• Register for Public Comment

Rent Abatement and Tenant Protections

The Landlord and Tenant Issues Committee will be discussing possible changes to the rent abatement ordinance and tenant protections at its meeting on Thursday.

• Meeting Details
• Meeting Agenda
• Register for Public Comment

For additional information about additional meetings scheduled for this week, please consult the City Meeting Schedule online here

Events, activities, seminars, etc.

• Don't miss out on the celebration of Mexico's heritage and history at the 20th Viva México Festival 2021 on Sunday, September 19!  The Viva México Festival is a no cover charge event and there will be plenty of delicious Mexican food to enjoy, traditional Latino folk dance, exhibits, face painting, tables with cultural area information and more! Viva México Festival 2021 will feature a talented lineup of musical performers that are sure to make this Independence Day celebration an unforgettable one.  The festivities start at 1pm with a "Car Caravan Parade" beginning at the Villager Mall, 2300 S. Park Street, and ending at Breese Stevens Field, 917 E. Mifflin Street.  The official inauguration ceremony at Breese Stevens Field is at 2pm.  More information can be found on La Movida's website.

• Bring a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy a free outdoor movie with Madison Parks this fall!

  • Friday, September 17, 6pm, Galaxy Park (132 Milky Way): Tom & Jerry
  • Saturday, September 18, High Point Park (7499 Watts Road): Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

• After a year of virtual events, the Madison Night Market has returned, and this year the event moves ONTO State Street!  Vendors showcase handmade products, local art, artisan gifts, prepackaged foods and fresh produce. The event includes live music, special visiting food carts and pop-up restaurant experiences. The Market will run from 4pm – 9pm on September 16.  Learn more here.

• The next MadLit festival is September 17, 8pm-11pm, on State Street.  This free event includes Rey Cruz w/ Almighty from the 8 / Featuring D.J. Flaco.  Learn more about the MadLit festival and upcoming acts here.

• Upcoming, public-facing COVID-19 mobile vaccine clinics, as organized by Public Health Madison & Dane County:

  • Monday, September 13: Mercado Marimar, 11 am-2 pm
  • Monday, September 13: Allied Clinic, at Reach Dane, 11 am – 2 pm
  • Tuesday, September 14: Northside Town Center, 11 am- 1 pm
  • Tuesday, September 14: Warner Park Recreation Center, 3-6 pm
  • Tuesday, September 14: East Madison Community Center Job Fair, 10-2 pm
  • Wednesday, September 15: Hmong Legacy Market on Fish Hatchery Rd, 11 am- 1pm
  • Wednesday, September 15: Dane County Job Center, 2-4 pm
  • Wednesday, September 15: BYAYA Teen Night at Worthington Park, 4-8 pm
  • Wednesday, September 15: Madison College (Truax) Dose 2 clinic 1-5 pm
  • Thursday, September 16: The Beacon, 9-11:30 am
  • Thursday, September 16: Hwy 30 encampment and Reindahl Park encampment, 2-7:30 pm

You can find details and see a map of all upcoming public clinics on the Public Health website (in Spanish). They also have regular vaccine hours at their South Madison and East Washington offices.

• Additional Public Health Resources

• Starting September 10, 2021 at 12:01 am, Face Covering Emergency Order #2 goes into effect. Folks can learn more about this Order in our latest news release. The Order is nearly identical to the current face covering order which requires that everyone age 2 and older wear a face covering or mask when in in any enclosed building where other people, except for members of the person's own household or living unit, could be present. The new order includes exemptions for actively playing a wind instrument that has a fabric bell cover, or similar cover, that acts as a face covering and while presenting or performing a religious, political, media, educational, artistic, cultural, musical, or theatrical presentation as long as other spacing and vaccination requirements are met.

• People who need to get tested can learn more about the more than 45 testing sites in Dane County on the Public Health website (in Spanish).

• Public Health Madison & Dane County's COVID-19 Data Snapshot is released every Thursday. You can read their weekly blog post for a summary of the week's data.

