City Meetings and Updates Week of July 7
posted- City Meetings
- Plan Commission 7/7
- Madison Public Library Board 7/8
- Police and Fire Commission 7/7 and 7/9
- FREE Environmental Fun Fair at Lussier Family Heritage Center 7/13
- Events & Announcements
City Meetings
Plan Commission
The Plan Commission meeting will take place on Monday, July 7, at 5:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include development-related requests, including the proposed Reiland Grove subdivision (more information available in my June 22nd blog post), which was initially on the June 23rd Plan Commission agenda but was referred to give Veridian more time to work with staff on the placement of lots near the new City park. This agenda also includes the three Housing Forward proposals to allow more smaller-scale housing (more information is available here).
Madison Public Library Board
The Madison Public Library Board meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 8, at 5:00 p.m. in hybrid format at room 206 of the Madison Municipal Building, Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and by Zoom. Agenda items include a discussion of the Library’s 2026 Operating Budget request, including how to open and staff the forthcoming Reindahl Imagination Center (here’s the City Engineering site with monthly construction updates). Library Staff prepared this supplemental notes memo to the MPL Board explaining that the new library facility allows them to request more funding in 2026 beyond “cost to continue”, unlike most City agencies. Staff estimate that the new library will cost $521,239 to run in 2026 (about $446k in wages/benefits, $43k in supplies, and $32k in purchased services). Of this sum, $195,000 in funding was included in the 2025 Operating Budget and is thus a part of the Library’s “cost to continue” budget for 2026, meaning that the proposed request asks for $326,040 in new funding in the 2026 Operating Budget to operate the Reindahl Imagination Center. The Library Board will weigh in during the July 8th meeting, and MPL’s Operating Budget request is due to the Mayor’s Office later in July for her office’s consideration.
Police and Fire Commission
The Police and Fire Commission will meet twice this week, on Monday, July 7, at 5:00 p.m. and on Wednesday, July 9, at 5:00 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include a discussion of the Police Chief hiring process and the candidates interviewed so far.
If you would like more information about becoming a member of a City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.
FREE Environmental Fun Fair Next Sunday
Next Sunday afternoon, Dane County Parks and the Lussier Family Heritage Center are hosting an Environmental Fun Fair at the Lussier Family Heritage Center facility. This FREE fun afternoon will be full of hands-on, sensory activities centered around nature, outdoor recreation, and science. This is event is appropriate for ALL ages and abilities!
Here is the Facebook event page and here is the event website with more details. Parking is available at the Heritage Center and across the road at the Capital City Trail/Lower Yahara River Trail Trailhead (3102 Lake Farm Road).
Activities include:
- 🎵 Live Music by Cédric Baetche - Funded by Dane Arts
- 🌼 Native Gardening Learning Hub - Dane County Land & Water Resources Department and Wild Ones Madison
- 🎨 Mural Painting with Sonya Sankaran - Funded by Dane Arts
- Mobil Trash Lab - Dane County Waste & Renewables
- ⚽ Outdoor Games & Stories - Dane County Office for Equity and Inclusion
- 🛰️ Bird Banding and Tracking - International Crane Foundation
- ⛰️ Hiking Stick Decoration + Leave No Trace information - Ice Age Trail Alliance
- 🌻 Roadshow - Madison Children's Museum
- 🐦 Bird and Nature Activities - Madison Friends of Urban Nature (FUN)
- 🌧️ Rainfall Simulator - Madison Area Municipal Stormwater Partnership
- ⛺ Camping Demo and Tent Practices - Sierra Club, Four Lake Group
- 🐞 LED Bugs– Dane County 4H
- 🗲 Wind Turbine Design Challenge - Wisconsin Energy Institute
- 🧴 Recycled Art with TetraPAKMAN - Funded by Dane Arts
- Live Animals - Bethel Horizons Nature Center
- 🌸 Pressed Flower Art - Sprouts Nature School
- 🚲 Energy Cycle - MG&E
- ☀️ Renewable Energy Activity and Solar Trivia - All Energy Solar
- 🏞️ Enviroscape - Dane County Land & Water Resources Department
- 🌳 Madison School and Community Recreation
- 🥏 Meet a Park Ranger and Disc Golf - Dane County Parks
- 🔬 Diagnostic Laboratory with Microscope - Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
- 📖 Book Bike - Monona Public Library
- Books & Activities + Book Mobile Junior- Madison Public Library
- 🌳 Arborist Activities - Dane County Parks Arborists
- 🚲 Flat Diagnosis/Repair, Cleaning, and Lubing Chain Demos (every 30 minutes) - Free Bikes 4 Kidz
- 🎨 Art Activity - MSCR
- 🌊 Slip N' Slide
- 👩🏾🦽 All-Terrain Wheelchair - Dane County Parks
Where: Lussier Family Heritage Center, 3101 Lake Farm Road, Madison
When: Sunday, July 13th from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Events & Announcements
- City of Madison to Unveil Sculpture in Darbo-Worthington Neighborhood: The City of Madison Arts Commission is inviting the community to attend the unveiling of "Mother and Child," a new sculpture by Detroit-based artist Austen Brantley. [posted July 2, 2025]
- Public Health Launches Digital Partner Services to Help Stop Spread of STIs(link is external): Public Health Madison & Dane County is launching a new initiative designed to stop the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) more efficiently. [posted July 2, 2025]
- Celebrate Safely this Holiday Weekend : Over the holiday weekend, residents are encouraged to use Madison's fabulous network of parks and greenspaces. [posted July 2, 2025]
- 5 Bison Collected, 15 to Go: Madison’s Food Scraps Program Stampeding Toward Its Goal: The City of Madison has three drop-off sites for food scraps at neighborhood farmers’ markets. They are located at the South Madison Farmers’ Market, the Eastside Madison Farmers’ Market, and the Westside Community Market. This year, we want to… [posted July 1, 2025]
- Statement from Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway on State Budget Deal: Thank you to our legislative leaders and everyone across the state that helped advocate for a common-sense increase to the Municipal Service Program. [posted July 1, 2025]
- Celebrating National Park and Recreation Month in July: Join Madison Parks and Madison School & Community Recreation (MSCR) for National Park and Recreation Month as we celebrate throughout July, how parks and recreation help create thriving communities. This year’s theme, “Build Together, Play… [posted June 30, 2025]
- Darbo-Worthington Neighborhood Sculpture Unveiling, Tuesday, July 8: The City of Madison Arts Commission is inviting the community to attend the unveiling of "Mother and Child," a new sculpture by Detroit-based artist Austen Brantley, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at 4:30pm.
- Live @ Lake Vista: Bear in the Forest - Alberto Kanost (Singer/Songwriter), Wednesday, July 9: Join us at Lake Vista Café on the rooftop overlooking lovely Lake Monona for live music in a relaxed atmosphere.
- Conservation Park Tour, Wednesday, July 9: Conservation Park Tours are educational staff-guided walks held at various conservation parks on the 2nd Wednesday, May - October. Topics vary and include highlights of the past, present and future of the land.
- Adapted Open Swim, Friday, July 11: Join MSCR for Adapted Open Swim, a free and inclusive event at the Goodman Pool! These swim sessions are designed for individuals of all abilities, their caregivers and families to enjoy the water all together in a supportive space.
- Inspired by Wright: Tour & Art Making Experience, Saturday, July 12: Enjoy a double dose of artistic inspiration when you follow up your visit to Art Fair On the Square with our Inspired by Wright event at Monona Terrace.
Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted. Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.