• For a weekly summary of talking points around COVID-19 in Dane County, please check out the Public Health hot topics document in their Google Drive.

Announcements, press releases, press conferences, etc.

• Town of Madison Public Information Meeting September 15 - Come to a virtual public information meeting, September 15 at 6:00 p.m. to learn more about the Town of Madison Attachment. Visit the Planning Division webpage for details.

• The Streets Division's final brush collection opportunities for 2021 are happening now. Some neighborhoods have already received their final curbside collection opportunity for the year.  Learn your final set-out date for brush collection by entering your address into the form at www.cityofmadison.com/brushcollection.  Read more here.

• The Streets Division has published the set-out schedule for the fall leaf and yard waste collection. To get the set-out dates for your home, go to www.cityofmadison.com/yardwaste. 

• On September 7, the City published a news release containing a survey, with hopes of gaining citywide public opinion regarding how streets impact people with disabilities, their families and service providers. This survey, linked here, aims to gather information that will help guide future infrastructure and roadway design. Survey closes on September 28.

• Beginning Monday, September 13, the City of Madison will move to the next stage of speed changes in this city-wide effort for the Vision Zero initiative. The posted speed limit on Whitney Way from Raymond Road to the Beltline will change from 30 mph to 25 mph. Similar to the recent Park Street changes, digital signboards will temporarily be placed in the area to remind drivers of the speed limit changes.  More details can be found here.

• Face Covering Emergency Order #2 was released on September 9 and goes into effect on September 10, 2021, at 12:01am. See Face Covering Emergency Order #2, the Mayor's press briefing, and the Public Health Madison & Dane County news release for details. This order will be in effect until October 8, 2021.

• Since launching the Dane CORE Emergency Rental Assistance program with the County in February 2021, our community partners have processed over 14,000 applications and assisted households in paying over $13 million dollars in back-owed rent. Due to ongoing housing needs, we are expanding and relaunching this program next week as Dane CORE 2.0. We remain committed to taking every step possible to keep every household in Dane County safely and stably housed, and the 2nd version of this program will allow us to make sure more households can access the help they desperately need.  What this means for the program is that:

• More funding will be available than before – and for more than just back-owed rent. The program will be expanded to fund utility assistance, internet assistance, and prioritizing forward rent and security deposit assistance to our most vulnerable community members.

• To upgrade our program, we need to expand capacity and streamline the application process. The Dane CORE application will be temporarily taken offline at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, Friday September 10th.

• We will be processing as many applications as possible during downtime to ensure money continues to go out to the community. Providers are training new staff and learning a new system, please be patient with us. Payments will resume before the end of the month.

• If you have a current application in for emergency rental assistance, there will be no need to submit a new application or submit new documents. All data will be transferred over, and communication will go to your email directly on how to access your updated application when the new portal opens.

• The new rental assistance application portal is scheduled to open Wednesday, September 15th. With the number of applications received through the program, we need this time to ensure a seamless transition of data that will allow us to better serve the community. The new application links and phone number for assistance will go live together on Wednesday.

We're fortunate to have dedicated community partners working on this project. When the new application opens, you can contact them directly for assistance on your application or to answer any questions that you might have. In the City of Madison, the Community Action Coalition of South Central Wisconsin (CAC), Meadowood Health Partnership, FOSTER of Dane County and African Center for Community Development will be working with residents to navigate this process. Outside the City, Urban Triage will continue their work on this program in providing resources to residents in navigating applications from start to finish.  Our priority is to ensure community members stay safely housed as we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We're working hard to increase access to this program as much as we possibly can. Tenants need to understand their rights. Eviction is a formal legal process that a landlord must follow in order to force someone from their property. In Wisconsin, however, only the courts can order someone be removed from their home. Information explaining eviction rights for tenants in Dane County can be found in English here and in Spanish here.

Save the Date

• Art Fair on the Square is planning to return to the Capitol Square from September 25-26, 2021.  Learn more here.